Bathroom Remodel - supposed to be a 3 wk job, took closer to 8 wks

Before Picture

The old bathroom was boring!  The only storage was in the cabinet under the sink.  There were no drawers. The bathtub was extremely tiny.  We always referred to it as our "puddle."  

On the list for MUST HAVES in the new bath were:

Drawers, Medicine Cabinet, Larger/Deeper tub, and a fresh clean look!

We started out planning to rip out the tub & vanity and then give everything else a facelift.  By the end of day one we were down to this:

Needless to say, we quickly decided if we were doing this...we were doing it right...so we scrapped everything and started fresh!

First item up was a new tub:

When we took it for a test drive and the water was deep enough for our littlest to swim....we knew we had purchased the right tub!!

Next came the drywall & new floors.  After a lot of research we decided to go with luxury vinyl tile.  It was so easy to put down!  It's supposed to be super durable, and holds up well to kid traffic.  This was a MUST!  Over all I'm thrilled with how the new floors turned out:

The next big job was tiling & grouting the shower walls.  We definitely had some setbacks with this stage.  Both my husband and I made some lapses in judgement that lead to more work than we needed to do, but we finished it!!  Overall I like the look.  I got a great deal on the tile by buying it off someone who bought way too much for their shower project.  I love me a deal!  Makes me very happy!  

Last big piece of the puzzle was the new vanity.  This was probably my favorite part of the remodel!  After living with this bathroom for 10 years with no drawers, I was very excited to have some storage!!

Finally it was time for all the cosmetic fun!!  Paint, moldings, new door, mirror...this was the fun part for me.  

We re-purposed the medicine cabinet from our master bathroom.
(That remodel still to come.)

Next it was time for the shower curtain.  Now if any of you know me, you'll know that I never seem to come up with ideas for things that are simple.  Usually what I have pictured in my head doesn't exhist.  And in this case....it was business as usual.  So when I realized that no one made a hortizontal striped yellow and white shower curtain, I had to make it myself.  (West Elm came close but theirs was more of a mustard yellow than a sunshine yellow.)  Problem was every idea I had came out to be very pricey.  So, after some digging, I found table cloths online for less than $7.50 each!!  (That price includes shipping!)  That means that I was able to make this shower curtain for less than $15!!!  Whoohooo!  I love a deal!  It did turn out to be a lot of work, but after about 8 hours of straight sewing...I had the perfect shower curtain!!  Worth it...if you ask me!

So, all that was left was the Board & Batton for the walls.  I was inspired to do this by a couple of blogs I saw on Pinterest.  Here's the link:

http://welcometoheardmont.com/2011/03/master-bath-phase-5-the-big-reveal/

Obviously this is where I saw the shower curtain too.  However the lady from this blog chose to paint a bed sheet to get the look for her shower curtain.  I was concerned about how nice that would look and whether or not it would hold up to frequent washing.  (I have a house full of kids all the time so washability is essential!)  Anyway, I'm finally finished!  The bathroom is complete and here are the pictures of the finished product!!

Gluten Free Soft Pretzel Nuggets

I stumbled across a recipe on Pinterest one day for Soft Pretzels.  I have been wanting to come up with a recipe that my oldest could eat.  So I took this recipe:

http://leecooks.blogspot.com/2012/02/homemade-pretzels.html

I modified it using Gluten Free Pantry, French Bread & Pizza mix

This mix is my "go to" mix whenever I am trying a new recipe.  I've used it to make GF cutout cookies that turn out amazing as well!!  So, basically I followed the above recipe subbing this flour mix for the regular flour that the recipe calls for.  (FYI you don't have to bother measuring out the 4 1/2 to 5 cups of flour...just dump in the whole box, it's the exact right amount!!)  I used corn starch when I rolled out/kneaded my dough.  Because this is GF dough it's very difficult to shape into a classic pretzel shape.  GF dough just doesn't have the elasticity  of regular dough.  So to keep it simple and keep me from ripping out my hair, I decided to just cut the dough into nuggets.  (What kid doesn't want to gobble up a nugget!?)  I divided the dough into 4 sections, and went about dividing each section into 4 more sections.  Each one I rolled and squeezed into a rope and then simply cut each rope into several 1 inch size nuggets.  I followed all the remaining directions just as detailed on the above link.  They turned out amazing! 

 I watch children during the day...so on this particular day I had about 8 kids. (Two of which have Celiac Disease.)  I love to find interesting snacks that they all will enjoy equally.  This was a HUGE hit!  The first batch was GONE before the second was out of the oven.  The kids gobbled them up and were sad when they were all gone.  Next time I make these I'm going to try freezing half to see how they reheat.  I'll keep you posted on how this turns out.  I hope you try making these...it's a lot of steps but so so so good!!  (Also, next time I think we'll try shaking them up in cinnamon sugar...I think the kids will FREAK!)

