victorian wreath

Making a Victorian wreath is not at all difficult.  Start with a sheet of foam core.  Use a plate or bowl to get the size you want, draw around it and cut with a utility knife.  Cut out the center about 2-3" smaller.  You can use this for another wreath. You could also use a piece of card board as long as it's heavy enough.  Here I cut a 12" an 8" and a 5" from the same piece one inside the other.  Tear strips of tea dyed muslin and wrap it around the wreath securing with hot glue.  Add a couple of layers of lace and ribbon in the same way.  Make flowers from lace or fabric, add those to the wreath along with pearls, buttons, streamers or glitter until you like the look.  Add a 4" loop of ribbon to the back as a hanger. 


tear your muslin so the edges have a softer look



First finished wreath check out the doily I used as a background for the flowers.  These flowers are made from a sheer curtain fabric.  Cut strips 4" wide, fold in half lengthwise and do a running stitch along the raw edge.  Gather your flower fluff it up and add bling or a button.



I love the lacy background and the fancy buttons.



Finished wreath 2.  This one has stacked layer flowers.  Just cut a flower shape from 4-5 fabrics, stitch or glue together and add a button.



Flowers, lace and pearls.  This is antique satin and I love the shimmer.

Spice up your room with something new.  It will give your space a fresh feel without spending a lot of money.  I didn't go out and buy anything for this project, just used what I had.  Since I'm such a pack rat and have lots of stuff that's easy for me.  Start your own stash of crafting and decorating materials and add to it regularly.

candlestick redo

I had purchased this set of 3 candlesticks at a resale store with a 75% sale.  Even with the sale they were $8.00 for the trio. I know I'm cheap, cheap, cheap. They are not all alike, they just mix well together.  The sticks were made for regular taper candles , but I wanted something a little bigger.
 Here's what I did:  I took glass coasters You know those things grandma use to put under her furniture so the carpet wouldn't get messed up.  I had purchased theseat a RS for $.25, added two drops of hot glue to the bottom of each put them on the sticks and added 3" pillars.  An almost instant center piece or grouping.   You could also use sticky tack  The glue will peel right off if you want to switch to taper candles.

 Look at what you have from all sides to see if you can make it more your style.  You'll never know until you try, what you might come up with from things you all ready have around the house.



just a couple of drops of hot glue will keep these steady



simple coasters I think you can still but these at most  hardware stores, but the ones I've seen are plastic.



chunky candle sticks are more my style



wine time part 2



We started our wine process a couple of weeks ago.  Go to the archives to see that part of the process.

That bag of gunk is called the must.  It  sat in the bag for 7-10 days with the yeast and sugar.  It takes some serious squeezing to get all the juice out.  At this point AH and I are both a sticky mess from top to bottom.  The bees were loving us.  At least we took the mess outside for this process.




this is what's left of 5 gallons of peaches we started with



Sorry for the awful picture.  The thingie on the top is an air lock.  The wine  will bubble in this 5 gal bottle (really a plastic water bottle) which is called a carboy for 6-8 weeks.  After that time the solids that are left should be on the bottom and the wine will be decanted into bottles.  The wine tastes raw and strong right now.  It definitely can't be served for dinner.  If fermentation isn't done we will decant into another carboy for a few more weeks before bottling.  We also did 5 gallons of grapes at the same time.  Doing pears and apples next.  Should have bought stock in sugar  companies.
There are some great websites out there that will show you how to make wine.  Give it  a try if you have extra fruit.

baked potato fritata

A fritata, basically an open faced omelet, is one of my go to meals when I just don't feel like cooking.  It's quick, easy, adaptable to what you have and the leftovers are great for lunch the next day.  Here's what you need:
2 medium potatoes baked (nuked in the microwave is OK too)
1/2 onion diced
1/2 green pepper diced
grated cheese use what you like I used cheddar.
Cooked chopped meat I used bacon and ham because I had them on hand.  You could also go vegetarian.

5 eggs whip them in a bowl with 2T of water

butter
Bake the potatoes, do all the other prep work ahead, once it starts cooking it goes fast.

Do the potatoes first and allow them to cool slightly, peel and cut into 1" chunks
Add the peppers, onion and potatoes to an oven proof  skillet with about 2T of butter, saute until translucent and golden
Add the meat and stir a couple of minutes.  Lower the heat to medium.
Pour in the eggs and top with cheese. 
Cook until the eggs are almost set and then pop the skillet under the broiler to set the top of the fritata.  Watch this constantly, it can go from golden to black in seconds.
Cut into wedges and serve.

