Closet Spring Cleaning

Today I decided to stop putting off cleaning out my closet!  

No, contrary to how it looks this is not a hunchback wearing a robe dangling from my closet door.

Ian decided that he would not help spring clean and would sit around and look cute instead.

After all was said and done, I had an entire bag to donate to the Salvation Army or Goodwill and a bag of thrown out old clothes. 

Now I have all my handbags at the ready...

It may not look like much from the picture but it's a huge improvement!  My drawers actually close and have room for me to put more stuff in them.

Spring Cleaning Task #2... the Linen Closet!  (It's scary in there.)

Pinterest Recipe: Granola Energy Bites

I could definitely use some of these right now.  I've been staying up too late and what sleep I have gotten, doesn't seem to be too restful.  As a result, my creative pursuits have been waning and I'm feeling kinda catatonic like... just existing. 


Anyways, I wanted to try these because I love granola and these seemed like they'd be easy to make and tasty (even if they have coconut in them... which, I really despise normally).  But, despite the coconut, they were awesome!  Though, I still love the other granola bar recipe more because they are less sticky to eat, these are pretty good also.


No Bake Granola Energy Bites 
(makes 18-20 bites)

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Oh and I decided to leave out the flaxseed because I barely got the word "flaxseed" out of my mouth before Russ wanted to gag.  But, they're perfectly fine without it. 

The Amor, The Better!

Things have been pretty quiet around here, I've been doing lots of painting stuff, lots of journal writing, and watching lots of Wicked Attraction while painting (Oh my gosh, I love that show... is that weird?... guess it has something to do with my interest in Psychology). 


And today we have a Tornado Watch... seriously!  It's weird that two weekends ago we had snowfall and this weekend it's 74 degrees and stormy.


But the storm clouds are beautiful... I love taking pictures of the storm clouds.  Not because I'm a faux-tographer (like those people who think that just because they own a camera, suddenly they are Photographers). 


It's just that I used to be obsessed with the movie Twister when I was younger and wanted to be a storm chaser.  

Moo!  I miss watching that dumpster. :P

Anyways, when I was browsing for my hallway art I came across this cute picture in my Psychology Today.

I thought it was great inspiration for my own little art piece.  I always have a spare canvas around so... why not?

So I drew it out...

Then used a Krylon Gold Leaf pen to trace and fill in the words and arrow.  Then I very carefully painted two coats on the canvas to cover any white spots. 

Then for an added touch, I thought I'd add some thumbtacks around the edges to make it look like a nail-head trim.

They were easy enough to push into the canvas frame with my fingers but, if you don't want your fingers to be sore by the time you're finished (or you have a huge canvas), a hammer would help greatly and left no noticeable marks on the tacks. 

Though, this happened a few times and I had to go to the store and pick up more tacks before I could finish the job...

Presto!

Shopping Finds

Sorry I disappeared for a while!  It's not for lack of things to blog about... but, I've been doing more things than blogging about them.


Here's a few things I've found that I loooove:



Found at Target for $9... the downside: I found a white version of this same buddha on clearance for $2.98.  I should've waited.

TJ Maxx/ Homegoods for $12.99.  I'm not quite sure where I'm going to put it but I just loved the texture and look of this adorable box.  I couldn't pass it up for such a good price too.

And my projects:  This wooden box which is the exact same box I bought at Michael's for $4.99 was found at my nearest thrift store for $1.49 PLUS a military discount.  Awesome!

And yeah... clearly I'm going through a box phase. 

Target Valentine's clearance pile for 70% off!  Once I paint this baby and do something with that horribly perky flower matting, it'll be awesome.

So yeah, that's what's been going on around here.  I'll be back tomorrow with some artwork I've been working on. :D

Pinterest Recipe: Red Velvet Cake Balls

So I had a pretty nice Valentine's Day with my honey... 


With flowers and an adorable teddy bear...

And a pretty box of chocolates... 

And he took in a huge box of the red velvet cake balls/truffles that I made on Monday.  To be honest, I wasn't too impressed with them.  They were really, really sweet and I ultimately wished that I had just made the cake as opposed to the dense, overly-sweet cake balls.  With the added cream cheese frosting to the finished cake it just became too sweet. 

Ingredients:

cake mix (and the ingredients to make the cake)

cream cheese frosting

almond bark or candy coating

Bake the cake and allow it too cool completely. 

Crumble the cake into a bowl... my favorite part of making these.

Add the can of cream cheese frosting (I didn't add the whole thing because it was getting too runny).  It turns into a mushy consistency...

Roll into balls and place on wax paper and place the tray in the fridge until they are more solid.

Dip into chocolate.

I used vanilla and chocolate and let me tell you, the vanilla was a pain!  If you poked the cake ball AT ALL it would leave residue and make it have red cake smears on the surface which for a perfectionist like me was quite infuriating. 

Sorry for the bad "inside" picture of the cake ball... They're pretty just... TOO sweet and I didn't care for the consistency of the inside.

