Flower Arrangements

I love making flower arrangements with fake dried flowers. They can look tacky, so you have to be careful. This first one is in a southern living distressed white planter. I mixed neutral colors & a few punches of color to match the beach feel in the living room. Hope you like!

This next one is in the dining room & I have some oriental, fancy style decor in that room. I actually had ONE of these hydrangeas left, so put in the pot to add color to this part of the room. I love how the long flower stalks come up & out of the arrangement. Small, simple, but adds a punch of color & goes perfectly with the decor in the room.

This one I have 2 almost exact in the kitchen. One has this large butterfly in it. Normally I would think this butterfly might be gaudy, but there are very sparse decorations all around this area, so it brings a hint of fun, color & spring to my window. Great to look at while doing dishes. (:

This last one the photo didn't come out the best. It's pretty simple, with little color, but the white in the flowers contrasts the beige tile walls. I put turquoise stones in the vase bottom & they match the tiling accents in the room. Perfect!

A few more:

Vegetarian Pasta Dish

This dish I made some items separately (a picky kid doesn't like spinach/mushrooms). The rest of us like it together. It could be made to look fancy if you add some thin asparagus, shaved cheese on top. It's pretty rich, but great for a little indulgence!

INGREDIENTS:
Pasta of your choice, I used Penne, Butter, Salt/Pepper, White truffle oil, chives, parmesan cheese, mushrooms, spinach, chicken broth, half & half

This is the sauce in the pan before being tossed with pasta & vegetables:

Sauce cooking left
& vegetable mixture below

To make this I slice large mushrooms (about 8) thinly. I also cut one small onion. I saute these vegetables in some butter & a little chicken broth. I season with salt & pepper. Take vegetables out, set aside in bowl.

To get this sauce, Melt 1/4 stick of butter in this same pan you cooked the vegetables in. Deglaze the pan with a little chicken broth. Add some white truffle oil, about 1/4 cup. Whisk together & add about 1 cup half & half (could use heavy cream for richer sauce), when blended, add parmesan cheese & melt (about a cup). Then season with pepper & cut chives into sauce, about 1/4 cup of chopped chives. Then toss with pasta & top with shaved parmesan cheese:

In the end as you plate this dish, you could serve with garlic bread & salad. You can toss in as many of the sauteed vegetables as you like. Here's a picture (sorry not the best) of the final product with some salad & garlic bread.

You can make a different variation on this & instead of using truffle oil, you could use marsala wine. Either way, this dish is very tasty. Enjoy

Sausage Ragu Recipe

My husband loves my sausage ragu sauce. Could also be called meat sauce. (: Recipe follows:

Garlic - 2 cloves chopped
Celery 1 stalk - diced
1 carrot stick - peeled & diced small
1/2 Red Pepper - diced small
Onion - 1 small diced
Small can tomato paste
Large can tomatoes (pureed)
Red Wine
Chicken stock
1 lbs. hamburg
4 hot sausages/2 sweet sausages
salt Pepper nutmeg
Parmesan cheese block & romano cheese block
Thyme & fresh basil leaves cut in strips or chopped

*Sorry, sizes are approximate, I never cook exact, but to taste.

After chopping all vegetables, saute in olive oil. Season with a little salt & pepper. Deglaze pan with some chicken stock. Add Sausages (out of casings) & saute. Add hamburg & saute. Season meat with a few dashes of nutmeg & thyme to taste. Add some red wine (about 1/2 cup) & stir in. Simmer 5-10 minutes. Add Tomato paste (after adding paste, fill can 1/2 way with broth to get it all out), then add large can of pureed tomatoes. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Finally, shred parmesan & romano cheese over top & cut basil for color. Put over pasta! Note: Sometimes I add a little hot pepper for some zip!

I like to serve with some thin asparagus, salad & garlic bread. Also great with a glass of red wine! You can put the leftover onions & red pepper from the recipe in the salad. Enjoy~

Christmas Baskets & mason jar gifts

Here are a picture of some os the gift baskets I made for Christmas. I also made mason jar cookies, a Paula Deen recipe. Fun to make & pretty to give! Great for Mother/daughter gifts. The Eggnog bread doesn't look special, but it tasted it! Delicious toasted with a little butter. Mmmm...recipe to follow!

