Faux Stone Arch and Stove Back Splash From Scrapbook Paper!!!

Yup! Scrapbook paper! :-) I know what probably comes to your mind first “Scrapbook paper…in the kitchen…over the stove? How will it hold up?” I’ve had several friends and family members see it and ask the same thing already. The secret is that if you cover something with several coats of Mod Podge, (or the homemade alternative)it will stand up to just about anything!! :-) I have had this up since before Thanksgiving and it looks the same as it did the day I finished it. I’ve cooked several holiday meals and my every day cooking as well. I’ve wiped it down with several different  cleaners and no problems from them either!
I got the idea from a fellow homeschooling mom’s kitchen. I had to go by her house to pick something up and we walked through her kitchen…I immediately fell in love with her stove area! It’s all stone, with an arch over it. She has a pot filler faucet (confession: I’d never seen one of those before) that I wish I could have had 10 years ago when I fixed spaghetti and macaroni and cheese for 12 people on a regular basis! Her stone is on the darker side as are her cabinets. I would love to share a picture of it here, but don’t feel like I know her well enough to say  “ummm, can I take a picture of your kitchen to share on my blog?” So I searched and couldn’t find anything close, but this may give you an idea of the archway, but her stone was on the back and sides of her alcove…

I really want something similar when we do our kitchen upstairs but I’m also trying to find ways to add little touches of what I want while we are still living in our basement. So, I started thinking of a way to come up with the “look”. I started out looking at stone wall paper.

It’s pretty but, for the small amount that I needed for my area, the price was too high. I remembered seeing river rock and even brick scrapbook paper, so the next time I was in Joann’s I decided to have  a look. I found this…

…on sale for .20 a sheet so I took a  guess and bought 15 sheets. As usual, I didn’t take a proper before picture I got into a big hurry once I got started. I took down the old range hood and moved the stove out. Hubby cut an arch out of luan plywood for me. I started taking pics at this point:
Please ignore the out dated cabinet color and hardware. They are future projects. :)

I had read how to make homemade Mod Podge on Life in Rehab, and  I thought for a project of this size I would try out Sunny’s recipe for Homemade Decoupage Medium. Here are all the ingredients you need: Glue, water and a container to mix it in!

Most of the sheets went up whole but I had to cut a few with my paper cutter.

I brushed my glue mixture on the back of the paper and stuck it on the wall, smoothed out the wrinkles (there weren’t many) and then brushed over the top of the paper  with more. This is “inside the arch”.

I played cut and paste until I got to the arch. I don’t have a very steady hand when I’m under pressure, and I knew I didn’t have enough paper for any mistakes (the nearest Joann’s is an hour and a half away!). So I put glue on the back of the paper and had my son, who has a very steady hand, cut the paper off along the bottom edge of the arch. Then I coated the outside with more glue mixture. I gave it about four coats.

 

Here it is while it was drying, back in November.

 

And here it is today

If I had it to do over again, I would make sure that I didn’t end up with all my seams right in the middle. But unless you are really looking for it, it’s not the first thing that catches your eye. Please excuse the glare, it’s the basement lighting. I am happy with my “stone work”, especially with the price….$3.00 and a little Elmer’s glue! It will keep me happy ‘til we get our kitchen done upstairs and I can have the real thing! ;-)

I’ve had a few projects completed since before Thanksgiving and this is one of them. I’m going to be sharing the others and then hopefully keep going with the projects and I try to do a room by room redo of our basement this year.

Have you ever used scrapbook paper for a project that had nothing to do with scrapbooking?

I’ll be sharing my “stone work” at these awesome parties! Click on the button below to see a lot of amazing projects!
 

Every Day Grilled Duck

When Amy first contacted me about participating in her Iron Chef Challenge and I saw that the first theme ingredient was duck…well, I was skeptical…I’ve never cooked or even tried duck! I have always associated duck with expensive Christmas dinners…covered in some rich orange sauce. So, when I accepted the challenge, I decided to try looking for a way to cook duck that wasn’t just for  special occasions and so rich. My biggest challenge turned out to be finding the duck! I was looking for Maple Leaf Brand as they are the sponsor for her challenge. We have two grocery stores in our little town and neither one carries it. I finally made it to a Kroger which is about 45 minutes away and found duck packaged in a way that was just perfect for every day cooking!

It’s a frozen breast fillet with just a thin layer of fat left on. In my reading about duck, I learned that they are very fatty and that is what makes them so rich. Packaged this way, I didn’t have all the fat to worry about and all I had to do was thaw   and cook! So, while it was thawing out  in the refrigerator over night, I let it marinate in Weber’s White Wine and Herb marinade. It’s so easy to mix, just 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of water! It has been my go-to marinade for other meats, and it didn’t let me down with the duck! 

This evening, I used my George Foreman grilling machine to simply grill the marinated duck breast and it turned out fantastic! Moist and flavorful, with most of the fat running away from the meat and  out of the grill. It only  took about 25 minutes to cook and the clean up was a breeze!

