A Tea Party

We went to my parents' house last weekend so my Hero could be their hero and set up their surround sound.  I personally think it's hilarious that my parents even have surround sound, but whatever; I just hope they don't find the one button out of 2700 that will cause the surround sound to stop working and then press every button to fix it before they call us for tech support.  Oh wait, that already happened.  But I digress.

While we were over there, my mom (who happens to be the best mom on the planet :) ) found these:

They're from my play kitchen when I was little!  How cool is she for saving these for, what, 25 years?  (Ok, could I feel any older right now?) {Sigh} My dad's a chef, so my mom wanted all my play kitchen stuff to look real, because that's just how cool she is.  Would you check out those strainer spoons, how CUTE are those??

I have all the flatware and even tiny cookie cutters. 

I was so excited about these that I showed them to my neighbor and she totally flipped over them.  She told me that her little girls have a whole tea set made out of real china, but they don't get to play with it much because, well, it's made out of real china.  Within 90 seconds we were completely inspired to throw a surprise tea party.  We'd make little finger sadwiches with itty bitty bread and the girls could bake tiny desserts in their Easy Bake ovens to bring to the party!  Can I be seven again?

Valentine's Day was the perfect occasion but it was only a week away so I didn't have a lot of time or a lot of money.  Believe me, if I did I would have been seriously dangerous!  I did decide to make invitations so the girls would feel like the party was really special.  They loved them!  I even got a handmade card back from the Princess that said I was "so so so so so so so so cool" for inviting her to a tea party, before we even had the tea party.  Isn't she sweet? 

I made favors with some wedding bubbles I found at Dollar Tree, 9 for $1, and dressed them up with rhinestone hearts and pink tissue paper.  I even found doilies that were the perfect size for mini placemats.

I searched the house for things I could use and came up with THE perfect thing for a tiny cake.  I think this was my favorite part of the whole party.  I keep this dish on my nightstand to put my jewelry in at night.  And is it not perfect for this beautiful cake?  I can hardly contain myself with its cuteness!

I had to put a real sized fork in the picture just so you could tell how small it is. Adorable!!  But wait, look at this table....

Do you see those teeny sandwiches?  They have teeny tomato slices on them!  A tower of heart-shaped marshmalllows, pink rose petals, it doesn't get more girly than this.  The girls were in heaven! 

It was such a special party and they loved every minute of it.  I think they'll remember it for a long time!

Easy-cheesy Superbowl Snacks

We had no plans for Superbowl Sunday, so my Hero invited our neighbors to stop by.  Totally impromptu, last minute thing, and we had such a great time!  I really couldn't have asked for a better night.  I was thrilled to death that they enjoyed the food so much, because it was so simple and everything could be done ahead of time.  We had a pretty standard-type spread but since it was only the four of us and their kids we kept it simple; we put out bunch of cold cuts ("lunch meat," for the southerners) for a do-it-yourself sandwich bar, cocktail shrimp, and I made six-layer dip and chili.  They flipped over the dip and the chili, and I'm telling you they're both so easy, I almost felt like I cheated.  I shared the recipes with her, and now I'll share them with you.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures of the food until it was half gone.  Sorry!  Next time.


6-layer Dip (seven if you like guacamole*)
My aunt taught me how to throw this one together in two minutes.  Okay, ten.

Ingredients
1 can refried beans
1 c. sour cream
1/2 packet taco seasoning
salsa
small can of chopped or sliced black olives
green onions, chopped
shredded four cheese mexican blend, or whatever cheese you prefer

Directions 
Spread refried beans onto a platter. 
Add 1/2 packet taco seasoning to sour cream and mix well.  Spread over beans.
Create a layer with each of the remaining ingredients.

Done!  Just make sure you have plenty of tortilla chips, cuz this stuff will go fast!

*I've never made mine with guacamole, I guess you can add that before the sour cream layer? I don't think it matters too much where it goes :)


Now, I hope I don't offend any "real deal" chili makers out there with this recipe, but everyone who's tried it loves it.  Even I was never a huge chili fan, but this stuff is good!  The recipe came, believe it or not, from a Marlboro Cookbook of 50 Winning Chili Recipes.  I'm not recommending that anyone start smoking, but I do strongly suggest you try this chili!


