Kitchen Makeover: Update #1

So the kitchen remodel is coming along - s.l.o.w.l.y. But we have made some progress.

Here is what we have done so far:

• Joint tape and 3 coats of spackle (plus sanding) on majority of kitchen seams
• Stained and polyurethane on random cabinet added by previous homeowner that was bare wood
• Ripped off the ugly dark green tile around edge of counter top and backsplash - all I can say about that is "gross!"
• Ordered new cabinet hardware off of eBay - spent only $82.50 on all of it and we needed 46 hinges, 11 knobs and 23 pulls, so pretty good I think

Still to go on the kitchen:

• Finish spackling a few spots - like where we ripped off the tile backsplash
• Paint trim around windows and ceiling
• Prime the walls
• Paint the walls 
• Install (after priming and painting) new baseboard trim
• Attach new cabinet hardware
• Rip off old laminate on counters
• Tile counter tops and backsplash

Slow and steady wins the race!

Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I thought I would share my most delicious corned beef and cabbage recipe.

Ingredients:

• 6 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 2 - 3 lbs corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
• 12 oz. beer (can be non-alcoholic)
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• Cabbage, cut into 8 wedges

In a 4 - 6 quart crockpot, combine the carrots and onions. Rinse the corned beef under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Place into crockpot.   Pour beer into crockpot around brisket. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar with water and add to crock pot. Spread mustard on brisket and then sprinkle with contents of the seasoning packet.Cover crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove corned beef from crockpot and cover with foil to keep warm. Add cabbage wedges to vegetables and liquid in crockpot. Cover crockpot and cook on high for an additional 30 - 40 minutes or until cabbage is crisp tender.

To serve, cut corned beef across grain into thin slices. Remove veggies from crockpot with slotted spoon and serve with corned beef. 

8 servings.

(Adapted from a recipe I found here.)

Fabric Covered Lampshade

I have been wanting to make a lampshade with coordinating fabric for my daughter's room for some time now. Here is the end result:

I found the lamp at our local Goodwill for only a few dollars.The lampshade was on hand from an old lamp. The fabric is leftover from making the bedding for her crib. I did end up having to buy some ribbon to finish off the edges for this project.

Using the lampshade as a template, make a pattern for the fabric. I used a piece of tissue paper for my pattern piece. Make sure to go very slowly for this step. (I actually had to do this step three times before I got it just right.) Start at the seam on the top of the lampshade. Using a pencil, trace along the edge of the shade onto your paper as you slowly roll the shade along. Stop tracing when you get to the seam edge again. Do the same for the bottom edge, starting by lining up the seam with where you started for the top edge.

Cut out your paper pattern and do a test fit to be sure it will fit properly. Pin the pattern to your fabric and cut leaving about 1/2 to 1 inch border of fabric around the pattern. This will be used to wrap around the top, bottom, and seamed edges.

Once your fabric is cut turn under one of the side edges and hot glue in place to form a finished edge. (Admittedly I did not do this and it doesn't look as finished as I would like, but live and learn, right?)  Spray a coat of spray adhesive over the entire lampshade. I used the Krylon brand. I do this step outside so I don't have sticky spray adhesive all over my house! Working slowly starting with the unfinished edge, wrap your fabric around the shade, smoothing as you go.

Hot glue the raw edges under the shade. I trimmed the excess fabric at this point as well.

Now I had to figure out a way to finish off that ugly raw edge on the inside. I got some red ribbon and hot glued it all around the edge. I tried to turn the edge under to cover up the raw edge, but in the end I ripped it off because I could not get it to fold under nicely because of the shape of the shade.

So, I decided to make a "ruffle" edge around the bottom of the shade instead. I glued about an inch of ribbon at a time. After gluing the ribbon directly to the shade, I used a small dot of hot glue on the outside top edge of the ribbon.

(Please excuse my countertop in this picture - we are remodeling the kitchen)

I folded the ribbon over and held it in place for a second to form the "ruffle".

Then glue another inch long section to the shade and make another ruffle edge, repeating around the entire bottom edge. To finish it off, I folded the ribbon over to create a finished edge and hot glued it in place. I still had the ugly raw edges to deal with inside the lampshade. I very carefully hot glued a coordinating green ribbon to cover the edge on the bottom. It is a little wrinkly, but who is really looking in there anyways?

I hot glued a smaller red ribbon aournd the top edge.

Here is the finished lamp and shade:

Linked up here:

So You Think You're Crafty - Party #8
The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday