Girl's Desk Makeover

I haven't posted a furniture makeover in a while, so I thought I'd share a past desk makeover that I completed a few months back.

Wow.  What a slacker I am.

Let me show you the desk before:

I know what you're thinking.  Why?  Why would ANYONE in their right mind ever even purchase this disgusting and hideous thing?  My only answer I have for you is.... $4.  It was four bucks!  How could I not buy it?  Even if it didn't turn out how I wanted it to, or if it turned out that something was wrong with it ..I wouldn't lose sleep overing hauling something to the curb that only cost me $4.

I have to admit.  It actually looked worse than in the pictures.  In the first picture, I had already removed the hardware and removed some funky bamboo molding from the drawers.  Yes.  You heard me right. Bamboo.

When I first started to sand this desk I realized someone actually painted this desk that horrendous green color.  Someone actually had to go to a store, pick up a swatch, and said "oh, hey this is a nice color, lets paint the desk".  I don't know what they were thinking or why they would do such a thing, but they did.  And now it was my responsibly to scrape all this off and start again.

After sanding it with 150 grit sandpaper and removing as much as the paint as I could, I gave it two coats of primer.

After a full day of drying, it was ready to paint.

This was the first coat of paint. If it wasn't for this picture, I would have missed the complete underside of the desk!!  I really need to get on my game, I know.

I gave it two coats of a light pink paint on the bottom half of the dresser.  The color is Musical Mist by Behr.  It was the same pink color I had used for my daughter's dresser and nightstand makeover, which you can see HERE.

The top I had painted white using Behr's Popped Corn and gave it two coats of Minwax Polycrylic so it would have some durability and shield off some of the drawings and marks it would later receive from my 6 year old.

While the desk was drying, I decided to keep the original hardware and just give them a few quick coats of spray paint.  I used a primer first, and then a white spray paint after it was dry.

It was all finished and looked so much cleaner and brighter.  (The top was still wet at this point)

Here's the after:

It's a great piece of furniture and it costs me only $4 to complete the entire project, based on the fact that I already had all paints and supplies on hand.

It's custom to match the rest of her furniture in her room, and she adores it.

And I adore the price!

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Peanut Butter Blossoms -- A Classic Christmas Favorite

With Christmas time comes cookie baking.  They go hand in hand.  It's tradition for my family, and I'm sure many other families, to spend the holidays in the kitchen around the table mixing and rolling dough and watching the cookies bake in the oven.  The intoxicating smell of those delicious cookies just reminds me of Christmas.

Every year we make the same type of cookies that are only to be made around Christmas.  Any other time of the year, it's a sin!  It's just wrong to make a Christmas cookie at any other time of the year.

It would be like watching A Christmas Story in June.  Ya just don't do it!

Plus, not eating something all year makes us look forward to the special cookies we bake together.

Peanut Butter Blossoms are a cookie tradition that my mom has made since I could talk! Probably even before that.  When I got married, it was one of the first recipes I wrote down to make at Christmas.  I think that certainly proves that I've been married for a quite a while if I had to actually write down a recipe and not pin it. But moving on..






It's a classic cookie that I'm sure has been blogged, pinned, and plastered all over the Internet thousands of times.  But that doesn't mean I'm not going to share my recipe here.  No sir.  I'm still sharing it with my readers who actually haven't seen it or don't know the recipe.  Actually, researching the recipe I found that there are a million variations and different measurements for everyone.  So I'm going to share my personal recipe with you all in hopes that this cookie will become a new tradition in your family.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
48 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped
plate of extra sugar to roll dough in (about 1/4 cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large bowl or stand mixer combine shortening, peanut butter, milk, vanilla, and egg.

3. In a separate large bowl combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.

4.  Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture and mix until everything is well blended together.

5. Shape dough into a large ball and divide dough mixture into 4 equal parts.  You will need to get 12, one inch balls from each quarter of dough.  

 6. Roll out 1 inch balls and roll in extra sugar.

7. Place dough balls on an un-greased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from the oven and immediately place a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie.

