FOF A Touch of Pink

Not much of a "wow" factor here, just a little something I wanted to make for my new scrap desk. Can you tell I'm trying to get back in touch with my inner girly girl? I'm starting to have more of an appreciation for pink. And shabby. And roses. And all things dainty. There's a serious lack of that sort of thing around here.

Anyway, my FOF is just an old wooden letter B, covered with a piece of scrapbook paper (the edges slightly sanded), and a few little flowers and such to give it a little froofroo. Stop by the Chari Tree to see other Finished Object Friday projects!

Works in Progress...

Hey, LOOK!! It's Daffodills!! Maybe there's really hope that Spring is on the way.

Oh, Happy Happy Joy Joy!

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Look! It multitasks!

The kitchen is very close to completion, thanks to my resident contractor. Stay tuned for a dangerously long post of before and after pictures.

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*WARNING!! THE FOLLOWING IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING!*

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I call this next series of photos

"Children on Paint Fumes".

You should thank me for removing the red eye from this one. It was vicious.

FOF Valentines Sweets!

Do cookies count as a "Finished Object"? You'll probably find more "objecty" Finished Objects over at the Chari Tree.

I chickened out and did these while the boys were busy playing. I tried to be very quiet, but, alas, they caught me. But I was able to pacify them with a little ball of dough. Instead of creating something with it, though, they just scarfed it down like starving puppies, and scampered off again.

Anyway, here are some of the finished cookies. I still have some more to do. We're going to hand them out at church as Valentine's gifts. If they last that long. Gotta find me a good hiding place...


I monogrammed some of them ...

All wrapped up and ready to be delivered!

Hope everyone has a very SWEET Valentine's Day!!

Here it is...

My "NEW" Scrap Station! I think I'm in love...

Isn't it the perfect mate to my little chair? It's amazing to me what some people will nearly throw away. Yep, I found this antique desk on craigslist. It even had a light already mounted in it. I wish I had taken a before picture, but I was too excited to tear into it that I didn't stop to shoot a picture. It was a weird pale yellow color, and I painted it the same color as the chair. It fits great in the end of the kitchen, so now I have all my stuff in a convenient spot. I'm lovin' it!This little red toile box is from Hobby Lobby (they're around 10 dollars for the small ones). I really needed some more but didn't wanna fork over the dough, so....

I took a good look at the one that I had and made the following deduction. It's nothing more than an ordinary old shoe box. So off to my closet I went, and found 4 empty Clark's shoe boxes. (Just one more reason to buy Clark's. Love 'em Love 'em!!) Then I got some fabric scraps out of my stash and hot glued it on. No more difficult than wrapping a present. Then finished them off with some ribbon and some label holders. Because I'm all about organization.


And VOILA! I saved myself about 50 bucks. YeeHaw.

So, would you like a tour?
You would?!
Great! Cuz I was gonna take you on one anyway.

The top drawer is home to all my cutters.

The top side drawer is divided into 2 parts: adhesives, and misc embellishments.

The next drawer is full of ribbons and various sorts of fibers.

And I even took over one of the kitchen cabinets for all my papers, stickers, and rub ons. The baskets on the top shelf of the desk are full of punches. And I used some of my pink hobnail glasses to hold scissors, pens, etc. So far it's working great. I am one happy girl. And I am officially a firm believer in Craigslist!

Technical Difficulties...

I've been without Internet for 4 days due to a naughty modem that completely conked out. Internet has totally changed our lives. We couldn't even find the number to call the company without looking it up online! I decided to "enjoy" my time offline as sort of a fast. I stayed busy, and I have lots to share in the next few days - so stay tuned. But it really would take some gettin used to, livin offline. I didn't know what my friends were up to, couldn't google anything, or look up something on eBay or craigslist, or balance my checkbook, couldn't even check my email, I didn't even know what the temperature was forgoodnesssakes! But I will say - I had a lot more TIME. I played outside with the lil cowpokes, painted a new piece of furniture (that I will share later), reorganized closets, reorganized ALL my scrapbooking stuff, I even took on the dreaded task of cleaning out the file cabinet. WHEW! And I am SO pleased to announce....THE LAST KITCHEN CABINET HAS BEEN HUNG. Much has been accomplished on the kitchen, and hopefully, next week we'll be looking at a finished project. My smile is about to spread clean off my face. It has been worth the wait!
Thanks for taking part in the poll (IF you took part in the poll...) You voted to see more home decor, updates on the little guys, and before and after pictures. But just because I let you vote doesn't necessarily mean that I'll DO what you voted for. hehe. Naw, really, I'll keep it in mind. Now,if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with my paint brush up on top of the ladder...

