March After – Pantry

It’s the end of the month – that means it’s time for me to share my March After. I want to start by saying the pantry isn’t finished…this isn’t the final “after” reveal. I still have some work to do, but I’ve made some serious progress.

Remember how my pantry looked at the beginning of the month?

Here’s how it looks now!

Let’s take a closer look - Warning: Lots of pictures ahead!

Before

After

This picture really just shows how much better everything looks once it’s organized! The top shelf is now pool testing kits and games, the second shelf is now kitchen appliances, and the third shelf is paper goods/supplies.

Before

After

I think the biggest change is that I finally took all those plastic bags to be recycled! I’m pretty sure that collection was from an entire year of shopping. Now, every time I fill a bag I’m taking it to be recycled…no more bag hoarding! A few people commented that I should stop using plastic bags, but honestly I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I have fabric shopping bags, but I always forget to put them in my car or forget to take them into the store. And I’m pretty sure my boyfriend wouldn’t use them. Sorry, but I’m just being honest. I save them up and take them to the store to be recycled, so that’s better than nothing…

Before

After

These aren’t exactly the same shelves (the bottom left “before” shelf is the same one as the top “after” shelf). Most of the stuff on the top shelves went to the Goodwill (bye bye wok). Then I organized our snacks into baskets and plastic IKEA containers and I organized the rice, breadcrumbs, and pasta into glass jars.

Before

After

Drinks, rags/towels, and chips now have their own space! And after all that cleaning/organizing I have an empty shelf!

Before

After

The ironing board was moved to the laundry room (finally). Here you can see the top shelves - one is holding misc. kitchen items and the other is holding my baking ingredients (flour, sugar, brown sugar, and oats). The dogs’ treats were also organized! They have their own basket of toys/goodies and a treat jar.

Before

After

Bird hooks from Hobby Lobby (spray painted black) now hold the mops and broom. The closet Hobby Lobby only had 2, so I need to make a trip to the far away Hobby Lobby to get the third one.

And finally, Ringo can’t stick his head in the food bag anymore!

(Abby modeling the new dog food container)

OK, now let’s review the to-do list:

Paint walls

Paint shelves

Update switches/outlet to white

Replace light fixture

Move ironing board to laundry room

Buy container for Ringo and Abby’s food

Trash expired food

Donate unused items (like that wok in the top corner)

Recycle plastic bags

System for storing plastic bags (maybe something like this)

Rearrange items on shelves

Buy baskets and containers

My parents are coming down Saturday for a spring training game, so I’m hoping my dad will update the light switch to white and hang the new light fixture while he's here.

Added to the to-do list:

Paint trim

Buy crate for cleaning supplies

Buy additional crate for rags

I’m so close to being done with the pantry! I’m hoping to have a final reveal in a couple weeks!

300+ Follower/1 Year Giveaway!

NOW CLOSED!
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I know this is a little late, but today I want to celebrate 300+ followers, my 1 year blogiversary, and the first year living in my house! And what better way to celebrate than a giveaway?!

Do you remember seeing this pillow on my Etsy wish list?

Well, after that post I e-mailed all the shop owners to let them know that I mentioned their shop on my blog, I used one of their pictures (but gave credit), and that I thought they were extremely talented. Diana at Modern Touch Designs – the lovely person who made that pillow – wrote me back thanking me and asking if I thought my readers would be interested in a giveaway…um, ABSOLUTELY!

Yep, the winner will receive one pillow of choice from Diana’s shop! Any pillow you want! I’m not going to lie – I’m jealous!

Besides the pillow from my wish list, I also love:

And pretty much every other pillow in her shop!

Here’s How to Win:

(please leave a separate comment for each entry)

·         Follow The Junk House (via GFC, Linky or RSS), then visit Modern Touch Designs and tell me which pillow you’d pick if you won (1 entry)

·         Like Modern Touch Designs on Facebook (1 entry)

·         Like The Junk House on Facebook (1 entry)

·         Facebook, tweet, or blog about this giveaway (include link in your comment, if possible) (1 entry for each)

6 chances to win!

Giveaway will close Thursday, April 5^th at midnight (AZ time). The winner will be chosen via Random.org and will be announced Friday morning. I’ll e-mail the winner (please leave an e-mail address if not on your profile). Open to the US and Canada.

Hodge-Podge

Today’s post is going to be all over the place – a bunch of small announcements rolled up into one big post!

Let’s start with the most exciting news! You might have seen this on Facebook last night:

I bought myself a Silhouette CAMEO!

Of course I’ve always wanted one, but lately I’ve been seriously considering buying one. Last week I got as far as putting it in the cart! Anyway, I did my taxes on Sunday and thought about using some of my refund to buy one. I put it in my cart, plus a roll of black vinyl, and even with the offer code I’ve seen on certain blogs, with shipping my total was almost $300. I just couldn’t do it! Last night I decided to check eBay – and I found a brand new Silhouette CAMEO plus a roll of black vinyl, a roll of transfer tape, and a Squeegee for $269.99 plus free shipping! Yep, $30 was the difference between no CAMEO and yes CAMEO.



In other ‘Sam Spending Money’ news, I bought a new microwave!

I mentioned in my 2012 home goals that I was planning to use part of my yearly bonus to replace my stove and microwave to match the other kitchen appliances. My refrigerator is an Amana, so I bought a stainless steel Amana microwave to match. I bought this one on Amazon
(was $249 when I bought, but now is $259). It was the same price as Home Depot, but I didn’t have to pay tax!


Lastly on the home front, I wanted to share my donation pile:

This is what I cleaned out of my office and pantry (not including what was trashed)! 2 overflowing boxes of stuff! These Before/After projects have been a great way to organize and de-clutter. Now I just need to take it all to Goodwill!


