Go Your Own Way

As promised the sign is done!  As a reminder from where we started check out my original pin from pinterest

 (original pin)

Im so sorry I dont know where this originally came from, I cant find the original source but I had to share the picture.

Since its been so long since the first post on the idea, Ill just make this a big post with all the details!  To start with I downloaded fonts that I though best reflected the place that I was going to mark.  Thanks for www.1001freefonts.com for all the great fonts that we used.
If you would like to use the names I did click here.  I printed the names out and had those ready for when the signs were ready to be marked.

Now what is a sign without a good post?!  Since the drought was so bad here last year my mom had a lot of fallen trees on her property, and we scored and awesome trunk from her.

Good post right?!  Not that we have the post, we need the arrows.  I didnt need them to be all fancy but Joe decided to make them look like arrows which is fine with me they were cute.  It wasnt that hard to make these all you need is a 2x4 or pallet wood or whatever you have laying around.  You can break the wood piece to have an angle that points or you can use a compound saw and cut angles that you want for an arrow, just do whatever you think is best for your sign here.

After you cut all your signs out now you are ready to burn/paint the words onto the signs.  We had a soldering gun that had a wood burning attachement.  Thankfully Joe is a great artist and drew the words onto the wood pretty much just like they were on the paper.  You can do whatever works best for you, I thought of buring over the paper or using an excto knife to cut into the wood and burn over that in case Joe couldnt draw them, but seeing as he could I never had to test those theories.  Honestly it was really time consuming to do all the burning and thats what it took so long to get this done, but it was well worth it since I think it will last the longest.  After you get all the arrows done now you can attach them to your post, and thats the fastest part.  If you use a nail gun it will be even easier.

If you put them on at funky angles that gives it an older cooler feel too.  But if you are more meticulous then of course you can make them perfect, its your sign make it fit you!  Now that all the arrows are on plant it in the ground.  If you have a hole digger you can use it or a shovel, but the hole digger makes it a litter easier to dig a hole.  Make sure the hole is about 2 feet deep so that the post is sturdy in the ground.  When the hole is dug stick the post in, re plant the soil and pack it tighthy.  Once thats done YOUR done!  Step back and admire your awesome job on an awesome sign!

What a fun way to make a fun statement in your yard.  We ended up putting ours in the back yard so as not to start any trouble with the HOA, they stress me out.  So what do you think?  All that work, was it worth it?  I sure do think so!

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Foodie Friday #23

Its Friday and Im super excited about it!  I started my new job this week but am happy for the weekend to finally be here and take some down time to...wait for it...FINISH THE SIGN...if you dont know what Im talking about then just tune in Monday because shock of shock I will finally be posting the epic conclusion to this masterpiece.  I have to say my husband is extremely talented and it looks fantastic!

For the recipe this week, I made these for my new work buddies but ended up eating them all myself.  Possibly next time I will leave out the Peanut Butter because they were pretty hard not as melty as I normally like my Krispie Treats.  I am a sucker for Butterfinger though and had to try these and were overall totally in love.  Try these out and let me know what you think!

Butterfinger Rice Krispie Treats

(A RecipeGirl blog recipe, modified by Rachael S)

Servings: 9     Prep Time: 25min     Cook Time: 5min            Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon salted butter
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 bag large marshmallows
• 4 cups Rice Krispies
• 8 pack of .65-ounce Butterfinger candy bars chopped into chunks

Instructions

 Spray an 8x8-inch pan with nonstick spray.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and peanut butter together over medium heat. Add the marshmallows- stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the Rice Krispies. Stir in the Butterfingers (setting about 1/4 cup aside for the topping). Scrape the mixture into the prepare pan and press it evenly into the pan with clean hands. Let it cool.

Cut the Krispie Treats into nine equal pieces and store them in a covered container. 

What are you waiting for, go try these out an be prepared to want to eat them all!

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Thankful Thursday

Its that time of week again...a time to reflect and be thankful and you know what Im thankful for this week...YOU!  Thats right YOU!  Im thankful for everyone who has been with me from the beginning, those of you who just found me today and of course everyone in between.  You guys keep me wanting to be creative instead of just sitting on my butt doing nothing.  Sometimes its hard to get motivated and knowing people like what I create totally makes my day.

Thanks everyone for stopping by, leaving comments and following me it totally makes my day everyday when I log on and see how many people have stopped in.  I wanted to tell all of you that Im thankful for you and am so happy we are getting to know each other through the wonderful blog world.

If you have a project you would love to see me create let me know I would love to have some new ideas since Pinterest has been letting me down lately.  And what would Thursday be without a picture of Oreo!

Such a happy puppy, wish he didnt love sitting in dirt though :)

Project Housewife Out!

How Wide Can You Go?

I want to start off by saying...this was really hard.  I mean really hard but I think it was well worth it in the end.  Not much story here for you just straight into the instructions.  If anything here doesnt make sense please let me know and I will be more than happy to try and articulate myself a little better, I feel like Im rambling a little today.

