If I Had A Garage...Oh the Possibilities!

Pinterest has open my eyes to the tremendous possibilities in everything. There are so many ideas about crafts and DIY projects that I make up excuses and create events to give myself the opportunity to be creative. I'm not alone on this, right? I'm on the hunt now for a few big ticket items on a small budget. I've been scouring thrift stores, second hand shops and consignment stores and hoping to find things cheap that may need a little love. Here's the problem, I don't have anywhere to do these projects!!! I live in a condo and have no garage to create amazing pieces of furniture from someone's throw-aways. Check out this piece from a local blogger, Lauren, over at Baylor Says.

She turned this FREE chaise into

Fabulous isn't it? She was able to take off the old fabric and paint the frame herself in her garage. If I were given this chaise it would still be in it's original skin and I would be dieing to rip it apart.

Here are some other projects I would do if I had a garage to do them in.

Reupholster chairs I got for $10

littlemisspennywenny.blogspot.com

Why buy a new dining table when you can refinish and old one? Or if you're tired of your current one, paint it a bold color!

littlemisspennywenny.blogspot.com

Make my own headboard. Do you know how expensive these can get!!! The first one is made from an old door. Whaaat!

go.tipjunkie.com

meedandpea.blogspot.com

You've seen these before. If you're on a budget, but it reminds you of grandma's house, paint and put some new hardware on it!

beforemeetsafterblog.com

Chevron is all the rage now, so these rugs cost a pretty penny. But you can paint your own for a fraction of the cost.

hayleyphotography.blogspot.com

Is there anyone kind enough to let me use their garage?

My First Quiche

A few months ago a joined the MOPS group at my church, Christ Fellowship. It's a great place to meet other moms and it was good for helping me get through PPD. Every week a few tables are assigned to bring in food for everyone else. A couple of weeks ago my table had to bring in hot food. To be honest I was absolutely stumped and not thrilled about bringing in hot food. A fruit salad is much easier. I got this crazy idea to make a quiche. I had never made one before, so I did some research. I found the easiest recipe I could get and prayed it turned out good. It was a success! I thought I would share. Take a look at this easy bacon and cheese quiche. 

Ingredients

• 1 (3 ounce) can bacon bits
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 5 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
• 3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (9 inch) deep dish frozen pie crust
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix the bacon, onions, and both cheeses. Place this mixture in the unthawed pie crust.
3. Mix the eggs and half and half in a bowl. Pour the egg mixture over the cheese mixture.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 35 minutes, until top of quiche begins to turn brown.

There are some things I changed from the original recipe after reading many of the comments and deciding if it would really taste good or make a difference in the recipe.
1. When I saw bacon bits I thought "You gotta be kidding me. That can't be good". But I read that Oscar Meyers makes bacon bits that are real bacon. It's right next to the bacon bits. Awesome!
2. I changed up the cheese as well and used a bag of Sargento Parm & Romano cheese. But you can really put whatever cheese you want to.
3. I used a frozen pie crust by Pillsbury. The recipe says to use an unthawed crust, but mine was thawed as per the instructions on crust package. It came out delish! And 2 came in the same pack to make _______!
4. I don't know what lightly beaten eggs are, but mine where beaten until mixed well together.

Something I didn't change was the temperature and cooking times. They were spot on and the quiche came out perfect.

And Presto!

Yes, I had my arms inside a 350 degree oven.

It's so easy and simple to make for brunch, MOPS, or office meetings. My grandmother was over that week and she told me she made a quiche many years ago and it took forever to make. Probably why she never made it again. She loved this quiche as well and was surprised by how easy it was to make.

Since I love messing around with recipes so much, I think I may try sun dried tomatoes and sausage next time. Yum! Happy cooking!

My New World of Fabrics...Exciting!

When I was in high school my amazing art teacher taught us how to make quilts by hand. It was very simple and once I started I couldn't stop. I started with a very small 2'x2' quilt and graduated to a queen sized quilt. I continued making them all through high school. My last one was for my grandmother who lives in Puerto Rico. I made one of the Puerto Rican flag, my biggest and most complicated to date. I had to make a sketch on grid paper to make sure I got it right. I haven't fiddled with fabric since, until I got a hold of these cane back chairs at my local Goodwill!

