Burlap Lamp Shade Upgrade

lamp shade upgrade

Lamp Shade Upgrade

This project was incredibly simple and affordable. I’ve been seeing burlap-covered lamp shades everywhere, and noticed my trusty bedside reading lamp was looking a little dingy. The shade was getting dirty and it was just too plain. So, why not use what I had and make it a little more homey?

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Lemon Coconut Muffin Bars

Lemon Coconut Muffin Bars Recipe

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

I found this recipe in our staging cookbook that we used for house showing decor. It’s the Better Homes and Gardens annual recipes 2003 cookbook. We picked it purely for the colors and photos, but hey, I’ve already made two recipes from it! I put a different spin on it to serve up for Sunday. Easter has always been my favorite holiday, and I’m so excited! If you’re looking for a good spring recipe, I would highly recommend this one. (Unless we’re going to the same family function.) It’s fairly easy, and there’s even a surprise filling inside. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

List of Ingredients

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Behind the Scenes

Spring Cleaning

 

Elbow Grease

It was truly March Madness for us – A month for the record books. We put an offer on a house, had it contingently accepted, had to make a mad dash to sell a house, and a bunch of aftermath that we’re currently weeding through. There were many, many things that needed to take place in order for everything to fall exactly into place. There was probably some divine intervention, because whatever took place was of superhuman effort. Good thing we know some pretty super humans 🙂

This is a sampling of what we needed to do. The majority of our work was taping, mudding, prepping walls, painting walls, shampooing carpet, getting everything into boxes and out of the house, repainting coats of paint and generally polishing and deep cleaning every square inch. Joe’s house cleaned up pretty nicely! But few of us got to be behind the scenes. Lemme tell you, it wasn’t so pretty. But it was all worth it in the end.

To-Do Lists

to-do list page 1

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House is Sold

sold sign

 

It’s (Almost) Official

The Sign Santa finally came around and left us a little present in the front yard. Just in time to update it to “SOLD” – Joe accepted an offer!

 

Joe signing house offer

He was SO happy to hear it.

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Making a Customized Picture Frame

how to make a personalized picture frame

Most people, like it or not, will get a homemade craft from me at some point. I love giving birthday presents! If you’re in a pinch to make a friend a fun birthday gift too, this might be a neat idea for you.

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Making: Healthy Truffles

healthy truffles recipe

 

Guilty Little Pleasures

I sincerely hope you didn’t give up sweets for Lent, because I have a bunch of chocolate recipes to share. There’s an amazing new truffle place in the skyway where I work called Legacy Chocolates. Ah.Maz.Ing. At $3 a piece, they are worth every cent. They make 99% dark cocoa truffles, and experiment with new flavors each week. What’s not to love, right? The trouble is, I was becoming a regular. For a couple months, I would get a truffle every week. So I thought, hmmm I could totally make something like this.

I found this recipe for truffles on Pinterest, and it spoke to me:

Guilt-free chocolate truffles: “Greek yogurt chocolate truffles. Great recipes for fitness lovers with a sweet tooth.” From MayIHaveThisRecipe.com.

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Guest Bathroom: From Popcorn to Knockdown

knocking out popcorn

Popcorn vs Knockdown

Are you like Joe and hate popcorn ceiling with a passion? It never bothered me much, until I realized how many alternatives are out there! Joe has always wanted to try doing a knockdown ceiling treatment, so we decided to pick a sample room and try our hand. Since Steve’s bathroom is basically unoccupied now, we figured it was the perfect small space for a test run!

The Supplies

You’ll need to buy a few things before attempting this yourself.

how to DIY knockdown ceiling supplies

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Winter Fun 2015

winter st. paul Minnesota

All things considered, I think it’s been a pretty fun and eventful winter so far! I’m 100% happy with being in MN for the season. (I’ll get back to you around March). I’m equally thankful we don’t live on the east coast right now! So Minnesota isn’t really so bad. In fact, MN is the best kept secret in the US. This article pretty much sums up what we already know.

Anyway, we’ve been out and about these last couple weekends exploring MN and WI and have many adventures to share.

Fishing

Joe won an all-inclusive, luxury one night stay at his company fish house on Lake Mille Lacs last Friday, so we figured we better use it or lose it 🙂

ice fishing Minnesota

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Celebrate

Be Nice Header Image

 

Detour Ahead

I think this post is actually my New Year’s Resolution coming together. I like to take my time with these things. 🙂 “Celebrate” is definitely my word for 2015.

Let’s take a step back for a second. We live in such a crazy world at a crazy pace that we rarely celebrate our accomplishments along the way. Who has the time to stop and celebrate? If you’re like me, you’re probably your own biggest critic. I don’t take time to sit back and look at all the things that have gone right. Always looking forward, I find myself cruising right through the good stuff.

My initial thoughts around my New Year’s Resolutions were this: To not be so hard on myself and others. To give myself a little grace. And by extension, others around me. I think that resolution has expanded a little bit…

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Sun Room

new room love header image

Surf, Sand and Sun

Two out of three ain’t so bad for a Minnesota winter. We’re still pretty sad that Steve and Shila Bear moved out, but on the bright side, there’s a new room in Joe’s house. What was once a porch addition, because a four-season bedroom. Now it’s restored to a four-season porch! Or “sun room” as we’ve been affectionately calling it.

sun room photo

Come take a peek inside!

sun room renovation

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