What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: My DIY Vanity

When we moved into the new house (I think I start every post like this these days, sorry about that), I wanted a vanity for our bedroom.  The bathrooms lack counter space so I need a place to do my makeup and hair until we replace the bathroom vanities.  I haven’t been able to find something that I like, that matches our master bedroom, is the right size, and is affordable.  I’ve shopped, stalked Craigslist and antique shops, but I just haven't found anything that really fits the bill.  Sooooo I had to get creative.

Do you remember when I renovated our master bedroom in the summer of 2011, and I had this armoire? 

Well I figured that I could easily use this piece of furniture for a vanity!  There was a TV in it and some swim suits, but that’s about it.  We never used the TV so we donated it and now this armoire is my vanity.

What do you think? 

After donating what I used to keep in the armoire, I made it a vanity and designated each drawer for either makeup, hair care, or delicates.  The great thing about this, is that the drawers are large and deep enough to hold everything which clears out a lot of space in the bathroom closets.  I also love how I can just shut the doors at the top and no one can see inside.I really had everything for this project except the stool which I purchased at Marshall’s for $30 (I negotiated 20% off because a foot was missing and I replaced it myself) and the double sided cosmetic mirror for $14.

I love the scrolls on the back of the stool.  I think it looks so traditionally romantic.

In the mornings when I get ready I can sit and have my tea while having everything at my finger tips. 

I just might keep this as my vanity even after the bathrooms are updated ;-)

Have you ever had a piece of furniture that you just totally changed it’s function to make it work better for you?

Sweet Potato Praline Casserole

This is one dish that I absolutely treasure during the holiday season.  Not just for the nostalgic feeling, but also my sweet tooth depends on it during the holidays.  After several years of tweaking the recipe, here is my Sweet Potato Praline Casserole.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Ingredients:
1-16 oz can sweet potatoes
¼ cup soft butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 and ¼ cup evaporated milk
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Praline Topping Ingredients:
½ cup light brown sugar
2 tbs all-purpose flour
¼ cup soft butter
½ cup finely chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Drain and mash sweet potatoes.
3. Add all other sweet potatoes ingredients to the sweet potatoes, mixing well after each addition.
4. Place sweet potato mixture in a shallow casserole dish.
5. Mix praline topping and layer onto the sweet potatoes.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

52 weeks of Christmas Cards

When all the Christmas decorations are packed away it can be a little sad.  You know, the post-Christmas blues? We go from non-stop celebration to nothing and getting back to normal.  Y’all know I love Christmas, and I am one of those crazy people that can listen to Christmas music year-round; I just love it. 

As you know I didn’t put up Christmas decorations this year because of our move right before Christmas, so this picture is from a previous Christmas.  However I still have all of the lovely Christmas cards y’all sent us this year (just not displayed as pretty).  One way that I keep the sweet spirit of Christmas alive throughout the year is through our Christmas cards.

I don’t throw them in the trash. 

I don’t pack them away for the next year. 

Instead I pick one card a week and pray for that family.  We pray for marriages to deepen, increased health, available and disciplined finances, safety and protection, children, blessings in the workplace, patience, compassion, giving spirits, and that they would be the Light to others during their storms throughout the year.  So friends, if you sent us a Christmas card this year, please know that we will be praying for you for at least one full week this year.  (Sidebar, please don’t think prayer is bought with a Christmas card.  This is just a way for us to focus our prayers on others.  We still pray for y’all even without a Christmas card).

If you’ve got Christmas cards laying around the house and you don’t know what to do with them, I encourage you to use them during your prayer time.  By letting your children pick the card to pray for each week, this is also a great way to help engage and encourage an active prayer life.

Have a great weekend friends!!

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: My Handman

Sorry (not sorry) folks but this might get a little sappy. I can’t help myself.  You have been warned.

Since moving into our new house, the Mr hasn’t sat down.  He has been fixing, updating, correcting, and changing.  I am beyond impressed with how much work he can do in such a short about of time; he is so talented!  From what I hear, when you become a parent the transition in roles causes spouses to fall in love with each other all over again because you see a different side of your spouse.   I feel the same could be said about our recent transition.  Please understand  that I am in no way comparing the miracle of life with the material of homeownership.  Instead what I am saying is that with our transition we have both added new hats to wear and the new hat that the Mr is wearing has made me fall head over heels for him, all over again!  I simply can’t stop staring at my hubby work around our home.  My heart swells when I hear of each task he has completed and what he has planned to do next.  The way he cares about providing a warm and comfortable home for our family is heavenly. We do not have “honey do lists” in our house, but we do have “Team Hawley” lists.  Yes this is how we refer to each other (so corny, right?) and we enjoy tackling tasks together.  Having a handyman is a great resource, but having MY handyman is simply blissful.  Today I just want to brag about all the things my special, handsome, live-in handyman has been up to around casa de Hawley.

