Christmas Tradition.

Rosette's in the fryer above. The temp on the mold has to be pre warmed and then dipped into the batter so the cookies falls off of the mold. See below: dipped in batter before putting in oil.

Finished Rosette's. Anybody want some? YUM!

One of my favorite christmas traditions was waiting for grandma's cookies. And when they arrive in that big box covered with paper and we get to dig through the layers to find our favorite one. And also grandma complaining that they never turn out right. So this weekend I attempted to make her Rosette cookies. That's one cookie I always look forward to grabbing. YUM. At first they were hard to do and took a few try's but then after maybe....ten try's, I finally got it. I had fun making them. They did take awhile to make because I only had room in my fryer for so many at a time. If you want to try these cookies sometime, they are a great to have some time to just relax and take your time doing. I even took a break while the oil stayed hot and danced with Heidi for awhile and then went back to making the rosette's again. It was a fun and successful day of trying to make grandma's tradition.

Vintage Dust Pan

My new find! It's turquoise! I have about a billion ideas for this treasure. One of which might be a mail holder, since it seems that we need one really bad (haha)! I'm sure it'll take on many roles though. I would love to put some flowers in it someday. Ideally, I'd like something decorative, but I do like functionality too!!

Ugly Floral Dress

I got this ugly floral dress at the thrift store not too long ago. As you can see in the first picture it's pretty shapeless and looks like something my elementary school teacher would have wore. Anyways, I picked it up because I knew I could transform it with some things I already own. So, picture two shows my finished product. What do you think? I used a long colorful cardigan, skinny belt, and a cute necklace that has a feather on it. Not sure what shoes to pair with it, but I'm thinking flats.

Stats

I've had Google Analytics on my blog for a long time, but I noticed the other day that you can now get stats for all blogs. I don't know if you've looked at it (you'll see it on your dashboard), but it's fun to look at. With Google Analytics you can get more in depth information, like what keywords people searched for to find your blog and the number of returning visitors. You can also get more specific on where people are from, down to the city. At work we use this for marketing purposes. I just like to look at it for fun. The stats you'll find on the dashboard aren't as in depth, but still fun to look at. I took a look at this blog before this post. All time we've had 3,245 views of this website. Of course the majority of these people are from the United States, but can you guess the second? Russia. Bet you didn't guess that. Russia was followed by Canada and Germany. Check it out!

Fall Display

Here's a cute fall display I did...

New blog

So I started another new blog:
http://believeinjunk.blogspot.com/

I know I don't post enough on the other blogs I'm a part of, but I also don't want to weigh this one down with all my projects. And I have quite a few projects that I'll post soon on the new site.

Check it out!

Italian sausage and tortellini soup

Around these parts, the weather has been fabulous. Still, I keep planning my menus based on the fact that any day now, the weather could turn nasty and stay that way until May. And although I'm not looking forward to snow, I am looking forward to lots of soup and casserole days. Sorry, for the formatting of the recipe. I can't figure out how to get it spaced right and I'm sick of messing with it.  Fixed it!

1 lb hot or mild Italian sausages, casings removed
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cups beef or chicken broth
1/2 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 can (19oz) tomatoes in juice, chopped (reserve juices)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 pkg (10oz) fresh or frozen cheese-filled tortellini
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, cook sausage 8-10 minutes, or until browned, stirring to break up meat. With a slotted spoon, transfer to slow cooker. Add onion, carrots, broth, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, tomato sauce, tomatoes and mushrooms to slow cooker.

Cover and cook on High 3-4 hours or on low 6-10 hours, or until vegetables are tender.

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain.

Add zucchini, parsley and tortellini to slow cooker and cook on High 15-20 minutes, or until zucchini is tender. Spoon into individual bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Recent Movies

I've been watching a lot of movies this week since work has been slow. I have to say, it's been really refreshing. I used to watch movies all the time and I've realized it's something that's been lacking in my life.
I love movies! Also, I've been just watching movies (no multitasking!). I haven't been surfing the Internet, flipping through magazines, talking on the phone, nothing. Just watching. I find myself so distracted sometimes, mainly with the Internet (Facebook, Stumble Upon, news sites, e-mail, work e-mail, local sites... ugh). When is the last time you just relaxed with a bowl of buttery popcorn and took in a movie?