Lazy Man's Chili Soup with Beans
by Bart Edwards, Athens, OH

Ingredients
2 lbs. ground beef
1 package ranch dip mix
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 can (10 oz.) tomatoes & green chilies (mild), drained
2 cans (14.5 oz./ea.) tomatoes with onions
1 can (12 oz.) chili beans
1 can (11 oz.) golden, whole kernel corn, drained
1 Tbsp. Tabasco sauce
1 package (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
1 package (8 oz.) sour cream
1 bag corn chips

Directions
Brown the ground beef in a large pot.  Drain the beef and return it to the pot.  Add the ranch mix, taco seasoning, drained tomatoes and chilies, tomatoes with onions, drained chili beans, drained corn and Tabasco sauce to the pot with the beef.  Cover and cook on medium to medium-low heat for 35 minutes*, stirring occasionally.  Remove pot from heat and spoon into individual serving bowls.  Add 1-2 oz. of cheddar cheese and 1/2 -1 Tbsp. sour cream.  Serve with corn chips.  Serves 8-10.

*Just a note from personal experience: the chili is a little soupy after the recommended 35 minutes, so if you want it thicker, just cook it longer.


Oh yeah, and the football game?  What a great game!!  Not that anyone has any less respect for Indianapolis, but what a great story for New Orleans huh?  First time to the Superbowl and they win!  I love watching history be made.  Congratulations Saints!!   

Halloween Blocks

I found some adorable Halloween scrapbooking supplies at the Dollar Spot at Target. I don't scrapbook, but these were so cute I knew I had to find something use them for.

Amanda at Imperfectly Beautiful makes these really cute blocks (go buy some!), and I wanted to try to do something fun like that for Halloween.  My Hero picked up a piece of 2x6 from Home Depot for me and cut it down into pieces roughly 7 1/4" long.

I used his awesome Dremel sander to smooth out the ends and the corners. (I love this sander, by the way.) Then I painted them with regular black acrylic craft paint, and they were all ready to be decorated.

I found one collection of free vintage Halloween images here, and another great source for vintage holiday images here. Free! It was a tough choice because they're all so stinkin' cute, but I picked these four, resized them in Photoshop and used Mod Podge to mount the images on heavy duty black cardboard to give them a little depth.

I don't know how I've never used Mod Podge before, but this stuff rocks. I used it to adhere my scrapbook papers to the wood and then went to town embellishing them. A few hours later, and here's what I made!

Okay, besides the mess, these!

 

I don't know which one is my favorite, I love how they all turned out...

 

Aren't those polka dots perfect for that little clown?  I had the ribbon left over from the lemonade stand.  (One day there will be pictures of this lemonade stand, I swear.)

This black and green ribbon was the only other thing I bought, $1.19.

The burlap was left over from a project a hundred years ago. And I made little bats out of ribbon.  I love them!
 

This pretty orange bow came off a package of potpourri I bought.  See, you never know when those bits and pieces come in handy!

These were so fun to make, and cheap, too. The wood cost about $5, the Halloween papers and stickers cost $3, plus the ribbon... puts me at under ten bucks!  Ain't no recession gonna keep me down!

Fall Decor

I started unpacking my fall decorations pretty much at Labor Day (yes, I'm only now taking pictures of it, shhh). It seemed early to me then, but I have to say, I'm glad I was ready to start celebrating fall while it was still summer, because by October 2nd most of the fall stuff was already gone from the stores to make room for Christmas! Yikes! Seriously? I have to be honest, I'm not feelin' the holly jollies yet! Is it just me? I know the older I get, the faster time seems to fly by. It SO doesn't help when Christmas comes three months early. If you're trying to "live in the present," probably don't go into HomeGoods. :) Okay, that's enough of my soap boxing.

Without further ado, before everyone starts whistling Christmas carols, here are a few little things I did to start dressing up the house for autumn. Remember this cutie thing?

Look at him now! I just added some tiny pumpkins and Indian corn. I love it! (Are we still calling it Indian corn, or do I have to say criss-cross-apple...corn?)

