To all my blogging friends. . .

Until next year. . .

Hugs,

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

It's Wednesday ~ hump day!! Woohoo!! Only one more work day this week then I am off for three glorious days! The only bad news is that we are supposed to get some freezing rain and sleet tonight so I'm hoping that my drive to work in the morning isn't a bad one! Then it's supposed to snow starting tomorrow night and most of the day on Friday. Two to four inches of the yucky white stuff is what they are presently calling for. Oh well, what's a girl to do? Craft, craft, craft is what I am planning to do. And I might just clean this messy house a little bit too! We shall see!!

I'd like to thank Leslie over at My Country Home for hosting Whatcha Working on Wednesday. I am currently working on something special that I plan on giving away for Valentine's Day. My first blogging giveaway! I am so excited and I hope I get lots of entries for it. I will have more details coming soon so be sure to stay tuned! Here's a couple of little things I have been working on over the holidays. The first one is my version of a patched up, primmed up kitty. I wanted something to sit on my bed and I am no where near skilled enough to attempt a doll pattern so I sat down and drew a simple kitty pattern on a piece of typing paper and went to town. I think she turned out pretty good for my first attempt, don't you?? (Be nice!)



My second item is a little prim sheep I made, again using my own pattern. I have made a couple of these and given them to my friends as gifts. So far, everyone has really liked them (or maybe they are just trying not to hurt my feelings!). I am pleased with how these turned out and they were very easy to make. I'll probably make some more, maybe some smaller ones and some larger ones too. Heck, I might just have my own herd by the time I am finished!





Well, that's all I have for now. Please check out Leslie's blog for all the wonderfully talented ladies who post on Whatcha Working on Wednesday. Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

My winnings from Jenn @ Bittersweet Prims!!

Hi everyone! Thanks to all this yucky winter weather we have been getting, I just received my winnings from Jenn at Bittersweet Prims' wonderful giveaway! The post office didn't deliver mail for a couple of days due to all the snow we received. We had to dig out around our mailbox before they would leave any mail! When they finally did start leaving the mail, they left me a pick up slip saying that I had a package at the post office. I was so mad because usually they will leave packages either at the mailbox or on our front porch. I guess because of the weather they didn't leave it this time. I got my notification on the 23rd of December and wasn't able to get to the post office to pick up my goodies until yesterday! I just about drove the hubby crazy cause I knew exactly what was waiting for me and I couldn't hardly wait to get it! Well, the wait was well worth it, don't ya think??



Thank you so much Jenn! I love everything you sent me and will treasure it always. You and your family have been and will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers. Hope you are doing better.

Well, I'm tired and will close this post for tonight. Unitl next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

What a Christmas Day!!

Hi everyone! Hope everybody is enjoying their Christmas Day. I had mine all planned out. We were going to hubby's Dad's for breakfast, then over to my Dad's for lunch but alas, Mother Nature had other plans in store for us!! Due to extremely high winds, we lost power around 6:30 a.m. this morning and didn't get it back until around 2:30 p.m.!! Sssooooo, that meant no Christmas morning breakfast since I couldn't get a shower or fix my casserole that I had planned on taking, and no lunch at Dad's either for the same reasons!!! Of course, when we called to tell them we weren't coming, they all said just come as we were. Well let me just tell ya, I must sleep on top of my head at night or something because my dang hair is always sticking out all over my head and it would scare small animals and children if I ventured out in public like that!! And with no light to put my face on, well, let's just say it would've been more like Halloween than Christmas!

I haven't been in the Christmas spirit all season, in fact, I didn't even put up a tree this year, and this morning's power outage was just the final straw!!! I am really glad that this Christmas season is almost over and can only hope and pray that next year is better!

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

Merry Christmas to all. . .

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been slack about posting this week. It's just been crazy trying to get ready for Christmas. So much to do and so little time! In addition to all the craziness, the weather has been playing havoc with my plans as well. We got about 18 inches of snow over the weekend and my car just does not like to go in the snow! I've almost wrecked it twice this week! I am so ready for Spring already!

