Weekend Room Makeover

When Superfro and I moved into our house in 1999 all the walls were white, with the exception of the kitchen (country blue wallpaper) and the master bedroom (pink.) We spend a lot of time painting but for some reason never got around to our "living room." It was a room between the dining room and what we were using as a library, one you had to walk though to get to the laundry room and bathroom, so a room most visitors to our house saw at one point during a visit.

It's a pretty square room with a couple of nice tall windows and a closet. The walls are in terrible shape being that it's an older part of the house than the kitchen and dining room. (Sidenote: Our house has been built onto several times since it was originally constructed in 1890, and was once a four-plex, then a duplex, before it was a single family home.) Instead of drywall, the walls are made of horsehair plaster laid over slats of wood. There are cracks, long, looooong cracks and years worth of nail holes, plus a general uneven look to the walls from unsuccessful repairs.

It was the room was where all our old furniture went to die. If we had something that we didn't know what else to do with, it usually went in that room. My old futon, the old entertainment center and TV, old lamps, dusty candle holders, an ancient VCR and SEGA game system. Rarely did the room actually get used, in fact, it only got used as a place to fold laundry. And then after a while it became a makeshift closet with tubs of  clothing all over it. The room was an incredible eyesore.


Seriously, this was the usual state of the room.

Seriously.

When we inherited a used treadmill last August, it was only natural that it be placed in that room. Except, instead of being forgotten like everything else in the room, we actually used it. Superfro and I were both logging time on the treadmill and in the eyesore of a room. Eventually, it became clear that the room needed rearranging in order to make it easier to see the TV while using the treadmill and from there, the decision was made to just re-do the room. Paint, new TV, new TV stand, new furniture, new window treatments.

Like the pathetic losers that we are, we started with a TV, finding one in our size and price range, then moved onto the TV stand. Then using some of our framed art we picked colors and found curtains from Target that we liked, *then* used the curtains to make a paint match. I don't know if that's how other people do it, but it made the most sens to use. I didn't want to pick out paint colors and then be stuck trying to find the perfect curtains, see?

So, we had a dusty blue color and a deep orange. We decided to do 2 walls of each color, with matching trim. The trim was already painted and it's not in great shape in places so I didn't feel very bad painting it. We opted to leave the closet door and the crooked pocket doors leading into the dining room white. We prepped the room, cleared it (mostly), taped it, patched the walls (mostly) and stated painting. Superfro is a much more meticulous painter than I am, also much more patient and much more  energetic. In fact, I realized that I hate painting wall now as much as I did 11 years ago.

Once we got 2 coats on the walls, the orange was more like ORANGE ORANGEY ORANGVILLE. I was speechless, just rolling on more and more paint, hoping that it would darken up. I'm still not thrilled with it but I also don't hate it enough to paint it again.


All prepped, ready to start, testing out the paint in the corner.

 

You can see what I mean about the uneven walls there right?

I was pretty much freaking out at this point.

But I loved this side of the room.

After 2 coats and almost dry....

By the end of the second day the paint was dry and it was time to hang and steam the curtains. Yes, I have a steamer, don't you judge me! Then it was time to put the new TV stand together and make sure that it could hold precious cargo.


Hot steamy action!



Yep, looks good!

The fun part for me was hanging some pictures.

So, now we've got the treadmill in place but we're still using the old futon to sit on. Turns out that Cedar Rapids doesn't have the best selection of love seats at the price we're willing to spend so we're gonna just put that on the back burner until the perfect one finds us, so.....2019, 2010, sometime around then most likely!

Curator's Corner: Becky Danielson - Things That Sit

This is the second post I've done about one of my favorite artists, Becky Danielson. The first was all about art that hangs and this one will focus on art that sits.

Becky's three dimensional art is often made using found objects re-purposed and repainted. It's usually impossible to discern what the item was in it's previously life. Often times Becky will include "before" pictures in her eBay auctions and only then will you get that "Aha! That was a little angel praying figurine!" revelation.

Becky also is adept at taking her husband's old socks and sewing them into stuffed figures, you'll see some of that later in the post.

One of the first 3D pieces we got from Becky was this "Bear Full of Crap" which was a cookie jar in it's previous life. In side the bear are some handmade "crappy items" like a partially eaten burrito, a broken ball and a wearable finger.

