Apollo on the Catwalk

Apollo is the BEST DOG EVER! When we first picked Apollo up, I had to agree that Apollo would not play dress up; Jake however, agreed bandanas were okay.

So, last year in 2011 Apollo got his first outfit- a halloween costume from Jake's mom! He was baaaad dog, dressed in black and white stripes. And, he was adorable... and absolutely loved putting his costume on and walking around. 

So, this year as we were getting ready to travel up North to my parents, the weather turned very cold and blizzardly. This was going to be Apollo's first actual full exposure to snow and bitter wind chilling days, so I thought he just had to have a jacket, sweater, something! Little did I know when I got to PetSmart that all dog attire would be 50% off! Yes, that's right- 50% off. So, naturally I picked up more than one...

The first is his fleece. It has pockets! He wore this mainly when he was outside playing in the snow...

This next sweater was his Christmas outfit. He wore it while he opening his presents and to Grandma's for Christmas dinner!

What can I say, I have a little diva who loves to dress up! There is a third sweater, I will try and upload a picture soon. Jake and I agree not to get each other presents since we travel so much at the holidays. However, I found an ugly Christmas sweater of one of his favorite bands, The Chariot, and a matching puppy sweater. I just had to- like father like son!

Here is one more in the argyle- laser eyes on his Christmas pillow!

Best Co-pilot

Apollo = Best Co-pilot/ Car Companion ever!

For the holiday Jake and I drove up North to spend the festivities with my family and of course we drove so Apollo could join us. He loves the car. To him car equals trip, which means we are going somewhere. He gets excited if we are crossing the street to go to the pet store! Here are some of my favorite images from the trip!

The little guy wanted to badly to be in the front seat where all of the action was...

... however, he just couldn't keep his eyes open!

 So, when he couldn't stand it any longer he just went on top of the suitcase to really get some rest!

I love this little guy! Side note- Apollo celebrated his second birthday over the holiday! Hard to believe this little fur ball is already 2! Enjoy the pictures- he is sure photogenic so I am sure this won't be the last time you see him!

Festive Holiday Centerpiece

My last post was about a pinterest fail; I am glad to share this is a success.... with a lesson learned. I am sure you have come across at least one site that tells you all of the fun crafts you can do with a wine bottle. I absolutely love it- now not only can I drink the wine, but I can reuse the bottle too! It's like the settlers how they tried to use every last bit of the animal or plant- let nothing go to waste. Okay, maybe that was a bad analogy. But, I just love the idea of reusing bottles- plus they have such a nice look to them already. 

I decided for the holidays I would make a centerpiece for my dining room table. I don't have many spots for centerpieces or decor in my apartment- I don't have a mantle, I don't have many shelves that aren't used already, so my dining room table was the perfect spot. I wanted my centerpiece to be different heights so I mixed two different size wine bottles and added three red stripe bottles...and wah la! 

I started with my plain bottles and added a base primer. As you can see I left the labels on. I recommend take the extra time to remove the labels. It's not awful and not that noticeable, but would make it that much better. I guess leaving the labels on was my signature touch!


After the primer, I decided to paint the wine bottles black. I put about 3 coats on each bottle. If you remove the label, you probably wouldn't need that many, but again I left the labels on thus having to try and cover it. 

 The black went on very smooth and looks great! For the Christmas holiday (or maybe even New Years) I want to add some glitter. Love me some SPARKLE!!

Finally, here is the final project! I bought the leaves at Michaels for about $1, so in total the whole project cost be $1. Of course, I already had the paint, primer and wine on hand! 


Now, for the lesson learned. So besides make a centerpiece I wanted to make a place to store all of my corks. Because any good pinner knows you need lots of corks for all of your DIY projects! I had an extra apple sauce jar on hand, so I thought this would be perfect. I thought I would do the same type of thing with the paint, except I could add stripes to give it some color.

