Project: Backyard Garden

So boyfriend and I went to the Home Depot in search of some supplies to put some raised gardens in the backyard. We got the green light from the landlords to do what we like, and we are going to! Here’s part of the yard we have to work with. It’s double the size on the other side of the yard.

We just have to move the grill out of the way and the pavers. There is so much potential! We got some white paint at the Home Depot to paint some pallets to build an A frame garden.

We decided to paint just the tops, so we can fill them with dirt and grow through the cracks.

We used Rustolium indoor outdoor pain and it worked awesomely. A quart was only $9.

We painted the tops and leaned them up against the garage to dry. Next, we will staple landscaping fabric on the bottoms to fill them with soil and plant with them!

There were some gorgeous things at the Home Depot…

I couldn’t help but swoon over the hydrangeas.

I would have gotten this if I didn’t think the cat would eat it.

I love these little cactus’s! Happy Gardening!

DIY Quote Painting

I’ll start this post by saying 1. I needed a picture above my bed. Blank walls make me sad. 2. I have some blank canvases laying around. 3. My favorite book in the world is Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. I decided to do a simple painting of one of my favorite quotes from the book to fill a space on the wall.

I typed the quote into Word processor to make sure it would fit on a rectangular canvas, and so I would know where to put the words.

Once I had the words printed, I folded the page in half, and in half again, and again the other way. That way I knew where to place the words on the canvas. I measured the canvas for it’s halfway point and wrote the words onto it.

 

The last few lines were crooked when I was writing, so I made sure when I painted the words to straighten it out.

Here’s my finished work. I painted the black words, then I painted in white around it. Sure it took a long time, but It was worth the finished look. I like how the white isn’t even in the background.

 

I also took some old sconces that I found at a garage sale for $6 and spray painted them black to match and go on the sides for a finished look.

Looks better black!

 

I love the finished look! Plus, I get to re-read one of my favorite quotes as often as I want to.

Price of canvas: $8 for a 2 pack. Sconces: $6. I had the candles and the paint, so this project cost me $10. Happy decorating!

Banana Muffins and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

The cooks at work have been giving me old bananas and in return, I bring them banana bread. Not a bad bargain since they give me enough bananas to do 2 or 3 loafs at a time. Here’s the recipe I ALWAYS use, along with a new one for frosting I just found.

 

Ok, so seeing as how i’m a health nut, I end up substituting some things for what’s in a recipe. I’ll comment when I like to substitute ingredients.

MUFFINS:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (I use 1/2 cup ground almond and flax seeds to sub some flour. I also use whole wheat flour.)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I use raw sugar)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large, over ripe bananas (if you don’t have enough, use 1/2 cup applesauce to sub for a banana)
• 1/4 C Milk (regular, non fat, soy, almond…)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Spices, if you like. I add a sprinkle of cinnamon, and nutmeg.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mash bananas until mushy. Add milk, egg, and vanilla and mix or process until blended.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just blended. Pour batter into either 12 muffin cups (greased) or an 8″ loaf pan (also greased)
5. Bake 1 hour if making bread, or 20-25 minutes if making muffins, checking on them after 20 to see if they are done. Cool in bread pan, on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, and then remove bread (if making bread.)

 

Frosting! I found a recipe online for carrot cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting from asweetbaker.com. MMM! I used the one for frosting.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 3-4 cups icing sugar (depending on what consistency and sweetness you want your icing)

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese, butter, vanilla and cinnamon. Slowly add icing sugar until you reach the desired consistency and sweetness you want.

 

 

These also make a great healthy breakfast to go since they are loaded with goodness like almond and flax seeds. Enjoy!

Big City Living, Easier Than Small City Living

With my move to Milwaukee in the last few months, I’ve discovered that living in a bigger city is easier than living in a smaller city. Easier, with all of the conveniences of transport, shopping, and things to do. I will never say “I’m bored. There’s nothing going on here…” again. I’m selling my car to fund my college career, seeing as how I work 5 blocks away from home and I walk to campus, just 2 blocks away. Oh, the gas money I’ll save! The grocery stores are everywhere, but the one we love most is Trader Joe’s, and it’s only a few miles. They have a wide selection of organic foods, whole foods, and natural selections, which was hard to find in a small town.

