Craigslist Personal Shopper!

I have been thinking for a while about a potential business opportunity.  This week an obvious sign presented itself and confirmed there just may be a need.

Do you think you could you benefit from a Craigslist personal shopper?  Do you want to find unique pieces, with a story/history at discount prices?  Do you want the things in your home to look like they were collected over time instead of bought all at once in a store? A mix of old and new?

Maybe you do not enjoy "the hunt" for treasures?  You are not a "searcher"?   Maybe a little too  impatient to sift through crap until a gem presents itself?   Or maybe none of that is true, but you just don't have the time to search.  It does take time and patience.  And just like thrifting, Craigslist requires that you search often to get what you are looking for.  Does any of this resonate with you?  Keep reading.

This is how the story/obvious sign went.

 One of my readers has been wanting a campaign dresser for months.  Specifically a nightstand, but I think she would take any piece if the price is good.  (Right, Treff?)  Anyway, the other day she emails me a link of a 6 week old listing from Craigslist.  A [would-be] score of the century.

Not one, but five campaign pieces.  $100 obo.  Like I said, deal of the century.  As you can imagine, she was very upset, and kicking herself for not having searched before.  Look at them too, they seem to be in great condition.  A dresser, nightstand, cabinet, desk and shelf. (The long dresser is exactly like my green one.)  I would've drove to Ohio myself for this set (or begged paul's shuttle - ie: my dad - to bring).

At the time of publishing, the listing was still up!  I have gotten excited several times after seeing an ad only to find out it was already sold. Hello people! Take that shit down after your sell it.  Eventually it will expire, but boy is that annoying.

Anyway, back to the personal shopper.  This story could have played out differently had I been "on the job" searching for a campaign dresser.  Granted, this would have been tough to find with not one good search word in the whole ad.  Brass anyone?  But on the other hand, this is how you find the true steals!  This seller had no idea what this set could've gone for, or just didn't care.  Sometimes you just have to sift through the listings to find something special.  I can do that.  I do that.  Every. Day.

 By doing daily searches for my potential clients wish list items, I could find what they are looking for, email them the link and they could buy.  No searching required.  For an extra  fee, I could also negotiate the price (something I am great at) and arrange pick up.

If this service is not already available, someone will surely start now that they have read this.  I mean designers are buying great pieces for a deal and up-charging their clients, this would be a way around that.  It would be a great service for busy designers as well.

So since I am just in the "idea stage" I am willing to do some pro bono work.  If you would like a free trial, place your info IN THE COMMENTS BELOW (not on facebook please).  Tell me your city, and the item you are in search of.  Be as descriptive as possible.  I will be in touch!

Postre al Limon {a lime creme dessert}

Let me start by saying that this dessert [in the words of my friend Janie] is sinful. 
Once you have a taste, it will be very hard to not finish off the whole dish. Seriously.  It happens. Be careful.

It's quick, easy and inexpensive to make.  And yes, sinful too.  Please let me know if you make it and how you like it!

Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can media crema (in Mexican section) or  14oz half & half
1 can evaporated milk
2-3 packs of Marias cookies (also in Mexican section)  Could substitue animal crackers
juice of 7-10 limes


TO PREPARE:
Put the 3 cans of milk and lime juice into a blender until mixed well.  Layer the cookies and milk mixture into a 9x9 glass dish, starting and ending with the milk.   Put in the freezer for at least 2 hours and take out approximately 30 minutes before serving. 


Spanish Version:

1 lata de lechera nestle
1 lata de media crema nestle
1 lata de leche evaporada carnation (clavel)
2 o 3 paqutes de galletas Marias
10 a 12 limones. (jugo)

Poner en una licuadora las 3 latas de leche y el jugo de los limones y batir por unos 4 minutos hasta que la cremita quede bien batida.  En un refractario vaciar un poco de la mezcla y poner una capa de galleta maria bien acomodadas que queden apretaditas, despues otra capa de la cremita y otra de galletas, asi sucesivamente hasta que llenes el refractario. Meterlo en el congelador por 2 horas y sacarlo a temperatura ambiente hasta que se ponga aguadito y a comer y disfrutar!   Riquisimo, rapido y barato!

Designer Dining Chairs?!

I know some of you think I am crazy for buying my Craigslist brass dining chairs.

 I actually went through a lot of second guessing after I had them home.  But I thought I would share what I found while browsing google images in search of inspiration for reupholstering them.

Milo Baughman Brass Base Dining Chairs

They look familiar, right?  You'll never believe what they are going for on 1st Dibs.
$4900 for a set of four!