Again, I began by putting a base of primer. Well, first I actually took the time to remove the label, then added the primer. I liked the look of the sand and thought it would go perfect on display. So, like the Red Stripe, I painted the jar a sandy color. 

Because I love pink, I decided to add a few stripes of pink. Here is where the lesson is learned. For all you newbie DIYer's, when you use painters tape you MUST remove the tape while the paint is still wet. No one ever told me and I decided to dive right in instead of researching. I mean, who thought you would need to do some reading before painting?! Well, when you leave painters tape on paint and let it dry, when you go to pull it up...you run the possibility of losing half of your paint. Let's just say my applesauce jar is now covered in colored hemp :)

Share your paint tips in the comments below!

Eating Healthy is Key

Eating Healthy should always be a priority, but when the days get busy that is not always the case. Luckily I have Jake here to keep me in line. 

Cheese, Crackers and Apples. Yummo!

what makes YOU healthy?

The Best Things in Life...

Furry Friends Frenzy! I seriously have the best little boys in the world! Apollo is such a sweetie and his brother, Pierre is just as adorable! I know I try to make my posts about things to "do", "make" or "eat" BUT I just had to share these faces with you!

Apollo!


This is my little boy- he will be 2 years old this December- I can't believe how time has flown! He was just a ball of fur when I got him! Apollo loves to dress up. Bandanas are his favorite- he puts one on and struts, yes struts around like he is king of the castle. Well, let's be honest, he owns the place. But, when he puts the bandana on he is a whole new person!












Pierre! It's hard to believe he actually fits in the sink still, but he manages to squeeze himself into the smallest of places! This is often how I find him when I wake up in the mornings... his new bed!

Apollo's friend- Kobe! Kobe is an ottoman and I say that with love. He is adorable and is exactly what you would imagine when thinking of the ottoman from Beauty and the Beast. I will try and get a better picture at Apollo's next play date!


I hope these little faces help make your Friday a little better- we are so close to the weekend!!!

Have a great day!

Expensive Art turned DIY

I think I can thank Pinterest for my desire to be more crafty and work on DIY projects. My most favorite project I have completed this far has to be my new canvass art in my living room. I have been wanting to get a big piece of art for the wall because we have tall ceilings, but everything I like is just way out of the price range. Pinterest came to the rescue and gave me a lot of inspiration:

Canvass Art- Not on the High Street

Better Homes and Gardens Canvass Art

Spunky Junky Shoebox Lid Art

I took the different ideas I found and made it my own. I went to Michaels and was able to get 7 squares of canvass 40% off and a book of scrap book paper 50% off; really in all I think my canvass art cost less than $15! Way cheaper than the $100 art you find in the store.

So, I took the blank canvass and began by painting the edges black. Then I covered the the canvass with modpodge (I absolutely love modpodge, you can do basically anything with it)! I took scrapbook paper and placed it over the modpodge covered canvass. I did a top coat of modpodge to secure the canvass and also give the art a textured, finished look. Have you made your own canvass wall art?

Voila! The finished result! I am very pleased with how it turned out! The colors and design look fabulous in our living room!

Seriously Easy Mac n Cheese Pie

If you don't know me- I love mac n cheese, like absolutely love it. I am an adult and could still eat it for every meal, dessert, snacks, etc. My college roommates used to make fun of me because I would eat so much of it. I would eat it just because; I would eat it when I was sick; I would eat it as a hangover cure. There should be an award for loving mac n cheese; I know I would win.

My mom is the best and probably should get the credit for my devotion to the dish. She always knew how to make a special plate of mac n cheese while I was growing up. My favorite were the days when it were just my mom and I- she would always surprise me with the meal!

So a few years ago, she made this new mac dish for my sister and me. We immediately fell in love; made it all through college; and, I am still making it.

Easy Mac N Cheese Pie

Ingredients

- 1 cup of uncooked elbow pasta (I am sure your favorite pasta would be just as good)

- 2 cups shredded cheese (pick your favorite- I usually use sharp cheddar, but I am sure provolone or even a Mexican blend would be delicious!)

