Sweet Tooth Sunday!

For those of you who do not know me yet, I love two things in the morning - Starbucks coffee and a sweet treat!  So, today I am sharing my own semi-homemade recipe for triple chocolate muffins!  When I make these, they barely make it through the morning, as my family loves them too!

Triple Chocolate Muffins:

Ingredients:  Chocolate Muffin Mix, Hershey's Chocolate Syrup and Nestle Mini Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven as directed on muffin mix and either spray pan with Pam or use cupcake liners.
2. Grab a box of your favorite chocolate muffin mix.  I use one from Aldi.  Add ingredients as the mix requires.  Then add 1/4C Hershey;s Chocolate Syrup and 1/2 to 3/4 of the package of Nestle Mini Semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Mix together well - by hand.   
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and sprinkle on a few of the reserved chips.
4. Bake according to box directions.  They may take a little longer with the addition of the syrup.
5. Enjoy!  If you want to be "fancy", once they have cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar and present them on a cake pedestal. 

OMG - where has summer gone???

OMG, that is what my daughter and her friends say and text all the time and that is how I feel about this summer.  It has been a whirlwind to say the least.  That excuse aside, I have the promised images of my daughter's new bedroom.  Picking a paint color was probably the most challenging part however, she finally settled on "Butter".  We purchased the paint at Lowe's and though it was an Olympic color, I had Lowe's color match and used their paint and primer in one as the room was RED to start.  It still took 2 coats of paint, but I am very pleased with the result and more importantly, my daughter LOVES it! :)  So here are the before and after images as promised:

BEFORE:

My husband's dark red and sad office.  To be fair, he had already begun to pack it up.  So, it is sadder than usual.

AFTER:

I cannot believe how much better the room looks in "butter".

Here is the bed with some t-shirt sheets I had purchased on clearance at Target - love them!  I have placed the bed on the floor for now as I have not found a bed frame I love that I can afford. 

This "vintage" furniture was my husband's aunt's.  She gave it to my daughter and it looks too perfect in this room.

Here is the desk.

OK, now for the bedding - I had the two black pillows.  The others, along with the bed set, I purchased at a garage sale for $7!!!

I had these three angel wall art boxes from a purchase years ago at one of my favorite shops - MOXIE!  For those of you who are not nearby, please visit her website: www.shopatmoxie.com   The lamp, another clearance item at Target.

The details keep coming.  I have a HUGE shelving unit in my basement that holds all sorts of decorating "props".  I like to cycle things in and out.  I made the framed art work from calendar images, toile gift wrap tissue and some inexpensive frames.

 

Some more goodies to finish the job!  The tissue box holder and metal lantern I purchased at the garage sale too - another $3 for those items.  I put my daughter plug in night light in the lantern and now it adds a lovely lace pattern to the ceiling at nighttime.  The two fashion wall art pieces were in storage and had been purchased at TJ Maxx - love them too!

Vacation Week

Hello All -

Today is Day Two of my home vacation.  I took the week hoping to get a lot of started projects completed.  I think I have taken on more than I can chew -- shocking.  Yesterday, my intention was to paint my hallway from it's 5 year stint in "builder's white" to Martha Stewart's Sea Urchin Green.  However, as small as it is, I only completed about half.  I had not planned for the all day off and on taxi cab services for my children.  Not that I mind, it takes me back to my younger days when having fun was getting together with friends at the pool or hanging out in the park just chatting.  Additionally, we had a sleep over last night!  It always amazes me how late young people can stay up when I feel like going to bed by 7:30 - so sad!  However, I have been up since five this morning and besides the dog, cat, and a BIG cup of Starbucks to keep me company, there are only the soft murmurs of deep sleep.  :) Enough said, today, I am going to finish my hallway and then start the daunting task of turning my husband;s office/music/record storage room (Yes, I said records.  For those of you who are really young, they came before, MP3 players, CDs, and tapes.  Moreover, you play them (Well, my husband does.), not just make cool modern art with them.  I will post pictures later today.  My daughter would like a Bohemian themed room which fits her to a tee.  She, I am proud to say, has the "disease" too - a creative soul with lots of inner inspiration.  So, look for pictures in the days to come as we move forward on all our projects as well as a few tutorials too!

Welcome!

Well, here I go!  Like many of my predecessors, I never thought I would start a blog, but here I am.  As a mother of two (11 and 14), a wife of 18 amazing years, and administrative assistant by day, I look forward to my time as an artiste by night and weekend!  I have been inspired by the millions of you whose blogs I have visited and of course the queen of all that is good and creative - Aunt Martha (a.k.a) Martha Stewart).  No, she is not really my aunt, but I have turned to her many a time for advice, basically I ask myself, "What would Aunt Martha do?"  This has gotten me through a harrowing Thanksgiving dinner or two, revitalizing a historic Victorian home, as well as provided me with courage when my charming - albeit wrong - husband told me, "You can't paint paneling!"  Of course when he left for work the next day, I did just that.  And, as far as I know, it remains painted with the perfect shade of Martha Stewart's own paint, "Lambs Ear".  So, I look forward to this newest adventure in my life and those with whom I am lucky enough to share it!

Best Regards - Jennifer