End Table Makeover

Living in a small apartment means I spend a lot of time in the living room. Most of the events of my day happen there. My laptop sits on the coffee table in front of my spot on the couch. My painting supplies are in the living room. I do all of my crafts and most of my projects in here as well. 

I have an end table beside my spot that is my "Catch all" table. There is a lamp, pens, markers, my small sewing kit, books, my essential oils (I currently only have 5 small bottles but already want more) etc... As you can imagine it gets pretty cluttered. While I was at Dollarama (the same time I purchased the Tea Towels and curtain rods in my last post here), I noticed some black baskets that I liked so I grabbed two. I figured that since our living room walls are blood red, and my lamp is silver with a black shade with a white pattern on it, that they would go with both. And it just so happened that one of the tea towels I already had in my cart was white with a black and grey pattern on it. Bonus! I couldn't wait to get home to start my projects. I have to say, the stuff in Dollarama might not be the best quality. But some of it isn't bad and I do find lots of stuff for cheap there that works perfectly for whatever I may be doing at the time. 

I started by clearing everything off the table and giving it a good wipe down. I then took the stuff that was on it and sorted it into piles. Next I put down the Tea Towel followed by the lamp in the middle and set the two baskets on either side. Into the baskets I organized some of the stuff that had been cluttered on the table. I had decorated a Mason Jar earlier the night before with rope and a piece of cloth. I set that in front of the lamp, between the baskets. 

Perfect!

Well...Almost...

I needed to find somewhere to put the TV and DVD player remotes. And my little note pad that I keep on the table as well. I thought about it for 30 mins or so and then a light bulb went on in my head. The Tea Towels! I got my sewing kit out and set off pinning and sewing a "Holder" of sorts to hang off of the end table. I meant to take pictures while I was working on it but to be honest I was watching The Big Bang Theory and let's face it, that show is hillarious! Maybe you disagree and that's ok. But my Boyfriend and I love it. I did remember to take a picture once I was finished the initial sewing though. I sewed a small seam on the middle pocket about 1/4 of the way up because I realized once I got the DVD remote in there, it was a pain in the behind to get out because it is much shorter than the TV remote.

Next came time to figure out how to hang it... I tried double sided tape but the weight was too much for the tape and it fell to the floor in less than 5 minutes. I had used yet another Tea Towel to cut the strip of material that I used on the Mason Jar above. So I cut the edge with the seam off one edge of the towel and cut it in half. I then sewed little clasps (can't remember what they're called for the life of me. If you read my last post, you know I'm not really much of a seamstress) onto the holder. I slipped each one over the bar on the bottom of the table, hooked the little hooks into the loops and I was done. :)

If any of you are better with sewing than I am and know what those little hook and eyehole clasp thingys are called, please let me know! I've been calling them "Those little hook loop things" for a long time now. lol 

I could have sworn that I took a pic of the table from further away so that you could see the entire makeover as a whole but I've just spent 15 minutes going through my pictures and can't find it for the life of me. If I find it I will update the post and add the picture. Either that or I will have to take another picture and post it. But for now at least, this is what I have to share with you. :) 

~Kay

DIY Pantry Shelf Curtains.

I actually started this project a couple of months ago and never got around to finishing it. You'll find I do that a lot. I'm hoping that this blog will help me complete more of the projects I start in a shorter time period. I think the problem is that I'm OCD, but I think I'm also a little ADD. lol I came to this realization a few years back when I stopped to actually think about the way I clean. I had spent the day cleaning and organizing my apartment and afterwards, I got thinking about my day and realized that I start cleaning and organizing one room, find things that go in another room, switch to that room, go back to the first before finishing the second, find more things that go in yet another room... And that's how it starts. Now that I'm older and have been on my own for 10 years I've learned that I'm the same way with crafts and DIY projects. But since my Boyfriend and I live in a small apartment I have to dig things out in order to start almost any project I do. Thus taking longer to get going, which then results in not always accomplishing the entire task before it's late and I'm tired. 

With that said though, I've actually gotten a bit better in the last 6 months or so with finishing what I start, even if it's not finished the same day. For this project I had purchased two cheapie curtain rods, as well as a ton of cheap Tea Towels (some for dishes, other's for the material to use in random projects). I had organized a couple of the shelves in our pantry a few weeks before and though they were organized, when you stood in the kitchen, you could see right into the pantry and see everything on the shelves as the pantry door is narrow and doesn't have an actual door on the frame. So I went to work on one of my least favorite tasks. Sewing. I wouldn't mind it so much if it weren't for the fact that I don't have a sewing machine. Makes the task I'm not very good at much more of a chore. I picked out 4 of the Tea Towels, grabbed my sewing kit and parked my butt on the couch in front of the TV. It took a while because, well, let's face it... Sewing is not my strong point. I CAN sew. I'm just not good at it. 

Here is a pic of the pinned edge that I was sewing along. I folded one of the short edges of each towel down to create the spot that I would later feed the curtain rod through. I sewed all the way across above where the pins are in this pic, along the hemmed edge of the towel. 

I'm going to apologize for the next two pics. When I started this project I had been using a small Pentax digital camera that was about 4-5 years old. The pic above with the pins was taken with that same camera, however the lighting in my living room is a little better than the lighting in my tiny pantry. 