But... Happy late Valentine's Day!

Sendin' Out An SOS

So, this morning at approximately 9:55 a.m. I reached for the bathroom door handle, heard a small snap and discovered that the door knob was broken and I was locked in my own bathroom.  I never imagined such a thing was possible. I would have never imagined being stuck in a room in my own home. 


For about twenty minutes I raided my bathroom vanity in a vain attempt to find something that would help me pick the lock of my lavatory prison. I tried to remain cool and collected as I attempted to extricate myself from the bathroom by saying things like, "I'm not locked in the bathroom, it's just a little stuck.  Who gets locked in the bathroom?  I can do this!  I'm a crafty and intelligent woman, surely I can open this door!" 


The black-head remover, scissors, bobby pins and combs failed me and I resorted to screaming obscenities and pounding the door with my hands.  I texted my mom from the bathroom and emailed my husband at work so that I could at least tell someone what was happening. That way there would be a record of what happened should I perish after being in the bathroom for hours... 


From all the commotion, Ian was alerted to my dire situation and attempted to free me the only way he knew how.  

At least he tried.  

After sitting against the vanity and staring daggers at the door, I resigned myself to the fact that I couldn't do this alone.  Someone would have to come and bust down this door.  Someone was going to see me in my jammies and without a bra.  Great.

I had to look up the phone number to the main office (which took forever) and thought of a few choice words I was going to scream at them when they answered the phone.  I wanted to yell that I was "stuck in the bleeping bathroom because of this bleeping relic of a bleeping door knob had broken just like all the other bleeping bleeping things in this bleeping apartment."  I couldn't do it though because the lady sounded so nice when she answered.  I couldn't ruin her day and it was nice that she gasped in surprise that I was stuck in the bathroom and rushed over immediately with maintenance.  It's not her fault that these apartments suck so horribly. She doesn't own the property, she just manages it.  

After a few minutes they busted through the door and I emerged from the bathroom, embarrassingly crossing my arms and rushing to get dressed as they left to retrieve a new door knob. 

And, it works.  Though, it has a nice attractive crack down the side... but what bathroom hasn't seen a few cracks? 

It feels good to be free!

Fire and Snow

This weekend, we received our first real snowfall of the winter.  Well, it wasn't hardly snow at all so I don't know if it really counts. 

Yes, the car still sits. 

Then... this happened yesterday as I was making my red velvet truffles...

Somehow the dumpster caught on fire.  I didn't see any flames but got to see it as it was smoking... what kind of moron put flammable materials in the dumpster?  I'm just happy it wasn't an apartment...

Pinterest Recipe: No-Bake Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

So, on Monday evening of this past week Russ tells me that people in his office were making fun of his choice of Code Red Mountain Dew and goldfish crackers for breakfast.  Which... was supposed to be for his lunch.  I normally don't worry about what Russ eats for breakfast because he's just not a breakfast person.  On weekends if I want to make pancakes or waffles or something special, it's like pulling teeth to get him to agree that he'd eat breakfast too.  


I pinned this recipe because I love granola bars and I figured since it's not a huge breakfast, perhaps Russ would be down with eating these on the go.


And, I loved them.  I probably ate more than he did which caused me to have to make a second batch in order for him to have some granola bars to eat for the rest of the week.  They are better than store bought and super simple to make.  The only thing I hate is having to clean up my sticky bowl and sticky pan afterward... I like to let it sit on the counter and harden up because after I'm done baking I'm pretty lazy.  Just about dishes though... I hate dishes. 

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats {not rolled oats!}
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Directions:
In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased small jelly roll pan {about 12x8x1} and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. {If your pan isn’t small enough, pack the mixture into one side. You really want to press them down so they stick together.} Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press down lightly. Cool on a countertop to room temperature for two hours or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

And they're a hit!  Russ loves them and will now be eating something that gives him more energy than... well, I bet Mountain Dew would be more effective at that but these are definitely healthier. 

Completed Hallway Art

Last night I made a new recipe that included cookie dough, Oreos, and brownie mix and I feel like I have a sugar hangover.  I'll blog about it sometime this weekend, but when did dessert recipes start to get so overwhelming and included multiple desserts into one bar/brownie/cookie concoction?  It's just getting to be too much.  And the funny thing is, I didn't even add the ice cream to the top that the recipe suggested!  That's just ridiculous, right?!  Just the thought makes my stomach turn.

So, I've realized it's been a while since I updated my new hallway art configuration so... here goes!

When I last left off, the placement on the floor was looking like this:

After a while I figured that on the wall, I needed to switch the gray frames and the anchor so it didn't interfere with the corner near the bathroom. 

I gathered some prospective, framable materials and used tape to stick them to the frames to see what I liked the best. They're images from my Psych magazines and artwork my grandma gifted me.

A few switcheroos and I decided on these...

I think the last two are my favorite.  The Escher drawing looks really awesome in the gray frame and I finally got to use my peacock and chair picture! :)