Remember yesterday when I showed you how to make a curtain longer?  Well if you dont remember just click here and you can see that post.  Today Im going to combine yesterday's post and add on to that.  I have curtains in my bedroom that I dont love, I liked them but the valance was throwing me off.  The picture below sucks but its hard to get a good picture when the sun is shining in through the window.

I decided to get rid of the valance but modify the curtain panels.  I wanted to add width to make a more lush look and then move the curtain panels up to where the valance was, which means I was going to have to make the curtain longer.  First things first, I had to cut the panel in half.

 Cutting the panel did need some help.  I dont have a large enough flat surface to cut on so I had m husband hold one end while I cut the other.  Be careful if your curtains have lining and make sure you cut the curtain and the lining at the same time so everything is the same size for hemming purposes.

**Side note, please note that the panels I am working on dont have the traditional pocket for the curtain rod but belt loop esk loops, so if you have the traditional pocket make sure you follow the instructions from my first curtain post found here**

 Remember from yesterday the hemming we did to the edges, but on this cut curtain you only have to hem the cut edge so that the fabric doenst come unraveled or anything on your seam.  Make sure its even all the way down, pin it in place, then iron it down, then hem it down.  Since I had a lining I actually had to hem the lining down then hem the fancy fabric down.  Honestly this probably would have been better to sew to save on hem tape but i cant sew in a straight line and thought that would be tackier than a lot of hem tape.

 Truth be told this took a lot of time...like 2 hours per panel...so I forgot to take some of the pictures because my back was hurting and my knees hurt and blah blah blah sorry!!!  So the above picture is all the pieces put together so let me explain what I did.  After I had the two sides of the original curtain hemmed.  I went on to the addition fabric.  I hemmed the top and bottom at the length to match the original panels.  Make sure it matches 100% so it doesnt look off when you hang the curtain, which means leave enough for a 1 inch hem but the rest should match up.  The 2 edges I hemmed to each panel one at a time the same (so back to back with the hem tape in the middle).  I didnt hem the unfinished edge of the new fabric because it was going to be covered in the seam.  After you hemmed the fabrics back to back, flip it over and iron out the seam.  Then on the front put a piece of hem tape where you ironed the seam, flip the curtain back over and iron the hem tape in place.  Repeat the same thing for the other side of the curtain.

For the bottom, thats going to be the easiest.  Measure your piece to be same length as the new curtain panel and to the width you want, then follow the instructions from yesterday's post (here)

I know a lot of steps with like no pictures to go with it and I have failed you!  I am sorry.  But if you are going to attempt this and want some extra help just email me!

The next step is to make the loops to hang the curtain from.  From the scrap fabric I cut 2 pieces on the edge of the fabric so the top was a loop.  I them hemmed the bottom edges together, then hemmed the top and bottom edges to the top of the curtain in line with the other loops.  This doesnt have to be an exact science just make the width you think works best and space it at what you think is best.  Make sure you let that sit for about 5 minutes before you hang it so it has time to set.

Now comes the most fun part, is hanging the curtains!!

 Wow looks cool right?!  I was pretty impressed that it looked better than I thought it was going to.  Oh and a side note I am going to paint the walls gray so there wont be so much purple soon!

Here is a longer view for you, I love these now they are much more what I had imagined and that makes me happy...now what to do with the valances?!

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The Rooster and the Hen

Raise the Roof!

Or raise the curtain height in this case.  I have been starting at the curtains in my living room for a year and a half wishing they were longer and finally go around to matching up the fabric to do so.  This week I actually have 2 curtain projects to share with you but today's is the simpler of the two and thats adding length to a curtain. 

Here is a before shot of the living room (kitchen has the same curtains at the same height)

I decided that it would look better if the curtains were at the ceiling height so off to Joann's I went in search of a fabric match.  It was pretty hard to find an exact match but the color match was very very close.  The store associate actually made a great suggestion to add ribbon to the seam to try and make it look pretty seamless so I decided to go with that idea.  As a side note...none of this requires a sewing machine.  Arguably it would have been better if I had sewn it, but since I cant sew a straight line to save my life I figured hem tape would work better.  Below is after the curtain rods were taken down, and you can see what a big difference even sheers make to a window.  It looks so boring and bland, but with the curtains it brings more life into the home.  Dont get me wrong its cool if you dont want curtains, I just happen to prefer having them.

Here is what i started with...

 Thats the bottom of the curtain and the fabric that I used to make it longer.  First I measured with width of the original and cut the new fabric plus 1 inch on either side to match.  The 1 inch on either side is to make the hem so that the unfinished edges dont show.

 Here you can see the pinning of the hem.  What I do is first pin the hem, then iron over it so the hem stays down then I insert the hem tape between the fabric and the edge.  Make sure you read the instructions on the hem tape so you know how long to leave the heat on for.

 Here is a closer shot of the edges hemmed down.  Not the best shot but you get the idea.  I did the 1 inch hem on 3 edges to make sure there were not going to be any unfinished edges showing.