He has fixed the canopy on the back porch, installed our surround sound, updated lighting fixtures, cleaned and fixed the shed (as I type he is prepping to paint), installed outside lighting, fixed the doors inside, updated the outside of the house, purchased new furniture and delivered it himself, built rails for our new bed, filled holes in the backyard that the dogs insist on digging, installed a new mirror on my vanity, and a million other things that I can’t even remember.  He has been busy, right?

This is how Tomlin and Roo help out Team Hawley (total bums!)

He really is my what I’m lovin’, and not just on Wednesdays :-)  Mr, I hope you know how much I adore you; I am completely smitten!  If you have your own husband handyman, make sure you tell them how much you appreciate him today.
Happy Wednesday friends!

Louisa is in the Pantry

Every time the Mr and I move it’s the same thing:

HOW CAN WE GET MORE ORGANIZED?!

When we first moved into the new house this is what our pantry looked like

YIKES!!!!  I cannot believe I just showed you this picture! lol  I promise I’m not a slob!  I would like to think of myself as a pretty organized person, but when we moved I just threw everything in the pantry just so that I could start getting rid of boxes.  However, since the kitchen is my favorite part of the new house, I knew that the pantry couldn’t stay this chaotic for long.

My blogging buddy, and football smack-talking amiga, Amy from One Artsy Mama inspired me to tackle my pantry.  (Do you know Amy? If not, you really need to go check out her blog. She’s amazing!) Amy got a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas and has been going to town creating so many projects.  I purchased my Silhouette last July and it has been sitting in the box for months now. How lame is that?!?!?!? So it was time to bust out my Silhouette and get to work.  Since Amy named her new Silhouette “Cammie”, we decided I needed to name mine too. So, I would like to introduce you to Louisa.
Isn’t she a beauty? What a great addition to our family she is :-) As soon as she was out of her box she was put to good use, getting us organized again.

I had a mess.

I had Louisa, my Silhouette.

Amy gave me inspiration.

Time to get organized!

First thing I did was take a short visit to The Container Store.  If you have never been to this store, let me tell you, it is HEAVEN for the Type A personality (aka ME!).  I purchased various sized mason jars (love!), open faced baskets, and white washed wooden bins.

The car was packet with goodies and Louisa was ready!!

This is how I have been keeping my dry pantry items.  I kept them in ziplock bags because I hate the idea of bugs.  I’m a bit neurotic about it so I take every precaution. 

But as soon as I had the jars I switched them from the bags.  I wrote the contents on each jar with a dry erase marker. I made a jar for brown sugar, all-purpose flour, self-rising flour, sugar, white rice, brown rice, bisquick, cake flour, quick oats, and loose pasta.
Using my Silhouette software I made the labels with a pharmacy font.

I put the labels on the jars and organized the boxes and baskets in the pantry.  What do you think?

I can definitely find everything now and I love the way the jars look.  It really adds a nice touch to my new kitchen.  What should Louisa and I do next?

We are on a roll getting this place in order, but is there a project you want to see Louisa and I do next?

Linking up at Liz Marie's Hop To It Party

Transitioning

Based on our previous moves, I thought we would be unpacked by now.

I was wrong.

I was so VERY wrong.

I've got that Type A personality so I had everything ready to go, but when we got here I feel like my brain has yet to figure out that we are staying here for a while.  It feels like I'm on vacation or something. Know what I mean? While most everything is unpacked, it isn't decorated and it definitely doesn't feel like home yet.  I'm sure that will come with time, but for right now we are living in undecorated chaos.

There aren't a lot of big projects to do, just a lot of little things to check-off my Type A brain's list (i.e. stuff to purchase, organize, or decorate to make the house feel like our home).

Perhaps I have yet to decorate anything because I am still brainstorming what I want to do with the space. It is still a blank canvas because, as I told you last week, I didn't really start thinking about moving in until three days before....which was only 2 weeks ago. (Sidebar- Can you believe it has already been 2 weeks?!)

