solar lights -re-purposed-

Last summer we gave our tiny back yard a makeover and I went on a mad hunt looking for solar lights.  The big box retailers had some mediocre looking ones with a price that made me cringe and the 'cheap' $5 ones looked, well, cheap...  One day I wondered into the Target clearance area and low and behold, I find end of summer clearance solar lights that had a super contemporary look, $2.50 each!  I bought a bunch and ran home with excitement! 

The extra solar lights sat on the side of the house until today when I was looking at my last DIY project with dismay...  It was supposed to be a wine bottle lamp, with a little glass votive hanging inside the wine bottle...  It took 30 minutes to drill a hole into the votive and I still had to do the other side, not to mention make 6 of them... I got bored and that project went to the unfinished cemetery (aka the garage under a pile of other unfinished projects).

I realized that the long stainless steel body, under the solar light/glass was hollow so I knew I could drill a hole into it.  I drilled on the side that had remenints of the price sticker (because that would be the back side) and I was too lazy to walk 15 feet to get the goo-gone and wipe it off. 

  

                        

 Then I used a washer and bolt on the inside and outside of the body to secure my threaded (3/8") rod.  I also found a plastic tubing that fit perfectly over my threaded rod; aesthetically I thought it would look prettier not seeing the threading.

                        

The bottom of the solar lights had a cap with a hole in it to accommodate the steak.  I'm paranoid about black widows and bugs in general so I thought I'd plug that entry point.  In my mind, I picture a bug motel in each light tower.

                        

So I got a plastic cover that was sitting in my recycle bin, traced the cap and made a little seal to close up the hole.

                        

I was worried about the solar light being top-heavy so I gathered some rocks from the front yard and filled it up!

                         

And VIOLA! I now have some cool accents to my bamboo fence, it lights up the yard, it looks pretty and I absolutely LOVE that it's solar!

And just because I'm fascinated with hummingbirds, here's our little friend who comes to visit us throughout the day. 

And here's an evening shot of my solar lights re-purposed and fully functional!

I'd call it a successful day today!

our back yard project

We've always wanted to have a small house party, but felt overwhelmed with just 5 people in the living room.  In comes MY back yard project because I was tired of dust blowing into the house and staring at that ugly cinder block wall...not to mention that project that the previous owners started and never finished (see lower right hand corner of photo below).  Eric took ownership of wanting to decorate and 'spruce up' our living room, making it feel really homey and welcoming.  So MY project was the yard and my vision to make it less drab.  Our yard is teeny-tiny and fits right in with our 3 bedroom, 1200 sq. ft. house.  

Our friend had a landscaper do their back yard and he came highly recommended, so we went with them without question.  I wanted pavers, artificial grass and two trees/plants.  The landscaper recommended plants that crawl on the wall in effort to sooth my Issue with the cinder blocks...  I wasn't satisfied...  So I hunted and surfed the web for a week straight looking for some sort of solution...  The cheap option was to buy pre-made wooden fence sections from our local hardware store.  Then I found Cali Bamboo- my savior, the answer to my Issue and the most beautiful solution that made my heart happy! 

Cali Bamboo advertised that you could DIY or we could pay the contractor $250 to put up 4 sections of bamboo...  We opted DIY!  (I must mention that Cali Bamboo+ my landscaper was GREAT to work with and I recommend them!)

So I stained and treated one side of the bamboo (this will be the back) and also stained the treated 2"x4"s.  Then we mounted 2"x4"s to the wall with concrete self taping screws- this was the hardest part...

I had to order the 8'x8' bamboo sections because our wall was over 6' tall ...I've been wanting a circular saw since forever and this was the perfect 'excuse'!! So I cut the bamboo to our desired height.

Then section by section, we put the bamboo up! (this is 2 sections of bamboo)

...It wasn't easy, but it was worth every drop of sweat!  Our back yard is now an extension to our house, it really creates another 'room' or area to hang out!  Not to mention that it creates a little more privacy from our neighbors.

The boys absolutely LOVE the yard and they actually beg to go outside! (It's artificial grass because we live in a desert)

Here's the before and after panoramic shot:

It was a great experience and honestly came out just as I had envisioned it!  It has exceeded our expectations and we can happily say that we had 14 guests over and they were very comfortable spread out throughout the house!  xoxo!!

p.s. in retrospect, paying the extra $250 for a contractor to do it for us may have been worth it.... but the fact that Eric and I did this project together makes us love our home That much more!

fun and funky artwork (diy!)

