What's For Dinner???

I have to take a minute to rave about this amazing recipe that I came across on Pinterest!

After re-pinning the same recipe about 4 times I finally tried it out!

Ahhhhhhmazing!

So delicious, so easy and I always have the ingredients on hand!

I'm actually planning on making this tonight and I'm just so darn excited about it!

This photo was lovingly hijacked from www.daydreamkitchen.com

So... how do you make this??

Ingredients:

• 4 Chicken Breasts
• 3 teaspoons Olive oil
• 4 tablespoons or whole garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 500°F and lightly grease a casserole dish.
2. In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.
3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.
4. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes.

Since pinning this recipe (over and over and over again) I have made this many times. 

I have even tried it with some boneless skinless pork chops and guess what???

DELICIOUS!

Be sure to give this winner a try. I love it, the hubs loves it and even the kids think it's great!

I like to pair mine with some roasted brussel sprouts or just a salad.

We like to keep it low carb, that's just how we roll ~

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DIY: Let's Make a Craft Cabinet!

So this lovely friend of mine had a few pieces of furniture in her garage that she no longer wanted hanging around in her garage. After putting on my thinking cap (love the old school reference) I decided they would make a great furniture remake. She so sweetly let me take these unloved pieces of furniture so that I could give them a new life. She had a dresser and a TV/Bookshelf, both finished in a lovely (or not so lovely) Ivory and Gold crackle finish.

This is the story of a little entertainment stand that couldn't and the rad craft cabinet that could!

From Ivory/Gold crackle TV stand to Semi-Organized craft cabinet

I started off by removing the hardware and doors. Sanding the entire piece down until it was smooth.

I put on a coat of purple paint. Add some new hardware and sewed up a simple curtain to keep the mess out of sight. 

I love all the space that I have! My old craft area was a corner in my dining room. Sure, my craft cabinet is also in the corner of my dining room, but it's much less IN my dining room. The craft monster that was, was taking over our living space. Fabric stacked all over, batting on the floor, and nearly everything else in Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabric's bags. Looking for something was always a time consuming nightmare. Not to mention my little's getting into the craft goodies constantly!

My craft cabinet may look like a disorganized mess to some, but I assure you... it's organized chaos!

Having all things craft in one place (and a home for my monster sewing machine) is pure bliss!

Fabric is folded and stacked in colorful canvas bins. Ribbon is stacked.
An old baby wipe container corrals craft paints and glues and my pens and sharpies are  in an old vanity  glass jar.

From left to right: top to bottom. My awesome Thirty-One carryall bag. This is actually a gardening bag, but it works so well at keeping my sewing stuff in one easy to find and transportable place. A basket for misc. fabric scraps. A box for more ribbon. A small shelf in between for scrapbook paper, felt, and small boxes of beads, buttons and hair clips.
Extra spools of thread in the vintage tea tin, made and ready to sell hair accessories in the large pink and white box, my current project; Wonder Woman tutu for my little lady and another large basket for hard to wrangle fabrics (tulle, etc.)

I didn't purchase anything special for this project other than paint and hardware. I wanted to use containers I had around the house. It would be super cute and fun it they were all the same funky color or pattern, but that was just more dough than I wanted to sink into this little project. 

I think for my first furniture "remix" it went alright! It's not the best work ever, but it's functional, it helps keep me organized and I love it! 

Stay tuned for next weeks DIY project... the dresser from my friends garage!

Money Saving Tips

I love stumbling across other Mom blogs that discuss tips on saving money!

Whether you stay home, your Hubby stays home or you both work this Mom's blog has so many great money saving tips! Check it out, tell her I sent ya!

The Humbled Homemaker

DIY: Two Plates and a Candlestick

I keep seeing this cute little pedestal stands on Pinterest made out of plates! I love the idea and wanted to make some, but every time I clicked on the links... yep, the link went no where! Sometimes it's nice to get ideas and check out another bloggers crafts. PSA: Please folks, if you see something super awesome online and pin it, don't forget the correct link! Have to give credit where credit is due right?

Anyway... so I decided to go ahead and use a little trial and error and make my own cute little bathroom organization pedestal stands!

I started off by checking out my local thrift shop for some funky plates. You can check anywhere you like... thrift store, dollar store, Mom's cabinet, etc! I found 4 awesome plates that I loved and off I went! My next stop was to Hobby Lobby (aka My 2nd Home Sweet Home). There were a lot of great candlestick options, most of them glass which is fine. I didn't really want to use glass though. I wanted to try and do this project on the cheap and the glass candlesticks started at $4 and went up to $20. I decided to check out the woodworking aisle and found some pretty awesome little candlesticks for $2 each.

