Table Makeover: From Craiglist to Family Dinners

The 100$ table project..

I had a nice glass Asian inspired table that I had purchased right after I got married. Being a young newlywed I didn’t think ahead to realize that well kids and glass tables don’t exactly mesh.

I saw some ideas on DIY blogs on refinishing tables people found on Craigslist, so I thought what the heck. I was able to purchase a table on Craigslist for 35$ and luckily my dad has a truck and was willing to drive across town so I got it the same day.

I then realized I needed chairs I could paint and was luckily enough to find another person on Craiglist who had not only 5 chairs but a smaller table. I really just wanted the chairs but she insisted I take the whole set..so I still have a spare table in the garage which I am sure my hubby is overjoyed about lol…

We found 2 big chairs at the DI for $8.00 a piece. Love the DI but ours is really hit and miss…

First we sanded and primed the table. It is now a nice off white color instead of maple.This took so much primer so be forewarned.

We primed the chairs, with a ton of KILZ primer in the spray gun. Covering the black was important since I was going for yellow as my final color. The spray gun is SO much easier than the rollers and after a while I got used to it. The windy days here did delay me a few days and I was impatient and wanted to get done but didn’t exactly want my overspray to detail my neighbors car so I was kind and waited..

We pained two chairs a Valspar brand Yellow and two chairs a Valspar Green. I had enough left over to spray some frames for my wall but that is another project.

After that we glazed the table a bit but I didn't want a lot of glaze on my table because I am a glaze novice and was afraid it would look dirty, not exactly the look I was going for. We then sprayed the chairs and table with a lot of shellac so it would be easy to wipe clean and not easy to stain…

After airing out a few days in the backyard we brought it in, just in time as I had sold our table to a newlywed couple on Craigslist..aww the circle of life!

Total Cost:

1st Oak Table: $30.00

2 Chairs from the DI:$16.00

2nd Table and Chairs from Craigslist: $30.00

Paint: Around $25.00 as we had primer left from the Salvaged Desk.…

Time on the Weekends with a Paint Gun: Lots!

Table My Kids Can Mess with and a Place for Family Dinners: Priceless

Sharing at:

I Heart Naptime and Funky Junk Interiors and Between Naps on the Porch as well as:

Semi Homemade Oreos

I have seen this recipe in many different incantations all over the web. Being a working mom I wanted a quick recipe. No offense to those who make them from scratch with lovely Dutch processed powder and all, I envy your energy but after working all day, I want fast, easy& tasty!

So on with the recipe:

For the Cookies:

1 box of Devils Food Cake Mix

2/3 cup of vegetable oil

2 eggs

Mix just these ingredients together(ignore the back of the cake mix box). The batter will be stiff but shiny. Roll into small balls or use your cookie scoop and place on greased pan. Use the bottom of a small glass and flatten the dough balls down a bit.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 mins. (My oven is hot, so 8 minutes was enough.) When the cookies come out of the oven immediately flatten a bit with the bottom of the glass again. Let cool before frosting.

Filling:

1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened

½ cup(1 stick) of butter

2 heaping cups of powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

Beat all cream cheese, vanilla and butter together till fluffy. Add powdered sugar till well mixed.

Spread filling on top using a knife(the easy way) or use a frosting bag with tip or scoop filling into quart size Ziploc bag and snip off the corner to frost.

This makes a lot of frosting!!

Recipe Notes:

*My husband thought they were a bit too sweet so I might cut down a bit of the powdered sugar.

*Flavors or food coloring can be added to the frosting for fun or holiday theme!

*I think using a yellow cake mix may make something similar to “Golden” Oreos so give it a try!

Linking up at House of Hepworths & Tatertots and Jello & Between Naps on the Porch & TidyMom &WhipperBerry

Trash to Treasure: A Salvaged Desk Redo

Our neighborhood does a large garage sale once a year and while out walking with my husband and my son in his little red wagon I came along this beauty:

Truth be told my husband was mortified by the sight of it. It wasn't near the garage sale items, it was over by the trash. I gathered my courage and knocked on the door. A teenage boy answered and when I asked if I could have it he was surprised but said sure. I stayed to guard my find while hubby went and got the car.

Then the fun began, sanding, and scraping and sanding some more. Under the horrid red paint, was a layer of black, and then pink with flowers and lots of stickers and random saying etched in the top. Not exactly what I envisioned gracing my living room.

After a trip to Lowe’s, we had primer, paint and spray paint for the hardware. We primed withKILZ White primer(this stuff is awesome!!). We used “Bird’s Egg Blue” from Valspar(Lowe‘s Brand). It only took a quart as we used a paint sprayer for easy coverage.

To finish it off, we used Valspar Bronze spray paint for the hardware.

It looks awesome as a buffet in my dining room!

Linking up to I Heart Naptime and Tatertots and Jello and Between Naps on the Porch

Menu Plan Monday

I am new to Orgjunkie.com Menu Plan Mondays but I am not new to menu planning. This month however I started a cash only budget for my groceries. I allotted $200.00, I am not sure it is going to be enough so I hope planning our meals will help reign me in!

Sunday: French Dip in the Slow Cooker from Eatathomecooks.com, fries

Monday: Teriyaki Chicken and Noodles, from Eatathomecooks.com,

Tuesday: Bean/Cheese Burritos, Chips/ Salsa, Carrots/Ranch Dip

Wednesday: Steak Stir-fry with Steamed Rice

Thursday: Spaghetti with homemade sausage based sauce, Garlic Toast,

Friday: Pizza or Fast Food(Mom’s Night Off!)

Saturday: Breakfast for Dinner: Egg Scramble w/ Peppers, Cheese, Toast,

Caramel Brownies(aka Oooey Gooey Brownies!)

Caramel Brownies(aka Oooey Gooey Brownies!)

1 bag of Kraft Caramel Bits (These are found near the Chocolate Chips at Walmart)

1 box of Devils Food cake mix

3/4 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup evaporated milk, divided

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

In a small pot, over low heat, melt 1/3 C evaporated milk and the caramel bits.

Grease a 9 x 13 pan w/ shortening or spray with cooking spray.(I use my Corningware casserole dish and it works great!)

Mix cake mix, butter and1/3 cup of evaporated milk. It will seem thick.

Press 1/2 of the dough into bottom of pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the baked dough and spread the caramel mixture on top of that.

Sprinkle the remaining dough on top of the previous layers. It will not completely cover all of the oozing caramel.

Bake 15-18 minutes.

Let cool a bit and then enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

*I have only seen the Caramel Bits at Walmart and at Walmart Neighborhood Grocery

*I have seen this recipe suggested using German Chocolate Cake mix as well, but I never have that on hand and the Devil’s Food gives it a nice rich flavor.

*The chocolate chips really are essential, I have made this recipe without them and they are just not the same.

*Recipe from "A Taste of Heaven" Collected by the Young Women of Island Park and West Yellowstone.

Linking this up to I Heart Naptime and Tatertots and Jello....

Easter Roundup!

A lot of fun ideas to make your Easter very "hoppy!"

Silhouettes are all the rage and for those of you like me who don't have a steady hand, these outlines from Craft Jr. would like great framed as is!

Easter Silhouettes

A cute, edible basket from Making Memories with Your Kids

Edible Basket

The BunnyTails over at Eighteen25 are so cutee and quick! Perfect for a busy mom like me! How cute would they be with Pink Marshmallows or Coconut Marshmallows as well!

Bunny Tails

The cute "Chick" cupcakes at Our Best Bites are too cute to eat!

Chick Cupcakes