Anyways, here's what I've watched this week:
The Apartment
The Sting
Elf
The Princess Bride

Also, I found out the Sales position fell through because they can't bring anyone new on quite yet. There might be opportunities elsewhere though and numerous people know I'm looking for a permanent position in the company. Next week I'll be tagging along with a videotographer and editor for some training, which is ultimately where I'd want to be in the future (and my boss knows it!). In the meantime, happy movie watching!

P.S. If anyone see J. Edgar please tell me what you think!

Water For Elephants

Ok, so I finally finished reading, Water For Elephants. I say "finally" because it really did take me a long time to get into the book. I took a break, read a couple different things then finally went back to it. I really did have high hopes for it being all hyped up and I absoultly adore the time frame it took place in, and circus history. I guess I thought something more than just a love story would carry it and was disappointed at first glance. What I did imdeitally like however was the side story of the main character as an elderly man in a nursing home. This story is what brought me back to finishing the novel. So I picked it back up knowing the book should (and would) conclude with that story, but how?

Well, after finishing it this afternoon, I can say that I really liked it. In fact, the ending was so good that I totally missed our first snow fall of the season. Yep, I looked out the window after a good half-hour and was completely surprised to find our neighbor's roof covered in snow! I really loved the ending, and was indeed surprised. I can see now why people fell in love with it. It wasn't the love story, or the circus story. It was the greater meaning, which is to never stop living and never doubt the impossible (you can cry now).

Has anyone seen the movie?

News From the Mitten

Well our kittens are turning into cats. So adorable they are; so much trouble they are. Recently, our landlord came over to put plastic over our windows for the winter, so you can imagine Nibbler's and Tiger's reaction to that... So now our windows are covered with a nice mix of plastic and packaging tape. What little shits. *sigh*. Anyways, they are doing well and seem to be healthy little furballs. Nibbler is very petite and Tiger is going to probably eat her one day. Tiger is probably close to seven pounds by now; a pound for every month he's been alive, I guess. He's going to be a fat tomcat. His markings came in beautifully and his fur is getting long. He likes to lie on his back a lot because I think he knows no one can resist petting that snow-white long and soft fur. What a diva. Nibbler's markings are also quite adorable and is still our little "moo-cow".





Now that I've got that cat-talk out of the way, Eric and I are doing well. He's busy with work and the band and I'm waiting to hear back from a sales position I applied to at the station. Sounds promising, but they don't quite know how many people they can hire in. My boss put in several good words for me though and I'm hoping I get it. It'd be full-time and normal hours. I'd be sad to leave production, but I've come to a realization that even though I like the work itself, broadcasting hours just aren't something I want for years to come.

Sunday I went wedding dress shopping with Dana, which was really fun. She found one. Better yet, it was $99.00! Lucky girl! She looked radiant in it, and Mary cried of course. Dana and David have also set a date, which is May 26th in Midland.

Ashley's parents are visiting for Thanksgiving and it sounds like they will be staying for awhile. Her job is treating her good; she just needs to build that clientele, which I don't imagine she'll have too much trouble with since she's so dang charismatic!

Lastly, I just want to say that I've missed posting here. I've been lazy and wanting to post, but thought I really never had anything to share. I don't do crafts as much as I should, I'm not as involved as I used to be (basically since I've graduated), and life has just kind of been... well, steady. Not in a bad way of course, but we've just been living and getting settled. Well, recently I've been getting back to hobbies, reading (academically), and writing. Emphasis on that last one. I've been wanting to write more, so what better place to that than here, and what better people to share my life with than YOU! Of course this has always been a given :) SO with that said, I'm going to try my hardest to touch base at least once a week. Expect other posts in addition to my 'News From the Mitten' posts. Alright now that I've said all that there's no going back on my word... all I have to do now is hit, Publish Post.

Snowball fight!

This guy will find a special place among all my Christmas things this year.

Desk

This one, I can't believe I don't have a before picture. If I do I can't find it. Anyway, this desk was a freebie. I didn't need a desk. My kids didn't need a desk. But it was free. Who am I to say no to that? In it's previous life this desk was blue. I like blue, but it was what I call Country Blue. You know that lighter blue that was popular in the 80's? The previous owners of our home loved Country Blue and pretty much every room in our house is painted in this color. I have gotten it out of our kitchen, but I still need to get it out of the rest of the house.

