Aug 23

I Heart Spray Paint

So yesterday I got adventurous with Spray Paint, and I’m hooked. I’m now looking around the house for more items that need a punch of color. I’m pretty sure that by wintertime every wooden surface in my house is going to be painted.

If you look in the background there is a little brown chair. This is one of the chairs from the kitchen, and it could use a little something.

The kitchen chair got several coats of Hot Pink Watermelon Spray Paint, and looks so cute! I’m now thinking of painting the mis-matched kitchen set in bright pop art colors.

I have a small Wicker Chair on the front porch and every season I try to paint it a different color.

I have painted it Dark Blue, Wine, and most recently Aqua. With Fall approaching I thought it would be appropriate to paint it Orange.

The orange paint looks great, and I think the kitty looks adorable hanging out on it too. I moved the chair back to the front porch, and now I can’t wait to decorate for Halloween.

On to the last project. My mom gave me her antique Printer Press drawer, and I have never known what to do with it.

When we were kids the drawer hung in our den and was home to many miniatures. I think that with a little pink paint and maybe a little decoupage it would make an awesome jewelry holder.

Painting with the Spray Paint was so much fun, but my arm is a little sore today. I think it took me about 2 hours to finish all three pieces, but I love how they turned out. Watch out furniture, Nico has a new hobby.

Aug 22

Nico + Spray Paint

Nico+ Spray Paint = Watch Out Furniture!

Or maybe it should be Nico+ Spray Paint= One Brave Hubby! I visited my hubby at work today, and I came home with One Can of Primer, One Drop Cloth, and 2 cans of Pink and Orange Spray Paint. I was planning on painting one chair pink, one orange, and I have a printer’s drawer that will be painted pink too. We’ll see how this project goes, wish me luck, and I hope I can resist the urge to paint the fence bright pink!

Aug 22

Nature Walks

We are going on a Nature Walk

When the weather is just right, I take the boys for a Nature Walk. It is a little walk around town, and Thade carries along a tote to pick up cool nature finds. I’ve found that a drink carrier from Sonic is the perfect size for all of his treasures, and it holds up to all of the rocks that Thade picks up too.

We stop to count the birds on a roof top, and Thade is thrilled when he finds a feather.

On this nature walk we were looking for leaves and feathers. I was planning on pressing leaves for a leaf book, and I think Thade found plenty.

The nature walk is a great way to get the kids out to enjoy some fresh air. It is also a great opportunity for Thade to learn his way around town. He is starting to recognize street signs, and he is getting pretty good at directions.

I can’t wait for all of the leaves to start changing so we can enjoy Fall Nature Walks too.

Aug 21

Yahoo for Backpacks!

Thade has his first backpack! All week he has been practicing zipping and unzipping the backpack, and putting it on and running around the house. We’ll soon start packing his first backpack with all of his school items, as school is just 13 days away.

How I adore backpacks. I  had my very favorite backpack in High School, and I took it everywhere. It was a simple solid color, that I found at Office Max, and I decorated it with my favorite patches and pins. My backpack was obsessively organized, half for schoolwork, and half filled with my gear for shows. I even carried my beloved backpack to my second job. I was commuting twice daily, so I needed work items and after work items, and my backpack followed along.  I haven’t seen my backpack since our second move, so I have no idea where it is today, but seeing Thade’s first backpack brings back happy memories of mine.

What about you, did you have a favorite backpack when you were in school?

Aug 20

New Recipes with Nico: Crab Rangoon

I have been wanting to add Crab Rangoon to our dinner menu for quite awhile. I searched and searched for an easy recipe to try and I found a great one for Crab Rangoon that I modified just a bit.

Gather all of your ingredients, and get ready to go. First I drained the crab meat and picked through it to check for any missed shells.

Don’t forget to drain the juice into a bowl for your kitchen helper kitty, he’ll appreciate it…

I combined the Softened Cream Cheese,a few healthy dashes of Garlic Salt, and Crab Meat together. I set up an assembly line to start folding the Crab Rangoon.

Here comes the fun part… Fill the Wanton wrappers with a tiny bit of filling, about a teaspoon. Brush the edges with egg, and fold over, try to get all of the air out as you fold. I’ve kept mine in a Gladware container, with waxed paper between the layers. Let the Crab Rangoon chill in the fridge before they are ready to be fried.


Once your oil is nice and warm its time to fry the Crab Rangoon in small batches. Make sure and turn them over once or twice so they fry to a nice golden brown. Have plenty of paper towels ready to drain the Crab Rangoon on.

I served the Crab Rangoon with Chicken Chow Mien and Coconut-Orange Candies, time to see if the guys like the meal…

This was one delicious dish, and the recipe made so many Crab Rangoon. Everyone really enjoyed this tasty side, and I’ve had a few requests to make the Crab Rangoon again. Beware though, they are so tasty you might not be able to stop yourself at just 2 or 3 Crab Rangoon.

If you give the recipe a try, let me know how it turned out.