330swapandshop

330swapandshop

I have heard about clothing swaps for a while and considered hosting one....my circle of friends already does a "stuff" swap once a year(househould items, accesories, books, magazines, holiday items, etc.) i am so excited to take part in 330swapandshops first swap!

These are some of the items I will be taking to the swap(although I may edit a few out, I am so nervous about them thinking I didnt bring quality stuff!!!) More than half of the items are almost new items from American Eagle! I love that store and I used to work there! For more info check out their blog: www.330swapandshop.blogspot.com

the swap is on May 20th, so I will have a detailed post on the items i got at the swap!!!

and this coming up week I shall have many more sneak peeks for the Northside Fashion show coming up May 5th!!!!!

charm bracelets

LOVELY LITTLE CHARM BRACELETS

I just wanted to share these lovely little charm bracelets that I made for myself.

 I have been really going through almost everything I own these days, in an effort to downsize

 I want to get rid of anything that is not truly useful. I  found lots of jewelry that I never wear, but really love.

The end result is this: I reconfigured all those items I was desiring to keep into these 2 charm bracelets! I absolutely love them and feel I will get lots of wear out of them this summer.

my style:decorating

bits and pieces of my decorating

Starting from the top: a shelf in my house decorated with thrift store and garage sale finds, stack of Vintage baskets purchased at my favorite shop, Home Sweet Home,(see previous post for shop info and pics) my metal flower frog collection,(also from Home Sweet Home) the boys room: large picture is framed wrapping paper, the H and the B are vintage alphabet cards, also framed, and last but not least, the new curtains I made for my living room. I sewed those BY HAND!!!! I took one curtain I had bought on a sale table and made it into 2 and sewed on the pretty trim!!! I still have not yet to learn how to use a sewing machine....and apron making had to get postponed due to an illness in my friends family. I am always looking for inexpensive but beautiful items that can be easily transformed into other things, as needed. Happy decorating!

weekend journal making with Sierra

 Weekending At Home

 Sierra recently admired some pretty covered journals in a local shop we were visiting. Me being the thrifty mom I am, discreetly let her know that we could make those ourselves! Sierra picked some lovely paper from 7 Gypsies. I also picked up some of the new line of scrapbooking materials from French General for Jolees Boutique.(If you have never seen French General, check out their website, I gaurantee you will be hooked) We first started with Blank composition books.(which can almost always be found for 1 dollar each) We then decorated them using plain old elmers glue sticks and created our own designs with paper and scrapbooking items. the 3rd picture down is Sierra spinning the tunes via laptop while we created! This kid of mine has some pretty good taste in music!We listened to lots of her Indie faves....I think our finished products are absolutely delightful- perfect to tuck into a backpack or pool bag this summer and jot down our ponderings. Sierra is getting quite good at poetry and writing...

Chicken and Sun Dried Tomatoes

I have to admit I am a total foodie. There is just something so satisfying about making a meal that everybody loves. We have old fashioned dinners at my house where everyone sits at the table and eats, almost every night of the week. There is something to be said for us all gathering around the table and sharing our  days events  and renewing our sense of family  I tried this recipe over the weekend and it was a huge hit!!! I served it with steamed broccoli with garlic butter.  We will definitely add this to our repertoire of regulars.

Chicken and sun dried tomatoes

3 T. olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes

1 T. red wine vinegar

2 T. chopped fresh basil leaves

4 cups hot cooked extra wide noodles

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese(optional)

1. Heat 2 T. oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 10 minutes or until well browned on both sides. Remove chicken from skillet.
2. Heat remaining oil in skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and cook and stir 2 minute. Stir soup, water, tomatoes, vinegar and basil in skillet.
3. Return chicken to skillet and heat to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. serve chicken and sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with cheese and thinly sliced basil, if desired.

Sneak peek

Northside Fashion Show

I am so proud that my friend Lauren Ward, asked me to be a part of the Northside Fashion show this year!!!! These two necklaces are a sampler of my one of a kind jewelry that will be available at the show.

show details:

show is May 5, 2012 at 8pm

doors open at 7pm

tickets are $30.00 and can be purchased on her website

www.zelionoto.com

also on location at her store

51 E. Market St.

Akron, Ohio

phone:330-451-6686

I attended the show last year and it was so much fun!!!!!

I am so excited and honored to be a part of this fantastic  event-

Noto is an absolutely adorable shop with lots of amazing fashion finds!

hope you can attend!!!

Pork kabobs with peanut sauce

Here is the recipe I found to accompany the box pad thai!

Pork Kabobs with peanut sauce

1 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2 in. slices

1 t. reduced sodium soy sauce

2 t. Thai seasoning

sauce:

1/4 c. peanut butter

1 T. honey

2 t. reduced sodium soy sauce

to make kabobs:

1. Heat broiler. Thread pork on 8 skewers. brush with 1 t. of soy sauce, and sprinkle with 1 t. of thai seasoning. Broil 3 to 4 in. from heat, turning once.  

to make sauce:

in a microwave safe bowl, combine peanut butter, 2 t. of soy sauce, 1T. of honey, and 1/3 c. water. Cook on high 30 seconds.Whisk; cook 15 seconds more. Serve with kabobs! :)

does this sound easy or what?! I am so about simple but yummy homemade(as much as possible)

I am trying out a new chicken recipe tonight, more to come on how that all turns out....