I am working on some last minute gifts today. Nothing like waiting till the last minute, huh??!! Hubby's Dad is hosting Christmas breakfast tomorrow and all his brothers and sisters will be there. Everyone was together at Thanksgiving and I happened to get some great pics of them with their Dad so I thought I'd make them each a nice 5 x 7 pic in a distressed frame as their Christmas gift. I wasn't able to get the pics developed until this morning so I am really pushing it! But it will all get done and hopefully they will all love their simple but heartfelt Christmas gift! Oh, and I am making one last batch of Peppermint Bark and will include a treat bag of that in with the framed picture as well. I also made his Dad a crocheted afghan. He's 80 years old and hard as heck to buy for so I thought I'd make him something instead. I hope he likes it! My goal for this Christmas was to keep it simple and homemade since money is kind of tight for us this year and I think these gifts fit that bill just fine.

I have truly enjoyed getting to know so many kind and talented blog friends in the short time I have had my blog up and running. I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! I look forward to getting to know everybody even more in the new year and meeting lots more new friends too!

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

My winnings from Nancy @ Hills of Tennessee!!

Good Sunday morning all! We have received about 18 inches of snow here in the southwest mountains of Virginia and it's still snowing!! I turned my car around on route 460 Friday afternoon which set off a chain reaction spin out of about 7 or 8 cars behind me. It was scary but thankfully no one wrecked. I ended up leaving my car at my uncle's house where it is still sitting this morning! I am ready for spring weather already! Enough snow!!!!!

On a good note, I received my winnings from Nancy at Hills of Tennessee yesterday. She was giving away a makedo Snow Girl and I was the lucky winner!! Yay, me!! She was so generous and included some extras ~ a handsome homemade Santa ornie, some beautiful holly bowl fillers, and a bit of Sweet Annie!! Thank you so much Nancy! I love it all and will treasure it forever!













I thought with all the snow yesterday, it would be a great time to catch up on my housework, baking, cooking, etc. Which was a great plan except when I was on my second load of laundry, my washer decided to blow up on me. Yep, it started making the most horrible noise and then just quit! Something must have happened to the motor because it had a bad burning smell and just cut itself off. Hubby is in there now tearing it apart (Lord help us all!!) to see if he can fix it. If not, I guess I know what I am getting for Christmas this year! We are going to try to venture out a bit later today. I've got a hungry teenager in the house who is starting to eyeball the furniture like it's a turkey or something! Hope everyone has a great Sunday and stays warm and dry!

Until next time. . .
Hugs,
Donna

Feast on Friday ~ A yummy cheeseball for your holiday entertaining!

Good Friday morning everyone! The weatherman is calling for a major snowstorm for this weekend ~ up to 24 inches of snow in some areas around us!! Man, I really am not looking forward to that!

Here's a great, quick and easy recipe for a cheeseball that is perfect to whip up and serve as a yummy hor'devore for Christmas entertaining.

2 8 oz. packages cream cheese
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
1 jar dried beef, finely chopped (optional)
sharp shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients and shape into desired form (ball or log). Roll in desired coatings ~ chopped nuts, chives, fancy shredded cheese or even more chopped beef. I top mine with a cherry but that is also optional. Refrigerate several hours or longer before serving. The longer it refrigerates, the better the flavors meld. Serve with crackers of your choice.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and stays safe!

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

Good morning/afternoon to all! I love to crochet and thought I'd share a couple of afghans I am working on for Christmas gifts with you today. The first one is just a basic granny square that will have a scalloped edge to it when I'm done. I've included a pic of a finished one we use when watching t.v. to show you what it looks like.



Here's a pic of the scalloped edge this one will have when I'm finished:

The second one I want to share is a shell stitch and it will also have the scalloped edging added to it when it's finished. I make a lot of these in a baby size and thread a contrasting colored ribbon along each side and tie bows in the corners. They work up quickly and make great gifts for new moms to be!


So there is a taste of what I'm working on for this Wednesday. Hope everyone has a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

How to Tuesday ~ As promised!

Hi everyone! I had a great day today! Hope you did too! Now, as promised yesterday, I am going to try to show you my little ivy bowl tea light lamp and give you some step by step instructions on how to put this little gem together! This is the first time I've tried to lead someone thru a project so please bear with me if I veer off course a little bit! LOL!!

