Sunshine's Brownie Trifle

As we are nearing the end of our time here in Iowa, which makes me both quite sad and very excited, I'm getting many requests for some of my recipes. So, I figure I'd revive the old bloggidy blog and post a few of my besties/most requested. So feel free to comment, if I get any readers, and request your favorites and I'll get on posting those as well. This here trifle is heavenly! I cannot say enough good things about it. I was introduced to it by my good friend Sunshine, hence it's name. It has everything good in it, brownies, pudding, cool whip, strawberries, and toffee. The presentation can be divine, if you have the patience to make it so. And it's fairly easy, slightly time consuming, but all easy ingredients and SOOOO worth your time. Without further ado... Sunshine's Brownie Trifle 1 brownie mix (my favorite is Betty Crocker) +ingredients to make as directed on box (oil, water, eggs) 1 3/4 cup milk 2 packages of white chocolate pudding mix 2 cups cool whip crushed Heath or Skor bars (can buy next to the chocolate chips or just buy the bars, about 4 should do it) 1-2 lbs strawberries - cleaned, dried, hulled and sliced (I did 2 lbs for the one pictured here) Bake the brownie mix according to package instructions, using the thinnest (9x13) pan/directions. Cool completely, then cut into 1 inch cubes. Make pudding - mix both packages with the 1 3/4 cup of milk. After it has solidified some, fold in cool whip. Now layer in the following order Brownies Strawberries Pudding Candy bar chunks Repeat as needed to fill bowl Garnish top with candy and berries

My $7 chair

So the other day I headed out fully intent on purchasing one of the two $99 chairs I had scouted out, but came home with an extra $92 in my pocket. Wahoo!!!

I ended up taking a random trip to a few thrift stores and found this beauty... don't be jealous, yes that is a baby pink felt seat!



7 dollars, some upholstery fabric I had lying around, a thin layer of batting, some staples, wiped it down, added a layer of stain and viola... a new chair for our master bedroom.

Sick post...

Sooo, I made a new post on Tuesday but then deleted it because I wasn't in LOVE with what I had done. I had grand plans of fixing it and reposting on Thursday, but sick happened and I spent all day yesterday and today laying on the couch... not so good for my project goals!

So now I will just repost what I had on Tuesday... hopefully I can redo it and make it fabulous and show you later.

Our biggest problem with our kitchen is our pots and pan storage. We've tried storing them under the stove like normal people, but stacking and unstacking has proven a little too frustrating for us. So, I created this solution...

I won't bore you with what I don't like about it... but basically I don't like WHERE I put it. I'll have to play with it a wee bit, but we'll see!

Square Foot Garden

I was FINALLY able to mix the soil and put together my square foot garden this week!!! I has been really windy on all my days off recently, so I haven't felt that I had the ideal mixing dirt together conditions.... you know... those ideal playing in the dirt conditions we all know and love, right?

Anyhow, for those of you that don't know, square foot gardening is a newish style of gardening that uses small space (4 foot squares usually) to grow large amounts of veggies. The idea being that you use (mix your own extra fertile, water holding and weed seed free) soil that will yield high amounts of food. For example, 1 square foot of garden will grow 4 heads of lettuce or 16 carrots or 1 pepper plant. And since you have 16 squares per box you can grow all sorts of veggies! I'm pretty excited about it, hopefully it warms up now so I can actually PLANT my veggies.

The process is pretty simple. Screw 4 boards together to get the box. Tear out grass, put down weed fabric (paint your boards if you want, I wanted). Mix your soil (1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 compost). Put it in, put up your dividers and plant... the end!

Here's my almost finished (plantless/seedless) product. so cute....

Chalkboard door(s)

So this may look like just a boring black door (not that black doors are boring, I happen to LOVE them!), this is a black painted CHALKBOARD door! Woo hooo! I painted both our pantry door and our door to our basement (both in the kitchen) with chalkboard paint (from Lowe's I believe). I would have written something cute, like my shopping list (cuz we all know that shopping lists are cute!) but I have to wait 24 hours before writting on it and it has only been.... 18 hours. Don't wanna mess everything up!!!

You can also see my other project of the week, the FINAL repaint of the kitchen, all gray now!

New Goal

Hi everyone.... yes, still alive. Sorry, Facebook has absorbed my online attention lately! I'm making a goal and making it public so that I HAVE to do it. I am now making a goal to blog once a week (not picking a day, that's too much restriction!) and I will blog one project a week that I have *completed*. Double bonus for me... I get to blog again and I HAVE to complete projects! I have been in a bit of a project slump lately so hopefully this will get me going again!

Here's my project from last week. Installing bamboo blinds in my dining room. Ties it in with the bamboo blinds in my living room. I like how hanging the blinds outside the window frame makes my windows look huge! Not a big project, but I did it!

Christmas Decorations

Yay!!! Decorating is one of my VERY favorite parts of Christmas and it was so fun to have my very own, new to me house to decorate. Here's some pics...


I've been excited to put a tree here since I first saw the house... part of the reason I wanted the house, who doesn't want a house with a perfect Christmas tree spot?!

And here are our stockings hung by the chimney with care... there's Paul's (the plaid one) by the way.

My latest craftiness

Store bought stocking and some good old fashioned creativity and felt! :)

I'm doubting myselft... HELP!

So... I'm doubting a paint color choice. I need some opinions. I have a fairly modern styled house, not neccesarily by choice but dictated by my house, and i think my remodeled kitchen is looking too traditional. I'm not willing to post more pictures till it's done, but this is a glimpse so I can get opinions. If I change, I'm thinking of sticking with the gray I have in the living/dining room. I DO love gray and white, but I also love green. Oh the DRAMA!

Pumpkin carving

Happy day before Halloween! Paul and I carved pumpkins together for the first time in our married life... they turned out pretty sweet if you ask me! And no, no templates in our house... pure creativity and heart and soul into our pumpkins! Probably don't need to say, but the snake is Paul's and the "R" is mine.
Oh... and I learned that my Mom really, really must have loved us kids. It never failed that we got roasted pumpkin seeds when we carved pumpkins... it's a PAIN to seperate those slippery devils out from the guts! Love you mom!!!