So...Are My Burners Un-Burned?

Remember yesterday (you can see that post here) I was trying out something I found on Pinterest to clean all the gunk off my burners?  Well, today was the day to find out if it worked...and boy, DID.IT.WORK.  Wow, I'm shocked at how clean they are compared to the before pics...

Here's a reminder of what they looked like before:

And here's the amazing AFTER:

They're nowhere near perfect, because they're who knows how many years old (our house was build in 1964) but they look pretty stinkin brand new to ME!  They're 10x better than when we moved in!!  I did have to scrub a little bit and I'll probably do it again in a few weeks but man, oh man...I'm so happy with how they turned out!!  So if you have nasty, burners with years of cooked on grease and grime...book it to Dollar General for some $1 Ammonia and get going.  You can see the full details on how to clean them at my previous post here.

Enjoy...The Curvy Life.

Linking up with...
Delightful Order

Un-Burning My Burners!

While browsing Pinterest I came across a Pin that linked to a blog, The V Spot, she shows a cheap, easy way to remove cooked on grease and grime from your burners! When we moved into our new house it was clear that the previous owner did a lot of cooking on these burners and they have what seems like years and years of cooked on grease and grime!  I have tried several cleaners to get this off, to no avail.  When I saw this Pin I knew I had to try it.
Here's what you'll need:

• Ammonia (I got mine at Dollar General for $1)
• Large baggies (big enough to fit one burner in)
• Cookie Sheets
• Burners

Put each burner in a baggie on a cookie sheet 

 Pour 1/4 c ammonia into a measure cup 

 Pour 1/4 cup into each bag w/ burner

 Tie closed or "zip" if you used that kind

 Move cookie sheets outside and leave overnight

This is as far as I've gotten...Check back tomorrow to see how they turned out!!  Here are a few pics of how nasty they are/were:

And I can't post a blog today, 09/11/2011 without mentioning the events that rocked our Nation 10 years ago.  I remember that day vividly, I was off work, I had Tuesdays off at that time.  My mom called me and woke me up and told me to turn on the news.  I sat in front of my TV in tears the entire day.  I sit here today, writing this post watching news coverage of those same events, in tears again.  It was a day in America's history that will never be forgotten and never be understood.  I had the great opportunity to visit New York City in October of 2002.  Here are some of my pictures of our visit to Ground Zero.  A humbling, sorrowful visit to say the lease.

Me signing a wall to all the victims. 

 My sister in law and I with a NYC police officer.

 (Notice our rain coats...it rained our entire trip)

 This is a sculpture that stood in between the 2 Trade Centers, you can read all about it here. They put it in Battery Park just as it was after the collapse of the Trade Centers w/ an eternal flame to honor all that lost their lives that day.

Don't Forget to check back tomorrow to see how my burners turn out and...

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Enjoy...The Curvy Life!

**A quick note for safety, NEVER mix ammonia w/ any product that contains bleach.  I would just be safe and don't mix ammonia with anything! :)**



It's Ok....

Linking up with
Amber & Neely @ A Complete Waste of Makeup for...It's OK Thursdays!

Here goes...

It's OK...

That I really wish today was Friday even though it's only a 4 day week to begin with!

That I'm excited to do NOTHING on Saturday besides clean and put up my Fall decorations!

That I didn't start running AGAIN this week...next week it's happening b/c I am starting a challenge at work and I'm the team captain...the captain can't fail!

That I drank almost a bottle of wine last night...I live in TX and the weather has finally gotten "patio" nice...so I sat outside and relaxed with a few glasses while my Honey cooked steaks!  YUM!

That even though I have a new house that I love, I still daydream about what I can do to make it even better!

That I don't have enough funds to do the above just yet!

That I'm probably going to sit out on my patio again tonight and have a few more glasses of wine...diet starts next week...gotta live it up!

That I don't take very good pictures.  I want to be one of "those" people that takes great pictures of their home and blogs about it and has a million followers...I've come to terms with the fact that it's never gonna happen!  And it's OK! :)

Enjoy....The Curvy Life!

 

My New Country Cottage Kitchen!