Since I don't have a mantel, my dining room table is basically standing in. I would have set it up like a dining room table, with decorations down the middle, but usually the table looks like this:

Woah, how'd that get in there?  What I meant to say was, we use this table for everything—homework, folding laundry, making crafts—we'd forever be shoving the decor out of the way. I wish I had a better idea, but for now it's sort of arranged as if it were a mantel. Silly, I know, but it still looks like fall.

I love the look of a simple, leafy branch in a vase. If I still lived up north, my house would be filled with pretty branches, and acorns, and pine cones I collected outside. {sniff} Florida doesn't have a lot of natural bounty in the fall leaves department, so we have to improvise. I used a preserved oak branch. From the grocery store. Also from the grocery store, an infamous wheat bundle. (Yes, it is real!) The pumpkins aren't. But I'm loving white pumpkins and had to have some.

A bowl full of gourds and some stray leaves. The little bird was on sale at Michaels; when I got to the register, it rang up even less than I thought. $1.19? I'll take two!

Someday I need to learn the secrets professional floral designers use to get that perfect combination of color, texture and shape to their arrangements. For now, I decided to try to copy the style of the pre-made arrangements at Michaels, and I wanted to do it without spending a ton of money. I found stems in the natural elements section that had nice variety and texture already combined, and they were 40% off. I picked a couple of tall ones and a couple floral and literally just popped them in this vase I already had. Not bad!

I'm also digging copper, a lot. I found this mercury glass-looking acorn at HomeGoods for $6. The small copper pumpkin came from Ross for a sweet $1.99! Love it! And the birdie twin. I wasn't kidding, I did take two.

Here's a side table in the living room.  I think having a lot of one type of flower looks so dramatic.  Probably could use a little height under the candles.  I'll have to see what I can do about that.

Before I show the kitchen, there's a warning: The following image contains a graphic depiction of vertical blinds and may not be suitable for those with a sensitive decorating palate. They're ghastly. And broken. And the more broken they get, the happier I am because the closer they are to being replaced. Unless we want to suffer Florida afternoon sun beaming straight through the kitchen door. Which is unbearable, really, so that's not an option. Anyway, at least these cozy decorations have a place to live!

It's a much better view without those horrendous verticals.  No wonder they call them blinds.

Ahh, that's better. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm a sucker for holiday lights.  They're like instant festive!  I love their warm glow.  Note to self to do a better job hiding that extension cord.  I was standing on a chair to take these pics, and even though you can't see it from the ground, it bugs me now.

These are the shelves over our little coffee bar.  I just tucked in some glass bead garland, more tiny pumpkins, some pine cones and leaves.  Easy!

 

That's all for now, I'm off to start planning Easter! Just kidding....

A tiny office

The back-to-school project I mentioned a few weeks ago is finally done! The Princess started first grade this year and I thought it would be nice for her to start off the new school year with a little work space all her own. I transformed some things I already had to make the cutest six year-old’s office ever.

When my company moved into a new building, I inherited all kinds of things, including a cork board and a side table that have been sitting in my garage waiting for makeovers. I picked out some pretty fabric and ribbon for the bulletin board and my Hero went to Home Depot and got all my supplies to refinish the table, which was the perfect size for a mini writing desk.

A little disclaimer: Apparently I'm not too good about taking all my before and during pics. I'll try and get better.

Everyone’s done a bulletin board makeover by now I’m sure, but I had to do mine a little differently. We're in the process of redoing the girls' room (and by "in the process" I mean we haven't picked out colors, bedding or paint yet...still waiting to get their bunk beds first:

Anyway, I wanted to cover the cork board in a way that could be easily re-coordinated with the décor later if we need to. I got a piece of oak tag and used spray adhesive to attach the fabric, wrapping it about an inch around the back. (By the way, does anyone know what I'm talking about when I say oak tag? That's what we used to call it when I was in school, but the girl at Michael's looked at me like I had a growth when I asked her where it was. So poster board, oak tag, whatever.) When that was dry, I sprayed some more adhesive to attach it to the cork board, which I had painted white.  I stapled the edges to secure it and trimmed it out with pretty fuchsia ribbon. (Thanks to my lovely picture taking skills, you'll have to scroll to the end to see it in it's glory.)

I found sparkly rhinestone flowers at Wal-Mart to make thumb tacks.



