Guilt Free Ice Cream, Hallelujah!

My dream has come true. Ice cream, without the guilt?! Those are some pretty lofty claims coming from Use Real Butter.  I have to say, I've made this quite a few times after stumbling upon this recipe on none other than Pinterest, and I've got to say,

I'm in LOVE.

It's the perfect cure for my nightly, yes nightly, nagging sweet tooth. 

This is literally all you need! 

-Cocoa powder (unsweetened)

-Bananas (2-3, ripe)

-A dash of milk (I use either soy or almond but regular is great too)

-Peanut butter (I've used PB2, but prefer the real stuff for this recipe)

First step is to slice your bananas and toss those babies in the freezer for an hour or two. If you're like me and usually make things like this on an impulse, keep some frozen bananas handy in your freezer. 

Once they are good & frozen, put them into your food processor & add just a dash of your milk, like so:

Then chop and grind! They will turn into a pebbly mixture, and then eventually turn into wonderful creamy goodness!

Mmmmmm creamy goodness.

Last step (these are easy, huh?!) Put in 1-2 tsp of your peanut butter, and 1-2 tsp of your cocoa powder. Give your food processor a few more pulses and you've got your "ice cream" ready to eat! 

YUM.

Enjoy :) 

Easy peas'y & lovin' it,

Sierra

Rug Obssesed

Lately I've been dreaming about rugs. Printed rugs, solid rugs, yellow rugs, coral rugs, you name it. Alas, it's nearly impossible to find one in my budget.

A tight budget.
Like a really really tight college student budget.

I've seen many of my fellow bloggers out there showing off their DIY painted rugs, but I just don't know if those are durable, or good looking enough. Photos sometimes don't show what an object really looks like. Plus, I think I'm honestly a little afraid to attempt the project.

I would loooveeee a few area rugs for my dining room, living room and bedroom. So, while I work up the courage to attempt that kind of DIY project, I'll just drool at these in the meantime. 

I adore this Moroccan motif with a punch of pink from Shades of light

I've never seen anything like this before! Looks like a slice from a tree (Calfinder)

This forest inspired room has an adorable faux wood rug. (Houzz)

I'm a sucker for neutrals, so of course I love this cecil rug from Bloigg Plus

Can you believe this is a standard ikea rug? With a painted motif of course, from Pudel Design. 

Even though chevron stripes are slightly overused these days, I can't help but love this beach cottage inspired painted rug from The House of Smiths

And lastly, this is a memory foam bath mat painted, from The Idea Room

What kind of rugs do you have in your house?

Neutral or a punch of color?
Store bought or DIY? 

Living with naked floors,

Sierra

Vintage Dresser Facelift

Hello there! Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine today, I know I am! I can't get enough of my first Washington summer, it's amazing. 

Lets get down to business: Once I reassessed the furniture in my garage waiting for makeovers, I came across a dresser. This piece is truly a gem to me. It originally sat in the guest bedroom of my grandparents house, which brings back an endless amount memories. I'm not one usually comfortable with change when it comes to nostalgic pieces, but this dresser needed some work.

 I began brainstorming about colors, and after countless paint supply stores and searching, I narrowed it down to Valspar Swim, which is a very bright turquoise color. Bringing that paint can home completely alarmed my boyfriend, and he was even more alarmed after the first coat (after sanding & primer of course!)

Yes, I do look quite glamorous when I paint. ;)

Pretty bright huh? Stick with me.

After a few coats and some brown translucent glaze, I ended up with a gorgeous aged looking turquoise; the rich dark brown, the bright turquoise, it looked wonderful.

But then...

The protective coat happened.

I've used this same protective coat many times, even over this same glaze but for some reason, the glaze ended up looking splotchy, and almost seemed to be brushing away during the process. And if any of ya'll are wondering, I most definitely waited the allotted week for the glaze to dry, so I'm a little stumped on this one.

 

Look at that side! Ugh, insert sad face here. :(

So. Although I am not 100% pleased with the result, it will do for now. Luckily, I enjoy doing this more than almost anything else, so I have no problem starting over at some point...just not today. 

If any of you out there have tips, tricks, or any feedback, let me know. I'd love to hear from you! :)

Still growing & learning,

Sierra