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By Aimee, November 29, 2010

Lately I have been seeing “Whoopie Pies” all over the web. They look delicious, but honestly I have never tried to make one. I even found this adorable cookbook, Whoopie Pies, that I put on my Christmas wishlist. Even though I never made one, they kept coming to my mind over and over again. Enter the Cool Whip, and my own little creation, the “Whippy Pie”!

Easy, easy! We already had some great chocolate chip cookies made up, and of course, a nice big tub of Cool Whip left over from the Thanksgiving holiday. Two cookies, some whip for the inside, and there you have it! A “Whippy Pie”! And it was very tasty! And probably a lot less calories as well!!

Always fun to use what is already in the kitchen to make something new and tasty! What about you, have you made Whoppie Pies?

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By Aimee, July 24, 2010

It’s a three day weekend here thanks to a state holiday! So, this means it’s a perfect time to work on “Project Basement”! With hubby home from work, and access to the truck, we can finally clear out the basement. Over the years it had become quiet the dumping ground for all homeless and unusable items in the house. That’s not what we wanted for our basement! We wanted it to be a great workout room.

In a dream world, we would be finishing the basement. However, since our budget is zero, we can’t hire an electrician to wire the basement. We’ll make something good happen though, even if we have to leave it unfinished! Here is the horrid before, where you can see just how packed full of “stuff” our poor basement had become. What is it about unfinished basements and their amazing stuff magnet powers?

It also turns out that it’s a hard room to photograph well. You can see that we have shelves for storage, and there is a work bench that was also here when we moved in. We might remove the shelves and put things on the other side of the basement (there is a second room, also unfinished), so we can gain the extra 3 feet that the shelves take up. Of course, that would mean dealing with all the stored items in those shelves too, which after spending all day clearing out the main part of the room, doesn’t sound all the appealing.

Today will bring a run to the thrift shop to donate all the things we are letting go of. And hopefully not much more than that since today is a holiday and we will be spending time with family and lighting fireworks. More photos to come though!

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By Aimee, July 10, 2010

I recently got the chance to check out the new book, by Gale Steves, called Right-Sizing Your Home: How to Make Your House Fit Your Lifestyle. I totally love it, and have been reading and rereading since it arrived! Not only does it have an amazing amount of inspiration photos for home design and organization, but the content of the book is top notch. Too often you find great photos, but not much content, but this book is not your usual design book! It’s a guide that helps you define how you really live, and then fit your current home to fit those needs.

What I loved most was that not only is the book full of great ideas, but unlike many, there is an actual resource guide in the book! When I first started reading and saw the following images of a crafting/laundry space, the first thing I wanted to know was where the organization system on the wall came from. Luckily, all I had to do was go to the back section, and find the page number, and there it was! The systems came from Omni Track.

All throughout the book I found myself referring to the resource section, jotting down ideas. In fact, the laundry really caught my eye because that is a room of contention in our home. Check out the multiple ways the same space was used, one focused on crafting activities, the other turned to a laundry station (you can click to see the images full size).

Great use of space, right? I really love the whole concept since our laundry room is large enough to do what is seen in both photos! Oh what a dream that would be.

The book is really great, I love the way Gale approaches her writing, it’s much like talking with a friend. She has included a section on clutter clearing, handy tips and tricks for measuring rooms (make sure things fit before you move them around physically), worksheets to help you realize how you really want and need to use your spaces, and so much more. It’s been so fun to go through our spaces and see what new ideas we can implement. Since we live in a home that is spread between 4 levels, making each space somewhat small, figuring out smart ways to use our current space is a priority. Right-Sizing Your Home has given me loads of new ideas to try in our spaces. If you love books, and your house isn’t totally working for you, this book is one to check out for sure!

Thanks Gale for writing it, and especially for letting me read it!

Now for the really fun part! One lucky reader will get their very own copy of Right-Sizing Your Home ! If you want a chance to win, just leave a comment on this post before midnight on July 17th!

*this giveaway is now closed, congrats to Kerri*

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By Aimee, May 19, 2010

It seems that Mother Nature is finally sending us some warm weather (at least she did this weekend, it is now raining). Of course any bit of warm weather sends me right out to the garden. Oh the weeds! But that is a post for another day. Today, I am making plans for our backyard, which quiet honestly has been a tad neglected. When we first moved in I got to work on the front yard right away, it’s the spot everyone sees (including us), and there really wasn’t much of anything going on there.

The backyard hasn’t been touched much in part because we are trying to figure out what to do with it. First, our dream list; a skate park and trampoline, a big deck leading to a patio, a hot tub, swimming pool, tennis court, and lots of plants. The problem? Our current yard is not big enough to really house any of our wishes. So, to make the most of what space we do have, we are going to need to be creative. First project on the list, our corner patio.

This is the back corner of our backyard. It was a dog run, with gravel and some nasty weeds when we first moved in. We had the concrete poured last year, and kind of just dumped our patio tables there. Sadly not much else has happened. I have plans though! Do you see that fire pit? I want to use it as a jumping off point for an outdoor living room. It would be the “coffee table”, surrounded by what will hopefully be outdoor wicker furniture (still researching for a set). I have an awesome outdoor rug that I got on sale last season. And of course, lots of great plants in planters.

Drawbacks; a budget of near zero dollars. Also, no where to move the stuff that is already there. We haven’t used the tables, but would like to if we had an area closer to the house and BBQ… but that’s a project for another time. LOL! What is on your garden wish list? Do you have big plans for your yard this year?