My guest bedroom and craft room/office needs a little inspiration, these bare walls are making me anxious!!  It stares and me and shouts "I want art, crafty projects, photos and frames!"  ... In comes Pinterest and all the awesomeness that pinners and diy-ers are creating.  I saw this pin that Better Homes and Gardens posted about DIY wall art and I couldn't wait for the next day to come so I could go out and buy my supplies!!

Michael's had a coupon for 40% off canvas- CHECK!
I headed to the Hancock Fabrics and the Sale section and found this cool tie-dye, silky fabric- PERFECT!
Then off to my FAV, Home Depot to get a staple gun and some staples- DONE!

This is the fabric I found and steamed so the creases would come out.

Cut the fabric about 3 inches longer than the canvas.

This is the section of the fabric that I wanted to showcase.

I don't have any handy tools, like those giant clips, so I tugged and pulled the fabric with all limbs to make it taut!  ...in retrospect, I probably should have purchased a few of them at Home Depot!

I folded the excess fabric under then stapled the edges.  The folding isn't necessary, but I was afraid the silky fabric would snag or rip.  (I don't think it would require as much staples if you were using cotton fabric)  Just remember to pull the fabric each time you staple to ensure it will be tight across the canvas!

Once all the sides were stapled, I gathered the fabric corners that were lose and stapled it down.  If you didn't fold the edges and had excess fabric on all sides, cut if off near the wood frame- remember no one sees the back, so it doesn't really matter how messy it looks back there!

Here's the finished product!!

• 2 yards of fabric originally $12.99/yd, discounted 50% because it was in the scraps section! (I got extra yardage so I could choose the area of the fabric I wanted, you don't need that much if you have a small canvas)
• Staple Gun $19.99 and staples $3.39
• 7 pack of 12x12 canvas originally $19.99 and my 40% off coupon made it cheaper!!

What an inexpensive and fun project!!  It took an hour and a half from start to finish!  I LOVE projects with a quick turn-around!!

Go make some wall art!!  It's SO rewarding!!  xoxo

mushroom risotto

Ahh Risotto... The ever scary, don't think about attempting it, super difficult- RISOTTO...  The only reason as to why the stigma of risotto is so ingrained in my brain is because of Chef Gordon Ramsey's show: Hell's Kitchen.  "You can't make a @#*$% Risotto?? You Donkey!"

I stumbled across a recipe on allrecipes.com  with 1,149 reviews and 5 stars.. WHOA this must be A-mazing! Thank you Myleen for this Gourmet Mushroom Risotto recipe!!  So I scan the ingredients- simple -and I have most of them in my kitchen already... White wine- YUM; that's an added plus because I can drink it!!

...Nervous... Still... I read the reviews of the first 30 people just to see if they have tips or tricks and I pick up a few!  I also saw a video explaining how to make it, which greatly helped me visualize my success (haha).

And a success it was!!  Level of difficulty: intermediate in my opinion.  It's just high maintenance during cooking, you honestly can't walk away from the stove for 20 minutes with continuous stirring.  But bakers know that 20 minutes of constant stirring is easy-peasy... it's the cooks that complain about that!!

I followed the ingredients and instructions to the "T" with the addition garlic.  See my helpful tips below as well!

Ingredients

6 cups chicken broth, divided

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 shallots, diced

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

sea salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tablespoons finely chopped chives

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

• In a saucepan, warm the broth over low heat.
• Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.
• Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet, and stir in the shallots and garlic. Cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives, and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cody's Tips

• I thinly sliced my mushrooms for a dainty, accent the rice texture kinda-deal.  (I love mushrooms so I added all of it!)
• Make sure the heat for your RICE is medium low or your cooking time will double!!
• Make sure your chicken broth is simmering/boiling when adding it to the rice or your cooking time will double!
• You know the rice is done when it's soft on the outside and al dente in the center
• Every risotto is different, you may need more/less liquid: wine/broth each time you make it
• The reason for the constant stirring is because you don't want the rice to get stuck on the bottom of the pan AND you want the broth evenly distributed in the rice
• It tastes just as great the next day!!