There's LOVE in the air...

...well, actually it's hanging from my baker's rack. But it had a nice ring to it.

I'm still hung up on black and white. It's just so classy-ish. When I decorate with classy colors I can kinda pretend I'm not REALLY such a hick country girl. But...who am I kidding? Anyway, I found this idea on Cindy's Romantic Home. I LOVE her blog. If you've not checked it out, you should - Talk about Eye Candy! She has some beautiful things. Her hearts were made from pink toile paper, but I didn't have any on hand. (PHOOOEY) So, thus the black and white. Again.

I don't usually decorate for Valentine's Day, but this project just caught my eye. (And, of course, the easy factor had a lot to do with it.) It took 30 minutes at the very most. And it adds a sweet little touch to our kitchen.

But I wasn't the only one getting crafty...

the guys got busy and made Valentine's cards today. Through which I discovered what a pitifully small amount of patience I have ... er, make that HAD. You turn a 3 year old and a 5 year old loose with scissors, glitter, glue, and paper, and it's...well, it's just NOT for the faint of heart. I helped them with a lot of it, but I let them write their own messages (One wrote. One scribbled.) on the inside. Then they got a little carried away and drew pictures of firetrucks inside their Valentines. What romantic little chaps.
They are most proud of their very own Finished Object Friday projects.
I've got to dig up a fresh supply of patience from somewhere because I promised them we could bake Valentine's cookies tomorrow. (my current supply drained away rather quickly today...)Now I'm wondering......WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

To see other Finished Object Friday projects, meet me over at the Chari Tree.
If I survive the cookie baking and decorating, I'll share them next week.
Now get out there and spread some LOVE!

FOF From Pathetic to Pretty

I was so excited to find this adorable chair at Goodwill the other day. Isn't it just the cutest thing?

No? Well, OK, so it's NOT exactly cute. Yet. The turquoise blue seat cover was not blessing me. But the price tag was cute! I got this little gem for 5.99. And after a can of cream gloss spray paint, and an old valance turned into a new seat cover...
It has a fresh new life. I love it!

The only part that required sewing was the little pillow, and it was fairly dummy proof. I'm much more handy...and dangerous...with my staple gun.
This little chair was sort of an experiment. Now that I know how easy it is, I'm not as nervous about attacking the 8 dining room chairs that are stored in the garage. (A recent craigslist steal) Beware of flying staples, scizzors, and spray paint - I'm on a mission. Operation Rescue Old Junky Chairs is now in progress.

Be sure to stop by the Chari Tree to see more Finished Object Friday projects!

A little somethin' to warm you up.

One of the happiest memories of my childhood is my Granny's home made chicken and dumplins. Between me and my brother Jeremy, we could pretty much clean up a whole pot. Years ago, she told me how to do it, so I scrounged around and found the little piece of paper I had scribbled it on. Then I remembered why I'd never tried it on my own. Granny thought measuring was for wimps.

But I gave it my best shot, and it turned out just the way I remembered it. Granny would be so proud. My favorite part about this recipe? The SHORT list of ingredients.

1. whole chicken

2. water

3.flour

Great, huh?! Of course you add salt and any other seasonings that make you happy.

Here's what you do:

Boil whole chicken in a big pot of water. Debone. Put all the chicken back in the pot of broth. Give the chicken skeleton to your doggy, he'll love you forever. If you have a doggy.

Take a scoop of flour , and add a spoonful of broth from your pot to it, enough to make a nice nonsticky ball of dough.

Dump it out on a floured surface and roll it out. But don't do it like mine. I wouldn't win any "perfectly circular rolled out dough" award. That's why I don't make pie, but that's beside the point. Roll it out kinda thin, unless you're one of those weird folks who like fat lumpy dumplins. Cut it into strips.

This is what I mean by "kinda thin".

Then just drop 'em all in the pot of chicken.
Salt it heavily. And if you're feeling real adventurous, add some ground pepper and some poultry seasoning, or what ever floats your boat. Boil until the dumplins are soft and serve it up with a big ol' glass of Milo's sweet tea.

If you just said "what's Milos'?" you haven't yet begun to live.

Welcome to the South, friends.

This is what I call comfort food. It warms you up from the inside out.
And it really makes me miss my Granny.