Bathroom towel bar

I love to revive or restore something I found for cheap (or even better, for free). I picked this shelf up at a thrift store (75¢) and I decided that I could change it a little and definitely put it to use. At first, I spray painted it with some bronze paint that I already had, and it was immediately looking much better.

I knew I wanted it to go in our upstairs bathroom, but we were doing some work in there, so I put it aside for a few weeks.

Once the bathroom was repainted and ready, I decided I wanted it to be chrome to match the other fixtures. I just spray painted it again. Again, I already had that spray paint, but it usually costs about $5 for a can. Then I picked up a small bottle of white craft chalk paint at WalMart ($3) and lightly painted the wood shelf. I have already used that paint on two other projects! 

I bought the glass bowl at the Dollar Tree, already had the moss, and got the succulent at WalMart at the same time as the paint ($1.77). 

It love it! It is a great alternative to a traditional towel rack and I can display a couple of pretty things while keeping the countertop from getting too cluttered. Pretty and functional. And cheap! That is my kind of project.

Banana Bread

We eat lots of bananas here, and they usually get eaten long before they get too ripe! Over the long weekend, though, I left a few at home and they were too mushy for our taste! 

I looked up a banana bread recipe and it turned out to be delicious, so I thought I'd share. I am so far from a good cook, but this recipe only had ingredients that I already had in my pantry, plus it was extremely easy. This recipe was from www.simplyrecipes.com.

BANANA BREAD

• 2-3 very ripe bananas, peeled
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool completely.

I actually added a little sugar and brown sugar on the top before I put it in the oven to give it a crispy topping, and it was yummy!

My middle son especially liked it (probably because he is our biggest banana fan). It's a delicious way to use those over ripened bananas! Give it a taste!

Have a wonderful day!