» College

From Rust to Chalk & Major Room Reveal

Sarah — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

I am excited to finally show off my room looking the way I’ve wanted it to all school year! You already saw the photo grouping last week and may have seen the room tour I wrote about when I first moved in last September. Trust me, it’s come a long way, but without spending a lot of money and by being creative and settling with what I can afford.

What really makes the room, in my opinion, are the little details that I made myself (which you will see further down). The ultimate project I couldn’t wait to finish was a pair of frames turned into chalkboards. I initially thought I was going to use this huge round mirror I posted about a while ago to paint and turn into a chalkboard while painting the wood it’s on a fun color. I quickly realized that it was too large to fit anywhere, the mirror was glued on and a pain to remove, and I then decided I wanted a magnetic chalkboard while refusing to use magnetic paint, which meant I had to buy metal to paint with chalkboard paint.

Luckily, I only paid a small amount for that mirror and was given these great frames from my mom over Christmas break to use however I want. They are 16”x20” and I can paint them down the road if I so choose.

I planned on buying sheet metal at a hardware store and having it cut to size on site, but buying two sheets the size I wanted would have cost me from $35-60, which I could not afford. My dad told me that a person can usually find sheet metal much cheaper at plumbing stores, but that was after I already solved the problem. If you’re looking into making a magnetic chalkboard, I’d recommend doing more research on sheet metal to get the best deal possible.

To solve my dilemma, I posted a wanted ad on Craigslist for a piece of sheet metal sturdy enough to stand on its own (so that it would be durable enough to stay flat in a frame) and to be cut into two rectangles the size I needed them. I offered $10. I answered a response and went with San to pick up the piece of metal. When I got there, I saw that it had rust on it, but I was sick of this project and all the dilemmas it was producing, so I bought it and just went with it.

Cutting it was a nightmare because it was very thick, so when my dad was in the area, he brought his metal snips and we painstakingly contorted the metal (in the bitter cold, mind you) until we could get it cut to size. Moral of that story is to let the person who sold you the metal cut it for you when they offer. >.<

Anyway, this is what it looked like before priming it:

Pretty bad shape. It’s a wonder with all the speed bumps this project ran in to that I kept going. I primed it with black Rust-oleum automobile primer that can cover rust and stop it from spreading. One of the workers at a hardware store recommended this for painting on rusty metal, and let me say that it worked perfectly! Being limited on space, I had to prime and paint the metal in my apartment. I couldn’t do it outside because of the cold temperatures. I opened lots of windows, had a fan blowing, opened the door to the hallway, and turned the stove fan on. It definitely is not the safest or smartest way to do this, but I’m young and learning as I go. I sprayed three coats of the primer on within a few minutes of each other and let them dry overnight.

The next day, I painted three coats of Rust-oleum Chalkboard Paint with a small roller. I waited three days and they were perfect! I popped them into the frames, decorated them, and then the room was finished (at least for now)!

Let’s take a look!

I keep my books, DVDs, and dumbbells stored on this inexpensive metal shelf. I decorated it with a pretty pink apron.

The pear is one of my favorite pieces in this room – I dedicated a whole post to it a while back.

If you’d like, you can read more about the photo grouping here and the corkboard-turned-jewelry-display here.

I can’t get enough of Starry Night. The poster has been taken down and put back up countless times, but I still love it.

I can’t hide my love for ornately carved frames and dance art it seems.

I made the bed quilt with my grandma for my confirmation years ago. I love it, even though it is a little youthful. This room seems to blend the youthful colors with more sophisticated elements – perfect for someone my age!

Can you see them? There are the chalkboards. I don’t have them hung on the wall yet because they weigh about seven pounds each and I haven’t got any heavy duty hooks for them yet.

All of the orangey wood furniture came with the room (my bed, the dresser, the middle storage cabinet, and the desk). It’s definitely not ideal, but I work with it.

A note about finding chalkboard chalk: head to an office supply store and not a store like Target because they usually only have sidewalk chalk which can stain your chalkboards and is very hard to remove.

I love them! I now have a place to reflect how I am feeling, what’s going on in my mind during any given day, and to house all sorts of inspiration.

Last but not least, my smile banner I made last year that makes me so happy every time I look at it.

So what do you think? Is it an upgrade to what I started with?

