Sew Craft N Bead
Sewing, Crafting, Beading and More!
Drawing to a Custom Plush
During my time back home for two weeks, I recieved a special request. A grandmother wanted to give her granddaughter something unique and meaningful for her birthday. She sent me a picture of a drawing that her granddaughter created. The drawing was of a “Peacock Butterly” according to the 6 year old.
Love the mix of colors the child has chosen for this drawing. Good thing is I have these colors in my stash of fabrics. 😉
I accepted the challenge to create a representation of the drawing and make it into a plush form. This was my time to make my own plush pattern instead of using someone else’s. I told the grandmother that I would make a mock up plush first using muslin fabric and send her pictures of it for approval. If she likes it, I will start making the plush using the soft minky fabric.
Here is the mock up I made:
I did not have a pink and blue marker so I used black to show outlines. There are small adjustments that I need to make on the head (like making it a little bit bigger) but other than that it turned out pretty good. The grandmother approved the mock up but asked if I could make the wings not floppy. She wanted them to stick up like the drawing. I agreed and continued on.
To make this plush extra special so I tried my hardest to create the squiggly lines that the six year old drew on the body and repesent them using a satin stitch on my embroidery machine. I had to upload the picture to my embroidery program and trace the squiggly lines to create the satin stitches.
My next task was to figure out how to make the wings stand up. I used white fleece for the wings which the material stands up a little but they can still flop down easily. I looked through my fabric stash and found an ultra firm craft interface that I had left over from a craft project I did last year. This is perfect! I cut two pieces and slipped them into the wings. TADA! The wings stood up.
Here is how the final custom plush turned out:
Isn’t it adorable? I am so proud that this turned out great! Better than I imagine. The grandmother was thrilled and can’t wait to give this to her granddaughter for her birthday in May. I believe this 6 year old will freak out when she sees that her drawing “came to life” in plush form. I know I would if I was a kid again.
I had fun creating this little guy, I have a feeling I might create more custom plushies and design my own plush patterns. Hehe. Exciting!
Thanks for stopping by!
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Sunny Jacksonville
First part of this year I will be flying back and forth to Jacksonville, Florida for work. I am rotating with my friend and co-worker so that we both can have time back home instead of one of us down there for 6 months straight. Rotation is: 2 weeks home and 4 weeks on travel which we overlap for turnover time the first and last week of our rotations (if that makes sense). It’s not the best rotation but at least I will be home a couple of weeks at a time.
It is difficult to be away from home, especially since I have my wonderful craft room to be creative in. If only I could transport my whole craft room with me on travel so I can craft on the go. Reality check, that will never happen. I have way too much stuff to Lu\’shaul and my hotel room would be crowded. I will stick with bringing small craft projects on the go like the Butterfly Bracelet I am currently working on while I am on travel.
I try my best to look on the brighter side of things so I have this unspoken rule that when I go on travel I need to try the local food and find places to visit. Well, this trip is no exception. I have to find the best food around and find some activities to do in Jacksonville, Florida. Do you want to know what is going to be great about this trip? My husband is also on travel for work in Jacksonville, Florida too! How about that. This has never happened before, EVER! When we both travel for work we end up in different locations, but the stars have aligned and we are both in the same location! FANTASTIC!
Now with hubby and I in the same location for work, it feels like we are on a mini vacation together. Best part is, we didn’t have to pay for this “mini vacation”. Hehe. Nice, right? We took advantage of this rare occurrence and explored Jacksonville.
Taco Lu’s
First stop, Taco Lu’s. I loved the vibe radiating out from this place. I was mesmerized by the intricate wall decorations and display of vibrant colors! I was very impressed and the Mexican theme was spot on. I knew after I stepped into the place, I was going to enjoy the food.
Before I ordered my husband suggested to me that I should try the tacos. We told me that they have a variety of tacos and offer daily specialty tacos not mentioned on the menu. Interesting… I decided to try the Bangin’ Shrimp Taco and one of the specialty tacos that had Salmon in it (sorry I do not remember the name of it) but I can imagine it will taste good.
As I sat waiting for my tacos to be made, the server placed chips and salsa on the table. The salsa had a nice flavor to it, hint of sweet but with a nice little kick. Note, if you don’t like salsa that is a little bit over mild, you might not like it. I wish I would have asked, but I am curious now if they make their own salsa or buy it somewhere. Maybe next time I go I will ask.
I have to tell you the tacos I ordered were amazing and mouthwatering!
Doesn’t it look delicious? I wish I had a Taco Lu’s where I live so I can go there all the time! I am so jealous! I can’t wait for my return to Jacksonville so I can have more of these tacos!
Top Gulf
Before I traveled to Jacksonville for work, my husband spent the past three months exploring. While on travel, my husband got inspired to pick up golfing. It all started when a co-worker took him to Top Gulf in Jacksonville. After that day, he likes to go there every so often to play.
Once I arrived, he desperately wanted to take me to Top Gulf. I was skeptical at first since I know in the past when I was a teenager I sucked at hitting a golf ball at a driving range but when I played here I actually had fun. After a few hits, I progressively got better. I even beat my husband twice! Hehe. Okay, he did beat me the first round we played but I still won the last two rounds. Lol. I might be slightly competitive, just a little. *pinches fingers*
I was also shocked that Top Gulf has really great food. My husband ordered humus as an appetizer. We devoured it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture. 🙁 Just trust me, it is good! I ended up ordering the pulled pork sliders and a side of tator tots to eat.
If you look closely at the picture above you can see the empty plate in the background which once held the Humus hubby and I devoured. Hehe. The pulled pork sliders tasted amazing BTW. I loved the hint of coleslaw they placed in the sliders it was a nice touch of flavor. I usually don’t like coleslaw but I always have to remind myself that I need to try new things. I think the combination of pork and coleslaw was flavorful. Oh, and the tator tots were nice and crispy just the way I like them.
Here is my husband hitting a golf ball at Top Gulf.
Fun times.
The best part about Top Gulf is even if you are horrible at it, you can still have a lot of fun. If for some reason you are not up to hitting golf balls they do have a bar you can sit at or you can play at the pool tables or you can explore the other activities they offer at the facility. I love the upbeat tempo they have here. Definitely a place you can visit for family and friends to have a great time! I certainly had a blast.
Bongiorno’s Philly Cheese Steak and Pizza
This place was a little rough looking inside and too dark for my taste but I didn’t not want to judge the food by the way the place looks like. I ended up waiting about 25 minutes before I got served and they weren’t even busy, not good. I am a very patient person and I didn’t want to get up an leave since I was craving pizza and this was the only place close by. I could have tried getting up to talk to an employee, but I was curious to see how long it would actually take.
When the server finally came by the table, I decided to get a create your own Stromboli. What I didn’t know is they charge for each topping you choose which the menu was very deceiving. I really wanted to get a supreme like Stromboli but that would have cost me about $20! I limited myself to three ingredients: pepperoni, sausage and onion. Don’t worry the cheese is included, thank goodness.
