{Functional} Bar Cart

So in our kitchen we have our bar area. I used an old TV stand and it was working, but I was dreaming of one of those Pinterest perfect bar carts. You know the ones I'm talking about, if not here is one.... 

I quickly realized though that wasn't going to happen. Like I've said before, hubs and I live in an apartment right now and space is everything. Our bar cart/shelf isn't just for looks, we actually need that space and storage. So I'm going to share with you our functional, but still pretty bar area.

OLD:

Here is where we started. Cups everywhere and I spy a crockpot.

NEW:

Thanks to my last project of the coffee bar, I was able to clear a shelf in our glasses cabinet and so I moved all of our Tervis Tumblers (we're a little obsessed...) in there which helped clear out some room. I also removed the middle shelf making the whole thing more open. Thanks to removing the shelf, our ice bucket now fits in the shelf instead of on the floor beside it. I also finally found a new home for the crockpot!

I straightened all the glasses so they looked more neat and organized. To win a spot in the shelf the glasses have to be bar related. Everyday drinking glasses are in the cabinets.

I managed to have a little bit of space left, so I grabbed one of our plastic containers and tossed our koozie collection in it. It made more sense for them to be near the bar, and now I have another drawer open for other things (it is all about the re-org!) My plan is to eventually get a cute basket to replace the plastic bin, but for now this will do (your girl here is on a budget...)

Now for the top shelf - and where I got to implement the "pretty"

Let's start on the left. Here is where I decided to store the liquor and our pretty glasses. The wooden boxes (one says cheers and the other says pop, fizz, clink) are wine bottle holders that were given to me for my birthday, and they made the perfect stand and decoration! (the boxes are a little bit hidden in the pictures by the liquor bottles, you can see them perfectly in the "before" pictures) The champagne flutes with the gold bottoms were the toasting glasses at our wedding (awww). Also seen are my favorite glasses that say cheers, hubs Moscow mule cup, and his Nicky P Pub glass (more on that below).

Cheers Wine Box (exact one here), Moscow mule mug (get yours here)

My aunt found these glasses and got us a set of them. If you'll remember, hubs name is Nick and our last name starts with a P (Nicky P's Pub - it's perfect, right?) Added bonus - the established day is 2014, which is the year we got married! I knew one out of the set had to be on display!

Here is a better look at my favorite "cheers" glasses and our toasting flutes.

Toasting glasses (similar one here), Cheers Flutes (similar set here)

Middle of the table - I added a few of our shot glasses, our two Predators ones (we love hockey!) and a Sailor Jerry's one (our favorite rum). You'll also spy the corkscrew hubs got for Christmas. Yes, under Darth Vader's cape is a cork screw... Hubs said he had to make it on the shelf. And finally, our outdated shaker.

The final side - a touch of flowers, tool set, straws, cocktail napkins (I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day!), and The Ultimate Bar Book

My sister got us this book for Christmas (not knowing that I was re-doing our bar) and it is the perfect addition! It is absolutely amazing! It has multiple recipes for every type of liquor and some history on the more famous drinks. A definite must have!

The Ultimate Bar Book (exact one here)

The final addition: the bottle opener hubs got me for Christmas. I'm obsessed!

There you have it. That is how I tried my best to combine functional with cute. 

Any comments? Tips and tricks I can try? Was this helpful for you? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

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Coffee Bar Creation

 

Hey y'all! So I'm going to start off with an apology ... I very much underestimated my ability to travel, do birthdays and Christmas, work and keep up with this blog. So after a few weeks of being MIA I am back and I'm not going to leave you guys again! I've set my 2016 goals and pouring my heart into The Courtney Collection (as well as the other blog I'm co-author of, SHE Degree) is one of them. I'm planning out the year so if there is anything you want to read about just let me know!

Okay.. now let's get started. I'm in the process of re-doing some of the things in our kitchen/dining room. In our dining room we have my grandmothers table and matching buffet. As of the other day, all I had on the buffet were two lamps and a beautiful monogrammed cake stand. It looked good but wasn't the best use of space. So, I added a coffee bar! My goal was to buy as little as possible and re-use stuff from around the house.

 I've got this cute little wire basket that I used to hold all our K-Cups, and nothing is complete without a touch of monogram. The basket and monogram P I got this past Christmas (hello free)!

 

For a cute added décor to the table I placed on either side of the Keurig a mason jar filled with coffee beans and a candle. The beans I had to buy, but I already had the jars!

 

On the other side of the table I reused this great red tray that I got in the Christmas clearance section in 2014. On the tray I added our coffee mugs, hubs' creamer, and then here is where I bought stuff. I added cinnamon, cocoa powder, sugar, pumpkin spice syrup, French vanilla syrup, and cinnamon sticks. Aside from the syrups I had all the spices, I just needed the containers for them. I got them all for $4 or less, and then used a paint pen to write on them what it was.

 

I had so much fun putting this together and can't wait to start and show you my next projects (teaser: bar cart and hutch re-do are coming!)

 

I hope this has given you a little inspo for your home. If you're wanting more information on anything I did let me know!

 

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Casino Christmas

 

 

Christmas is so hectic in my house, and to add fuel to fire my mom, sister and I all have birthdays in the week leading up to Christmas! My dad has never been a fan of December – I wonder why?!? ($$$I think I know$$$)

Growing up we always called it our 90mph Christmas and it seemed so fitting. I thought there’s no way it could get any busier. I was wrong. I then grew up and got married. So now I have Christmas parties with work and friends, and a whole other family to celebrate with. It may be crazy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Between all of my family events and all of Hubs family events we about cover the spectrum of things to do. We have a variety of gift exchanges, normal gift swaps where everyone gets everyone a gift, and then my favorite – Casino Christmas!

