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!

Happy Haunting!

Here's a picture of my girls many years ago getting ready for a big night of Trick or Treats! Mine are the little green faced witch and the happy little clown in the big bow-tie. If only they could stay that little...

I'm not ready for this!

Ugh. It's only October 16th!

I am so excited!!

I just bought myself a very nice gift! I found a Janome Memory Craft 6500P on Ebay for a price that I just could not pass up!! After getting my wonderful hubby's blessing I hit the button and now she's MINE! :)

The best part is that the seller lives near me so I don't have to wait for shipping - I can go pick her up myself.

I can hardly sit still...

Fall Decorating inspired by Connie at Shady Creek Lane

I have been busy getting my fall decorating started. Autumn is my favorite season. It is beautiful this time of year in central New York. I was inspired by this post at Shady Creek Lane.

Sorry for the bad lighting in the picture - there are big windows on both sides of the table. I'm happy with how it turned out! I used a faux pumpkin and antiqued it to knock down the bright orange. Printed out "Welcome" on my computer and transferred the pattern to the pumpkin. I used a black paint pen to color in the letters. The berry spray and candle holder are from Hobby Lobby. The glass vases, candles, pebbles, little pumpkins and leaves are all from the dollar store. In all this pretty centerpiece cost me about $25. Not bad! The table topper is a lap quilt I made at a beginner quilting class last year. It fits my dining room table perfectly!

Here is a photo of me with my oldest daughter apple picking. I may be a little biased, but I think she's beautiful! :)