After waiting for another 30 minutes I got a nice delicious looking Stromboli.
Here is how it turned out:
The Stromboli smelt and tasted wonderful as you can see since I took a few bites before I took a picture. The cook did a great job. If only the service could improve a bit then this place would be awesome in my book. I may come back here again to try the Philly cheese steaks the next time I visit but no promises.
Taziki’s Mediterranean Café
If you want some amazing Mediterranean food, this is the place to go. I got the lamb gyro with a side of chips and cucumber salad and it was to die for. YUMMY!
When you look at this picture does it make you just want to attack the computer screen to grab it and eat it? I know I would. lol.
I found out that Taziki’s is a food chain but this was the first time I ever heard of it. I wish there was a Taziki’s where I live. I know for a fact that if anyone ever opens one close to me, I will probably go there all the time. Here is another fact, next time I go to Jacksonville I am going to eat here again and try something else on the menu. I’ll keep you posted. 😉
Ruth Chris Steak House
I have to admit I never heard of Ruth Chris Steak House before and I know why, it is a high class fancy restaurant. Oh and very pricey… yeah… If you are wondering how I ended up here, well my husband’s boss and a couple of the high up bosses in the company came to visit the area to congratulate my husband and his team for the hard work they have done in Jacksonville. I felt special since I was invited to join the dinner party and they treated me like I was part of the family.
A nice thing about going to a really nice restaurant, I finally have an excuse to wear a dress! I brought a dress down for Valentine’s Day just in case hubby and I wanted to go out, but we ended up enjoying each other’s company in the hotel room that day. 😉 Good thing I brought a dress down so I had something nice to wear for the dinner party. I have to be honest, I am happy I didn’t have to buy a new dress since I have a few at home that I’ve only worn once or twice.
When we arrived to the restaurant I was amazed. This place looks and feels so romantic and the customer service they provide here is top notch. I had a great time here and it was nice I got to enjoy it with my awesome husband and celebrate the hard work he does.
I am sorry to say that I didn’t take any pictures of my meal here. I wanted to be respectful so I didn’t take any photos. I ordered the most delicious and perfectly cooked petite prime rib and a side of creamy lobster macaroni and cheese. I was in food heaven every time I took a bite. Best tasting prime rib and mac and cheese I ever had so far.
Well, that is all I have to share about my first trip down to Jacksonville. I will keep you posted on my next trip down.
Thanks for stopping by!
Butterfly Bracelet Part 1
I found out that I will be traveling a lot this year for work. 😯 Not the most ideal for me since my husband already has to travel a lot. When would we see each other if we are both on travel?? I will be flying back and forth to Jacksonville, Florida this first part of the year and lucky for me that is where my husband is working at the moment. That means I will get to see him when I fly down there four weeks at a time (My rotation = 2 weeks home & 4 weeks on travel through July).
Since I will be on travel I figured this is a great opportunity to do a small project. What kind of project you ask? How about a beading project? I realized that I haven’t touched much of my bead inventory this past year. The last time I did a beadwork project was in 2016! Yikes! I guess I’ve been really focused with sewing plushies last year. Hehe.
Beads are portable as long as I plan my project out. If I don’t come up with a realistic plan I will end up with a suitcase full of just beads. Hehe 😉 I have to resist the temptation of packing all my beads… This may be very difficult for me by the way.
I made this beautiful “Teal Embrace” bead embroidery bib necklace back in 2016 which took me weeks to complete. I don’t want to make something this extravagant while I’m on travel so something half the size would be reasonable. What can I make that is not too big and not too small? Hmmm…. Oh, I know! How about a cuff like bracelet? It’s not too small where I would finish it in a few days but it’s not so big that it would be tedious and bulky. Perfect!
All I need to do now is sketch out a design so I have an idea of how much beads I need to bring and style I want to go for.
Now that I have a sketch made, I need to figure out my color scheme. I think I want to stick with teal, black and silver color tones for this bracelet.
As you can see in the picture above, I brought quite a bit of different types of beads with me. I wanted to be prepared just in case I wanted to change a few things in my design as I bead. Anyone who beads understands. Hehe.
Here is the progress that I made during my first work trip:
If you compare this to my sketch, you will see as I was beading I already changed the design a little bit. I found that the silver swirl looks more appealing this way. I wish I would have made more progress during my first trip but I did get a little distracted by my husband. 😉 It was our first time that both of us are on travel for work in the same location. Maybe my next trip down to Jacksonville I will make more progress. Hehe.
Thanks for stopping by!
Colorado Kisses
This past week I traveled to Colorado to assist my mom. She had to get knee surgery due to an injury at her job. Luckily, I had an opening in my work schedule so I was able to take time off of work. Yay! Mini vacation! Unfortunately, my husband had to work so he couldn’t come with me but it’s okay I got to spend quality time with my mom and also see my brother.
How long has it really been since I’ve been to Colorado? Good question. The last time I remember visiting Colorado was when my brother graduated from high school. Omg, that was about 6 years ago! WOW! Time just flies by doesn’t it. Well, I am happy I had the opportunity to visit again.
When I flew to Colorado, I realized something: I miss the mountains! The mountains use to be my inspiration for most of my art projects when I was growing up. Oh, how I miss gazing at the mountain scenery and watching as the sun sets behind them. The vibrant colors you would see at sunset is so emotionally calming and relaxing. I do not have a picture of a sunset from my trip, but here is the beautiful mountain view I had from my window seat on the plane while we were landing in Denver:
Breath taking isn’t it?
After I left the airport I messaged my little brother to see if he wanted to meet somewhere. I haven’t seen him in 4 years! Once again, time just flies by… We decided to meet at Jamba Juice near the Town Center at Aurora. Jamba Juice use to be my favorite place to get a smoothie when I was in high school. Where I live now we don’t have a Jamba Juice so getting a smoothie from here after 6 years was a real treat. Of course, seeing my brother was the biggest treat of all.
If you ever have the chance to try Jamba Juice you should try the Orange C Booster Smoothie. It contains Orange Juice, Peaches, Orange Sherbet, Ice, Bananas, C and Zinc Boost & Antioxidant Power Boost. It is delicious! Yum!
After a few hours of catching up we decided to walk around the area. I was tired of sitting since I was sitting most of the day on airplanes. We browsed different stores until we decided we were hunger for some dinner. I asked my brother if there was anything within walking distance. He recommended L & L Hawaiian. Huh, never heard of it. I’m willing to try it out since I like to eat somewhere I can’t eat back home. When I travel it is a rule for me to try new things.
At the L & L Hawaiian, I got the BBQ chicken, beef and macaroni salad plate. The plate normally comes with rice but my brother told me he gets more macaroni salad instead of rice since he doesn’t like eating straight rice. I don’t blame him, because I don’t like eating straight rice either so I copied him and got more macaroni salad. I have to say that this meal was very mouth watering and really savory.
