Quote Sunday: Happy Easter!

Blessings,

Silly Saturday

Happy Easter, friends! Have a fun and safe weekend!

Memory Box Number 3...

Whew! This week has flown by, and I'm really glad that the weekend is close at hand! Thought I'd share a quick post with you to show you the memory box that my friend Darla commissioned me to make for her to give to her neighbor that got married last week:

I really love how it turned out, and Darla said that her neighbor LOVED it! :) Here's a close-up photo of the doily/rose detail that I incorporated into the design:

Thanks for dropping by!

Blessings,

The Easiest, (and Possibly the Cheapest!), Easter Decoration EVER!

I love going to Target and browsing through their $1.00 bins for goodies, do you? Recently on one of my trips to Target I spotted a bag of artificial speckled eggs and some raffia in a bag for only $1.00, and I instantly knew that I could make a cute Easter arrangement with them. Here's how I created it:

I started out with the bag of speckled eggs, raffia, and a vase that I had purchased for only a $1.00 during one of my trips to a local thrift shop:

The eggs were originally meant to be used as ornaments, and had raffia loops attached to the tops, so I cut those off:

I tucked the raffia into the bottom of the vase, making it look sort of like a nest, but I thought it needed a little something extra. I had the floral stem stashed away in my craft closet, and I knew it would be a perfect addition the "nest" I was building in the vase:

Lastly, I added 3 of the speckled eggs to the nest in the vase and TA-DAH!, a cute and inexpensive tabletop decoration for Easter. Oh! And I even have 3 speckled eggs left over to make another crafty project in the future! Here's a view looking down into the nest in the vase:

Here's another shot of the arrangement sitting on an end table in my living room:

Thanks for dropping by today! Have a GREAT week!

Quote Sunday

 

Silly Saturday

(Photo found on the internet)

 

Enjoy your weekend!



Operation "Ivory Soap" and Other Happenings...

Good morning, folks! Lately I have been on a mission to figure out how to deter the bunny family that lives under our garden shed from eating up the plants in our backyard flower beds. Mike and I don't mind sharing our backyard with the bunny family, actually we like seeing them out and about, but we don't want them wreaking havoc on our plants. Below is a photo of just one of the plants that they have munched away on during the winter months...believe it or not it is a holly bush! I would have never dreamed that rabbits would eat the pointy/stickery leaves of a holly bush, buy by golly they gobbled it up! (Actually, they've gobbled up 3 holly bushes in this bed, as well as several other plants.)

Anyhoo...I've been reading/researching on how to keep the bunnies away from our plants without harming the plants or the bunnies. There are several remedies out there, but the one that I have decided to try out first my hubs has named "Operation Ivory Soap":

Basically what I read is that if you cut up bars of Ivory Soap and scatter it around your plants and flowers the critters will stay away. The day lilies planted in the bed by our garden shed have started to come up, so when hubby re-mulched this weekend he tossed a few chunks of Ivory Soap around them:

In the near future we'll be replacing/adding mulch and plants to the other beds as well, so Ivory Soap chunks will be added in those areas too. I'll keep you posted to let you know if "Operation Ivory Soap" is a success! :)

In other news this week...WOO HOO!! I am on spring break this week!!! Along with working on some craft projects and cleaning my craft room, (which looks like a bomb has gone off in it - LOL!), I've got some other fun things planned. My mom, who lives about an hour away, is coming down for the day so that we can go to some of the antique shops here in Broken Arrow. I'll be meeting my pal Sharon S. for fun conversation and a delicious lunch at Olive Garden; and one afternoon my best bud Jamie and I are gonna grab a bite to eat and then go see "OZ" at the theater. I 've got a couple of books about Mary Queen of Scots to finish reading, and I might even make time to squeeze in a nap or two before the week is over!

Many schools are out for spring break this week, so please keep an eye out for the kiddos that will be riding bikes, skateboards, etc.

Wishing you a TERRIFIC week!

Quote Sunday: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Silly Saturday

Have a fun and safe weekend!

