Window Herb Garden. Love.



It's so nice to have herbs in my kitchen!


I, like many of you, have officially become a slave to Pinterest. I try not to, but I end up spending at least an hour every day looking at the amazing DIY projects people are doing, new recipes to try and funny pictures to bring a smile to my face. I have repinned so many DIY projects that it will take me the rest of the year to get around to all of them...except by then, the list will have just grown larger!

A few weeks ago, I came across this beauty:



Greenhouse Window - Martha Stewart



I knew I HAD to do this with my own kitchen window, but traded the glass shelves for easier-to-work-with and far less expensive wood. I embarked on my mission by first buying some window film online so that I could get as much light as possible through the window without worrying that my neighbors (or potential thieves) could see into my townhouse. I decided to go with the Etched Leaf Window Film from Amazon (free shipping!) and I'm glad I did because I love it! It was really easy to apply and it lets so much light in.



My window - before (nice view, eh?)


I picked up some wood from Home Depot and had them cut the pieces to fit my window. I also bought some moulding to serve as the "ledges" to hold up the shelves. I spray painted everything white for a crisp look. After screwing in the ledges to the sides of the window walls, all that was left was to pu the shelves on top. Of course, after the first shelf went in, I noticed that it wasn't quite level, despite my checking the level of the ledges. Turns out my house is lopsided. Something to do with the ground being clay here in Texas, causing foundation issues. Good to know!

I had to reattach the ledges to be level with the window, which seems strange, but it's more pleasing to the eye. I decided to leave them loose rather than attaching them, so that if I needed to remove them to clean the window, it would be easy.



Almost done!


I wanted a little valance at the top of the window for a finished look, so I sewed this one up in just a few minutes with some leftover fabric. Cute, right?

I guess now's a good time to mention that I completely failed at documenting the items needed for this project/cost. I think it was around $75 for everything, including the herbs/planters, which is not bad!

I bought several different pots for the herbs for variety. They were all about $5 each at Marshalls and TJMaxx (LOVE those stores!). The last step was planting the herbs and placing them on the shelves.

Herbs at your fingertips!

I love the way this turned out and I've already gotten a lot of use of the fresh herbs. One DIY project down, about 3 million to go!

DIY * art *




In my new living room!

  I seemed to have fallen off the face of the blogosphere for a while there, but I'm back! I've done quite a few things in the last several months, but sadly most of them were not documented. This is my first attempt at blogging again!

I got this idea from itsdoable and her tutorial is quite detailed (more so than mine), so you should check it out here!

original version

Materials Needed:
Canvas
Paint
Paint brush
Scissors
Scrapbook paper of various designs
Hot glue gun + lots of glue sticks

I wanted to do this because I had an old DIY painting that just didn't cut it anymore and I figured I could upcycle the canvas into a new piece of art. I used some sample wall paint to paint over the previous painting and it covered really well.

it looks black, but the color is a deep blue

Once I had the canvas painted and it had dried overnight, I was ready to start cutting a million little "petals" for the flower. I bought some scrapbook paper at Michael's on sale for .20/sheet and pretty much fell in love with a certain color scheme. Cutting out the petals wasn't so bad, I think it took about 30 minutes and I did it while watching TV. Simply cut out squares or rectangles and then shape them into petals. It's best to have various sizes so that you can fit them in place as needed.

cut out square turned petal

Once you have a good amount of petals, you can begin a dry run of placing the petals on the canvas to determine if you need to cut some down more and to get a general design. Start with the middle circle and make your way out. You can then get your hot glue gun and start gluing the petals down. I managed to burn myself with the glue more than a few times, so try to avoid that. As you go along, you'll find that you don't have enough petals (like me) and go back to cut some more.

my finished product

Make sure you have a few go off the edge, for added effect. I like how mine turned out and it only took about 1-2 hours total. What do you think?

Tiramisu Birthday Cake

My coworker/friend's birthday is this Friday and what better way to celebrate (besides her trip to Las Vegas) than by baking a yummy cake? I know she loves Tiramisu, because that is what she always orders from Olive Garden. Tiramisu doesn't really scream birthday cake, though, so I looked for other options with the same taste. Type "Tiramisu cake" into Google and the first link is the recipe I used.

First things first, put on your adorable apron and take silly pictures for your blog. Check. Next, line up all of your ingredients and take more pictures.

Check. (P.S. I put in that backsplash all by myself. Quite proud of it, actually). Once I stopped playing with the camera on my Mac (and subsequently researching online how to flip pictures since Mac likes to give me mirror images), I got down to business. Despite my cake being unwilling to stay in one piece as I flipped it out of the cake pan, I managed to make it look pretty with hand whipped (couldn't find my electric mixer) frosting and chocolate. Chocolate makes everything better. So does duct tape. Kind of wish they made edible duct tape for the purposes of baking. I digress...here is the final product!

Some things to keep in mind:
1. Make sure you have all your ingredients (including tools such as mixers)
2. Don't eat raw cake batter
3. Buy extra provisions for just in case when you mess up


Although I realize this has NOTHING to do with my healthy eating goals this week, I feel it's ok because it's not like I'm going to eat the whole cake myself. Though I probably would if I didn't have to bring it to work today. It looks yummy, right?


