Dining Room Update

Do you remember this room?

Once we found a home for the boxes, it sat empty for a while.  I had great intentions of making it into a dining room, but lacked the furniture and funds to make it usable.  It actually served as a time-out room since it didn't have an distractions for the naughty kiddo.  ;)  Fortunately, I came into a bit of luck.

I have been stalking Craigslist for a dining room table for quite a while.  I rarely see something worthwhile on there, but my heart can hope, right?  I love the Pottery Barn farmhouse table look, but not the price.  I also like white oval tables, and marble-topped tables, however, those aren't the sort of things that typically turn up second hand.  Nevertheless, my perusing and patience paid off.  I found a listing for a white pedestal table, with a leaf, from Crate and Barrel.  Cheap.  By the end of the weekend it was mine.  I am in love.

Next step, chairs.  I found some dreamy ones online at Target.  Plus, they were on sale, and since I used my Target debit card, I got an extra 5% off and free shipping.  They are a pale blue and I think they are magnificent.  I love the coastal vibe they lend to the room.

The rug I bought for the living room from RugsUSA.com.  I ended up switching it out because I felt the living room needed more color and the rug fits the dining room better.  It works well with the table and chairs.

Now, I need to work on curtains.  I have fabric in mind, but need to wait to squeeze it in the budget.  I'd also love to update the lighting.  Eventually, it would be nice to have a  sideboard and maybe a few accent chairs for extra seating.  Despite what I would love to happen, the room has made tremendous progress from when we first moved in.  Don't you agree?

Corn Casserole

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I'd share my favorite side dish.  Now this isn't one I remember from my childhood, but it is one I have learned to savor in my young adult years.  Both my mom and my grandma from my dad's side have made it, but I'm not sure who started the tradition.  Anyway, it really doesn't matter since we all love it.  A quick Google search will find you many variations, but this is my favorite.

Corn Casserole

1 onion, diced (sweet yellow is my favorite)
1 green pepper, diced
1 stick of butter
1 can whole corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
2 beaten eggs
1 box corn muffin mix (we always use Jiffy)
1 bar of cream cheese, softened, cubed
1 c of sour cream
2c of shredded cheese (cheddar, colby, pepper jack, or any combo is good)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Saute onion, green pepper and butter in skillet over medium heat.  In large bowl, fold together beaten eggs and corn.  Add in muffin mix.  Add in onion and pepper mix, slowly.  Stir in cream cheese cubes and 1 c of shredded cheese.  Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan.  Spoon sour cream over mixture (you can swirl it in).  Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese over the top.  Bake in oven for 40 minutes.

This is sooo yummy.  I made it the first week in November (or was is the end of October?) because I was craving it.  It's a fantastic side dish to many main meals, although it does speak of turkey, gravy, and cranberry to me.  Do you have a favorite dish you look forward to with holidays?  I'd love to hear about it.

Crockpot Meatballs

Remember my Mission?  Well, here is what I came up with dinner for the first night.

I two packages of meatballs, including an open package from Ikea, in my freezer.  This was my starting point.  So I rummaged around in my fridge looking for something to make sauce with.  I have heard of people making meatballs with grape jelly and chili sauce, but I didn't have any chili sauce.  But I did have three open bottles of bbq sauce.  I also had an open jar of lingonberry preserves.  Yes, I did it.

I dumped the frozen meatballs in my crockpot.  In went the bbq sauce, lingonberry preserves, plus a healthy dash of hot sauce and minced onion.  I left it on low for a few hours and served them with cheesy mashed potatoes and leftover corn casserole.

Now it wasn't a gourmet meal, but it wasn't horrible either. The meatballs were a bit on the greasy side, but that wasn't a fault of the the recipe.  I didn't tell my hubby what the ingredients were (he usually is really picky about what I make) and he didn't complain at all.  My favorite meatball recipe is this one, unfortunately what I threw together doesn't even come close.  Nevertheless, it was inexpensive, took little effort, and helped me along on my mission of cleaning out the freezer!

No-Sew Curtains

I've been slowly working on our kitchen/living room.  You might remember my mantle updates, and side table makeover.  I've also re-arranged the room a few times and switched around some rugs, but of course failed to blog about it.  But for the past month or more, my heart has been set on updating the curtains.

When we first moved in, I put up the white curtains we already owned.  They were cheap ones from Ikea, and long enough for our tall windows.  Plus, I was trying to make do, I didn't want to rush an buy something just to have something.  Well, the curtains were a bit too long.  The kiddos stepped on them, they dragged on the floor, and as expected, the bottom hem got disgusting.  So one day, in a fit of despair, I trimmed the bottom with scissors.  And that is how they have been for 3 months.  Additionally, the white curtains with light colored walls began to wear on me.  All the furniture is neutral colored, so the whole room felt blah.  My search for window coverings began.

I quickly found that purchasing drapes would be rather expensive, especially since my windows are tall.  Standard 84 inch curtains won't cut it.  So I decided to look for fabric.  I have heard and read about making no-sew curtains and that sounds like a cheap way to get exactly what I wanted.  Tracking down the fabric became the hard part.  I have since discovered that there are not many places to purchase fabric in my area, no Joanne's, Calico Corner, Hancock, nothing.  There is one designer fabric store that I found, but I'm not really interested in paying 25 dollars a yard and up.  I browsed Fabric.com and found a few options, but still was anxious about paying $13 a yard (I needed 6 panels).  So finally, I decided to check at Walmart.  Luckily, they had a small fabric section.  I discovered a cream and oatmeal ticking stripe in a heavy weight cotton.  Now I love stripes, maybe borderline obsessed with ticking stripe.  This was it, as long as there was enough yards.  It came down to the wire, I thought I might need 18 yards and this was just over 17, but I took it all.

So, to make the curtains, I gathered a few materials and followed some simple steps.  Here is what I used:

A tape measure, fabric scissors, fabric glue, and an iron.

1. First, I measured out the length I needed for each panel, plus 2 inches for hem.
2. Cut each panel.  I kept the tape measure out to the appropriate length on the floor and measured the fabric.  I aligned the end I needed to cut with a line on my hardwood floor so I kept a straight edge.
3. Fold over the hem and iron to crease a straight edge. Place glue along hem and push fabric together with fingers.
4. Let dry minimum of 30 minutes.
5. Repeat for each panel.

Now to hang, I used drapery rings with clips.

It turned out much better than I expected.  I love the look it adds to the windows.  Since we have blinds, and the windows all face the backyard, I don't plan on closing the curtains.  As a result, I am able to get away with less width for my panels.

Here is a close up of the ticking stripe:

I love how it turned out, and it was so much less expensive than buying curtains!  I'm ready to tackle another room!

Any of you buy fabric online?  Where is your go-to for curtains?  I'd love to hear from you!