My Own Wall Gallery

 I was looking for something to put on a wall in my living room that wouldn't be too hectic, but would take up a good portion of the wall.  I have seen many people do photo walls before and I thought this idea would be perfect!  My cousin is actually the one who inspired me to do this when she was buying her frames at Ikea.  I also got most of my frames from Ikea, and  some from Homegoods.  A couple of the frames I already had :)  I first laid the pictures out on my floor, and moved them around until I was happy.

Then I cut tissue paper {I didn't have anything else to use} to the size of the frames, and taped the paper on my wall.  I actually nailed the photo hooks directly through the paper, and that worked great.  I just had to measure how far down on the frames the hooks would need to be.  This made placing all the frames on the wall easy!

These pictures bring back great memories.  Most are from when I went backpacking in Europe with my bff from High School (Rome, Amsterdam, Paris, Florence, and Switzerland).   Some of the other pictures are from Cabo San Lucas, Scotland, and the Grand Canyon.  As you can probably see I still have one frame to be filled, and one frame needs to get a colored version of the picture.  I actually did order them, but the quality came back poor :(  Also, it looks like I need to straighten up some of my pictures.  A professional blogger would of probably straightened up her frames before taking the picture {I am not OCD at all}...Maybe I should just take pictures at an angle.  

We are half way through the work week!  YAY!   I joined 24 Hour Fitness today to fight back against the ridiculous amount of desserts I eat this time of year... :)  Tall Tan Man is off to Sydney today {he is actually a day ahead of us}!  I sure am jealous! 

{Leslie}

Paula's Strawberry Pretzel Salad

If you have never experienced Paula Deen's Strawberry Pretzel Salad you are missing out BIG time.  This is what I am responsible for making every year for Tall Tan Man's family Thanksgiving.  If you are looking for something else to make for Christmas dinner this would be perfect.  You can find the recipe HERE.  The only thing I change is I make 2 different crusts to make everyone happy.  I halved the pretzel crust which is what the recipe calls for, and the other half I make a graham cracker crust.  Not everyone loves the pretzel crust {crazy TTM}.

I am telling ya'll, {trust me} this is delicious.

I wanted to get a pretty picture of single piece with all the layers, but before I knew it this happened :

Here is a picture of Tall Tan Man and I on Thanksgiving.  This makes me miss him, and my summer tan...

Thanksgiving part two will be coming soon.  :)

{Leslie}

Tall Tan Man's Journey to Australia

I have some news.  Tall Tan Man is headed to Australia on "business."  When he told me initially I was so excited then I had to fight back the tears {sigh}.  I would think by now I would be use to distance and him traveling, but it doesn't seem get easier.  He is headed to Brisbane, Australia which is located on the east coast.  

I know next to nothing about Australia.  I do know Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman are from there, and that the Real World was in Sydney one season.  Tall Tan Man will be a Brisbane Bandit which is a team in the ABL {Australian Baseball League}.  

The time difference is 18 hours ahead of Dallas.  Holy frickin' cow.  This means when he is playing games at 7 PM it will be 1 AM...  I do not know how I am going to handle this. I go to bed at 10, even on weekends.  I know, I am lame.  He also won't really have a phone to use.  hmmmm Seems like I am going to have to figure out how to communicate via skype and email.  I might be blogging more in the next two months, because I will be bored...He gets back at the end of January.  I also might use my blog to communicate to Tall Tan Man about what is going on in my life.  I hope ya'll are okay with that.  :)  I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  It was nice having a week off {one of the perks of being a teacher}.

{Leslie}

Chocolate & Peppermint Pretzels

I love the mixture of salty and sweet.  I am cheating on Thanksgiving a little bit, and looking ahead to Christmas...Sorry, please forgive me.  This ideas is not original {I can't pretend I am this brilliant}.  I actually had these pretzels last week last week, and I found them at sprouts right next to these:

So if you are not wanting to make yur own you can just buy them :)  I made sure I had good chocolate:

1.  I used candy canes for the peppermint.  I crushed them while they were still in the plastic.  This made clean up easy.  

2.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave, and if you want you can use a chop stick to dip them.  I placed the stick through the hole of the pretzel so I did not have to touch them while they were in the chocolate. Shake off excess chocolate before placing them on a cooling rack {you might want to use wax paper under the cooling rack}. *You can also hold onto one corner of the pretzel dip them {i think this might be easier :) }.

 

3.  Drizzle the pretzels with peppermint.  Allow to cool completely before moving them.  Enjoy!  

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving! :)

{Leslie}

French Toast Breakfast Bake

Hello ya'll!  I am sorry I have been a MIA blogger lately.  Tall Tan Man has been in Dallas visiting, and I have been a little distracted...He had been in New Jersey for two months, and that left me plenty of time to blog.  When he got here I didn't really want to do anything except spend time together.  This might be changing very soon, and I will be back to my normal blogging, sadly :( . 