It's a hard dish because you can't taste it in between steps to know you're on the right track... You have to wait until you're DONE before you can actually taste it!  TRUST ME, it is SO worth it!!  It was rich, but not a two-bite and you're done, rich.  It was fulfilling, but not "oh I over-ate and my stomach is going to burst" filling.   To be very honest (and I hate to toot my own horn) but it was seriously restaurant quality good!!

This is definitely a dish I'm making when we have company.  And there are so many variations, asparagus and sun dried tomatoes.. chicken and mushrooms... scallops and truffle oil... NOM NOM!!

The stigma has gone away and trust me when I say, it's risotto night at least every other week!!

healthy shakes for breakfast

We recently purchased a refurbished Vitamix from Vitamix.com.  We chose refurbished because it came with a 7 year warranty and didn't think we needed a quieter version that was worth the additional $300 price tag.  Besides a few finger prints on the stainless steel, it works perfectly!  Eric and I talk about how this purchase is probably our best home purchase yet; we use it EVERYDAY!!

I make a smoothie everyday as a breakfast replacement, which is actually a much healthier, much more filling breakfast than my normal banana or Pop Tart.  Because I don't eat meat, I lack iron therefore bruise very easily; and normally stay for a month or so.  But I've noticed after 2 months of smoothies, my bruises only stay for about two weeks!!!  I have to thank spinach and kale for their health benefits!

Additionally, I hate the texture of yogurt but I force myself to eat it because of the active cultures that are good for you...  And into my smoothie it goes, no more texture or force-feeding issues!!

I noticed that it takes me about 10 minutes to prepare my morning smoothie (including cleaning it) and when I'm running late, unfortunately, I can't spare 10 minutes.  So I came up with a make-ahead smoothie cup!

And you can't see it, but I made a 'nest' in the spinach and spooned yogurt in there too!!  Just dump it in with some ice and PRESTO, my smoothie is done!!  I've since learned that I can actually use an ice tray to freeze my yogurt- wayyy better idea!!

And as a side note, banana's make everything taste better!!  It mutes the bitterness of spinach and kale (oh heavenly!)

Here's some smoothie recipes that I make:

Handful of grapes

4-5 strawberries

Handful of spinach or Kale or both!

1 banana

1/3 cup yogurt

1 cup of ice

2 handfuls of frozen fruit (I buy a pre-mixed bag from Costco)

Handful of spinach or Kale or both!

1 banana

20 raw almonds

1/3 cup yogurt

(frozen fruit helps with the smoothie consistency)

Handful of spinach or Kale or both!

1 banana

8 baby carrots

20 raw almonds

1/3 cup yogurt

1/2 medium apple

(this one comes out more juicy and smoothie-like because of the apple juice)

It's quick, it's easy, it's healthy, it's delicious!  Happy blending!!

bang bang shrimp

There was a restaurant called Bonefish...  Then it closed...  They had a shrimp dish called: Bang Bang Shrimp, which was my FAV...  Then I had none...  But I found a recipe on Fake Ginger via Pinterest!!  And OH MY is it Yummy!!! 

It takes a while because you have to dip the shrimp, then fry, then coat with the sauce.. But it's well worth it! The best part is you can add more Siracha to make it more spicy!!  I took the advice of some others who suggested dipping the shrimp in corn starch before the egg/flour mixture and added 1/4 cup of sweet chili sauce to the mixture.

I also made the entire 2 LB bag of frozen shrimp and had more than enough sauce for all of it.

SOoOooooo  Good!!!   Get the recipe here!

photo booth props

As a graduation gift, we thought that a photo booth would be a fun and memorable way to congratulate Eric's Brother.  He'll be headed to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to continue with his passion of being a pilot.


In addition to some fun props, I made some call-outs and mustache's to dress up the photos.  Everything was made on Foam Boards that I purchased from Wal-Mart and cut with an Exacto Knife.  Cutting was the most difficult part; more curves are more hard!!  I purchased Dowels from Michael's, they measure 3/16 x 12 inches and glued with a glue gun.  The call-outs were hand drawn.  The mustache's were printed from AccentTheParty.com and was super-duper helpful!!  There are a ton of other free printables so check it out! 







Say Cheese!!