I have to say that my room makes me incredibly happy and calm. It’s my one place that is just for me, which it reflects. As much as I love all the designer rooms and rooms of the great bloggers I follow, I have come to terms with the fact that I am not living a life like most of these people right now. I am a college student. I barely have even just a few pennies to my name and have no place I actually purchased and can do what I want with. Yet, I am proud because although my room is far from magazine-worthy, it has “Sarah” written all over it. I worked very hard to save money and use what little resources I had to make it something inspirational for me.

Everyone should be proud of their home no matter what state it is in because they’ve worked to make it the way it is. I take delight in the little things, so as long as I have some place of my own, even if I do not own it, I will do my best to create something out of it while continuing to dream of the day when I can go all out with a house I own.

Let’s all spend today loving our current situations and homes just the way they are. I know there many things we all would love to fix or upgrade in our lives and our homes, but until we can do those things it can help to see the best in what we have now. Here’s to living in the present but keeping hope for the future!

Revamping Recipes: Belly Buster

Sarah — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:41:10 +0000

I am really getting the hang of making big batches of food every Sunday. This time I made a HUGE casserole (or hotdish as we call them in MN) which could very well feed me every day until next Sunday when it’s time to make something new. I found this recipe called Belly Buster at RecipeZaar. The small amount of ingredients and number of servings (4-6) drew me in. Plus, the pictures had me salivating on my keyboard, so I figured I had to give in and make it. I had to buy most of the ingredients, but that was mainly because I was completely out of almost everything.

It calls for:

1 (16 ounce) box elbow macaroni
1/2-1 lb lean hamburger
1 Spanish onion, chopped medium (optional)
2-3 cloves crushed garlic (optional)
1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes, with juice,cut tomatoes in half or stewed tomatoes
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup (Grandma & Mom used real grated cheese)
2-4 cups grated cheddar cheese, or slices to cover top of casserole
salt and pepper

I stuck to the recipe very closely except I substituted a pound of ground turkey instead of hamburger because I already had it in the freezer and I used garlic powder instead of real cloves because I can use garlic powder in many recipes. The directions were very easy, but since I’m sure everyone likes pictures of food, I will share my process, which can also be found here.

I started by chopping up the onion.

Then I started browning the turkey mixed with the onions and garlic powder. While that was going, the macaroni was cooking.

Once the pasta was al dente I added it to the casserole dish.

Then when the turkey was finished cooking shortly after I drained it and layered it on top of the pasta.

Then comes the best part – pouring the cheddar cheese soup over the meaty starchy goodness.

Then the stewed tomatoes came and stole the spotlight. They really make the dish pretty and give a lot more flavor.

Then, because the cheese soup is not enough, I added shredded cheddar cheese to the whole thing. Then I popped it into the oven for half an hour at 400 degrees.

After I took it out, I couldn’t resist. I spooned myself one sixth of the hotdish and sat down for one delicious meal.

Let me tell you, this is one delicious, cheap, and filling meal. The cheese soup really did it for me. It made it very creamy. And the name was not lying. I thought I would need more food with this, but I was so full when I was done. I can’t believe some people can actually eat a fourth of the recipe!! I am a good eater but there is no way I could do that. This is a great meal for me because it is delicious and I don’t mind eating it all week. It would also be perfect for a family. It is very easy and kids could definitely help layer the later ingredients. It’s fun just like lasagna. I would definitely try this if I were you. Yum-o!

So, now that I have shared my revamped recipe from the weekend, I want to hear what you made this week or are going to make. Any good recipes to try?

This post is a part of Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Revamping Recipes: Zucchini-Pepperoni Pizza Frittata

Sarah — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:14:35 +0000

This Sunday I decided I would take a stab at a recipe I found at Better Homes and Gardens. The one thing I try to always have on hand are a small assortment of Italian spices like basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, sage, and marjoram. Buttered noodles with spices is my go-to recipe when I’m craving starches but don’t want to attempt anything complicated. Because of this, the recipe I chose seemed to have a lot of ingredients, but because a lot of them were spices, I was good to go.

I went with Zucchini-Pepperoni Pizza Frittata because I figured it would be easy to split into a few days worth of dinners and would be easy on my pocket as well. It calls for:

3 cups thinly sliced zucchini

4 eggs, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons snipped fresh oregano

2 teaspoons snipped fresh thyme

2 teaspoons snipped fresh marjoram

2 teaspoons snipped fresh basil

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 1/4-inch-thick tomato slices

6 1/8-inch-thick pepperoni slices

4 ounces thinly sliced mozzarella cheese

I made some minor adjustments. I didn’t use fresh anything because, well, I can’t afford fresh herbs and spices and I especially can’t afford any waste, which would happen a lot since I am only cooking for myself. The grape tomatoes I had (which I buy because my parents tell me they have the best flavor of any store-bought tomato) were going bad, so I decided not to use them. Instead, I decided I would just spoon on a little spaghetti sauce as a pizza sauce substitute. I bought a bag of really small pepperoni and just took a handful of them and cut them up because I like smaller pieces spread around. Instead of mozzarella I used provolone and simply broke them into pieces. Other than that, I followed the recipe closely.

