Productivity... A good thing

The past few weeks were very busy and very productive. I, of course, have been hard at work planning my wedding! Only 234 days away!

I also made a couple of cakes...

I've really wanted to try that ruffle pattern that's trending right now. I think the sides turned out rather well, but the top was a bit runny. I think maybe it was the heat in the kitchen.

This was a custom cake design that I did for my sister years ago, made of all her favorite things. Chocolate cake, fudge icing on top, cheesecake filling, buttercream icing with chopped Hershey bars mixed in, and chocolate chip cookies. Someone saw this on my facebook and wanted the same cake! Weird, huh?

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I'm not really much of a cook. Actually, I never cook. Cody normally does all the cooking for us. But Pinterest has inspired me beyond belief! I've found so many easy and cheap recipes that I would actually eat! (FYI, I'm EXTREMELY picky!)

Last week I made Crunchy Cheddar Chicken, Green Bean Casserole, and Loaded Potato Skins.

Cody loved it! And he's a definitely a tough food critic.

For dessert, I tried this Peanut Butter Banana Pie with Nutella recipe that I also found on Pinterest. It had all of Cody's favorite things: Peanut Butter, Bananas, Nutella, and Chocolate. I knew it had to be good. He was crazy over it! Actual quote: "This is best thing I have ever put in my mouth!"

It always makes me happy to do or make something that Cody loves!

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We went to see a play in Centre awhile back and I really wanted to try one of those braided hairstyles that I keep seeing on Pinterest. I thought this one would be an easy start:

Click to pic the larger Pinterest version.

And here is my version...

I think it turned out rather cute! Cody said I kinda had an Amish look going on.

Amish? Really!? Men!

New Blue Laundry

I am currently in the process of giving our home a good ol' makeover. When I say "our home," I really mean "Cody's home that I basically live in now but not officially but will in 8 months." I don't actually live with Cody yet, although most believe that I do. I still technically live at home with my mom, sister, and niece. Considering that my work, craft room, hobbies, and fiance are all wrapped up together in this one building, it's only natural that I would spend most of my time there.

Currently, I'm "re-doing" our laundry room...

As you can see, it was sooo drab! I hated going in there. So ugly and boring!

My first task was the linen closet...

I forgot to take a picture of what the shelves looked like before I took everything out. It was worse than the picture on the right. We are blessed enough to have a giant linen/storage closet. I needed to make the most out of it. Below are picture of all the stuff that came out of just one side of the closet.

And all of that wasn't even half! You should have seen what I threw away!

I haven't completely finished with the inside of the closets yet. I'll hopefully have pics of that this weekend.

The next thing I wanted to do was hang wood crates on the wall like this image I found on Pinterest.

I searched but I couldn't find any crates already made. So I rolled up my sleeves and made my own!

I can get pretty handy with a saw and screwdriver when I want to! I just gathered some of Cody's old scrap wood, made my measurements, and pieced it together. I'm very proud of these little crates!

Next it was time to paint! I didn't want to use pastel colors like in the picture. I wanted a more natural look. I chose to paint the wide crate completely brown since it was covered in old paint, and I'm too impatient to sand it off.

I decided to use a "dry brush" technique on the smaller two to get that rustic look a wanted.

I'm very please with how these turned out!

Next it was time to paint the room. I chose a bright and cheery BLUE! I don't know the actual color, since the can of paint was given to us years ago to use on our show sets. Luckily, there was enough to do the whole room.

One more reason I need a better camera. The pictures do not give the room justice! The new paint color completely transformed the room! The bright blue immediately lifted my spirits!

Next I hung the shelves. This was NO easy task. Not only were the crates too heavy for me to lift, hold, and screw into the wall at the same time, but it was almost impossible to find the studs behind the sheetrock. But three hours later, I eventually got 'em up!

The next step is to decorate and label my storage bins. Look for pics soon!