Mason Jar Smores Bars
Cook Time: 15 min
Ingredients:

1 ½ cups teddy bear shaped graham cracker cookies
1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows
1 ½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips
½ cup brown sugar
1 (quart) mason jar

Layer all ingredients in the mason jar and attach an instruction label that reads:

“Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare a 9” square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Pour contents of the jar along with ½ cup melted butter into the prepared baking dish and press firmly. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Cut into bars.”

Egg Nog Bread:

1 (16 oz.) package pound cake mix
1/4 cup butter, very soft
1 cup eggnog
1/4 cup gingerbread eggnog
You can use 1 1/4 cup of anytype of eggnog, these were just the types I used.
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat all ingredients together at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Increase speed to medium, and beat 2 minutes. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour (about 25 minutes for mini loaf pans) or until a long wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely.

This recipe is so easy & tastes so "Christmassy!" Double for more loaves! Cut & put on colorful plate to serve or bring to gathering. Mmm!

My kids ~

A picture of the kids when they were younger. This was taken during a trip to the Gettysburg Cemetary. The kids are my stepdaughter, Kelsey; daughter, Brooke; son, Ryan; stepdaughter, Samantha & stepson James (I prefer Jimmy). Seriously, why doesn't anyone use the name Jimmy anymore???

My foster son's graduation. Jeff lived with us from when he was 14 until age 19, isn't he handsome? He's my ex-husband's nephew. Also featured in this photo, my husband, myself, my 2 kids Brooke & Ryan.

Brooke Ashley in a flower garden ~

Crafty with Posterboard

Sharing my creative pursuits, hope you enjoy or can get some ideas from these things. I know when I'm doing something creative, I love to look things up & get ideas. This is scenery I made for my sisters Dance Recital, made out of posterboard. Oh, it was a movie/stage & screen theme, can you tell? By the way, they're HUGE!!! This is a kind of closeup picture, but these pieces are huge to be seen from the back of the audience.

If you watch this, keep tissues available! It's worth a look. God Bless the Rescuers!!!

Bone Marrow Drive

How cute is this? Like the signs pointing in all directions? ;)
This is a small thing, but something I'm very proud of. A few years ago I had a bone marrow drive at the local church. I feel like everyone should be on the bone marrow list, it's such an important thing & such an easy way to save a life, or extend a life. That day we added sixty something new people to the list. Not a ton, but every bit helps. It's so easy to have a drive, if you want to have one, contact your local church & the Caitlyn Raymond International Bone Marrow Registry. They will walk you through it.

One of the reasons I chose to do this was my friend from High school, her name is Lisa, was a bone marrow donor. It was a pretty simple procedure for her, but something that a family in need never forgot. The person she donated to ended up passing, but with her help, his life was extended. Every moment is precious with someone you love so much and she gave that gift of time. When she told me that she was invited to the person she donated too's kids wedding, I couldn't help have tears in my eyes. What a selfless, awesome friend! Be inspired, have a bone marrow drive! It's very easy! If you have questions, I can help or try to help. Why not try, you never know who you can help?

Some Decorative accents around our House:

I wanted my stepdaughter's room to look like a garden. I picked out fluffy green carpet, painted the walls a bright yellow, bought them red comforters and the BEST part is the decals of red flowers I stuck to the walls. Doesn't it look like a flower is growing up from the ground? Bright, simple & fun! The girls love it. Also, the White shelf around the whole room & high up, de-clutters their shelves, while being a decorative feature in the room.

My husband is a contractor & it was his awesome idea to add this nook in the bathroom for extra space, since it's a small bathroom. This area could get messy, but we solved that by buying a few baskets that fit perfectly where we store soap, shampoo etc. Instead of folding towels, we roll them (usually in a design not featured in this pic). That makes the plain towels a decoration. Pretty clever, eh? It's the simple things. he he!

You can't see in this picture, but these blocks around the island my Mom designed the look of this for us! I picked out these BEAUTIFUL tiles & we weren't sure how to incorporate. The tiles catch the light & reflect an amber glow in such a beautiful way. I bought amber wine glasses & we have amber hanging lights which are a theme taken from the beautiful glow of these tiles. Great job with the design, Mom!

