Master Closet Makeover

Nine years.  Yep it took us nine friggin years to finally do something about our master closet.  As I said here, we really do not know what we are doing when it comes to all things house & home DIY.  But from now on we are going to give it our best shot and here is a start.  Our master closet is not very big.  I jokingly call it a step-in closet versus a walk-in closet.  ‘Cause that’s what it is folks.  A step-in closet but step back to look over your wardrobe choices or else you will get cross-eyed from being so close.  Nope, not my dream closet at all.  I mean this is a dream closet for moi:

Photo found here

However, Mr. DP3 is my dream guy so I won’t complain too much.  hehe.

It is a good thing this post is not a tutorial because I sure am lacking lots of info and some all the before photos.  Moreover, let’s face it; I’m no one to start giving tutorials- yet.  J

You see my hubby decided to tackle this project on a weekend that I was a little sickly pooh.  Therefore, while I spent almost three days strung out on the couch with a woe-is-me look on my face, he became my hot carpenter guy. 

He knocked down the one and only shelf and took down the bars that went with it.  You know that generic three sided closet that home builders skillfully do (insert sarcasm) with the one shelf and bar underneath that run the entire length of the closet and two bars on the sides.  Very odd in my opinion because it is not a great use of space.  Our closet is a standard reach-in closet that is about 96” in length and about 25” deep (cannot remember exact measurements). 

So with those measurements my hubby designed a plan in his head and then drew it out with his finger in mid-air.  Yep, he had us standing in front of the closet while he “showed” me where the new shelf would go, the two bars for his side, the shoe rack, and then the shelf and bar for my side of the closet.  We did not even bother drawing it on paper.  We should have but it worked out well in the end.  He jotted a few measurements for the shoe rack but that was about it.  

He knocked it down then spackled (is that a word?) and sanded the wall all along the shelf line.  He then painted the entire closet an off-white color.  And here's proof that he's no pro but gave it the old college try.  It's in the closet which means it is covered and can't be seen.  yay.

Shelf evidence.

Before you see the grand finale I need you to imagine the BEFORE shot.  Come on, people, work with me.  I was too sick to remember to take photos and once I did remember it was too late.  I was kicking myself.  So the BEFORE shot had one shelf all along the length of the closet with a bar under it.  There were also two bars on each side of the closet along the depth of the closet.  The long bar intersected with the short depth bars causing a clothes traffic jam.  Then we had folded clothes on the shelf ye high.  Those clothes were like the Tower of Pisa, leaning and sometimes falling over.  Lastly, there were a couple of tote boxes and shoes all over the floor, except for the two shoe small shoe racks. 

Now we have this. Oh yeah boyeeeeee! Cue music as if the heavens were opening up and a collective high pitch Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!:



Organization!



My side of the closet.



We later realized that a shelf should
have been added here.



Hubby gets two bars. A top...



and a bottom.



Right here he plans to have some kind
of wall rack for his belts and ties.



Mr. DP3 even used the pretty, decorative brackets for me.



I wanted a nice wood color finish.
We used Minwax in Cherry #235.

There ye have it.  Our much improved master closet.  Just in case you missed it, most of my shoes are in the shoe racks.  Heehee.  Hey, I'm a girly girl and I LOVE shoes.  Hubby only has four pairs.  He preferred to have more shelves for his shirts and I for my shoes.  So far it's working out great.  We just need to make a few minor additions.  All in all this closet makeover cost us just under $200.  That price includes the paint, wood, stain,  polyurethane, and all the other supplies.  The tools we already owned: radial arm saw, table saw, drill, dado blade (huh?).  So what do ya think?  Not bad for a couple beginners.  Oh wait.  I was sick.  I mean not bad for one determined husband that is quickly becoming a carpentry fan.  It's in his blood.  His grandpa is a genius at all things carpentry. Go Honey!



Look at him.  Shy and proud.  :)



Half Eaten Strawberries

I last told y'all that my girl and I made chocolate dipped strawberries.  I really enjoyed that time and we both dipped our fingers in the bowl once all the strawberries were dipped.  Of course we ate a few of them each day.  It was heaven and we munched on them like no body's business.  Although she ate hers a certain way.  I had taken a few out of the fridge for us to snack on and before I knew it they looked like this:

Before I could turn around and see what she was talking about I heard her say over and over, "Okay, I'm finish with dat one."  She was only interested in the bottom halves of the strawberries.  The halves dipped in chocolate.  So she left these for me to finish.  And then wanted more.  Tots do the cutest things!

Later this week I will be making Upside Down Pineapple Cupcakes.  I am a little stressed because it's for my husband's Popo's birthday and I was asked to bake a cake. 
Flattered?  Yes. 
Accepted? Yes.
Going to bake something I've never tackled?  Like a fool... yes.

{Confession: I love to bake but I am going to attempt these puppies for the first time.  I've never even made the cake version. Practicing first would have been too easy.  I.am.a.dork.}

If all goes well then I will definitely share that experience and I am surprisingly confident. Stay tuned.  :)

Just the Two of Us

As I said in my previous post, my boy went to go spend a week with Grandma.  Little sister stayed with Mr. DP3 & me and she is missing her big "brudder" muy, muy bad.  She adores him and always wants to be with him.  Needless to say, she is asking about him every.chance.she.gets.  It is cute and heartbreaking at the same time. 

Therefore, I thought I would distract and cheer her up a bit.  Strawberries are her fave.  Chocolate dipped strawberries are mine.  Aha!  The perfect mother-daughter bonding time.  I went to the store and bought a container of organic strawberries and some Baker's white chocolate.  I have only made these once before and they turned out okay.  Coulda been better.  Probably because I used chocolate chips and added some butter like the not-that-great-recipe I came across said to do so.  This time I did more research and got some great tips from one of my very favorite cooking websites: Allrecipes.