After losing out on one of her auctions, I commissioned a special piece for Superfro of food items presented in a box. This is the first time I had seen Becky's use of socks as objects and she smartly named all the snack foods "Old Sock Brand."  I especially love the pickle with it's little puckered top.

Continuing with a food theme, we picked up the "Motion Sickness Meal", featuring a selection of fine foods in the throws of nausea housed in a rolling container. The shake cup is made from a fast food paper cup and straw with a paper lid.

As a Christmas gift I gave Becky the theme of "video games" and let her run wild for a gift I wanted to give Superfro. What she came up with was the "Super Nintendfro" game system including 3 game cartridges, matching game screens that slide into the monitor, real cords and a handmade controller. I must admit that it's my favorite piece that we own by Becky since it's the most personal and sentimental.

Our newest piece from Becky was just purchased in October and was part of a gallery exhibit at Cornell College. It's called "Distractions" and features a wooden tableau full of distracting characters and items with a ceramic plant holder that is now a cradle for a small, very distracting baby. This piece is very personal to Becky as this year she's had to juggle being a first time mother and a full time artist.








Becky is now selling her work on Etsy, as well as eBay. I hope you'll check her out!

Mobile Masterpieces X

Welcome to the TENTH "Mobile Masterpieces" blog! I hope you are ready for some wacky and crazy stuff, including a pug with yogurt on her face! WACKY!

Sleepy pug being cozy under her pink Hello Kitty blankie.

I burnt myself grilling tortillas. Tacos are DANGEROUS!

Paxton, en route to Denver. We took her favorite pillow to make her feel safe!

Paxton, en route to Denver, stopping for gas and snacks!

A rare smile from Superfro, at the Pepsi Center, waiting for Muse to take the stage.

I'm waiting for the Grease 2 Nintendo game.

Paxton LOVES yogurt and often gets to lick out my empty containers. Lucky!

 

My nieces Kaelyn and Abby are getting these jammies for Christmas. Jealous!



I won this amazing candy prize package from Blair Candy. They said it was $15.00 worth but I suspect it to be worth much more. The box weighed 6 pounds!



These amazing little dolls came into the store recently. I wanted them all but I settled for the Penguin. I love the chain on his monacle!



This is how I try to keep warm at the store. And this is how sleepy Paxton gets on a busy Wednesday.



See ya next year!

Little Lotta by Farel Dalrymple

Farel Dalrymple is an illustrator whose work I first noticed in the Marvel Comics book Omega: The Unknown and DC's Bizarro World.

When I saw that Farel was selling original art in his Etsy store I thought I would take a chance and commission a new Little Lotta piece. Etsy has a really great function where they help facilitate a conversation between you and an artist or seller for custom pieces. Within just a few days Farel had accepted my request and I had given him my idea, which was to have Lotta wearing and eating a Carmen Miranda style hat.

Remember her?


Carmen Miranda and her fruity hat!

 Well, Farel didn't disappoint, his Little Lotta is spot on, from the shoes to the skirt to her extra round middle! And of course, the fruit on the hat in incredible!


Little Lotta, enjoying the fruits of her hat, by Farel Dalrymple.


Many thanks to Farel for this great new addition to my collection!

Curator's Corner: Claudia Roulier

Our last trip to Denver wasn't just all marijuana dispensaries and Muse. We also made our customary trip to the Zip 37 Gallery and the Pirate Gallery across the street.

At Pirate we were pleased to find a new exhibit that had just opened that weekend by Claudia Roulier. Claudia is a painter and mixed media artist with a passion for found items. From Claudia's artist statement;

"I am a collector. I collect old things, found things, odd things, and creepy things along with pictures and ideas. I use all of these collections in my work. I like to indulge my visual side by creating captivating images, mostly animal that are both surrealistic and whimsical. These creatures tend to take on human qualities that juxtapose an idea against an image."

Her exhibit was called "Peculiarities: From Fish To Freaks" and was full of mind boggling mixed media pieces that you could stare at for days and still not see everything.

After much deliberation, Superfo and I picked out a piece called "The Real Secrets of Beauty." Claudia was kind enough to allow us to take the piece home instead of shipping it after the show ended later that month. I was very thankful since there are so many tiny bits and bobs to the piece and I was sure some of them might get shaken loose in transit.