- 1/2 cup original bisquick*

- 1 1/2 cups milk (I use 2%)

- 2 eggs

* When I made this the other day I realized I was completely out of Bisquick. I googled a quick substitute and it turned out just as good! (1 cup bisquick = 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp veg oil)

1. Heat oven to 400 degree F. Grease pie plate (as you can see from the picture, I don't have a pie plate (Christmas idea?) so, I used a 8 x 8 glass dish). Place uncooked pasta in pie plate. Sprinkle with 1 3/4 cup of the cheese.

2. Stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour over uncooked pasta into pie plate.

3. Bake 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Continue baking until the cheese is melted (~ 2min).

Yummo!

How to brighten up dull paper!

Being a recent college graduate, I am very frugal with my spending...or I try to be. I would assume all of my "quick" trips to The Limited would beg to differ.

But the point is, I try to save money where I can. One place I found to save some money was with gift wrapping. Before I go any further, I have to put a disclaimer and share that I am a bright and colorful person. I did not even own a black dress until about a week ago!

With that being said, when it comes to gift wrapping I do what I can to save a few dollars. Often I buy boring solid colored papers.

Here are a few ways to make the package "sparkle"!

- Add a bunch of ribbon
- Add a picture
- Add decorative tape
- Layer, layer, layer!
- Draw a picture
- Use newspaper, a favorite magazine or a comic

This last one is my favorite because growing up my dad would always surprise us each with one gift wrapped in newspaper. It's those little things...

Easy to Make Key Holder

Lately I have been finding a ton of DIY key holders, but either I don't have the "stuff" to make it or I don't like they way they look. All I know was throwing our keys in the basket with all of the dog's things and random junk just wasn't cutting it. Everything was cluttered and getting lost!

I was cleaning the apartment this morning and walked past this awful picture frame I had on the wall. You know, the one that comes in that huge set that you just throw on the wall to put something up. It was long, awkward and had this awful white backdrop to surround the picture. My first thought was to use some scrapbook paper and give it a new background. But then I thought, I still wouldn't like how the pictures looked so small in such a large frame... and

voila! Instant, bright key holder! I used the old frame, leftover paint I had from a different project, pushpins and wooden letters. I absolutely love it! I still plan to add a border down the two sides of the middle section. I was thinking possibly buttons- what do you think? 

Here is another image of the entire entry way. I think it adds so much, before it was just the clock and a mess of clutter on the table. I absolutely love it and it really does transform the feel when you walk up the stairs!

One of my Favorite Things

Do you still get excited when you check the mail and hope something has your name on it- something other an a bill or junk mail? 6 years ago, when I started my undergraduate years at Purdue my Grandma started writing me weekly letters. While this should have come as no surprise as she did it for my older siblings and cousins, I was still so excited when I received my first letter and the excitement has not stopped.

Now six years later, when I still go to check the mail, I get so excited anticipating that weekly letter.

As I grew older I started to understand the joy of a handwritten letter. One professor at Purdue even shared the importance a handwritten thank you was when it came to interviews. Since then, I make it a point to write letters and send cards. Sure, I still love my Facebook, email and text messages; but nothing is more exciting than opening the mailbox and seeing that someone took the time to send a thoughtful piece of mail.

Jake, the man in my life, this past year got me one of the best Valentine's gifts I have ever received. It was special for a number of reasons. One, because we don't often express our love through gifts and when he handed me my Valentine's gift, I knew it had to be special.

He knew my love for sending and receiving letters and he knew how important it was to send a put-together package. He bought me my very own stamp to seal my letters with. It is the most beautiful gift, embossed with a "K" and a silver owl on the end. I have different colors of wax to choose from, depending on the color of the envelope.

 It really is the best gift ever and all of the colors look so perfect with my paper tape. I often make some design first and then layer the stamp. I got a huge set of paper tape here.

Here is to the start of a great blog; an amazing boyfriend and many more letters to be written.