Making a House a Home

A while ago I asked the question on facebook, "If you had to choose between a fixer upper that was low in your budget or still within your budget a move in ready house, what would you choose?"

I got a lot of mixed responses. But Claudy and I knew that we weren't meant for fixer uppers. We just didn't have the time or energy to commit to it. So we went with move-in ready. However, I knew that I wanted to make it our own.

Deciding on a theme for the house was rather difficult, Claudy wanted it to feel like the Carribean and while I like bright colors, I would rather they be accents than the main colors. However, we came to a compromise and I love how it has turned out!

Here are some before and afters. (Photos taken with my iphone)

 KITCHEN

 before

after

DINING

before

after

I love this table my parents found us at a occasional sale in Zimmerman and I love my curtains from Target. 

LIVING ROOM

before

 

after

I felt like this set up the previous owners had made the room feel small and with a one year old we needed some place space, so we changed tv wall and it opened it up a ton!

The dresser was a purchase at an occasional sale in Buffalo!

 

BEDROOM

before

 after

OFFICE

before

 

after

MASTER BEDROOM

after

This took me two colors to get the feel I wanted

 

LIA'S ROOM

before

after

As you can see we went with a lot of COLOR. 

We still have to do the basement, hoping to get to that in March!!!

{25 Days of Christmas} - Day 15 - Christmas Card Book

Ok....ok... You got me. I didn't blog Saturday and Sunday. I broke my goal of blogging every day. Last minute decision, Lia and I decided to go watch my nieces play basketball and we were gone all day Saturday and I had to do some work on Sunday! But, I'm back!!!

I love Christmas Cards. I love sending them...I love getting them! Most years they hang on my fridge until the next years start rolling in. I love seeing the familiar faces of friends and family. 

I remember as a kid my mom always saved the cards from year to year in a plastic bag and they all sat in a cupboard in our family room. I remember going to look through them from time to time. When she moved, I made her through them away. Can you believe it?? 

I saw this idea on pinterest the other day and I thought it was the perfect idea and a great way to save your cards from year to year. I think I will be doing this from now on.

What about you? Do you save your Christmas Cards you receive from year to year? How do you save them? 

{Saw it. Pinned it. Did it.} - Dilled Pretzel and Crackers

One of my cousins made this last summer...and I loved it. It reminded me of my childhood, when I would make it often. 

Lately I've been craving (not preggo) salty things, so I decided to give it a try!

 I looked on pinterest and found a recipe.. 

Dilled Pretzel and Crackers

I used both Pretzel's and Crackers, but you don't have to do both, you could just use one of these. 

40 ounces of pretzels or crackers
12 ounces OrvilleRedenbacher's popcorn oil
1 oz. Hidden Valley Ranch powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder - ** I thought this was too much and would use half the amount
1 tablespoon dill

Mix oil, ranch powder, garlic powder and dill together in a bowl. Put pretzels in a bag and pour oil mixture in bag and mix together. Let sit overnight.

Enjoy!!!

{Saw it. Pinned it. Did it} - The best things in life aren't things...

It was a while that I saw this gem on pinterest. 
I thought it would look awesome in my entry way and it was something I could make easily in Haiti. 
This is what I came up with. 

I hand wrote it, if I would have been near a craft store I would recommend using stencils and instead of using bows, I crocheted little flowers. I love how it turned out and love how easy it is to change the pictures. 
It definitely will find a place in our new home. 

{Saw it. Pinned it. Did It} - Caramel Pretzel Brownies

I love the mixture of Chocolate and Salty...At the holiday season, one of my favorite drinks is the Salted Mocha or Salted Hot Chocolate. When I saw this pin in my feed, I had to try it. 

It didn't have a recipe, so I decided to switch things up a little bit. 

I first melted butter in the bottom of my 9x13 

Then I smashed a bag of pretzels and put on top of the butter. (You could use a smaller pan, but i would use less pretzels if that is the case). 

I then used one container of Caramel Sauce (If I had to do it over, I would have used a thicker sauce or made my own, but I couldn't find caramels). 

I put on top on brownie mix (you could use two if you want them to have more chocolate)

I then baked for 25 minutes. 

If I had to do it over again. I would make the pretzels into smaller pieces. I would use caramels instead of caramel sauce and try to make it more layery. It was delicious but it didn't look quite how I imagined.  

Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. - Wall Decor

I actually did this a long time ago, but never posted it :) 

I was newer to Haiti and desperate for somethings for my walls. I've never really painted before or been artistic...creative yes, but not artistic. 

Anyway...I thought it was worth a try and I must say, it turned out better than I thought it would. If I could do it again, I would have used a bigger canvas, to space things out a bit. But, I was extremely pleased. 

What do you think???