Gift Wrap Organization

I finished my gift wrap organization station this week, and thought I'd share the idea with you.

I originally found the idea while searching on Pinterest, and came up with my own version. These two photos were my inspiration:

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The Container Store has a hanging over the door system, but it was almost $90 and I didn't want to spend that much. I used this four tiered closet organizer from Home Depot ($20) and paired it with these $3 hooks.

This style of hook should henceforth be referred to as drunk octopus hooks. See?

 

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Anyway. Bam. An easy, inexpensive alternative to stuffing all of my gift wrap into one of those long, under-the-bed storage bins. I (still) don't know how to use the drill, so Charlie hung them all on the back of the office door for me.

I used curtain ring clips in order to hang my wrapping paper. I suppose you could hang flattened paper boxes this way, too. I also used glass mason jars to hold ribbon.

Wrapping gifts is now much less of a pain. I can see exactly what we have, and I don't have to dig through a bin of tissue paper, ribbons, gift wrap, tape, and gift bags.

I love how slim the profile is. We always have the office door open, and you'd never even know anything was behind it.

Chocolate Macaroons

I have recently discovered a little corner of heaven on earth called macaroons. I don't know why I'm so late in the game, but I have now arrived.

For Christmas last year, my brother got me the Bon Appetit: Fast, Easy, Fresh cookbook. I was leafing through it this afternoon, and kept coming back to the chocolate macaroons recipe. Oh a whim, I decided to make them (I've never made macaroons before) and OH. MY. GOSH. they are SO GOOD. 

I signed and oohed and ahhed my way through two of them (What About Bob style) and then helped myself to a third. And maybe ate another while writing this post. Maybe. Here's the recipe:

• 1 1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Melt one cup of chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring frequently. Cool to room temperature.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. 

Gradually add in the sugar and vanilla, beating until the whites are thick and glossy.

With a spatula, fold in the melted chocolate, coconut, and remaining chocolate chips.

Drop batter by heaping teaspoons onto two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets.

Bake at 325 for 18 - 20 minutes, rotating the pans half way through.

Then try to only eat one. 

Couch to 5K

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A few weeks ago, I finished a couch to 5K program. This may not sounds like much of a life event, but I'm pretty excited about it. 

I've been a "walker" my whole life and have a relatively healthy and active lifestyle. I've always wanted to run, but have never been able to. I'd start running, last 3 blocks, and be painfully winded. I could walk for hours on end and be fine, but two minutes of running was out of the question.

Enter the Couch to 5K Running Plan. I figured this plan could give me a leg up- heck, I'm not even starting from couch potato position.

There were weeks that were easy, and weeks that were very hard. I had to repeat the fourth week 3 times- for whatever reason, I couldn't push through and finish the last running chunk. But I did eventually!

I'm proud of myself for sticking with something that was hard, and often not fun. But it feels SO good to have accomplished a goal I've always wanted, but never thought I could. Now I can easily run for a half and hour- CRAZY!

I'm not one of those nuts who thinks that running is incredibly fun and addicting. There are moments of a run that feel fun (like when it's windy and I'm running downhill listening to Baba Yetu and I feel like a fully competent Ethiopian marathon runner, gallivanting across the African dessert.). Don't make fun.

I learned a few things that have helped me run:

• Tell people. They'll hold you accountable to keep going.
• Circular breathing (in through your nose, out through your mouth). This was game changing.
• It's okay to slow your pace. My goal was for time, not distance. I'm still working my way up to the distance of a 5K (the program works both ways, you can use it for time or for distance- I chose time). I know I'll get there soon!
• Upbeat music. I needed it the first few weeks to keep me going and to keep my pace. Here's my (embarrassing) list of songs that I found helpful while running:
• "That Girl" (Frankie J) Frank Frank Frank Frank Frank Fresssshhhh. Not super edifying, but the perfect running beat.
• "I Need Love" (NSYNC). Yes.... a boy band. :)
• Fireflies (Owl City)
• Your Great Name (Natalie Grant) 
• Breathe (Michelle Branch)
• Baba Yetu (Christopher Tin)
• Marry You (Bruno Mars)
• Testify to Love (Avalon) This one I'm a little embarrassed about. Avalon was very candy pop and 8th grade, but it ended up being a great running song and the lyrics are good. And true. :)
• Curbside Prophet (Jason Mraz)

So there it is. I finished the program, and am still going strong. It took me longer than 9 weeks due to multiple April blizzards (like, snow day April blizzards) and not always doing the 3 workouts per week. 

And I did. And so can you!

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Entertainment System (& Basement Updates)

I've been holding out on you. For Christmas (I know I know, Christmas?!) Charlie and I decided to go smaller on the gifts for each other, and focus on doing something "bigger" for the house. Enter the basement entertainment center.

It's the Ikea Besta system, and we love it. I drove myself half insane over Christmas break scouring the web for a system we liked that was stylish and fit within out budget. I considered everything from converting kitchen cabinetry and bathroom vanities, having one custom built, and even sawing apart Ikea components to make one along the lines of this:

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Obviously, ours is different. But you get the gist. I'd basically decided I didn't like the Ikea one, but it fit our budget and size requirements, so we took a trip there anyway just to make sure it wasn't the right one for us. Turns out they had it set up in the store, it looked a billion times better in person, and we immediately collected our components and drove home.

On a side note, we bought the wrong drawer fronts the first time around. This ultimately lead to the untimely death of our beloved Saturn Vue, a new car for us (Saturn Outlook), and for me a total, utter aversion to driving in any sort of snow.

On the trip to exchange the fronts, my car spun out on ice/snow in five lanes of traffic, skidded over two of them, and smashed head on into a concrete median going 60 mph. It was terrifying, but miraculously I, and another driver involved in the accident, were totally okay. Jesus so clearly was there and kept me safe, even though I thought I might be going to see Him a lot sooner than anticipated just seconds before I hit the median. It's been a comfort to know that He knows and has planned all my days and has good works for me to walk in still. I'm glad He's not done with me yet :)

Very rationally, after I hit the median and realized that not only was I alive with all limbs in tact and no blood to be spoken for, maybe I could just keep going on my merry way to Ikea. Such devotion and dedication you never did see. (This obliviously didn't happen- I didn't realize my car looked like THAT!).

ANYWAYS. I just had to insert that little side story that went into the coming together of the entertainment center. Those new drawer fronts better be darn grateful.

I'm loving the slim profile. So Besta now lives in our basement, and we love it. There's a lot more storage and room for display stuff. 

One of my favorite parts is the drawers. Maybe because we only have three of them in our kitchen and I feel drawer deprived?

I guess I like decorating with books. Can you tell? A lot of them are from Goodwill.

Also, a few minor basement updates. I went in to Joann Fabric for interfacing, and came out with this fabric instead. I love the colors and pattern.

I also decided to take down the two floating shelves by the mirror wall. It seemed too cluttery with the entertainment center.

That's all, folks.

We MUST press on to know this Christ!

I'm a senior high small group leader at church this year, and last night we watched a short video of John Piper talking on the Supremacy of Christ. It was so powerful and so moving, I had to share it with you. I think this is a snippet of a conference he gave recently. Listening to this brings me to tears.

Here's the audio. We had a different video with visual last night, but I can't find it. My favorite part is around 10:00.

One young lady in my group had such a moving though: "God is so BIG and POWERFUL, and yet he came to die for ME." For me and you, and whoever will believe in Him in faith. Isn't it amazing? It truly is the best news of all.

Thinking of the words to one of my favorite hymns:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin, not in part but the whole-
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Pinterest: Wins and Losses

Happy Monday! If you live in Minnesota, it was gorgeously springlike today. Leo and I took full advantage and went "walkies" wearing a fleece jacket and tennis shoes (as opposed to a puffy winter coat and boots with the fur). My hope that winter is fading away has gained some strength!

I thought I'd share with you some Pinterest wins and losses. Obviously, not everything you read on the internet is true, but Pinterest somehow gives credibility to crappy ideas. And, it brings awareness to really great ideas, too. So without further ado, here's my list.

We'll start with the losses.

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Biggest loss of all: the popular "pour a cap full of vanilla into an oven safe dish and it'll make your house smell ah-may-zing." Apparently this is a trick that realtors use all the time. I tried it and the house smelled good for about 90 seconds, then smelled like nasty burnt vanilla stank. Definitely a fail.

*Note: I realized I had my oven at 350, and a lot of the links I'm finding say 300. Maybe this was my fail? But really- it smelled BAD.

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Second fail: Two ingredient banana oatmeal breakfast cookies. The idea sounds alluring, doesn't it. Cookies for breakfast? Yes, please! Alas, it was too good to be true. They were super bland and had a weird, squishy texture. Yuck.

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Another fail: How to fold a fitted sheet- the video! I was really pumped for this one. I even pinned it!This lady has nimble fingers and makes it look so easy. Reality: I think she really has magic sheets. For the life of me, I couldn't get it. And I even practiced. Thankfully, I don't believe that a well folded fitted sheet is of eternal value. Phew.

Now for some wins! I knew Pinterest was wonderful and addicting for a reason!

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First win: Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken. This stuff is so yummy, and so easy to make. It's become a regular recipe in our house. Pair with some rice and Aldi egg rolls, and dinner is served!

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Second win: This hairdo. It looks complicated, but once you practice a few times, it's pretty effortless. It's something you could wear to a wedding, or to a day at the beach. You pick.

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Win numero three: Ridding the shower of black mold. Don't judge me, you know you have it too. Or at least have at some point. We had black mold in the same place as this photo (just not as badly). No matter how hard I scrubbed, the stubborn stuff wouldn't budge. I was a little skeptical that this would work, but it did and it STILL looks great a month and half later.



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Number Four: DIY Mirror Frame. This project was really easy, inexpensive, and made a big impact in our bathroom. Here's the link to ours.

