From Drab to Fab Day 1

I've been working on some updates in my room...they are very minor, but I'm loving the new additions and color! Hope you enjoy!

First up the dresser:

Before: where's the knob? well the original knob fell off years ago and I couldn't ever get it back on so a ribbon did the job (I know...it's a little tacky)

After: a REAL knob! Scored this one at Hobby Lobby...well it was actually the second one I picked up (the first one's screw was too fat) this knob is simple enough that it doesn't stand out too bad...he he

p.s. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Hope you have a "Spook"tacular day!

p.s.s. Good luck to my pumpkin team! We are soooo going to win!!!!

Moneyball

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Another good movie! I had no idea the story behind this movie took place not too long ago (2001 I believe). I think all parts were cast really well. Brad Pitt still has one thing going for him...ha ha. The movie makes you feel what they are feeling...I even got chills at one point! And to top it off, it was funnier than I thought it would be (I was never dying from laughter, but gave a good chuckle now and then)

p.s. This was probably the perfect time to see this movie since the World Series is in full swing these days...really gets you in the baseball spirit if you weren't already

Monster Murder Mystery Party

My Aunt hosted a murder mystery party last weekend and it was so fun! We needed 8 players, but only had 6 so my Aunt and I had "split" personalities...ha ha...not as easy as it sounds. She also made super cute Halloween treats...enjoy the pictures!

Sausage Mummies with mustard eyes fresh out of the oven

Sausage Mummies all cozy on their plate

Hummus Graveyard with ghostly hard boiled eggs

The "trees" kept falling down, but it just added even more character

Strawberry ghosts

I think this ghost looks scared...what about you?

These are the cutest Halloween napkins ever!

My TWO murder mystery characters!!

If you ever get a chance to be a part of a murder mystery party, I say do it! It's so much fun and hopefully you won't have to play two different people and end up accusing yourself! ha ha ha

"Pumpkin" Marshmallows

Saw this idea on Pinterest, but never actually pinned the idea or looked at how exactly to make these...my bad...ha ha. These are giant marshmallows covered with vanilla flavored candy coating and tied with green ties...yum and cute! I made these to take to my Aunt's Murder Mystery Party this past weekend (more on that later)...

You'll need:

1. Marshmallows (don't have to have giant ones like me...thank you Costco)
2. Vanilla candy coating chips
3. Red and yellow food coloring (unless you found orange and in that case tell me where!)
4. Lollipop sticks
5. Wax paper
6. Saran wrap
7. Green ties (I used twist ties, but of course it would be cuter with ribbon)

So a little fun fact about my family...we freeze everything! So needless to say these little giants were solid and I was too impatient to wait for them to thaw so I pretty much had to screw in the lollipop sticks

They may look peach-ish, but this is the best orange I could get with my limited resources (I really need to check my supplies before I start something...ha ha). At first, I tried dipping the marshmallow into the candy coating, but I think it was too thick. So instead, I used a spatula and iced them like a cake...he he he. I set them on the wax paper and then stuck them in the fridge to harden faster (I wanted to make sure they would be ready in time for me to leave)

About an hour later, I took them out and wrapped them in saran wrap...well that is until I ran out (again I need to check my supplies) and then I switched to plastic sandwich bags which I actually think look better (front right "pumpkin"). To get the baggies to look pretty I cut off the top where you seal them together and then cut down the sides so it opened into one big rectangle. To secure the packaging, I used the green little twist ties you use when you buy produce at the store...not really sure why we keep them, but they certainly came in handy for this!

Next time, I want to use my edible food markers and make them into jack-o-lanterns, but since I had put these in the fridge the condensation and the marker didn't get along and I didn't have time to dry them off...oh well I still think they turned out cute!

Have you made any festive treats this Halloween season?

Paranormal Activity 3

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I love scary movies! Especially around Halloween...when I got to be too old to trick or treat (sadness) I would have movie marathons of the Halloween movies with friends (the ones that weren't chicken at least...ha ha).



I loved being scared in the first two PAs and loved it again in the third installment. Even discussing what we had just seen, my aunt, her friend and I kept getting chills. Word to the wise...this movie is not for anyone who gets freaked out easily, especially if you couldn't watch the commercials.