I paid $185 for SIX CHAIRS!  Granted, mine are not the real deal, but the design is exactly the same.  This just re-affirms that my initial gut feeling was correct.  These are cool chairs.

I'm Going No-Poo: A 30 day Challenge

You probably know by now that I love a good challenge.
Something you may not know about me is that I have always wanted curly hair.
CRAZY curly hair.  I would wear it huge too.   No taming of the curls please.

{via}

I know, all you curly girls out there, I have heard you say it before.  It's a lot of work.
Living with straight hair all my life though, I would take the extra work for a built in style.  You have body, You have texture.  AND you can straighten your hair if you want too.

No.  Im not going to get a perm.  (if that was you were thinking) Been there done that.  I ruined my hair in high school with perms, a curling iron and hairspray.  A lot of hairspray.  Since then, I have got my hair highlighted/colored a handful of times, but have generally left my hair natural with minimal usage of product and blow-drying/ironing.  (This is partly due to my wanting healthy hair and part laziness)

A few weeks ago at the Atlanta Arts Festival, a lady came in our booth with the most gorgeous red curly hair.  I complimented her and she told me that I too may be able to get "naturally curly" hair.   

"Have you ever heard of No-poo?" she asked.  Ah, no.

She proceeded to tell us about someone she knows who had straight hair stopped using shampoo and ended up with curly hair!  That is really all I had to hear before I decided I would try it.

I thought of how my hair would does look after not washing it for a couple days.
GREASE PIT.

I did some reading online and even though I was game to try not washing my hair at all, it turns out that you do "wash" your hair, just not with shampoo.  Get it? No-poo?

Baking soda mixed with water is the "wash" and apple cider vinegar with water is the rinse.
This method is extremely popular as of late and if you google "no-poo" you will find more than enough information.  I hate being last on the bandwagon, but here I am.


If you are intrigued too, Naturally Curly  is a perfect intro to no-poo.  Also, Melissa from Eco-Friendly wrote a great post listing the benefits of giving up the poo.

I think this flow chart from the crunchy wife though, may be the motivation you need to give the no-poo a try yourself.

{via}

The idea is this:
The chemicals in shampoo strip your hair of their natural oils, which then tells your head to produce more oil. Oh, is this why my hair gets so nasty if I don't wash it within 24 hours?  (thank god for tight pony tails and hats)

So even if my hair doesn't get curly, other no-poo-ers out there say I should at least expect:

• more body/texture
• less oily hair (after potentially gross transition phase when starting)
• less frizz
• softer, shinier hair
• less $$ spent on hair (for me, only a $10 savings every couple months-but hey)
• less negative impact on the environment

And while my initial interest in the no-poo experiment was to get curly hair, if all of the above happen, it will not be in vain.

How I'm going to No-Poo for my 30 day Challenge
I will "wash/rinse" my hair 3x per week with the following:
1 tsp baking soda to 1 cup water
1tbsp apple cider vinegar (ACV) to 1 cup water
I will brush my hair daily with a boars hair/natural bristle brush to distribute my natural oils from roots to ends. 

*I will not put any products on my hair, nor will I use a blow dryer.  (neither of which I ever do anyway)

I will report back to you weekly on my progress, with pictures.

Week One 
Tomorrow will actually mark my first week of no-pooing and I have to say, baking soda is an amazing product.  I didn't wash my hair for several days (just water rinsed) and it was a greasy mess.  On the 4th day I used the baking soda/water mixture.  My hair felt light and clean and seems to have more texture at the roots.  I washed again with the soda on the 6th day and used the rinse too.  I have also been brushing my hair every day.  So far so good.

{WEEK ONE}

Now, I didn't take a before picture last week, but I can tell you that it would be identical to this.  I might mention that my hair is pretty healthy. This is my natural color.  It does get quite greasy if not washed daily, and if I don't brush it, I would have dread locks in a week.  Seriously.  As you can see, it is not pin straight, but not wavy either.  Im hoping that is going to change!

Anyone else out there tried no-pooing, thinking of trying, or want to try it with me??
Come on it will be fun and I would love to have another partner in crime.  Treffry and Ernesto are on board.

Here is to healthy, non oily [maybe even curly] hair! 

The House of Craig

I have been debating changing the name of my blog to The House of Craig or maybe Craig's House.  What do you think?  You know why Im thinking this, right?

I am addicted to Craigslist. It's ridiculous.

This week marks one year that we have been in our house.  Over the last year I have collected many things from Craigslist that "need some work."  Not to mention items I have thrifted.  Unfortunately, I am not addicted to the "work" part,  just the hunt.
Remember these nightstands I bought last year?  I got them just a couple weeks after moving into our house.  This is what they looked like the day I brought them home.

