i love it when i'm clever

the bathroom in our house was a total afterthought.  like sometime in the late 50s, early 60s someone looked around and saw that EVERYONE else now had indoor plumbing and thought they should go along with the trend.  so they put up a wall on a porch and some drywall in the now "bathroom".  no insulation, though.  it is about 25 sq ft. with a full sized bathtub, sink, toilet, wall storage cabinet and a full sized water heater.  so, yeah.  it's kind of the bane of my existence in this house.  i love this house, but that bathroom. oh my god.  as you can imagine, there are no towel bars or places for towel bars, or wall space. so....after 3 years i have actually figured out a cute, easy option.  yes, it took me 3 years to be clever.
remember these from our wedding?

well, since i am not planning any dinner parties anytime soon. they are now cute, monogrammed towel hooks.

weird thing is...mike still used hendrix's towel this morning instead of getting a new towel.  why? boys are gross.  that's why.  new "systems" take awhile to take hold in our house. so, hendrix should have it down by yesterday and mike by next year. ha!
up next...turning an old door/entrance into a craft corner. sounds weird.  but it is going to be awesome.  let the nesting begin!!!  

GSW {menu plan} :: thirteen

elegant dinner at our house



1. grilled chicken with avocado & grilled corn salad

2. pork ragu over noodles serve with green salad topped with apples, almonds, and bleu cheese tossed in a simple vinaigrette {weekend dinner alert!}

3. salmon with chickpea, feta, and parsley salad {salad keeps well in fridge for lunches or snack time}

4. grilled pork tenderloin with peaches

5.  black bean stuffed peppers

going to a party? bring dessert and a hostess gift...
fruit crisp + place mats

put aside cleaning your house and freeze some tomatoes...
how to freeze tomatoes
.....
we'll be finishing our {play}barn this weekend and hoping for rain.  thankfully, our friend, tony, is coming to help and his daughter will be here to play with hendrix.
if you are looking for something to do this weekend in the omaha metro, try...millard days, shopping the furniture sale at oh darling!, dundee day on saturday, take a road trip to the nebraska state fair, or go to the world O! water festival at chalco hills on saturday.

placemats repurposed

once upon a time, i collected strawberry themed stuff.  oftentimes, collections lead to bad choices and hoarding. like these placemats. 

so, i revamped them with a little help from hendrix. the idea came from the say yes to hoboken blog. i love how they help hendrix set the table at dinner time.  you can read all about how to do it here.



{TIPS}:

if kids are helping...i would go ahead and cut out the stencil ahead of time.  also, make the stencil one sheet of freezer paper that is slightly larger then your placemat.  that will help keep the paint only where it needs to be.  

really make sure your paper is ironed on and stuck on your placemat before you start painting. otherwise, the paint will bleed.

you can only cut one sheet of freezer paper at a time.

i used this for my utensil template and just traced my plate. 

iron the waxed side of the paper onto the placemat.

use fabric paint.

let dry completely and wait a few days before you wash it.

repurposed style



picture found via pinterest

 you know you're cheap when you are spray painting your shoes.  also, you are know you are a genius when you are spray painting your shoes. remember last week how i told you was going to show you my new silver shoes?  inspired by j crew. well, better late than never. 
i don't know if you noticed, but the silver shoe is showing up everywhere for fall and so is the chunky heel.  since, i happened to have a pair of chunky, black heels that i got for free (!!) laying around...i decided to experiment.  and, i have to say...i am pretty happy with the results.  i am looking forward to wearing these with jeans or perhaps like above (don't you just love that look?).  best of all, the total cost was $3.27 which is much better than $300.

black patent leather heels that i got for free.

i did a couple of coats.  you want to go with the super shiny paint.

taping off the bottom of the heels with painter's tape



finished product.