If you are in the mood to be scared in a good suspenseful way, I would recommend renting the movie 1408. It has to be my favorite scary/suspenseful movie ever...the ending is gooooood.

Katy Ski Jam 2011

What a beautiful weekend! This past Saturday was the 2011 Katy Ski Jam. Elizabeth and I headed out there Saturday afternoon/evening to enjoy the exhibition (aka lots of tricks) and we actually got to see some of the competition (they were running a little behind). The ski jam wasn't as action packed as we had hoped, but we still enjoyed ourselves and took plenty of pictures. Enjoy!

The huge house we got to stare at for a few hours...can you say jealous!

Open Pro Men Slalom Quarter Finals...race around the buoys

Awesome water spray!

Exhibition time! Wake board tricks!

This pictures relaxes me...the reeds are so peaceful looking

Swivel Ski...this was awesome and definitely takes some talent to do a turn on a ski

Barefoot skier flying high

Skier jumping off the ramp

Double backwards barefoot skiers

Awesome sunset!!

Double barefoot skiers

Chair ski...he did 6 flips in a row!!!!

6 barefoot skiers plus an extra one on the left standing on the others legs

As the sun went down, they turned on the lights for the finals

I want to give a special shout out to Elizabeth who took 99% of these photos!!! Thanks chica!!!

Banana Muffins

So I haven't baked anything in a while and really wanted to make cupcakes, but didn't have everything to make the pink lemonade or pink velvet ones that I wanted so banana muffins it was. Plus, I like making things the boyfriend enjoys eating (that way I don't eat them all!)

I got the recipe from Ramshackle Glam (minus the chocolate chips) and instead of making a loaf I decided to make muffins (easier to transport to work and half the baking time). I originally set the timer for 20 minutes, but they weren't done after that so I guesstimated the rest...I would say 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or almost clean.

Mmmmmm...so good! It was so hard to take these pictures without devouring it the second it came out of oven. The smell alone makes you hungry.

Real Steel

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GOOD MOVIE! Good acting, good story line, just good overall. This movie has everything in it...it tugs at your emotions, gives you some good action and makes you laugh all at the same time. This movie really is for everyone...ha ha

Decorated Gift Bag

My friend had a party recently for her daughter's first birthday! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend, but I sent her gift with a trusted amiga.

The gift bag was just plain pink so I decided to jazz it up a bit...plus a one year old can't exactly read a card (but of course I made a card anyways). The butterfly and the M were both cut out using the Wall Decor & More Cricut cartridge. The pink tulle bow was just another way to make it even more girly (plus I have A LOT of pink tulle since I never got around to making my tutu).

The checkered paper with the M was attached using one pop-up circle on each corner. To make the butterfly look like it was flying off, I doubled the pop-up circles on top of each other. Yay for 3-d stuff without the glasses!

A funny conversation occurred when I was telling Barrett about decorating the bag:

Me: The bag I decorated last night is really cute
B: You decorated a bag?
Me: Yeah...I wasn't going to make a card. What one year old knows how to read?
B: (laughing)
Me: Well I actually did make a card because I had to put the gift receipt somewhere
B: (still laughing) So you DID make a card...did you write in it?
Me: Yeah...I had to put something. Plus it's really for her mom, but I did decorate it with a stenciled M on the front
B: (laughing even harder) You remind me of a Larry the Cable Guy joke

And that my friends is hopefully the one and only time I will get compared to Larry the Cable Guy. The way Barrett told me the joke was hilarious...you should have been there!

Painted Pottery

We all probably went to a paint your own pottery place way back in the day, but why did we ever stop??? Painting pottery is so much fun. Around Christmas last year, my friend hosted a paint your own ornament party and we had so much fun we went back a few months ago for a birthday celebration.

This time instead of an ornament, I painted a plate. I had seen a few items on display that had a splatter design that I thought was really cool so of course I had to do some splattering myself. To get the splatter look you take a toothbrush, dip it in the paint and run your fingers over the bristles. Easy enough right??? WELL if you have long nails (like moi) watch out because the paint will drip and you'll have a big ol' blob on your pottery. Since there was no way of covering that up, I decided to make blobs everywhere with my nails (talk about some dirty nails). I think the blobs add more character to the plate.