The first time we looked at this house I wasn't IN.LOVE. with the kitchen...but I definitely saw the potential it had.  I have always dreamed of having a country cottage kitchen and this kitchen had "good bones."  I knew the first thing that had to go was the drawer and cabinet pulls.  They were white with pinky flowers on them.  Nothing against them...but the cabinets are also white, however, not the same white as the pulls...it wasn't pretty!  I knew exactly what I wanted for the drawers and that I wanted something simple for the cabinet pulls.  I live about 45 minutes from a flea market that is open once a month...it's called First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX.  You can get ANYTHING here...from a pot belly pig to, well, cabinet pulls!  I got the drawer pulls for $3 each and the door pulls for $1 each...which was good because I needed 27!  Next up, the paint had to go.  The granite in the kitchen is a dark green, which I liked but the green paint that was chosen for the backsplash just wasn't working for me.  I had a vision in mind...BEADBOARD!  I liked the idea because it's not something you see everywhere and it really went along with my "country/cottage" look.  I put my Dad to work on the beadboard...and while he was at that, he added lots of new plugs, which was a plus! Once the beadboard was all in place we took a cabinet door to Lowes and had them match the paint so that the beadboard and cabinets would be the same color...yeah, did you know that Lowes can do that?!?  B/C They can and it's AWESOME!! Then we painted over the rest of the green with the same color as I had chosen for my living room, it's Devonshire by Ralph Lauren (actually, I had Lowes match it in their Valspar brand). 

SO...enough of the details and on to what I know you really want...PICTURES!!

Here are several BEFORE pics (excuse the mess...we were painting the whole house, as well as re-doing the kitchen)

 See what I mean about the green??

 I also got a new faucet in the process!  This is the old one.

And the AFTER....

 Our lab Koopa wanted to help me take pics!

 Close- up of the beadboard and trim.

 More of the beadboard and trim.

a close-up of my $1 pulls!

I love the plate rack around the tops of my cabinets...and a cool story about the angel you see on the right...my families home burned down my junior year of high school.  This angel was hanging on a wall in a room that was very badly damaged by the fire.  The wall was covered in wallpaper.  When we went into the house after the fire the wallpaper had burned off, yet this angel was still hanging in her spot on the wall.  We saw this as a sign from God that we would make it through such a difficult time in our lives.  He continued to test us that year, but we made it through and are better people today because of everything we went through.  It's very true, God never gives you more than you can handle. 

Enjoy...The Curvy Life!

Linking up with...
A Diamond in the Stuff
Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
House of Grace
Savvy Southern Style
No Minimalist Here

Part Two - For all of you Before & After Lovers!

I have a confession...I'm absolutely NO good at taking pictures of my home.  I tried, really tried...I took about 500 pics...they just don't look pretty like the ones you see on the other gals decorating blogs!  I'm sad about this...but hey, practice makes perfect, right?!?  Hmmm...how MUCH practice!?!  You would think that 500 pics would be sufficient...not so much!!  Enough whining...and onto my pics! I promised in a previous post to show more pictures of my hutch re-do...so here you go...

I've linked up to my previous post (above) that has the paint and glaze colors...but in case you forgot...here's the before...

I tried to get close up so you could see the glaze detail.

Here you can see the chair we painted to match the back bead board.

Keep checking back...I will be doing a post soon on my kitchen before and after!!  Here's a little sneak peak...

OH...and yes, I have a candelabra on top of my hutch, minus the candles...I have two for it...I had a major brain freeze last time I was at Wal-Mart and only bought two tapers...KNOWING that this thing takes 3 candles!

Enjoy...The Curvy Life!

Linking up with
No Minimalist Here

It's OK....

I'm linking up with Neely for "It's Ok Thursday".  I'm new to this one...but it sounds fun, so why not.  So here goes...

It's OK...

That I haven't been blogging nearly as much as I'd like...I get home and don't want to do anything!

That I've fallen off the diet wheel...AGAIN.  I'm starting back on Monday, though.  It's truly a never-ending battle.

To not wash my hair for 4 days!  Gotta love that dry shampooo!

To put my fall decorations up when it's still 106 outside!  I just can't wait!

To want to look somewhat "Cute" while at the lake.  My momma ingrained in me not to "leave the house w/out my face on" and it's a hard habit to break...unless going to Wal-Mart, then I break it, a lot!

To shamelessly look at Facebook and Pinterest about every 15 minutes.

That I've had about 6 miniature Reese's PB cups for breakfast. (See, totally off that diet thing!) 

To sleep all day after a really fun night!

To want another tattoo...this one to be exact

To listen to Miranda Lambert, then Pistol Annies over and over and over again. 

.