Guest Room Progress

 Well, it's not finished, but here are a few photos of the guest room (as promised)...

I'm still looking for the right duvet cover. And I'm not loving the large, dark gray pillows, but it's what we have for now.

There is a trundle under the bed that pops up to make a king bed.

The room has high ceilings so finding curtains to fit (that were reasonably priced) was difficult. I ended up making these and it changed the room dramatically.

I used random things that we had laying around the house...baskets, clock and an old card holder.

My $3.50 lamp

More baskets that we had and little jars that I found at Goodwill and Value Village.

I filled the large jar with travel size toiletries for our guests. The small jar has some handmade felt ball ornaments.

Flowers are always in style and are a great filler of space. And you can't go wrong with Sunflowers. They are just happy!

So there it is. Unfinished, but functional. Hoping to finish before school starts.

Happy Thursday!

Double Chocolate Cookies

Happy Friday, friends! I don't know about you, but some days I just need a cookie. Today is one of those days. It's just a cookie kind of day.

This recipe is the reverse version of my Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. 

I sometimes call them "Inside Out" Cookies.

These brownie-like cookies are chewy and chocolatey. SO good!

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 (12 oz.) pkg. white chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a small bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugars until smooth.
Add egg and vanilla and beat until batter is well mixed.
Add dry ingredients and beat until cookie dough is well mixed with no lumps.
Remove paddle attachment and mix in chocolate chips by hand.
Spoon 1"-2" cookie dough rounds onto cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy and have a happy weekend!

No Bake Cheesecake with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

I'm over at 30 Days today sharing a dangerously yummy NO BAKE Cheesecake with the BEST Fresh Blueberry Sauce.

Click here for the recipe. You're gonna want to make this.

Guest Room Elements

I didn't mean to be gone for so long, but I've been busy working on our guest room. Since we moved in (almost a year and a half ago), it has been a catch-all.

With friends coming to stay in a few weeks and the kids at camp this week, it was the perfect opportunity to make our guest room a pretty and functional space.

I didn't really have a plan going into this, but I started with curtains...

Then I painted some existing tables we already had...

made some pillows...

and spray painted some thrift store lamps.

I scored these lamps for $3.50 a piece!

Hoping to share some more photos of the whole room next week. 

I was really inspired by Lysa TerKeurst's series on Turning a House into a Home on a Thrift-Store Budget and it came at the perfect time. 

What are some money-saving decorating tips?

My Favorite 4th of July Recipes

Happy July all!!

We are just 3 days away from Independence Day! Every year we go to my parents' house for a potluck and LOTS of fireworks.

I always bring the lemonade (flag) cake

And usually THIS

I could eat this by the spoonful! It's so good!!

A few of my other favorites include...

7 Layered Salad

My good friend, Kaitlin has brought these S'mores Bars to the potluck in the past. They are to die for!

My sister-in-law makes a killer hot artichoke dip

And my mom makes this most amazing and easy berry pie

What are your tried and true favorites?

For more patriotic recipes, hop on over to Lil' Luna