Coffee Mug Racks

I love coffee, I don't think that is any secret. I also love coffee mugs, I have a pretty good collection of them. In our rent house I had a coffee hutch that worked out great, unfortunately the hutch doesn't fit in the kitchen at our new house. I found this great black buffet table from Target to put my coffee maker on and our microwave. You can see it in the final picture, but not the full piece.

I was still searching for a place for all my coffee mugs. I didn't want them to be in a cabinet cause I love having them out and we don't have any extra cabinet space. After searching Pinterest, my usual problem solving routine, I found a really awesome option on Etsy.

While I love the concept, I need way more than four hooks and the price is pretty steep. So I set out to make one on my own. I wanted mine to be horizontal and have lots of hooks on it.

Found Furring wood at Lowe's and had them cut it into two 38" pieces. I wanted it to look more distressed so I used the crazy looking letter opener in the corner to make some notches in the wood. Then I sanded down the edges and started staining.

I love grey, it's my favorite color when decorating. I would paint the whole house grey if it didn't cost an arm and a leg to paint. I guess we are sticking with the tan for now, but anyways--I found this grey stain and loved it!

I used very little stain in order to still see the wood grain through it. I basically dipped the brush and then got as much off of it as I could before I lightly brushed it on the wood.

I tried to evenly space the hooks and make them even so I made a pretty low grade jig. The hooks weren't all even or at the same level but I think they turned out great.

This electric screwdriver helped me out a lot! We have no extra batteries at the house right now and it was definitely dying by the end but it made it through and I was thankful for that.

Here's the finished product! I think it turned out great! The hooks ended up being about 3.5" apart. I have quite a few small mugs so it worked good, but if you only have regular sized mugs you probably want to go around 4" apart.

The second one rack went a lot faster than the first cause I had figured it out already. Kyle added the Lego barista mini fig to the bottom rack for fun. I love having all my mugs out on display, lots of them were gifts and it's fun to be able to look at them everyday.

Here is the finished product. I used 10 hooks on each rack, so there are a total of 20 hooks. And...I still have more mugs, I told you I have a lot! We (Kyle and my dad) are going to move the light switch around the corner and then I will make one more rack to go below those. Then I should have all my coffee mugs out!

Our house already feels like home, and it's been fun to think of little projects. We have a lot more things we want to do but I was really excited about getting these coffee mug racks done!

Friday Adventures

I skipped a few weeks of doing Friday Adventures, but I guess that happens!

Kyle had to go into work for a little while in the morning so I got some stuff done around the house and watched a couple episodes of Chuck on Nexflix--it's my new favorite! I also looked through dessert possibilities before settling on Strawberry Shortcake, seemed very patriotic!

Once Kyle got home we headed out, we went to Target just for fun, then to Petsmart to get Buddy a few little presents cause his birthday is coming up soon, and then we were planning on going to Walmart. Apparently Walmart on the 4th of July is a madhouse, so we skipped out on that idea pretty quickly!

Patriotic outfits in the Lego aisle at Target

We also got some fun treats at Sonic for happy hour. When we got home I needed a quick nap, so I laid down for a bit. Kyle came to wake me up and then Buddy decided he could fit right between us...

Family Pic

We headed over to my parents to grill out for dinner. Buddy really hates car rides, but he loves going to see his friend Jo (and my parents) so he's been doing better in the car lately.

He actually looks happy to be in the car, not sure that's true

We hung out at my parents, ran to Kroger (which was much less crazy than Walmart) and I made the shortcakes for dessert.

We had burgers and hot dogs for dinner, very American! I didn't take any pics of dinner, probably cause I was hungry! After dinner we drove past the house my parents put an offer on, it's a really nice neighborhood! My brother was being crazy at this point, note the looks on our faces...

Then back home for dessert! It was delicious, I love Strawberry Shortcake--especially with this kind of shortcake biscuit instead of the spongy store bought cakes.

Hope your Friday was great! I have to brave Walmart today since I chickened out yesterday...making another dessert today so I'm sure there will be pictures on Twitter and Instagram so make sure to follow me there to see them! And if you missed my last post about Maddie Cakes, check it out! Send me an email if you want to order some goodies!

M

Maddie Cakes

I've always loved to bake and my newest adventure involves baking. Introducing Maddie Cakes...

I've been making treats and goodies for family and friends for a long time. Lately I've gotten into making cake balls and they have turned out really well. For my birthday Kyle designed my logo and business cards, he's so talented! We are working on putting a website together, but for now if you are interested in ordering some goodies send me an email!

Multi Colored Pastel

Red, White & Blue

Chocolate Cake Covered in White Chocolate

Blue and Yellow

Blue and Brown

Sugar Cookies

Mini Banana Bread Loaves

Friday Adventures--involving flying!

