Quick and Easy Banana Pancakes

I love banana pancakes, but I love them even more NOW.  Usually I quickly pull out my always tastie Krusteaz pancake mix, add a banana or two, and whip up some pancakes.  But the other day I was being a bit more adventurous and added to the 14-15 (pancake number on the back) Krusteaz mix.

I added:

3 rip bananas

1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup brown sugar

Mixed it all up and made me some yummy pancakes.  Peanut butter, warm syrup, and a big glass-o-milk.  I am set

Yum!

Get cooking with your bad self!

Beachy/Barn Look- Furniture Painting Tips

For this night stand I wanted that “has been in a barn- painted too many coats-looks kinda beach-y”  look.  Hahaha you like that description?

I found this gem on KSL for $50 and every penny went to charity, so that’s nice.

It was already great looking for my room, but I wanted to add some color and make it have “the look”  I wanted.  I just took a trip to Florida and all the furniture in the beach house we stayed in was painted in a fun colorful way.  I wanted that look in my bedroom.  Here are some of the pieces from the room we stayed in that inspired me.

Fun huh?!

Yes, so how do I achieve that lived in a barn/beachy look?!? Here’s how.  SIMPLE!

Don’t sand your piece before painting. (sorry for the blurry picture, it was really late when I did this)

Most of the time you need to sand before you paint, so the paint can stick evenly to your all over piece.  But since you don’t want the paint to stick all the way, skip the sanding!  Yaahooo!  Makes this project go much faster too.  I like that

Paint then lightly sand off some of the paint until you get your desired look. I used #220 and #150 grit sand paper

I painted and sanded, then repeated once more to cover a little better.

I top coated twice with a foam brush.  And added these handles from Anthropologie.  I have had them forever, but didn’t have anything to put them on, this was perfect.

I am very pleased with how this turned out.  Beachy-barn here I come

I’ll photograph it in the bedroom when I get the room done.  (It will be a while)

TV Stand- Refinishing, Distressing, Antiquing

I bought this dresser off KSL – (Utah’s version of Craigslist) – for $80.  I then got to work.

Here is how I transformed this dresser into my TV stand

I started by going into one of my favorite Utah furniture stores that specializes in painting wood furniture.  They helped me pick out the paints I wanted and gave me a few tips on how to tackle this project.  I want to share these tips with you and more that I learned from trial and error

The first thing you want to do when refinishing a piece is sand.  I used a #220 grit sand paper to sand this baby down.  Since I was painting the whole piece I didn’t worry too much about getting all the way down to the wood (except in the areas I wanted to see a more distressed look).  I made myself a little map of where those areas were before I started to paint.  You really just need to sand enough for the paint to have something to stick to.  After sanding, I then wiped down piece completely to get rid of dust.

I then applied a thin coat of paint with a foam brush (this helps to minimize brush strokes and get a more even layer) I let this dry about 5-6 hours, then I used my #220 grit sand paper to lightly sand again.  I made sure to look back at my distressing map to sand those areas extra well.  Wiped it down again and painted again.  Repeating these steps until the grain of the wood was no longer visible.

After the brown paint was done being applied I used a #150 grit sand paper for extra distressing.  I wiped it down and added in my pops of baby blue, green, and teal.  I used the foam brush and an art paint brush to cover the small areas.  I sanded down the distressed areas onces more with my #220 and #150 sand paper.

I then added a dark brown glaze over the top of the whole piece. I let this dry for 2 days.

Finally I added a top coat. I very lightly sanded/buffed the piece with #600 grit sand paper. Wiped it again.  Then following the directions on my top coat can, began to apply it with a foam brush.  I let it dry a day, then sanded, wiped, brushed on the top coat again.  I did this three times.  Then I was done!  This took about a month for me from start to finish.  I was more work than I thought, but it turned out great.

More  Tips!

Remember to stir the top coat.  Do not shake it or that will create bubbles.

Use an actually glaze not a stain to go over your piece for the antiqued look.  Stain will wipe off as you add your top coat.  Very frustrating.  Don’t listen to anyone who tells you to use a stain over a layer of paint.  It doesn’t stay on.

Foam brushes work great, buy them from Micheal’s.  They are better quality there than Home Depot.

Flow-trol also is great for smoothing out paint brush lines.  Just add it to your paint can.

I took out the top two drawers to store our TV components and I spray painted the handles.

I hope these tips help you with your next project!

Done piece!

Faux Animal Rug

I found this rug online at West Elm.

I loved it and thought it would look awesome for Beck’s room, but, I don’t want to spend that kinda moola on a rug for a 1 year old’s room.  So! I made it  I’m so cool   It was another super easy five minute craft.  Sweet!