I have to apologize that I did not get a photo of my food. 🙁 Sad, I know but this was because we had to take our food to go since the place was packed around 5 pm! My brother lived close by so we ate our food back at his place. It was here that I got distracted and forgot to take a quick photo. lol
The distraction for me was finally getting to meet my brother’s fur babies! If you saw my post about the three cat plushies I made, these were the cats I was finally able to meet in person. They were precious, well except for Tater Tot. This boy kitten meows at you and paws at you to give him some of your food. I had to be firm with this cutey and say no a lot! hehe. I could not be mad at him since he was too darn cute! Blueberry Jam (Blue) and Toast just stood at a distant watching us eat our food. lol
When I got to my mom’s house she had a surprise for me. She ordered a Plastic Canvas Kissers book, Acrylic Yarn , Clear Plastic Canvas, and Yarn Large-Eye Blunt Needles. If you don’t know what Kissers are they are playful pals that you can open their mouths to hold a small piece of candy (usually a Hershey’s Kiss).
My siblings and I use to make these when we were kids. Our old baby sitter taught us how to make Kissers. What better way to distract energetic kids with some arts and crafts. Kept us quite and entertained for hours, plus we got to eat some chocolate too!
I was super excited to spend time with my mom and craft with her. I know I got my creative crafty side from her. 😉 Making these Kissers were a great way to spend quality time and keep us busy while she heals from her knee surgery. Also, with Valentine’s Day around the corner, these kissers are perfect to handout to friends, family and my loving husband. Hehe. Best part is, eating the Hersey’s Chocolate Kisses!
I loved the Plastic Canvas book my mom got. It has 25 designs you can choose from: Deer, Duck, Kitten, Squirrel, Skunk, Raccoon, Dog, Alligator, Clown, Parrot, Zebra, Lamb, Cow, Lion, Monkey, Red Dinosaur, Blue Dinosaur, Purple Cow, Bunny, Duck in Straw Hat, Pig, Bright Monkey, Speckled Dog, Reindeer, and Santa.
I used the Skunk canvas base pattern and the canvas face and mask stitch pattern from the Raccoon to make a Ferret Kisser. Hehe. I kind of made my own color yarn pattern for the ferret and only used the books pattern as a guide for how to stitch the yarn in the canvas. I let my imagination take over, except that I looked at the Raccoon mask stitching guide since I wanted to make sure my ferret would turn out good.
My mom was smart to buy a variety pack of yarn bundles. This way we have more color choices to choose from.
Mira Handcrafts 40 Assorted Colors Acrylic Yarn
I love it, but the only thing was there was one color that the pack did not included and that was dark brown. The pack had light brown but I wanted dark brown for my ferret kisser’s mask markings. I could always buy dark brown yarn but I figured right now I have an assortment of colors to choose from so I’ll just make a colorful ferret instead. This is crafts we are talking about here and it doesn’t have to be the exact color of a ferret. I decided to make a light blue ferret with royal blue markings.
Below is how the Blue Ferret Kisser turned out:
Isn’t he cute?!! I am so happy that I decided to make a blue ferret. I am definitely going to place this little guy on my desk at work. I will even sneak a Hersey Kiss inside his mouth so I can eat it later. 🙂 Lol.
As I stared at the blue ferret I came up with another idea for the next kisser I was going to make: A fox! I would again have to make my own stitch color theme for the face and the body but I can still use the Skunk Canvas pattern to make it! Hehe. I love my creative side!
Here is the adorable fox I made:
Lovable and Kissable!! If you are interested in making this fox you can buy the book here and follow the guide pattern on the Raccoon or Skunk then use my fox face pattern that I created (PDF):
My mom decided to use the dog pattern in the book since she has two Jack Russell Terriers, Peanut and Oreo. Of course, she was like me and used the base canvas pattern but made her own color scheme and stitch pattern. She wanted the Dog Kissers to resemble her two fur babies.
Here is my mom’s Peanut Kisser:
Here is Oreo Kisser:
My mom and I had a blast making these Kissers! They are so adorable. I can’t wait to make more and come up with more of my own patterns that I can share. 😉
Almost forgot, I wanted to mention that I finally got to meet my brother’s fiance. We went out for dinner at Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar where I had the most delicious burger ever! I loved the menu options that they had for different burgers but I decided to create my own burger since I wanted to be adventurist and try new things. Don’t worry this time I took pictures of my meal to share with you. 😉
For the Create Your Own Burger I choose the 7oz beef patty on Multi-grain Bun with cream cheese, lettuce, onion, ketchup, garlic mayo, guacamole and fried mozzarella! I even named this burger the Chris Burger after me. Hehe. Fitting right? Or maybe I could have been a little more creative on naming the burger? Nah, I think it’s the perfect name. Lol.
After dinner my brother and his fiance invited me to game night at their friends place. I was game since they told me that they play off the wall games and I did tell them when I am on travel I like to try new things. Oh boy was I in for a surprise. Lol. Their two friends had so many different games that I have never heard of. Since I was a newbie everyone decided to choose an easier game first.
First up was Exploding Kittens:
Exploding Kittens: NSFW Edition (Explicit Content – ADULTS ONLY!)
This was actually a really fun game. Very different then most card games but I enjoyed it. You draw cards and if you get a exploding kitten card you explode and die (out of the game) unless you have a defuse card which stops the kitten from exploding and you continue playing. There are other cards that you can play to make the game more interesting and strategic. Best part was I actually won this game. Woohoo go me! 😄 I was very sneaky at the end but some of it was also luck. Lol. Warning: Young kids should not play this game since there is some profanity and questionable things that some parents might not want their kids exposed too. I did find that there is a version of Exploding Kittens that is for ages 7+ here.
The last game we played was Betrayal At House On The Hill.
I really loved playing this haunted theme game. It was kind of like Dungeons and Dragons being suspenseful and strategic but you get to build your own haunted house room by room which leads to different designs every time you play. You encounter spirits and omens that indicate what your fate may be at the end of the game. There are two acts in the game. First Act is building your haunted house and discovering items, events and omens along the way until you reach Act Two. In Act Two you discover which one of the group of players is a traitor that you must try to defeat using the omens and items you collected in Act One.
I had a blast playing this game. My brother’s fiance ended up being the traitor and the rest of us were in the group to try and defeat her. At the end our group defeated her and we won the game. Hehe. I guess since I won in both games I am the overall winner for game night. Yay! If I was able to go next week to their game night I would be able to pick the first game to play, but since I won’t I guess my brother will get to choose for me. 😉
My whole trip to Colorado was overall pretty awesome. I ate some great food, played some fun games and crafted some cute Kissers. I say my mini vacation was a hit for me. 😀
Thanks for stopping by!
Ferret & Husky Plush Key Chains!
I’ve been contemplating for a while now on how I can use my embroidery program to its fullest potential and create more embroidery designs. I mostly use my embroidery program to create the adorable eyes you see on the plushies I create. I really crave to take the next big leap to machine embroidery and take on a new challenge.