"The Real Secrets of Beauty" by Claudia Roulier

One of the things that kept me coming back to this piece was the use of the frame. A person usually frames something they think in beautiful or important, something they want to draw attention to. But an ornate frame could also be used to take the attention off of the framed object, like putting beautiful jewelry on a really ugly person. I'm not sure how Claudia intended the frame to work in this piece, maybe both?

I really love the pipe leading into the side of her head.



It was our friend Sean who pointed out that some of the little figures are from the Star Wars miniatures game!



This is one of my favorite parts; the wasp like nest an the little man pushing the wheelbarrow up the incline.

Claudia's art is available from her website and at various Denver galleries, it's worth checking out!

Made It & Ate It: Holidays 2010 Edition

I've been a busy little baker this year, making the cookie cups I may have mentioned earlier. It's been more work than I first thought because my mind went crazy with all the possibilities. Graham cookies with chocolate and marshmallow? Seven Layer Bars transformed into cookies? All my ideas were starting to take a concept that was intended to save me some time and turning it into time-consuming battles with the Kitchen-Aid mixer. I took a careful look and my abilities and my schedule and made some menu adjustments that assured I'd still have time to wrap presents and go caroling!


Sugar, Peanut Butter & Red Velvet Cookie Cups

Sugar cookies and peanut butter cookies were a no-brainer, using the pre-made Pillsbury and Toll House dough, of course!
I was a little worried about the cookie cups being too dry. I know that frosting tends to keep them nice and soft and I was worried about the cups not having enough frosting to do the job. Since I was adding the frosting as I needed the cookies there were at times going to be up to 24 hours between the frosting of the cookies and their serving.
During an unrelated trip to Wal-Mart I ran across some new Pillsbury Easy Frost canned frosting. It comes with a star shaped tip and tastes the same as the tubs of frosting that I was going to use anyway. They made filling the cups super easy and I was able to fill and add pretty colored sugar as I needed the cookies, so wherever I took them they were fresh and delicious!

Makes frosting easy.

I should note here that I'm not a fan of powdered sugar icing, which I know is what many people use for decorating sugar cookies. Last year I bought pre-colored frosting from my local grocery store's in-house bakery and it worked like a dream. They sold it by the pound and I was thrilled not to have to tint white frosting myself. Since I wasn't planning on needing any tinted frosting this year, I took a chance on the Easy Frost.

I used the vanilla frosting for the sugar cookies and the "decadent" fudge frosting for the peanut butter cookies.

Another cookie I made was a Red Velvet cookie, which I made using a Red Velvet cake mix, as directed in this recipe. I very briefly considered using Paula Deen's recipe but honestly, I know my limitations and that recipe would have stretched them.

My Red Velvet cookie were nice and cakey and I topped them with the cream cheese flavored Easy Frost.



Peanut Butter Cookies, Sugar Cookies, Red Velvet Cookies & Great Balls of Peanut Butter



Raspberry Layer Bars

I tried several times to make Seven Layer Bars but they proved too uncooperative in cup form so I settled for some regular bars cut into tiny one bite squares and then served in little foil paper cups. And instead of the traditional bars I tried a new recipe that I found of the back of the Keebler graham cracker crumbs. It went something like this:

• Heat up the over to 350 degrees
• Melt  a stick of butter. Perhaps in a microwave safe bowl?
• Toss it into a bowl of 2 c. of graham cracker crumbs and 1/4 c. sugar
• Pat it into a 13" x 9" pan.
• Pour a 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk over it, spread gently.
• Do not lick the lid of the milk can, no matter how much you want to.
• Chill in the icebox for about 15 minutes.
• Take about 1 - 1 1/4 c. of seedless raspberry jam and warm it slightly in the microwave, just enough to make it easy to spread. Don't melt it!
• Spoon the jam over the chilled crust/milk. Spread it gently! I said "GENTLY!"
• Sprinkle with 1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans. You have to decide which, I can't do it for you.
• Top that with 1 1/3 c. shredded coconut.
• Bake it in the pre-heated oven for about 25-29 minutes. You want the coconut to look toasted but you don't want the edges to caramelize too much.
• Don't try to cut the bars when they are still warm, it'll only make a mess.
• Use a plastic knife to cut when cooled, no need to get fancy!

Pretty simple right? You can also use a pizza cutter to cut the bars, just be careful not to scratch your pan!