Here’s how I did it.

I bought some fabric that wouldn’t fray with a thick back and I wouldn’t need to sew.

I printed out a picture of the rug.  Folded my fabric in half, draw an outline with chalk, then cut!

The outline was in white chalk, so it’s hard to see.

Then I took it to the next level and added a tail and a mane.

I used this-

Tear Mender, it’s great for creating without having to sew.

I braided some matching yarn and glue it on with the Tear Mender.

Then cut out some felt and glued that on too.

And waalaa!

One faux animal rug.  I’m not sure what animal it is…looks like a horse.

Craft Break- Time to Laugh

So I had a crappy Saturday.  I’ve been working on a dresser I bought off KSL.  And, I must have done something wrong on the very last step because the stain(that I spent hours on) started to come off as I applied the clear top coat.  I was P-I-S-S-E-D to say the least.  Then everything else that’s not perfect in life right now just seemed to snowball and I was in a full blow crying fit before my husband knew what was going on 😉  (He’s a good man, thank goodness)  He listen while I threw a childish fit about how I had “totally messed the dresser up”  “I miss San Diego, the beach, MY FRIENDS” ,  that I “Don’t have” this or that and blah blah blah whine whine whine and cry big tears.  So, now that I have composed myself and realized I am not falling in to a never ending hole of doom and gloom, my dresser will be okay

I would like to share these pictures with you, they make me smile.

I wish I could do this to my kids.

For Photographer info click here

What I try to do

You could buy this here.

( Hopefully I share pictures of the dresser around Wednesday, maybe sooner.)

Iron On-Peel Off Wall Art

This is sweet!  Who thinks to iron fabric to walls?!!  Well now you will.

First of all, I am kinda a spray painting freak these days.  I sprayed this frame that I found for $1.50 at the thrift store last week. Perfect for this room.

Then got started on my fabric butterfly.  I found a butterfly silhouette online, sized it right, printed it and cut it out.

I applied (here’s the trick) HEAT and BOND to the back of my fabric.

Then I traced the butterfly image on to the paper backing and cut it out.

I then peeled off the Heat and Bond paper backing and ironed it straight onto my wall.  Sooo easy!!

I am thinking I should have done a darker fabric, but oh well, it’s cute! That the cool thing though, I could peel this off and iron another one on it about two minutes.

Here’s a few pictures from the art I have made in Charlie’s room.

Find the painted dresser here.

And here’s how to make a silhouette.

I am hoping to get a little lamp to stick on the table between the beds and the bedding is in the mail.  It will be so cute when its all done.  P.S. those beds where mine and my sisters growing up.  If  you look close you can see where I carved my initials L Z in the wood.  oops  And that cross stitch was given to my Grandma when my mom was born.  It hung over her bed, mine and my sisters beds, and now Charlie’s bed.  I love stuff like that.

And make it pretty 😉

Fake flower hair bow How To!

I always feel like “hair bow” should be one word…. Any who!  Welcome to fake flower hair bow making 101.  Super easy stuff right here!

You need:

Fake flowers

matching 8 mm wide ribbon(optional)

gems or buttons

alligator clips (get get at Sally’s Beauty Supply or I like to get mine on e-bay)

And  grab your hot glue gun!

Here’s how we start.  Flip your flower over and pull it all apart.  Don’t be afraid, it all good.

Now depending on the flower and how fluffy you want it , choose the layers you want on the flower.  Then glue each layer back together with just a little dab of hot glue in the center.This flower I only used two of the layers.  I can make 5 hair bows from this one flower.  I like to put wax paper under the flower when I am doing this.

After you have glued all the layers/petals you want on your flower- glue the gem or a button in the center of the flower.

Almost done.  Now you don’t have to do this part, but I like to wrap my alligator clip in ribbon. I think it looks nice, helps the clip hold on to the hair better, and helps the clip stay on the flower.   I don’t do the entire thing, you need the part that slides in the hair uncovered or its too hard to get in the hair.  Here’s how I do it.

I put just a little line of glue on the end of the ribbon.  Don’t cut if off the roll yet.  Then I open my clip and slide the glued part in on the top part of the clip; so the bottom prong is left uncovered.

There is a hole where some of the glue comes through and works well to attach the top piece of ribbon.

Once its in I fold the ribbon over the top and press together.

Then I glue around the top of the pincher part of the clip and just slightly on to the bottom prong.

Now I glue it to my flower.

Just a little dab will do ya!

Done!  Wish I had a cute picture of this is someones hair….maybe later 😉

« Previous Page