Wall Art

Well, you know what time it is...back to school time. Trey waved bye to me this morning as I headed off to my first official day back to work. Sigh...Which means my the majority of my projects have come to a screeching halt (although I'm still going to squeak a few in on the weekends when there's not a UT game to be watching).

Just about every time someone comes over to the house they comment about this wall art:

I luurrvee being able to smile proudly and say, "I made that! And it was SUPER easy." Now, let's get real here, folks, I am not a creative genius. In fact most of my projects have been stolen by someone else that I've discovered on the web.

So here's whatchagottado to make this project happen.

1) Go to Lowe's or Home Depot and find a piece of MDF (in the lumber section).

2) Ask a sweet employee to cut it down for you into 12 inch squares (they may groan a little or give you a look like you are crazy, but they get over it...promise).

3)Sand the edges of each of the pieces a little (so they are smooth) and wipe down with Mineral Spirits or a Tack Cloth (both available at H.D. or Lowe's also).

4) Spray paint the edges with your color of choice. I used an espresso brown with a satin finish. Let it dry for the recommended time.

5) While the paint is drying find some cute scrapbook paper you'd like to use. That's right...scrapbook paper I had a pack of paper lying around with coordinating colors that I liked.

6) Use spray adhesive on BOTH the board and the back of the paper. Let it set for about 30 seconds or so.
7) Lay the scrapbook paper on the board and smooth it out. BE CAREFUL when you are laying it down because this is a PERMANENT bond and it will not come off gently.
8) If you're like me and can't seem to lay it just perfectly you can go back with an exacto knife and trim the edges.

9) Drill a hole in the top center of the back of each piece of wood (about an inch down from the top).

10) Screw in your wall hanger like so:

Now here's where you have an option. You can leave it alone or you can add 2 bumpers to the bottom corners. I find that it prevents the board from wiggling so much on the wall, and it's as simple as putting on a sticker.

Your project is ready to hang! Hooray! I HIGHLY recommend getting another person to help you hang your project. I did it by myself using my handy dandy laser level, but I'm convinced my time would have been cut in half if Trey had been around to help.

I liked the project so much that I found other paper I liked and made another smaller on for our bedroom with a wedding picture.

All of the materials together cost me about $35-$40 which is a heckuvalot better than the $200 piece that is similar in Ballard Designs.

My friend, Tara, made the same project after I explained it to her to put above her mantle. I wish I had a picture of hers to share because it's gorgeous. She had a 10 inch square wood piece to put in the center so she had all of her pieces cut down to 10 inches. The possibilities are endless!

I'll post again after I get back into the swing of school and Trey's birthday!!!

Happy back to school all you teachers!!!

xoxo, Shel & Bert

Our Favorite Weekend Breakfast

Almost every weekend we have a big breakfast because I get tired of the cereal and milk or fruit smoothie routine that we live by during the week. So I thought I'd share my recipe for our favorite biscuits.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening (I like to use the shortening you can buy as a stick and just cut it)
3/4 cup of buttermilk (if the buttermilk is really thick you may need a little extra)

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Cut in shortening using a pastry blender or criss-crossing 2 knives, until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
3. Stir in buttermilk until dough leaves the side of the bowl (dough will be soft and sticky).
4. Place dough on a slightly floured surface (I like to use a baking mat, but wax paper works well too).
5. Knead lightly 10 times.
6. Roll out until the dough is about 1/2 inch thick.
7. Cut out with a round biscuit cutter (honestly, I don't have one of these so I use my round cookie cutter which is a little big, but it does the job--hopefully I'll get the biscuit cutters I want for Christmas from William Sonoma).
8. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart
9. Heat oven to 450 degrees (this is important to do this last and wait until it heats all the way. This allows the chemical process with the baking soda, powder, and salt to take effect, which causes your biscuits to rise better).
10. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Enjoy!!!!
xoxo, Shel & Bert

Ode to Teddy

Okay, so I'm slightly obsessive about my dogs. I admit this, however, in my defense these precious boys have been with me for 6 years now. At one point when Trey and I started dating he asked me, "If I asked you to pick between me and the dogs who would you choose?"

Crickets....Chirp...Chirp....

It's a good thing it never came down to that.

Teddy's 6th birthday was at the end of last month so I thought I would post a few of my favorite pictures of my snuggle bug.

Seriously...who gets their own real-life teddy bear???

Teddy's formal attire

An injured (and very sad Ted)

Last summer while I was interning, Teddy got sick so I had to take him to work with me. He helped answer the phones :)

Teddy (wearing his UT jersey) doesn't like to be left out of snuggle time.

Don't worry all you Arche lovers, his post will come soon--when I've slept through the night without being woken by his snoring.

xoxo, Shel & Bert

Weekend Projects

Whew! What a project-filled weekend it has been. One of the many joys of home-ownership!

Trey spent all day Saturday in the garage with my dad fixing the valve cover gaskets (and an array of other things--spark plugs, fuel filter, etc.) on his 1999 Nissan Maxima with 220,000 miles (no, I am not kidding). They claim there were no parts left over after putting it all back together, however I did walk out there at one point right as my dad said, "what the hell is that?" It didn't explode when we test drove it this morning so I think the repair was a success & it saved us about $300! Whoo-hoo!

Sunday, Trey and Dad hung a ceiling fan in our master bath! HOORAY! I HATE it when my make up is dripping off of my face after drying my hair because it is so flippin' hot in the bath room under the lights. Problem solved!

Words cannot describe how much I lurrrve this fan!

I put the boys to work one last time hanging a pot rack I found at Pier 1 last week.

Perfect! I hadn't bought a pot-rack previously because typically they are so flippin' expensive. This one was $45! Pretty reasonable!
So you're probably wondering what I was doing while my favorite men slaved away on cars, climbed into the ridiculously hot attic, and stood on counter-tops. Well, I can say that I definitely worked harder than Teddy:

R.O.T.T.E.N

I was building my behind-the-sofa-table.

When I first mentioned this project to Trey, he rolled his eyes, BUT after he considered the set-up of our living room he said, "YEAH! Because if the sofa is a little further away from the wall, the surround sound will be better!" Geez...not what I was going for but anyways....

I went to Home Depot and found one piece of wood that was 12'' by 6'. Perfect. Then I found another piece that was 10'' 10' and had John at Home Depot cut it down into 4 pieces so that each piece was 30'' long. I bought 8 L brackets (they come in packs of 4) and some black paint with a gloss finish.

When I arrived home, I sanded down each piece a little so that there weren't any splinters hanging off. Then I wiped each piece down the some Mineral Spirits on an old towel. Next, I attached the end pieces first for the legs of the table. I was going to put both of the other pieces in the middle to support the weight, but that made the table a little wobbly. Trey (who took physics in high school--I did not) recommended that I put one of the pieces perpendicular to the other legs to give it more stability. HA! What a genius! I knew I kept him around for something. So when I was all done it looked like this:

Then I painted it with the black paint I bought:

Then I slid it bewtween the sofa and the wall/window:

Is this a professional job? Heck No! But it cost me about $20 for the wood, $5 for the brackets plus the cost of the paint. Total money spent about $30 for the perfect size & height table for behind the sofa. Even better, this project took me about an hour...seriously....it was that easy.

Now what will I put on it???? Hmmmm....sounds like I have some shopping to do. :)

xoxo, Shel & Bert