Fab Find

Don't you love when you accidentally find something you love?

I was out grocery shopping last week. For the normal things.
But then I came across some soup bowls. That will never, ever have an ounce of liquid in them.

They are porcelain, but are made to look like the old, tin camping bowls.
The middle one is not that orange in real life. The below picture is more accurate:

Especially the warning part of it.
I swear, if I find one finger print on those bowls - they will pay. Dearly.

I love how the colors work with what I am doing in the kitchen.
Seeing the bowls make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Kind of like the effects of a good bowl of soup.

Insane.

Woodn't you know it?!?! (The Kitchen Sign Trilogy)

I think I've talked about this sign more often than my own kids.
I am just so excited about it.
About my kids?! Not so much.

Just kidding - you know I am always excited about them especially when it's bed time.

After the torture of hanging the sign (which I just realized I've failed to blog about. You're welcome), I came to the conclusion that hanging it up without some additional wording wasn't very smart (okay, maybe it was the feedback from my family). It needed something.

While at the Wal-Mart yesterday, I noticed they had wooden letters... and the font wasn't too bad.  So I picked up the necessary pieces and in the evening, got to work.  I stained them Jacobean... Love the color. But I felt they needed something a little more. So I used FolkArt Extreme Glitter in Turquoise - covered most of each letter in it... I was trying to be a tad random. After that, I used a copper color... Pueblo (from Folkart again) to be exact. I applied sparingly - going for the aged, patina'd look.

I could have "aged" them for forever, but after about 10 minutes I forced myself to stop. I think they look perfect.

I didn't have an apostrophe, so I improvised. I realize that I don't necessarily need one, but I am going for "The Ayala's Kitchen" without saying as much, and because there is ownership involved, I popped open a Corona. And immediately discarded it down the sink. I wanted the bottle cap.  Using the same technique as the letters, I aged the cap and then hot glued it on.

I can't say it's 100% complete. I've concluded that I would really like to find an old whisk or serving spoon, something old and incredible.

So.... here's the way before:

The second before:

Here it is hung without the extra wording:

And the second to last:

Here is the first post. Here is the second.

I am enamored. I love it. I can't wait to make more.
And seriously... the pallet was free, the stain and paint mostly I had on hand, maybe spent $12 total, and then the letters were $12. Not bad, me thinks!!

What do YOU thinks!?!?

Linking to:
Coastal Charm

Today's Creative Blog

Craft-O-Maniac
Blue Cricket Design

Woodn't you know it?!

I've been wanting to finish the sign I mentioned here....
Yesterday was the perfect day... 


Here's a quick review of what the sign looked like before:

Before, before:

After, before:

I got out all of my supplies and made stencils...
I used Power Point, printed off the letters in card stock and then used a blade to "cut" them out.

I used a mixture of Ivory, Khaki and Cinnamon spray paint... I was going for an "aged" effect.

Then I did the same for our last name.
It's a kitchen sign to hang over my sink - I wanted something clever, but couldn't come up with anything other than "Ayala's" - boohoo.

I had to make one stencil out of many pieces of card stock.
Thank you Blue Painters Tape!

This is where I wish I could have just used vinyl - but I didn't think it would really stick. Plus my vinyl gal is in Montana... I'd have to wait.

I tried to create a shadow...

And this is what I ended up with.

Or should I say...

THIS is what I ended up with?!?!? - below.

The name wasn't working out for me. I though I could have a cream colored picture frame (sans glass) and somehow get the wording in there. I actually thought of a million other things to do...

Isabel was outside "helping" me with something and spilled blue paint on the bottom of the sign.
So I tried to act like it was on purpose and splashed some in other places.

After some heartache, I decided to just spray paint the entire thing, the three colors I had. However, I had already used a gloss over the "Est. 1994" so it stuck out some.

So, finally I decided to try one last thing. Right over the spray paint, not even waiting 30 minutes, I used Jacobean colored stain and applied and then wiped. I then put the "Est." stencil back on and sprayed over it in the cinnamon.

And there you have my completed sign. I may add something later... but for now, I love it.

Now I just have to figure out how I am going to get this sucker up on the wall.

File This Under: Yum!

The husband has had a hankerin’ for Pineapple Upside Down cake for a while now.