Great Balls of Peanut Butter!
Since I had lots of graham cracker crumbs to use up I decided to make another recipe printed on the box, this time for Great Balls of Peanut Butter! The box called them "bon bons" but I'm a "ball" girl.

• In a large bowl combine
• 1 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 c Rice Krispie cereal (without the milk, durh!)
• 1 1/4c. peanut butter, creamy or chunky
• 1/2 c. powered sugar
• Look, I'm not gonna lie, mixing this can get messy. Don't stab at the ingredients with the spoon, just gently fold them together until they are well mixed, You don't want to completely decimate the cereal but you do want to make sure everything is mixed well. Take you time, take a break if you need too. You can't rush magic like this.
• Put the whole bowl in the ice box for a while. Go watch something on your DVR or read a magazine.
• Wash your hands
• Using a tiny ice cream scoop, or a tablespoon, scoop off some dough into your hands and roll it into a nice neat ball. If the dough is still sticky, put it back in the ice box and quit being so impatient!
• As you roll them, put the balls on a tray or a plate lined with waxed paper. If you don't have waxed paper then I don't know what to tell you, you're pretty much screwed at this point. You could use plastic wrap but you might want to just go buy waxed paper instead.
• Chill the balls while you heat up 12 oz. of chocolate in a double boiler. Sure, you can use semi-sweet, or you can use milk. It's your world.
• In case you don't know, a double boiler is just a couple of pots nesting, with water in the bottom pot. Then heat the water which will then melt chocolate placed in the top pot. It's SCIENCE!
• I like to tilt the top of my double boiler so the chocolate pools in one area, making it easier to coat the balls.
• Working with a few balls at a time, keeping the rest chillin', dip the balls into the chocolate and then place on the waxed paper.
• I have found that a plastic spoon and fork work great for this job. Use the spoon to place the ball in the chocolate and sort of slip it around. Then use the fork to lift it from underneath, don't stab it, and let some of the melted chocolate drip off before putting it on the waxed paper.
• If you so desire, and want to have fancy balls, dust them with graham cracker crumbs while the chocolate is still warm.
• Give your balls a good 30-40 minutes to cool and dry.

If you';re not up to the whole "double boiler" thing then you can certainly use a microwave to melt your chocolate. Or, you can try Baker's Dipping Chocolate, which is ridiculously easy to use as well as being quite tasty.



Easy. Super easy. Nobody will ever know how easy.


Haystacks

I had some leftover chocolate as well as some butterscotch chips that I didn't end up using so I decided to make some haystacks. They are really easy and can be made with a variety of ingredients.

• Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with waxed paper. You should still have some left from the Great Balls of Peanut Butter recipe.
• Using a double boiler, or a fancy-schmancy microwave, melt 16 oz. of chocolate, your choice. (I used half chocolate and half butterscotch chips)
• Gently stir in 3 c. of chow mien noodles.
• Add any other mix-ins you like; raisins, dried cranberries, peanuts, coconut, slivered almonds, mini marshmallows, anything small and tasty.
• Stir until everything is covered evenly.
• Using a spoon, scoop little "haystacks" onto the waxed paper.
• Let them cool before eating.

Cranberry-Pretzel Candy Clusters

If you like your treats both sweet and salty here is a yummy recipe that I got from the Hy-Vee Seasons magazine (Hy-Vee is our local grocery store.)

• Line a baking sheet with...that's right, waxed paper!
• Break 2 c. of thin pretzel sticks in half and set aside.
• Using a medium saucepan, melt 8 oz. white chocolate squares, with cocoa butter and 1 tbsp. shortening, like Crisco.
• Stir until smooth.
• Remove from heat and add 1/2c. dried cranberries, 1/2 c. dried pineapple (cut into small pieces) and the pretzels.
• Stir gently.
• Drop by spoonfuls onto the waxed paper and let cook before eating.

Brussels Sprouts Gratin

It hasn't been all sweets and goodies around here though! I did manage to make a savory side dish for Thanksgiving, Brussels Sprouts Gratin, using a recipe from Food Network Magazine and dumbing it down a notch by using frozen Brussels Sprouts.

