Love always wins

At least I like to think so.

I bought the lovely print there in the middle from Emily Falconbridge's Etsy Shop. It says "Love always wins"-in case you can't see it. The sales benefited the Australian wild fires. (Australia is her homeland.)

Photos surrounding print complements of cute daughter, nephew, and niece. (And sister, since she took all photos except one.)

Tall Flowers

Here's yet another embroidered pillowcase. Exciting! I love this pattern. I think I originally bought these at Wallyworld, but they don't sell them anymore. I ordered more online. The pattern is called Tall Flowers. I don't follow the color instructions, I just use whatever colors I want. I've made a bunch and given as gifts.

Need therapy??? Start embroidering. It cures what ails ya!

Zinnias...

I love 'em.

I grew these last summer from seed. (Zinnias are one flower that grow best from seed-meaning, just plant the seeds directly in the ground. They like full sun and don't like wet feet-meaning, they will rot if they are not in well-drained soil.)

It's amazing to me that you can buy a few 10 cent or 25 cent seed packets from the dollar store and end up with beautiful flowers like these.

Sunflowers, nasturtiums (they do best in bad soil and you can eat the flowers), bachelor buttons, cosmos, and morning glories are all easily grown from seed.

Those pictures are almost making me long for summer. Almost.

Frito Salad!

Oh, this is a good one. Someone made this at a 4-H picnic and I had to get the recipe. Now I make it all the time.

Frito Salad

1 can corn, drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1/4 onion, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 bag Fritos

1 bottle Catalina dressing

Mix everything except cheese, Fritos, and dressing. Add those just before serving.

Yummy!

Redneck Dish Drainer

Yup, I'm a Redneck!

Repurpose those old windows

I stole this idea from Emily. Just tape photos to the back of the glass in an old window and voilá-instant photo frame. There's a groove in the top of this window-instant plate rack!

*Shutters courtesy of Goodwill.

I heart salvage!

Signs, Signs...

Happy is he...whose hope is in the Lord. Psalm 146:5
In case you can't see it.



everywhere there's signs.....do you remember that song? I do. I looked it up and it's a remake by Tesla from 1991. I must remember it cause it was b.c.(before child). If it would have been a hit after child, I would not have known, because after child, I didn't give a hoot about music for a while.

Anyhow, signs are very popular right now, so I wanted to show you some that are in my house!

Need a little pick me up???

Have a Mountain Dew/Strawberry Slushie.

I made this up, as far as I know. And boy, it was hard one, coming up with these 3 ingredients! hehe. This is wonderful in the summer, but great really anytime.

Mountain Dew/Strawberry Slushie
1 Can Mountain Dew
About a cup or 2 handfuls of frozen strawberries
About 4 ice cubes

Pour can of Mountain Dew into blender first. Add strawberries and ice. Blend and pulse until mixture turns to slush. Makes one huge glass or 2 regular glasses.

At least you're getting a serving of fruit, right???

Button, button...

who's got the button??? I do, I do!

Okay-here's another thing I love-buttons. Old, new, plastic, metal, or wood-I love them all. I use them for crafts or scrapbooking, once in a while. But mostly, I just love to look at them.

I love how the old timers took their old clothes and cut off the buttons to save. Then they used the salvageable fabric to make quilts. They were so resourceful. They had a great saying-Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without!

Nothing says spring...

like antique Christmas ornaments??? My Aunt Nancy passed these antique Christmas ornaments on to me for safe keeping-she wanted to keep them in the family. She thought I would like them and I do! So instead of storing them right away, I want to enjoy them for a while. So I thought I would use them for spring decor-most of them are pastel, so sounds good to me!

My favorite are the pink ones with the little painted flowers. And see all those white dishes-Goodwill, of course. There are always tons of them there for some reason. Guess nobody wants them anymore. I'm glad, cause I do!

Fabric gift sack

Here's a fabric gift "sack" I made to hold my niece's birthday gifts a couple months ago. Emily Falconbridge gives the simple instructions here.

These are nice for when you have odd shaped gifts and for using up that fabric stash!

Think Spring!

I always say that I love winter, but I guess what I really love is snow. Well, all our snow disappeared last week, so now I guess it's time to move onto spring. Since Valentines Day is over-time to get out the Easter decor. It'll be here before you know it.

I still hold out hope that we'll get more snow, but if we don't, I'm ready!

I like soaps...

for some unknown reason. I always have. I just like to look at them and eventually we use them. They're so pretty, in my opinion. The jar on the left is a recycled pickle jar. (I painted the lid.) The jar on the right is a gift from a friend. Thanks, Dawnie! You can find glass jars abundantly at Goodwill. I should know, I've bought about 20 from there!

Swatch portraits

I added some "swatch portraits" to my woody bedroom. We have slanted walls upstairs, so not a lot of wall space for hanging things, so I used the beams. I think these originated at The Purl Bee. I like how they add color to my very brown walls. They are all over the blogosphere-here and here and here.
I like a lot!