I served it with Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice and steamed broccoli for a fast and easy every day meal that tastes like it came from an upscale restaurant!

MMMMMMMM…..

My girls don’t like to try new things, especially when it comes to different meats, but my boys and hubby and I really enjoyed it! Thank you Amy for the challenge, and the opportunity to try something new!

You can check out all the duck recipes at Amy’s Duck Linky Party by clicking the button below!

 

Inspiring and Creative Printable Word Art! A Gift From Kristin…

the  Betty Crocker Wannabe and  founder of SimplyKlassic blog Design! I fell in love with her Scripture Word Art Christmas Tree in December. I’ve always wanted to have scripture in my home as art, so after seeing what she had done with Luke 2, I asked her if she thought she could create something with The Fruit of The Spirit from Galations 5:22-23. This has always been a favorite scripture of mine and one that I have wanted to have as art, out in plain sight as a daily reminder to my family and I how we should live each day. I’ve had a peek at what Kristin has done, and with Valentines Day just around the corner, she has focused on the fruit of LOVE in her art. Well enough of me….Heeeere’s Kristin!

 

My name is Kristin, aka the Betty Crocker Wannabe. I started blogging nearly a year ago, with the idea that I would share some recipes, and maybe add some new ones to my menu. Blogging ended up being so much more than that for me. My blog became a collection of recipes, photography, tales of adoption and motherhood, with a few crafts and decor ideas thrown in. One of the things I became really interested in was digital design. I have designed a number of printables, all of which can be found on my blog.

I have never considered myself creative, but I have really developed a passion for digital design. I am self-taught in Photoshop, which is what I use to create all of my printables.

When Sharon contacted me to guest post on Keen Inspirations, and asked for a Fruit of the Spirit printable, I'll admit, I was skeptical that I could do it. I'm usually at my best when an idea strikes me, not by request. But I played around with the words and came up with this:

You are welcome to download the word art for yourself. Just click to enlarge, then right click and save. Size is 8" x 10". For personal, non-commercial use only. I recommend printing on cardstock. Most recently, my passion for digital design has inspired me to open up a new blog design business last week, and I would love to work with you to come up with a new, stylish blog design for YOUR blog! Visit me at Simply Klassic Design, and make sure to stop by Betty Crocker Wannabe as well, where I'm having a giveaway for a FREE BLOG MAKEOVER! The giveaway ends Friday, January 21 at 11:59 pm PST. Thanks Sharon, for having me visit today, and for making me think outside the box. I had a great time designing this for you!

Thank you Kristin for creating this for us! I’m glad you were willing to think outside the box and even enjoy it! :-) I can’t wait to see what else you will come up with! I’ve been stalking following you almost daily since I found you! :-)

If you download Kristin’s word art, please take a minute to stop by her blog (she has lots of great stuff there to print too) and tell her thank you…remember to enter her blog makeover giveaway too!

I’m off on a final “Duck Hunt” so that I can participate in Amy’s Iron Chef Challenge!

I WON…I actually won something!

I’m not a real big winner…in fact, I haven’t entered many giveaways just because I know my luck! :-). Well, I entered a giveaway for this book

over at Tracy’s Trinkets and Treasures. She was giving it away as part of her One Year Anniversary for her blog…and I WON!! Unbelievable! I’m so excited, this looks right up my alley “Making Everything Easier” . I need “easier”! :-) Yay for me and Congrats to Tracy on her One year Blogaversary!

Tracy has inspired my to take a renewed interest in my digital photography and use of Photoshop! I want to be able to do this:

Like Tracy does! :) Isn’t  it amazing….creating art from your own photos!!!  I love the depth she has created!

Thanks again Tracy! Check out her link party on Tuesday.

Come join us!

LOTT’S Going on this Weekend!

No, I didn’t misspell LOT’s, I borrowed Amy’s Spelling from her blog, A Latte with Ott, A. She is hosting an Iron Chef Challenge and has asked me to participate. It is going on now on her blog. You can click on the button in my sidebar to find out more about it. It goes for four months with different ingredients each month. January’s ingredient is duck! I’ve never cooked with duck before, but am up to the challenge. I’ve found a recipe and am off to find some Maple Leaf Duck! They are the sponsors of this month’s challenge. We are off to the big city of Atlanta today, so surely I will be able to find some there…our little town must not have much call for duck, cuz I can’t find it in any of our two whole grocery stores or “small”-Mart the new version of Walmart going in around rural Amercia..

So while I am gone to the big City today (with the hopes of stopping at a Dollar Tree!) I will leave you with some giveaways to check out along with Amy’s Iron Chef Challenge.

House of Hepworths is having an awesome giveaway this weekend from

Check it out here:

And Kristin from Betty Crocker Wannabe is launching her new endeavor

 

She is offering a free blog makeover!!! Check it out here:

 

That should keep everyone busy if you are still snowed in…if not get out and enjoy some sunshine! :-)

Enjoy your weekend!