Chalkboard Refrigerator for Renter!

This is will be a simple and easy DIY for those of you who: one are renters (like myself) and cannot paint your refrigerator or two you don't want to paint your refrigerator to realize you want to go back to what you had before. 

Things you need: 

• Chalkboard contact paper 
• Scissors 
• Credit card (to get any air bubble out that might occur)
• Patience  

How To: 

1. Cut your contact paper to the size you want to cover on your refrigerator. 
2. Pull back a little of the backing on the back side of contact paper and position where you want it. 
3. Work in small sections and run your hand over the contact paper as you put it on the fridge.  I found an up and down motion to be the best for eliminating the number of air bubbles.  The first time I did this I did it differently and had HUGE bubbles every where! 
4. Take some chalk and write good job to congradulate yourself! 
5. Stand back and admire your handy work. 

I used 3M's Chalkboard Contact Paper that I found at Walmart during the back to school time.  I will warn you that some of it had nicks in it and I couldn't use that section.  If I had more I would cover the bottom door of my fridge but because I did this one time before and didn't like how it came out I didn't have enough.  Also the size was just perfect for the freezer door of my refrigerator not so perfect for the frig portion.   

 

So there you have it.  Simple, easy, cheap, and removable!  

Come Tour My Apartment

Howdy!!! Sorry I have not posted in a while but its September so that means: school starting, moving apartments, and seeing friends I haven't seen in months! These are my last few months here in Aggieland and since my parents are the best parents on the face of the earth they allowed me to get a one bedroom for this semester! I have spent the last week packing, moving, and settling into my new humble abode.  I am absolutely in love with my apartment and am sad that I have to move out in December! But with that being said y'all are here to see what I have done with the place so here it is! 

Entry way:

 I made the mirror above and the rug on the ground.  The three hooks are 3M Command hooks that are metal (oil rubbed bronze).  Tutorial for the rug will come in the next few weeks. 

 Kitchen:

 Shelves made by Dad and myself for old apartment worked great here to hold some stuff I couldn't bring myself to pack and to hold my baking dishes.

 Made the Texas string art years ago and fit just perfectly here.

 Anyone who knows me knows I love to bake.  I needed more counter space and a place to put my Baby, the kitchen aid mixer I got last year for my birthday, which by the way is less than a month away!!! This rolling cart by walmart works perfectly in this space!

Traci do you see the rooster!!!!

Entering the living room: 

These crates use to be in my bedroom in my old apartment but I had no space for them in my new bedroom and my mother came up with the brilliant idea of rearranging them and putting them along this wall.  I am not too wild about the fact that everyone sees all my paint and stuff for crafting but hey when you move from a 800+ sq foot to a 600 sq foot apartment you got to do what you got to do!

I have been wanting an old ladder to hang my blankets on like the one in this picture for a while but being a college student its hard to pay what people are asking for one of them. So when I came across this tutorial I made one the next day! I am in love with it!

 Notice the picture frame on the top? My craftiness rubbed off on my old roommate and she used a creative way to ask two of our friends and myself to be her bridesmaids! So excited for her and her fiance!

 Notice the picture frame on the top? My craftiness rubbed off on my old roommate and she used a creative way to ask myself and two of our friends to be her bridesmaids! So excited for her and her fiance! 

Living Room: 

 My mother is amazing she helped me hang my cross collection we were able to hang almost all of them using 3M Command products so there was not wall damage when I move out. 

 I built this ottoman and there will be a blog post over it in the next week as to why to NEVER build one!

 Yes I know the legs are not stained or painted.  I am still trying to decide what to do.  Why don't y'all help me. Here are the options: stained (dark walnut), painted (white/cream) or weathered (stained dark walnut then painted and sanded). Comment below your votes!

 Bedroom: 

Thanks for checking out my new lovely home!  

