Before & After home tour (part 1)

Two posts in one day? What is this world coming to? I'm feeling very inspired now that I'm blogging & am having all kinds of ideas of things to post. So today I'm going to post twice.

I don't know about you, but I love a good before & after show. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, all kinds of shows on HGTV (Summer Home being my favourite new show), & What Not To Wear are a few favourites. What is it that we love about them? Well, besides the fact that we see something that looks nasty (or boring or outdated) turn into something that looks beautiful.

I was visiting with my friend, Vanessa, today in her great new home. She & her husband are in the midst of picking paint colours & embarking on a home makeover of their own. I had the pleasure of helping her pick a paint colour for her front entrance. I hope she doesn't disown me as a friend after she's done painting! ;) Seeing her home & talking about renovations, painting, floor plans, etc. got me remembering our home makeover...

Four years ago we purchased the home we live in now. It had been pretty neglected & someone who lived there in the past had been crafty... in a not-so-great, don't-quit-your-day-job kinda way. We're talking orange tie dyed paint effects in the living room, stained glass insets in the bright yellow kitchen cabinets, fruit wallpaper applique on the roll down blinds, a stainless steel paint effect gone terribly wrong... oh ya, this house was a piece of work. But we were excited about the challenge & knew we could turn "her" into something beautiful.

After painting, putting in new flooring, painting, knocking out a wall, painting, putting in a new kitchen, painting, replacing the mauve toilet & tub, & painting some more it was finally ready for us to live in. But the work wasn't done.

It's taken us this long & it's not quite done yet. There are a few things left to be done. But since when is a house ever "done"? We're very happy with our progress thus far & I thought I'd share some of it with you all.

Nasty orange tie dyed paint effect in the living room. This wall actually got removed to open up the kitchen/dining room area.

Living Room BEFORE - complete with African Safari style homemade curtains.

Living room AFTER

Where the wall used to be.

Recap:

I'll post a little of our home makeover at a time. We're pleased with how things have turned out so far. I hope you enjoy seeing the transformation.

If you'd like to see our kitchen makeover click here.
If you'd like to see our main bathroom makeover click here.

Enjoy your day!

~Steph

Summer produce

Well, it's that time of year again. The time when my garden starts producing yummy fruits & veggies. I've been chopping rhubarb & getting ready to make my annual batch of rhubarb jam. This year's batch will be HUGE! I'm pretty sure I'll need some more jars... I'll post the recipe & photos once the deed is done. :)

I'm starting to get apples from our apple trees so I'll have to figure out something to do with those. Maybe I'll try my hand at apple juice as a couple of people have suggested. I've also harvested a large quantity of raspberries from my next door neighbour's raspberry batch (with permission of course). I've made a chocolate raspberry torte & a raspberry crisp already with plenty of additional raspberries tucked away in the freezer for future use.

Chocolate Raspberry Torte. Not picture perfect, but it sure tasted yummy!

Last night & tonight I've been able to include veggies from our garden in our supper menu. The lettuce, cherry tomatoes, & peppers are all doing well. I'm quite enjoying my little "salad garden" as I like to call it. Of course, I'd enjoy it more if it was weed free, but that's another story.

Maybe I'll have to try making Fried Green Tomatoes... have you ever made them? I found a good recipe (well, it looked good anyway) last year, but never got up the courage to try making them. 

What's growing in your garden this year? Any tips or ideas to share?

Fruit Pizza

Summer desserts are among my favourite recipes... actually, any dessert recipe is likely among my favourites. :) Most summer desserts involve either fruit or something frozen. This one involves fruit - and lots of it! I hope you'll give it a try. It will likely become one of your favourites too. And be ready to hand out the recipe because you're sure to be asked!

Fruit Pizza
Crust:
1 1/4 cups   All-purpose flour
1/3 cup       Brown sugar
3 tbsp.        Icing sugar
2/3 cup       Butter, softened


Topping:
12 oz.         Cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup      Granulated (white) sugar
1 tsp.          Vanilla


Variety of fruit - you can use pretty much whatever you want. Think berries, kiwi, peaches (canned ones work very well), bananas, etc. 
Tip: For best results, don't use frozen or previously frozen fruit. Fresh or canned work the best. 


Glaze:
1/2 cup       Apricot jam 
2 tbsp.        Water


Crust: Preheat oven to 350* F. Mix all crust ingredients together in a bowl until it forms a ball. Press on bottom of a pizza pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

Topping: Beat cheese, sugar, & vanilla together until smooth. Spread over cooled crust. Arrange fruit in pattern of your choice over top.

Glaze: Mix the 2 glaze ingredients. Rub through a sieve. Carefully pour/brush over the arranged fruit.

Congratulations cards

To my friends, it's no secret that I love to papercaft. I enjoy both card making & scrapbooking. To those of you who are not into papercafting, bear with me. Not all my posts with be on this subject. :)

As I said above, I like to scrapbook. But when you are finished a scrapbook layout, you inevitably end up with a pile of... you guessed it - SCRAPS! This is where card making fits in perfectly. I enjoy gathering a pile of scraps & challenging myself to make some cards with my leftovers. The result varies. Let's face it, not every work is a work of genius. There are those that after I'm done, end up in the garbage... they're just that bad. But more often than not, the result is something I'm proud of.

Here are two such cards.

These were super easy. They are just two strips of papers layered on each other (the narrower strip over one wider strip - just breakin' it down for those of you who may not know the papercrafting lingo. Trust me, it's extensive.) with a pretty stamped image in the bottom corner. Easy & pretty, right? And, let's face it. We don't always have a whole afternoon to dedicate to making one super-detailed-use-every-trick-in-the-book card. Most times, we have little bits of time to create. And it's very rewarding to get something finished in said time frame. :)

Products used:
Cardstock, Stamp, & Ink - Stampin' Up!
Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye

Cupboard Makover

This spring I took this little cupboard from my childhood that my dad had made for me. It was well "loved," shall we say, after years of being used by me & then for years in my mom's day care. My daughter, Audrey, is now at the age where she's full fledged into playing pretend. What could be cuter than a little cupboard to play kitchen or restaurant with? Especially if you've seen the prices of those plastic sets you can purchase at toy stores, etc. 

Before

After

It's amazing what a couple coats of paint & some new hardware will do!

Paint: Beur Interior Satin Enamel in Ultra Pure White from Home Depot

Hinges: Canadian Tire

Knobs: Ikea