{DIY} Fireplace Log Holder

Happy, Happy Monday!!!!  Did that sound chipper?  I tried my hardest to sound all woohhhooo it's Monday again but man it's a real bummer that Monday is here already.  Oh well, moving on!

I decided to bust out my favorite spray paint this weekend and brighten up a little something in our great room.   I never realized how blah our log holder was that sits next to our fireplace.  Here is the before picture.

See, just kind of drab and boring, huh??  Don't get me wrong though, I do love it.  My FIL had it sitting in his barn and it had never been used.  He was nice enough to hand it over to me.

I took it out in the garage and got all of the dust off of it (awkward) and knocked off a few spots where there was flaking.

Once it was all cleaned up, I flipped it upside down and put in a large box I had in the garage to keep from getting too much over-spray.

 Here is the bottom all done.  I let it dry for 20 minutes and was ready to flip it over and finish up.

Here is the finished product.  All done and ready to dry.  Really I love this paint.  It really is forgiving and makes such a quick and cheap impact.  In case you can't read that tiny writing it is Gold Bright Metallic Finish from Krylon.

Here is the finished product back in the great room.  Love it!!

Huge difference, right????

My Martini Glass Obsession

I have a confession to make!  I'm addicted to martini glasses.  So, I agree, there are worse things to be addicted to but man I can't get enough.  Mostly because you can get them at the Dollar Tree for, well, a BUCK!!!  Sign me up.

1.  Desserts.  I love to use them for desserts.  Here you'll see pictures from a baby shower where I used all of the smaller martini glasses I had to display all of the cupcakes I had made.  Sure I could have just used a cake plate but isn't this MUCH cuter?  I think so.

I've also made individual trifles in martini glasses.  They are quick, easy and make you look like Martha freaking Stewart.

2.  Mashtini Bar.  OMG this was sooooooo good.  I decided to put together a mashtini bar for bunco night at my house.  Not only was it adorable but it was so easy.  I made a huge pot of mashed potatoes and kept them warm in the crockpot til party time.  Then once it was time, I placed all of the toppings (bacon, green onions, fried onion straws, salsa, butter, gravy, sour cream and whatever else you might want) in those cute little glass bowls from the dollar tree.  Once it was time to eat, everyone grabbed their large martini glass and loaded is up with their mashed potatoes.  Then they made their way through the bar with the fixins.

3.  Table Decor.  The possibilities are endless when it comes to table decor.  I love using them at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Here are some pics of the Thanksgiving table that I put together at my mom and dad's house several years ago.  Again, quick, cheap and easy.  For the pictures below all you need is some water, fresh cranberries and tea lights.
You can also use the bigger martini glasses and add whichever flowers and greenery are you faves. Hey, you could even add your favorite floral arrangement and stack on top of wood slice centerpieces. Come on, you know I love wood slices ;-)

4.  Martini Bar.  Duh!!  Seems to be pretty obvious, huh?  Grab your favorite booze and get creative. We've made pomegranate martinis, apple martinis.....you get the idea.  Man I could go for a martini right about now....


There you have it.  There are just a FEW ideas that show how I've used my martini glasses.  Have you used martini glasses in a creative way?  Share some pics!!

{Update} Great Room Makeover

Ok, ok so since I am as predictable as the day is long I couldn't wait any longer and had to show you what's happening in the great room.  Ok, well not a TON has been happening but I couldn't wait to show you THIS.....

I found this at World Market last week marked down to $129.00 (originally $349.99) and it had all of the colors that I was looking for.  

I had originally planned to go with plain blush colored chairs but couldn't pass up this deal!  They only had one in stock so my second one had to be ordered and should hopefully be here by next weekend.  They were the perfect scale for that corner and will make a perfect little seating area next to the fireplace.

I even love the legs on these.  They are very mid-century modern and that is one of the many things I loved about these chairs.  

Here is the fabric that I will be ordering to make pillows for the couch.  Now I know this is a LOT of color and pattern and may not be everyone's cup of tea but I am sooooooo excited.

Here is a look at the Lulu Leopard fabric on the couch where the pillows will go! 

I also plan to get this Secret Gate, Blossom fabric for coordinating pillows on the couch.

Finally I'd like to throw in a couple blush faux fur pillows to finish off the couches.  I'm not exactly sure how the blush pillow will look with the secret gate blossom so something may change.....
As you can see most of this stuff is pretty pricey so I'm sure I'll be taking my sweet old time waiting for things to (hopefully) go on sale!!

Rest assured, I'm going with solid curtains ;)

Delicious Dessert Bars

I had to make dessert bars for a golf outing this past weekend and thought I'd try something new.  I don't usually like to make something that I've never made before and serve it to a bunch of people, but I thought eh, I'll live on the edge this time.  #rebel

I took to the interweb to find a recipe and stumbled across a recipe that sounded so divine that I couldn't resist.  One one of my favorite blogs for recipes is Mix and Match Mama.  I've made so many of her recipes and am NEVER disappointed.  So go on over to find her amazing and simple recipe for Peanut Butter Cup S'mores .  I made my family the guinea pigs and was given the thumbs up to serve them at the golf outing ;)  #whew

Such simple and cheap ingredients!!