Supply List

2 ivy bowls
potpourri
hot glue gun or other sealant (I used Liquid Nails but it took forever to set up good!)
plastic canvas
fabric of choice ~ your piece should be approximately 22 inches long and about 6-7 inches wide
1 tea light
ribbon

O.k., I had pics of the supplies and pics for step one but when the crazy camera acted up, these were lost. I'm sorry. :(

Step One:
Take your glue gun or sealant and glue the ivy bowls together bottom to bottom. If you use something like Liquid Nails, it is best to let the bowls bond overnight before going on with this project.

Step Two:
Cut your piece of plastic canvas to fit inside the lip of your bottom bowl. (Hubby is my model in some of these photos!)



Step Three:
Fill one bowl with potpourri and insert your cut piece of plastic canvas. This will be the bottom of your lamp.



Step Four:
Sew a simple running stitch along the length of your fabric about 2 inches or so from the edge. Pull on your thread to gather the material. The pic I had of this got lost too. Sorry again. :( Or if you really know what you are doing as far as sewing goes (I don't!), you could sew on some elastic stuff instead of the straight stitching. Whatever works best for you! Anyways, this makes the "shade" for your lamp. Attach your shade around the lip of the top bowl. I just sewed my ends together after I put it around the bowl. Again, if you know what you are doing with the sewing, you will probably have a better way of doing this! Here's a pic of how your lamp should look before you put the shade on:






Step Five: Tie ribbon around the shade. If you are a messy sewer like I am, this will help to hide the atrociousness of your sewing! Drop in a tea light and you are done! Simple and cute. Here's the finished product.



These are so easy to make and the possiblities are endless. You could really prim them up very easily too! I just used what I had on hand to throw this one together. You could probably also add a small strand of Christmas lights in with the potpourri and cut a slit in the plastic canvas for the cord. Wouldn't that be pretty all aglow!! They make wonderful last minute gifts and everybody that I've given one to just loved it! I apologize again for the missing pics. I hope I didn't confuse anybody too much with my directions. If you want to make one and have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me and I will try my best to answer them for you. If you make one, I'd love to see a picture of your finished product.

Till next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

Well, well, well. . .

O.k., so I was gonna title this post "Make it fast and quick Monday" and share pics and a tutorial on how to make a cute little tealight lamp but wouldn't ya know it ~ my crazy camera disk will not allow me to upload pics from it! When I put the disk into the computer, all I get is Japanese writing and none of the folders will open! The pics are there on the disk when I put it back into the camera so I don't know what is going on with that crazy thing! AAAARRRGGGHHH!!! Oh well, maybe I'll use it for next Monday's post!

EDIT: Hubby got the camera fixed but I am tired and it's almost bedtime so I will post a Tutorial Tuesday tomorrow cause I really want y'all to see this cute lamp! :)

I also wanted to share a pic of the Oven Mitt Swap goodies I received today from Gen at Ewenique Treasures. She sent me the cutest things including a cinnamon bun candle, a trio of tiny stuffed snowmen (so cute!), a pair of prim mittens ornies, a bag of wonderful smelling potpourri, a Christmas tree cookie cutter with some yummy candy, and a cute little snowman candy cane holder made from a toilet paper roll!!! It's awesome! All this was enclosed in a beautiful oven mitt! Thanks Gen and I hope you enjoy the goodies I sent to you as much as I am enjoying the ones you sent me!




On another good note, I logged on here today and was checking everybody's updates and found out that I won Nancy at Hills of Tennessee's blogaversary give away!!! Yippee! I am so excited because I never win anything and I had to read it twice before I believed it!! She was giving away a home made stand alone snowgirl! She is so cute and I can't wait to get her! Hopefully, by the time she arrives, my crazy camera will be working right and I can get these pics posted.

Thanks to everyone who has signed up to follow my blog! I really appreciate you all!

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

It's been a long week!!

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been missing in action this week. It has been such a bad week for me and I haven't been myself so therefor, no posting for me! I have been in such a funk this holiday season and I'm not really sure why. I hope this goes away soon ~ I don't like it!

