The Master Bedroom Remodel

While Biceps was away on tour, I had a couple of weeks to myself.
And what does any good girl do when her hubby is away? REMODEL!

This is the BEFORE. When we chose this color, we didn’t realize the problems that this shade of green would pose. Reds paired with the green gave it a Christmas vibe. Pinks, purples, or blues alongside the green, made our bedroom feel like a victorian bed and breakfast-and not the good kind. Orange seemed to be the only thing that matched, and it wasn’t our favorite.

Secondly, the north facing wall was almost entirely a white brick fireplace. I decided that something must be done. With a few weeks and a few greenbacks, I had just enough time to be sneaky and remodel our Master Bedroom.

We already had a violet-colored comforter that I had picked on clearance somewhere years ago. I remember paying $10 for it, buying it with the intention to just have an extra blanket in the house.
And from this cheapo purchase, inspiration was birthed. I painted the room a complimentary purple that Biceps had insinuated he liked at some point.

Armed with several cans of gold spray paint, I scoured flea markets, thrift stores and a certain BFF’s garage for free or cheap picture frames. I spent a few hours transforming ugly frames into gold masterpieces.

From our earlier remodeling of this home, we dismantled a lovely (disgusting) mirrored shower door in one of the guest bathrooms. Deemed the “fat mirror”, like one you would see at a carnival, when you moved up and down, you would become fatter or thinner. Of course, I didn’t throw it away-I knew it would come in handy.

This mirror was tempered and when smacked upon with a hammer, it spiderwebbed out in really cool patterns. If you would like to make something similar, I have a tutorial called Broken Mirror Art.

I added “non-fat” mirror to the fat mirror and then hung gold frames on top of the entire piece. I made two of these to flank the fireplace.

In the center of the fireplace, I found this gorgeous and super heavy mirror for $35 at a flea market. I had to wait for Biceps to return home before I tried hanging it. Trust me, I tried to do it by myself and it did not go very well. Sections of the fireplace had to be painted.

What goes better with gold than silver? After much flea marketing, goodwilling and thrift storing, I found this small dresser at a “Quality Thrift Store”. It was a horrible green, but had great hardware and I couldn’t resist. Plus, I talked them down from $12 to $10. It houses or DVD player, holds up our ancient t.v. and has provided other useful storage for blankets, books, etc.

I found a four drawer antique wooden dresser that was beat up, scratched and missing wood chunks. But, the dresser had great details, cute little legs and the hardware matched my other $10 smaller dresser.
It was perfect and for $100, it was mine.

I first painted both dressers with a metallic silver paint (about $14 at Lowe’s), using a “foamy brush”. The foamy brush prevented brush strokes that a regular paint brush would have left. After the silver paint had dried, I watered down a high gloss black paint until it was the consistency of coffee. Wearing gloves, I lightly ran the rag across both dressers. On the detailing of the dresser, I left a little more black, to give the dressers an antiquey look.

Here’s my romantic, all ready for Biceps to come home.

I was so very sneaky, he never suspected what I was up to. And he loved every bit of the room.

To see what I’ve done to the bathroom, go here and here.

Butternut Squash-Humor & Soup Recipe

My mother-in-law and I love vegetables for two reasons:
1) The humorous possibilities once they are dressed up and you make them say funny things and,
2) Of course, for their edibility.

We’ll start with the humor and end with a recipe.

I’ve received a picture from her of a “sexy carrot” lounging by the pool, a tomato face that would put Mr. Potato Head to shame, and this…

This is a little something from her and her garden that she sent me awhile back, with the caption, “I don’t know…it was crawling in the garden.”

Therefore, it was no surprise when she received the following from me…

“It seems that Marge never really lost that baby weight.”

And this…

“Seriously, all I did was cut out carbs. Think about it, we are starches.”

And finally this.

“Jim?”

Produce humor. Cracks me up every time.

Now, for the Butternut Squash Soup Recipe. This is my recipe, but it’s also based on one that I found in my P90x cookbook (thanks, P90X), along with a few changes that I came across to make it even yummier. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup

3 Tbsp Minced Shallot; Minced
2 cloves Pressed Garlic
6 cups Butternut Squash
2 cups Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
3 Tbsp Water

Peel, seed and cut the butternut squash up into 1″ chunks.

Using a non-stick saucepan, combine the shallot, garlic and water, cooking over low heat until translucent.