I noticed that one of my favorite plushie designers, Teacuplion, started creating In-The-Hoop (ITH) embroidery patterns. I was very curious and I started researching ITH embroidery. During my research I found a plushie designer, Soapy Bacon, who creates a lot of ITH designs and patterns. I loved her ITH Fox so much that I purchased the pattern. The fox reminded me of a husky a little bit but it didn’t quite look like one. I liked the design of the body and tail but the head was cute for a fox look but not a husky. So I was inspired to create my own husky head using my embroidery program.
Creating an ITH pattern for the first time was no easy task at least for me. I never used my embroidery program to this extent. There were times I would get so frustrated with the program that I ended up having to walk away from my laptop for an hour or so. After many long hours of trial and error I was able to figure out shortcuts and features about my embroidery program that I didn’t even know existed! Some of these features I wished I knew about when I made some of my past projects. It’s ok; learn something new every day and my embroidery program is no exception. Lol.
Once I finally struggled through the embroidery program I was able to create my very first ITH embroidery design! YAY for me! Here is how it turned out:
Isn’t it adorable?! Not bad for first attempt. I liked it so much I thought, maybe I should create more of these but in different colors!!
I made these last year before I got so busy with traveling for work and making Christmas presents, that I never had the chance to make the bodies and tails for these other color husky heads. 😢 Sad, I know. So over the past weekend as I stared at these husky heads I had a bright idea. I’ve always wanted to sell more small items on my Etsy shop to offer more options for buyers and admirers so I thought: How about I make plushie key chains? Sounds like a perfect idea!
Man, when I thought plushie key chain my imagination went wild. I came up with all sorts of animals and characters that I can create ITH designs for. How am I going to figure out which idea I want to make next?? It wasn’t until I let my spoiled fur babies (ferrets) out of their cage to play in their room, that I realized I have to make ferret plush key chains. Why have a neglected the idea and inspiration from my ferrets! I make them items all the time but somehow I never thought to make a ferret plushie. I am so ashamed of myself. Well, I will make it up to them by creating adorable ferret plush key chains!
Here was my first ferret plush keychain:
Gorgeous!! I didn’t stop here. There are so many types of ferrets out there with different markings and patterns that I constructed an assortment of ferret key chains that ferret lovers can choose from that might closely resemble their own ferrets. So I came up with these variations:
Omg, I think I’m going to squeal! They are so charming! I am definitely keeping some of these ferrets hostage for myself. Hehe. Don’t judge, I created them so I can keep a set of ferrets for me to admire and adore. Lol.
If you or know someone who is a ferret and/ or husky lover that would love these key chains, they are now available on my Shop or Etsy shop.
I want to take a moment to thank Teacuplion and Soapy Bacon for their inspiration. Without them, I would have never thought to attempt making my own ITH designs. Thank you so much!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Check out my Etsy Shop here:
Sewing Adorable Cats & Skyrim Character
I will have to admit, I took a little longer to get my Christmas present done for my brother and his fiance. I was so focused on making the 25 adorable reindeer that I only partially made their gifts before I went on my trip to Ohio. I promised both of them that I would finish their Christmas gifts after I return from my Ohio trip. Both of them were understanding and patently waiting for me to finish their gifts.
My brother asked me to make him a plush resembling the Skyrim character, Dovahkiin. Luckily, I watched my husband play Skyrim before and knew that Dovahkiin is the main character in the game. Making this character was going to be interesting since I haven’t attempted a human character before. I love a challenge.
Here is how he turned out:
When I made this character I was over joyed to use some of my scrap fabrics from other sewing projects I have done in the past. Most sewer tend to hoard scrap fabrics and crossing our fingers that one day we will have the opportunity to use them for another project. Well, I definitely felt reassured that it was a great idea to hoard the scraps from the past and not waste them by throwing them away in the trash.
For the first time ever I used fabric paint on a project. I bought a variety pack of fabric paint and used them to add detail on this Skyrim character. I used fabric paint to add the details on the helmet, belt, straps, eyes and mouth. I also used the fabric paint for detail work on my brother’s fiance Christmas gifts I made too.
My brother’s fiance asked me to make her cat plushies that resemble their cats. At the time when I ask back in July they only had two cats, Toast (Calico) and Blue Berry Jam (Blue Russian), but around November they adopted another cat, Tator Tot (Orange Tabby). This means I’m going to make three adorable cat plushies. Hehe.
Here is how they turned out:
Aren’t they just precious!
Here are pictures that they sent me showing their cats next to their associated plushie:
They are super adorable!!
Thanks for stopping by!
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Master Bathroom Remodel
After a couple of years of living in my new home it was finally time to get the master bathroom a very big face lift. It was very outdated and hubby and I really wanted to make it our own. A very big factor when getting a bathroom remodel done is saving enough money for it. It took us a couple of years and many sacrifices to save up for this project. Did you know it can cost between $5,000 to $20,000 (sometimes more) to remodel a bathroom? Of course there are many factors that can lead to the price to be higher or lower. For example: Size of bathroom, tile price, accents, accessories, labor, etc…
For hubby and I, it ended up costing us about $11,600 in the end. Yes, I know it is a lot of money but surprisingly this is actually about average price. We also saved a lot of money by carefully choosing and scavenging out sales on different types of tile, accents, and accessories or else we could have ended up spending about a few thousands dollars more. We also found a great contractor that didn’t over charge for labor for demo and install.
Oh before I forget to mention, we did this whole remodel in pieces. Honestly I wished I would have documented this in my blog a while back (like last year) and showed progress but somehow I didn’t make the connection. Oh well, that means this will be a slightly long blog entry but I promise it is worth ready the whole thing especially if you are ever considering getting a bathroom remodeled. 🙂
Beware, when it comes to remodeling anything, there is always something that can or will go wrong. For hubby and I, we got a fare share of things that went wrong when it came to getting the master bathroom remodeled but it worked out in the end. Don’t worry I will disclose these events here soon.
We also saved some money by installing and modifying things ourselves before the contractor came. It makes a huge difference in the price.
Where to start first. Ah yes. Paint!
Started out painting the master bathroom. The walls were just plain white and it needed some pop of color. Hubby and I went to Lowe’s awhile back and found a beautiful light teal/green color called Sky House by Sherwin Williams. We later ended up using this color for all the bathrooms in the house. You know what the best part was? The paint was on sale for 25% off at the time we purchased the Sherwin Williams paint! I love saving money when I can.
Note: the lighting in our bathroom makes this color look a little more bluish in tone. You will see in the finished photos. It’s all about the lighting and a good reason to have the sample color with you in the room your painting to make sure it is what you want. That is exactly what we did and it was the perfect color for us. 😄
I ended up painting the master bathroom all by myself since hubby had to go on travel for work but it was fine since I needed something to do on a long weekend. Just so you know it is not always easy to paint by yourself especially when you need someone to hand you something when you are on a ladder. I ended up going up and down the ladder plenty of times. You can say that I got my exercise that weekend. Hehe.
