Repurposed Storage Table

I enjoy DIY projects, especially re-purposing furniture.  Here's an easy project I did on a wooden storage table.  As you can see in the photos below, this is an old wooden furniture.  My husband and I tried giving it away a few times to friends but somehow we still got stuck with it.  Now, I'm glad we weren't successful in getting rid of it, it's one of my favorite re-purposed furniture I've done so far.  With this project I used:  sand paper, black high gloss paint, black glossy spray paint, white spray paint, screwdriver, paint brushes, scrap-booking paper, and mod podge.

1.  I first unscrewed the hinges to remove the doors.  Then I lightly sanded everywhere that I was going to paint over, including the individual doors that I removed.  

2.  I painted three even coats of black.  While that sat and dried, I removed all the brass pieces on the door, including the brass hinges.  An even coat of white spray paint is laid over the brass pieces.  Once the white coat was completely dried, I went over it with the black glossy spray paint.

3.  The front of the doors had a very old look to it so I decided to cut a piece of scrapbook paper and mod podge it on.   

4.  After everything was completely dried, I screwed all pieces back to place.

5.  FINISHED!  Felt like I owned a newly bought piece of furniture!

Painting after sanding.

Before look of the doors.

Final look!!!

Foil Wrapped and Oven Baked Salmon & Asparagus

So here's a fancy looking dinner that's easy and delicious!  Here are the ingredients:

Asparagus (as many as you like)

Piece of salmon (your size preference)

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Cajun seasoning

Lemon pepper seasoning

Follow these steps:

Butter, Salt & Pepper for the asparagus.

Seasoning for the salmon.  Before prepping, preheat
oven to 350 degrees.

Lay asparagus down on a piece of foil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cut pieces of butter and spread out evenly on top of asparagus.

Lay salmon on top and season with onion powder, garlic powder,
lemon pepper, and cajun seasoning.  ***If you're a spicy eater, like my
daughter, put more cajun seasoning than the other spices.  If you're more
like me and prefer less spicy food, take it easy on the cajun
seasoning and go a little heavier on the lemon pepper for flavoring.

Fold the bottom and top of the foil over to completely
cover the salmon and asparagus.

Next, roll the foil in on both sides so it looks like this.  Place
on cookie sheet and cook in the oven for
about 30 minutes. 

Dinner is served!!!

Baby Gender Tests

So a good friend of mine is pregnant with baby number 2!!!  I'm sooooooo excited for her and her husband.  Their first born is the same age as our son and they have been buds since they were still in the womb!  I'm serious, real talk...I think they use to talk to each other when they were still in our bellies because they are really close and they don't even see each other that often.  Anyhoo, enough about those two rascals...let's talk pregnancy.  I don't know how much I believe in gender tests but I thought we would try a few out for the heck of it.  Why not, something to do and it's fun.  So the three my friend tried so far are:

1.)  The Ramzi test - Using the ultrasound photo, if the placenta is located on the left side (top or bottom), it's said to be boy.  If the placenta is located on the right side (top or bottom), it's said to be a girl.  Ask your ultrasound technician in locating the placenta.

2.)  The Chinese gender predictor - Click on the link to go to the website, enter your age at conception then the month of conception, it will calculate boy or girl for you.

and

3.)  The baking soda test - Put some baking soda in a cup and pee into the cup, if it fizzes up then it is a boy but if it doesn't fizzes then it's a girl.

Her results???  They all predicted GIRL!!!  I'm trying not to get too excited about it because we really won't know for sure until the baby is actually here...buuuuut...a girl is what they want so I'm hoping these results are right!  Regardless, they will love that baby whether it's boy or girl.  If she ends up trying out some more baby gender tests, I'll post an update and of course when the baby arrives I will post BOY OR GIRL!  Can't wait!

UPDATE*** My friend had a GIRL!!!!!  Congrats to them and these tests gave true results for her!  Comment below if you've tried some tests.  Which ones did you try, what results did you get, and were they true for you???  

Father & Son Lego Game

I'm excited about sharing this but I can't take the credit for it, this is all my husband's idea!  Our son loves Legos but he never follows building instructions.  He mixes all his Lego pieces together in a pile and just lets his imagination run wild.  During the week because of school we do not allow him to play any type of video games or watch much TV but he is allowed to play with his Legos after finishing homework.  If you dealt with Legos you know how tiring it can get constantly picking up Lego pieces and putting them away, so we let our son keep is Legos laid out on the table as long as they don't end up all over the floors.  This way he can instantly go build when he feels like it.  My husband is home during the morning hours when the kids are at school, one day he begins to put his creative mind to work and builds a car out of our son's Legos.  He leaves it on the table for our son to come home to since he leaves for work before our son gets out of school.  So, our son comes home that afternoon and discovers the Lego car, I told him, "Daddy made it and left it for you to come home to see...cool huh?".  He was so excited and had a great big smile on his face.  Later on that day when he got to play with the Legos, he built his own version of a car and left it for my husband to come home to after work!  Now it has become a 'THING' for them.  I think the coolest part about this is that they get to still play, connect, and bond through this game of theirs even with having opposite schedules and not seeing each other during the week.  This doesn't have to be just a father and son game, you could do this with anyone and make it YOUR THING you share with somebody.

Dad's Creation

Son's Creation

Fried Rice In No Time!

I am not a big cook, never have been, but I have found it enjoyable and am getting better at it (maybe).  Cooking has to be easy or else I won't bother with it, so simple recipes are ideal (though cooking can be fun, I juggle too many things everyday to sacrifice two or three hours messing around in the kitchen).  Although my husband is Spanish and I am Asian, American food gets prepared the most in our home.  After a while, we start craving foods that we grew up eating, for me that would be fried rice with Chinese sausages!!!  Here is a fried rice recipe that's very easy to follow that tastes even better than the fried rice you buy at those Chinese fast food places!  