I made a video for y'all of our move and the first few days in the new house.  Enjoy our chaos for now, because I promise the DIY posts are coming with tons of decorations ideas and changes!

I hope y'all have a great weekend!  Anyone have fun plans?

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: A Very Merry Puppy Christmas

This was by far the best Christmas our pups have ever experienced.  Since we put the offer in on our house in October, the moment I was most looking forward to was introducing the pups to their new yard.  I kept wondering what their reaction would be: ecstatic? scared? spastic?  I just wanted to see their reaction and this was the dream I held onto while I was packing up those millions of boxes for our move. 

Opening the front door and they dashed-in, smelling everything.

Rooney did not understand the idea of a screened door.  The first few days of opening the glass sliding door, Rooney ran right into it knocking the door right off onto the ground.  I’m sorry but every time I laughed hysterically.  Even with the door laying on the ground he still didn’t understand.  He is so dopey sometimes lol

The FIRST time we opened the door (the screened door too)….they were off.

I took a video of that most anticipated moment and want to share that with you today. You get to see several "milestones" in this video lol
(Yes, I'm aware that my voice goes up several decibels when I talk to the pups. Don't judge)

They were bewildered by the doggy door.  Here is a video of the first time they both went through.

Showing these two our new home has been way more exciting than I could have anticipated.  We sure do love these pups :-)

Boxing 101

When we decided to move, I REFUSED to pack a single box until I knew we were definitely, without a doubt, 100% confident, moving. 

We put a contract on a house, nothing was packed.

Our house was appraised appropriately, nothing was packed.

Our house passed all inspections, nothing was packed.

Negotiations were finalized, nothing was packed.

We got the green light for closing two weeks early, nothing was packed.

I wouldn’t consider this procrastination; I simply didn’t believe it was going to happen.  I continually felt like the rug was going to be pulled out from under us.  There was no reason why I felt this way, and I wouldn’t normally consider myself as pessimistic as I sound right now.  Subconsciously, I think, I was trying to protect my high expectations from disappointment.  Such a silly coping tactic that left me with only 3 days to pack up our entire house before moving.  Not a great idea, and extremely anxiety provoking.  HOWEVER, with my frantic pleas for moving tips, you all were there with tons of advice.  As much as I wish I was this brilliant, this is a compilation of moving tips that y’all gave me.

1. Pack the vacuum last so that you can clean the apartment/house you are leaving.  (from Meg)
2. Lowe’s has great boxes. (from Joy)
3. Place foam disposable plates between your dishes for packaging to prevent them from chipping.  (from Meg)
4. Pack a few books in every box so that you have medium weighted boxes as opposed to several insanely heavy boxes.  This makes books easier to carry and no one gets hurt. (from Jessica)
5. Make a basket for keys and wallets so they don’t get lost or accidentally packed. (from Meg)
6. Have labels made of room names so that you can quickly stick them on boxes.  This will help your movers know where to put boxes and ultimately help you unpack. (from Stephanie) Labels could include: kitchen, living, master, guest, master bath, bath two, garage, linen dining, heavy, fragile, storage, don’t know.
7. Make a list of everything you put into a box and tape it to the house side, or write the contents directly on the side of the box so that you know what is inside (from Danie).
8. Number your boxes so that you know how many boxes you should expect to move. It is also key to remember this number.
9. If you’re moving yourself, you don’t have to pack your clothes.  Leave them on the hangers and create a “clothes line” out of Ratchet straps. (from Rich & Lura)  This is so genius!

Here are some tips and reminders that the Mr and I have learned from our moving adventures through the years:

1. Do your laundry before you pack or move.  When you get to your new home you will have tons of dusty things that will need to cleaned.
2. Liquor and wine stores have tons of great boxes for packing.  They are made perfectly to package kitchen items (i.e. glasses, vases, knives, etc.)
3. Before moving, have new tags made for your pet.  You want those on your pet as soon as they arrive at the new home.  Also update microchip information for each pet.
4. Everyone will ask for your new address, so before you even move have change of address cards made so that they can be sent out immediately upon arrival at your new home. (Please don’t be offended if you didn’t get a card from us; I’m a bit scattered brained with the move & the holidays.  If I did miss you, please let me know so that I can drop one in the mail for you)
5. To follow up with #four, 7-10 days before you move, have your mail officially forwarded so that you don’t miss any bills, fabulous magazines or awesome Christmas cards from friends and family.  When you do this will have to depend on when the previous owners have left and when you actually get to move-in, so you will have to use your best judgment for timing.
6. When you do get to your new home, go ahead and change all of your addresses as soon as possible.  Don’t forget: banks, driver’s license and registration, voters registration, magazine subscriptions, student loans, bills, all online accounts where you subscribe.
7. Timing IS everything.  If you are moving to Texas: DO.NOT.MOVE.IN.THE. SUMMER.  Just don’t do it.  We have moved twice in the summer since living in Texas; it was two of the stupidest decisions we have ever made.  Moving in December makes moving much more pleasant.
8. If you have people coming to help you move, have plenty of water ready and offer to feed them after they move you.
9. Humble yourself and ask for help.  This will make your life easier and people who love you WANT to help. Let them! This is always so challenging for me because I feel guilty asking for help.  Sometimes you just have to let go of that guilt so you can be showered with blessings.  HUGE thank you for those who volunteered to help us move!

Thank you so much for all of these tips.  They were put into practice and made for such a smooth transition.  Once again LWTH readers pulled us through; y’all are seriously THE BEST!
After a wonderful 3 week vacation I’m back at work today, refreshed and ready to go.  Happy Monday friends!

Moving Update

Like that title? I’m so full of creativity these days. Can’t you tell?  lol  I do feel a bit overwhelmed with my to do lists lately.  As things get crossed off I am hoping my creativity will return.  To recap, 12/12/12 we closed on our house and moved in on 12/22.  I took some pictures of the move and wanted to share them with you.

Our collection of packed up boxes
Last night in our apartment before the move.

The week before we moved we had our new appliances delivered.  They actually arrived on my birthday.  Nothing makes me feel older than getting appliances for my birthday.  Don’t get me wrong, they are fabulous appliances and we are blessed to have them.  BUT it sure does reminded me of previous birthdays when I got an expensive purse or a sassy new pair of shoes.
Moving day and the Uhaul was packed!  We have too much stuff!
How quickly some things were unpacked

Priorities people ;-)
Introducing the pups to their new house and yard.  Video to come soon!
The first harvest from our new garden.  These peppers are so good; I’ve been putting them in the Mr’s hummus and he loves it!

I’ve really got to get myself together on what I will plant in the spring.  I am so excited about this!

Just 3 days after we moved we celebrated our first Christmas in the new house.  It was also our first Christmas in Texas.  It was slow and peaceful; we enjoyed it very much.  We didn’t get a tree (I didn’t see the point in buying a tree that was probably too dry for only 3 days), so I put up a really small one I found while unpacking.  I hung Santa hung the pups stockings by the tree.  They got two LARGE chew bones and two toys each from Nanna.  They were so very happy!
On Christmas we skyped back home while we opened gifts.  The Mr also gave his parents a tour of the new house.  We are so grateful for how teachnology keeps up connected!More moving updates to come! Hope you’re not getting board with the moving posts; this is just where we are in life right now.   We’ve got more furniture and DIY projects to do, after that I can’t wait to give you a tour of case de Hawley!

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesay: Monkey Bread

I really wish I could take credit for this recipe, but alas I cannot.  This is my version of Monkey Bread, adapted from the amazing PW.  This is a recipe we should save for special occasions because of the caloric count……but we don’t!  It’s just too good to reserve for special days.  I hope you get to try this recipe soon, because it is fantastic!

Ingredients:
3 cans buttermilk biscuits (the non-flaky ones)..generic brands work fine
1 cup sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
2 sticks butter
½ cups brown sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Quarter the biscuits.
3. Combine the white sugar with cinnamon in a gallon zip bag and shake to mix evenly. (3 tsp of cinnamon gives it a fairly strong cinnamon flavor. If you’re not so hot on cinnamon, cut it back to 2 tsp.)
4. Drop all of the biscuit quarters into the cinnamon-sugar mix and shake vigorously. This will get all those pieces unstuck from one another and nicely coated with cinnamon-sugar. Spread these nuggets out evenly into a bundt pan.
5. Melt butter together with brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. This can be light or dark brown sugar. Cook butter/sugar mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, you can pour it over the biscuits.
6. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the crust is a deep dark brown on top. When it’s finished cooking, remove it from the oven. If you have the willpower, allow it to cook for about 15-30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate.
7. No need to be fancy, just get your fingers dirty and start pulling the nuggets apart.  You wont regret it!