lime chicken deliciousness

a couple of things:

One Pretty Thing is highlighting Emma's Princess Tea Party Today!

Thank you Rachel!

Speaking of Emma, she is apart of this awesome contest over at freckles & fudge.  I would love it if you'd head on over there and vote for her! *wink* *wink*

And don't forget the awesome Giveaway going on right now!

Ok, now to the deilicious Lime Chicken Recipe.

This will become a instant familiy favorite, I promise.  My good friend Jaqline invited us over for dinner back in TX and made this.  I bugged for over and over again for the recipe.  And here it is, in all her glory :)

Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

6-8 chicken breasts

2/3 cup EVOO

1 cup brown sugar

6 tbs lemon juice

9 tbs lime juice
7 tsp yellow mustard (pretty much 7 1-second squirts)

8tsp minced garlic

3tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Cut up chicken into bite size pieces and set aside. 

Put all other ingredients in a 9x13 pan. and mix together.  Place chicken in and mix.

Put in the oven on high broil. After about 3-5 minutes, open and flip pieces around.  They will cook pretty fast.  So this is more of a cook & look sort of thing so keep your eye on them!

 

Serve over some rice!
Yum Yum Yum

CSN Reviews

I was asked again by CSN Stores to do a $35 review on their products.  I have done them before and was really excited to do it again!
So where to begin?
CSN Stores have everything...i mean EVERYTHING.

Kind of overwhelming to choose 1 item.

So i started thinking what I needed around here...

Well since i'm an upcoming furniture Refinisher ;)

I needed a Palm Sander....

So the search began...and it was over because I found it like that!
Of course they had one...they have everything.

This baby was only $25!

The came right when I was working on my dresser so it was perfect.  I used it to distress it and I love how it handled.  Very user-friendly and easy to put sand paper on and off.

So I had some more $$ to use...so as I was browsing, I found this fun game:



It's called Tippy the Turtle Game.  I thought it was so cute and perfect for the kids.

So I ordered them and lickity split, they came quite quickly to my doorstep...(seriously like 3 days later)

THe girls LOVE playing this game.  They play it on a daily basis.  They pieces are real wood and great quality.  Perfect to help kids with colors and cause & effect.

It was a great purchase from CSN Stores.
Definitely recommend looking at their stores for what you need.

Coffee Filter Wreath

I've finally jumped on the "make my own cool wreath" band wagon.

I've seen a lot in my day....(that makes it sound like i'm 90 or something..)

and i think this maybe the cutest one!

I got the idea from Little Brown House.

So i gathered what I needed.  Come to find though, that my wreath I had was smaller than the one she had.  So I had to improvise!

So get a wreath, brown coffee filters, pins, hot glue gun and some ribbon.

I smooshed up the filter in the middle to do a flower type look:

 I then stuck a pin through it so when I place in the wreath, it would hold.

 I clipped the end so they would be shorter so they would fit in my smaller wreath.

 I placed some hot glue on the wreath and then pinned the filter on top of the glue so it's double secure!

Here I am half way!  You just do those steps until it's all filled.  I didn't do it on the back of the wreath so it would lie flat on the wall.  But I just did about 1/2 way on the side and the filter puffed out enough to cover the wreath so you can't see it.

I hot-glued a ribbon on the back and hung it up!

100 followers giveaway.

as promised, here is a very special giveaway!

through my antique & thrifting shopping, i've found some wonderful things, so wonderful that I want to share them with you!

Here's what the winner will receive:

#1- 1/2 yard of this vintage fabric.  Super sweet for any project, like an apron, magnet board, shirt, skirt etc etc.  Possibilities are endless!

 #2- this adorable vintage scarf I found.  grey, magenta, yellow?  what better color combination can you get?!
I love this scarf but I thought, "you know, they should really have it.  I have too much stuff....(i'm on the verge of being a pack rat, I know it.)



So so lucky!

so in order to win these fabulous finds,

1- follow the blog through Google & leave a comment :)

extras:

-Follow me on twitter & tweet about the giveaway!

-add me to your blogroll or add a button (i'm in the midst of getting one...so there should be one on here soon!)

-Spread the word by other means, like FB or Blog

Leave a comment for each one you do.

This giveaway ends in 1 week, Nov. 2nd at midnight

oh you...