Too bad someone ate the can of pineapple rings. All we had were chunks.
He enlisted the kids to make a cake with whatever we had on hand.
And then he said – “hey, make them cupcakes!”

My mind can only imagine the mess. I mean, you know how hard it is to flip a real, full sized cake right-side-up.

Now imagine cupcakes. I could feel my anxiety rising.

The kids were insistent.

So – Alex took the pineapple cake mix and followed the directions. And as advised by me, they add a little pineapple juice to the mix (prolly two tablespoons full).

We then took cupcake liners (all we had on hand were pirate ones) – and filled our muffin tins. We first sprayed the liners with baking PAM – a good dose. We were replacing the butter. Then we took a tablespoon (or so) of brown sugar and made that the first layer. Then Isabel added two pineapple chunks.

And then I added one cherry. And then we poured the batter over the brown sugar, pineapples and cherries.

We baked them at 325* (because of our darker coated pan) for 22 minutes.

We took them out to cool. And then watched the CMT Music Awards – which was the only decent thing on our DVR. Meanwhile, the kids were outside having a water balloon fight.

After they cooled, mostly – I asked the husband if he wanted his ‘as is’ or if he wanted me to take off the liner and right-side up his cupcake. He opted for the latter.

Let me tell you... This is the BEST cupcake I have EVER tasted. Not just because it was Pineapple Upside Down... but because the cake was PERFECT.

I wish I could share them all with you – because they are THAT good! And they were sooo easy to make!

Off to have another one!!

:)

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How's it hanging?!

It's supposed to be a beautiful 103 today... and I am INSIDE doing INSIDE things.

Truth be told, Isabel isn't feeling well, so that's really what's keeping us locked up in this dungeon beautiful and cool house. 

Since the husband won't help me hang some stuff, I took it upon myself to yell and order my kids around to get these things marked off my To-Do list.

I'm not kidding. I think they are mad at me. [In all fairness, I wouldn't have yelled if I wasn't given wimpy screws to do the job. Not that that's my kids' fault. They didn't manufacturer the product. Oh, I'll give them each a cupcake later and maybe let them play the Wii. Maybe. Just keeping it real.]

I have a lot of HANGING things on my list... I've had the curtain rods for the kitchen and family room since we MOVED IN. And we've just been shuffling them around every so often to move out clutter. 

I bought the valances a few months back during a trip to Lowes.

It's about time we actually allowed to the two to meet.

They are pretty much gold. I had bigger dreams - of browns and greens (ok, not really green, green - but that aloe/mint color - but greens rhymed with dreams).

I was afraid that the brown would be just toooo dark. So I settled on the gold for now - to get something (anything!) up there.

I found my original vision of the kitchen has been changed slightly. I am not only a traditional girl. I also like ranch, country farm, Spanish, etc.

I am afraid I've gone and mixed it all up. I figured as long as I am staying in a color scheme (right now it's brown, cream, rust, aloe/mint) then I will be alright. 

Without further adu adoo ado procrastination on my part, 1 of 4 valances in gold. 

I think they work for now. It's gonna be tricky doing the other three windows... I have to ensure the curtain rods are straight all the way across - throughout the two rooms. One inch off and the world will know. And my mom will NOT be happy.

So... it's still coming right along.

P.S. Let me know if you see a cheap large-ish rooster lying around anywhere (ceramic, please - not a live one). I want to spray paint it cream and put it on top of my cabinets.

Lost in Space

I got this picture from the appraisal dude.
Totally different angle than the ones I took
 (#1 is appraiser dude's, #2 and #3 are mine).
See pics below.
What the heck do I do with all of that space on top of the cabinets?
I don't want fake plants... Do I?
This is where life is going to get very interesting...
So much space to fill... I need ideas, people!

I don't really like the color of the counter-top.
I think it missed the boat in coordinating with the cabinets and the floor.
So I have to factor those in when I think about colors.

If you had this kitchen... what would you do with the tops of the cabinets... ?
And what color would you paint the walls?!

Think traditional, craftsman, chunky, comfy... just right!

The kitchen is right next to the family room (shared wall), so it has to coordinate...
with what, I don't know yet! lol
Decisions, decisions...