Under $20 Bar Stool Makeover

I always love a good project. Now as a Mom I love them even more. Projects are something I can do that I enjoy during nap time, or some me time when the husband gets home from work or on the weekends. 

One of the best places to find furniture projects is going to the local goodwills or the buy sell trade groups on Facebook. Here you can find pieces that might need an uplift, of course you might even have some pieces in your home too. 

I had been on the hunt for some new counter height bar stools and as a Momma on a budget nothing had caught my eye ir my budget. These weren't a priority on my list of things we needed for our house either so it sat in the back of mind. Then one Friday night in one of those great Facebook groups someone posted these bar stools for FREE. It was about 10 min from my house so I off I went because I knew I could make these babies over. 

 The next day I posted my current ones for sale for $10 and they sold immediately. That $10 went to paint for the stools, because Momma on a budget! 

I purchased chalk paint from AC Moore in Sheepskin. My coffee table is this same color and I knew it was perfect to go with. I'm also a big fan of this chalk paint and the price is great! I love the Annie Sloan paint but it's not cheap or easy to find. There are a ton of color choices in the FolkArt brand and I also saw it at Joanns Fabrics so check your local craft stores! The bonus, you can use a coupon! 

The medium size container cost me under $10 with the coupon, and I'll definitely be using this paint again. 

Next it was time to find a fabric to cover the seats. I decided to use an indoor/outdoor fabric because it would be so much easier to wipe down and keep clean. I found a grey and white stripe one at Joanns fabrics I loved and with a coupon it cost me ten bucks!! So if you don't count the paint since I sold my stools and paid for it these stools cost me $10 but even not $20 is so cheap for a make over! 

Next it was time to paint them. I took the seats off sanded them a bit and they were ready to paint. Best part about chalk paint is your don't have to prime! 

 The stools took about 3 coats. I started them late Saturday afternoon, one was complete by Sunday and the other on Tuesday because I just didn't get to it on Monday. Once the paint was done and dry I lightly sanded and then I used Annie Sloane wax to finish. FolkArt has wax but my Mom had this so I just used it. 

I let the wax dry and we were good to go. We had covered the seats covers on Sunday but I forgot pictures, and we reattached them to the stool and they were done! 

I love the way these turned out, and they look great in my kitchen. They are also pretty comfortable and I might actually sit at the bar now. 

You a can update anything with a little paint. Now I'm ready for a new project. Next up you ask? Turning this space into a sweet play area for my sweet girl, with a bit of a Disney theme! It may be a few weeks but I can't wait to share when it's done! 

  

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread made with Greek Yogurt

When you have bananas going bad one of the best things to do is make banana bread right? I used to love Starbucks Chocolate Chip Banana bread and though I still haven't mastered my chocolate chips not all melting in the bottom this recipe is one of my favorites I found on Pintrest that was from All Recipes and I've adapted a bit. Little by little I've been changing out ingredients to make it much healthier. I was planning on swapping the sugar for stevia this time but I just didn't have enough and wanted to get this sugar out of the house anyways so I just used what I had on hand. If you choose to swap make sure to look at a conversion chart because you won't need the same amount and it will depend on if you use regular stevia or the baking blend. Since the recipe uses Greek Yogurt in still trying to figure out what's right to replace the butter, and replacing the white flour with wheat flour really makes no difference at all. 

 What I love about this recipe is all I had to buy was chocolate chips,  everything else I had in the house and are things I usually do. 

This is quick and easy to put together, the longest part is waiting for it to bake for nearly an hour and then cool when your house is smelling of yummy goodness! 

 Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

Makes one loaf 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (equivalent to 1 stick of butter), melted
• 3/4 cup white sugar or stevia check conversion chart depending on what you use 
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( I use wheat flour) 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, stir the melted butter and sugar together.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix well.  Set the wet ingredients aside.
4. In a separate large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
5. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
6. Add in the yogurt and the mashed bananas and mix until just combined.
7. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.
8. Spread evenly into a greased 9 x 5 loaf pan.
9. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick or fork comes out clean.   It may be done if all you have is chocolate on your fork 
10. Cool the loaf in the pan for at least 15 minutes (it's hard trust me!) before cutting into it. 

 

Now it's time to enjoy and try not to eat the entire loaf at once! 

 

A Disney Dining Must!

We recently returned from a long weekend at Disney. We usually go about twice a year though I am determined to squeeze it to 3 times here soon! We spent 4 years there and I worked there and I might love it just as much for the food as I do for the fact that its Disney. I am always about trying somewhere new we have never tried but a trip to Via Napoli always has to be on the list. Im pretty sure we used to go at least once a month. Before Via Napoli opened in the Italy Pavillion at Epcot pizza lovers were left with much to be desired in the way of pizza.

 

 This place is special the flour for the crust is Caputo flour imported from Southern Italy. The pizzas are cooked in one of 3 wood burning ovens named after the 3 active volcanoes in Italy - Mount Enta, Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli. It is traditional Neapolitan pizza.  Even some of their pastas are cooked in these ovens. One day we decided to get a smaller pizza and lasagna which was good but I just love their pizza. The pizza is seriously like non I have ever had but I have never traveled to Italy so....

Next on the list at Via Napoli is the Sangria. Best deal for a drink in park. At just $25 for a pitcher that fills about 6 glasses it cant be beat. A glass itself is $9. The red is my favorite and its refreshing on a HOT Florida day. 

I've seen people are mixed about using the dining plan here but I think its still worth it. We used it on our September trip and were happy to each get what we wanted on our pizza without having to compromise and got to try some delicious dessert. Seriously though put this place on your list for dining!