First day I ended up not painting at all since I had to prep the whole master bathroom for painting. I had to tape off sides of mirror, windows, doors, base board, ceiling, lights, shower and tub area. I probably missed something, but just note always buy extra painters tape. I used up 2 or 3 rolls of tape! Yikes! Second day is when the fun began. I got to finally paint! I love painting, it is very calming and soothing. I was so focused that I got it done all in one day with a few breaks. Awesomeness!
Some Tips:
- Always save any left over paint for touch ups. Hubby and I had to use some paint to touch up spots when the bathroom was finally complete with new tile.
- When painting if you know that you are eventually going to change a light fixture make sure you take the old light fixture out to paint underneath. If you somehow forgot, it’s a good thing you kept some left over paint. 😉
When you see the before and after photos at the end you will see that the color makes a huge difference!
Lights:
Since hubby and I work on advance electronic equipment for work, we were able to change from a single eight light Ballerina fixture to 2 three light fixtures. Hubby was able to rewire the electrical wires easily. This saved us a couple hundred dollars alone. We also got the new fixtures on sale plus we got an additional discount since we are both military veterans. I love saving money!
Beautiful! The light fixtures are part of the Moen Oxby Collection that we got at Lowe’s. When we bought the light fixtures we also loved the faucets that are part of the collection too. We wanted to buy the faucets but we ended up waiting since we were planning to change the vanity tops. Which brings me to the next step:
Vanity and Vanity top.
Another money saver was not changing the vanity. The vanity was surprisingly in great condition but the vanity top was another story. Yuck!! The vanity top was stained and discolored and it needed to go! After doing a lot of research, hubby and I went with natural quartz. Natural quartz is usually 95% stone and 5% polymer resins and we found that you don’t have to seal it constantly like you have to with granite. Quartz is actually harder than granite and more durable. It isn’t porous like granite so that means you can keep it relatively bacteria-free. Woohoo! Only draw back with quartz that I found is you can severely damage it with excessive heat. That means natural quartz is fantastic for the bathroom (but be careful with your curling iron ladies!) and a little scary for the kitchen if you forget to place a heating pad on a quartz countertop.
Now that we established type of vanity top hubby and I want, now we have to choose the color…. we both narrowed it down to two colors made by KraftMaid: Shadow Swirl or Silver Sky.
Guess which one we chose? Shadow Swirl! (My selection, BTW) This color had elements of gray and tan which would look great with this floor tile we loved (Montagna Rustic Bay sold at HomeDepot).
Hubby and I ordered our vanity top through Lowe’s. We even had them come and measure our vanity to make sure we order the correct size. We plan to install the vanity top ourselves to save more money.
After a few weeks went by the double sink vanity top was delivered directly to our house. We were so excited that we ripped open the box the vanity top was in and we were amazed how beautiful it was. After I calmed down from the excitement I noticed something didn’t look right. I told hubby to grab a tape measure. I wanted to make sure my eyes weren’t tricking me because I swear that the left sink was closer to side edge by a few inches than the right sink to the side edge. Load and behold, I was correct. The right sink was 4 inches closer to the edge, this is not good. Ugh, you got to be kidding me….
We called our local Lowe’s store and spoke to one of the store managers. We explained the situation to her and she said that they would give us a 10% discount if we wanted to keep it or they can pick up the vanity top then order a new one. Guess which option we chose? Yes, we chose to order a new one. This sucks!! Now we have to wait another 2-3 weeks for the new double sink… but this time we measured and ordered the correct size.
When we did get the correct vanity top, it was amazing!! We bought the Oxby Collection faucets that matched the lights. Doesn’t it look great with the vanity top? (Pictured above)
We also ended up buying the Oxby Collection towel bars and toilet paper holder. Beautiful!
Mirror:
After we got the vanity top installed it was the perfect time to give a face lift to the long big mirror. I thought about getting rid of the big mirror and possibly getting two separate mirrors to install underneath the two new lights we have but I changed my mind. Just to buy a very nice framed mirror would cost about $90 each. If you want something more elaborate you are talking a few hundred dollars.
While searching around the internet, I saw that multiple people were framing or tiling their existing mirrors vice buying a new one. I loved this idea since this would save us some money and I love saving money! I went straight to Home Depot and Lowe’s to see if I can find a nice moulding in the Milwork aisles that would work for this project. Load and behold at Home Depot I found a baseboard moulding that both hubby and I liked.
Nice right? Simple but elegant.
I think this makes the mirror look more expensive but it only cost me about $30 dollars total. Hehe.
Tile:
So the last final step was picking the tile. Well, technically at this point we had already chosen the floor tile already as I mentioned earlier. We bought the Montagna Rustic Bay porcelain floor tile at Home Depot.
I just love that wood look so much. It was also textured so you can’t slip easily at all. Bonus! What was better is this tile did not cost us much. When we bought the tile it cost us $216 dollars total for 120 sqft of tile so that was about $1.80 per sqft. Not too shabby I say.
Hubby and I still weren’t sure what tile we wanted for the shower and tub areas. We didn’t want the same tile as the floor since we thought it would be too tacky for us so hubby did some research. He came across a tile that is porcelain but looks like slate. It perfectly complements with the floor tile.
Also, porcelain tile is much cheaper than real slate and less maintenance. Real slate requires yearly sealing. More work then I need. I rather go with the cheaper and easier option. Lol
We bought this porcelain slate tile at our local tile store called Mosaic. We got 12 X 24 (for shower and tub area) , 3 X 6 (used for accent trim) and 2 X 2 tiles (shower floor). Also, hubby found a mosaic tile that matches the porcelain slate. Awesomeness! We plan to use the mosaic tile to add a strip accent in shower and around the tub area.
Perfect right? Hubby and I thought so.
Demo and Install
Finally we are at the final stretch. Our contractor came with his guys to demo the bathroom. First day of demo went great but second day, well that’s another story. One of the guys forgot to remove the drain and disconnect it from the trap before removing the one piece shower. When he ripped the one piece out he snapped the trap in half. Yeah… it gets better. Same guy ends up putting his size 10 foot through the ONLY hole in the floor and right through the downstairs ceiling above the kitchen. COME ON! Who puts there foot through the 8 in wide hole in the floor where the piping/trap/drain hooks up at for shower. Yeah… that guy.
As you can see from the picture above we have textured ceilings so you can imagine the frustration… Accidents happen which I completely understand and our contractor did the right thing and took ownership of it and fixed the problem. I really felt bad for our contractor because he did a fantastic job on the bathroom and now he has to pay for damages that were done. I think he might of lost a lot of his profits on this job because of this accident. 😔
Also, it’s a good time for me to point out that you should always have a contract when having any big project done by a hired contractor. This gives you a binding contract so if anything goes wrong both parties have something written and signed on paper. I’ve heard horror stories from other people who got screwed over since they didn’t have a contract or paid everything full up front and the job was never completed as discussed. Sometimes you pay partial up front then the rest at the end for a project while other jobs you might have to pay all of it up front. No matter how it is done, always make sure you protect yourself by having a signed contract and everything discussed is written down. Also, do your research on the person and make sure they are truly certified to do the job. (Hubby does his research.)
