Made for Monday ~ How about a giveaway??

Happy Monday! It's been over a week since I last blogged. My wireless router is on it's last leg and goes in and out so my computer time since the middle of last week has been hit or miss at best!

I haven't really been that productive this past week either. Not really sure why other than laziness has taken over! I have tons of ideas and projects that I want to get started on or have actually started on and just need to finish. I just can't seem to find the time or energy to get things completed. I'm definitely gonna have to do better!

I have been hinting at a giveaway for a couple of weeks now and I've finally gotten one together for you. It's gonna be a combination Fall/Halloween themed giveaway. Included are the following: my very first gameboard attempt which is a checkerboard with a crow and stars. This is on a thin piece of wood and I have attached a hanger on the back so it could be hung on a wall if you so desire. The background is orange and the checkerboard, crow, and stars are done in black. I've distressed it a bit although it's hard to tell in the pics. Also included in this giveaway is a ceramic pie plate with potpourri. This is a beautiful terra cotta color, perfect for fall decor. Finally, one of my signature rag garlands, done in orange fabric and a candy corn print fabric. This measures about 65 inches or so in length. Perfect to drape on a fireplace mantel or a hutch or maybe a small window. I've included individual pics of each offering so you can get a better idea of what you will be getting.





O.k., now here's the rules:

You must be a follower of my blog. If you aren't a follower, sign up! I love followers and the more, the merrier!! If I get to 250 followers, there may be some extras thrown in for the lucky winner, or I may pick two winners, who knows!!

You must leave a comment on this post only, telling me you want to enter. I will not accept entries for comments left on any other post.

You don't have to have a blog to enter, but if you do, I would very much appreciate you posting this giveaway on your sidebar. This will help to attract new followers and get me to 250! If you don't have a blog, please leave me an e-mail addy where I can contact you if you are the winner. If you don't leave me this info and you are picked as the winner, I will have to choose someone else.

This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Sorry, but postage costs are outrageous and money is tight right now for all of us. I hope you understand.

This giveaway will end on Sunday, September 12 and I will announce the winner on Monday, September 13.

I have gotten a few things accomplished lately. I made some faux caramel apples. I am amazed at how real looking these things are. In fact, my stepson came for a visit and asked if he could have one to eat! I took that as a compliment. Here they are:



I've also started on some more of the stuffed pumpkins. These are super easy to make and work up very quickly. I am having a lot of fun with these. These in this picture aren't finished, but I love the rich colors and wanted to share them with you. I am thinking of making a three tiered one to use as a centerpiece. We'll see how that turns out!


Well, that's about it for now. I hope everyone has a great week!

Until next time. . .

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

As most of you who have kept up with my blog know, I have been in a craft funk lately. Well, I do believe that the funk is lifting. I spent all day Sunday working on signs and gameboards and today I decided to try making a stuffed fabric pumpkin! I have seen these on several blogs and with fall right around the corner, I decided to jump in and give it a try! Here's what I ended up with:



I am just tickled pink with how this turned out. And it was pretty easy to do, too! The picture doesn't do it justice and it doesn't really show all the detail of it. I put little wire trendils coming out of the stem and decided to put some moss around the top. I'm definitely gonna be making some more of these bad boys. Wouldn't a trio of different sizes in coordinating fabrics make a really cute centerpiece for a side table or dining room table? The possibilities are endless with this one!

I have also started crocheting an afghan for a swap I've signed up for. I'm doing it in a rusty orange color for fall. It's gonna be beautiful (I hope)! And I am working on a couple of things for my fall giveaway that will be coming up very soon. So be sure to check back for details on that.

And finally, I got these pics of the awesome goodies I won in Karen's July 4th giveaway over at The Barely There Primitive Bear. I love all these goodies and still have them all out on display. She also included some star shaped cookie cutters, an americana note pad that I have used the heck out of, and a fun little flag ring that I didn't get pics of. Karen outdid herself on this giveaway and I am so glad that I was her winner! Thanks Karen and I'm sorry I haven't been able to post these pics before now.



Well, I'm gonna jump off here and get some supper started. We are having breakfast for supper tonight. Someone at hubby's work place brought in a load of homegrown tomatoes yesterday and he snagged a couple of them. So tonight's menu is going to be sausage gravy, biscuits, scrambled eggs, sausage links and fresh sliced tomato! Yum! I'm hungry now!

Until next time. . .

Tasty Tuesday ~ Tater Tot Casserole!

Hi everybody! I hope everybody had a great Tuesday. Mine was good. The weather here is not so great right now. We have had rain on and off all day and they are predicting it to hang around for the next couple of days. The county fair is this week here so that always means rain!!

For today's Tasty Tuesday, I'm sharing a tried and true recipe with y'all that my family just loves. Some of you may be familiar with this one. If so, then you already know how good this is. There's no meat in it, but sometimes I will make this as the main dish for dinner and serve it with a salad if we want something light. If this is your first introduction to Tater Tot Casserole, give it a try. You won't be sorry!



Tater Tot Casserole

1 2 lb. bag frozen tater tots
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use sharp cause we like the flavor, any kind will do though)
1 8 oz. container sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

In a bowl, mix together soup, onion, 1 cup of the cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper. Spread out evenly in 9 x 13 baking pan or dish. Pour tater tots over mixture and press them down into the mixture. Cover with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.

I'd like to take a minute to thank all of you who commented on my last post. I had such a fun time making all those signs. My problem is, I have no confidence in my abilities and sometimes that makes me hesitate to show you my work. I see so many really talented ladies here in blogland and feel overwhelmed sometimes. I am so proud of hubby's talents! He does such an awesome job on all his projects, but he is just like me. He thinks his works are no big deal and that no one will think much of them. When I read him y'all's comments, he thinks I'm making them up! So we both really appreciate all the kind words. Y'all make our heads swell!

Well, time for me to get off here and get some stuff done around the house. Seems like there are never enough hours in the day.

Until next time. . .

Made for Monday

I was one busy bee this weekend! I crafted all day long yesterday. I actually tried my hand at making a gameboard. It turned out so well, I made another one! Then I made three small Halloween themed hanging signs. They turned out good too. Kinda look like chalkboards but they aren't. I painted the wood black and then used a white paint pen to write on them. I then distressed them a bit to make them look a little worn.

This is what I started out with. Hubby asked me if I could use this extra sheet of wood he had purchased for a project and then didn't need. I said heck yeah! He cut it into smaller pieces for me.


Here's my first ever gameboard! I am thrilled with it. I didn't have any patterns to go by so I just drew myself a crow outline on a piece of typing paper and traced it onto the board with a sharpie then filled it in with black paint. For the checkerboard, I did the same thing. Drew it out on a piece of typing paper and laid it on my board, marked the edges where the squares needed to be, drew some lines with a ruler and used my black paint pen to fill it in. I wanted a fall look for this piece so I chose orange and black for my colors. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I tried to take a pic with the flash on but it made it way too bright. I need a better camera. Hhmm, maybe Santa will bring me one this Christmas!


I had so much fun making the checkerboard I decided to try another one. Only this time I opted for a tic tac toe board. I first painted my board black and then went over it with some yellow paint. The yellow was too bright for my liking, so I mixed in a little of the black paint and ended up with a greenish color. It looks a lot better in person. Again, I'll blame my poor photography skills for the quality of the picture. I used star stencils to do the stars on this one and on the checkerboard one.


And since the crafting mojo was flowing, I kept going and made these three little hanging signs:


While I was busy doing all the signs, hubby was busy outside with his saw and surprised me with this awesome little wagon wheel! We had seen these for sale on our last trip to the Smokies and I saw hubby eyeballing them for quite a while so I figured the wheels were turning (pun intended) in his head! He did an awesome job on it! I can't decide whether I want to paint it or just stain it. What do y'all think?


Whew, I sure was tired after all that crafting! But when I sat down to rest yesterday evening, I thought I'd work on this little fall pillow I've had in mind for a friend. It turned out super cute as well and it matches my fall swag that I showed y'all in an earlier post. You can see part of the swag peeking out from the top of the picture.


It feels great to be crafting again. My brain is running wild with thoughts of other crafts I want to make. Looks like I'm gonna be busy for a while!

I had taken some pics of my awesome July giveaway winnings from Karen at The Barely There Primitive Bear, but I cannot get them to download from my camera. GGRR!! I swear, I believe that I am not destined to show y'all the wonderful goodies I won from Karen. I'm gonna try again tomorrow to get those things to download. I will not be defeated!

Also, tomorrow I'm gonna be sharing a wonderfully simple recipe for Tater Tot Casserole with y'all. Everytime I make it, my family eats the heck out of it. It's really good and really simple! Gotta love that!

Well, that's gonna do it for me tonight. I'm tired and still have laundry to finish before bed.

Until next time. . .

You gotta check out this giveaway!

Good Sunday morning all! I hope everybody is having a great weekend. Check out this awesome giveaway Tammy over at A Primitive Place is hosting for her 40th birthday!



Isn't she just awesome??!! Click here to pop over to Tammy's wonderful blog for your chance to enter. Giveaway ends August 29th so hurry!

I am happy to announce that I have rediscovered my crafting mojo!! LOL! As you may remember from a few posts back, I have been in a crafting slump lately. Well, this weekend I have finally worked my way out of that slump. I have been working on some wooden signs, a few fall items and I even attempted my first gameboard! I am psyched at how good it turned out for my first attempt! I will share photos with y'all tomorrow. It feels so good to be crafting again!

Well, I'm off here to finish up some laundry and then I'm gonna make some homemade banana nut bread! Yummy!

Until next time. . .

Thankful Thursday

"If your eyes are blinded by worry, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset" ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti


Today, I am thankful for the beautiful sunset that God painted for me over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I am thankful for good food to eat, a warm bed to sleep in, family and friends that love me unconditionally, and a job that allows me to help provide for my family's needs.

So what are you thankful for today?

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

Tasty Tuesday

This past weekend, the hubby, kid, and I traveled to North Carolina to take in a race at Winston Salem's Bowman Gray Stadium. We are kind of hooked on that track! Anyway, on the way down, we pass some great produce markets that sell fresh, locally grown produce which I love! I always make hubby stop at one or two of the stands. It's almost become like a tradition whenever we head to NC! We picked up the best tasting German Johnson tomato! We made tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches on Sunday. Yummy!! We also grabbed some peaches. I love peaches and could just eat them all without fixing them in anything. But I do have a wonderful recipe that I am going to share with you that uses fresh peaches. I am making this one either tonight or tomorrow night, if I don't end up eating the rest of the peaches we got, that is!!



Cheese and Peaches Pie

3 oz. package vanilla pudding (not instant)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 tsp. baking powder
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh sliced peaches

Combine above ingredients and beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. Pour into greased pie plate. Arrange sliced peaches on top of batter. Sprinkle a little sugar over the top.

1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. milk

Beat these ingredients for 2 minutes and spoon to one inch of edge of batter. Mix 1 Tbsp. sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon together and sprinkle over cream cheese filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Refrigerate when cool.

Sounds yummy doesn't it?? Yeah, there's more than a few calories in this one, but it is well worth it. It tastes almost like a peach cheese cake.

I've been thinking about my case of the blahs that I talked about in my last post. I think the perfect thing to get me out of the doldrums is to host a fall themed giveaway. So I am working on putting a little something together and will have more details on this soon. So be sure to keep checking back.

When I logged on today, I realized I have 231 followers! How awesome is that?? I only started blogging back in December of last year, so that's a pretty good number for almost eight months. I didn't realize so many people liked my blog. I just ramble on most of the time and it's nice to know that so many people are interested in my crafts, recipes, tips, etc. Thank you all for being so loyal and for being such wonderful, supportive friends!

I want to share one more thing before I go. I participated in the Christmas in July swap held over on the Prim Pals Forum. I got my package today and it had some wonderful things in it! Here's a couple of pics:





I just realized that I never shared pics of the awesome giveaway I won from Karen over at The Barely There Primitive Bear. I will definitely do that on my next post. I had some pics downloaded but our computer got "sick" and I lost a bunch of my stuff. Unfortunately, those pics were one of the things I lost. So I will take some more tonight and share them with y'all next time. It was a wonderful giveaway and I am still enjoying all my goodies!

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

Blah. . .

Well, here I am again ~ a huge slacker in posting. What seems to be the problem, you ask? I am just blah. That's it. No excuses, no blaming, no nothing. Just blah.

I haven't done any crafting, no creating, no painting, no junk hunting, nothing as of late. I don't know what is the matter with me. I'm just tired all the time. I have lots of ideas and thoughts running thru my pea sized brain of things I'd like to accomplish. I am wanting to start redoing my kitchen. I go to the store and stand and stare at the paint chips for hours, but just can't seem to decide on a color. I am into roosters right now and go to the craft stores and home decor stores with the intent of finding some rooster stuff to inspire me, but nothing happens. I am on a tight budget and have a wonderful idea of a remake for my hand me down kitchen table and chairs, but so far, haven't had the gumption to start on it. Does this ever happen to anyone else??

I have signed up for the Autumn Swap over on Prim Pals Forum and I am thrilled with the person whom I was partnered with. I have loads of ideas of wonderful things to make for her, but then I just can't seem to get motivated to get anything done. I have bought a few things and I've even started on a few projects for her, but can't seem to finish anything. Ugh!! I hate this feeling!

So, friends, this is why I haven't been blogging. I have nothing to show y'all and nothing worthwhile to share. I hope I can get the old creativity juice flowing again soon.

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna