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Pantry Organization + Pantry Inspiration

April 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

I mentioned a few weeks ago about us signing up for our first CSA. We’ve been doing a lot of cooking with our fresh veggies and meat and are still loving it {planning to post what we’ve gotten these last few weeks and what we’ve made soon}.

With all the cooking we’ve been doing, the pantry is getting stocked up. Problem is, we didn’t really know what we had or where things were because the pantry was a little disorganized {and I’m partially to blame, I just stuck things wherever there was room}.

Pantry Before

So, a few weekends ago I took some time to re-organize the pantry in hopes that we would be able to better keep track of things we needed for our meals and not buy something we might have already had. Here’s what it looked like after a little organization.

Pantry After

The goal for the pantry re-organization was to not spend any money and for it to be functional. Mission accomplished I think.

Here’s a little breakdown of how I organized it. It’s basically organized by type of food {i.e. Italian, ethnic, baking goods, etc.}.

Pantry After Organized

I realize these aren’t Pinterest worthy pictures. But, that wasn’t the point.

But, what blog post is complete without some Pinterest worthy photos. Exactly, it’s not. So here are some pretty pantries to inspire you on this Wednesday.

House of Smiths Pantry{Source: House of Smiths}

 

Mint Green Pantry{Source: Houzz}

 

Blue Pantry{Source: Houzz}

 

Hidden Pantry{Source}

pantry makeover{Source: Kevin & Amanda}

If you don’t have the budget to completely re-do your pantry, here are some free printable pantry labels you can download to hopefully jump start your own pantry organization.

pantry labels{Source: Fab N Free}

pantry labels{Source: World Label}

 Are you someone who always keeps your pantry organized or could yours use a little attention?

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Filed Under: houzz, inspiration, pinterest Tagged With: ,

Inspiration:: Typography

July 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Lately I’ve been really into fonts and ‘graphic design.’ I have no design experience, but through this blog & reading blogs, I’ve become more aware of design and the use of fonts/typography.

The right font can make a huge difference in giving the right impression or feeling about a graphic/image. Same goes for a wrong font. Using the wrong font can instantly make a gorgeous picture or graphic lose all its appeal.

You Only Live Once- Jessica Hische

{Source: Jessica Hische}

I love searching for fonts.

Dream Big Print- Graphic Anthology{Source: Graphic Anthology}

And finding just the perfect one that fits with what I’m trying to create.

make today beautiful

{Source: Laura Winslow Photography}

Since we live in a Pinterest world where you want your images to be ‘pin-able,’ it’s even more important to create visually appealing images and a lot of times that means adding some text to your images.

Enjoy Yourself- DesignLove Fest{Source: Design Love Fest}

I use a free program called Gimp to create most of my graphics. I’m planning to put together a few tutorials soon to show you guys how to use the program for adding text & creating collages. It’s takes some time to get used to, but it’s great and it’s free!

Blackberries and Bracelet-Creature Comfort{Source: Creature Comfort Blog}

If you are interested in downloading some new fonts to add to your collection {whether for your blog or for personal use}, here are a few websites to check out.

Free Font Resources:

Dafont.com

Lost Type

Free Typography

font snob-the handmade home{Source: The Handmade Home}

The Handmade Home also rounds up free fonts occasionally. Here, here, here and here are some of their roundups.

Are any of you really into fonts? If you have other free font resources that aren’t mentioned above, feel free to share those with everyone in the comments!

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Filed Under: blogging, inspiration, pinterest, tips Tagged With: ,

Inspiration:: Outdoor Living

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Summer is almost here! Can you feel it?

One of my favorite things to do when the weather gets warm is to eat outside. On the weekends when my friends and I are deciding on where to eat, the top priority lately has been whether the restaurant has outdoor seating or not. I don’t know what it is about eating outside that I love. I think part of the reason is because I can’t do it all the time {it’s weather dependent} and the other part is that I’m a cold natured person so there’s nothing better than getting to eat outside in the warm sun instead of a freezing restaurant. :)

At our new house, our outdoor patio area won’t blow you away, but it is definitely larger and nicer than the teeny tiny deck we had at our apartment before. Really all I need is a table and a few chairs and I’m a happy girl {plus, we do have a hammock in our back yard, which is a nice bonus}.

But, one day I would love to have a nice outdoor area in my backyard as a place to hang out and eat outside on warm summer nights.

Here are a few amazing outdoor living spaces to give us all some ideas and something to dream about.

Outside rooms contemporary exterior

Hanging strands of lights from trees in my backyard is a definite must in my future house.

 

Can’t you just imagine lots of family dinners being eaten outside at this table?

 

I love how cozy this space is. And the wine barrel side tables are such a cute idea!

 

An outdoor fireplace is also a must.

Source: bhg.com via Megan on Pinterest

 

I love how this space is just an extension of the main part of the house.

Now I’m in the mood to eat outside tonight :)

Do you love eating outside as much as I do?

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Filed Under: decorating, houzz, inspiration, pinterest

I Made The Switch!

April 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

So sorry for being MIA last week. Did you miss me? :)

I officially made the switch from Blogger to WordPress last week. Minus a few technical issues, it was a smooth transition.

So far, I love WordPress and I can see why people really like it. I got super comfortable with the Blogger backend, so it’s taken me a bit to learn and adjust to a new system. And being the perfectionist that I am, I wanted everything exactly right before I started posting again.

Well, it clearly isn’t perfect, and I still have a lot to tweak and setup, but I missed you guys! So bare with me over these next few weeks if you see missing pictures, extra pictures, weird spacing and error messages. I’m working on it!

In addition to making the switch, I also got a new blog design! What do you think? Over the last year or so, my tastes and style have definitely changed and I thought it was time that my blog design reflected more of ‘me.’ And I think the new design does just that!

I’m also super excited about my new menu bar at the top. Especially the two tabs for ‘project gallery’ and ‘set design.’

Navigation Bar

I’m currently working on setting up image galleries for those pages so that you can easily navigate to past projects and past set designs I’ve done! {P.S. if anyone knows of any good plugins to help set those pages up, please let me know!}

I’ve also installed the new fabulous linky followers widget on the right hand sidebar if you wish to follow this little blog that way.

I also gave my Facebook page the big overhaul and updated my profile picture, cover photo and added photo albums of past craft & diy projects along with some of the set designs I’ve worked on thus far.

Pinterest Tab

Did you know you can setup a Pinterest tab on your Facebook page now? It allows everyone to see all your boards and provides an easy way for people to follow you. And it’s super easy to set up! Here’s how to setup your own Pinterest tab.

I still have a long way to go with the new site, but I’m already super excited about how it has turned out!

Thanks to Elizabeth at The Mustard Ceiling for helping me migrate everything over and for also designing my new blog layout. If you are thinking about making the switch from Blogger to WordPress or are just looking for a new blog design, I would highly recommend her!

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend! I’ll be back Wednesday with the usual inspiration post.

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Yummy Pinterest Treats & A Recipe For Marble Brownies

February 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
On Friday, I had a few girls over to our place for a little ‘fundraiser.’ A family in our church is trying to adopt 3 kids from Haiti and they are trying to raise the rest of the funds needed to complete the adoption. A lady I know from church sells Mary Kay and has decided to donate all the profits from some of her Mary Kay parties to this family to help with their adoption fees. Awesome, right?

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I loved the idea so I said I would love to host a little party at our place. She came over on Friday and showed us how to do a ‘smokey’ eye with eye shadow and taught us some other fun makeup tricks and tips.

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{Here were our little stations}

I wanted to have some light refreshments for the party so I made these ‘Pinterest‘ inspired treats::

Fruit & Cheese Kabobs

Baked Spinach Dip Mini Bread Bowls

{Picky Palate}


Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

The mini deep dish pizzas were delicious and apparently are relatively healthy since the recipe calls for whole wheat tortillas.

I also made my favorite brownies that my mom made growing up:: Marble Brownies. They have a cream cheese layer and homemade icing and {in my opinion} are the best brownies! 

I thought I would share the recipe with you guys in case you wanted to see for yourself how yummy they are :)

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Pin It
Marble Brownie Recipe
Ingredients::
1 Family Size Brownie Mix {with chocolate syrup pouch}
2 3oz. blocks cream cheese 
5 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup sugar
5 eggs
2 Tbsp. flour (self-rising)
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream cheese mixture:: Add cream chesese & 5 Tbsp. butter and beat. Then add sugar & 2 eggs, flour, and vanilla then beat until smooth. Set aside.
3. Brownie batter:: Empty brownie mix & chocolate packet into medium sized bowl. Add 2 Tbsp. water & 3 eggs. Mix by hand about 50 strokes.
4. Pour half of the brownie batter into greased 13×9 in. pan. Then pour all the cream cheese mixture on top of the batter. Spoon the rest of the brownie batter here and there over cream cheese batter. Pull knife through batter to create a swirled appearance.
5. Bake for 35-40 min.

Frosting:: Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 2 Tbsp. Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa until dissolved. Add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp. milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Stir until smooth. Add more milk if necessary. *Pour over brownies immediately and spread. {The icing will start to harden quickly, so be sure to spread quickly}

Overall, Friday night was super fun and the fact that it was for a good cause made it even better!

Here’s a shot of our entire group.
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Love these girls!

P.S. If you need any Mary Kay products, Heather Cartee is your woman! :)
Did you do anything fun this weekend?

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Filed Under: life, pinterest, recipes Tagged With: ,