Extra Storage/Organization Anyone?

I Hate (with a capital H) piles of papers and 'things' in the kitchen. Buuuuuut, since we don't have an 'office space' (love that movie!!), piles inevitably happen. I finally came up with an organization method I can fit in the laundry room (conveniently located next to the kitchen) to create a place for everything that accumulates in our kitchen, so everything can be in it's place (did you see that coming?). And my favorite part is that it was super cheap too!

So my idea was this- use an old ladder I've had fur ever (and was begging to be used in a useful way)... you may have to cut it down to fit in your room like I did. Or my hubby did, whatever.

Pick a REALLY amazing day... well, hello sunshine!!
Paint the ladder RED...(which happens to be my very favorite color) oh and I had intentions of distressing it a bit, but clearly this ladder has been stressed enough in it's life without my help!

Run to Hobby Lobby for some buckets (they were only $2.50 each), then use Mod-Podge to label the buckets...

Then hang your buckets with a pretty ribbon (also cheap from Hobby Lobby) and WA-LA a 'Bucket/Ladder organizer'(that's what I will name it, yes, that's catchy!)!

Do you love it like I do? It rests against the wall in the laundry room, totally out of the way but easy enough to put things in. I wish the colors were better on the pictures, the turquoise ribbon really looks good next to the red ladder.
Some close ups you say? OK!



I labeled the buckets based on what accumulates at our house, but you could categorize these in any way! I think it would be so fun to do this in a bathroom for things like 'washcloths', 'soap', 'lotion', etc! Where else could you use it?

Some Tiramisu Love

I love Tiramisu and always assumed it would be difficult to make, but this recipe is delicious and EASY!
This is from allrecipes.com... I've made it twice now and LOVE it! I made just a few changes to the original recipe:


TIRAMISU

Ingredients
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature (I use more like 1/2 C)
2 tablespoons rum (I use 4 T Bacardi rum)
2 (3 ounce) packages ladyfinger cookies
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well blended. Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil gently for 1 minute, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Cover tightly and chill in refrigerator 1 hour.

In a medium bowl, beat cream with vanilla until stiff peaks form. Whisk mascarpone into yolk mixture until smooth.

In a small bowl, combine coffee and rum. Split ladyfingers in half lengthwise and drizzle with coffee mixture. (I do more than 'drizzle'- use a spoon and pour it on the ladyfingers, not soaking, but a little more than 'drizzle')

Arrange half of soaked ladyfingers in bottom of a 7x11 inch dish (8x8 works great for me). Spread half of mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers, then half of whipped cream over that. Repeat layers and sprinkle with cocoa. (I am able to do a layer of ladyfingers, marscarpone, whipped cream, then repeat that, then do a layer of ladyfingers and whipped cream before the cocoa powder.)

Cover and refrigerate overnight!

It's SOOOOO easy and tastes amazing.

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Enough said.

Word to your mother

Happy Mothers Day!

Towel LOVE gone CRAZY!

I decided to try embrodiery after I saw this beeeauuutiful towel made by Amy at The Idea Room. Isn't it perfect? I used her template for the word 'blessings' for the towel below.

These are really fun to make, first I hand embroidered the words, then appliqued the fabric to some flour sack dish towels.
So I made another...

...then another...

...then another... (you get the picture)

Oh, and whhhhhooooooo doesn't love an owl??? I drew this owl myself!

And, yes, there are more towels already made. I will post those as soon as I take pictures!

Wine Cork Wreath

This I love. I've been saving corks since Chris and I started dating and never knew what to do with them... until I finally made a wreath!

I think it turned out perfect and looks great in our dining room. I used a grapevine wreath (hello, grapes!)and a hot glue gun (ouch) because I wanted it to be all different angles- I like that better than neat and tidy.

There's even a champagne cork in there! The best part is, we have written on a lot of these with the date and who we were with or what event it was.
I'm ready for more cork projects and have some in mind... stay tuned!

Veggie Love

I'm so excited! We are going to have a small vegetable garden this year and I started my seeds inside a few weeks ago and they have sprouts! Yay!


We will have red peppers, cherry tomatos, basil, green onions and zucchini. This is my first time ever having a garden- I'm so looking forward to fresh veggies for free.