We do Casino Christmas with my mom’s sisters and their spouses and kids. We start around dinner time and don’t usually go to bed until around 3 or 4 in the morning! Dad has a roulette table he pulls out. It’s a $20 buy in, second place gets their money back and first place wins the pot. I won last year and I’m ready to defend my title this year! After we wrap up roulette we head to the table for blackjack. Is gambling for Christmas a sin? I don’t know, but it’s done with family and so many laughs are had and memories made. At the end of the day that is all that matters!

Are you looking for a new tradition to spice things up? Casino Christmas is definitely the way to go!

Click here for an all-in-one set. It's roulette on one side and blackjack on the other!

 Let me know if you try it out and how it went. I’d love to hear about it!

 

 

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I like Big Bows..

 

 

.. And I can not lie. What's up y'all! Today I'm showing you how to make a big bow for the top of your tree! I LOVE making these. I usually make a new one each year and have made a few for the tree at my office. This could be scaled down to a smaller bow if that is what you're needing.

 

Let's get started...

 

First you need your ribbon. The key here is WIRED EDGE RIBBON. If the most perfect ribbon that you've ever seen doesn't say it's wired then put it down and walk away. I'm not kidding! With out the wire your bow will fall flat and be a sad sad bow... 

 

This year I stuck with two colors, a red and a glitter gold, but I usually do three.

 

 

For this next part it is helpful to have an extra set of arms. It isn't necessary (I did it last year alone), but I promise you it is much easier and quicker. Have your helper hold their arms out to their sides - isn't Hubs just the best helper? Don't go any wider than this - been there done that. It makes a floppy bow, even with the wire, and like we said earlier floppy = sad.

 

Laying the ribbons on top of each other begin wrapping around and around. This part is personal preference - you can wrap as many times as you want. As you see in the picture I wrapped somewhere between six and eight times and have a nice full bow. You can wrap all the way to the end of the ribbon if you want, I've done it before. You end up with a tighter bow because there are more loops.

 

 

Once you've wrapped till your heart is happy, you're ready for the next step. If you didn't use the whole roll cut the ribbon to where it's even with the loops. In the picture above I cut it by Hubs hand, you don't need all of that hanging off the side.

 

Now take it and fold in half.

 

 

There in the middle, cut a slit on each side. Not too deep or it will fall apart!

 

 

 

With the left over ribbon cut a strip about eight inches or so. It'll need to be long enough to tie around your loops and then to tie it to the top of your tree.

 

So like I just said - tie it (and knot it!) around the middle where you just cut the slits. This is the point of cutting those slits so you can tie it good and tight.

 

 

Now for the fun part! It is time to start fluffing! Start by grabbing the top loop on one side and pulling it out. Continue for each of the loops and then do the other side.

 

 

See?

 

 

Once you have all your loops pulled out work your way through the bow moving loops around and shaping it until you are happy with it!

 

 

Now you're done! Just tie to the top of your tree and start decorating!

 

 

I hope you loved this tutorial as much as I loved making the bow.

 

Did you make one? Send me pictures - I'd LOVE to see it!

 

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The Greatest Woman

 

Today is a little bit of a sentimental post. Today would have been my grandmother’s birthday. She was such an influential person in my life that I would love to spend today telling you about her. This picture was at my high school graduation, seven months before she passed away.

Robbie Hancock, or as I called her – Bird. She was more than a grandmother, she was a woman who persevered through many things. She lost both a father and a husband to cancer. She was a World War 2 baby.

She was a good friend and quite the prankster. From sneaking into friend’s hotel rooms to wrap saran wrap in between the toilet and the seat to sewing the leg holes of underwear shut instead of the costumes like everyone thought! She taught us that sometimes you had to be the butt of a good joke and all is fair in the name of a good laugh. One of our favorite games at the dinner table was GUESS WHO I AM.  We would go around the table picking one family member to basically make fun of. Everyone would laugh, even the person we were making fun of.  She taught us it is okay to laugh at yourself - we all do funny things.

If you asked her children what kind of mother she was, the first word that came to mind was tough. She would stop by the movie theater and ask you if you needed money.  Sounds sweet, but not really.  She had already asked you where you were going, what you were doing, what time you would be home, and who you would be with.  The stopping at the movie theater wasn’t to see if you need money, it was just to make sure you were where you said you were. Now, that was for her children, me on the other hand as a grandchild tough isn’t the word I would give. If I got in trouble at her house I was punished by being sent to her room to watch TV with a handful of candy. If I needed a navy skirt for something well the skirt wasn’t enough, she also decided I needed a couple tops to go with it and maybe the navy pants too. She had an “I can’t take the money with me” theory so we were spoiled, but, she taught us to be thankful for it all. If you didn’t say thank you she would take it back. She taught us to be fair, if one of us got something we all got something. She taught us that bad things happen.  That’s life.  You will be sad.  Sometimes you will lose.  We can’t all win all the time.  You will get your feelings hurt.  But, as soon as you hear the first door slam---MOVE ON. She absolutely loved life and made sure she squeezed every drop out of every day.

She deserves to have so much more said about her but I have to stop somewhere. Robbie Hancock was a wonderful lady and is missed by many.  Happy birthday, Bird!

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