Ingredients:

*yellow onions (chopped) *green leaf onions (chopped) *mixed vegetables *eggs (beaten)

*white rice (cooked) *Chinese sausages (chopped) *seasoning sauce/soy sauce 

~~**I did not measure anything, I just use more or less to my liking and preference.  **~~ 

1.  Heat up some cooking oil in a deep frying pan or large wok.

2.  Meanwhile, follow the directions on the bag to steam the mixed vegetables.
I like using this particular kind that I can pop in the microwave
for just a few minutes.

3.  When the oil is heated, toss in both types of onions along with the Chinese sausages. 
 I like to stir-fry the ingredients until the sausages are a little crispy but not burnt.

4.  Dump in the rice and mix it in well until the rice is coated
evenly with oil.  If the rice looks too dry, I sometimes
drizzle in a little more oil.

5.  Now give a few good splashes of seasoning sauce, this really
 adds flavor to the white rice.  Continue to mix everything together.

6.  Pour the beaten eggs over the rice mixture and stir-fry until eggs are completely cooked, no gooey spots.  At this point, you may add more seasoning sauce if it tastes too bland.

7.  Lastly, mix in the steamed vegetables.

ENJOY!!!

Lego Party

My son's birthday was on August the 10th and we had a small party for him since he was turning the big FIVE.  I didn't go all out on a theme but he does loooooove legos so I decided to incorporate that into the party a little bit for his enjoyment.  I came across marshmallow Lego head pops online and thought those would be cool to pass out to the kids at the party.  I had my daughter and nephew help me make about 20 of these.  Here are the items we worked with and how we did it:

*cake pop sticks, big marshmallows, small marshmallows, yellow candy melts, black candy melts, 
piping bags, clear treat bags

1.  First we used a little bit of yellow candy melts (melted, follow directions on bag) to work as a glue, gluing the small marshmallows to the big marshmallows and laying them out on a cookie sheet to dry.  
(I cut the small marshmallows in halves)

2.  Next we stuck the sticks into the marshmallows and coated them in the yellow candy melts (melted the rest of them in a bowl).  We found that if you roll the marshmallow heads lightly in the
candy melts it gives a better smooth coat verses dunking it in.

3.  We then stuck the coated marshmallows strategically into a cooling rack to dry.  (We also tried using mugs to stand them in to dry and found that was an easier and sturdier way to do it)

4.  Once the marshmallow heads have completely dried, I melted the black candy melts in a piping bag, cut a medium hole at the tip to draw on the smiley faces.

They were a little bit time consuming considering all the waiting time for the candy melts to dry, but this was easy to do and the kids had so much fun with them.  Also, everyone loved how they taste!

Main ingredients and supplies

Upper Left:  Small marshmallow halves stuck together with big marshmallows,
 drying on cookie sheet.
Upper Right:  Marshmallow head on stick, rolling for even coat in yellow candy melts.
Bottom:  Marshmallow heads drying on a cooling rack.

FINAL LOOK!!!
I wrapped them in clear treat bags and tied them with clear rubber bands.

Another LEGO related item I did for the party were cupcakes.  I didn't want to serve cake to avoid the cutting mess and extra plates I would have to clean up, so cupcakes are always my solution.  I bought 2lbs. of lego candy blocks on Amazon.  After baking the cupcakes and frosting them, all I did was top it off with a lego candy.  I split the rest of the candy blocks evenly into treat bags for the kids to take home and attached a thank you note to it (sorry no picture of that).  Super super easy, cute and appealing!!!  The cool thing about these candy blocks is that they actually stack together, making them so creative to use for so many things...they don't taste bad either, my kids actually love eating them.

Left:  How the lego candy blocks look like.
Right:  Strawberry cupcakes, vanilla icing, topped with colorful candy blocks.

Packing Lunches For My Family

My Children just started school this week, my son's birthday was on the first day of school and he's having a party this Sunday.  It may seem that's not so bad to deal with, but when you're a full time hairstylist that run her own salon business it can get chaotic trying to fulfill the MOM role.  Thanks to Pinterest, this mom right here has meal plans covered!!!  I have a daughter that entered the 8th grade this year and my son started kindergarten.  These two pack their lunches for school and so does my husband for work, all three of them do it Monday through Friday (I don't pack a lunch because I get to close up shop to come home for lunch, one of the perks of being the boss).  So, I went on Pinterest and searched things like 'meal plan ideas' 'lunch ideas for kids' 'meal plan organizer' and 'packing school lunches'.  I came across a weekly lunch planner and a list of school lunch ideas that I really like and am currently using.  Since I have two kids at home in two different age groups, I plan separate meals for each of them, then from that weekly lunch planner I compose my grocery list.  Doing this weekly makes it so much less overwhelming.  I use to buy as much as I can in one trip to the store thinking it saves me time and the groceries will last longer if I buy a lot of it at one time.  Well...I discovered that doesn't work well in my family.  Not only I feel like I'm spending more money, I don't really know what to buy, I randomly grab stuff to fill up the cart, it still seems like we have nothing to eat, and eventually my family gets tired of eating the same stuff over and over again.  After eating turkey sandwiches four to five days in a row they turn nauseous if I just say the word 'turkey', then any left over of it just sits there and goes bad which results in wasting money.  I only plan lunch meals for the two kids, there's plenty left from what I buy for both that my husband can take for his lunch so it works out great!     

Ideas and Free Printables From
www.livinglocurto.com