Bedroom Wall - Finally Bare No More!

I finally took the plunge and did something with the wall above our bed! I've been looking for some kind of headboard or wall art ever since we moved in, but I really didn't want to spend a ton of money. (Story of our lives!) After painting the striped canvases for our living room, I knew I didn't want to buy more canvases because they are quite pricey. When I stumbled upon this wall art using vinyl and moulding from Ooh Baby Designs, I knew it was meant to be on our wall! I feel like this is really my decorating style - simple.

I've always had trouble with vinyl decorations because I feel like they're so cheesy. I tend to dislike all the cliché sayings. But I really wanted this wall art, and so I found the most acceptable one at Bed Bath & Beyond and just went with it. I found these thin pieces of wood moulding at Michaels and painted them blue with leftover paint from our striped canvases. I can't believe I waited over a year for this 20-ish minute project!

I always read other bloggers' posts and think about how everyone is such a expert on the things they blog about. Will I ever be this way? Will I tell random stories about my life all while showing off gorgeous pictures of my food? Will I try out a million recipes and learn the chemistry behind baking just so I can create the perfect cookie recipe? The answer is...maybe? But for now at least, I still consider myself a very non-expert in everything on this blog. Case in point: How hard should it be to nail in 4 pieces of straight wood for a frame? And yet, there's a hole in my rectangle here. Next time, self, attach the 4 pieces into a triangle before nailing them to the wall! I guess for now I'll still be learning as I try out each new project on this blog. :)

Chipotle Dinner - Success!

I've only been to Chipotle once, but holy cow is it delicious! It's one of my husband's favorite places and we don't have one super cloase, so I've been wanting to make it for dinner forever. I'm always hesitant to buy ingredients that are outside my comfort zone, so it takes me a long time to build up the courage to try a new recipe!

I used the recipes from ChipotleFan.com, specifically the corn salsa (didn't use poblano chilis, and just used green jalapenos) and steak marinade. My husband doesn't actually like Chipotle in burrito form (he's crazy!) so we just had the steak and corn salsa, and paired them with cilantro lime rice and pinto beans. I've made various forms of these foods before, but I've never used pinto beans before- and I think they really made this taste just like Chipotle! I'm not a bean lover, but I think I'm warming up to them for some dishes at least.

The corn salsa and rice were absolutely perfect. The steak was overcooked, but of course that's my fault...and a fault that I can't seem to overcome! I cooked it on our George Foreman grill, and I only cooked it for about 4 minutes, but that was still too long! Next time, I'll be sure to watch the steak closely so we can have it nice and tender. Overall, we loved this, and next time I'm breaking out the tortillas for sure. :)

S'mores Bars

How in the world have I not blogged about these bars? They were so delicious- and I don't even like s'mores very much. We went camping with our friends last month, and the week before we went, we had them over for a planning night. Really we just played games and ate delicious food like usual, but we spent a little time planning the supplies and food for our trip. 

The camping trip turned out incredibly fun, even though it was rainy and chilly the whole time and we mostly just sat in the tent playing even more games, and eating even more food. Can you tell what we like to do? We roasted a few s'mores over the campfire, but I still think these bars are the best s'mores treat I've ever had. They even have cookie dough- so how could they not be amazing?

The recipe is from Amandeleine, and I don't even know what else to say about them. They're crunchy, gooey, deliciously chocolatey s'mores bars! These were amazing, and since I rarely ever make a dessert twice, next time I'm craving s'mores I think I'll definitely go for some Reese's peanut butter cup s'mores from The Recipe Critic or night owl s'mores treats from Real Mom Kitchen. So many wonderful desserts to try!

Super Easy Pillows

Our apartment finally feels a little more like a home: it has pillows! These pillows have been a long time in the making (I've had the fabric since January!) and I can't believe I waited this long to make them. They were so easy! I bought this fabric a long time ago, and I have avoided getting pillow forms because they can be so expensive. But I finally found myself itching to be crafty, and so I ventured out with my coupons to JoAnn's - and found them to be 50% off anyway! I love it when the exact thing I need is 50% off - it's like telling me it's my destiny to do this craft.

So once I finally acquired all the necessary supplies, these pillows took all of a half hour to make. Why did I wait so long? I followed this super easy tutorial from The Happy Housie (did you know I have the exact same bird fabric? I finally did something with it too- post coming soon!) and I couldn't be happier. I measured a billion times and cut once, sewed some (reasonably) straight lines, and now we have wonderful pillows! The two fabrics clash a little (probably a lot, actually), but I really like them both, so they'll do for at least a while. 

Unfortunately, my dear husband does not feel the same way about pillows that I do (I feel like they are the best addition to our decor we've ever made, so I suppose it's hoping too much for him to feel the exact same way...). Apparently three pillows on one couch and only one on the other feels so lopsided to him that it's driving him crazy. But that's what wives are for, right? Also, rule #1 about these pillows is that you can smash them, throw them on the floor, use them as foot rests, and anything else. Because pillows that need gentleness and tender care wouldn't last a second in our house. So they will never look perfectly fluffed, but I still love them!