 Above is a better picture of all 3 edges hemmed and ready for the next step

 To attach the extra length put the original curtain face down and the new addition face up so they are back to back.  The white line you see at the bottom of the brown is the hem tape before I put it in between the 2 fabrics.  Once you have both fabrics as close to perfectly lined up as you can, put the hem tape between the 2 pieces of fabric and iron away.

 Once them hem tape has had about 1 minute to cool flip the extra length piece down and then iron at the seam to help it lay flat.  As an extra step I also flipped the curtain over and put a piece of them tape at the seam as well.  Since both fabrics were pretty heavy it helped to have the extra bonding to keep it from flopping around.  If you have a lighter fabric this wont be necessary.

Now for the decoration.  I have a hard time with straight lines so ribbon really is my best friend and helps me hide a host of problems.  Same is the case here, so I put hem tape on the curtain where I wanted the ribbon to go (aka cover up a mess haha), put the ribbon on top of that and ironed it all together.  Below you see the sheers have also magically grown in length as well...well I spent another 2 hours taking a seam ripper to them to make them longer.  These babies had like a 6 inch hem on them which was great because that meant I didnt have to add any length to them I just had to take the seam out.  Major score on that one.

All in all I had 4 curtains to do and it took about 3 hours to do all 4...and thats including distractions from the dog and the TV shows I was watching...oh and another 2 for the sheers.  Truth be told I am actually going to move these curtains to the kitchen with their sisters because i want to make a sheer valance for in here...but seeing as I used all my fabric allowance in here and the bedroom that will have to wait a few more weeks.  Oh and cost on this, the fabric was $13.50 for 3 yards, $5 for 2 spools of ribbon and $3 for 2 rolls of hem tape.  Total for this project of 4 curtains is $21.50.  Not bad considering you cant really buy a 100" length curtain for that price!

My back is killing me from all the sitting on the floor but I think its worth it, makes the room look taller and it was pretty cheap to do as well which always makes me happy.  Do you have curtains you like but would love to make longer?  Whats holding you back?!

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The Rooster and the Hen
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Foodie Friday #22

Happy Friday everyone!  Is it just me or was this week the slowest week in the history of weeks (ok thats probably an exaggeration)...but we are ending on a high note.  Today Im going to lunch with my Dad and Brother so this should be interesting...dont know where we are going since I dont know where anything is downtown but Im sure it will be better than anything where I work :)

Today I am sharing a recipe I made this week and it made a lot of leftovers and that makes me sooo happy...and the leftovers tasted pretty much just like it was fresh so thats even better.  It was very spicy though but I think this may have been from the brand of diced tomatoes I used.  I normally get Rotel but this time I got the Kroger brand and dad gum it was spicy, and I got the original type, not the hot type.  So if you are like me and dont like spicy you might want to just use normal diced tomatoes so you still get the tomato flavor without the extra kick of spice.  Oh and I actually didnt drain the diced tomatoes so that could have been a factor also.  As you can see from my picture this makes a large batch so you can either eat it alone or have a side dish.  Personally anything that has meat in it is a main dish but do whatever works for you!

Taco Pasta

(A The Girl Who AteEverything Blog recipe)

Servings: 6-8           Prep Time: 5min      Cook Time: 10min         Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef or turkey
• 8-12 ounces medium pasta shells or other small dry pasta shapes
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup, frozen onions are ok too thats what I used)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, drained
• 1 packet (4 tablespoons) taco seasoning
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground meat over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the meat is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the meat is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes.

Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit if it is still too thin.

Toss in the cilantro right before serving for some fresh color and flavor. Serve with a green salad.

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Thankful Thursday

Today is Thursday and you know what that means...another day to reflect on what I am thankful for.  I dont think I have shared this yet but I got a new job...again.  Back in February I switched to a job downtown and never really felt like it was my home.  Back at my old job in the Woodlands that job felt like home until my wings got too big for the property then it was with sadness that I had to move on.  But here it never felt like I would spend too much time here and as it turns out I was right.  Only 2 months after making the switch Im going back to the Woodlands but this time with a different hotel in a different position.

(Good husbands do stupid things if their wife asks them too haha)

What Im thankful for this week is opportunities.  I learned very recently that you should never shut a door to a career path because you never know what will come of it.  I love Revenue Management but it seems Im being called to a different field (accounting).  If I had kept that door shut I never would have moved Downtown and subsequently gotten the offer that I have now, which is a great opportunity for growth, development and promotion (honestly this is a great chance for me to stretch my wings and really start the career path).  Im thankful for my husband who supports me in every decision I make and always wants whats best for me and a Dad that is in the industry and can give me some really great insights (and the fact that I listen to them rather than brush them off)

(Dad took me and Joe to Gourmet Night, a great place to network)

Some great opportunities have come my way over my lifetime but I think right now I am most thankful for being able to have a job 15 minutes away from home and that allows me to work out in the mornings (best time to work out in my opinion).  I never would have thought I would be job hopping so much but when something great comes along you have to be crazy to pass it up!

What are you thankful for this week...oh and because everyone loves Oreo...My neighbor Evan took this when we stopped by his house during one of our walks...one of the best pics of my puppy I think :)

Project Housewife Out!