One last thing! The recipe called for three egg whites, so I had three egg yolks staring at me from a sad little bowl. So I boiled some pasta, sauteed some onions and garlic and made a pancetta-less carbonara (very loosely using this term). It was delish. Waste not, want not. ;)


What is your favorite kind of cake? 

8 Weeks to a Better Me: Week Three

I can't believe the second week is already over! Ok here are my results:

1. Go running at Memorial Park at least twice this week

I did actually go twice! Should have been more, but it was an emotionally charged week and I just did not have it in me.

 

2. Go to Yoga and challenge myself

Did not get to do this. At all. Very sad, actually. So I will try to do it this week!

 

3. Drink lots and lots of water

I definitely upped my intake of water, but I feel like I still need more. Going to continue this for the upcoming week...

 

So once again, not a completely successful week, and I won't make any more excuses, just need to get my mind around doing this the right way!

 

Week 3: Healthy Eating!

Well this will be a fun week because I enjoy cooking and have been slacking off in the home cooked meals department lately. What a great motivation to get out of my eating out rut and actually understand what I'm putting in my body. I miss the days of having yummy meals cooked by mom (or grandma...aunt...etc.), because it's never quite the same when you try to make it yourself. But it doesn't hurt to try!

1. Try out two new recipes (healthy ones) and make them from scratch
2. Eat one salad per day (go for dinner salads)
3. Add variety by branching out and trying new veggies/fruits (at least 2 new ones)

Those are the goals, let's hope that this week will be a complete success for me! What are your goals? Yay food!

 

How's it Sewing?

Ok, I promise that's the only sewing play on words I'll expose you to. :) Ok maybe just one more...

I broke down and bought my first sewing machine a few weeks ago and it arrived over the weekend. I chose it based on online reviews saying it was great for beginners (read: me). And so far, I must say, it is a dream! This is the model I got: Brother XL2600I Sew Advance Sew Affordable (haha, it was though! I only paid about $75) 25-Stitch Free-Arm Sewing Machine

Excited about sewing

I decided that I wanted to sew a little dress for my coworker who is about to become a mommy. She's having a little girl and I chose a very cute yellow pattern for the dress. After several mishaps (and subsequent fixes), here is the final product!

Close up of the ribbon, which I added because of a mishap, but totally works!

Knots for the straps :)



This is to prove that I actually made it!

 Isn't it just adorable? Makes me almost want to have babies. ALMOST. For now, I'll just make cute things for other people's children. Like these tiny baby bibs for my other coworker who is expecting twins. :)

Terry Cloth backs for easy cleanup

  What did I learn from my first few days of being a sewing machine owner?

1. Look up terminology - there are a lot of words that I had no idea existed and are kind of important when you're trying to follow directions

2. Read instructions, then read them again...and possibly a third time - better to be safe than stare blankly at the beautiful sewing you just completed...on the wrong side of the material

3. It's ok to make mistakes - just figure out a way to work with them or around them

What do you think of my first attempts? Hopefully I can make a dress for myself one day. :)

8 Weeks to a Better Me: Week Two

First things first, let's discuss last week's goals. 

1. Figure out how to make pictures look better on my blog...

I fixed some pictures that were not showing up correctly, and tried to find solutions online for making my pictures look better, but no luck yet...


2. Take better photos, taking care to set up great shots...
I actually haven't had a chance to take any pictures as my camera was left at home. :(


3. Explore new blogs and comment on them (instead of just reading!)...
I did this one! I started following a few new blogs and commented on several as I read them. :)


So last week was not exactly a success, but given the circumstances (friends visiting (yay!) and very little computer time), I'll cut myself some slack. ;)

Time for Week Two: Fitness!


I am very excited about this week because I used to exercise quite a bit, just a year ago. I was training for a triathlon and although it was impossible at first, I quickly developed a habit and it became part of my daily routine. I loved it. Then life happened, I moved to another city, fell down the stairs and severely injured my ankle and things stopped happening. I stopped moving as much.


And you know what, I miss it! So let's do this!

1. Go running at Memorial Park at least twice this week

2. Go to Yoga and challenge myself

3. Drink lots and lots of water

My problem lately has been motivation, so I've looked up a few things to get me going.

This is amazing!

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. -Jim Ryan

I once read that even if you really don't want to workout (or do something else), talk yourself into just going for ten minutes and you'll usually find that once you've started, it's easy to keep going.

What motivates you? 

8 Weeks to a Better Me: Week One

I have been feeling a little out of sync lately and I think it has to do with not taking care of myself as I should. This includes taking on too much, eating whatever is fast and unhealthy and not getting in enough exercise. My job has me sitting at a desk, staring at a computer for 8-9 hours on end and I really need to take time either in the morning or evening to counteract all the sedentary action going on.

Thanks to a friend who did the same thing, I will be starting a challenge this week called "8 Weeks to a Better Me." This was actually started by Sometimes Sweet, and I highly recommend that you visit her blog. I don't expect miracles to happen, but I hope it will get me on a better path. The basic premise is to make small goals to work towards every week and challenge yourself to make them happen.



The first week is about blogging.



1. Figure out how to make pictures look better on my blog
2. Take better photos, taking care to set up great shots
3. Explore new blogs and comment on them (instead of just reading!)

I am excited to get started!