Creative Carmella: February 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

Trash to Treasure....

You know the saying...

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"

Well, in this case it was a woman that got a hold of this trash ;)

Can you believe someone would just throw this away?

Well, as luck would have it, I came across this piece while driving home from the grocery store. Trunk full of groceries and kids in the car, I went home and told my oh so sweet husband...

"Hey babe, I need you to drive around the corner and get a nightstand off the street for me..."

His response was something like this...

"Ummm....okay?"

{insert my best smile here}

And then this beauty was all mine...

Not much to look at, I know...

and it needed some repairs

But that was nothing a little time and glue couldn't fix...

And then it was time for paint...

I have been trying out a little homemade chalk paint..and I really do love the results

2 tablespoons of unsanded grout to 1 cup of flat paint

will make a paint that covers surfaces without sanding them first!

{I am in love with chalk paint now...maybe too in love...actually, I think I may need an intervention soon}

The paint color is a mix of a few that I had on hand....I will try to match it up to real color soon and share what I find because I know I will need more of it in my life.

Have you turned any trash into treasure lately?

I would love for you to share it on my Facebook wall! I can't wait to see what you have been up to!

linked to:

Mystery Giveaway......

Time to say

Thanks!!

I have really enjoyed getting to know you all, and I wanted to say thank you for following along in my creative adventures....

and what better way than with a

Giveaway!!

What will I win you might ask??

Well, that my friends is a mystery....

Who doesn't love a good surprise?

{And I promise to make it a great one!}

To enter use rafflecopter below....it will walk you through all of the steps!

Good luck to you all!

Creating {Simple} storage....

If your home is anything like mine....you don't have a space to call your own. You know, a place where you can drag out all of your crafty goodness and be creative.

Our kids {as cute as they may be} have taken over every inch of our house. What's a mom to do?

Well...being the resourceful girl that I am, I made a corner...that's right, a corner in our bedroom that is all mine.

mine, mine, mine, mine....

{I was tempted to lick it just so everyone knows it's all MINE...hehehe, but I didn't}

So, I now have this corner and I love it. It's the little things that make me happy, but I needed something useful and pretty to look at while I am in my happy place.

Ta Da....

I'm in love with all of this pretty storage!

I also REALLY love the price tag of this wall....

1. Two shelves {score $1 at a thrift store!}

2. I painted them a dark brown as a primer

3. Next was a top coat of an "oatmeal" color, then I distressed them to perfect imperfection ;)

4. My favorite part, screw lids from baby food jars to the underside of each shelf {note, I later went back and added a second screw so they wouldn't spin when I attached the jar}

5. Large 11x14 frame {50 cents thrift store find!}

6. Primed dark brown, painted {by my beautiful assistant} "oatmeal"

7. Distressed frame

I now have a beautiful space to organize my supplies, and a pretty place to hang some of my finished pieces!

I am feeling more creative already........

Friday, February 24, 2012

Yummmm....Good Eats!

This is a super easy, super tasty dinner...lunch...snack or party food

What you need:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 small can pineapple chucks, drained. Reserve juice

1 bottle of BBQ sauce { I use sweet baby ray's}

1 package of King's Hawaiian Rolls

{Here is a pic if you have no idea what I am talking about}

The best part about this recipe are the options in cooking. You can cook it in the crock pot while you get on with your day or you can oven roast it too.

I love my Rachel Ray cookware, so I usually cook the chicken in one of these

Cook the chicken until it easily shredds with a fork.

In the same pot, pour in the juice of the canned pinapple, then pour in your bottle of BBQ sauce.

Let this all cook together on low {if using your crockpot} or if you are using the oven, turn the heat off and put the dish back into the hot oven for about 15 minutes.

To serve, slice rolls and add the shredded chicken. Garnish with pinapple and

ENJOY!

I hope you will give this one a try soon!

Monday, February 20, 2012

DIY....From Table Top to.....Clock

I am so excited to finally be able to share this project...this was one of those, "life keeps getting in the way" projects and had to be moved to the back burner more than a few times!

This is the story of a clock...that once was a table top.....

This clock started with the inspiration board that Meg from Winder and Main pulled together for me.

Remember when I showed you all pictures of my living room because Meg was going to help me restyle it?

Well...she hit the nail on the head with this inspiration board...

She calls it "farm house in the city"

and I love everything about it

Great look, right? She did such a great job!

Did you notice that awesome clock in the right hand corner??

Here is a closer look

This one is from Target...the cost...$89!

Total cost for my knock off clock was $12!!

Here's what I did...

I started with a table top that we had stored in an upstairs closet. You know these....the pressed wood kind that have three legs that screw in? I'm sure you have one in the back of a closet too somewhere.....

I took all the hardware off of the back, and my helper boy got to work giving it a coat of black paint

Next we found the center, hammered in a nail, and used a white colored pencil with a string tied to it and the nail to circle off the different areas of the clock

After that, it was all about the details....

And.....more details.....

I added the Roman Numerals using a transfer trick that always seems to work the best for me and then painted them all in by hand...

And after it was all painted in, the entire piece got a sanding...

The clock findings came from Hobby Lobby and with my 40% off coupon I was able to finish the clock for a total of $12!

Oh...giant clock...how I love you....

linked to:

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Link Party!! Co-hosting with Crafty, Scrappy, Happy!

I am soooo very excited to be one of the co-hosts for this weeks linky party with Jaime from Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

Jaime is celebrating her one year blogging anniversary....and it seems that I have been friends with her for about that same time....

Such a sweet, inspiring, and giving friend she is...

remember when she made this adorable bag for me when we brought Liam home...

Thanks Aunt Jamie!!

Well....let's get to the party! I can't wait to be inspired by all of you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRAFTY, SCRAPPY, HAPPY!!!

Feel free to link up anything and everything Crafty, Scrappy and/or Happy! No giveaways or etsy shops please.Check out other links, be inspired and make some new friends!Grab a button if you would!And check Crafty Scrappy Happy for features all next week!!!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Valentine's Day Dinner.....

Love is in the air....and nothing says LOVE

like a great meal

I found a fun idea on PINTEREST for individual lasagna cups.

I had to change it up a bit because...well, I couldn't get them to look like they did on Pinterest.

Here's what I did:

To start...I cooked the lasagna noodles and lined my muffin tin with parchment paper

I put one noodle across the muffin tin

I filled it with a basic lasagna mix {ground beef and Newman's Own marinara sauce}

Then I folded the edges over, topped with more sauce and then cheese....

I baked them at 375 for about 20

minutes....now for that yummy cheese heart

I put a metal cookie cutter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and filled it with a layer of Italian cheeses...

I baked them at 375 for 5 minutes until all of the cheese was melted together...I let them cool and then used a knife along the edges to release them from the cookie cutters