ENJOY!!!

Mixer Cover

So, I was having trouble figuring out what to give my sister for her Birthday...  I was planning to make her a purse but my machine wasn't cooperating with the fabric I wanted to use.  So as I was sitting at my machine I saw my Kitchen Aide mixer sitting on top of my fridge and remembered how many times she'd mentioned wanted a cover for hers...  That was it!  So I sat down and came up with this.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  It's even fully lined.  I think it's going to cheer up her kitchen with it sitting on top of her fridge.  I hope she enjoys it!!   Here are some photos:

Re-Usable Swiffer Wet Jet Pads!

Yet again, I was sick of chucking out money for those refillable pads!  Every time I turned around I was out of them again.  So, here's my solution!  :o)  I already tried it out...it cleaned better than the pads and washed up great!!!  :o)

Re-Usable Swiffer Dusters!

Motivated by the inch of dust that was accumulating on my TV since I used my last Swiffer Duster, and re-fusing to go to the store to buy more, I decided to do something "green."  I made my own out of scrap fleece fabric I had in my stash!  (I must confess that my motivation was more out of saving $$ and less about being green, but the benefit is the same, right?!)  haha  Now I can dust my home and throw them in the wash instead of in the trash!  Genius!  Saw this idea on Pinterest, and actually followed through!  It's rare, but it does happen some times.  haha

My Baby's Going to Junior High!!

Deep thoughts, by Dawn.....  hahaha!

How is it possible that my baby boy is going to Junior High next year?!  I found myself at a PTA meeting yesterday, discussing course selections for next fall.  Course selections?!  Really?!  This can't be true, certainly my baby boy hasn't reached the point where "course selection" is in order!  As I was trying desperately to listen to the Junior High principal last night, my head was spinning.  I can't be old enough to have a Junior High kid, could I?  I'm still 24, aren't I?  LOL

Well, like it or not, I do have a child who is entering a new phase in his life.  So hard to believe!  So as I choked back tears while looking over his course options, I had to come to terms with this.  I'm not sure I'm ready to move into the "teenage years."  But I guess......her I go!  Wish me Luck!!

Gluten Free Ham & Corn Chowder

OK so today I made the most amazing soup.  Since my kids all actually ate it, I feel like I'm required to write down the recipe.  Usually, I deem a recipe a success if at least 1/2 of the family liked it...but when everyone liked it, it's HUGE!  :o)  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a photo earlier....I'm not used to the idea that I have a blog yet...  So not the best pic but trust me when I say it was delicious!

I've never made chowder before so I looked at a few different recipes and then came up with my own.  Did I mention this recipe is Gluten Free!?  Always a bonus in my house, as my oldest child has Celiac Disease.

Here's how I made it:
       Ham Stock
I started by making my own Ham Stock.  I had a ham bone left over from a meal we had last week.  I just put it in the freezer until I needed it.  I made it by filling my stock pot halfway with cold water and adding in the frozen ham bone.  I put the burner on low and just let it go.  Once the bone was thawed through I turned the temp up, added a half of an onion, a carrot, and 2 stalks of celery.  Then I just let it simmer for about 3 hours.

After that I just just strained the stock and chilled it in a container.  When it was cool, the fat forms a layer on top...I skimmed off the fat, and set it aside.

      Ingredients for Ham & Corn Chowder
1/2 lg sweet onion diced
2 celery stalks, diced
3 lg carrots, peeled & diced
2 lg. Yukon gold potatoes, diced
2 cups of prepared ham stock
4 cups of 2% milk
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1/2 cup hot water w/ 2 tbsp of corn starch whisked in
1/2 bag frozen sweet corn
1/2 c. frozen peas
2 cups diced left over ham
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

First, saute onion & celery in 2 tablespoons of oil for about 5 minutes, season with salt & pepper.  Add carrots, potatoes, Italian seasoning, ham & ham stock.  Bring to a boil, then add the water & corn starch mixture stirring the whole time to prevent lumps.
Next I added the milk and brought the chowder to a simmer with the cover on for about 20 minutes.  (Or until potatoes and carrots are tender.)  At this point I tested the soup for seasoning.  My ham stock was plenty salty, so my soup did not need any additional salt.  I did add a little shake of pepper though.
Next I added the corn & peas and just brought the soup back up to a simmer.  At the last moment I added the shredded cheese and just stirred until it was all melted and incorporated.

I served this up with freshly baked bread.  It was awesome.  (For my son, I simply toasted up his favorite Gluten Free Bread and added some spray butter.)

Hope you try it an enjoy it!  :o)