Moving on to blog related topics - I just wanted to let everyone know that I revamped my Projects page.

I think it’s a lot cleaner and easier to navigate now. Plus I added 7 projects that were missing from the old page.


And last, but not least, I want to thank everyone who featured my Herringbone Artwork on their blog!

The response was seriously overwhelming! I’d say it was worth the hours of cutting and gluing!

And speaking of features, I’m currently updating my Features page!

OK, I think I’ve covered everything for today! Come back tomorrow for a giveaway!

Pantry Sneak Peek

I can’t believe March is almost over! This year is flying by!

At the beginning of the month I picked my pantry to be my March project as part of Lisa’s Before and After Party. The “after” reveal won’t be until next week, but I wanted to share a little teaser of what I’ve been up to. Believe it or not, I’ve actually made really good progress so far.

I thought the shelves were already white…until I started painting them white. Look at the difference between the top freshly painted shelf and the bottom yet to be painted shelf!

I took at trip to IKEA and was in and out in 35 minutes! That has to be a world record!

Ringo and Abby’s treats are even organized now!

Here’s my pantry to-do list from the beginning of the month:

Paint walls

Paint shelves

Update switches/outlets to white

Replace light fixture

Move ironing board to laundry room

Buy container for Ringo and Abby’s food

Trash expired food

Donate unused items

Recycle plastic bags

System for storing plastic bags (maybe something like this)

Rearrange items on shelves

Buy baskets and containers

Next week I’ll share how I did with that list and the full “after” reveal! Stay tuned.

Last Night

Last night was the 1 year anniversary of the first night spent in my house! I can’t believe it’s already been a year and I can’t believe how much has changed over the last year.

Let’s look back at the first year of being a homeowner:

I painted…a lot:

Master Bedroom and Bathroom

Guest Bedroom

Guest Bathroom

Office

Living Room/Dining Room/Kitchen

I even painted furniture:

White Thrift Store End Table Makeover

White and Navy Chair Makeover

Nightstands

White and Glass Desk Makeover

I did a little sewing:

Damask Pillow

Bleach Striped Pillow

Bird Pillows

Bedroom Curtains

Faux Roman Shades

I finished some projects:

Stenciled Tray

Oil Rubbed Bronze Glass Jars

Damask Trash Can

Kitchen Artwork

DVD Organization

Wild Herringbone Artwork

And a lot of other good stuff happened over the past year…and some bad stuff (remember the water leak…the ceiling still looks like that BTW).

But the best part has been sharing the house with my boyfriend and these 2:

Here’s to another year -  more painting, more sewing, more projects, and more puppy memories!

Pinterest Recipe Week 2 Review

Last Monday I announced that I was only going to cook Pinterest recipes for dinner for the week.  Everything turned out pretty good, but I only ended up with a few “keepers”.  Before I crap on any recipes I want to say that these are just our opinions.  You might like something we didn’t and vice versa. That’s what makes food (and life) fun; everyone is different.

Recipes have been pinned here.

Monday Night:

Spinach and Artichoke Baked Pasta - Served with French Bread

I LOVE spinach artichoke dip. I order it almost every time we go out to eat, so I love the idea of spinach artichoke pasta. Sadly, I don’t think this is it….we both agreed that this was good, but not great. I did like how it was baked after it was all mixed together. I think that’s the reason why it was better than another spinach artichoke pasta recipe we’d tried before.

Cooking Note: I added a diced, cooked chicken breast to the pasta.

Tuesday Night:

Spicy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet

I really liked the shrimp and the marinade, but I didn’t like it with the penne noodles. I thought it would have been better with rice. My boyfriend thought it would have been better with a different kind of noodle – maybe fettucine.

I should also mention that it wasn’t very spicy. So, don’t be afraid of this recipe if you don’t like spicy foods – you’ll be fine.

Overall, I’d say this is a keeper – but I’ll serve it over rice next time.

Wednesday Night:

Easy Garlic Chicken and Bacon Cheese Potatoes

We really liked the chicken. It was moist and had a really good flavor. I added some minced onion to the marinade and I think that’s a must. You could easily add some soy sauce and sesame oil to turn this dish into Asian Inspired Garlic Chicken. Oh, and it was Easy!

Now, let’s talk about the potatoes…ugh. They were a major disappointment. They looked so good when I started them in the morning…sigh! I think it’d be fair to say they weren’t bad, but they weren’t good.

Thursday Night

BBQ Chicken Nachos

These were really good. I love the idea of something unexpected on the nachos. You could skip the “make your own BBQ sauce” step and just use your favorite store brand. I think it would taste just as good and be even faster/easier to make.

Oh, and don’t skip the diced avocado on top!

Cooking Note: I used shredded mozzarella and some shredded “casserole” cheese. I was too cheap to buy gouda...haha!  

Sunday Night

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas – Served with Refried Beans

I should start by saying I love chicken enchiladas with green sauce. I order them all the time at Mexican restaurants. That being said, I really liked these! I loved the sweetness of the honey mixed with the kick from the chili powder and green enchilada sauce. I think the honey lime chicken would also be good wrapped in a burrito.

Dessert

Chewy No-Bake Cookies & Cream Treats

Absolutely delicious and so easy to make, but SO unhealthy. What do you expect when the only ingredients are marshmallows, Oreos, and butter?!

The recipes that earned a spot in my infamous binder are:

Spicy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet (Skip the penne; serve over rice)

Easy Garlic Chicken

BBQ Chicken Nachos

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Has anyone else tried a recipe they pinned?