I woke up to a glorious sight!
My Followers # passed the 100 mark.

sweet!

Thank you guys so much.

And you know what that means....giveaway time!

I will be getting that up later today to watch for that.

*I am aware teh 100 is not that glorious of a number compared to some....but to me, it's huge!  It at least lets me know that 100+ at least like me, right? ;)

dresser to tv stand transformation

the weight on my shoulders have been greatly lifted.

my dresser is done.

ahhhh, it feels so good to say that.

can i show you what i started with?

i picked this up on craigslist for $30.  I loved the lines and curves on it. 

I saw potential...

but she had a slow start because I was indecisive on what color of paint.

but i finally chose one that i felt would be versitile for my home.

Ta-da!  isn't she gorgeous?  and she's all mine ;)

Let me give you the breakdown on how this transformation took place.

I took her apart and wiped her down ie: knobs and hinges off, spider webs and dead bugs off etc.

I have to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to Tomboy TOols for helping me do this project.  Their tools made it SO easy to this project.  (not to mention they are PINK and ergonomically made to fit our hands ;)  )

 sand her down ever so gently

 so when I got her, one of the top drawers was broken.  I didn't want to deal with that.  plus, I wanted to change it into a TV stand, so I figured, just get rid of that top row!
So that's what I did.  I placed pegboard on top to make a shelf...

pegboard, you ask?

it was free from craigslist and there was no other funds for un-holey wood...so pegboard it was!

 next I primed it

 I used wood filler on the door to fill in that "wheat bundle" picture...it had to go.

 So next was painting it...I used spray paint.  I agree with All THings Thrifty and don't have the time it takes to use bucket paint.

I used Krylon's Ivory spray paint.  I used about 4 1/2 cans.  I love how it turned out!

And I don't know why I don't have pictures of that process.  I think I was shocked that I actually painted it in one afternoon.

After it dried, i took some sandpaper and distressed it.

Next was putting some covering on the pegboard.  Thanks to some advice from Marcy,

I found some wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree.  I then used Modge Podge and inserted it on top of the shelf. 

I love how it turned out!

 I put new knobs that I got for $1 for 6 knobs at the Habitat for Humainty Restore...love how they look!

And here she is!

What a feeling of accomplishment!

 And this is her current residence.  not sure if she'll still be our TV Stand or be put somewhere else. 

I just like looking at her...

$$ Breakdown:

dresser: $30

Paint: $17

Knobs: $1

Wrapping Paper: $1
Total: $49!

NOT TOO SHABBY!

 Linked up at these Linky Parties



halloween wood blocks

Here are some Halloween blocks I made last year but wanted to repost since no one knew about this blog!

 

These are simple 2x4's, painted, sanded and embellished with ribbons and modge-podged letters!

These pumpkins were fun. THe faces are handcut paper that I modge-podged them on. The stems are dowels that I cut with my mini hacksaw and glued them on with wood glue then the "leaves" are ribbons.

Happy Halloween!

sun is shining.

After about 4 days of straight rain, the sun was finally shining!
I was able to break out the dresser and finally paint it!

I know it's been a month or so that I had up the poll, asking you what color I should paint the dresser.  We had a very close outcome!
So I am not going to tell you what I chose.  I hope to be all finished up with it SOON and post pics of the final product :)

But i had to say thanks for all of you who voted and help me get some ideas.  It can be so hard when working with paint!

I just need to find some cheap/ cute drawer liner or wallpaper....

any ideas?

Anything Virtuous

imagine my surprise when i found out i've been featured over at Anything Virtuous

Now granted, she is my cousin. 
I had the great pleasure of moving to the same city she lives in for a year.  I sadly moved away a few months ago (and miss her so bad)
She showed me all the ropes of it.
I had so much fun that year and majority of my memories are shared with her.

But putting all that aside, she is incredibly talented in all things:
crafting
singing
writing music
classy
stylish

this list does go on and on.

And Anything Virtuous is her little baby.
It's an amazingly uplifting blog. 
What a breath of fresh air in today's chaotic world!

Here's the lowdown about AV:


PS isn't she gorg?


I earned a B.A. in Communications from Brigham Young University. After working in and out of television news, law firms, and substitute teaching assignments, I'm now a professional mother. When I'm not hanging out with my ridiculously adorable son, I'm blogging, scrapbooking, writing music, or singing.