The light that's in this room made these pictures turn out way more yellow than it really looks in that room. Ah well. I have a new camera now and I'm loving it! (Cannon Rebel for those who were wondering. :) ) Ok so I installed the curtain rods in front of the tops of each shelf I wanted to cover, put the newly sewn "Curtains" on the rods and voilla! The above pic is where I finished when I first started this project a few months back. I put one curtain rod up, took pics, got sidetracked with another project I was working on, did some dishes, vacuumed, made dinner and then parked myself in the living room to watch TV with my boy and the pups 'till bedtime. It's not that I didn't have the other two curtains finished, or that I didn't have the second curtain rod. I just never got around to putting the second set up. 

Well today I FINALLY finished my project. And I'm satisfied with the result. 

No, none of the curtains match, but I like it that way. :) You can use whatever Tea Towels you choose. So if you prefer them matching go for it! It was actually a fun project and I'm glad I took the 5 minutes out of my day to finish it! lol I hope you'll come back in a bit. I'm doing a few posts tonight to make up for lost time. 

Here's a little laugh for you! Went to preview my post before publishing it and out of the corner of my eye I caught the fact that I had my age down as 27 in my blog description! I'm actually 28! lol And it's not like I just turned 28. I'll be 29 in 4 months... lol Apparently I don't even know my own age anymore! God help me in 10 more years! lol

Ciao for now folks! :)

~Kay

Grapefruit, Lemon, Clementine, Mango & Strawberry Juice

I know, I know, it's been over a month since my last (first) post... I do apologize sincerely, it's been a busy rough month. Over the next few days I will be trying to make up for some lost time by posting a bunch of posts. With that said, here's the first one. Oh and HAPPY VALENTINES DAY to all!! <3

I recently purchased a "Big Boss" Juicer. I've wanted a Juicer for a long time and I was super excited when I found one for $69.99 at Wall-Mart! Every time I've been in there in the past few months I've checked, hoping that they would bring in something new that would be cheaper, but still a decent model. Although I love making smoothies in my blender, sometimes blenders just don't cut it. Naturally, as soon as I bought the Juicer, I bought fruit to juice. This was my first attempt at Juicing anything (and at the risk of sounding like I'm bragging) for my first try, the juice was amazing! I ended up with two and a half glasses and it was gone in a little over an hour! I have to say I LOVE MY NEW JUICER!!

I had purchased a bunch of fruit to start myself off but couldn't decide what to juice first. There were so many options! So I added some of everything. :) And the result? Wonderfully delicious fruit juice, without all the added crap that they pack into store bought juices!

I didn't use a recipe, just added what I thought would taste good. So I guess in a sense I invented my own recipe. With that said, here it is:

2 Grapefruit (as much work as it is, I recommend taking off all the pulp & membrane from around the fruit. I had read that it would leave a bitter taste to the juice)

2lbs Strawberry's (cored) 

2 Lemons (same rule applies with these as the grapefruit)

8 Clementines (I didn't bother with removing the membrane on these as they are tiny and would take a lot of time and well, I wanted my juice! lol)

1 Mango

Now I will say this, it takes a lot of fruit to get a decent amount of juice, as I said before I got two and a half glasses of juice out of all that fruit. But as far as I'm concerned, it's worth it! If you're worried about spending too much money on fruit, buy what's on sale, or in season to keep the cost down. Believe me, if you have a juicer, it is definitely worth making your own juice! And as an added bonus, you get several servings of fruit (or veggies) in one glass of juice. From everything I've read so far on juicing, the juice will keep 2-3 days but is best fresh. 

Happy Juicing and to those who celebrate it, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! And hey, if you make this juice today, it fits the theme! It's pink!

Homemade Irish Cream

Well, for my first post I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes. I was given the recipe by my Boyfriend's Dad's Girlfriend if that makes any sense.

I LOVE this recipe. I used to spend almost $30 a bottle for a 26 oz bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream. Until I was given this recipe to make it myself. It's so simple and tastes pretty good too! If any of you have had Carolans Irish Cream, this tases a lot like it. Not quite the same as Bailey's but still very yummy! Yesterday I made a batch of this stuff up with a twist. I substituted the Table Cream in the recipe for Hazlenut flavored International Delight coffee whitener and used a little less chocolate syrup as the International Delight is quite sweet on it's own. Here's what you'll need:

The Tupperware container has 1 cup of Bushmills Irish Whisky in it that I was saving for this batch of Irish Cream. You will also need Sweetened Condensed Milk, Chocolate Syrup (I used Nesquik) Vanilla Extract and either 1 cup of Table Cream or 1 cup of International Delight.

Measure 1 to 1 1/2 cups of Irish Whisky (depending on how strong you like it) and pour into a large mixing bowl, add 1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk, 1 cup of International Delight (or Table Cream), 1 TBSP Chocolate Syrup and 1 TSP Vanilla Extract. Stir well with a whisk to fully combine.

My apologies for the poor lighting. lol Ok next get a funnel and a 1 liter bottle. I used an empty Coke bottle. I'm a big fan of using things again rather than throwing them out, but you'll realize that the more I post. :)

You want enough space in whatever container you use (doesn't have to be a 1 liter container) so that you can shake it well before using. As long as your container seals tight, you're good to go. 

Now for the good part, the taste test!

I must admit, I almost forgot to get this picture, as you can see I had already had a few sips before the lightbulb came on. lol This one also makes me laugh to myself because as it happened, I was drinking this at 9:30 at night. ;~P  And the best part? It's  WAY cheaper than real Bailey's!! I do have a confession though... About once a year I do splurge and buy an actual bottle of Bailey's. 

I hope everyone reading will enjoy this recipe as much as I do! And I hope you enjoy all future blog posts as well. :) Cheers!