• Heat your oven to 400 degrees
• Take 16 oz. of frozen Brussels Sprouts
• Cook them as directed, but only by about half, you want them sorta done but not completely done.
• Drain the sprouts.
• Drain them some more. Maybe use some paper towels to blot at them a little, they get really wet.
• Give the sprouts a chopping. I cut mine into quarters but any coarse chop will do.
• Drain them again after cutting, just for good measure.
• Season the sprouts with salt, pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
• Butter the bottom and sides of a baking dish.
• Place sprouts in the baking dish
• Cover with 1/2 c. of heavy cream
• Sprinkle with 1 c. of shredded cheddar cheese (or any cheddar mix you like)
• Top with  1/2c. of fine bread crumbs
• Cut up 2 tbsp of butter and scatter it over the top.
• Bake 15-20 minutes until hot and bubbly and delicious looking
• OPTIONAL: You could totally toss in some crumbly bacon pieces too, just for good measure.

I made this dish twice in 3 days and everyone who tried it seemed to like it, even folks who were not Brussels Sprouts fans previously.

I wish you all a happy and delicious holiday, please share you baking and cooking plans with me, I always need new ideas!

Shopping Like a Champ, not a Chump

I was talking earlier about being all crazy about coupons right now and I wanted to give you an example of how I try to make the most of my shopping.



This is a shopping trip from CVS a few weeks ago. CVS is sort of a coupon clippers goldmine. In addition to taking all manufacturer's coupons they also have their own system, the Extra Care card which gives holders special sale prices and more coupons via e-mail and an in-store kiosk. They are also very big on offering Extra Care Bucks which are essentially coupons that you earn for making specific purchases, they print off at the end of your receipt and you can use them on a future purchase, just like cash. The downside to CVS is that I think the regular price of items tends to be higher than usual, which means it's not that great of a place to shop unless you are going coupon commando (which I totally was on this trip!)

There is only one item that I bought that I didn't have a coupon for, and that was the Sally Hansen Facial Hair Cream Bleach, which I saw and remembered that I needed so I grabbed it.

Everything was bought with either manufacturer's coupons, CVS coupons, sometimes both. In most stores you can stack a manufacturer's coupon with a store specific coupon (like one they put in their own ad.)

Here's the line by line:

• M&M Plain Snack Size  (2 for $5.00 sale)               $2.50
• M&M Peanut Snack Size (2 for $5.00 sale)             $2.50
• CVS Coupon off 2 packages of M&M        (-$1.00)
• Brach's Candy Corn                                                 $0.99
• CVS Coupon off Candy Corn                      (-$0.99)
• Softsoap Body Wash                                                $4.39
• Softsoap Body Wash                                                $4.39
• CVS Sale, Softsoap, Buy 1 Get 1 Free         (-$4.39)
• CVS Coupon off any Softsoap Body Wash   (-$1.50)
• Rice Chex Cereal (2 for $6.00 sale)                           $3.00
• Coupon                                                         (-$1.00)
• Corn Chex Cereal (2 for $6.00 sale)                          $3.00
• Coupon                                                         (-$1.00)
• Dawn Dish Soap (on sale)                                          $0.97
• Coupon                                                         (-$0.50)
• Method Concentrated Laundry Soap                          $8.99
• Extra Care Bucks Rebate                               (-$5.00)
• Colgate Total Toothpaste                                           $2.99
• Extra Care Bucks Rebate                               (-$2.99)
• Sally Hansen Facial Hair Cream Bleach                      $5.99
• Bounce Dryer Sheets                                                 $5.97
• Charmin Toilet Paper (sale)                                        $9.99
• Coupon                                                         (-$0.25)
• Charmin Toilet Paper (sale)                                        $9.99
• Coupon                                                          (-$0.25)
• CVS Coupon                                                 (-$1.50)
• Extra Care Bucks Rebate*                             (-$10.00)
• $4.00 off a $20.00 purchase CVS coupon**             (-$4.00)
• $5.00 off a $25.00 purch. CVS e-mail coupon**       (-$5.00)

* This Extra Care Bucks was $10.00 after the purchase of $25.00 worth of select P&G items (the Bounce and the 2 Charmins)
** I was able to stack these 2 coupons because my grand total was over the purchase qualifications of $45.00.

So, in the end, after tax, I spent about $28.00 on everything in the picture, which to me seemed like a pretty fair deal. It's stuff I needed (except the candy corn) and I don't think, I could have done much better elsewhere.

There are a couple of great web sites that I use to plan my special shopping trips and to find out the best deals:

I Heart CVS
I Heart Wags
Chief Family Officer
Wild For Wags