Using a large pot, add the squash and chicken broth, and simmer until the squash is soft. It usually takes 20-30 minutes.

Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree.

Return the soup to the pan and place over medium heat until heated through. Serve.

You will love this, guaranteed. It has been “Bicep’s Approved”.

The Home Life Changes!

I’m back!
After 8 months of being away from blogging-I’m back ladies and gentlemen. I didn’t choose to be away, fate chose it for me. It was a rough loss for me back in January when my blog failed via the platform, Iweb.

I wanted to take this sledgehammer and smash Iweb’s face with it. Small problem-not sure where to find Iweb’s face.

I had built the site myself in Iweb and for some reason, after a year of blogging with that platform, Iweb decided it had had enough. The ability to update my site, add posts, change anything, was a distant memory.

I pinched my pennies for several months and hired a web designer to build my site (correctly) for me. Once the framework was in place, I had the duties of importing all of my old posts-a task that required copy and pasting each bit of text, each picture, each title…you get the idea. I lost some of my “pretties”, but sacrifices had to be made.

I have a few exciting things to catch you up on from my eight months of absence. I’ll be expanding on each of these items over the next couple of months. But, I thought you’d like a bit of an overview to wet the ol appetite.

THE BIG CHANGES ‘ROUND HAR (HERE):

I remodeled the Master Bedroom while Bicep’s was away making momma some money.

I also remodeled our Master Bathroom the next time he left for tour.

I got really interested in raising chickens in my backyard-so much so that I wrote an article about Urban Chicken Farming for the online and print paper, This Land Press. It’s the same paper that I have my bi-monthly column, “Together in Tulsa” in.

I planted my first full-fledged garden this year-inciting me to can, freeze, dehydrate and make new and exciting dishes like zucchini boats and squash pizza.

Cowboy, my sweet buddy of a cat, passed away. He died of renal kidney failure, compounded with a heart murmur. He was only eight, and I believe way too young. I wasn’t expecting how much this would affect me, but it certainly did.

I believe Cowboy is sitting on Grandpa’s lap in heaven. Those two had a unique bond.

After much sadness and the realization of how quiet are house was without Cowboy Cat 2000, Biceps coerced me into getting two new kitties from the rescue center. Their names are Maxwell and Bianca. You will be hearing lots from them, I assure you.

There is so much more to catch you up on-like this visit to a blue whale, but we don’t need to shove it all into one post, do we? I am so thankful to be blogging again, to visit with all of you and to catch up on your lives as well. Welcome back to Potholes and Pantyhose!

The Denver House Remodel-Past, Present & Blown Up

Built in 1915, this beauty had been vacant for two years.
It desperately needed someone to love it. And we were those ‘someones’.
(Sorry about the quality of the photos. Many were taken with a disposable camera that we kept on the job site. Not very professional, I know. Please forgive me.)

We worked for about a year on this house and had everyone; including friends and family, on the volunteer call list. I owe them all at least a pie.
Here are a few weird things about this house:
1.There was a scary room in the basement with a shoebox full of condoms. Gross.
2.I found porn from thirty years ago tucked behind cabinets. Double Gross.
3.The man who had owned this had installed a 30 foot antenna into the driveway for his HAM radio.
4.Wallpaper covered every square inch in the house-even in the ceilings and the closets.
5.It stunk horribly.
6.Our realtor called this house ‘a turd’, just like the present house we live in.

Le Grande Living Room.
The house had HUGE windows. I loved scraping lead paint from each one of those window panes. Hours and hours of the screeching razor blade against glass and wood, cutting my fingers, inhaling musty old paint…..I wish I could do it all over again.

Refinishing the floors was the final touch on this beautiful house. We learned that this hardwood flooring style is called ‘Log Cabin’. Not bad for being 90 plus years old, huh? I don’t think I will ever buy carpet again.

A fancy staircase led you up to the second floor, with a sneaky servant’s entrance joining in on the landing. We made this huge chandelier (around four feet tall) by wiring two chandeliers together, antiquing them and adding a boatload of crystals anywhere we could.

I think this might have been my favorite rooms-it was one of the four bedrooms. I ate lots of PB & J’s up here with the hubby. It had the best views and the best sun to snuggle in.

I cried when we decided to sell this house rather than lease it. My blood, sweat and tears had been poured into it for a year and I wasn’t ready to let it go. My hubby told me we’d go to Europe with a small part of the profits if we sold the house.
I quit crying and booked two plane tickets immediately.