Two weeks in a row of my Friday Adventures post being done on time, that's a pretty good streak! Last week my dad took Kyle up flying and he asked me if I wanted to go this week so that's exactly what happened!

Kyle and I headed over to Hick's Airfield to meet my parents. My mom gave my dad flying lessons for his birthday a few years ago and she agreed that if he got his license she would go up with him. (Side note: my mom hates flying) She stayed true to her word and flew from Northwest airport in Roanoke to Hick's Airfield and met us for breakfast.

Waiting for Kyle to run in the church and pick something up

Drinking our coffee at the Beacon Cafe

Pretty awesome to be waiting for my parents to fly in for breakfast

Dad was flying

Look how cute they are!

We ate at the Beacon Cafe, which was delicious! It's right off the runway and we sat outside so we could watch the planes take off and land. I didn't take any pictures of my food sadly, but it was awesome! I got the breakfast tacos, Kyle had the pecan pancakes, Dad had the old fashion pancakes, and mom had the classic breakfast.

Here's the breakfast menu

After breakfast dad took me flying--it was very awesome! We headed to Decatur to fill up the plane and then had to return the plane to Northwest, so my mom and Kyle drove to Roanoke to meet us. I think my mom was quite relieved to not have to fly again. 

Selfie with the plane while dad was doing pre-flight checks

I think we were over Rhome when I took this picture

All the controls, there are so many!

At the Decatur Airport Terminal

It's impossible to take a good picture with those headphones on

Texas Motor Speedway in the distance

Dad was concentrating

I waited til we were safely on the ground before taking a pic with the pilot

Me and Kyle in front of the plane

Dad and me in front of the plane he flew!

Kyle is doing a 30-hour famine with the student ministry, something World Vision has organized over the years. You can read about the details here. He couldn't eat after 12:30, so even though we had a late breakfast, and he wasn't really hungry, we had to get him a snack before the cut off.

Grilled chicken wrap from Wendy's was the final decision

My lunch was a green smoothie

Kyle and Buddy spent some time playing after we got home

After Kyle headed out, Bud rested while I read

And then we both rested, can you see how long his legs are stretched out?

The rest of the night was pretty low-key. Kyle was gone so Bud and I hung out--I did laundry and planned out meals for next week. Then we went to the park for a nice walk, and I had a mug brownie when I got back. If you've never tried a mug brownie here is a link to the recipe I use. I usually half the recipe, cause it makes plenty and it definitely needs ice cream.

Hope your Friday was good! 

M

Friday Adventures (on time this week!)

This week has been much less busy than the past few. Our Friday was much more relaxed which is what both of us needed, but it was still filled with adventures!

We woke up and pretty much headed out the door. As I mentioned last week, my dad got his pilot's license and Kyle has always said that he wanted to go flying with him once he got his license. So they had flight time scheduled for Friday morning. Bud and I headed over to my parents house with him so that we could hang out for the day. (And so I could lay by a pool that wasn't filled with elementary school kids on their first day of summer break)

I brought some coffee and breakfast with me, since I didn't get a chance to eat before we left. (We both overslept)

Dad showed Kyle the route they were planning on taking and told him about the restrictions different airports have. They were both so excited to go out!

While the boys were gone I headed to the gym, cause I miss the Keller 24 hour fitness so much. It's just better than the one by us. Then I ran to Tom Thumb to grab stuff to make dinner. (Another luxury we don't have...no Tom Thumbs or Kroger in this area!)

Did a little bit of time on the elliptical, this was my run on the treadmill (I did walk for some of it) and then I went and did some more leg work outs.

I ran to the store, all sweaty, I'm sure people think I'm gross when I do that but I really don't care. Then went back to my parents house to start some BBQ Pork. I cooked a lot when we lived at my parents house for a few months, and I think they miss my cooking.

My brother and his friend are doing a cleanse for some reason, so while I was making the pork I got to hear all of their funny comments. I sent them to my mom in a message...

Let's just say it's not a very strict cleanse, cause I'm pretty sure he ate pizza the night before and he ate some of the pork for dinner...

My view for the rest of the afternoon, so relaxing! I did put sunscreen on but forgot to reapply so I got a little burned but not too bad

Bud and I rested a little bit in the afternoon, Kyle took a full out nap after he got back from flying. They had an awesome time, dad let Kyle fly for awhile and he loved it. I think I'm the next one to go up with dad!

Then we had some BBQ Pork for dinner. It's a super easy recipe--I buy a Pork Shoulder, cut up an onion, a can of beef broth, half a can of Dr. Pepper, and a little bit of BBQ sauce in the slow cooker for about six hours and then shred it. We had it as tacos but it makes good sandwiches too!

Hope you had a great Friday and have a great weekend! I'm sitting here drinking my coffee and eating a donut. I'm also wishing donuts didn't have so many calories and that my body didn't freak out to extra sugar or I would be getting a second one. Hey, we all have to splurge every now and then right!!

M