Room Facelift

So, in my effort to get "wedding ready," I have been taking a lot of energy enhancing things (no, not cocaine or meth) and as a result of that, I have become a super neurotic neat freak.  That side effect I can deal with.  Every now and then, I get the need the change things up a bit, so this is the almost end product of my speed rage.

I started collecting Disney & Harry Potter movies for my babies one day.  They are totally not for my enjoyment...

The corkboard I made with my Pi Beta Phi Lilly Pultizer scarf & Map of hearts 

I'm trying to be more simplistic.  Can you spot the little Ginger baby in this picture?

I decided to showcase all the self portraits and favorite quotes I made.  They are now all in my closet.  

My closet is quite colorful, and yes, it is too full.  I am currently selling items on ebay!

After watching "Million Dollar Decorators," I have tried out putting the books in my bookshelf at different levels and stacking them a bit.  Cook books, decorating & sex books.  Happy reading.

 I strung up blue Christmas lights on my curtain rod and have lights behind my mirror.  They create a very relaxing mood and I have them linked to a light switch.  The picture frames use to be over my bed, and I love where they are now.  My plants, Lilo&Stitch the Plumerias, Delilah the Dahlia and the smuggled in Tulips from Amsterdam are situated on a shoe rack that I bought from IKEA.  The "MAP," letters in the right corner are my initals and "my word," are from Sorrento, Italy (the city that smelt of citrus).

This is my final wall and I was going to make it my "travel," wall.  I am still, obviously, working on it.  In the left hand corner is my "scratch off map," which seemed like a great, fun thing, but ended up being a super stressful project (Europe is small, people!  Getting the coin to scratch off Spain and not Portugal took some skill).  I have a blank canvas that I still dont know what I want to do with (pictures of places I want to go or art?) and underneath that is my "to do list," which right now just consists of thinking happy thoughts.  The colorful piece in the middle is a collage I bought at an Art show in downtown Orlando, with the quote "Silence your inner critic." I reused the quote I had on the map I previously had over my bed and then I have my "1,000 places to see before you die," calendar.  This month is Scotland :)

Well, it is 12:29 am and my dog just got windy, so I'm going to put on my gas mask and go to sleep, leaving you with this MAPism quote...

Clean your room, clean your soul.

Pintrest pins I have actually duplicated

So I know I am not the only person (lets face facts, by person I mean "girl") that has boards and boards of ideas I have pinned on Pintrest without actually creating them.  So I have been really trying to get better about it and try out the genius ideas... most of them have been incredible successes!

1.  Cinnamon Honey Tea

This is an incredibly DELICIOUS and healthy drink!  You drink it at night before bed and in the morning 30 minutes before eating.  I find it is easiest to make at night, especially if you have to get up early.

1) Boil water at night (enough for 2 mugs) and add cinnamon to it (I figure 2 dashes per mug)

2) Once it has COMPLETELY cooled to room temperature, add the honey.  Honey will loose its nutrients if heated.

3) Drink one of the mugs and put the other in the fridge for the morning.  

Remember, raw honey is going to give the best results.  The website I got it off of states:  

"The enzymes in the honey  remove fungus and 

bacteria in your digestive tract. It also states that you should see inches lost before weight loss. But, you might hit a plateau stage after awhile. I have also read that continuing to eat it, the mixture will help to stop fat from being stored in the body."

The way I look at it is, if it works, awesome!  If not, no harm done.  Cinnamon and honey are both so great for you in so many ways and this drink is so tasty, might as well drink it!  Right now I feel great, but I have only done it 3 times so far....will put more results as I go!

2)  Make your own Febreeze

In a larger 27 oz bottle emptied out:  

• 1/8 Cup of fabric softener (I used Downy Citrus Spice) 
• 2 tablespoons Baking Soda
• Hot tap water 

 Combine all in bottle, shake well and use!  It smells AMAZING, but I'm a sucker for the "fresh laundry," scent!

3) Map of Hearts 

I use to have a map of only Europe above my bed.  I put it there because I had just been to Europe and was so obsessed with going back, I figured it would be like my dream board/wish board, so seeing it all the time and having it above my head as I slept would release into me a way to go back....which it did.  After coming back the most recent time (Winter of 2012 as opposed to Summer 2012) I quickly realized there were so many other places in the world I wanted to see.  Specifically Australia and New Zealand, to see all my wonderful buddies I met as I traveled!  I bought a map of the world and to replace the limited dreaming of only Europe and knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with the Euro map...a lovely idea I had seen on Pintrest where you cut out hearts of places you lived/loved/visited/want to visit and put them all together in a frame.  Luckily, when I had returned home, one of my favorite frames had broke from my wall, but the actual FRAME was intact (I just went to Europe twice, you think I have ANY money left for crafts??).  I cut out a heart from some cardboard to use as a stencil and this is the finished product!  Super easy and is a great way to chronicle travel!  The most expensive part was the map ($7 at Barnes and Noble)!

Well that is the crafts I have made so far, but will keep this updated as I Conquer all my pins!  To see some of my Pintrest baking and cooking, just scroll down.  There is a lot!

Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing. 

-Salvador Dali 

"It's a boy!"