What am I going to do with the plate??? Who knows...maybe I'll set a candle on it in my future beach themed bathroom (one can dream right), but as for now I have an autographed baseball sitting on top of it, while the plate itself, is sitting on top of notebooks and random papers...ha ha

Has anyone else painted pottery lately?

Ides of March

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If you like politics and watching the happenings of what goes on behind the scenes of a campaign, then this movie is for you. It wasn't a bad movie, just not my cup of tea. It was pretty slow to start and then it starts getting interesting, but never really picks up. The ending leaves you saying "What?!?!" or "Really?!?!" (I'm pretty sure everyone in the theatre said one of those if not others)

Overall, what I got out of this movie is that politics/politicians are corrupt and use blackmail for anything and everything just to get ahead in the business. But of course who doesn't know that already?!?!

BTW the movie poster below is my favorite, but of course its super small and when I blow it up it just gets blurry...



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Molten Cakes...Yummy

Original chocolate molten cake

Whatever Mama wants, Mama gets...ha ha. We had some family over for my Mom's birthday a few weeks ago and the birthday girl put in her request for molten cakes. I have made these so many times I know the recipe by heart!

This recipe is from Kraft (click here to look)

Since my Dad and brother aren't chocolate lovers like the rest of us, we've tried out a couple different varieties.

Butterscotch molten cake

We've tried white chocolate and butterscotch molten cakes. The butterscotch cakes have been the biggest hit of all (and even as a chocolate snob I have to admit I really like these too)!

The recipe is exactly the same as the chocolate one just with butterscotch chips.

Butterscotch Recipe

1 handful of butterscotch chips
1 stick of butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbls. flour

Melt the butter and butterscotch together in microwaveable bowl. Stir in the powdered sugar. Add eggs and egg yolks. Mix. Stir in flour. Pour mixture into 4 buttered custard dishes and bake at 425 degrees F for 13-14 minutes. Top with whipped cream (if you want...ha ha).

Enjoy!!

p.s. Chili's has nothing on these cakes! These are real molten cakes not wannabes. Want to know what I'm talking about ask for their cake with ice cream on the side and you'll see.

What's Your Number

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This movie got horrible reviews and wasn't even in the top 5 at the box office it's first week out...BUT did I go see it? YEP! Did I like it? YEP!

It is your typical RomCom with the predictable ending, but getting there was hilarious!! Anna Faris and Chris Evans have good chemistry in this movie...I guess it's not that hard when someone is only dressed for half the movie...ha ha

I also liked the couple of scenes she shared with her real-life husband Chris Pratt. It's funny when people who are in love in real life have to not be like that in a movie (or show like the Friends episode with Jen and Brad and the I Hate Rachel Green Club...classic stuff).

Halloween Wreath 2011

Yay for finally finishing my second ribbon wreath! I did this one a little different from my last one (to see click here).

Here are the changes I made...

1. I used a 16 inch foam wreath form to cover more of the door (still wrapped it in ribbon)
2. I cut 360 strips of ribbon (still 4.5 inches long)
3. I didn't sew the ribbon together...instead I just looped and pinned
4. I pinned one color at a time to make sure there weren't clumps of one ribbon somewhere
5. I used 16 different ribbon designs and different sizes which I think gave it more character
6. I added wooden letters aka the "Boo"

The "Boo" is still a work in progress. I wanted extreme glitter letters that really stood out but my "extreme glitter" paint was not extreme at all. I also tried using glow paint, but I think it's too old because it doesn't glow anymore. To get the letters to stay, I hot glued them onto leftover floral pins I had from my balloon wreath and pushed them into the wreath. It's holding for now, but I'll probably have to come up with a better solution later. I welcome any ideas!!

I would like to hang the wreath on this door or the front door, but for now it's on the hall closet door...oh well...it can't get stolen there...ha ha.

Has anyone else made a wreath or other Halloween decorations this year?

Killer Elite

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This was a long movie, but the action just kept on going. Definitely a guy movie, but if you enjoy looking at the cast then a girl movie as well...he he he. Some parts of the story line I didn't think were necessary, but overall the movie wasn't bad AND it was based on a true story...very interesting...