You can change this however you like by adding other vegetables, cheese and meat or not.  Try broccoli, red pepper and jack cheese it's fabulous

We were in a hurry to eat and I forgot to take the picture of the finished fritata.  But it tasted great.

fajita feast

Last weekend was AH's birthday.  He's getting real close to one of the major ones, but this year was pretty low key.  We decided to throw a fajita feast for family close enough to come for the evening.  I know it seems like all we do is celebrate but between the end of August and the end of October 12 close member of the family have their birthdays.  So we gotta party

You just have to have salsa for fajitas.  I could make my own but a near-by Mexican restaurant makes the best around  its fresh  and almost as cheap as buying the jar kind.  Most restaurants will sell salsa by the pint, just ask.





Start with a huge bowl of chips, you'll go through a lot of them.   Baked is better for you than fried.





We like steak and chicken strips fried with a little garlic and cumin, but you could use shrimp, fish or go vegetarian.  Add sauteed strips of onions and peppers as well as shredded lettuce.  Amounts are unnecessary in this recipe, just make what you like and think you will need.  You can use the leftovers tomorrow.



Shredded cheese,  jack and sharp cheddar



Pile everything on a whole grain soft shell, fold it up and shovel it in.

These are really messy but so worth it.



The most important part of the celebration is family and the birthday cake.  In this case it was angel food and an apple caramel cake with homemade caramel sauce.  AH loves caramel and he deserves a special treat.



Celebrate your special times and even the ordinary times with your loved ones.  They are more important than any job, TV show, ball game or meeting you think you need to be part of.

fall redo part 2

My living room shelving unit in the pinks, greens and aquas of spring and summer.  this unit runs 16' across the living room and is 11' tall.  we built this a couple of years ago and I love all the storage.



Ready for the fall seasom.  Dries gourds, dark metal and copper to warm things up.





The dishes along the top cabinets are mostly AH's grandmothers wedding china from the WW1 era.  The green back drop in each cabinet is foam core cut to size and old sheets attached on the back with (don't tell) packing tape.  Hey it works.  The green can be easily removed and be replaced with another color or left  white.




More gourds candle sticks and balls to warm up the shelves.  The tall candle stick grouping next to the TV was another free find.  I just wiped them off with a damp cloth and set them up.
You don't have to leave everything the same year after year.  Switch things up, move them room to room and change them out.  There is nothing that dates your home more than the same old tired accessories.



fall redo part 1

I like to redo my living room/kitchen with the seasons.  I move the furniture, hang different curtains and change out the accessories. 


Cabinet between the windows.  The jadite was free, an old train case, a marble bowl for goodies and a faux cabbage that I'll pop a mum or aster in.  I keep tweaking things all season.  Adding different accessories and moving things around.




Wooden box stuffed with silks, a scale and wood recipe box on a wash stand at the end of the island.





Fall blooms in a vase on  the trunk in the living room.  Callie supervising.  The kitties get really nosy when I'm changing things around.



Close up of flowers.  I just stuffed these in the box when I brought them in the house, they still have the price stickers on them.  I love the rich jewel colors of fall but   I'm not a huge fan of orange.  it just doesn't go that well in my house.

These are all very simple things you can do quick and easy to keep your house looking fresh for the new season.



transformed gourds

I have a lot of people that ask me about the abundance of gourds that I display in the fall both inside and out.  Each year I start gourd seedlings and then give them to friends who plant them, water, weed and harvest them.  Some years we have an abundant crop, some years not so much.  The first year I just display the gourds as is.  Before freezing weather I put them in the attic to dry clear until the next fall.  Clean them up and paint them so they look real.  Easy.  i think I have 3 full garbage bags of them now.  I do give a lot of them away.



fresh gourds, not sure what kind, probably a mutant




Dry them for a year in a warm dry place that will not freeze.  When they come out they will be gross, covered in white fuzz, black gunk and dried skin.  They are suppose to look like this.  Discard any gourds that are cracked or broken.



Soak them for a couple of hours in a bucket or sink, turning every so often.  Scrape the gunk off.  I use the side of a spoon, paring knife and scrubie pad.  This is long hard work.  Each gourd can take 30-60 mniutes to clean.   Let them dry.



Use acrylic paint to base coat and add details.  It will take several coats to blend colors together.  If you don't like it cover it up with more paint.  In your world if you want them purple or black paint em that color.
