Back to the desk: I have always seen in magazines where they use wallpaper, old maps, or other paper to cover drawers. I've always wanted to do that. I picked up this wallpaper border on clearance at Wal-mart. It's from their Better Homes and Gardens line and it was $3. This was one of my "I don't know what I'll do with it, but I'm sure a project will come along someday" purchases. The rest of the desk is painted, in you guessed it, Colonial Cream. I think it might be a little too much on the wallpaper. I keep going back and forth on it. But Cordelia likes it and I guess that's all that matters, because it's her desk.

I looked everywhere for handles, but never found any I really, really liked. So I spray painted the original gold metal handles in a cream color. Perfect.

Chalkboard

Sorry, I don't have a before picture. But this was a basic wood shelf I got at a thrift store for $4. The open area must have held a picture or something, but I painted the back board with chalkboard paint. Then I used some more of my Colonial Cream paint for the rest. And of course, I "shabbied" it up a little. This shelf found a home on our wall right as you come in our front door.

Halloween

I finally got my Halloween decorations up this last weekend. I'm pretty happy with my new "window display". I got the window last year at Junkfest for $5. The middle pane was broken out so I just removed that one. It's been sitting in the garage for over a year so I finally got it in the house and thought it would look good with some Halloween decorations.

Of course everything is super thrifty. I got the ribbon at a thrift store recently for 75 cents. At the time I didn't know what I would do with it, but I liked the colors. The round silver piece is actually the lid of a frozen juice container. The scrapbook paper is from Wal-mart that was in a pack of 5 or 6 Halloween prints for 97 cents. And the letters are from the dollar store in Mandan.

I love this skull. I found it at a thrift store for a dollar. It's actually really ugly and scary looking. Perfect for Halloween. I got the Hamlet book in a box of books at an auction earlier this year.

Book bin

This is something I found at a rummage sale in Carrington after Junkfest. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I liked it and at a dollar I couldn't let it sit. I wish I would have taken a before picture because it was rather ugly, but I get excited and get going on projects right away sometimes. So imagine it before as an ugly brown wood shelf.

One of my favorite thrifty tips is to check out the "mis-mixed" paint in paint departments. I found this great gallon of paint called Colonial Cream at Wal-mart for half off the original price. I used that color on this book bin, then sanded some edges to give it a shabby look. I spent a long time deciding on a rub-on to put on the front, but finally settled on the little girl and saying. Originally, I wanted to put this in the bathroom for magazines, but this will now be going in Cordelia's room.

Fun photos

While on vacation this summer, I was able to pop into a few antique stores. I found some fun treasures including a bunch of slides for $2.00. I've seen many craft projects with slides that I've wanted to try so I figured one way or another I would use them for something. For fun I had to look at the slides when we got back to the hotel. There were a lot of landscapes, but the ones with people in them were great. Here's a few of my favorites. Lots of good hunting and fishing shots. There's also a picture of two women with a string full of fish that I really liked.

I'm guessing someone had fun in Hawaii.

Happy boys.

Wish the booze was more in focus. But maybe the photographer thought it was in focus.

I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with the photos yet. I have some ideas and I'll be sure to post the finished product when I'm done. I only had about 20 of the slides scanned to disc, but they turned out so good, I'll probably bring in some more to be scanned.

Halloween fun

Halloween is one of my favorite times for crafting. It's just a lot of fun letting your dark and wicked side out. And I love upcycling and using things in a way they were not intended. For this project I took a cheese tray found at a thrift store, spray painted the base black and put a rub-on on the glass. Last year I put a small skull under the glass, but this year I found this great white rat and fly at Wal-mart. I found some more great Halloween rub-ons and a couple more cheese trays recently so I think I have to get some more rats or other creepy stuff.

Glitter bulbs

I saw this project somewhere last Christmas and have been picking up cheap bulbs when I see them at thrift stores. I think we made about 50 of them already and I know I have another big Ziploc bag in with my Christmas stuff yet. And yes, it may be too early to be doing a Christmas project, but most of my crafty stuff is currently packed up and I had picked these bulbs up the other day and really needed to do something crafty. This project is super easy. You will need bulbs (I bought a few strings and just unscrewed them from the string), school glue and glitter. I thinned the glue a little by mixing in a little water. Apply the glue, roll in glitter and you're done!

I even got a couple of helpers! This is a fun and messy project for kids. Torii said he likes arts and crafts. He's my junkin' and repurposing partner now.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea. When I saw this project, the crafter had put the bulbs in one of those tall, thin flower vases. I think they would look neat in a bowl too.

