DIY Mugs

I read on pinterest (what good convo doesn't start with this nowadays?!) That if you use sharpies on an oven safe mug then bake it in the oven, it will permanently be on there. NO! NOT TRUE. I even put the cup in a cold oven and let it preheat in there too. Still washed off. So I was in search of a good but still affordable ceramic pen so I can start making mugs and selling them or really more like give them as gifts! I used Elmer's Opaque Paint Markers.

So apparently just letting it sit and dry is not the way to do it... this is what it looked like after one wash:

So I decided to try it again and this time put the cups in a cool oven (on a cookie sheet) and preheat the oven to 300º and cook them for 30 min. After that let them cool in the oven as well. This is what they looked like after one wash:

Not bad. Much better but you can still see were some of the paint kinda faded... (look at the M in Mrs.)

Best Roasted Chicken Ever.

When I was younger, my mom always loved buying the roasted chickens from Sam's. They were the cheapest AND the BIGGEST. When I grew up and lived on my own with my child and significant other, my friend gave me a recipe for that because I wanted to save money. This costs the same but you get way more chicken, it's fresh (juicy and not dried out), and easy.

What is important here is that I had to change the cooking time and temp to fit MY GAS STOVE. She had electric and cooked @ 400º for 2 hours. When I did that it was the driest thing ever BUT I DIDN'T GIVE UP! The next time I did it for 1.5 hours @ 350º there we go! I tested to make sure the chicken was cooked all the way by cutting the breast (the thickest part) and making sure the was NO PINK.

1) Preheat to 350º

2) Rinse the chicken and pull out the gizzard and neck. Why we wash chicken, I have no idea but I was always told to.

3) Put the chicken in a pan and mix the seasonings and butter together and spread or mealt the butter for 10 seconds in the microwave and pour slowly on top. Works best if the chicken is still a bit frozen because then its colder and everything sticks better. I also add fresh basil on top for more flavors.

4) Cook for 1.5 hours then test by cutting the breast (because it's the thickest part) and making sure the is NO PINK!
       4a) If there is, stick it back in there for 15-20 minutes until you have no more pink.
       4b) If there is NOT, take out and enjoy. Don't forget that there is lots more meat on the back too!

Yellow Four Poster Bed Make-Over!

There are three things that I decided, as a child, that make a home ever so elegant: wing-back chairs, coat racks, and a four poster beds. I have the wing back chair (thanks to cheap CL). And now I have my bed! (Also thanks to CL) The lady originally wanted $175 for the frame alone so since I had the CL app I just put it in my favs and watched it. After it was there for over a week I decided to email her and to make a long story short she gave me the bed for $50!

It was pretty scratched up otherwise I would have kept it the original cherry color. I had seen that colored furniture was really becoming "in" so I decided to paint it. Yellow it was!

Because it was a dark color and I didn't want to sand it, I made sure I primed it well. There were so many nooks and crannys, so I used spray paint for both the primer and actual paint. Rustoleum Yellow Sun Gloss was my color. Not too orange and not too green. Juuuust right! What do you think??