Some design accents my husband built, a combo of our ideas. Top Picture (below) is some beautiful tile work in bathroom, bottom pic is of our kitchen ceiling which adds interesting architectural detail!:

If you like some of this beautiful design work my husband has done, please like him on facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevin-Allen-Carpentry-Inc/188659834505794

BELOW: Great idea for part of shower wall, this really lets in the light! Love it, great job honey. These large glass blocks also really compliment the small tiles of the same opalescent color.

~ BELOW: Our New Curtains! Did pretty well on these by buying on tax free day & using a coupon! (:

You can see some more of his BEAUTIFUL design work! He's an artist too!!! Thank you so much for your support! It's appreciated.

*find him on facebook @:KevinAllenCarpentry,Inc. Please like ~ thank you!

Every dog needs a home; every home needs a dog.

I have 2 adorable dogs that make our house a home. Of course, they have also wrecked their fair amount of things in our home & caused much stress, but the love they give far, far outweighs any damage they do. These are my sweet babies (Daisy & Carly) We snuggle with them all the time! Daisy is a coonhound & almost 1 year old. She is huggy, gets into everything & cries a lot. Know the song "Hound dog" by Elvis? Makes sense to me know, hound dogs do cry all the time! She's the biggest cuddlebug though, & a great watchdog too! She hears everything! Carly is almost 3 & is a whippet retriever mix. She gets cold easily, can run like the wind & licks the kids continuously. They are BOTH RESCUES!!! Don't breed or buy while shelter pets die! On a sad note, shelters across the country euthanize thousands of dogs a day! Healthy, young dogs, puppies, all breeds. 57% of dogs in shelters are euthanized. Please support your local shelter, dogs are Gods innocent creatures & deserve to have a life & a home. NEUTER YOUR DOG OR CAT!!!!! PLEASE!!! :

Don't breed or buy while shelter pets die by Tamathaa
More Don't Bumper Stickers

Some Christmas Decorating ideas ~

Hang Rope & attach Holiday cards using laundry clips.

IDEA: Could change out colors with Blue to make Hanukkah decorations.
String large ornaments from fishwire & hang from chandelier. Use inexpensive glass holders & fill with cranberries & put candle in the center for colorful centerpiece. On other holidays you could fill with candy corns, seashells, ideas are endless! Fill a bowl with ornaments. Just a few simple ideas I like to share with you. Hope you like the pictures. (:

It's all about the Presentation!

These are some goodies I made for bake sales at the kids school. Some idea's that might help you get ideas. Again, the dollar store tins, lined with cut dollar store plastic tablecloths. You can fill a plastic food bag with 2 brownies & tie with pretty ribbons to gain impact at bake sale. It's also great to add vanilla chips or cinnamon chips to the brownies! How easy is that & the kids/adults love them. These sold like hotcakes!

I also made (easy peasy) colorful lollipops on a stick & added 2 to a bag & tied with colorful ribbon. You can find chocolate, sprinkles & molds/sticks at your local craft store. Very fun for kids to help, quick & people love them!!! Check it out:

Enjoy being creative & impressing with these fun, simple & colorful ideas!

Ideas for classroom treats ~

IDEA: Purchase tin containers at dollar store!

Healthy snack idea: Grapes on kabob sticks (cut sharp ends) alternating with colored holiday marshmallows, strawberries, or anything you can think of. Kids get a healthy treat & a little sweetness! Easy to eat & not messy. I also purchase colored tablecloths at the dollar store & cut them to line trays for easy cleanup & a little festivity if you choose.

White frosting with some food coloring & sprinklers always make a festive presentations!

School Holiday Party Ideas for Room Parents or helpers

An idea for Halloween party:
Buy little clay pots (pretty inexpensive) & a few large bottles of acrylic paint in halloween colors. I brought in orange, yellow, green, purple & black. You can have the kids paint their own halloween inspired pots. You can also have them embellish these pots with glitter, chalk paint (& chalk drawing), stickers or any decoration you can glue on. They could even rim the top with glued on pipe cleaners in coordinating or contrasting color.

When the kids go home, fill the pots with tissue paper & inexpensive halloween goodies. Halloween pencils, candies, stickers etc.to surprise them when they come in the next day. DON'T FORGET TO MAKE ONE FOR THE TEACHER! (: A fun & useful craft the kids can actually use at home to store pencils in at their desk, or plant a little plant in.