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

7385 Middlebranch Rd. North Canton, Ohio

330-309-3584

shop hours: Fri. 10-4 Sat. 10-2

I am finally to the entrepreneur part of this blog. This is an absolutely lovely shop that sells my wares. The owners, Susan and Sharon (top photo) are two of the most lovely women that I have ever known. The other pics are just a sample of the great stuff, at great prices that they have to offer!!!!!
They are currently carrying my line of recycled jars that I have covered in stenciled burlap(bottom pic) If you are in this area it is more than worth the trip. If you arent in this vicinity, check out their etsy shop, their shop name is: Must Love Junk

Pad Thai

Pad Thai from a box?

yep, this was made from a box!!! I am not a fan of pre-made foods, having said this, I had to try this just once to see if it was any good....and I am proud to report, it was absolutely delicious!!!! the brand is spaa, Tasty Thai, pad Thai noodles, found at one of  my favorite places: World Market
It was the perfect portion for 2 people and i served it with a fruit salad of oranges and strawberries. I just found a great recipe for chuicken skewers with peanut sauce i will serve with it next time. I will include  that recipe in a future. 1 word: yum-o

Bradys Turtle Book

Bradys Turtle Book

     
   Brady found some pictures of Turtles he liked in an add in one of my magazines. So, I decided it would be fun to let him practice with his scissors, which then transpired into the idea of having him make a mini art book! I found some oversized index cards to glue the turtle images to, it was important that i let him do all the work himself! After he made a seperate card for each turtle, I set him free with some colored pencils to do his own artwork on each page. I spelled out the word turtle for him to copy,( as he cant fully read and spell yet) and he decorated a cover. I then showed him how to punch holes so we could hook them together to form a book. I tied the cards together with some string and voila! his own turtle artwork book!!!!

Scalloped potato recipe

Here's the scalloped potato recipe I promised a few days ago. I got sick and finally went to the doc. to find out that i have an ear and a sinus infection(yay) anyway, on an antibiotic and feeling better!  Here it is:

Scallloped Potatoes from the Betty Crocker Cookbook
 Ingredients;
3T. butter(my personal opinion, use REAL butter)
1/4 c. onion, finely chopped
3 T. all purpose flour
1t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 1/2 c. fat free milk
6 medium potatoes. thinly sliced
1 T. butter

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. grease a 2 qt. casserole dish( with butter or cooking spray)

In a 2-quart saucepan, melt 3T. butter over med. heat.Cook onion in butter about 2 mins, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly, remove from heat.

*tip I ALWAYS have the milk measured and close to pour as soon as the flour is mixed, otherwise you might have a burnt mess on your hands.

Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirrring constasntly. Boil and stir one minute.

Spread potatoes in the casserole dish. Pour sauce over potatoes. Cut 1 T. butter into small pieces; sprinkle over potatoes.

Cover and bake 30 Minutes. Uncover and bake approx. 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.

serves 6

so there it is, a little time consuming but so worth it to treat your family. if your family eats like mine, you might as well make a double batch, cause they will be begging for more!!!!

Happy Easter

Guess I'll just dig right in! The top pic is the view from my window. I literally put my phone up to the window and snapped! I have seen in many decorating magazines where they have taken cuttings off a tree and placed them in vases. I just couldn't resist trying this out for my Easter table with the beautiful blooms from my tree! I temporarily lost my mind and volunteered to have Easter dinner at my house. It actually wound up turning out really great! I just made a simple spinach, onion, and cheese quiche. I also made homemade scalloped potatoes, and remembered why i dont make them from scratch often! They are delish but so time consuming! I will include the recipe in my next post.  We had a lovely afternoon with the kids, my sister and her boyfriend and my mom and dad. Hope you all had as wonderful of an Easter as I did! P.S. does anybody know what kind of tree i have? i cant figure it out!!!!

Apron making part 1

here's the goodies i purchased on my day out with my friend Carol Cox. First we fueled up with a nice big cup o' Starbucks. We were meeting to pick out what we wanted to make for our first project in the Mary Janes Farmgirl Sisterhood.(think girl scouts for adults)If you arent familiar with Mary Janes Farm, i highly suggest you check out her website and mag. www.maryjanesfarm.com To get your entry level badge, you have to make a half apron. *sigh* i am not a sewer, on machines that is....i can sew the heck out of stuff by hand....but it takes FOREVER. soooooo, carol is going to teach me to use a sewing machine. i dont think she realizes what she has gotten into, because i confess, sewing machines make me anxious. However, onward i roll, because there are lots of things i want to make!!!! after choosing  our apron patterns, on to Anna Louises needle arts. I love this shop, they have a huge selection of felted wool, beautiful fabrics, tools of the trade, and lots of classes and groups to be involved in. This is where I purchased the adorable fabric and also found this ridiculously cool book shown in the picture. So, this is the preview of my apron. The small bubble print fabric will be the body of my apron and the flowered fabric will be the trim and pocket...lets see if i can do this!