They were self adhesive. I thought I could just use E6000 to glue some tacks over the paper backing and be fine, but the poor things didn't last one push. So I traced some white felt, glued it to the adhesive and glued my tacks on top of that. Perfect!

Now, on to the table. Here's my pile of refinishing stuff:

I was a little intimidated because I've never refinished anything and I was looking at an awful lot of chemicals and sanding ahead of me. I also don't have a good history with woodworking. (Honestly, I was thinking I'd just prime and paint it, but my Hero had a right(er) way in mind, so.) It really wasn't bad. I just followed the directions on the can. The only mishap was the supposed stripper pad that fell apart like cotton candy after being moistened with the After Wash. Too bad—that thing worked like a charm... for about 15 seconds. Okay so first we globbed on the stripper and let it do it's thing for about 20 minutes or so, then we scrubbed off the urethane gunk with a stripper pad stiff bristle brush and sanded. We had to do something about the side panel so there would be space to sit comfortably underneath, so we drew an arc and my Hero cut it out with his jigsaw. Then we primed, sanded again and painted.

The legs looked great, but for some reason the top (that was supposed to be the easy part) was all rough and patchy. So I sanded it again. And painted it again. And that didn’t fix it. What the H? The Hero gave up on spray paint and thought we should try to even out the texture with a brush and latex paint. Annnnd that didn’t work. Soo, I sanded it. AGAIN. Spray painted it, again. And decided that was good enough. Three coats of clear gloss later, we it was finally ready to come inside.

I also found a mail sorter in my To Goodwill box, not that she has a lot of bills to keep track of, but I figured she could use it for note pads, library books, cards or whatever. Again, sorry for the lack of before pics but just imagine this black.

And here’s her little “office” all put together:

Isn't it too cute?? She even has her own calendar—Tinkerbell, of course!

I love these pretty pencils. I found them on clearance in Michael’s dollar section. So what does that make them, practically free?  I decorated this can for her lemonade stand last summer (that should be a post of it's own) and it worked perfectly as a pencil holder.

Now I just need to track down a chair for her. I found a cute white one online at Wal-Mart, but it’s about $40. It just bugs me to spend that much, when everything else was free!

Mantel Envy

The frenzied decorating season is right around the corner and I'm starting to have mild anxiety about not having a mantel to dress up. See, when we got our new TV last year, it wouldn't fit in our old entertainment center, which used to serve as my faux mantle. We needed someplace to put the TV, so we bought just the TV stand part of an expandable wall system and planned to purchase the side towers and bridge for the top later on. I'll spare the boring technicalities and just say that we have yet to purchase the side towers and bridge for the top.

Meanwhile, enter Ballard Designs and this beauty:

It was love at first sight. I want it so badly I can't honestly judge whether it even goes with the rest of my furniture. It's perfect for me. Plenty of storage, not bulky, built in room to decorate...and it might even go with my stuff? Perfect. But um, it's $1800. On sale. Plus shipping, plus...err...delivery fee? I would hope that when I pay for shipping, yes, the delivery guy will... DELIVER it. But regardless, there's no way I can spend that much on one piece of furniture.

So until I solve my mantel-less-ness, I'll have to live vicariously through other people's pretty Autumn mantel displays. {sigh}

This is from an old issue of Southern Living's Cooking School magazine. I LOVE grape vine. And twinkle lights.

Mmmm leaves...

{Photo: stormybayou}

{Photo: saucydragonfly}

I've always had a thing for gourds. I could never have enough of these.

{Photo: melsky}

Not too early for a little taste of Halloween, is it?

Classy and festive. Love all that mercury glass.

{Photo: providencehandmade}

How sweet are these signs, and that banner is adorable.

{Photo: jeanetta darley}

Classic black, simple and bold.  And I'm thinking it may be my turn to steal borrow the B-O-O idea. :)

{Photo: melissann}

This is so pretty for thanksgiving. I love the wheat bundles.

{Photo: thefeltmouse}

Last year we bought a wheat bundle at Publix and the poor cashier girls were stumped. They didn't know what it was or where it came from. While they were trying to determine how much to charge for it, they said "It's not real, is it?" I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.  Real as in, am I going home to make bread out of it??

Now, tell me this baby isn't ready to get all dressed up with pretty pumpkins and leaves.  If only it would come home to me.