Image Link

Big city perks I’ve noticed:

• Last week some girlfriends and I wanted food from a specific restaurant, and there is a bicycle delivery service called FlavorCycle that will pick up your food and deliver it to you (limited restaurants.)
• I walked to class today (as I do every day) and wanted to check out a bike shop to see about a new bike. It was only 3 blocks away, and I was able to walk there too.
• There’s a grocery store, specialty beer and wine store, pizza place, breakfast place, movie theater, coffee shop, etc, all just 5 blocks or less away.
• I moved here just three months ago and found out a dozen or so friends had done the same. I already have friends here. My boyfriend wanted to move here too, and he has friends from his very small hometown that have already moved here as well. People like moving to big cities, so we both already knew a ton of people here.
• I went for a bike ride the other day and realized the beach was less than a mile up the road, within walking distance, and if I ride my bike, NO parking! And NO parking tickets!
• There is an endless supply of restaurants, all with different price ranges to fit my budget. I have a picky diet, and there are restaurants here that suit what I need with many (not just a few) selections. There are tons of bars to meet friends at, and you can literally try something different every time you go out. Awesome bands tour in bigger cities, thus, more shows for music lovers.

Hello Milwaukee beach and Lake Michigan! Photo courtesy of a friend and MKE local, Kaitlyn. (Follow her on Twitter @KaitlynMKE )Yes, this is the view from the rooftop solarium of her apartment… I know, I’m jealous too.

Rent is a little more, but I will save like $400 a month when I sell the car. No gas, no car payment, no insurance, and I can always take the bus that’s included in my tuition if I need to travel farther away. Public transportation is much easier in a larger city than in a smaller one, there are more busses, more stops, and more times the bus runs. I have a bike for exercise and travel as well! Well, I did have a bike. I recently hit the pedal with my car while it was in the garage, bending it, and it fell off while I was riding it. Minus a few scrapes and a bum arm, I’m lucky I wasn’t hurt any further. Now, I’m in the market for a new one.

If money was no object… How about this one?

We’ve also started to grow a garden! I know you can do this in a small city too, but it’s not impossible to grow an urban garden. We’ve started tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries, beans, peppers, herbs, and many other foods. The plan is to grow half of what we eat, and once we have a juicer, many meals can be provided through juicing the right veggies and fruits to get all of the nutrition you need.

What may be mildly impressive to some may be very impressive to others. Knowing that I helped these little seedlings grow and will help them grow more outside gives me great satisfaction. I love knowing what’s in my food, and knowing I helped grow it ensures I know exactly what’s in my food. So far, loving the bigger city life. I am learning which neighborhoods to stay out of, and where to shop for what I need for less money and high quality very quickly.

Do you live in a large or small city? Which do you prefer?

Coconut Oil to Renew Wood

I got this chair from my father as a hand me down. Well, the true story is he had it in storage and I begged and bothered him for this chair until he dug it out. It’s something I remember from my childhood, and it’s broken and missing cushions, but knowing me, it wasn’t going to stop me from wanting it. The wood on this old teak chair was dry and looked just sad. There were 2 choices I had, I could polyurethane it or find something to renew the wood itself. I came across a blog post about rubbing coconut oil on old dry wood to renew the luster. I thought it was worth a shot. After testing it on the underside and liking what I saw, I went ahead and did the rest of the chair.

This is what the chair looked like before, dry and aged.

Here’s another shot. Cats love to help. They also love coconut oil.

Here’s what it started to look like once I rubbed the oil on the chair. It looks amazing! The downside was that I had to rub and rub and rub to get the oily feeling out of the chair. I wanted that refreshed look without the feel, and went through quite a few paper towels.

Here’s the arm of the chair after I finished it.

The finished chair! With no cushions, I just draped a blanket over it and added a folded blanket to the seat.

This is the arm in the sunlight. The chair looks great next to the table by it (that WILL get refinished this summer.)

I think the chair looks great. NOTE: Don’t start using coconut oil on chairs and furniture around your house to freshen them up if you plan on refinishing them. You’ll get the oil into the grain making the color weird or keeping a water based poly from sticking to the furniture. I would only recommend this for pieces like this, natural wood that’s been dried out that you just want to bring back to life. Happy re-finishing!