We got down to bidness right after dinner.  No wait, we were watching So You Think You Can Dance and were doing our own leaps, rond de jambes, attitudes, jazz hands, high kicks, and step-ball-changes.  She even struck a pose at the end of every song.  My girl is a natural dancer and that tickles me pink.  She is such a 5-6-7-8! girl.  Love it. 

{Confession: I claim to have once been a dancer and dog-gone don't I wish I would have given it a real chance}

After we finished our routines, we got down to strawberry bidness.  I rinsed the strawberries and dried them with paper towels over and over.  It is best to get them as dry as possible.  We then inserted toothpicks in each one for dipping purposes.

I then did the double boiler thing.  At first, I only put half the box of white chocolate but quickly realized I was going to need the whole box.  I stirred and turned the flame off when a little more than half had melted.  I kept stirring until it all melted and incorporated together.


It's hard to tell here but I do have a glass
bowl over a simmering pot of water.

Then the fun part began.  I dipped a couple of strawberries while my girl anxiously watched and waited for her turn.  Once I gave her the go ahead, she started dipping left and right.  She was really enjoying it and kept saying how pretty they looked.  Actually, she kinda took over and did the majority of them herself.  I ended up being assistant and adjusted toothpicks here and there.  I was happy to have cheered her up and she seemed very proud of herself.

She even told Mr. DP3 that she "made chrawberries with chaclit white and Mama too!"  Adorbs.



Her chrawberries with chaclit white.  :)

 Mission accomplished!  Or so I thought.  Little Sister asked for her brudder at bath time and bedtime.  Oh brother.

Peachy. Just Peachy.

It's the middle of summer here in Texas and that means that peaches are in season.  So the family and I went on a road trip to pick buy some.  Nope, we did not drive all the way to Georgia.  We proud Texans get our peaches from the Texas Hill Country.  Stonewall, Texas was our destination.  A very little itty bitty town just before Fredericksburg (also known for peaches).  My MIL (mother-in-law) lives there and she wanted her favorite grandson to spend a week with her.  So we offered to drop our boy off so we could make a couple of peach pit stops.  Get it?  Heehee. 

Our first stop was at Vogel's Orchard.

There I bought a box of peaches that had just been picked that morning.  I was told to let them sit out on my counter for a couple of days before eating.  Lemme tell you.  The smell in my kitchen is wonderful.  I just love coming home after work and sniffing up that delicious scent.  And I followed the kind lady's instructions.  I ate my first peach two days later and it was soooooo good. So, so good and sa-weet!
Just look at the beautiful peaches they had that day.

Our second stop was at Burg's Corner.  We spent more time here because they had so many goodies in their store and some delish samples.  They seem to have it all here such as various jams, sauces, salsas, dressings, cider, pickled items, nuts, bread, homemade ice creams, fruits and vegetables.  Here we bought a box of small peaches for $3 that were on the bargain shelf.  I was told they were "bargain" because they were ready to be eaten asap.  No prob for me and sold!  Anywho, here are some pics of what they have in their store besides peaches:



Jalapeño Stuffed Olives.  Oooh, fancy smanchy.



Peach Pecan Amaretto. One of the jams I sampled.
Oh-m-gee.  Loved it. Bought it.



My hubby grabbed one of these.
Raspberry Peach Chipotle Glaze.
He's gonna smother some pork ribs with this baby.
Mmmmmm....





A recipe book for all things peach.



So that was our little day trip.  From Austin to Stonewall and back.  It was a good day.  We are eating peaches everyday and I even made some smoothies out of them.  I'm going to attempt to make a peach cobbler.  A dessert I've never made.  I love to bake but this one makes me nervous.  Let's see how it goes.  Maybe I'll keep you posted.  :)

Ta-ta!

A Texas Staycation

Well just when I was getting my blog going I come to a new halt.  Ya see I went on vacation and I really thought that since I was going to be on vacay I would have more time to put a few posts together.  Not!  It was a fun, busy yet relaxing time out.  The few times I thought I was going to blog I'd get as far as turning on the computer and that was about it.  I got lazy and instead decided to catch up on all my trash t.v. thanks to the 'ol DVR. But take a look at our little staycation!

Mr. DP3 and I took the kids to Sea World for a couple of days.  Although it was hot like the sun-was-leaning-on-you-hot it was still enjoyable and the kids had a blast.  It was my girl's first time and she absolutely fell in love with the dolphins.  Shamu was cool too but it was the dolphins that captivated her.  Yet she was afraid to feed them or pet them.  Big brother had to assume that duty.  The pretty dolphy even posed for me:

While in San Antonio we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa and it was fancy-smanchy-lovely.  There were s'mores to be had every evening at the fire pit and then at dusk it was family movie night.  It felt so good to lay out on the lawn underneath the Texas night sky and watch a flick with the family. 

Here I am enjoying the pool.  Ahhhhh!

Just before leaving S.A. back to Austin we had to make a lunch stop at one of my hubby's favorite San Antonio eateries- Chacho's.  He LOVES that place.  It is yummy yet a bit too much for my tummy.  Just take a look at my torta (Mexican sandwich). 

For Big Bertha's sake!  Who can eat all that?  I only managed to eat half and saved the rest for din-din.

Anywho, that is a recap of our little staycation from Austin to San Antone and back.  A fun little getaway deep in the heart of Texas.  :)