Pumped Up!

A little pretty never hurt anyone! But when it came time to start washing dishes in a sink again (as opposed to in Wren's bathtub) I decided that store bought dish soap squeeze bottles just weren't up to the pretty standards in our new kitchen. And while a little pretty never hurt anyone, I realized it was going to hurt my wallet when I searched out some options at places like Anthro and Williams Sonoma. $20 for soap (even if I can reuse the dispenser) just didn't seem like a smart purchase while we are still paying for the kitchen. Economy is key!!

My next thought was "hey, didn't Martha make a cool version?" But when I searched it out I saw that she used olive oil dispenser thing-ys and I could picture the soap dripping all over the bottle every time I tipped the thing, much like how my dirty squeeze bottles always looked. Then it occurred to me that most hand lotion comes in pump dispensers, and I had just so happened to have used up the last of a $2 bin find from Bath and Body Works (LOVE those clearance sales of theirs!!!).

Soon as I found my dispenser I remembered that I had a giant jug of Soap in the basement with all my kitchen gadgets that have yet to migrate up to the new kitchen. When you have a Dad who owns restaurants you get loaded up with strange stuff like jugs of soap, 2000 cupcake liners, and the list goes on! A fun perk, I will admit. Whenever he renovates or takes over a restaurant my mom and I come home with trunks full of plates and cookware... and sometime giant jugs of soap.

So all that was left was to remove the old labels, clean out the lotion and fill'er up. Free, fast and so far absolutely no annoying soap drips! Of course, to be safe I avoid placing soap or anything wet directly on the new counters so an antique platter I scouted out for $1 is a perfect sink caddy.

Not a revolutionary idea, but it has made me very happy each evening as I scrub pots and pans!

Master Bedroom

It has been over a year and a half since I wall papered the wall behind our bed and I think I've only shared snippets of our master bedroom since then, in an oh so clever attempt to avoid cleaning up all the laundry bins and random tidbits during the kitchen overhaul.

For all those who are new to our 3 year journey, here is a trip back in time to where we started.

The first reincarnation was done on a SHOE STRING budget! Recycled furniture, homemade headboard and the addition of $26 in Ikea shelves to suffice as night stands.

Then we punched it up a little with an at home paint concoction I mixed up for the perfect charcoal grey.

And after adding an old dresser and desk as night stands, some new bedding and wall paper we have our latest version.

My side of the bed has a repurposed old school desk holding books, art and a few trinkets.

When you live with a man who is sooooo supportive of whitewashing the whole house you have to let a few of ideas slide through. Like a giant TV staring you dead in the face every morning! Ironically, I think I've used the thing more than he has and have caught numerous great old movies during my 2 am insomnia sessions.

I fell in love with our duvet cover on our holiday last year during a stop at PomPom interiors. It was quite a splurge so I wasn't able to convince Sean we needed the matching linen shams. Thankfully I scored a couple of these awesome linen euro shams at Ikea recently in the as is section for $10! Now I just need to buy another pillow insert~

Surprisingly, the duvet cover is by far the most expensive item in our room! Both of our nightstands were $15 finds I painted up and replaced hardware on and the mirror was a freebie, also painted up.

The other bed linens all come from Kohl's, they have a beautiful line of ruffled white shams, sheets and bed skirts that are almost always on sale!

I think this is one of the hardest rooms to photograph in our house. It always looks washed out and over exposed in photos, but in person the grey paisley wall paper pops off the wall and adds just enough personality for my taste. Wish I could remember the manufacturer of the paper because I want to do the powder room too!!

I'm sooooo happy that all our "down stairs" furniture and accessories are back down stairs and not crowding all our bedrooms, but of course my wheels are always turning and I am already working on tracking down a new and improved headboard/bedframe.... And the progress continues here!

Oh how sweet it is.

I hope all you ghouls and goblins had a safe and fun Halloween! Starting around 10 am, Wren was literally bouncing off the walls in anticipation of her first real trick or treat.

Bouncing on our bed for a solid 20 minutes defeats any point in actually making the bed.

Wren picked her own costume this year, in fact Wren picks her own costume everyday. I use the term costume mainly because she has 2 requirements every morning when we try to get her dressed; the first being a tutu (she has quite a collection, I can't do laundry fast enough to keep up with demand), the second being a dress. It takes a lot of convincing on my end to get out of the house each day with only 1 of the 2 items, because both render any attempt to get a toddler buckled into a car seat completely impossible. Paired with her favorite leather boots she is quite the fashionista, and I often look completely disheveled and frazzled next to her graceful twirls and turns as we navigate the grocery store aisles.

But she did agree to remove the tutu on Monday to transform into a cupcake, with a cherry on top of course! The first house saw a little hesitation on her end, but after reaping the reward of a handful of goodies her "trick of treats" steadily got louder as she rounded the neighborhood. The hardest part came Tuesday morning when we had to explain we would not be trick or treating again, and that no, we cannot have bubble gum for breakfast!

And while I wanted to take a bite out of my cute cupcake she wasn't having it! So I decided to make a batch of my own.

I have a HUGE love of cherries, cherry pie, cherry cheesecake, and my favorite: Black forest cake!

But cakes aren't my strong suit and I have a ladies night happening tomorrow night so I thought I would try a creating my own black forest cupcakes! I started with 2 boxes of Devil's food cake batter mix and a can of cherry pie filling, it doesn't get any faster and easier than that. After preparing the 2 boxes of mix, I filled my cupcake liners half way.

Keep in mind this was my third batch, and I am notoriously messing baker LOL.

Then I spooned a large spoonful of filling into the batter.

And covered with another spoonful of batter.

Then we baked them for 20 minutes. Keep in mind that I tried out this creation with the help of 2 toddlers today and not only did we have a blast but they both gave their compliments to the chef by telling me they were "really yummy!".

We made 30 large cupcakes and topped them with some simple chocolate frosting, but whip cream and chocolate shavings would be a tasty addition as well.

So if you have a sweet tooth and love yourself some cherry give black forest cupcakes a try!