My sincere concern for women young and old is what drives me to do this. Through my experiences in work and life, I am quite aware of the messages that women are pelted with every day. I'm tired of feeling down or disgusted when I open a women's magazine or see images on TV or the internet, and I want to make a positive difference.

I created Anything Virtuous to offer a site that shares helpful tips and thoughts, uplifts its readers, and lets them know about other great sites and products out there. I also wanted a venue to share my thoughts for my future daughters, and also for every other woman regardless of her age. I believe we are all daughters of Heavenly parents and that we ought to be reminded of it often.

Since I was a teenager my motto has been to positively motivate others through words and music. I am constantly working on both and strive to "make each day a little better than the last." -- Cheryl C. Lant



YES she is really like that. 
Thanks Steph for the shout out for The Crafty Clique!

Princess Tea Party

Boy this has been in the works foreva! 

I mean, I started preparing for it a couple of weeks before the party BUT in my mind, like a year. 

seriously.

And I was nervous how things would go down. 

Yet i have come to realize a few things:

-5 year olds could care LESS about the intricate details of a birthday party

-tried & true games are still TRUE.

But the OCD that I am, I could not allow her party to happen without it being PERFECT...in my mind at least ;)

Exhibit A:

I got these bird cages from Michaels for $1 each.  I cut out some birds and placed them in the cage then hung them from the chandelier.  The kids loved that. 

I do too. 

They are still up and I'm leaving them there.

 I made her another barbie doll cake, like the one HERE and if you want to try to make one, go HERE.

she wanted to use her "good" Belle barbie for it but I would not have it.  You know, I do try to have her toys last longer than a week...

So i grabbed some fairy doll at the dollar tree...

scary, isn't she?  but she was small enough to fit perfectly :)

 I wanted to have the girls bring home a party favor that didn't go straight to the trash.  So i thought it would be fun to make some crowns.  I asked their mom's beforehand what their daughter's favorite color was and went from there.  I am a felt crown pro now! (tutorial HERE)

 Ready to crown each girl as they arrive.  They also got to pick a necklace to wear ;)

 Food table, partially filled. 
I'm missing the fruit tray adn the chocolate pretzels (tutorial HERE)...they were there ready to eat but just hadn't been placed on the table.

On a side note, I had a lot of fun decorating this area. 
I found the plates and candlesticks at goodwill and made some cake plates (tutorial HERE)  i found that adorable cat/cookie jar there too. 
I used my cricut for the 5's and "E". 
I grabbed some doilies from the dollar tree. 
I had that table cloth that I got from my grandma. 
I used napkins from the Dollar Tree to make those puff balls that are hanging from the ceiling.  (I am a pro at those too.  I made like 20 of those! Tutorial HERE)

 So as the girls came in, I crowned them and directed them to the table to color.  I originally planned on printing out some princess coloring pages but my printer ran out of ink!  So I just had blank paper and they still did awesome!

Once all the girls were there, we came to the main room and played "Kiss the frog on the Lips" aka "pin the tail on the donkey"  Joe drew a large frog aka prince naveen ;) on some tissue paper.  I then traced it with a sharpie on green scrapbook paper.  And that's the end result!  It turned out aewsome.  I cut out red lips for each girl and initialled them.  They had fun seeing where their's ended up! 

Next was the tea hot chocolate party! 

I grabbed each girl a tea cup and saucer from good will.  I found a cute little tea pot too that I used to fill up.  I used the crock pot to make the large quantity of hot chocolate.  Then we had them go get food from the table.  I used pretty much crap food.  but I figured it was a party so I did'nt care.  The pink marshmellows were a big hit!

During this, I painted their finger nails.  They loved that!  I'm sad i didn't have pictures of the activities but I have only so many hands!  Speaking of, thank you Megas for helping me out!

Next was the singing and candles!

Then opening of the presents!

And at that point, time was up!
Emma was estatic about the whole thing and loved having all her friends there. 

Each girl was adorable all dressed up!

I had fun too getting creative since it's been awhile!

I have been definitely burnt out from this, but it was worth it!

LInked this to my fav Linky parties found  under  Linky Party button above :)