I wish I had a proper "after" picture to share with you. But the only thing that would be different is that the ugly handles are gone and our TV is sitting on them.  Yep. They are now a TV console [instead of nightstands] because they fit perfectly between the two windows in our living room and I love their low profile, similar to the couch and chairs.

Someday Im going to paint them. Maybe white.  Maybe not.  I want two half circle handles one each one so it will look like one [gold] circle smack dab in the middle. Can you see it?

Also in the living room along the entry wall is this beauty.  A 72" solid wood dresser with brass handles.  Again, sadly this is the before and the after shot too. 

This is going to look amazing one day!  I go back and forth on what color I would like to paint it.  A bold color or maybe just a nice charcoal gray.  Opinions??

Back in February we bought a much needed new mattress and upgraded to a king.  Best decision we have made!  It is great having all that extra room, especially since our little mexi-can always starts his day by joining us in bed. 

I have wanted an upholstered headboard forever and after seeing Daniel's before and after upholstery job on a basic platform bed, I got to stalking.  Craigslist always comes through.  Could be why I am addicted to searching.....I know something will come of it. 

This is what I ended up with.  

Try to imagine a tufted headboard all that red wood covered with a rich charcoal velvet.

My imagination gets the best of me, which is why I have this House of Craig.

Another before and after (in one) is my dining room table, also picked up on [my favorite website] Craigslist.  It's nice and big and come with two leaves.  It was $60.  Not sure what to do with it, but I know I don't like the current finish.

Are you overwhelmed with my to-do list yet?  Wait, there is more.

A few weeks ago I was browsing "brass" under the 'furniture by owner' category (one of my regular searches) and saw a dining set with the coolest chairs.  I contacted the seller and they agreed to sell the chairs separately.  I offered what I thought was a fair price for 6 chairs and she accepted.
So without further ado, here they are!

 Something about the modern lines of these chairs grabbed me.  The metal is a brass color, but too polished.  That will need to change.  Also the hideous, worn 80's fabric is coming off.  

Yes, they need reupholstered.  Ugh!  But....with.... what will I cover them, dear Henry dear Henry? (anyone remember that song)   Oh another design dilemma.  Another project I know, but I will be sending these out to the upholsterer instead of tackling myself.  Must.  Find. Perfect. Fabric. Im shooting for a Christmas reveal, which means they could be finished by Spring.

Just so we end on a positive note here, I'd like to remind you of my campaign dresser that I finished back in January.
I scored this baby on CL for just $15.  It was in such horrible shape when I got it that Ernesto gave me a two week deadline to make it look nice. [or else he was throwing it in the trash].  I came through in just under three months! ha!

Yes.  A finished project.  I know this is something you are not used to seeing here, but times are a changin' my friends.

Mateo's One Year Fiesta!

I am not someone who is known as a planner, but I have to pat myself on the back for for throwing together a nice little fiesta for Mateo's first birthday. Of course, this would not have happened without the help of my wonderful parents [and a minor breakdown in the parking lot of party city].

Mateo's grandpartents are the best!  They offered to host the party, which was perfect beacuase I really wanted my family to be there and knew they would not be able to come to Atlanta.

As soon as I saw this invitation from Etsy seller Inviting Printables, a theme was born.  I sent her the details for the party and asked if she could add this little picture of my mexi-can.  How cute is this?

I found a lot of inspiration for this fiesta on Pinterest.  (shocker, right?)

As usual it was overload, and I had too many ideas....but no plan.  This is why I had the aforementioned breakdown in the parking lot of Party City.  

(On a side note, I am not a fan of this store, it seems pricey and although they carry every color you could want for party essentials, it isn't at all stylish like good 'ol Target.  Bottom line: Go to Target first!)

I didn't specify a dress code, but was happy to see that my brother Bill and his family took the Mexican theme and ran with it.  (see middle pic below)  We supplied mustaches to anyone who felt "under dressed."

I used the invitation and made up a little menu card.  

A few notes about the food.  

The Smoked Pork recipe is from Bobby Flay. And although not a traditional Mexican dish, it had a Mexican flare.   It was tasty, but next time I would definitely go with the carnitas we have made in the past.

I burnt the flan.  Yep, no flan at the party.  Mi suegra would be so disappointed in me.  I used her recipe and really screwed it up.  Burnt.  Luckily we had several other desserts.  