However, let me tell you, that this part was a little stressful.  Well stressful might be extreme but I was starting to get nervous.  You use the boxed cake mix but you don't put in the water that the cake recipe calls for.  Soooooo, it is much thicker and SUPER sticky.  I finally used my noggin' and sprayed a little non-cooking spray on the spatula and was able to smooth it out MUCH easier.

Once you've got it spread out you add in the peanut butter cups.  I used a slightly different sized pan so I had to break some of the peanut butter cups apart (nope I wasn't just snacking on each of those before I added them).

Wowza, the marshmallow fluff was pretty sticky too but I got 'er done!  I was a sticky mess....

Then you add the 1/3 remaining cake batter.  The recipe says to drop in dollops and it will spread out as it cooks.  I was too afraid so I use the spatula with the cooking spray to smooth it out the best I could.

Hold onto your shorts, because the marshmallow fluff is REALLY gonna fluff.  I was watching anxiously hoping not to have a spill over into the oven.  Whew, I did not!!!

Annnnnnddddd here is the finished product.  Soooooooo stinkin' good.

Finished Breakfast Nook!

Do y'all remember almost exactly a year ago when I wrote this post talking about how bad I wanted a banquette for my breakfast nook?  No?  I don't blame you....that was a long time ago!!  Anywho, I finally got that banquette not TOO long after that post but then I started slacking again and never shared it with you.

Sooooo, I'm here to share my breakfast nook with you.  We don't use it as much as we should and I think I need to change that.  It really is cozy, looks out on to the veranda and would be the perfect spot to sip coffee when it's too chilly to sit outside.

I promise I'll stop talking and get to the pictures**.  Here you go!
**I took them with my phone so they are a tad bit dark.....

Yes I do still have ornaments hanging from my light.  Mostly because I love then and secondly because I haven't been able to get them untied ;)

That is a vase from the Dollar Tree that I painted with gold stripes using Krylon paint.  You can find out how to paint your own vases here.

The gold charger and the plate with the gold ring around the outside are both from the Dollar Tree. They are usually very easy to find around the holidays and add a little bling to your table year round. Those adorable little bowls were from my grandma and make me smile every time I look at them.

Don't you just love the banquette??  It fit the space perfectly and most importantly didn't break the bank.

I ordered the banquette from Wayfair and it qualified for free shipping and arrived in two days.  You can find a similar banquette here.

These geometric candle holders are also from the Dollar Tree and look amazing at night when they are lit up.  Let's be honest, I like to spray paint anything that will sit still long enough but there is NO WAY that I could ever paint anything like that.  Well worth the $1.00 each.

There you have it.  It only took me 11 months to share it with you.  Whew, gotta work on that ;)

Sneak Peek!

Since I'm as predictable as the day is long, I thought I'd share a sneak peek of some of the stuff that I have for the great room because I can't wait!  I'm going to share a picture with you but that is all I've got :P  I will also tell you that one thing in this picture came from World Market and the other thing came from Tonic Living.  So, here you go!!

I'm getting more and more excited by the day!!  Can't wait to start making some progress.....

So I have another question.  Here is my coffee table in the living room.  As you can see the legs are silver.  What are your thoughts on painting them gold like I did the lanterns on the veranda?  Should I give it a whirl?

I think the gold would warm up the space even more.  Hmmmmmm!!  Decisions, decisions....

Great Room Makeover

Good morning, friends!!  Hope you're having a fabulous Tuesday.  Today would be even better if it was Friday but well, ya know!  A girl can dream :-)

So, let's talk about our great room.  It is really the last major room in our house that I just haven't been satisfied with.  I mean I like it but it is just kinda blah.  Do you remember when I couldn't figure out what to do in our sunroom for FOREVER.  But finally completed the sunroom and LOVE IT now.

Soooooo, that's where I'm at with our great room.  Baby girl graduates next year and I WILL have the great room complete.  My mom and I have been on a mission so something tells me, it will be done LONG before next summer ;)

In case you need a refresher, here is the picture of our great room that was in Monroe Magazine.

It always looks less blah at Christmas time because I have that ginormous Christmas tree to fill in that big empty corner.  HOWEVER, I can't leave my Christmas tree up year round so I need to come up with a plan.

Here are some pictures that I took quickly with my phone so we have plenty of befores to start with.

Not sure if you remember but there used to be a credenza on this wall but my mom and dad bought it from me so it now calls their house home.   So, I'm on a mission for a replacement and some ART!!

I really want to bring color into this room.  I'm talking orange, blush, and magenta.  Yeah you heard me!!  I realized that the pops of orange were what brought my sunroom to life.  This means that my curtains have to go.  I have found my new favorite fabric place over at Tonic Living.  Gotta admit that I am obsessed.  
Have no fear though, these curtains are going in Emma's room....finally curtains for her room.  Sorry baby girl :P

And THIS wall.  This is where the Christmas tree goes and for two months it looks much less sad. However the other 10 months are pretty BORING. I'm looking for two accent chairs for this area to make a little reading nook.   (Spoiler Alert:  I may have found a screaming deal yesterday and already have them....you'll have to wait and see).

And this glass table.  Not sure but I'm thinking I might want to go back to a wooden coffee table to warm this room up but we'll wait and see.  So this baby might be on craigslist before you know it!

And the fireplace mantle is looking a little boring without stocking and garland for days.  So, my plan is to bring in some greenery and more color to bring it to life.