Junkfest

I had a good time at Junkfest although I didn't find as much as I thought or maybe I hoped I would. Still I had a great time. Torii decided to go with me. He's becoming my junkin' partner. I wasn't sure about the patterns, but when I got home and got a better look at them, I was happy I got them. There are some cute little kid ones. There's a few apron ones I like too, which is what I really wanted.
Some of these things are from the rummage sales that we hit in Carrington after Junkfest. I think we had more success with the rummage sales.

This was my find of the day. It was also my first find. And four dollars! It is currently propped up in the corner on a cabinet in the bathroom until I find a better place for it.

I have a really bad junkin' bug now. I want to go find some more treasures. But until then, I've also got a major repurposing/crafting bug too and have been working on some projects. Hopefully I can get those done soon and I'll post pictures when I do.

My thinking spot

This is one of my favorite spots in the house. It's our back entryway. I like to sit here with a good book and relax. And hide from the kids. My favorite thing about this room, is that everything has come from years of searching. The great thing about thrift stores, rummage sales, etc. is that you'll never know what you'll find. And I love that you can't find this stuff at Target or some other big box store. My other favorite thing: the price. This room came together much cheaper than if I bought everything new too. So here's what my room cost me:
The white bench: $30-thrift store
Picnic baskets (which makes for great storage totes): can't remember exactly but together less than $15-thrift stores
Pillow cover(It's Washington, D.C., kind of hard to see)-25 cents-thrift store
Flag-$5-thrift store
Flag picture-$5-auction
And pulled together, doesn't this look much better than new stuff?


And the best art around provided by my kids. Sometimes I feel like such a bad mom because I don't display their artwork. I thought this was the perfect spot to display some of their best work. They love having their work displayed too.

Chair redo

There is a couple of thrift stores close enough to work that I've become quite a frequent shopper. I stop at least once a week during my lunch break. Last week I saw this ugly chair at one thrift store. It was only $4.50, but not knowing immediately what I would do with and also to avoid the wrath of Fred who thinks there is enough projects in the garage, I let it sit. That afternoon I knew exactly what I would do with it. The next day was pure torture as I waited for my lunch break. Thankfully it was still there and I snatched it up. And viola, here it is. I made the little table a chalk board and found some cute fabric for the chair. I'm pretty proud of the piping I did on the top part of the chair. It's not perfect, but it was my first time using piping and I did a pretty good job.

When I bought this I really didn't have any intention to keep it, but I noticed a place in my bedroom where it would fit perfectly. I like it too much to give it up right now.

Side table remake

This is a side table I got at the auction. Nobody was bidding on it so I took it for a buck. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it so I let Cordelia help me. She picked out the color. I wasn't too sure about her color choice, but I let her pick it so I had to go with it.

I got the basket at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $5.00. It looks so cute with Cordelia's color choice. Now I'm happy she picked that color.

I also let Cordelia pick out the drawer knob. Like any good repurposer I have an assortment in my crafty stash waiting to be used someday. I got this knob at Michael's last winter in their dollar section! So for about $10 Cordelia has a little table for her room once we get the boys out of it.

Propeller

This was one of my favorite buys from the auction this past weekend. I bought it on the spur of the moment even though I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I just knew I needed to have it. I spent $7.50 on it. Dad laughed because mom just bought one the other day at a rummage sale. I had no idea. Great minds think alike, right? It took me about 5 minutes to come up with this idea. It's going on Rion's desk in his new industrial themed room. Propeller pencil holder:

P.S. Rion loves it!

Activity center centerpiece

This is a project that has been on my mental checklist for years. I saw it some where years ago, but I'm not sure where. I figured this would be an easy project to accomplish because who uses lazy susans anymore anyway? So finally after years of searching I found a lazy susan at the good old Lincoln rummage sales for a whole buck. A coat of primer and two coats of chalkboard paint and the kids have a cool little centerpiece for their activity table (which I now need to find since they don't officially have one). And I'm so happy about the tin with crayons. Mom has one and I've been jealous of it forever. Got it at the auction this weekend for $2.50 with a box full of other fun junk. And the paper around the little candle holder with the chalk in it is from an old Golden Dictionary (that I got at one of my favorite sales- the library's used book sale) that I just copied and taped around it.