Coastal Bathroom

I updated the kids' bathroom.

I normally don't like literal beach decor.  Whites, natural fibers and a shell here and there says coastal to me. But I saw this shower curtain on clearance and I broke my rule because I love the bright coral color.

We did a faux board and batten look on the walls.  I put laminate plank flooring in all by myself, and I love it (hint: don't get the cheap planks. I paid a little more for these and they were much better quality).  Laminate planks float over the old floor, and they seal together so they are good to use in places where there is water.  I had to take the toilet out to install the floor, but the Home Depot guy told me how to do it and it wasn't hard at all.

I painted the cabinets with white Annie Sloan chalk paint, and put new knobs on from Hobby Lobby.

I painted the light fixture with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

And I bought this iron turtle soap dish on our vacation to the Outer Banks.

My photos aren't very organized, but if I find the before shots I'll add them to the post.

Frozen Lemon Slices

Did you know you can freeze lemons?

This is my lemon ice cube bucket in the freezer. 

I am not a fan of plain water, so I love to put lemon slices in my drinks. It tastes better and it's healthy. To keep my lemons from going bad before I use them, and for convenience, I freeze the slices.

I wash and slice them all, and then I place them in a single layer in a big bag (so they don't stick together) and throw them in the freezer.

Now I have a couple week's worth of lemon cubes in a bag in the freezer. This would be nice for a party or wedding/baby shower, too.

Spinach Tangerine Quinoa Salad

This is one of my favorite salads, especially since I have been losing weight on my Beach Body diet (woohoo!). I love putting fruit in salads!  I just mix together:

1 1/2 cup chopped spinach
1 or 2 tangerine (chop the segments)
4 chopped strawberries
1/2 cup cold, cooked quinoa
10 chopped raw almonds
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
juice from 1 tangerine,
about 2 tsp of pear-infused vinegar
pepper and sea salt to taste

Teacher Thank You Gift

I made gifts for some my son's teachers. Because we all know how tough it is to teach middle school.

I traced graphics from The Graphics Fairy onto flour sack towels from Target. 

I printed the reverse of the images onto embroidery stabilizer. The stabilizer has a sticky side so I stuck it onto the back side of a towel and then held it up to a light (either the window or a plastic box with a flashlight inside) and traced the lines with a Sharpie pen.

The more detail in the image, the more difficult it is. Also, if there are words, don't forget to reverse the image before you print it.

Learning to Read: Use Closed Captioning

Do you have a little one who is learning to read?  One easy thing you can do is use closed captioning on the television.  Here is a link to a great article my brother wrote on this topic.