It turned out better than I expected and actually reheats pretty well. I don’t think I will make it again just because the pieces are pretty thin and I am a busy girl who needs a bigger supper than this recipe can provide. Other than that, I would recommend it to any egg lover who wants to try something new. I’m really starting to like making my meals ahead of time. It says time and energy when I don’t have to decide every day what I want to eat.

What was your favorite thing you ate in the past week? Do you like egg dishes such as this one?

This post is a part of Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Thankful Thursday – Magazines and Cookbooks

Sarah — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:48:31 +0000

I must say that living away from home is hard, and although I am thankful for my education it still is a constant struggle for me to get used to living so far that I only see my parent about every six weeks or so. I don’t even know when I will see them next. It’s all a part of growing up, I guess, but growing pains come with that.

The last two weeks have been good to me. Although I haven’t seen my parents, I do talk to them once a week on the phone and we stay in touch through twitter and my blog. One great thing they did for me was send me up some magazines that came for me and my hometowns newspaper. That really made my day because I kind of felt like I was at home, even just in spirit, and I knew they were thinking of me.

I have already found, even though I have only been blogging for a month, that great friends come from sharing your life online. Donita, one of my main commenters, was kind enough to send me a cookbook two weeks ago because she knows I love to cook. It made me so happy to open the package, and it even had a special note inside! I now see why people make friends by blogging. I really can’t wait to see what other friends I will make as I continue sharing my life, thoughts, and daily routines on my blog. So, I guess today I am thankful for technology, friends, family, and giving. What are you thankful for?

Revamping Recipes: Utilizing The Day of Rest

Sarah — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:30:20 +0000

I had an epiphany while surfing the web last Friday. I was reading my favorite blogs and stumbled upon Sweetnicks which had a post about Pasta With Chicken Sausage and Broccoli. Cate wrote about cooking this meal which is nutritious and delicious but easy for a family on the go. With only six ingredients, three of which I had on hand, two I could easily switch to something I had on hand, and one that was fairly inexpensive, I made a plan. I hear many people say that they sometimes will make main dishes for their families on the weekends so the weeknights are less stressful but the food is still up to their standards. I thought that since I am almost always only cooking for myself, I should try this, but instead of cooking many dishes, one or two would suffice to last me at least three days throughout the week. I don’t mind repetition when it comes to food, especially if it means an easier meal and more money in my pocket. I decided to try this recipe out for myself.

I dedicated Sunday night to be my cook-for-the-week night. I gathered all the ingredients (including my sustitutes) and went to town. Note: picture quality is lacking because I haven’t exactly informed all of my roommates that I have a blog (I don’t really know why, I’m just kind of shy about it I guess), so I tried to hide the camera as I took pictures. I really should just tell them. Anyway, this is what I began with.

I used chicken instead of chicken sausage, only because I had it on hand. I’m sure the sausage would taste a lot better, but again, I’m doing this to save time and money. I also used mostaccioli instead of rigatoni which I also had on hand. Instead of buying a head of broccoli, I bought a bag of already cut broccoli so I can use it as a side dish with other meals. The rest I used straight from the recipe. The onion is in a bag because I chop one up and use it throughout the week in tuna, wraps, pasta, etc. until it runs out. One onion lasts a long time when cooking for one.

What I really liked about this dish is that it only involves one pot and one pan. We don’t have a dishwasher, so easy cleanup is very important to me when cooking. After I finished cooking it, I transferred it straight into a large storage container. I didn’t even eat if for supper! I stole a quick bite which was very tasty, and then made myself a tuna sandwich with pepperoni. I added the pepperoni because I was feeling ambitious, and it was actually very good.

And there you have it. If you liked the looks of this, head over to Sweetnicks for the recipe. Because this recipe made so much I probably can live off of it for four days! I’ll see if I get sick of it. I have lots of options to switch it up though, so I’m sure I’ll be fine. There are always roommates to feed, as well. How many of you cook your meals ahead of time? Any suggestions? I hope everyone had a great weekend!

This post is a part of Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.