I know they don't look like much now, but wait until I reupholster them in something amazing! Some inspiration pics for what could these chairs become. 

littlemisspennywenny.blogspot.com

caitlinwilsondesign.blogspot.com

etsy.com

gorgeousshinythings.blogspot.com

So many possibilities! I don't think I will be painting mine, but I could be swayed. I've been so into fabric the last couple days as noted by my new Pinterest board. A blogger a keep up with, Lauren over at Baylor Says, suggested that I visit Fabric.com and HawthorneFabrics.com. Both are great suggestions and so began my hunt for my chairs. I haven't chosen one, but I do sense a color I'm going for.

Love them all, but I can't have them all! I know I want something with color and boldness. Both are lacking in my home. The first one reminds me of my dining room inspiration pic.

Cozamia.com

See the peacock feathered chairs? Love it!! Who would've thought my work with fabrics would evolve into reupholstering furniture? I'll keep you posted!

Florida Keys + No Kids = VACATION!!!

A few weeks ago Juan and I went on vacation without the girls. I love my girls, but I needed a break. We decided to stay somewhat local and take a trip to the Keys. It was beautiful! It's so different from the rest of Florida. Here's what the view was like from our room.

Gorgeous isn't it? It reminds me of the beaches in Puerto Rico I visited when I was a girl. Crystal clear waters and white sandy beaches. I plan on framing this picture. We stayed in Islamorada, FL about 3 hours from Key West. It was weird not having anything to do. No bottles, diapers or screaming. It was amazing! And I didn;t want it to end. There were moments when I missed the girls, but I knew they were safe and I needed time away from them. The girls stayed with very loving and very brave family members who took awesome care of the girls. Thanks again for giving us peace of mind while we were away!

It's been a long while since my hubby and I got away just ourselves.

We look pretty different without kids hanging off of us! LOL And talk about God's glory shining down on me. I miss the days when it was just Juan and I. We used to spend a lot of time together hanging out and talking. Our lives and lifestyle changed tremendously with the girls. Are marriage isn't in shambles, we just don't have all the time in the world anymore. So, little getaways like this are imperative to our relationship. And taking time out to experience God's amazing creation is priceless.

The Florida Keys have the most amazing sunsets. I was told this is why people come to visit. There's nothing like standing out on a dock and watching the sun move ever so slowly until it's swallowed up by the ocean. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to say there isn't a God when you experience such beauty as this.

Hubby and I did make a trip down to Key West to do some water sports. We got on jet skies, kayaks and the banana boat. It was my first time on a jet ski and it was so much fun!!! I loved every minute of it. We walked around for a bit and had dinner at this amazing Cuban restaurant called El Siboney. We wanted to go to a place the wasn't overrun with tourists and high prices. It was a long walk there, buy well worth it. Finally, we couldn't leave without taking a pic at Mile Marker Zero. We did drive all the way there didn't we?

We had a great time on vacation, but, as usual, it wasn't long enough. I was already planning our next trip, he's been wanting to go up to Chicago. We were excited to see the girls again and happy to have them in our arms. I'm excited for the time we can take them on vacation with us to experience life outside our country. But until then, they will stay with loving and brave family members :)

Where have you been lately?

My Little Table Project

Hello there! Did you miss me? Well I'll have to update you on what's been going on at the Hernandez household. But first I want to tell you about my project! So proud, I am!

I've been on this slightly obsessive path that's all about my house. I cannot stop looking at furniture, fabrics or thrift stores. So I've decided that little by little I'm going to turn my house into a home. Instead of nit-picking it to death, I'm going to do something about it. And since I'm on a budget like everyone else, I'm looking for high impact at the lowest possible price. My first piece of furniture I found next to my dumpster.

 

When I saw that it was a drop leaf table I snatched it up the second I put the girls in the house.

I started by filling in some cracks and scratches it had. It was pretty beat up.

Then I rented a palm sander and got to work. No pic of me sanding, but know that it took about 5 sheets of sand paper. Then it sat on my balcony for 3 months. LOL I wasn't motivated to finish it because I didn't know the amount of work that would be needed. My original idea was to sand it all down (2 coats of paint and varnish) and re-stain it to bring it back to its former glory. It wasn't happening. Let's just say I have a new found respect for people who restore old furniture. Then I got the idea to just paint it and TADA!

Yea I'm definitely not good at staging it to look pretty, but It's finally finished. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot, but I can work wit it. I think I might change it a little bit, but for now I'm just glad it's done and off my balcony. It's new home will be the guest bedroom/office. A you can see in the picture, we have new floors (YAY!) and the walls still need to be painted. Can't get much done during the girls nap time. Not bad for my first furniture project if I do say so myself lol. I have another project in the works right now. Tell you all about it when I'm done. Any projects you're working on?