That's all for now. Happy Pinning!



A Few of My Favorite Things

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Charlie and I tried something new this year- fondue! It was fabulous and delicious and fun. I'd highly recommend it! We borrowed my mother-in-law's pot, so now I need to track one down for myself.

In lieu of a home projects post (no real updates yet/ready), I thought I'd compile a list of my favorite things. Just to share with you all. And to maybe give you an idea of something new to try!

 

1. Norwex Cloths: I'm a clean freak, and often clean with only water. How?! These cloths. They've got antibacterial magic built into each cloth, so you don't need to use any chemicals. Check out the link if you don't believe me.

 

2. Target's Esma Sandals: A staple from last summer, there are still a few pairs left online! Super comfortable AND they don't fall of your feet while walking (any one else have this sandal/flip flop problem?) I loved them so much I got gold and went back for blue.

 

3. TRESsemme FreshStart Dry Shampoo: Admission- I wash my hair every other day. This stuff make my hair look, feel, and smell fresher on day two. And, it adds a little bit of tack and body.

 

4. Sally Hanson's Triple Strong Nail Polish: For those of us who live in the real world with laundry and dishes and scratching our husband's heads, anything that makes an at home manicure last a few days longer sans chips is a winner.

 

5. Muk Luks: I'm chronically cold, and these keep your toes AND your legs warm Woot woot!

 

6. Tazo Passion Tea: Yummy and fruity-full. This tea actually has depth and substance- I like teas that taste more like juice than weak fruity water. (Just like the Honest Toddler).

 

7. Aviators: Wearing these makes me feel like Tammy Taylor from Friday Night Lights.

 

8. Spin Pins: 1-2 of these pins replaces 15 bobby pins. Amazing! Here's how they work.

 

9. Levi's Curve ID Skinny Jeans: For any of you looking for skinny jeans with a bit of heft (not jeggings!) these are the ticket. I looked forever before finding these, and they're the best. They hold their shape after multiple wearings, and are a classic dark wash. Also, Levi's Curve ID lets you practically customize jeans for your body. Awesome!

 

10. White and Coral Ikat Scarf: A 2011 birthday present from Forever21, it will live in my closet until 2081. It's so fresh and springy.

 

11. Bed Buddy: Finally, an UNSCENTED microwavable rice bag. Scented ones make me feel nauseous, so this is a real treat.

 

12. Burt's Bees: Rounding out the list, because who doesn't love Burt's Bees?

Easy, Inexpensive Event Decor

A week and a half ago, I decorated for our church's anual Titus 2 Women's Mentee Coffee. It's an event with approximatly 120 in attendance, and a $150 budget for me to work with. Here's what I came up with this year:

I used a bunch of paper lanterns and hung them behind the main food table, instead of a centerpiece. I also used a grouping of different sized and colored lanterns as table centerpieces.

Real dishes would be nice, but not cost effective. Target had cute pink and white polka dot napkins, and I set the gold plates on the table to boost the color scheme instead of setting them on the food table. Here's the overall look:

I thought things turned out pretty cute. Hopefully I'll be able to reuse the lanterns for another event!

Makes me Laugh

I have to share this with you. I ran across this video via the Small Things Blog and it literally made me laugh out loud. Not the laughing out loud like this:

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But literally. Here it is. Enjoy. And happy weekend.

Upstairs Bedroom

Happy Friday! I wanted to share our latest room update with you: I did a quick and inexpensive update in our upstairs third bedroom.

It had sat for 3 1/2 years with a terrible, terrible little boys sports border running around the ceiling. I decided that if the only thing I did was take the border down, it would be better than nothing. Which of course led to painting the entire room, the trim, and a few update projects to finish everything off. You know how it is. Here's the ugliness before:

And a close up, just for good measure:

Currently, this room is only used to house Leo's kennel. For the life of me, I could NOT think of what else to use this room for. We already have an office with a separate desk for things like sewing, crafts, and gift wrapping.

Eventually, it'll be a nursery, but not for the near future. Charlie, being ever so practical, suggested I try to pick the color I would want the nursery walls to be, so that we don't have to re-paint. So I scoured Pinterest nurseries for a while (which felt very odd) and settled on a light gray. It's the same color as our basement office. I figured gray is here to stay (at least for a while), is nicely neutral, and goes well with both girl and boy decor. If all else fails, at least I won't have to smell paint primer while feeling nauseous.

So here it is.

Better? I think so.

 

 

Leo's kennel. Too bad we still need one- that dog is like a goat with the things he finds to eat.

My goal was to only spend money on paint. Like I said, we only use this room for Leo's kennel, and the bed and nightstand are more of a placeholder than anything else so the room doesn't look empty.

Just an FYI: The "headboard" is a 2' x 3' bulletin board painted white. I had extra fabric from the first attempt at making a roman shade for the basement. I cut it to size and pinned it on. Boom. Headboard on the cheap.

Enjoy the start of your weekend!