They did a pretty good job fixing the ceiling but of course we can tell the slight difference. I’m just impressed they were able to match the ceiling pattern pretty closely. They also had to paint the whole down stairs ceiling since it was hard to find the matching color. He attempted but any color he tried made it stick out like a soar thumb so painting the whole ceiling was the only plausible option.
After that fiasco, everything went smoother for the install. So now I will show you before and after photos!
Let me know what you think in the comments below and if you ever had any issues happen during big projects or any good experiences. I would love to hear about them. 😊
Thanks for stopping by!
My 2018 New Year’s Resolutions
I usually don’t come up with New Year’s resolutions but this year I talked myself into doing it. I figured why not, just give a try, won’t hurt anyone. It would be nice to think about myself for once and set some goals for the new year.
Goal #1
Be more involved in my job.
What I mean by this is, taking more initiative to understand the whole picture and not so focused in my field of work. It’s hard for me to understand my own work division structure since my home office is located 2,766 miles away from the main head quarter’s (where most of the department personnel are located at, even my boss) but this shouldn’t be an excuse not for me to learn the organization.
I believe if I just ask a few questions here and there I can piece it together eventually. I don’t want to overwhelm myself with too much information at once so I think if I break it down into small parts (like every month) I can retain an abundant amount of information over a course of a year. Sounds good to me.
Goal #2
Healthier lifestyle
Workout more, eat healthier and maybe lose some weight along the way…
I know, everyone seems to add this resolution every year but I really want to track what I eat, and get my body back into shape. My job requires me to climb ladders and stairs with the occasional lifting heavy objects. To be blunt, being out shape on the job freaking sucks. I’m tired of feeling winded every time I finish climbing a few flight of stairs. I want to be able to get to the top of the stairs and feel like I’m on top of the world. I’ll start out small by working out 30 minutes on the elliptical 2 or 3 times a week and then gradually add more time. Eventually, I will get to the point where I’ll add different types of workouts to keep it interesting and motivating. Any type of exercise is better than doing nothing.
To eat healthier, I really just want to try adding more fruits and veggies to my meals and drink more water. This way I might slowly cut back on the unhealthy items, i.e fries and sugary drinks. If I ease my way into healthier eating habits I might actually stick with it in the long run.
Goal #3
Write more on my blog
I want to expand my blogging world a bit and start writing more on different topics and ideas. I don’t want to become a one trick pony so I am challenging myself to push my boundaries and see where it takes me. Who knows, I might discover more talents that I didn’t know I have. 🤔
Goal #4
Create more.
This goal I am going to break into 3 parts:
- Embroidery
- I got my Embroidery/Sewing machine about 4 or 5 years ago (I think…) and I haven’t used the embroidery portion that much. This past year, I would say is the most I used my embroidery machine and program. For 2018, I want to use my embroidery program to create more of my own designs and tailor them to my sewing projects.
- Sewing
- For the past few years, I’ve been telling myself I am going to make my own clothes. Have I actually made clothes for myself at all? As I sit here and think about it, I realized that I’ve only made three articles of clothing for myself. Really, I only made three clothing items in the past few years? Sadly, yes. I made myself a heavy long coat 3 or 4 years ago (I only wore it once or twice) then I made two circle skirts about 6 months ago. 😕
- My goal is to create at least 5 or more articles of clothing for myself this 2018 year.
- Beading
- I’ve collected so many beads over the years that I don’t know what to do with. For the past year, I mostly focused on sewing and not so much on beading. I plan for this new year to start small by making earrings and eventually working up to bigger projects, like the awesome teal necklace I made over a year ago, here.
I just came up with a brilliant idea that will make it possible to check off all three of these new year resolutions! I can sew myself a few outfits and place my own embroidery designs on them then I can create accessories for my outfits using beads. Perfect!
Goal #5
Make more items for my fur babies.
Technically, goal #4 and #5 can play hand in hand but I felt that separating them will be better. My fur babies are my kids and I want to spoil them more by making them toys and sleeping habitats that they will love. My goal is to at least sew one item each month that is just for my fur babies.
There are probably more resloutions I can make, but I’ll stick with these 5 for now. I can always add more goals throughout the year since I don’t need a holiday to make all my decisions in one sitting.
Thanks for stopping by!
Reindeer Christmas
Every Christmas I create my own gifts to give to my family members. I usually strive to surpass last year gifts I made. This year was no exception but I think I might have bit off more than I can chew… yeah… I think I did…
This year, I decided to making cute standing reindeer that measure 22 in tall, 5 in wide, 12 in long. These reindeer are definitely 4 times bigger then the army of penguins I made last year (you can see here) which means a lot more material and sewing. I knew at this point I had a lot of work ahead of me so I decided to start working on them back in July!
Just because I started making the reindeer back in July, doesn’t mean I got them done sooner. Ooohh no…. I ran into different types of hurdles while creating them which felt like I went from one disaster to another disaster… I guess it’s pretty typical for me to run into problems, I can’t avoid them at all.
When I started making these reindeer, I started out cutting all the pattern pieces out for all 25 of these reindeer. Let me tell you, there was a lot of fabric to be cut and many of the pieces were small. Boy was I in for a treat because this process of cutting fabric wasn’t a one day ordeal. Nope, I had to break it up into a few days or so. Cut out a certain amount of pieces for a couple of hours then take a break or get errands done. Come back home from work and cut a few more pieces out then watch some TV to unwind for the night. Another day I would cut some more pieces… you get the idea.
What I thought would take me a few days, ended up taking me about a month but hey, I was in no hurry its only August now, there is plenty of time. It’s okay to skip a few days of working on the reindeer here and there. Nothing will go wrong… smh.
To add to my timeline, I decided to use my embroidery machine and program to make the eyes for the reindeer. I really wanted to add thay extra touch to make them look adorable.
Cute right? To make 25 pair of eyes though, adds more time but it was well worth it in the end. You will see later on. 😋
After I thought I was done cutting all the pattern pieces I decided to sew the smaller pieces together first, like the ears, tails, and hooves this way I will feel like I’m accomplishing a lot. When I got to sewing the hooves though, I realized about half way I didn’t have enough pieces cut out… how did this happen? I swear I cut enough. Then I realized I did not calculate correctly…ugh… I forgot I needed a total of eight hooves per reindeer (4 legs × 2 sides of each leg = 8 total hooves needed per reindeer). Well for some reason I think my mind thought 4 legs × 25 reindeer = 100 hooves needed when really I needed 200 (4 legs × 2 sides × 25 reindeer = 200). Yup, that is exactly what happened and now I’m back to cutting fabric. 100 hooves…great…
Below is a video of me sewing antlers together and also demonstrates my average speed I sewed while creating the Reindeer:
Here is a picture with all the pieces laid out. You can see I sewed all the hooves on the leg pieces, ears and tail pieces sewn, and sewn the eyes.
Around this time frame, I found out that I had to go on travel for a month for work. Well great, this changes my time line quit a bit… But hey, I had the opportunity to go see Scotland and Portugal which were really beautiful places. Check out my blog post about my trip here.
With this slight delay in my sewing time line, I was feeling the pressure. I really need to get these reindeer completed. Back to sewing I went.
I have to disclose, when I got back from my month long trip my husband found out he has to go on travel to Florida in a couple of weeks for work (beginning of November) and be there for about 4 to 6 months (depending how quickly they get the job done). 😭😭😭 This sucks, but I’m sorry to say that this was kind of a blessing in disguise because now I won’t have any distractions from sewing. Sorry hubby, I love you so much but sometimes I have a hard time completing sewing projects since we end up spending time doing other projects with you or just spending time together in general. Trust me it sucks you are gone but I want to get these reindeer done since time is ticking and it’s not stopping.
To add more to my stress, I decided to buy small wooden crates that I wanted to paint and decorate.
I had a vision to paint the crates silver but with a hammered look. This would make them look like metal vice wood. I found that Rustoleum sells a spray or paint on version of the Hammered look.
Rust-Oleum Universal Spray Paint, 12 oz, Hammered Silver
Rust-Oleum Hammered Metal Finish, Silver, 1-Quart
I went to my local hardware store and bought the spray version, but you had to really spray a lot in order to get the look. So I went on Amazon.com and bought the paint on version because it seemed cost effective. One can of spray paint cost about $6.00 and at the time the paint on version cost $16.00 for 1 quart. Hmm… I’m going to go with the paint on. The one thing I didn’t account for was the time… It took me about 30 minutes to paint one crate and I have to paint 25 of these!! 😣
Somehow I thought it would be awesome to make something nice for the Reindeer to stand in that my family could also use to decorate for Christmas every year. I have to say, what the hell was I thinking?! At the time I thought I would have plenty of time, nope, I definitely made it worst for myself. More time crunching… ugh…
If you have to know, I did finish the crates on time. They turned out better then I thought.
Fast forward, it’s now the beginning of December and I have two weeks before hubby and I are going on vacation and driving to Ohio. Can you imagine, I still don’t have the Reindeer done. 😟 Yeah I know, what a nightmare. At this point I had a bag full of stuffed reindeer heads that I still need to hand sew antlers and ears on:
And a stack of sewn bodies that still needed bottom of feet sewn on and to be stuffed:
Let’s say I was in a slight panic. Okay, I was in full panic mode and super stressed. I had to tell myself that I will get it done, just take it day by day. You can do it!
A week before vacation I surprisingly got 16 of them done! Woohoo! Only 9 more to go! At this point I was relieved because I knew I am capable of completing them all before going on vacation.
I have to show you since I can’t wait, so here were the 16 reindeer I completed at this point:
Aren’t they precious?
At this point I felt so accomplished that I got 16 done in a week that I thought nothing will go wrong. HA! Here I go, thinking it is a perfect world, well guess what, my timeline got shortened 😧… To add more to my stress, my awesome hubby decided he didn’t want us to drive to Ohio but instead fly… what!?
My first thought was, are you kidding me? How in the world am I going to get the Christmas presents I spent so much time making to Ohio now?😰
My husband gave me his Pros and Cons about flying verses driving:
| Pros for Flying | Cons for Flying |
|---|---|
| •Don’t have to drive in snow (since it’s that time of year) | • Flight can get delayed or worst canceled |
| • Don’t have to drive in traffic and drive through the mountains | • Won’t be able to pack Christmas presents or bring Christmas presents back home if we fly |
| • Shorter trip (driving can take about 10 to 12 hours or more) | • Cost more money to fly vice driving |
| • Less stressful and more relaxing because we don’t have to drive(more for me since I’m the one that ends up driving the whole way not hubby. Hubby hates driving especially in bad weather…) | |
| • Hubby is currently a Sky Priority member on Delta (due to traveling and flying a lot for work) so we can check in quicker for flight and be one of the first to be on the plane |
I do like the idea of flying instead of driving since it would be less stress for me. No crazy drivers, no traffic, and I would have more of a set schedule. My main concern though is figuring out how I am going to get Christmas presents to Ohio if we are going to fly.
🤔 I don’t have anything big enough to pack the Reindeer and crates in my luggage so taking them on the plane is out of the question. The only other thing that comes to mind is shipping the Reindeer to Ohio. 💵 This seems to be the only plausible way, so now we need a box big enough to fit the crates and the Reindeer… I know we definitely didn’t have any box big enough to fit everything at the house so I challenged hubby to find one.
Hubby accepted the challenge and came home the next day with a huge box that he stuffed in the back of his car. I’m really surprised that he got that box in his car… The box measured 21in X 24in X 31in.
Cross fingers this box is big enough. I guess I will find out later when I finish the rest of the Reindeer. My goal is to complete them all two days before we fly so we can ship them and have them arrive before Christmas. You know what that means, I have about four days to complete nine Reindeer. No problem, right? Wrong!
To keep it short and sweet I had a couple of appointments that were scheduled after I got off work that I almost forgot about so this of course shorten my sewing time… But you know what, even with these hurdles I still completed the Reindeer in time!! YAY!!
Poor Reindeer they are very squished in that box. 🙁🙁
All ready to ship this box to Ohio for Christmas!!
I have to apologize, due to me finishing these reindeer last minute I forgot to take a picture of all the Reindeer together! 😔 But I do have a few pictures I was able to get when I did remember:
Oh, almost forgot, do you like the cute scraves I added? The reindeer seem to be missing something so I made different plaid scarves using fabric my friend from work gave me. 😙 Thanks Gabby! (Litterly made the scarves night before I shipped Reindeer and didn’t have time to put them on until the reindeer were delivered.)
Thanks for stopping by! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Scotland and Portagul Trip
I haven’t posted anything in a while… but there are a few reasons. One, I’ve been seriously busy working on Christmas presents and Two; I was on travel for work. Which brings up my topic: Scotland and Portagul.
Even though I had to work, I still had the opportunity to explore a little bit while I was in Scotland and Portagul. They both had great local foods and phenomenal sceneries.
Scotland
First stop was Scotland. Let me tell you, it was gourgous! I wish I could have stayed there for another week. There was so much to do that there was no way I could see it all within the few days I was there.
I had a lot of good local food while I was in Scotland. First place I tried was the Singl-end Cafe and Bakehouse in Glasgow, UK.
I ordered the Singl-end Cooked Breakfast Meaty off their menu. It had Eggs (I decided to try poached eggs) bacon, homemade pork and fennel sausages, black pudding, grilled portobello mushroom (which I didn’t eat since I don’t like mushrooms), roast cherry tomatoes, home-baked beans and focaccia bread. It was delicious! Just to let you know, black pudding is not what I thought it would be. I never asked what it was until I went to another restaurant that serves it. Let’s just say it’s popular in the UK and it taste different but slightly good. Oh and I only ate half of it in both places I got it so yeah… If your brave enough you can Google search what black pudding is or you can click here to see description and ingredients.
