Oh Christmas Tree!

I wanted to do something different with my Christmas tree this year. Both of my girls will be living on their own this year so I decided to let them go through and take any ornaments they want for their own trees. I needed a new theme - and it had to be inexpensive. I decided to go with a snow and cardinal tree. I started by putting artificial snow on all of the branches. Then I added some plaster snowflake ornaments I bought on sale at JoAnn's and glittered myself. I also made snowballs using stryofoam balls and more glue and artificial snowflakes. White sparkly bows and plain white candy canes from the Dollar Tree, white and silver glass balls and some felt cardinals finish the theme. I love how it turned out - what do you think?



I'm linking up to:

More before and after

On a trip to the thrift store a few weeks back I found this lovely pair. They were priced at $1.00 each so I grabbed them. As you can see from the photo -I almost forgot to take a "before" shot - but stopped myself in time! I sprayed them black, found 2 frames and some burlap and...

TA-DAA!

Sorry for the icky pictures. I'm linking up to:

Let it snow!

I found this completely addicting little gadget online where you can cut out your own virtual snowflakes. Go check it out - but only if you don't have anything else you need to get done today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Candlestick gets a makeover

I was in the Salvation Army the other day and found this rather ugly candlestick. But, I could see how some paint could bring out this diamond in the rough so into my basket it went. A little farther down the aisle the big glass vase caught my eye. It just so happened that the bottom of the vase was the exact same size as the top of the candlestick. Well, waddaya know! So, a little black spraypaint and epoxy was all I needed to take this...

To THIS...

I love how the ridges in the vase create the reflections on the wall when the candle is lit. The breakdown on this little beauty is:

Candlestick...$2.00

Vase...$1.80

Candle...$1.00

Not too shabby!!

Now, head over to It's So Very Cheri , Between Naps on the Porch and A Soft Place to Land to see all of the other fantastic things posted by the talented people in blogland!

I've been featured!

I'm so excited! Cheri picked my painted floors as one of her favorite projects for her "It's so Very Creative" Monday Makeover party! Go on over and check out her blog - and while you're there make sure you take a look at all of the other great projects posted.

Thanks, Cheri!

Wonky Log Cabin Pillow

I saw the tutorial by Jacquie at tallgrassprairiestudio for these pillows and had to make one in the christmas fabrics I've been collecting. I love how it turned out - I think I have enough left to make it a friend!

I painted my floor!

Funky Junk Interiors is hosting a "My Favorite Project Ever" party. This is by far my favorite project ever! It turned out better than I had imagined it would. Make sure to go over and check out all of the other favorite projects too!






Here is the original post from last year when I painted my dining room floors...

I linked up to "Metamorphosis Monday" over at Between Naps on the Porch and to "It's so very creative" at It's So Very Cheri- go over and check out all of the fantastic projects posted by the talented people in blogland!


My floors are in desperate need of refinishing. Rather than go through the hassle (and expense) of that, I painted a rug on my dining room floor. I had painted one several years ago right after we bought the house as a "temporary" fix. That was 11 years ago. That rug had pretty much all worn off, so this weekend I decided it needed to be freshened up. As usual, I was too excited to get started to take any before photos. Here is an after I took last night right after applying the poly and then a couple from today when I put all of the furniture back.

I love how it turned out! The only problem I see is that all of the animal fur really shows up on this glossy finish (and if you look very closely you can see pieces of fur stuck in the finish). I guess when you live with animals like I do hair is something you just have to accept as a part of your daily life!

Recipe Swap

Amy over at Park City Girl is hosting a recipe swap. Who doesn't love finding a great new recipe? I have 2 family favorites to share. These are both originally from www.recipezaar.com

Sweet Salsa Dump Chicken

• 1 pkg Taco seasoning mix
• 8 oz Apricot preserves
• 12 oz salsa (your favorite - I like to use a spicy salsa to offset the sweetness of the apricot)
• 1 1/2 lbs chicken pieces (any chicken you like, I use boneless breasts)

Dump everything into a large ziploc freezer bag. Squish it around to mix well. I like to let it marinate in the fridge overnight, but if you don't have time for that no worries. Dump the contents of the bag into a baking dish and bake at 350 until juices run clear. I serve it with white rice.


Taco spaghetti (makes 2 casseroles - one for now, one for the freezer)

• 10 ounces dried spaghetti or linguine or fettuccine, broken
• 2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning mix
• 2 (11 ounce) cans corn mixed with chopped peppers, drained
• 1 1/2 cups colby-monterey jack cheese or cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup favorite salsa
• 2 (4 1/2 ounce) cans diced green chili peppers, drained
• 4 cups lettuce, shredded
• 1 medium tomato, chopped

1. Cook pasta according to pkg directions, drain.
2. Meanwhile, cook ground meat and onion until meat is brown, in a dutch oven.
3. Drain off fat.
4. Stir in water and taco seasoning mix.
5. Bring to boiling and reduce heat.
6. Simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Stir in cooked pasta, corn, 1 cup of the shredded cheese, salsa and chili peppers Divide mix evenly between 2 lightly greased 2 qt casseroles.
8. Package up, label and freeze up to 3 months.
9. To serve remaining casserole, cover and bake in a 350F oven for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.
10. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
11. Top with lettuce and chopped tomato.
12. If desired, pass broken tortilla chips and dairy sour cream as additional toppings.
13. To serve the 2nd casserole, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
14. Bake, covered in a 375F oven for 1 hour or until heated through, stirring once about halfway through baking time.
15. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
16. Serve with 4 cups shredded lettuce and 1 medium tomato, chopped.

Let me know if you try either of these - I'd love to hear if you enjoyed them!