Salad In A Jar

Howdy y'all! Some of you who know me know I have put on a few pounds since well senior year of high school but it got worse when I went off to college.  Freshman 15? hahah yeah it exists and it can be more than fifteen pounds.  Any who...I had, had enough and decided to try and loose weight this summer.  I have tried weight watchers online before, yes it works but I need someone motivating me and checking in on me so that did not last too long.  I tried my own creation of a diet with no carbs... yeah DON'T EVER DO THAT!!! It is not healthy or smart.  So when my friend from high school created a weight loss program and was looking for people to try it out I applied!  Summer Petro is nutrition major at Auburn (SSSSSSSSS, only you aggies will get that one) and is the lovely woman who created the weight loss/ clean eating business Funeral For My Fat.  I have been attempting to follow her plan for me the best I can, it can be hard but its not impossible.  Since I started the program with Summer I have lost about twelve pounds and between last month and this month I have lost 4% body fat without doing anything but following her meal plan.  So now that I have bragged about how amazing Summer is I am going to show you an example of how I do meal prep so that I stay on track! 

Salads are a big thing at my house.  I swear there isn't a meal my mother makes that doesn't have a salad on the side.  But living alone makes it difficult to make salads like my mom does.  So when I saw salad in jar I knew it would be perfect for me! Here is how I make them.  They are inspired by Salata (my favorite place to get a salad ever!!).  

What you need: 

• Mason Jars ( large ones with wide mouths if possible) 
• Lettuce ( I like roman, I tried red tip but it isn't as good)
• Salad Dressing (I love La Madeleine's fat free cesar ) 
• Any veggies/fruits you like in your salad (Cucumber, avocado, black beans for this one)
• Barilla Plus Bow Tie Pasta  (cook according to the directions and let cool) 

How to make them: 

1. Wash your lettuce and any veggies or fruits.  I wash my lettuce by cutting it and filling up the sink with water then washing the cut lettuce in it like a bath and spinning it dry in a salad spinner.  Cut and peel any veggies or fruits that need it.  
2. The first layer in your mason jar is your salad dressing.  The suggested serving on La Madeleine's dressing is 2 tbs.  I will be honest, that is a lot! I found this out the first time I made it so any where between 1-2 tbs is what you will need. 
3. Second layer is going to be your veggies you want to marinate in the dressing.   I put my cucumber then avocado then black beans.  You want to put your veggies in order of denseness (denser on bottom).
4.  Third layer is your Barilla pasta (make sure its completely cool before adding it!) 
5. Your last layer is going to be your lettuce.  Make sure not to fill it too much so you can shake it later on down the road.  
6.  When time to eat just, shake and serve on a plate or eat out of the jar! 

These should last about 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
HEB sells in the lunch meat section prepackaged grilled chicken you can top your salad with. 
If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask! I will post my other favorite recipe I came up with soon.     

How to Pick a Thrift Store Lamp

Almost every single lamp I own in my apartment has been thrifted in some form or fashion.   The one next to my bed is an old brass/brass look alike lamp I bought at SAM (Spring Assistant Ministry), which I highly suggest, and sprayed painted oil rubbed bronze with a burlap lampshade on it.  It is probably one of my favorite lamps I have ever done.  I have a wooden one I found at Goodwill and have repainted and have it on my desk and then the ones in my living room were old brass lamps my parents had in their bed room and gave to me to spray paint again oil rubbed bronze.  To be honest I am not wild about the ones in my living room but hey they were free.  This post is about how to pick a good thrift store lamp and how to redo them so they fit your style and save you money! 

 Like I said I rarely buy a lamp from an actual store unless its a good price and well worth it.  Here is how I pick my lamps when I go to a thrift store.  

 1. Do not worry about what color it is or how it looks right now! You are going to paint it and add a new lamp shade not one those old accordion style one that it most likely comes with, YUCK!!! A great example of this is this lamp right here.  It is a way outdated hunter green lamp but that does not matter! You are not buying these lamps for their color! 

2.  Look at the shape!!! The one above might be hideous but it has a decent shape and might look good once its painted.  I have bought several lamps in the past few years that people are like umm Maegen that is hideous and I am like oh I know that's why I love it!!! The uglier, the better it is the cheaper it is ;) Here is a great example of UGLY, UGLY lamps but ones with good shape.  

