DIY Cabin Sign

I made this cute sign to go inside of our cabin. We have some other moose decor and so I chose to continue with that. I used my Silhouette machine to print off sticky vinyl and place it on top of a canvas that I had painted. Then I lined the outside of the painting with black gaffer tape I really like how gaffer tape finishes off the outside of a painting

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL

Norton Museum of Art

These are some of my favorites from the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach Florida. They offer a evening hours on Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. called Art After Dark. This was one of our evening excursions when my husband and I took our 15 year anniversary trip to Florida.

It is a free museum and there is a variety of different exhibitions and collections there. I would plan to spend about an hour here.

Drink Your Water

One of my New Year's goals is going to be to try to increase my water consumption. I know I am probably walking around slightly dehydrated. So here is an idea that you can inexpensively create at home to try to help you to remember to drink enough water. This gallon will last me two days and I can refill it whenever I need to.

Lower Carb German Chocolate Coconut Icing

German Chocolate Coconut Icing
1/2 C butter
1 C heavy whipping cream
6 T coconut palm sugar
1/2 tsp stevia powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 C shredded unsweetened coconut
1 C chopped pecans

Directions:

Put butter in a sauce pan and let it melt.

Add whipping cream, stevia, palm sugar, vanilla and whisk in egg yolks.

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble and then cook for about nine (9) minutes stirring constantly.

Stir nuts and coconut together in a cooled (stick in freezer while you cook) metal bowl and then poor the hot mixture over them to help with cooling.

Pour over coconut and pecans and mix.

Enjoy!

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Sandland Adventures Tour in Florence, OR

Sandland Adventure Tours

This was such a fun Excursion on our trip around Oregon and Northern California. I had read the reviews on Trip Advisor and they were all glowing and frankly I should have believed when everyone said They wish they had scheduled it for a longer tour. I wasn't sure if my children were going to be thrilled or scared on it so I went for the shorter sandrail tour. They do offer a tour in a huge giant dune buggy with a lot of other people but from what I read it is quite slow compared to this one and I really wanted to experience the thrill factor. And Thrill Factor it was

Before we even got there my husband was a little disappointed because he thought I was setting up the opportunity for him to drive us around on the dune buggies but after we did this to her he admitted that this was way more fun and he would not have done 75% of the things that ride guide did.

As a mom I was a little nervous having my kids be in the front seat and not be right next to me holding on to them but they were just fine and loved it. My son asked if we can come back again next year and do this. I know there are other tours like this in other parts of the country so when we travel to places that have them I think we will definitely have to check it out. I highly recommend this.

A couple pieces of advice is to bring along magic gloves because it is a lot chillier out there on the dunes then it is in land when you are going around so fast. Also if you have something that can cover your mouth and nose do that as well. The people we did the tour with had been prepared and brought bandanas to cover their faces with. If you don't just make sure you don't open your mouth even if you are screaming in Glee. You will end up with a mouth full of sand. And you will be blowing sand out of your nose for several days. But it is all fun and worth it.

Inexpensive and Easy Way to Remove a Popcorn Ceiling

How many of you inherited popcorn ceiling in a house you purchased that you did not put on and probably don't want it there?

That is certainly the case with our home and it's every where! I mean, everywhere! Ours even has some pretty sparkles in it that catch your eye. I know at one time this ceiling technique was en vogue, but not anymore and not for a long time.

I learned about this technique from my friend Caitlin and it works wonderfully. We have removed the popcorn ceiling in a few rooms now and it is relatively quick and easy to do the actual removal, but there are a few things you have to do first:

1. Gather your supplies: scraper, garden sprayer, ladder and cardboard or plastic
2. Remove everything from the room you are removing the popcorn ceiling in
3. Lay down plastic or cardboard over all of the floor
4. Remove any molding (if possible) that has popcorn texture on it. Take this outside and spray down with a trigger nozzle on a garden house, this is the quickest way to remove it from molding.

Here are your next steps in removing the popcorn ceiling:

1. Fill the garden sprayer with tap water.
2. Using the garden sprayer, spray down about a 3x3 section of the ceiling
3. Let it sit for a few seconds then use your scraper to scrape it right off, allowing it to fall on your plastic or cardboard.
4. Continue around the room working in small sections until you have finished.

Now clean up begins. If you laid cardboard or plastic over the entire floor, cleanup is quick and easy. Just roll up or fold up everything and throw it away. If any texture got on to your wall, just wash it off with water and a rag.
Allow the wet ceiling to dry for 24 hours before you paint it with primer and ceiling paint.
See how quick that was and certainly inexpensive if you already have a garden sprayer (or buy a garden sprayer on Amazon for under $15) and a scraper (or buy a scraper on Amazon for under $6).
We have A LOT more popcorn ceilings to remove, but this technique makes it easy and doesn't add the the expense of redecorating a room.

Happy New Year!