Dabbling in STEAM PUNK...

So I've had kinda mixed feelings about the "Steam Punk" craze....

But as I've been looking around I've found some really cool stuff; like this....

 and this...

and this...

So I thought I'd try it out for myself....

What do you think?

I think it turned out pretty cute! :)

Red Chevron

Here's another dresser I just recently refinished. If you'd like the tutorial its the same as HERE.

I love these knobs!!!

 Close up of one of the drawers...

I liked the added touch of the sides of the drawers being painted.

Which one do you like better?

Mulan Night

MENU

Imperial Orange chicken

Fa Fried Rice

TREATS

Fortune cookies

Cricket mint (Grasshopper) shakes

Sno Caps (since half the movie takes place in the mountains)

101 Dalmatians

MENU

Dogs (aka pigs) in a blanket

Fidget French fries

TREAT

-Macaroons with dalmatian chocolate "spots"

-"Labrador" chocolate popcorn

 (milk chocolate, or if you want to be really fancy you could add white chocolate spots)

Hercules Movie Night

"Honey you mean HUNK-ules"...

I have to admit. Hercules is one of my all time favs. I think its because of Meg. She talks fast and is crazy sassy like me...I could be Meg right?!? And you know the hubs is Hercules...Hubba Hubba!

Anyhoo... So I have to admit I didn't actually make the dinner when we had the Hercules night...I was kinda cranky and tired because we were having car troubles and had to go pick up the car. Soooo... if you want to be lazy like me go to a Pita Pit near you and get some tasty bites (the Philly cheese steak is my FAVORITE!), but in case you want to be on top of things or choose the non lazy route I did plan out the menu so here it is...

DINNER MENU

-Hero Sandwiches (any kind you want just use "Hero Rolls")

-Hercul-ade (I would do lemonade) Just like the little bad guys drink in the movie!

-Phil's Tomato soup

MOVIE TREATS

-Big Hunk bars

-Dum Dum-bell suckers

-Super hero pop rocks (our dollar tree had some)

Elf Night

So as most of you know we like to have Animated movie nights at our house monday nights. At christmas time we had an "Elf" night with some friends of ours. 

We went to a local venue that had reindeer and a man carving Ice sculptures. It was a blast, the kids all loved it! (Sorry about the terrible phone pics!)

Here's the kids at the Reindeer pen...

My oldest showing his excitement...

And my littlest man who looks like Randy from a christmas story....

DINNER MENU

 *Spaghetti and meat balls

*Soda (for belching! ;)

*Scones with syrup (Its one of the main food groups...)

Santa (green) salad

MOVIE TREATS

* Snowy Popcorn (white chocolate popcorn)

*Candy canes

*Hot cocoa

Brave Family Movie Night

As most of you know I've got two little men at home and we always struggle with having family night. So I decided I wanted to do Animated movie nights and have a themed dinner and movie treats for whatever show we were watching that night. We have done this every monday for about the last month and the whole family has really enjoyed it

The first week we did a "Brave" night.

DINNER MENU

* Ginger Jello (Orange Jello with mandrine oranges)

* Scottish Soda (7up)

*Mor'du Meat sandwiches dipped in bear juice (french dip subs)

*Highlander greens (green salad)

MOVIE SNACKS 

*(Swedish) Fish

*Gummy bears

Homemade Laundry Detergent

So last year I decided I wanted to try making my own laundry detergent. I tried a recipe I found on Pinterest HERE.

But I tweaked it a bit and I like it so much more. 

Here's what you'll need...

(Sorry I forgot to take the pic until after I made the batch)

*1 large box of Baking soda (4lb)

*1 large box of washing soda (3lb 7oz)

*1 large box of Borax (4lb 12oz)

*1-2 containers of Unstopables (I like mine SUPER fragrant so I use 2, but I think for most people 1 would be plenty)

*1 small jar of Fruit Fresh (5oz) ( I have hard water so this helps with the build up on my clothes)

*1 bar of Fels-Naptha (finely grated, I like to use my food processor)

*(not pictured) 4oz of Oxyclean (I sometimes use the store brand cleaner to keep cost low; but this time I got the real stuff on sale at Costco)

You just dump it all in a garbage bag (double bagged); and then mix it up and you're done. Its super quick and has lasted me about a year. If you want it to look prettier you can do what I do and get a jar from Walmart for about $10. Then I just keep the big bag hidden until I need to refill the jar. 

Here's what it looks like when you're all done...

I use 1-2 T per load, or just a small scoop out of the store brand Oxyclean at walmart. When its kiddos clothes I do an extra scoop of Oxyclean. It has worked so great and I think it cleans as well as any store bought detergent. I can't find my receipt  but I think it was between $30-$35 for a whole year's worth of detergent (depending on how much Unstopables and the kind of Oxyclean). I feel pretty good about that!

Try it out and let me know what you think! I'd love any questions or feedback anyone has.

HAPPY WASHING! :)

DIY Chevron Dresser

So a neighbor of mine had this little beauty out on the street with a free sign on it, and with me being me ...I saw the amazing potential and had to have it.  I talked the hubby into dragging it home in the dead of the night...cause that's how we roll.

 So after I gave this baby a good scrub down; my first step was to put a little black paint on the parts of the dresser where I wanted it to show through.

Here's what the drawers looked like...

Next step is to add some Petroleum Jelly on top of the black. Now I realized through trial and error that less is more; though I did like that in a few spots big chunks came off.  

Then I mixed up some Chalk paint to put over the top. I've found that it works great over laminate (no sanding necessary!) Yahoo!

Here's the link to the recipe I used...

Chalk Paint Recipe

Then I taped off the drawer fronts and the top. Now the easiest way to do this is to actually cut the painter's tape with scissors. Then it gives you that clean cut to make straight stripes. 

Then I measured out the middle of the drawers and made that where my "bump down" was going to happen. 

For the top I made a few straight lines with the tape to measure out the different rows...I used an egg carton; because that was about the width that I liked. Then I kinda eye balled it from there where I wanted the points to go.

Last but not least I did two coats of my black paint...waited until it was mostly dry ('cause I can never wait any longer then that) and then ripped off the tape.

At this point you will want to take a rag and pat/wipe the areas where there was the Petroleum Jelly to reveal your darker color. Patting will only show the "under color" a little and wiping it will make it show a lot.

Then you just top with a wax finish or polyurethane and....

BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE.... 

You have a ridiculously awesome new dresser!

Here's the top view...

Here's the amazing knobs...they're from Hobby Lobby, and I spray painted them sunshine yellow.

One more shot of the whole thing.

 What do you think? I really like the weathered look, and I love that I didn't need to "touch up" the lines because it kinda just goes with the whole look.