Happy Valentines Day...

From my house to yours!

Best present he'll ever get!!!

Today is hubby's birthday, along with my sister's. Seventeen years ago today, I brought him home that baby up there. I think it's pretty safe to say she's the best present he's ever gotten!

You want a free year of Martha???

Go here to sign up. But hurry, they will be gone fast. I always wanted this magazine, but was too cheap to subscribe. It pays to be cheap!

Another Birthday Girl!

Today is one of my beautiful sister's birthday.

Let me tell you a few things about her:

She's the most wonderful, spectacular, unforgettable, amazing, stupendous, tremendous, adorable, outstanding, marvelous, brilliant, excellent, incredible, superb, cool, loving, awe-inspiring sister, mother, wife, daughter, aunt, and friend ever!!!!!

Think I got some brownie points??? It doesn't matter, I don't need 'em.

Love her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Journaling....

I don't do it. But-I picked these journals up at Ollies-for a buck a piece. I loved all the colors and patterns, I just couldn't resist.

So, if all I ever do is just look at these journals, that's okay. I love the way they look and that makes me happy!

My love..........

is 17 today.

Can someone please tell me how 'Never leave your child unattended' turns into 'Here are the keys, kid. Be home before curfew', so quickly??????????? It's just not right!

Anyhoo. Here are a couple things you may not know about my daughter:

1. She has never, ever carried a purse.

2. She acts just like her dad

3. She acts tough, but let me state for the record, she is not.

4. She spends almost 2 hours getting ready.

5. She drains the hot water tank, every, single day, while taking a shower. That girl is clean!

6. When she was little, she called Oreos, 'black cookies'.

7. She would only use a blue cup or take a fit, when she was little.

8. She loves her mommy, even though she won't admit it.

9. If she ever reads this, she will be mad. Cause she hates mushy.

Let me also state for the record, that I love this girl with all my heart. (So does her dad, but he doesn't talk about feelings-I told you she acted just. like. him.)

Thank you Lord, for my wonderful daughter.

Happy 17th birthday to my baby girl!

I guess that wasn't too mushy.

The cookbook has arrived!

There's a whopping 12 simple recipes in this little cookbook I made.

Warning: Some family and friends will receive this, whether they want to or not.

Someone's having a birthday tomorrow!

Check in for a mushy post.

FYI-She got season 4 of House and 3 puka chip necklaces.

See that pink string-I got a ton of it at Goodwill-cheap!

Introducing...

My beautiful niece, Jess!

Here are some facts you may not know about Jess:

1. She cut her hair and gave it to charity twice.

2. She has two doggies-named Checkers and Mok.

3. She wants a pug really badly.

4. She loves anything electronic with buttons.

5. She has the coolest office ever!

6. She's a good, good girl.

7. She's baptized.

8. She loves me and I love her!

Birdie pillowcase

Hubby's grandmother gave me these pillowcases a long, long time ago. I didn't embroider back then. I'm glad I didn't get rid of them, though. I embroidered them a year or two ago and I love 'em.

See that lace on the edge. It's recycled from some of my old muslin curtains that I ordered from Country Curtains. They were too expensive to just throw away, and I'm glad I didn't. That lace came in handy!

Look-

It's a John Deere potholder!

Shabby Chic

Even Shabby Chic is affected by this bad economy. Rachel Ashwell just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

I *Heart*

HEARTS!

Storage solutions...

for a small space. And I have a fairly small space.

I love these magnetic spice holders. I think I got these at Ollies. I think I first saw them on Sara's blog. She uses them for spices. I use them for paperclips, staples, tacks, fall sprinkles, etc. cause I don't use spices very often, cause I don't cook very often. You get the picture! They're on my new red microwave right now. Hope it doesn't hurt it. They do leave black marks from the magnets, on whatever you place them on. I am going to cover the magnets with paper or fabric someday.

Did you know you could buy colored staples??? Well, you can!

Gag gift for someone spesh!

See that square thingy beside the Windex? That's a glasses cleaning cloth. It's a little prezzie for someone special who just loves me, but won't admit it.

Can you guess who he is???

Have a Twinkie!

Would this not make a cool housewarming gift, or cute gift to give a college student moving away from home???

I found out about The Twinkie Cookbook from reading Heth's blog. I thought it sounded fun, so I look it up on Amazon and they were cheap inexpensive, so I ordered a couple to give as gifts.

We tried the Twinkie Milkshake-

In a blender combine:

2 Twinkies

2 scoops ice cream

1 cup milk

Pour in a tall glass and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

It was yummy. How could you not like it? Unless you're weird and don't like Twinkies.

Now go have a Twinkie! You'll be glad you did.

Isn't she lovely?

Brought her home last night, just in time for the big GAME!