Continue to add details until you're happy.  Let dry and then spray with sealer.  Store them for the next fall in a warm dry place.



yummy potato salad

 I never eat potato salad out anywhere because it's mostly dripping in mayo.  I can't stand mayonaise so I avoid it whenever possible.  Here's how I make mine:

4-5 potatoes boiled, cooled and peeled
2 eggs hard cooked
1/2 onion chopped fine
1-2 ribs of celery chopped fine (optional)
1/2 C sweet pickle relish
1T mustard
1T mayo , yogurt or sour cream
Dump everything into a zip top bag, mush it around until it's the texture you like.  Check taste and season with salt and pepper.  Serve it up.  Great with fried chicken.

birthday boys

Thirty-five years ago today I got the surprise of my life when I went to the hospital to have one baby and came home with two.  Ultrasound was not available, at the time, and even the doctor didn't know I was having twins until the second one was on the way out.  What a shock to everyone.  They about had to pick AH up off the floor, especially when the Dr joked there was a third baby coming..  He ran around in a daze for days trying to gather enough things for another baby.  Fortunately we had fantastic family and friend support to help us through those first few hectic weeks. 
You parents of multiples know what I'm saying about the no sleep, zombie brain you have after months of being up many times per night.  Eventually we did sleep and they grew into extremely active little boys, teenagers and finally adults.  Today they are fabulous husbands, fathers and sons and I could not be prouder.  They still like to give their Mom a hard time and are as ornery as ever.  They still call us for advice and opinions and we are a close family despite the distance between us.  Rarely does a day go by that I don't talk to one of the three of them.  I love that.










Three weeks old.  We tried everything short of abuse to keep them awake, but they were not cooperating



1 year cute as can be





Nathan age 5 he's the oldest by 4 minutes

 


Richie age 5 he's the mouthiest by a bunch




So cool at 17 for graduation

 



 



 

DIL Barb and Nate



DIL Brandi and Rich

Parenthood is the hardest and most important job you will ever have.  Enjoy every moment you can and when times get hard, know that it will pass too soon. 


HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY PRECIOUS BOYS!!!

more flowers

On a roll with flower making.  Here's another version that is fast and fabulous.  Yo-yo flowers are really easy to make and add a nice touch to many projects.  Draw a circle at least 4" on your fabric.  I used a desert plate.  Cut out your circle and stitch around close to the edge with a running stitch, pull tight and tie off your threads.  Add a decorative button or bling.  That's it.  If you were making yo-yos for a quilt you would turn the edge under before stitching, but you don't need to for this.  Add them to anything you want for a touch of color and texture.  Sew or hot glue them on.

just stitch around the edges with a running stitch

a finished yo-yo just add a button, pom-pom, earring or jewel to finish the center

dryer sheet flowers

I'm always making flowers for one project or another.  You can use them on cards, collage,altered art etc...
I decided to make flowers out of used dryer sheets.  Just save them up until you have several.  Mix up a dye bath, here I used food coloring.  Dump the sheets in and swish them around a couple of minutes.  Take them out and lay out flat to dry.  Fold them in fourths and just eyeball to cut circles about 2-3".  Stack 4-5 layers and either run a needle and thread through the center taking a little pleat or use your glue gun.  Add a button or jewel to finish the center.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the final flower.  OH well, another time.

dye bath, don't make the color too strong



sheets soaking just a couple of minutes for pale color



note to self wear gloves next time so you don't look like a relative of the jolly green giant



stack and stitch



family good times

 Spent the holiday weekend with my parents in the big, big city of Fort Wayne.  It's a long trip, about 5-6 hours.  We try to get there as often as possible, but work schedules do interfere.  Saturday was my sisters birthday so we drove up to their house on a beautiful lake to help her celebrate.  Of course  our family celebrations always include food and lots of it.


sis, Paula and DIL Hollie.  Paula is a caterer and inspireingly creative.



cookies are a family must have at every celebration



Mom, Paula and hubs Bernie,  he does dishes and laundry without reminding, what a guy.




Vinnie, she runs the place.




Mom and Dad,  how lucky am I to have parents that are in such good health and mostly in their right minds.



great nephews Braden and Tyler



AH in his favorite position.  We had to wake him, his snoring was interrupting the conversation



nephew Matt and wife Hollie



Our parents were really mean to us as kids.  They brought us up to be kind, respectful and hard working.  They took us to church, made us mind and punished us when we didn't.  They taught us the value of education and working for what we wanted.  Mostly they instilled in us the importance of faith and  family.  God and family will be there for you whenever and however you need them.  How blessed are my brother, sister and I to have grown up  with such mean parents.  The one bad thing about being a parent is you don't know if you have done a good job for years.  The three of us turned out pretty well, so good job Mom and Dad.