A Sneak Peek and A Question

Hallelujah!  The spindles are done!  Done, finished, finito!  After all of the stripping, sanding, scraping, cleaning, staining, and cursing painting, my hard work has paid off.  

I love the way they turned out.  I couldn't be more pleased.  And guess what, my husband loves them too.  Told you dear, you just have to trust me. ; )

Next, I need to hang the botanical prints for the gallery wall.  But before I go any further, I need your help.  I purchased a bunch of cheap, oak-colored frames from Wal-Mart and stained them to match the spindles.  My husband thinks the frames and the spindles are too matchy-matchy.  I, on the other hand, love the look.  So, I need your help.  Should I keep the frames as is, or paint them a different color?

To refresh your memory, here's a picture of the prints and mats.

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Reese's Pieces Sundae

The school year has ended for my kids.  Their last day was May 23rd.  They worked really hard maintaining their grades.  To celebrate a great year, we made Reese's Pieces sundaes.

As a kid growing up in New Jersey, I have warm memories celebrating the end of the school year with a trip to Friendly's for my very own Reese's Pieces sundae, with extra peanut butter sauce.

Well, we're in Georgia now and since there's no Friendly's in the area, we created our own.

Ingredients 
Vanilla ice cream
Peanut butter sauce
Chocolate fudge sauce
Whipped cream
Reese's Pieces
Maraschino cherries
Chocolate sprinkles Jimmies

Directions
Drizzle chocolate fudge and peanut butter sauce in the bottom of the sundae dish.  Add a few Reese's Pieces.  Scoop in ice cream, then pour more chocolate fudge and peanut butter sauce on top.  Top sundae with whipped cream.  Finish with more Reese's pieces and top with a cherry!

My kids are excited for summer and eating as many Reese's Pieces sundaes as we can!

Bloggers Beware!

Some folks aren't nice and they do not play fair.

In the past I've read about other bloggers who have had their blog posts stolen taken from their blogs and posted on another blog without their permission.  I'm sure most bloggers will agree using a picture or two from our blogs with a proper link back is perfectly fine.  But don't assume, not everyone will give you permission to use their photos.  Taking our work and passing it off as your own is not acceptable.

While checking my stats, I noticed traffic from a site I wasn't familiar with.  After clicking my way through their blog, I noticed a lot of the projects(tutorials) that were posted, were from a blog that I am very familiar with.  The blog owner actually copied entire blog posts as well as features from her link party(I was featured on her blog, that's how I was able to find this blog- through my stats).  I contacted the blogger and she was furious, upset that someone would do this and think that it's OK.

Later in the week while browsing Pinterest I noticed a company that was advertising a product using a room in another blogger's home.  I emailed the blogger to make her aware and again she was mad.

After all of that, I was prompted to do a search on my own blog.  Using Google Images, I chose a few pics from my popular posts and searched to see if any of my content was published on another blog(website) without my permission.  Low and behold there it was, my entire blog post on another blog.  I immediately contacted the blogger and asked her nicely to remove my post.  My exact words were, "Although I'm flattered that you enjoyed my post, copying my post word for word, picture for picture is not acceptable".  For days I heard nothing, then she made her blog private.

In my search I also found a few blogs that used pictures from my blog without linking back to me.  I chalked it up as an oversight. I'd like to believe that most bloggers are honest and don’t intend to infringe upon copyrights, but I still went ahead and contacted the blog owners and asked them to credit my blog.

We are surrounded by so many fabulous blogs and loads of inspiration.  Most of the blogs I read freely share their creativity to inspire others.  When someone takes from another blogger by stealing their work or not properly linking the images they use in their blog posts, they are not playing nicely.

*Side note:  I've had this post saved to my drafts for some time now.  I was hesitant about publishing this post because I didn't want to come off as being "preachy".  I wrote this post to make you aware and for you to take steps to protect your blog.  Watermarking your photos is a great idea, but unfortunately this step does not prevent them from being used without permission. 

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Wild Blue Cupcakes

Using beer in cupcakes?  Yes, it's true!  You can cook with beer and Wild Blue cupcakes are delicious!  If you are a fan of fruity beers and cupcakes, then you need to try this.

You can taste the hint of blueberry, but the flavor is not overwhelming.  Much needed after my sweet puppy chewed a pair of my favorite shoes.

Cupcake Ingredients (recipe adapted from missmake.com)

3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 c sugar
2 1/2 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 c Wild Blue beer
1/4 c milk

Directions 
1. Line 2, 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners..  In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking power and salt.
2. In a large bowl beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar a little bit at a time, beating well.  Once it's all added beat for 2 more minutes.
3. Add eggs, beating after each.
4. Add vanilla and beat.
5. Add in milk and beer, and whisk well
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.  Bake at 325 degrees F for 18 minutes, or until cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Remove from oven and allow cupcakes to cool completely.  Once cooled, frost

Butter Cream Frosting Ingredients (recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk

Directions
In large bowl, beat powdered sugar and butter until smooth.  Add salt, vanilla and milk, continue to beat until light and fluffy.

*After reading this article, I found that not all of the alcohol in the beer was baked out of the cupcakes.  Therefore, I did not serve these to my children.  Not a problem, that leaves more for my husband and me!

**A huge thanks to folks over at Wild Blue for featuring this recipe on their Facebook page!



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Not Much Progress

I mentioned last week that I was stripping the paint off the stair spindles.  Progress is slow as I haven't dedicated much time to it. Factor in a new puppy, end of the school year activities with my kids and the  bothersome fumes, completing this project was at the bottom of my list.

My husband is not the type to complain when the house is a wreck in the midst of whatever project I'm working on, but this week he's been dropping hints.  Especially since he didn't see the need for the paint to be stripped.  I know he'll love it though.  He just has to trust me! ; )

In addition to the spindles, I plan to remove the sign above and create a gallery wall of botanical prints.

Nine Botanical Prints via Horchow

I was inspired by this image that I found while browsing Pinterest. This set of prints sells for $1,575.00.  Seriously?!

So I clicked over to Etsy in search of something much cheaper and found these prints.  I love them.  The prints are very similar to my inspiration picture.

I ordered a set of picture mats as well.  Not sure if I'll keep them black or spray paint them a different color.  It all depends on the frames I find.

Hopefully I can work on the spindles a little more this weekend.  Now that my prints have arrived, I'm motivated to get finished. 

Doll Bed Makeover

 I have a sweet niece who loves playing with dolls.

 So while I was in the thrift store last week, I spied a doll bed that I thought she might like to play with.

For $3.00, it was a great price, but in need of a makeover.

 I cleaned it off, then painted it white using leftover paint.

 I added beadboard wallpaper to the headboard and footboard.

I covered the bottom sides with fabric and ribbon trim for a softer look.

 I made a pillowcase with leftover fabric and ruffled trim.

I purchased a foam cushion and covered it with fabric in colors to match her room.

I hope she enjoys it!