I found these cute sombrero cookies from edible crafts and they turned out so cute and delish! We used my mom's sour cream sugar cookie recipe) 

I whipped up the easiest dessert called Pastel de galleta al limon.  Ernesto's cousin gave it to me and it is a repeater for sure. It's basically lime juice, vanilla cookies and 3 different kinds of canned milk.  You will die! (I'll write a separate post with the recipe)

I thought it would be fun to serve one of my favorite treats when I go to Mexico.  Fruit cups with chile and lime.  Mateo loved this!  Yes, even the chile. 

Since there was so much to do for the party, I opted for a box marble cake (gasp!) and it was delicious.  I used store bought frosting as well, but added food coloring and used my friends Pampered Chef decorator bottle set (I'm definitely buying this!) to turn it into a sombrero cake.  Cute, right?

I made one special cupcake for my little Mexi-can and boy did he like that frosting.

I was singing happy birthday to him all morning so when everyone sang to him at the party he was ready to clap at the end. 

We tricked him into wearing this hat and he didn't even know it.  Ahh the power of distraction.

 The decorating was easy.  Just having everything colorful on the table was so cute.  I printed out all the monthly photos of Mateo, pasted them to card stock and strung them along the window.  Below that I hung a cute little "Feliz Cumpleaños" sign.

Ernesto cut tissue paper into strips and hung it from my parents porch roof and hung a bunch of balloons.  It was festive. 

And of course, no birthday fiesta is complete without a piñata.  Fortunately the Target in Canton Ohio carries them.  This burro was a strong little sucker and took quite a few hits to break open.

Mateo did his best, but then we passed the stick to some older kids!  Here is the before and after.

The next morning Mateo woke up refreshed and had a blast fiddling with his new toys.

It was a great party!  Thanks to everyone who came and made Mateo's first birthday memorable.  Thank god I have this blog so Mateo will be able to look back on it!

Rubbing & Buffing!

Until a month or two ago,  I had never heard of Rub n Buff.  But after seeing so many great transformations from other bloggers, I ran over to Michael's [with my 40% off coupon, of course] and bought a tube of the Gold Leaf.  Then I waited.  What was I planning to use this on again?

Luckily, the perfect project fell into my lap a few weeks ago when I bought these etageres at a yard sale [for $20!]

The original antique finish of gold over brown was just not doing it for me.  I knew I wanted the metal to be gold.  Bight gold!  Gold Leaf even!  Could this be the Rub n Buff project I was waiting for?!  Yes!

This stuff could not be easier to apply.  Now I know there are some "techniques" to applying on larger surfaces, because it does tend to streak, but for the metal bars of my shelves, it was simply rubbing on the gold cream and then.....you guessed it...buffing it with a t-shirt.

{BEFORE & AFTER}

In this next shot, the top shelf was not rub n buffed yet, so you can really see how the new gold just makes the shelf.  I love it!

I say "it" because I have only finished one shelf so far.  I know.  Im so slow at finishing projects.  Maybe I need my mom to come down again.  (Just kidding mom!  I promise I'll finish it before your next visit!)

I love a good "before & after"  What a difference.

Now to style them.  Honestly Im not sure of what to put on these beauties.  I don't want them to look cluttered.  I will have to play around with it.   Of course there is plenty of inspiration on pinterest if you search "shelf styling".  What can't you find on Pinterest?

Mateo's Birthday y Mi Familia en Ohio!

Wow!  We have already been in Ohio for a week! Time flies!  Last Sunday morning Ernesto took my baby and flew to my parents house without me.  I stayed in Atlanta to finish selling Zafiro Jewelry at the Atlanta Arts Festival along side Treffry.  We had fun doing our annual "reunion show."

 It was the first time I had a night away from Mateo.  A Sad day. No sir, I didn't like it.

Of course when my family picked me up at the airport Monday, I started crying when I saw my little Matiti.  It felt good that he was happy to see me too!

We spent the whole week getting ready for the big one year fiesta! (with a little bit of thrifting mixed in, of course!)  The party was on Saturday, but since his actual birthday was Thursday, we had two celebrations.  It started with his one year photo session.  My mom's garden was the perfect backdrop.

That night Ernesto made fish tacos early so Mateo would still be awake for his birthday dinner.  I spent several hours that day baking a very special cake...a la Martha Stewart. (white cake with raspberry filling and this 7 minute frosting)  The birthday boy liked it.  A lot!

He opened a present from his papi [with just a little help] and was very curious on how it worked. 

Let the music making begin! 

More fun and pictures coming from the birthday fiesta this Saturday!! 
I can't believe my little baby is ONE YEAR already. 
The.  Fastest.  Year.  Ever!
 Also the happiest days.  Love=Happiness.

 

ONE YEAR OLD {Mateo's Monthly Photo}