I also got a Chocolate Guiness cake at the Singl-end. Which I have to say is the best chocolate cake I ever had in my life! Omg, it was amazing! I wish I could get the recipe for it but they told me no. Darn.
After eating food with the group of people I was hanging out with, we decided to walk around and go site seeing in Glasgow.
The pictures above are just highlights of where we explored. We saw the Destiny Church Glasgow, the Glasgow Cathedral, the Necropolis cemetery, and we walked around the downtown area of Glasgow where they had a ton of shops to look around in.
After a long day of walking (according to my Samsung Gear Fit 2 watch I did a total of 24,000 steps = 10 miles), we wanted something to eat. After Google searching, we discovered The Butterfly and the Pig restaurant was a short walk from where we were at.
I wanted to try the famous Fish and Chips with peas. Looks yummy, right?
The next day, we were able to get a chance to visit Edinburgh, UK which was about a 45 minute train ride from Glasgow. Beautiful area. They have the famous Edinburgh Castle, which we did get the chance to visit but we were only able to look around for an hour since the place closes at 4pm during winter hours and we got there at 3pm. 😕
Even though I only got an hour to look around, I was still able to see almost everything. I just didn’t get enough time to read too much in the history of the Castle but I plan to look it up later.
I forgot to mention, my group ate at the Halfway House Pub before going to the Edinburgh Castle. The pub was very nice and cozy with great food and drinks. 😉
I ate the Cullen Slink and a Magners Cider at the pub. A perfect combination.
This was the group of people I was with having a great time at the Halfway House Pub. Lol. We had a blast.
After the Castle, half of us wanted to go to one of the famous whisky bars in town, Amber.
I tried only 4 different whiskies out of 3,384 whiskies in their collection. Yes, they have a s**t ton of whiskies to choose from. It was so hard to decide that I ended up asking the server what he recommended as the best four sweet whiskies they offered (I know myself and I like sweets. Hehe.)
I really liked the first two I tried (the two on the left), they were perfect for my sweet tooth but the other two were a little to strong for me and made me realize I’m not a big Scotch person. Lol. I wish I could have bought one of the bottles to take home but I decided not too since it would be more of a hassle to pack in my already full bags and go through customs. Maybe next time.
To end the night we decided to try this place that was recommended by the locals. It was called the Gardener’s Cottage.
They serve 7 course meals there. Let me tell you, we were really lucky to get a table that night since you normally have to reserve seats, but a big group had cancelled so we were able to be pencilled in! Lucky, right?
Best meal I have ever had! I give compliments to the chef because this meal was spectacular and on point. Every bite I ate felt like I was in heaven. We were there for over 2 and a half hours (got there at 7:30pm and left around 10:00pm) eating and enjoying some nice wine. If you ever get the chance to go to Edinburgh, Scotland you have to go here. It does cost £50 each (about $66) but it is well worth it, trust me.
The last day in Scotland, most of us hung around the town of Helensburgh. Very peaceful and quite. I ate brunch at the Riverhill Courtyard.
We just happened to run across it when we saw a small sign with a menu. Then you had to walk down a small alley to get to it. Ooo scary… okay not really. The alley was actually beautiful with gourgous plants guiding your way to the place. Sorry, I got distracted and forgot to take a picture of it.
Here, I got the Full Scottish Breakfast which came with puddledub bacon, sausage, eggs, black pudding, potato scone, tomato, mushroom and toast. I also got a Latte to go with it. Yummy!!
Walked around town and looked through some shops and saw a lot of churches. After walking around we decided to eat an early dinner at The Henry Bell.
Apparently this is the hot spot/best place to eat in Helenburgh.
I decided to eat a yummy chicken burger with bacon and a side of chips and onion rings. Delicious!
Well that sums up my Scotland trip. I do have a lot more pictures but I have way too many. I figured I would share the highlights and all the wonderful food I ate.
Portagul
Next stop, Lisbon, Potagul. I loved the vibrant colors they use to paint buildings and houses. It was amazing when I visit sites that were at a higher elevation and you look down to see the various colors.
This scenery was when I visited the São Jorge Castle in Lisbon. Beautiful site with all those colors!
I feel really bad but I forgot what this dish was called but it’s kind of like hush puppies but better. I know that it has cod fish in it and the side is rice and beans. I feel even worst since I can’t remember the cafe we went to eat this. In my defense, it was spare the moment and we were trying to eat fast to go site seeing. But it was really good though.
Went to the Jerónimos Monastery. I loved this site because the architecture and craftsmanship to create this monastery was impressive. I can’t believe this was made in the 16th century!
Starting left top to bottom: Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument, Lisbon Cathedral, and Lisboa Story Center. Right picture with me was at the Belém Tower.
After a long day of walking around and visiting sites, we found a nice small wine bar to eat different types of cheeses and sausages. Oh, and of course the famous Portugal wines. 😉
Next day I ate the Granier Cafe for brunch. I got a ham sandwich (as you can tell from picture I ate a few bites and realized I forgot to take a picture… woops) and an apple tart cake.
For our next adventure we decided to take a 30 min Uber ride from Lisbon to Sintra, Portagul. Btw, Uber is the way to go for transportation in Portagul because it’s cheaper than a taxi and you don’t have to wait around for the Hop On and Hop Off tourist buses. Saves a lot of time and hassle.
First stop in Sintra, we stopped by the Quinta da Regaleira. My favorite spot here was the Iniciatic Well. Looks pretty neat, doesn’t it?
Next stop was the Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros) which had very scenic views with the famous Palace of Pena in the background (bottom left photo above). I have to say, I’m so glad that I started working out almost everyday when I was on this work trip because to reach this castle and venture around the castle you had to climb an enourmaous amount of stairs/steps! It felt like I went up a total of 200 flights of stairs (I did not actually calculate it since there was too many steps to count so I went with a number I felt was close. Hehe). I still ended up wheezing during the end of the castle hike but if I didn’t exercise during this trip I might have not made it during this point. I definitely had a great workout in Sintra, that’s for sure.
I thought there wasn’t going to be anymore long hikes, until we went to our last stop, Palace of Pena. Had to do more walking up an incline, but I told myself the whole way up that it was well worth it.
When we made it to the top, I was amazed how vibrant the colors were and how beautiful the craftsmanship was. Doesn’t it just make you smile and happy. I certainly was. 😁🏰
For the final meal we ate at The Restaurante Cafe Paris, which is the oldest restaurant in Sintra, Portagul. I got the Salmon with two sides and then later on I got the Chocolate Fondue with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!! Oh, and they had the richest tasting Sangria I have tasted in Portagul. Omg, it was amazing Sangria. We may or may not have ordered three pitchers of Sangria that night, but who’s counting.
Thanks for stopping by!
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