Before and After Chair

Remember THIS post about all the furniture projects I need to finish?  Well, I checked one piece off of my list.  I finished the chair this weekend!

Here's the lovely before picture:

I sanded everything and then primed the chair.  I applied two coats of black spray paint and another two coats of a spray polyurethane.

Here are the products I used:

While everything was drying, I recovered the seat with the new fabric I found at a local fabric warehouse for $5 a yard!!  What a deal!

And here's the finished product:

I distressed some of the edges so a little red would show through (even though it looks kind of orange in the pictures!).  I like how it ties together with the red fabric.

 

And the final before and after:

Now on to my next project!...

Linked to: Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch, Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative, Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping it Simple, Power of Paint Party @ Domestically Speaking, Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home, Finding Fabulous, Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

My husband and I came up with the idea to make Buffalo Chicken Tacos after eating something very similar at On the Border.  Not to sound snobby, but we think our version tastes way better! :)  These tacos are such an easy thing to make and they take no time at all.  A perfect dinner after a busy day.  The element that makes these so delicious (besides the tasty hot wing sauce) is the flat bread.  I've never had a problem finding it at the grocery store and it's usually around the pita bread.
Here's what you need:

Chicken
Hot Wing Sauce
Onion
Blue Cheese
Flat Bread

Here's how you make them:
Cook the chicken, then add a generous amount of hot wing sauce.  Make sure the chicken is thoroughly covered in sauce and set aside.


Next, add the sliced onion to the same pan.  I add a little bit of sugar, then cover and cook at a low heat until the onions are translucent.

The final step...
Slightly heat the flat bread then top with chicken, onions, and blue cheese.  If you wish to add an extra kick, drizzle some more hot wing sauce on top of everything. 

And there you have it!  A Buffalo Chicken Taco.  Yum!


Linked to: Fingerprints on the Fridge, Foodie Friday, It's a Hodgepodge Friday, New Friend Friday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday at the Table

Mug Shots

I am quite fond of my little collection of coffee mugs.  I like to drink my coffee and tea out of a mug that tells a story rather than the boring coffee cups that match our dinnerware.  I realized as I was going through my favorites that most of them are from my husband!  Isn't he sweet :)  He's given me some really neat mugs from his last few business trips.  Gotta love souvenirs!

B-day gift from the hubby.  Starbucks has the cutest mugs!

Moose mug from Starbucks

Souvenir mug from Spain

Starbucks mug

Cute souvenir mug from Chihuahua Mexico

Souvenir mug from London

Target clearance - 78 cents!

Linked to: Show & Tell Friday

Homemade Ice Cream

Help!!!!  I'm completely addicted to homemade ice cream!  My sister suggested checking myself into ice cream rehab.  For the sake of my waistline, I may look into that.  I found this little ice cream maker at Target a few weeks ago on clearance for $12.  It's the kind that doesn't require the use of rock salt.  You just keep the canister in the freezer and use it when you have a craving for ice cream (which for me is like every night). 

I've been using this recipe I found online.  It's incredibly easy and unbelievably delicious!  I cut the serving size way down since our ice cream machine is small and it provides just enough for the two of us.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup Half & Half
2 T Whipping Cream
3 T White Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt

Mix together and pour into ice cream maker.

Since we are big Shatto Milk fans, I decided to swap out the half and half and use Shatto's flavored whole milk instead and boy did we hit the jack pot!!  AMAZING!  My favorite so far is the strawberry, but the banana was wonderful too.  If you live around the Kansas City area you HAVE to try Shatto Milk.  Everything I've tried of theirs has been superb and their dairy farm is just a short drive away.
 

We like our ice cream topped with toasted walnuts.  Yum!  This is the perfect treat to end a hot summer day.



Linked to: Foodie Friday, New Friend Friday, Feature Yourself Friday, Show & Tell Friday, Tuesday at the Table, Tasty Tuesdays, Tempt My Yummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday

Summer Harvest

This is why I love summer...

Nothing like gathering garden fresh tomatoes and cute little zinnias from right outside my back door.  It's the best.




Linked to: Show & Tell Friday

99 cent Vases

I found these adorable little vases at Hobby Lobby the other week on the clearance aisle.  They were originally priced $9.99 each which seems very high for a little tiny vase.  Everything was marked down 90% off so I nabbed these cute little guys for 99 cents!

I added some zinnias from the yard.

 

Linked to: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Pizza Time

Ahhh, pizza.  By far one of my favorite things to eat.  I love a good ol' greasy pizza that's delivered to my door, a delicious Chicago style pizza, Costco's cheese pizza by the slice... You name it, I eat it.  I also love homemade pizza.  I usually cheat and make the dough from a packaged mix, but this time I decided to make the crust from scratch.  It was totally worth the extra effort and it wasn't nearly as much work as I anticipated.


I used Wolfgang Puck's pizza dough recipe.  It was simple to make and the dough was very easy to handle.



I baked the crust for about 8 minutes before adding these toppings:



And here they are fresh out of the oven.  Both pizzas were delicious!  I love the combination of pesto and tomatoes on a pizza, and something wonderful happens when artichoke hearts and bacon are combined - scrumptious!



Linked to: Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace, Tuesday at the Table @ All the Small Stuff, Tasty Tuesday @ Beauty and Bedlam, Tasty Tuesday Bloghop, Silly Little Sparrow, These Creative Juices, Be Inspired @ Room to Inspire