Make-Me-Over Monday!!

As many of you already know I love taking something old or ugly and turning it in to something fun & funky! I'm hoping to start this feature on a regular basis, especially now that garage sale season is in full swing. Today's project was a fairly simple one...paint and some fabric and a few embellishments to funk it up a bit.

A wonderful friend was having a garage sale last week and it was within walking distance. Always a good thing when on a tight budget...I wouldn't be able to carry a lot home so hopefully I wouldn't buy a lot. A strong theory but where there's a will, there's a way...and a truck right around the corner. This time it all worked out though. My only purchase was this well used $2 bulletin board...

A little bland for my taste but the cork still had plenty of life! I didn't know what my plans were for it but I had some ideas right away.

I checked out my paint & fabric stash and got to work. There were a few imperfections in the frame due to it's age but I used the embellishments to hide those as well as a little goof or too by me. I learned a few lessons in this project but overall I'm happy with the makeover!

The bottom part is chalkboard paint so there's plenty of space for both thumb-tacked notes and quick reminders!

Happy Make-Me-Over Monday...now it's time to do the housework I've avoided all day to finish this up!

Root Beer Float Cookies?? Yes please!!

Oh my goodness...I found the cutest blog the other day thanks to the lovely and addicting Pinterest! It's called Six Sisters Stuff and they have some of the most fun I think that many girls could have! Anyway...the pic on Pinterest was for their Root Beer Float cookies and looked delish! I just happened to have some root beer extract from one of those gazillion recipes I have bookmarked but have never tried. These weren't making it to that list...they were getting made!

I didn't take pics along the way because the oldest heathen decided she wanted to help make them and I was too busy showing her how to actually LEVEL a cup of flour etc but I got a shot of the finished product which you'll see below! These were super easy to make and the kids all loved them (even before they got frosted!). They are moist and cake-y!!

NOTE...I NEVER have buttermilk on hand and wasn't about to load up the kids to go get some. I had heard you could substitute various combinations of things so I dove into webland and found that if you add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk (any kind, I used skim) and let it sit for 10 minutes, you will have an appropriate sub! Worked for me!!!

Here's the recipe from the site...

Root Beer Float Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen large cookies or 4 dozen medium cookies (depending how big you like 'em!)


Cookie Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. root beer extract or concentrate

4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Frosting Ingredients:

4 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

3 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. root beer extract or concentrate

 
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375º.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in buttermilk and root beer extract. 

Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. 

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375º for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. 

In a mixing bowl, combine all frosting ingredients. Beat until smooth. 

Frost cooled cookies.

Enjoy! 

 

A few folks had commented on their page that they used a little more extract so I did too =)  Never too much root beer flavoring but only went a teensy bit over the amount called for!

 

End result...

Cake-y Cookie Delicious-ness!!

 Gonna try them?? Let me know what you think =)