Recipe of the Week: Quick Apple Pie Roll-ups

Good morning! Today I am going to share a SUPER easy recipe with you for Quick Apple Pie Roll-ups. These really hit the spot when you just need a little something sweet, and are great served for breakfast too!

Ingredients:

• 1 rolled up refrigerated pie crust dough
• 1 can apple pie filling
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Method:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Allow rolled up pie crust dough to come to room temperature, then carefully unroll and lay on a piece of waxed paper. Cut the pie dough into 8 equal wedges. Place a Tablespoon of apple pie filling onto the wide end of each wedge, roll up, and tuck the ends in as best you can. Place on a greased baking sheet. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle a little bit over the tops of each of the roll-ups. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Serve with a side of vanilla ice cream, if desired. (NOTE: You will have most of the can of apple pie filling left, so click HERE for my spiced apple cake recipe that you can make using the leftover canned pie filling.)

Enjoy!

Easy Decorative Frames

Good morning, friends! A while back I was at Michael's and as I was browsing through the unfinished wood section I came across some MDF photo frames that called out to me, "Decorate me! Decorate me!" Well, how can a crafty gal like myself turn down such pititul pleas like that?? LOL! ;) Anyhoo, I purchased a couple of them for only $2.99 each and went to work. Using a little Mod Podge and my stash of paper, fabric and misc. crafty supplies here's what I came up with:

The copper tag on the upper frame says "Scatter Seeds of Kindness Everywhere You Go". The copper tag on the bottom frame says "Together is a Wonderful Place to Be", and the little copper hearts in the corner say "Joy", "Cherish" and "Love". (You can click HERE for my tutorial on how to make the denim flower.)

I'm really pleased at how they turned out, and I think that they will make great gifts!

Thanks for spending a little time on my blog today! Wishing you a terrific and productive week!

Blessings,

Girl's Night Out with Peter Pan!

Happy Monday, folks! I hope you had a great weekend! Saturday night my pal Jamie (center), her daughter Kennedie (left), and I enjoyed a fun girl's night out! We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Tulsa and then attended a wonderful performance of Peter Pan, starring Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan, at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Above is a photo of the three of us waiting for the show to start - I loooove these gals and am so blessed to have them in my life!

I am counting down the days until spring break, which is next week!! (After that there are only 10 weeks of school left until I am on summer break - WOOHOO!!) I am really looking forward to being home and doing a little early spring cleaning/organizing as well as working on some crafty projects. On a different note...please say a little prayer for me this week as I have been having some problems with my lower back. I am having an MRI done on Tuesday afternoon so my doctor can see if we can get it figured out and fixed. (Thanks in advance for your prayers!)

Wishing you a SUPER week!!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

(Photo found on the internet)

A Few Birthday Cards For My Stash...

My birthday card stash was getting pretty sparse, so a few weeks ago I decided to spend a Sunday afternoon challenging myself to create birthday cards using only scraps of paper, fabric, etc. and a single "Happy Birthday" stamp. (The cards that only say "Happy" on the front have "Birthday" stamped inside.) Here's what I came up with...

I even made a couple of masculine cards too...

And, last but not least, a cute little hang tag for a gift bag:

Thanks for looking! Have a super day!!

Recipe of the Week: Chicken and Artichoke Bake

If you like artichokes, then here is a yummy dish that you can make for dinner this week! If you are in a rut and need a new chicken dish to serve up, this one is really tasty and easy to put together...give it a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 4-6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (or 8 - 10 chicken tenders), thawed
• 1 box chicken flavored stuffing mix
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 3/4 cup low fat sour cream
• 1 jar marinated artichoke heart quarters, (do not drain)
• 1 small can/jar of sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 Tbsp. dried onion flakes
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9" x 13" baking dish and place chicken breasts on the bottom of prepared dish. Sprinkle dry stuffing mix on top of chicken breasts. Combine remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and spoon over stuffing and chicken. Cover dish with foil and bake for about 40 minutes. Serve with a garden salad and hot buttered rolls if desired. YUMMMM!!

Have a wonderful week, friends!