Once I got home I painted my candlesticks. One I painted a shiny black and the other is light grey. I just used regular old craft paint that I had on hand, nothing fancy.

Once the glue was dry I decided to embellish my candlesticks with pearls and rhinestones. Once your paint and embellishments are dry it's time to assemble! I applied a little E-6000 adhesive to the bottom of the candlestick and stuck it right in the middle of my bottom plate. After a couple of minutes I put more E-6000 on the top of the candlestick and set the smaller, top plate on it, as close to centered as you can get. Now... don't touch them! Let them set up all night long if you can. The E-6000 will provide a good strong hold as long as you give it time to set up. And there you go! Now you are set to get organized. I have one pedestal next to my sink for my bobby pins, moisturizers and deodorant  The other is on my dresser to hold perfumes, hair accessories and jewelry. They are so darn cute and handy! Now go make one of your own!

Badgley Mischka Randall Shoes (Light Pink Satin) - Women's Wedding Shoes - 10.0 M (Google Affiliate Ad)

DIY Wednesday!

I saw the idea for the Magnetic Make-Up organizing board on Pinterest a while back. But every time this genius idea popped up the link went no where! It was so frustrating... I wanted to know what supplies were used to create such a masterpiece! So I decided to make my own and blog about it!

The inspiration for this craft project.
Image seen on indulgy.com

So lets get started! I didn't take pictures during the process because ya'll are smart folks and can follow along! I decided to make mine on the cheap (aka a little less fancy). You can make your make-up board as fancy or as budget friendly as you like. I had an old cookie sheet that had seen better days and hasn't been used for cookies in years. I decided to use that as my base. Of course you could also buy a funky frame and get some metal sheeting to fit your frame. I picked up some "Tiffany Blue" spray paint at Hobby Lobby and gave my cookie sheet a few coats. If you don't care to paint your metal sheeting/cookie sheet you can always cover it in a funky fabric or scrapbook paper. While waiting for my paint to try I glued magnets onto the back of my make-up items that I wanted on my board. A hot glue gun would work great here, but I just used my Beacon Fabric Fix because it's what I had and what I prefer to use for craft products (fyi... it's great for so much more than just fabric). Once your paint and glue are both good and dry have fun sticking your make up on your board! For easy hanging I just punched a couple holes (with a mini screwdriver and hammer) in the top of my cookie sheet and nailed it to the wall. You can always string some pretty ribbon through or dress it up however you wish. If you go with a picture frame you could use the mounting, or use the easel and just set it on your vanity, super cute either way! I decided to attach a little zebra print bucket to hold eye liners and brushes to the bottom of the sheet (just magnets) and a fun "N" at the top for a little dressing up. Nothing super crazy or fancy... just cute and functional!

My finished Magnetic Make-Up Board

Cost run down:

• Cookie Sheet - Old and Gross so FREE!
• Spray Paint - Hobby Lobby $5.49 (But only about $3.30 if you use your 40% off coupon!)
• Magnets - $1.99 for 8 small magnets, "3" on the strength scale. I ended up buying two packages, some items needed more than one magnet. Also Hobby Lobby
• Metal "N" - $1.50 at Hobby Lobby, normally $2.99 yay for 50% off!
• Zebra Bucket - $1.49 Hobby Lobby again! I found this in the party section.

Total cost to me: $10.29  not great, but could be worse!

Whip up a make-up board of your own and be sure to send me a pic and brag about it!

Canon PowerShot SX50 12.1MP 50x Optical Zoom Black Digital Camera (Google Affiliate Ad)

It's a new year...

Time for a new look and some new goals!

I don't like to make resolutions. They are a lot like rules... made to be broken. I like to think of them more as goals... something to strive for. These are my goals for 2013:

• Complete 2012's goal by finishing the Rock and Roll Half marathon in 2 weeks.
• Blog more!
• Finish off the last 14lbs. I need to lose to hit my goal weight
• Continue to focus on decreasing my body fat percentage and increasing my lean muscle mass
• Get a little more crafty
• Get the house more organized and livable
• Update the blog a little more so it's organized and readable with fun new tabs!

2012 held a lot of great moments, a lot of sad moments and a lot of moments in between. I'm looking forward to what 2013 has in store for my little family and I!