My oldest buddy in the world, Adam, is having his first baby!  Thank goodness it is a boy, so it restrains me a bit, when it comes to clothes & accessories while also forcing me to be creative with my gifts.  After checking out the registry at Target, I was really into the bedding that Samantha and Adam picked out for little James Joseph.  A deep navy with chevron pattern and a dog silhouette (quite similar to the "pink" dog from Victoria's Secret).  If you know me, you know I am VERY weird about making paintings for people, because I don't want anyone to feel like that are forced to put it up or pretend to like it.  Since my parents were planning on buying the Orris' the bedding I was so keen on, I figured doing an extra little painting would be a fun, custom touch, and if they didn't like it, at least they still liked the bedding!

Adam and I when we babies!  This is before I started beating the crap out of him.  He is 6'1 now...and has not forgotten.

Such a fashionable and clever crib set!  This is not a pattern I would normally chose, but not I'm obsessed with it!  

Obsessed with Chevron and the fact I now considered it more than the name of a gas station.

 Finished product!

Can you tell I'm trying to be better about not being SOOO Anal about perfection with the paintings.  A chevron pattern was probably not the best choice to be "a free artistic spirit," with.

The unemployed nonsense rant

So, after going back to my home-from-another-life (aka Europe) and being denied work for lack of visa, I have been feverishly looking for other positions...ones that I like working enough to get the wonderful privilege of a whole 2 weeks off a year.  I have been exploring all sorts of other options as well, including a website called, "Find me a crew," which is more like an "old man needs companionship and would like to take you all over the world on his boat," thing.  I am still considering it.  Not gonna lie.  I have also been exploring art more and these are the current inspirations I have found that I want to recreate as my own.

Art...the gift that keeps on giving....

Sugar Cookie covered Oreos

Sugar cookie covered Oreos

1 pkg refrigerated sugar cookie dough, room temperature
12 Oreos (I used 6 Golden and 6 Double-Stuffed)
Rainbow non-pareils

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners for easy removal. Set aside. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, pour some of the rainbow sprinkles.

2. Using your palms, flatten out one square of cookie dough into a flat disk. Place a cookie on top of the dough and sandwich between another flattened disk of dough. Seal the dough edges together around the Oreo to enclose it completely. Roll the stuffed cookie into the rainbow sprinkles and place in the muffin liner.

 3. Bake for approx. 15-18 minutes or until the edges are light golden and the center appears set. Allow them to cool completely before removing the liners and eating. Best kept at room temperature, airtight, up to 2 days.

Bon appétit 

Holiday Party

I threw a last minute Holiday Party before I left for Europe.... right before Thanksgiving.  It was 90 degrees out and no one was quite in the "holiday mood," yet, but my friends were still troopers and celebrated with me.  A little known fact is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Holiday parties and cooking/baking for them.  I decided that since I would not be in the country to go to all the fun holiday parties, I would throw my own....6 days before the party actually took place.  Needless to say, Pinterest was a huge help.  I made 3 new pieces of art and lots of recipes for desserts and drinks! 

The Grinch

Spirit of Christmas

You cannot see it that well, but I wrote a secret message in lighter blue in the letters :)

JOY

For over our TV (with a fireplace DVD) I put JOY up and used a wreath for the "O"

Picture wall

I used 2 rolls of glitter wrapping paper on the wall and up the slogan over for fun pictures.  I also bought a few head props :)

 Dessert table

Rum mini Cupcakes

use THIS recipe, just use small cupcake holders and regular buttercream icing

 Cinnamon Toast Crunch mini Cupcakes

Joy was the theme of the evening... Joy for all the wonderful things I have been blessed with this past year and for all the wonderful relationships I have cultivated throughout my life <3 font="">

Cinnamon Toast Crunch mini Cupcakes

For cupcake

• 1 French Vanilla cake mix
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• Brown sugar to top cupcakes

For Icing

• 1 can of Buttercream frosting
• 1 3/4 cup cinnamon toast crunch cereal crumbs (run through a food processor)
• 5 tsp vanilla
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pour your batter into cupcake liners and bake for 11-15 minutes at 350ºF (or until golden brown). Once a tooth pick comes out clean, set aside and allow the cupcakes to cool before icing. While letting them cool you can start making your icing.  Add Cereal and brown sugar as embellishments

Bon Appétit 

Oil painting with training wheels

Woohoo!  I got my first commissioned Art request!  The requester was my best friends mom, whom is from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.  She made my life super easy by sending her "inspiration piece," and telling me what she wanted specifically while being very laid back and letting me have creative freedom (something im not always the best with in the past...super TYPE A).  She let me know she wanted orchids and them to be more red than any color.   Plus she wanted a particular key on the window seal.  I looked at various pictures of St. Thomas, but inevitably just tried to get all the inspiration off the original piece she sent.

This was also my first time using oil paints...but not completely legit ones, the kind that can be mixed with water.  I call it oil painting with training wheels.  My decision to use oil paints was because it extends the longevity of the painting and gives a bit more of an "authentic look," with blending colors and what not....

Inspiration Art

Final Product

Travel quotes

One week and one day back from my travels....for now, Just a few of my favorite travel quotes...