First published DIY??

SO We have had this tiny kitchen table (fitting only 4) since we first got married. I know everyone lived in a "tiny" apartment at some point in their lives and we are NO different! This table is beautiful and given to us as a wedding gift from my wonderful Aunt...but the problem is #1 I LOVE to entertain #2 We live in a much larger house now and #3 We have a minimal budget!....

So in comes a A FREE TABLE, 4 extra free chairs and some elbow grease!

The free table was given to us by a friend who was moving and didn't want it anymore. #1 problem with this.. it was totally the wrong finish and didnt come with any chairs.. SO my creative mind starts turning....

My wonderful grandfather pitched in and redid the table. New coating on the top and some fresh paint and we end up with this ::::

I loved how the table turned out... To some this may look acceptable.. but to me there are a few things going on that I didn't like 

1. there are chairs that dont match in the least.. now this is workable and I could deal but Why not have some fun purposefully making them not match. 

2. This is very dull for a kitchen table. One day I will have a dining room with fancy stuff but for now we are realists.. I have a 2 yr old, an open concept house and I love color.. thus lets have some serious fun!

So I decided I will not paint the darker chairs because I will one day use the other smaller table again (possibly) and I dont want to damage them.. 

So painting the "pine" chairs it is..

So to start off I took some inspiration from these bamboo place mats I got for a buck at Walmart... I know a buck.. CANT BEAT THAT!

So in comes the shopping and elbow grease! I decided to pull the green, blue and orange out.. and since my husband could probably faint at the idea of having a pink chair (I mean come on... only a crazy person would decorate with pink.. haha jk) I will just do a bright red. 

So I decided today to venture out and at least do the green to give it a try.

So supplies ??? 

I decided to go with a more lime green (the muted green was just a  little dull for what I was going for).. the brighter green brought up the vibrancy in the placemats!
I also decided since I didnt want to do a thousand coats I better grab some primer too!

Gloves are a MUST!!!! Let me tell you if you spray paint without them be prepared to have funky colored hands for weeks on end!

And a mask.. just cause I HATE the "high" feeling of inhaling toxic fumes.. might be for some people but not this lady! Oh and I am a little attached to my brain cells.. 

Grab the chair.. set up in a well ventilated area.. and in my case cover the ground and give a clean sturdy area to spray... my husband hates when I kill the grass with spray paint...I mean really.. who wants grass??? I was just thinking of him... less to mow right?  yea we fight over the weirdest things!

Oh and wipe down the chair of any grease, dust or grime... or caked on mac -n - cheese, chocolate, dog slobber, child slobber.. oh the list can go on and on

put on your silly looking mask and glasses!! SAFETY FIRST

Spray the primer first!

It doesn't need to be a super thick coat.. just enough to stick and give a base to the main color!

The spray away at the chair.. nice even strokes... I did two coats here and it turned out GREAT! 

So what do you think??

I will post again when I finish the other chairs! Always a work in progress in this house!~

My husbands favorite dip - buffalo ranch chicken

Long time no post huh? Sorry! Life has caught up with me... From now on I can only promise to post once a week! My plan is to try one new recipe every week and post about the outcome and what I have learned. Also I will be posting my all time favorite dishes that we make in this house a bunch such as the one I am posting now!

My husband is a dip fanatic. Though he would probably not admit it but throw anything "finger licking" good in front of him with some tortilla chips and he will go to town! Our old friends introduced us to this dip a long time ago and she had made enough to feed an army. I am all about not wasting so I had to figure out how to make it in a single serving size. I am NOT a fan of anything buffalo but my husband requests this dip almost every Sunday to munch on during football! (GO COWBOYS) I am currently brainstorming on how to make a cream cheese based dip that I would like.. maybe instead of texas pete use enchilada sauce??? hmmmm I will be experimenting but for now.. here is my version of buffalo ranch chicken dip!


Ingredients : (this makes enough for two semihungry men.. or one Alan) feel free to double or triple this for more people

1 can white chicken chunks (or my absolute favorite.. left over chicken or rotissaire chicken.. SO MUCH BETTER)
1/3 cup Ranch dressing (your fav kind)
1 pkg cream cheese (you can use the lower fat kind and we haven't even tasted a difference.. I just had reg in my fridge) oh and make sure it is room temp.. you can microwave it slowly to soften it if need be.. remember slowly..
as much texas pete (chalua, tabasco.. any buffalo stuff) as you can handle.. I counted and used 25 shakes and alan doesn't like it too too hot
1 cupish of mexican cheese


So first off it you are using rotissaire chicken, shred it into very small bites.. remember you will be using tortilla chips to "dip" up the dip so you want it small enough to incorporate into the dip.

grab your softened cream cheese and throw it in a bowl... if for some reason you are like me and forget to set it out.. just microwave it for 15 sec intervals stirring it as you go so you don't "cook" the outer layer of cheese)

Add in your ranch dressing (I took this opportunity to use up some buttermilk ranch that has been in the fridge.. lets see if Alan notices :)))

Add your dashes of texas pete. Just a quick side note. If you are planning on making a large portion of this dip, I recommend buying the kind without the ridiculous top so you can just pour it out verses shaking it like a mad woman (or man.. I don't judge). Or just shake till your arm is so sore you can't stir the darn stuff!

So go ahead and stir that up until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Add some of your cheese (you want to leave some for the top).. I would just add half into the dip.. Stir

Add your chicken very last and just fold it in.

Grease up your pan with pan (or butter.. I mean it really is unhealthy enough)

Add the dip on it...Top with cheese Throw on a few more chugs of texas pete...

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for thirty minutes.. you want it nice and hot and "liquid" throughout

Serve with chips (our fav is tortilla but you can use any I guess)

If for some reason it does not fly out of the pan into your guests mouths before it starts to cool and harden, you can just simply throw it in the oven for a few minutes to warm up or the microwave (I would do oven before microwave.. the microwave toughens the chicken)

Enjoy :) I will let you guys know if for any reason I come up with a less HOT version that is more of a mexican cream cheese dip!