DIY: How We Repainted Our Old House Shutters

Newly Painted Shutters

We moved into our new (old) house back in January of 2013 and have been remodeling it from top to bottom. Seriously, we have yanked out all of the carpeting and replaced it with new ones. We yanked out the old wood flooring and replaced that too!

All rooms in the house got a fresh coat of paint! The kitchen got new appliances, new kitchen cabinets, new countertops and a new tile floor. The only thing left to do in our kitchen is to replace the main kitchen light and hand some pendant lighting above the kitchen bar.

We have really been tearing apart the inside of this house, gutting it and remodeling it. The previous home owners didn't update it or modernize it over the years at all.

Old Disgusting Shutters

The photo above shows the ugly old and faded window shutters...ewwww!

In a few months we are getting our ugly white siding painted but in the meantime we wanted to paint our ugly and faded pale blue shutters. We headed out to Lowe's and purchased 8 spray cans of exterior outdoor paint with primer in a pretty dark country blue color.

Once we got home, we pulled down all of our shutters and just laid them out onto the lawn. We painted each one using this colored paint with primer and each shutter took about 5 minutes to spray. We then left them dry in the warm sunshine for 8 hours and hung them back up.

The eight spray cans we purchased did all 20 shutters that we had. Our shutters are made out of a heavy duty plastic and were 15 years old. Due to the sun and weather elements, over those 15 years they became dull and faded. We hated them....until we sprayed them dark country blue. Wow, what a difference they have made to the exterior of our home!

The entire project took us only one day (both hubby and I worked on it) and it was done! Total cost $48.00 to paint them all! When buying your spray paint...you MUST buy exterior paint with the primer in it. If you don't...the paint can and will run when water hits it.

I probably won't stick with the country blue shutters in the long-run because our new house siding will be a sandy color (beachy color) and our woodwork trim will be done in white. Once the exterior gets painted, we are going to buy new shutters and go with white ones or a dark olive green...not sure yet! However, we are very pleased with spending the $48.00 now and updating the shutters. It looks nice and will hold us over until we get the new siding done.

Hershey's Caramel Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

I was at the grocery store the other day and picked up a bag of Hershey's milk chocolate kiss with caramel filling which I absolutely LOVE! When I got home I noticed on the back of the bag a recipe for Hershey's Caramel Thumbprint Cookies. I decided to make a batch of the cookies using their recipe below.

Caramel Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

66 Hershey's Kisses milk chocolates with caramel (unwrapped)
1 family size box of brownie mix with pouch of syrup
1/4 cup Hershey's cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 cup ground pecans (optional)
2 teaspoons milk

* note: we omitted the optional ground pecans

Remove wrappers from the Hershey's kisses and set them aside. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. In a bowl beat together the brownie mix, pouch of syrup, cocoa, eggs, oil and water until well blended. Cover and refrigerate mixture for 1 hour or until chilled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shape dough into 1" balls or drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet, press thumb gently in center of each cookie. Bake in oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until they are set. Cool slightly and then place an unwrapped Hershey's kiss onto the center of each cookie. Store in an airtight container.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I look forward to St. Patrick's Day every year! Yesterday we went downtown into the city to watch the St. Patrick's Day Parade with our little grand daughter. She is finally at the age that she enjoys parades and this was her second parade that she has ever attended. After the parade, we took her to McDonald's so she could get a happy meal.

Today, we are having a few friends over for some corn beef and cabbage, along with some delicious 'green' cocktails. Afterwards...movie time with our friends. I love being lazy on a Sunday, don't you? Seriously, I need more lazy Sunday's in my life! ha!

Do any of you do anything special for St. Patty's Day? Got any plans for today? Something exciting going on?

Anyway, Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you and may the luck o' the Irish be with you today! Have some fun today!

Homemade Zucchini Bread Recipe



I am really looking forward to getting our garden planted this year and getting some large zucchini's out of it. For some reason, I can grow zucchini's really well! One of the recipes that I like to make that utilizes fresh zucchini's in this homemade bread recipe.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

3 large eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups peeled, grated zucchini
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. In another large mixing bowl, mix together the all purpose flour, salt, ground cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined.

Lightly grease two loaf pans with Crisco or oil. Divide the batter and pour into each of the loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until bread is done. Remove from oven and let cool.

Check Out This Family-Friendly dentist in Fort Worth

Guest post by Lonnie T

The last thing parents wish to do is to go or take their children to dentists who do not understand the needs and the fears of their patients. They don't want themselves or their children to be scared of seeing the dentist.

However, this dentist in fort worth office offers a calm, family-friendly approach to dentistry. The office is clean and inviting with a staff that is both welcoming and respectful of children and adult patients. Monarch Dental appreciates those who walk through their doors and become regular clients.

The dentists are geared toward working more with their patients than with paperwork. In fact, their motto is "Smiles for Everyone"--children and adults alike.

The office is located in a safe, accessible location. All the dentists are skilled and experienced. They seek to provide a high-quality of service, spending whatever time necessary to calm fears, properly diagnose problems and go above and beyond to alleviate pain and solve the situation with teeth or gums. The dentists with this dentist in fort worth office take the time to explain the problem and the procedures they will use to alleviate the problem. They make sure their patients are fully aware of the situation before doing the work.

The dentists will do whatever it takes to create or keep a smile on the faces of their patients. This includes braces, regular check-ups and cleaning, different cosmetic procedures, dental crowns or implants, root canals and X-rays as needed.

Monarch Dental in Fort Worth realizes their patients are not "made of money" and that needed dental procedures can be costly. While they take most dental insurance plans, they know many do not carry dental insurance. The office offers payment plans and even discounts that save patients up to 35%!

Indie Lee’s Instant Egg White Face Lift Recipe

Create An All-Natural Face Lift at Home

Looking for a quick and easy way to tighten skin and freshen up before a big event? Indie Lee, founder of the all-natural skincare line Indie Lee & Co, shares one of her all-natural, at-home recipes for an instant face lift.

What you need:

· 1 cold fresh café free medium egg

· 1 Tsp of corn Starch

How to make it:

1) Separate the egg white and toss the yolk and shell.

2) Whisk egg whites and cornstarch together in a small bowl.

3) Apply to clean skin. Let sit for 20 minutes and rinse off.

*Indie Tip: Make sure you are lying down or gravity will pull the mask downward. Also, as the mask hardens you will not be able to move your face.

Get whisking with Indie and view her DIY Egg White Mask video here: http://indielee.com/news/beauty/2013/01/the-egg-white-mask-face-lift/

My Newest Landscaping Want - Dolphin Statue!



When we were down at our beach house back in September, I spotted this gorgeous dolphin statue in one of our neighbor's front yard. This statue is quite large...about 5 foot tall and is absolutely gorgeous! I love how they planted a variety of flowers around the base which really shows it off nicely and adds a "pop of color" to it.

So, I am adding this dolphin statue (well, something like it) to my landscaping "WANT LIST" and hopefully I can find something similar this spring to put into my own yard. It is really hard to find things like this in south central PA, so perhaps, another trip to the Jersey Shore is on-tap for this Spring. (I don't want to wait until June when we go down).

Isn't it gorgeous? I think so! If you know where I can find one like that, let me know!