At work on Friday we had a Thanksgiving party, {I have this ENTIRE week OFF!!} and I made a breakfast dish.  If I am being honest, Thanksgiving food is not my favorite.  I know, I sound so un-American.  If I could just eat the rolls, butter, relish tray, mashed potatoes, and dessert I would be happy.  I also don't like my food to touch, which it next to impossible on Thanksgiving.  Now that I have rambled about Thanksgiving I will share with ya'll this fabulous recipe I found HERE. 

You can make it the night before!

This picture makes my mouth water...

 
This would be perfect to make on Christmas morning.  The recipe is SO easy and fast.  The only disclaimer I will give you is MAKE SURE YOU CHECK the bread when you take it out of the oven.  I thought I baked it long enough, and I definitely didn't.  The top was wonderful and crunchy, but the bottom was not so much.  This is the only thing I would change about the recipe.  Which really isn't changing anything.  Tall Tan Man and I drove up to Denver this past weekend.  I love Denver.  Something about the clean air and the mountains makes me feel so peaceful.  On our way up here we stopped and spent the night in Pampa, Texas with my Grandad. 

The drive wasn't too bad except does anyone know why New Mexico needs "safety corridors?"  Maybe because there is a dormit volcano...

Also, on our way we stopped in Colorado Springs to see one of Tall Tan Man's high school buddies.  He has one of the more adorable two-year-olds!

Well, I am hoping on this little vacation I will get to do some more blogging along with some running{hopefully the altitude doesn't kill me}, shopping, reading, mani/pedi-ing and spending some sweet time with Tall Tan Man.  Hope you have a good short work week or if your a teacher maybe a NO work week! 

{Leslie}

Clock ReVamp

Sometimes I have a problem with over decorating an area...Are you an over decorator? under decorator? or a non-decorator?  I decided that the area above my pantry needed a really fabulous clock (the blank area was bothering me).  I didn't want a boring one, but at the same time I didn't want to over-do it.  I was drooling over this one from world market. (P.S. it is only $50)

{source}

Sadly, the clock was WAY to big for the area. My search continued...  I really liked the idea of a square clock that looked exactly like that one {but we both know what happens when we you know exactly what you want...}  I finally got the idea that I could find a clock and revamp it a little.  This is what the clock looked like before:

It needed some love, and dusting.  I didn't like the color or really anything else about it, except the shape.  I decided I was going to paint it...black...I know boring.  Black is my go to color.  I need to work on that.  I covered the front with paper and tape.

I just used black chalk board paint, and did about 3 coats.  

When I took of the tape/paper I realized I didn't hate the inside of the clock.  I actually kind of loved the look...I guess it was the brassy color of the frame I hated.  

Here are some more kitchen decorating ideas if you are looking for some!  I am always looking for new ideas...I can't leave one room alone for long.  :)

I love Pioneer Woman's cook book....

Ya'll have a great week!!!

{Leslie}

OU Book Pages Frame

I looooove Sunday afternoons.  I went up to Oklahoma this weekend to watch my beloved Sooners take on the Texas Aggies.  The trip was really fun, but got a little scary when my friends apartment started to rock {not shake} from an Earthquake.  I thought this part of the country wasn't supposed to have Earthquakes...but what do I really know about any of that.  When the apartment started to sway we all started to scream, and ran towards doorways {I am not sure if that is what you are suppose to do...}.  That pretty much sums up that story {sorry if you were wishing for some great story where I rescued a small child}.  I have been pretty obsessed with book pages lately, and I had this frame sitting in my craft cabinet waiting to be decorated:

I am also a little obsessed with my alma matter, The University of Oklahoma.  I really wanted to make an OU frame that wasn't super cheesy, and that would match my decor.  Fortunately for you, you can learn from some of my mistakes.  I will let you know some of the things I would of done differently if I were to do this project over again.  I first applied old book pages all over the frame using Mod Podge.  To use Mod Podge you cover a part of the surface with the Mod Podge place paper down and cover again.  *I should of worked with the frame upright, and wrapped the paper around the edges.  Instead, I just ripped the paper off on the edges leaving the side of the frame visible.  *I would of also wrapped the paper on the inside of the frame where the picture actually goes. Adding those steps may take longer to do this project, but I think it will make a better end product. 

Finding wooden letters that are the right size was a little tricky.  I went to the big three {hobby lobby, michael's, and joann's} before deciding on these letters from Micahel's.  I wanted the letters to be "crimson" not red...not maroon.  Get it right.  Red = Texas Tech and Maroon = Aggies.  I used paints that I already had, and mixed them until I got the right color.  Boomer Sooner Crimson!

I love crafting.  I wish I could just keep crafting all afternoon, but a stack of papers are staring at me to grade {sigh}...Have a good week ya'll!

{Leslie}