Interior Garage Renovation

So last year we put up vinyl siding on the garage.  This year it was time to fix the inside.  When we bought the house the garage rafters still had a bunch of crap from the previous owners.  The inside was awful, it had wood grain vinyl coated drywall for the walls.....blech.  Well, the drywall had water damage from the old wood siding being in such bad shape, so it was crumbling in some spots.

Luckily, I had a hookup on getting a Bagster for free, still had to pay the 'pick up' fee though.  I thought were going to need 2, but those things hold A TON of crap!!!  The main goal for redoing the interior of the garage was to get all of our tools and stuff organized better and to utilize the space better while still being able to put a car in there for the wintertime.  We were able to get 2 matching kitchen pantry cabinets for NOTHING from the place my dad works at because they were from sets that were either discontinued, scratch/dent, who knows what.

We didn't want to deal with drywall in the garage, so we were thinking of alternative options such as particle board, plywood etc.  We settled on hardboard but if we had to do it again, we probably wouldn't use it.  it was kind of hard to cut, we had to use a circular saw to do the edges, then used a jigsaw to cut out outlets and switches.  Once we got the hang of cutting and getting them up, we were able to hang 3-4 pieces in one night towards the end.  Due to work schedules and weather this took MONTHS to get it to this point.  We have done a few more things since the last of the pictures, we really only need to fix the gigantic crack/holes in the concrete floor and put everything in its 'winter home' so we can park a car in there.

Without further adieu, here are pictures!!

This was the mess of our garage before we gutted it

You can see in the corner those pieces were all crumbled from water damage

This was the during renovation

We had to keep shifting stuff around the garage as we worked

What a mess! This was after the Bagster was taken to the road for pickup

First piece of hardboard in, tried to use nails, but they
kept buckling, so we had to use screws

It's looking better!

Free cabinets!!  My dad made shelves for the insides

So much better looking! Saves space by putting the bikes on the rafters

Tool organization!

BONUS PICTURES OF BAGSTER!!

That thing was FULL!  Still could have added more though

Pretty cool watching the whole process

Halloween Eyeballs (Peanut Butter Rice Crispy balls)

Peanut Butter Rice Crispy balls dipped in White Chocolate...AKA: HEAVEN

So here's the deal, these are TIME CONSUMING, I mean, it took me HOURS to do these start to finish.  Seriously, the easiest part was the very last step...the food dye part.  But they were totally worth it!  They were a hit at my bowling leagues Halloween party and 2 people want the recipe!

So let's go!  (I apologize for not sticking to my normal layout, I forgot to take a picture of all the ingredients)

You will need:

5 1/4 cups Confectioners Sugar
6 cups Rice Crispies
4 cups Creamy Peanut Butter
1 cup melted Butter
2 lbs. White Chocolate Chips/Wafers
3/4 bar of Paraffin Wax
M&M's or Reese's Pieces candies
Red food coloring


(I increased the white choc and wax measurements in this post because I didn't have enough white chocolate to do all the balls I made)

1.) Line ~4 cookie trays with wax paper

2.) In a large bowl, mix rice crispies and confectioners sugar together.  (Mix carefully, it will make a mess otherwise) 

3.) In another med-large bowl, mix peanut butter and melted butter together

4.) Fold peanut butter mixture into rice crispies mixture.  Mix as much as you can with a utensil (wooden spoon worked well for the most part) but you will most likely have to use your hands to get the rest mixed.

5.) Once all 4 ingredients mixed well, roll into 1" balls and place on trays (you can place them relatively close together as they aren't being baked) Refrigerate for 15 minutes

6.) Cut up the bar of paraffin wax (a serrated utility knife did well with fine shavings) and mix in with white chocolate chips/wafers.  Place into the top of a double boiler  (if you do not have a double boiler, a stockpot with a few inches of water and a glass Pyrex bowl to sit over the top of the stockpot will work)

7.) This part works best with 2 people, not sure if I could have done it by myself.  Once chocolate is melted, dip peanut butter balls in then place back on tray.  The second person should put the M&Ms or Reeses Pieces on top before the chocolate hardens. As for the dipping, if your balls have thawed a bit you can probably spear it with a skewer (mine unfortunately split into pieces because it was to hard, so I flipped the skewer around and it acted like the dipper for dyeing Easter Eggs)

8.) Once all balls have been coated in white chocolate and topped with candy, refrigerate again for 15 minutes

9.) To finish these off, use something shallow and put a few drops of red food coloring in it and add a couple drops of water to dilute it.  Take a toothpick and go to town making red lines on the eyeballs :-)

10.)  Let sit for a bit so the red dye dries, then eat!


