Crockpot Beef Stew- SO good!

  It is getting COLD here in the Midwest.  The cold weather always makes me want one of my favorite recipes… Beef Stew.  I can remember my mom making this stew when I was younger and I love it (so does the Hubs!).  I am not sure where my mom got the recipe from originally, I just got it from her.  But, I wanted to share the yumminess with you!

 

Crockpot Beef Stew

 

-carrots- cut into pieces (I use bagged baby carrots, because they are easy.  I usually use about half the bag and I cut the baby carrots into 2 or 3 pieces.

-3-4 potatoes cut up (I peel them first.  We are not fans of the skin.)

- onion- quartered (or more if you love onion like we do)

-1 pkg of beef stew meat (my mom sometimes uses a roast cut up, it tastes awesome.  I just do the beef stew meat because it is easy.)

-1 cup water

-1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

-1 tsp. garlic salt

-1 bay leaf (dig this out before serving!)

-1 tbs. salt

-1/2 tsp. pepper

-1/2 tsp. paprika

-1 beef bullion cube

 

Put all ingredients into the crockpot.  No need to cook beef stew meat before placing in slow cooker.  Cook 6-8 hours on low.

 

OOHHH!!!  The smell that permeates throughout the house…awesomesauce. 

 

If you try this recipe, let me know how ya like it!

 

Ashley

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Bathroom

Well, after the paint, flooring and mirror frame were finished (see more on that here) in the playroom bathroom, it was time to add some fun!

   

This is a learning space, filled with color and character. So, I really contemplated how to add that into the bathroom space. Fish and ducks had been done… so, I came up with using the coconut tree from the book: Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr!

I used by Silhouette Cameo and lots of vinyl to do the job. It was NOT an easy project. With the tree being so large, I had to slice the coconut tree into many different pieces for cutting on the Silhouette. Once I had them all cut, it was like a jigsaw puzzle getting them back together! Also, cut the coconuts and sand myself. Then, I cut letters get many different colors to be go up the tree and in the tree.

 

I LOVE how it turned out and the kids do too! I hear them in their finding letters while going potty. Win Win!

 

Ashley

Hello Blue! {Bathroom}

Our downstairs bathroom is on it’s way to becoming a much better looking space!  Like the whole rest of the house- this bathroom was painted with FLAT off-white paint.  Which shows every little scuff and does not clean all those dirty little finger marks at all!

So, first up…paint!  I choose a nice blue in a semi-gloss.  We recently started using Behr paint from Home Depot.  It is thick and seems to take a lot of paint, but it covers really well, goes on GREAT and does not splatter (not to mention it is affordable).

After the paint, Hubby installed the plank floating floor that we also placed in the preschool room (see more on that here).  The Allure plank flooring was found at Home Depot was super easy to install right over the linoleum.

Looks SO much better already!                                                                                                                                                                                        

After the paint and the floor we decided to make a frame around our builder’s grade mirror.  There have been many of tutorials on this all over blog world..so no need to go there.  But, YES it was a VERY easy update with a huge affect!

We found our trim board at our local ReStore (if you have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore in your community- go, it’s awesome!) The trim is a lightweight MDF which made it easy to hang.

Hubby cut it for me using his saw (if you don’t have a saw, a miter saw would easily work) at 45 degree angles.

Then, I primed the boards and painted them an off white.

On our mirror, we had these slim clips to hold the mirror to the wall.  So, I colored the clips with a black Sharpie, pressed the board up against it, therefore giving me a visual of where to notch out the trim to make it fit.  Then, we liquid nailed that puppy up there!

Next, we used Frog Tape and tapped it a ton while it dried over night.

Ta-Da!

Stay tuned for the finished mural reveal!

 

Ashley   

 

Playroom Makeover!

  It has been about 8 months since we moved into our new home.  The first 8 months were dedicated to unloading boxes and organizing our home.  Lately, I have been getting the itch to paint, decorate and update!  So… first up- our playroom.  To me it is not just a playroom.  I am an in-home childcare provider and our playroom is where we spend most of our day.  Since, I am in there so much, I am finding all kinds of things I want to change!!

  First up, the floor.  See that door in the photo below?  It goes out to the backyard- love!  But, the problem is… dirt, sand, leaves- YUCK!  There is no room for a rug between the door and the carpet, so this left me vacuuming way more than I wanted to.  Plus, I needed a carpet free place to do art projects.