They cost me about twenty bucks together! 

 This is how they turned out!!! Much, MUCH better! One and a half cans of oil rubbed bronze and they are 100% better! 

3. SIZE!!! Now a days the bigger the better! The pictures above give a great example of how a big base will look really good especially when its the only thing on an end table or night stand. 

Here is a bad example for size and shape.  They will not really add anything to your home decor.  

 4. Lamp Shades! I rarely, I mean rarely buy a lamp shade at a thrift store.  I believe I have only ever bought one except for the ones the lamps might come with.  Yes you can try and recover lampshades but in my experience that is harder than people on Pinterest make it look! Mines have come apart because of the heat and well frankly a small lamp shade will run you about ten bucks and you do not have to fuss with the recovering process! Now if you want to know where I buy my lamp shades the answer would be it depends. If I want a burlap lamp shade my new favorite store is Kirklands they sell three different colors online so you have to pay for shipping unless you are lucky like I was and get free shipping.  They run about 15 bucks and are a great size! Here is a picture of one of them on my new lamp. 

Other stores I like for lamp shades would be Target and World Market. Depending on the one you like you are looking at around 10-30 dollars a piece.  Let's face it the most expensive part to any lamp is the lamp shade.  So shop around! Use coupons! Do your research! And if you are really brave then try and recover one.  

Now that I have given you my tips on how to pick a lamp let me give you a few tips on how to spray paint them! 

1. Be patient! Yes anyone who knows me, knows I am not patient.  I swear that's the hardest part for me when doing any project! Here is an example of me not being patient and what happens.  

 2. Buy a good spray paint! Kylon works well and so does Rustoleum.  Now I would suggest a gloss or high gloss finish for your lamps.  They look better with a glossy finish and don't look like you did it your self.  

3. Use short fluid movements when you spray paint.  Be sure to not concentrate in one area too long or you will get runs like the one above.  I suggest 3-4 light coats for it to be fully coated.  

4. Once a coat dries tilt your lamp so you can get a different angle on it and cover every single spot.  Trust me NOTHING is more frustrating than thinking your finished painting your lamp, in the heat of Texas summer, to find out you missed some spots because of not getting every angle! 

5. If you are working with a glass or porcelain lamp base be sure to lightly sand it with sandpaper that is at least 180 or 220 grit. The finer the better you do not want to leave marks but just to scuff it up so the paint will stick.  You might also want to use a primer for the porcelain but for my glass one I did not need it. Be sure you wipe it down again before you paint it or else you will have a mess on your hands. 

6. If you want to be sure you don't get any overspray on your cords or the part where you screw the light bulb in cover it up with painters tape.

7. Do not be afraid to use color! I love colored lamps they add a pop of color to a room and if done right are a great accent piece! 

WHEEWWW That had to be the longest post I have written to date! I hope you find all these tips to be helpful and informative.  Do not be disappointed if you do not find the type of lamp you are looking for at the first thrift shop you come to, keep searching  you will find a gem eventually! Happy thrifting!  (Cue Thrift Shop by Macklemore, "I'm going to pop some tags I've got only twenty dollars in my pocket")

 

Bathroom Update!!

I showed you last week how to make some very cute jewelry holders with clothes pin and a piece of wood(heres where DIY Jewelry Holder), now I just wanted to show you another way to use them.  

 

Use them to hang belts, scarfs, tights, tank tops, and spaghetti strap tops, you name it I am sure it will work! Like I said before I plan on making some plain ones for my closet for at my apartment to hold some of the things mentioned above.  I love the fact that I could store a pair of sunglasses on top of the clothes pin and I even hang some of my rings on them as well! Here are a few more pictures so you can get a better look at it! 

  

  That earring holder should be up on my etsy page within the week I have several to sell that are blue.  So if you are interested in one you can contact me but in the mean time check out my etsy page at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/powertoolsnhighheels?ref=si_shop

Happy Hump Day :) I am headed off to Austin to see my sister, a.k.a my cousin, Pegleg!! Watch out Austin trouble is coming to town!