Bedroom Re-do: To Do List

You all have seen that it started here. Even though it took me forever to get started, ya'll I'm running with it now. I will be taking a short break tonight, to craft Christmas Ornaments with my girlfriends, but Saturday and Sunday are booked with Bedroom re-do items.
 
Let me give you a sneak peek at the to-do list:

1. Repaint bedroom - Intense Teal by Behr (done! woo woo!)
2. find new side tables - (found and purchased at the Maj-R Savor)
3. refinish side tables
4. new lamps (found and purchased at Good Will)
5. repaint lamps & get new drum shades
6. repaint dresser (my mom purchased me a new dresser so there will be some furniture shuffling as well)
7. Make a tufted headboard ( I have the fabric, need wood and foam)
8. Flip fan blades over to the dark wood side
9. new bedding (done)
10. Throw pillows (I have the fabric, need to sew them up)
11. Stencil the wall behind the bed (doing this Sunday, I'm pretty excited)
12. new curtains
13. reupholster the hope chest top (I've got the fabric, happening Saturday!)

 So this is what is upcoming:
#3, 5, 6 and 13 are scheduled for Saturday. #11 is scheduled for Sunday. Wish me luck!

Found:http://pinterest.com/pin/85783901/ This is what I'm going to attempt to do in the bedroom!

It's Started: The Bedroom Re-do

Last night, I finally rolled up my sleeves and got to work. And by finally, I mean, I've had the paint color picked out and purchased for more than eight (8!) months. I really need to call Procrastinators Anonymous, maybe I'll do that tomorrow. Le sigh.

When I first bought my house about 2 and a half years ago, I taped about 78 gabillion swatches of paint on the bedroom walls and finally settled on Key Lime Green by Behr. Ya'll I loved that color. It looked awesome! I went with a scheme of  Key Lime Green, Black, White, and silver. It was pretty sweet.

Now, my room looks like this, and I've decided I want something a bit more grown-up and sophisticated, but still in line with my personality. So the beginning of the change. And don't mind the mess, just trying to keep it real in blog-land. Let's look at a few more before pics...

Look at all those books, sadly most of those are on my "to read" list. And as I was moving things around, I found a ton more books. Can you all tell I love to read, because I do!! Here is a look at the tub of books I carted out of my room.

Anywho, I like change on a semi-regular basis, so after picking a new color and waiting eight months to put the color on the walls. The new color that I chose is called Intense Teal, also by Behr. First I taped and edged the walls.

And let me tell you about a new life-changing tool I bought. It's an edger, and it's Ah-May-Zing. It makes perfect edges and it's super easy. I will be using this to edge from now on.

Here I am posing with the edger, because it's just that cool. After edging, I began rolling the paint on the walls.

And maybe a little got on me during the process. I'm actually a super clean painter, but I always manage to get paint in my hair and on my face for some reason.

And finally I was done. This is the new view in the bedroom for now. I've got more things up my sleeve.

Here I am celebrating the end of a long evening, but I have new paint on the walls.

As this is quickly turning into the longest post ever, I'll save the list of "to-do's" for the bedroom for another post.

Welcome to Crazy Town

 I hope everyone is getting in the Halloween mood. I've never been much into decorating for the Holidays unless it's for Christmas. Now I know some people get really into decorating they're houses for any and all holidays. To each his own. But then there are some people, who when you see how far over the top they go make you think "Welcome to Crazy Town....Population these guys." Check out these videos.

My understanding is this guy does these type of light shows for almost every major holiday. His neighbors must think he's either awesome or hate his guts. But he's not the only one. Check out this guy.

And because you can't mention Home Light Shows with out mentioning one that features the greatest College Basketball team of all time.

These guys must have outrageous electricity bills. And rocking sound systems. Let me just say I'm glad I live in a quiet neighborhood, and that YouTube let's me experience this stuff anyway. Has anyone else out there been crazy over the top with Halloween?

Delicious Goodness: Oreo Crumb Chocolate Cupcakes

Today my father is starting the last year of his 50's. I was teasing him yesterday, that he's not ancient yet, but he's pretty damn close. He was not pleased with me. To make up for it, I made him birthday cupcakes. Normally my Mother makes him a traditional German Chocolate Cake for his birthday every year. This year, I got put in charge of his cake, and there is no way I was making that crap. Thinking about it makes me want to vomit*. Nasty chocolate, soggy coconut.....EWWWW!!! (*Disclaimer, this is in no way a reflection on my Mother's baking/cooking skills, the best chef in the world could make a traditional German Chocolate Cake and I would still feel the same about it.)

Instead, I decided to go with a tried and true recipe, the Oreo Crumb Chocolate Cupcake with Oreo Cream Cheese Icing. I've made these a few times and they have always been a big hit.

Now, I wish I could take all the credit for this treat of delicious goodness. But I can't. The problem is, I don't know who to give credit too. I printed this recipe off the internet years ago, and have no idea who it belongs to. If you know, let me know, so I can point people to the original source. But in the mean time, I will supply you with the recipe so you too can make your own delicious goodness.

Oreo Crumb Cupcakes & Oreo Cream Cheese Icing

Cake Ingredients:

• 24 Oreos
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 eggs
• Devil's Food Cake Mix

Icing Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• Oreo cream from cookies
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2  1/2 - 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup Oreo crumbs, sifted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners
2. Take your 24 Oreos. Scrape off the cream centers, set these aside for later. Put the cookies in a food processor, or place them in a plastic bag and crunch by hand.
3. Sift the crushed Oreos. You will need about 1 cup sifted cookies for the icing, so set that aside. Be sure to sift the cookies or you will get big chunks in your icing bag, that makes it difficult to get around. Trust me, I know. 
4. Place approximately 1 teaspoon of  the larger cookie crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. 
5. In a large bowl, use a whisk to combine water, buttermilk, oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract. 
6. One at a time, add the eggs. Be sure to stir well in between each addition.
7. Slowly add the Devil's Food cake mix while stirring. 
8. Fill cupcake liners (with the cookie crumbs on the bottom) 3/4 full and bake for 13-18 minutes (depending on your oven, of course). The tops should spring back when you touch them. 
9. For the icing: Cream together your cream cheese, butter, and the Oreo cream centers. 
10. Add vanilla and heavy cream. 
11. Add in the powdered sugar until you reach the desired icing texture.
12. Stir in sifted Oreo crumbs and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Be sure to store in a air-tight container to keep in moisture. Enjoy!!!

My Sweet Scallops Tote

Some of you may know Kate over at see kate sew. I wish I could say that I really knew her, she makes the coolest things and I'm completely jealous of all her sweet skills, but I only blog-stalk know her. 

Kate is celebrating her blog birthday and is hosting a sew along with a pattern that she designed. I immediately signed up (and in true blog stalker fashion, was the first to commit). I sat down at the sewing machine last night and in a little over an hour had this beauty.

I absolutely adore it! It's amaze-balls. They only alteration that I made was changing from two straps to one long cross-body strap. I'm lucky to live close enough to work that I walk every day. So it's much easier for me to sling my bag across my body and go. I also added a matching felt & fabric flower to cover where the strap attaches to the bag.

The bag holds all my junk and sits perfectly on my hip. I've already had people ask where I got it and when I tell them I made it they are shocked. I see many more of these as gifts in the future.

Thanks for hosting a great sew-along Kate! And Happy Blog Birthday!