 

And so it begins… my awesome Hubster cut up the carpet (notice the ‘beverage’ needed to complete all the projects I dream up!).

We borrowed a chalk line from my dad to get the line perfectly straight.  Then we cut and pulled up the carpet and the padding.

Here is the flooring we chose.  It is actually vinyl plank flooring by Allure in Country Pine (found exclusively at The Home Depot).  I wanted something durable, easy to clean and easy to lay.  We first thought about laying tile, but the thought of broken tiles due to toys being dropped did not seem like the best idea…plus the expense.  So, my dad introduced us to Allure flooring and we love it.  You can even pull up one plank if a plank gets damaged. 

This type of flooring is a floating floor because it does not actually attach to the floor, which means no prep needed to the floor underneath.  On each plank there are grip strips that grip to each other, rather than the concrete, or any other type of flooring you may lay this over.

So, how hard was it to lay?  It wasn’t.  It could be cut with a utility knife and was very easy to piece together.  Plus, if you mess up…just pull it apart and try again!

After laying the flooring we needed a transition strip to go from the new plank flooring to the carpet.  We found a Carpet Gripper strip at Home Depot.  First, we cut the pad from the carpet (that meets the new flooring) back 1 inch.  We did this so it would ease in the transition of the high carpet to the low flooring.  Then, Hubster drilled holes in the concrete to screw the transition strip down {horrible noise!}.  Once, the transition strip was screwed down we were almost done!

We ended up borrowing a carpet kicker to get the carpet tight into the transition strip.  Then, we used a mallet to get that carpet to stick in the strip.  Then, Hubster used a hammer and a piece of wood to bang the lip of transition strip over the carpet.

WHALLA!

 

We even did the playroom bathroom, which was super easy {more on the bathroom to come}.  Just put this flooring down right over the linoleum.

 

* The materials in this post were NOT provided by Home Depot for review (wish they would have been!).  I simply just wanted to share our experience with this flooring. 

 

Ashley

What I'm Pinning Wednesday

The Laundry Room.  Not, the most fun place to be, but laundry must be done!  I am ready to do some work in my laundry.  We bought our new house 8 months ago and every wall in the house was painted the same color with cheap flat paint.  Well let me tell you...8 months later my walls look awful!

The laundry room is one place that I would really like to add some color and decor to.  Making it a happier place, certainly will make the chore of laundry easier.

Here is what I am pinning this week- Laundry Decor:

Oh-M-Gee, this is adorable.  How cute are those pictures of little ones and laundry?!?  LOVE that they are hanging on pant hangers- SO doing this!

Source: cre8ive-home-decoration.com via Burlap and on Pinterest

I will have to have my mom (antiquer/crafter) watch for me one of these antique washboards.  Sure will remind me of how thankful I am to have a washer and dryer!

Source: bit.ly via Burlap and on Pinterest

Here is a good tutorial for making a drying rack that stores on the wall, cool!

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Burlap and on Pinterest

We need this!  My one-year old's socks are always getting strayed from one another, this board is the perfect place to store one, while looking for the other!

Source: youtube.com via Burlap and on Pinterest

Adorable.  Love the vintage looking metal basket.  Now, my husband will have a place to look for his badge, keys and all the junk he leaves in his pockets!

Source: lovestitched.blogspot.com via Burlap and on Pinterest

Ashley

Welcome!

Welcome to Burlap & Glitter!

my name is Ashley and I also blog over at…

I started this blog to document all my crafting and diy processes.  I also am happy to share my ideas and projects with you, so come follow along!

Here is the 1st project on this here lil’ blog:

Reminder Board 

This board is on the wall right at the top of our stairs, serving our family as a constant reminder of how to live life.

I not only love the message, I love the look of this board too.

We created this piece by using bead board paneling, grey spray paint and molding.

I bought the vinyl saying at Design Divas on Etsy.

First, I sprayed the paneling grey (it was already primed and ready), sanded to give it a roughed up look and antiqued in the groves using Valspar Antiquing Glaze.

Then, we nailed the bead board to the wall and added the vinyl.  It was not easy getting the vinyl on the bumpy paneling, but it worked out.

Then, we added the painted black molding to the top and bottom to give it more of a finished look.

I still debate on adding molding to the sides as well.  What do you think?


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