ENJOY

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay all you cookie lovers, this is THE cookie for you!  It is the best of 3 cookies all rolled into one!  I got this recipe from my Better Home and Gardens New Cookbook and made a few modifications, as well as doubling the recipe, because let's face it, I have a major sweet-tooth.  But seriously, I usually take a rubbermaid container of cookies to work to share my baking awesomeness!

After they have cooled off, and are no longer fresh from the oven, I do suggest warming them up in the microwave (10 sec. for 1, 15 sec. for 2, 20 sec. for 3).

Ingredients: (Double Batch measurements)


1 1/2 cups Butter, softened
1 cup Peanut Butter (this time I did 1/2 creamy, 1/2 crunchy)
2 cups Sugar 
1 cup packed Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
4 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Flour
4 cups Rolled Oats
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels or chopped cocktail peanuts  (I do chips)  










Instructions:

1.) Pre-heat oven to 375*, place cooling racks on counter/table for later, place cookie sheets nearby to use once dough is ready

2.) In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter on medium to high speed until well combined.

3.) Add sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda, beat until well mixed, scraping sides as necessary

4.) Beat in eggs and vanilla

5.) Add in as much flour as possible with mixer, hand mix the rest if needed

6.) Once all ingredients are well mixed, stir in by hand the rolled oats and then chocolate chips (or peanuts)

7.) Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets

8.) Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on edges.  Transfer to cooling racks

ENJOY!!!





















 

New Cordless Roman Shades in the Breezeway

We have not touched the breezeway since we moved in over 3 years ago.  The shades that came with the house worked (kinda) so we just left it.  Well, one ended up breaking awhile back and they really were crappy and very dated.  Window treatments aren't cheap, but I had $200 in gift cards to Bed, Bath & Beyond.  So I've been looking at new ones for awhile and I finally bit the bullet and went for it.  It could be better, but a lot of painting is required and the paneling would have to go.  So for now, this is all the updating I am doing for now.

All the tools you should need: tape measure, small level, pencil, phillips screwdriver and drill

New Shades: Insola Chatham Cordless Roman Shade in White

The god-awful shades from the 70's, plastic pieces woven with yarn, in brown and orange

I had 5 windows to change but it was super easy!

Once I had the marks where I wanted the brackets, I drilled a starter hole
then screwed in the top screw.  Once I got it mostly snug, I set the level
and tightened it up.  Then put in the bottom screw :-)

The shade just slides in on the hooks while the 'arm' is in this position

Then you slide the 'arm' to the left and it locks it in

Sooooo much better!

It's Finally Spring!

I think spring is finally going to stick around!  And for me, well that means time to home-wreck the great outdoors :-)

I didn't get mulch last year for my flower beds in the front of the house, so I desperately needed it this year.  However, the bed in front of the house didn't really have a sufficient barrier to keep my mulch in, so most of it would wash/blow away in bad weather.

This year, I suggested that we get some landscaping blocks to help contain new mulch and give it a little more curb appeal.  I had a couple days within a week of each other to get started, it was quite the job that's for sure.

Finally finished today (5/1), looks gorgeous!

Really the pictures say it all, no real instructions here.  They are a little out of order because I am too frustrated with how hard it is to manage pictures on this blog.  So sorry, you will have to deal with them out of order.

Getting started with new stones around the tree.  I planted a bunch of tulip bulbs back in 2011, they are all red when they bloom

Circle complete, took me 2 more stones than I had anticipated though

Front flower bed before picture, only has plastic edging crap

Only got this far after doing the tree, before I had to go to class

Ripping out the plastic edging was a gigantic PITA, held in with long stakes 4" down

Almost done with the stones

No project would be complete without a problem

Spend about an hour with a hammer and flat-head screwdriver.  That sucked.

They are mostly straight......lol

Around the tree, completed with mulch

Magnolia tree in full blossom, and red tulips, plus doggie

Stones all done!  Just needs mulch :-)

Halfway with the new mulch

ALL DONE!!!!