Kitchen Project

After living in my house for 5 years, I finally have done some work on the kitchen.  Of course it helps that for the past year and half I now have a husband living with me to get these projects started and completed.  Our kitchen needed backsplash in the worst way.  When I would take photos, I would shy away from the wall.  We never had dinner parties or barely even people over...I just don't like our kitchen.  But after 2 weekends, it's getting better.  My father-in-law came over on a Saturday and started the project with Preston.  The side behind the stove was phase 1.  Then this past weekend Preston and finished up the side behind the sink.  Here are the before pictures.

View from inside the kitchen, sink behind you.

View from dining area, looking in over the bar top.

With everything off the counter, sink is behind you.

Just looking at these photos while I posted them is embarrassing.  How did I live like that?  It looks so...dull! It looks lame, just flat out embarrassing.  I'm so happy it is finished now.  Here are the during photos.

Everything is taped off!

Putting the pieces on...gotta get them spaced just right.

Time to grout!

Ta Da!

BTW - cutting the tile to fit around the sockets was...fun.

Time for the other side.

This side was a lot faster, we knew what we were doing at this point.

Here are the finished FINISHED pictures with the stuff all around. I'm pleased, it was worth the time and effort.  

Picture with light off, but oven light on.

Picture with light on.

Behind the sink complete

Pinterest: Nailed It!

I have tried several projects and receipts from the website Pinterest this year.  Very few of them are successful.  Most of you remember the infamous Cinco De Mayo cookies of 2012.

They looked and tasted like...well...that's just it.  They had no taste.  They were horrible.  My friend Summer still makes fun of my lack of cookie making.  But this time I tried something new.  The Rainbow Cake!  It looked simple and I already had the food coloring from my Cinco De Mayo attempt.  So, let's do this!  I started off by making the cake batter.  From a Box.  I couldn't screw that up.

I then separated the batter into 6 bowels.  I love bowels and have an obsession with them to the point that we have a whole section of the kitchen dedicated to bowels.  My husband has learned to except it when I come home with new ones.  He used to say we don't need any more bowels and I would spend 15 minutes explaining to him that we didn't have any like this and that these bowels are for salsa, or salad, vegetables, sugar, you see where I'm going.  All bowels are not created equal.   Oh' I just remembered that I gave some old bowels to my friend who had just moved only to take them back a week later because I realized I used those for certain things.  That was fun.  Anyway, I separated the batter into 6 bowels. 

I put them in my Anthropology ice bowels because of the colors.  So pretty! The picture above shows the purple, blue, and green already colored.  BTW - if you want to do this, go buy gel food coloring.  It is very vibrate and easy to use.  Below is the finished batter!

You then pour the colors in the cake pan.  I first poured red, then orange, then yellow.  You pour the colors right on top of each other BUT DO NOT stir or shake.  Just pour.  The colors below I feel like don't show how correct they are.  The finished cake shows the real color.

Here is a side by side of the round pans.  You can see the back pan I poured purple, blue, and then green.  Then you bake them!

Once they are done and cooled, I put them on top of each other and iced it up.  I still am working on my decorating skillz, but look at the inside of this cake.  Perfect.  Take that Pinterest.