I have been thinking about how I want to do this blog and I have come to the conclusion that it would help me to have a theme for each day that I post as I have seen on some other blogs. For instance, I have seen people post "Whatcha working on Wednesday", "Feast on Friday", etc. I think I may employ that same concept and that way I won't be floundering around trying to figure out what I want to post.

With that being said, I am going to post a recipe for yesterday's "Feast on Friday". Hey, better late than never, right???

Cornbread Salad

1 pan cornbread
1 large tomato, chopped
1 large cucumber, chopped
5 green onions chopped (I just use the green part but you could use the entire onion if you so desire)
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 16 oz bottle Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
1 small pouch of real bacon bits

Crumble cornbread evenly in bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Add tomato, cucumber, and green onions. Stir about 1/3 cup of the dressing into the cornbread and veggies and smooth out. Add beans and remainder of dressing. Top with cheeses and bacon bits.


O.k., I know this sounds like a very weird concoction but trust me when I say that it is one of the most delicious dishes I have ever put into my mouth!! My hubby loves it and begs me to make it often. It is very quick to put together and is a great dish to take to potluck dinners or to serve when company comes over. Enjoy!

Until next time. . .

Hugs,
Donna

Manic Monday!!

Hi everyone! Thank goodness this Monday is in the books!! It was truly a Monday for me. Everything that could go wrong today, did!!!! Oh well, tomorrow's another day, right????

Wanted to share a pic of a few flea market finds I scored this weekend. I'm thinking it might be nice to display the little tin can with the sheep on it with some Sweet Annie or something. Whatcha think? I just fell in love with the little basket. Not sure what I will end up doing with it. Right now it is just sitting on my counter top in the kitchen with hubby's snack cakes in it!! I had seen the colonial jar in CS magazine and it was quite pricey in there. Of course, the ones they had were bigger than this one. This one is only a 1/2 gallon and the ones they advertised in the magazine were all one gallon or bigger. But I really like this and am thinking of displaying it maybe on top of the refrigerator with different colored beans and maybe some dried peas in it. Any other suggestions? Oh, I almost forgot to tell you how much all my treasures set me back ~ a whopping $8!! Did I do good or what????


Well, I guess that's all I have for now. I am going to work on a few craft projects I've got going and then just relax for a while before bedtime!! Thank goodness this Monday is over!!!

Hugs,
~Donna~

We've got snow!!

Woke up this morning to our first "real" snowfall of the season!! The weatherman is saying up to 6 inches before it's all said and done!!! So thankful I don't have to drive to work in it today!! I'm sitting here with a nice hot cuppa joe flavored with eggnog creamer (yummy!!) and enjoying some wedding cake cookies which are one of my favorites!






I am contemplating making some Snickerdoodle Mini Muffins a bit later today. The recipe comes from my new Gooseberry Patch cookbook I received in a secret pal Christmas swap I participated in over on the Country Sampler Magazine forum. There are so many talented and super nice people who post over there! Here's the recipe:

Snickerdoodle Mini Muffins

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats, uncooked
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1 T. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. cinnamon

Combine flour, oats, 1/2 cup sugar and baking powder; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine milk, egg, margarine and vanilla; blend well and add to flour mixture. Fill greased mini muffin cups 2/3 full. Mix together cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes.

Well, that's about all for now. Stay warm and safe today!

Hugs,
~Donna~

First time for everything!

Hi ~ I'm Donna!! This is my first time blogging so please bear with me as I learn the ropes. I have just recently started redecorating my home in the prim/country style and am super excited about all the great ideas and inspiration I am finding here in blog land!! I've even convinced my wonderful hubby to get in on the act. He has been building me some awesome prim wooden pieces and I thought I'd share a couple of them with you. The first one is my prim ladder he built for me. I painted it black, distressed it and added a pipberry vine along with some lights and a cute little sign that says Faith. I just love it! Sorry for the poor quality of the pic. I will try to get a better one up soon.

The second pic is my coffee pot cover. I love this piece! I got the inspiration for it from Char's blog ~ Pickled Pepper Patch. She is one talented lady and I get a ton of ideas from her blog! Thanks Char!

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for checking in and come back soon!

Hugs,

Donna