9.  Allow to cool on a wire rack.  Chocolate will harden as it cools.  

Notes:

-Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

-Yields: 48 cookies

To Print This Recipe Click Here

Enjoy!

Our Letters To Santa -- Includes Free Letter Printable With North Pole Envelope

December is rushing by quickly.  This is the time of the month where I begin living in panic mode.  I still have a lot of activities planned for the kids, and not much time left to do it all.

Sunday was a day spent at home blasting some Christmas music, tying on our aprons, and baking our first batches of Christmas cookies.  (I'll be sharing a few cookie recipes in the next few weeks, so keep and eye out!)  I thought it would be the perfect day to break out the letters and let the kids start brainstorming ideas of what they would be asking Santa for this year.

I've created this adorable Santa letter printable and a special north pole envelope that is addressed to Santa himself!  All you need to do is download both, cut out the envelope (which I'll show you in more detail how to create it),  fold up your letters, and mail them out.  It's that simple.
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To Download the Santa Letter Click HERE

To Download the North Pole Envelope Template Click HERE

To make the envelope:

1. Download and print out the envelope template

2.  Cut out the template

3. Flip over and fold over left side flap first and glue.

4.  Fold over right side flap and glue.

5. Fold bottom flap over and glue ONLY ON THE SIDES.

6. Place folded paper inside and glue top flap down.

7. All finished!

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The kids had such a great time dreaming up all the things they wanted to ask for from Santa.

I remember doing this as a little girl and it filled my heart with joy to watch them fill out their lists.    

He was concentrating.

 All ready to be mailed out.

I hope this printable comes in handy for the little ones in your life. And who knows.  It might even give you Santa some ideas on what exactly to get if you're a little unsure.  Everyone needs a hand for gift ideas sometimes.  Even the big guy himself!

Hoping you all are having a joyous and happy holiday season!

Our Elf on the Shelf North Pole Breakfast-2014

Thanksgiving has come and gone again.  While I'm a little sad (and full), I was so happy to bring back our elf Harry.  Last year, he threw the kids a North Pole Breakfast and they absolutely loved it.  So I knew it would become a tradition year after year.  It's sort of his debut, I guess.

This year, I made all the printables and details that went along with our breakfast.  I wanted everything to be personalized and extra special for the kids.  Plus, I kind of envisioned a polka dot and candy cane theme this year so I wanted everything to match just right.

Luckily, I have decided to include some of those printables just for you!  They're easily editable just by simply opening them up in a photo editing software or by using the ol' pen and paper method.  You can find them all at the end of the post  :)

Lets jump into the breakfast, shall we?

My favorite part of the entire breakfast "experience" is setting everything up. 

This year, the menu was kept pretty simple but sweet.  And I mean that literally.  It was a complete sugar overload and I was shocked that my kids could sit still at all that day.  But what elf do you know brings fruit and healthy breakfast options?  Certainly not our elf.

 These were Strawberry Jell-o and whipped cream cups.  So cute and so simple to make. Just make your jello-o according to the package instructions and fill glasses.  Tilt the glass on it's side using a cupcake pan and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours or until set.

What elf wouldn't bring cookies for breakfast?

Opening their presents from Harry.  My present was watching their little faces light up.

We finished off our breakfast by reading the Elf on the Shelf book.

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Free Christmas Breakfast Printables To Download:

You can download the breakfast sign HERE

You can download the straw toppers HERE

You can download the place cards HERE

You can download the milk bottle labels HERE

You can download the welcome poem HERE

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The holidays to me is about bringing out the magic of Christmas.  It's about filling their hearts with joy and excitement.  Believing in the magic of Christmas fades away quick.  So each year, I try my best to make it as exciting for them as I can.  Christmas is about togetherness.  It's about family.  

One day these breakfasts, the elf experience, the little parties we throw, and even going to see Santa will all one day be a distant memory.  We'll remember by pictures.  We'll remember by videos.  But we'll also remember by the memories we cherish and hold in our hearts forever.   And that's what Christmas magic is.  The spirit they'll forever hold in their hearts.