Time for a few cold weather soup recipes!!!

My daughter reminded me that I never post recipes! She's right...I've posted a few but not enough!

When the cold weather sets in, the crock pot comes out! I don't know why that is...you would think when it is hot out, you would want to contain the heat in one little spot.

But the food I love to throw in the crock pot is definitely cold weather comfort foods. And I make a "soup," or "meal-in-one," at least 2-3-4 times a week!

So HERE are a few of my favorite and super-duper easy crock pot recipes!

Enjoy!

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Fall craft fairs....

This weekend is the annual "fall craft fairs" in Northwest Arkansas. I love going to the craft fairs, especially out to War Eagle, but this year I will miss the festivities.

My oldest son had a little documentary made about his college football "career" and I am headed to Hot Springs for a showing at the annual Hot Springs film festival. He came home last Saturday and since he will have to be in Hot Springs for the weekend, I decided I would have more fun spending the weekend with my older kiddos than eating strudel and fighting crowds!

But that doesn't mean I don't have to gear up for the craft fairs. After all, I have several booths at local flea markets and they will (hopefully) get slammed this weekend with thousands of people looking for deals and bargains on crafts, furniture, holiday decor and much more.

Honestly, I primarily go for the food. But I do stroll around (while stuffing my face) and do a little "look/see" at all the nifty things people bring. So many talented and creative people!

I have been gearing up for this weekend for some time. But of course there are always those little last minute projects that need to be completed, hauled and staged. And I want to make sure my booths are well stocked and organized!

Due to a very unfortunate incident that I don't wish to discuss (lets just say I had a dishonest onsite manager...I was on vacation three weeks ago...you figure it out!) I had a few pieces I "inherited" and wanted to paint and stage before this weekend.... `

I also had a little antique wash board that has sat in a booth unsold for a couple of months. I decided to doll it up a bit!

And this is what I ended up with....

I really love how the little side table turned out. I painted it the same color as the side table in my den, and I was seriously tempted to keep it! I think it is "simple" yet "elegant." But I don't really NEED it...so off it goes. I'm sure someone will love it!

I pretty much just cleaned up the shelves and table and gave them a "KSTP" (kilz/sand/tack/paint) treatment! I used chalk paint on the larger shelf and gave it a little "distressing" before applying a top coat. The corner shelf unit is kind of a cheapo particle board piece, so I painted it but I won't actually resell it...I just can't bring myself to sell "junk" so I will just use it as a corner piece to display smaller stuff.

I used chalk paint on the old wash board and chalkboard paint on the side without the old advertisement. I thought it would be a cute piece for someone's laundry room!

The silver platter is featured here and the old saw is another piece that hasn't sold. So I painted "Welcome" on it and thought it might be a nifty little decor piece for someone who likes that kind of thing.

Funny thing about stuff that doesn't sell. Usually when I bring it home and "repurpose" it, it sells within days! Most people just want it "done" and have neither the time nor desire to "DIY." That's okay...I like being creative and it means a lot to me that someone likes my creativity!

The toy box...hum...even after I painted it, I'm not really "feeling" it. I am going to keep it here for now and I am seriously thinking about making a little cushion for the top and maybe doing something nifty with the inset on the front...painted textured wallpaper maybe? I don't know, but it just doesn't feel finished!

I also made another fall wreath. I had a grapevine wreath laying around and I still have fall decor leftover from my urn projects! Pretty....

Someday I MIGHT remember to take my camera to my booths and take a picture of all these nifty things AFTER I have them staged...but honestly, I am lucky to remember to take pictures before I load them up!!!

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Silver tray...seriously, what do you do with THAT!?

You can find them in thrift stores and maybe even in the back of your mother's hutch! I have several of my grandmother's up in the attic. Old "silver" serving trays.

I happen to find one in a box of goodies I bought at an auction. It wasn't "old" but it was fairly nice....not a cheapo. What to do, what to do.

Seriously, who uses silver trays any more...nobody, so you have to find SOMETHING to do with them!

First, I tried painting it with chalkboard paint. After curing over night, I pretty much scraped it off with my fingernail.

That was an epic FAIL!

Magnets? Dry erase? How about BOTH!!!!

I had some left over round magnets from another project so I glued some little black pom-poms on them, glued one on the end of a dry-erase marker for an eraser....hot glued a piece of magnet on the marker...and there you have it!

A magnetic dry erase board!

I also hot glued a frame hanger on the back....

Or you can hot glue magnets on the back and stick it to your fridge...that would be cool!

I have a plain ole' white dry erase board on my fridge.

This one is a lot prettier!

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They're wooking at me!!!

When Matt was a wittle guy, he had trouble with his Ls...so when he and Mitchell were sitting in the back seat of the car, he would cry, "Mooooom, he's WOOKING at me!"

Needless to say, he didn't like his big brother wooking at him...which of course only made Mitchell wook at him even more.

Which is exactly what came to mind when I painted the little eyes on my newest little "craft project."

THEY'RE WOOKING AT ME.....

Oh the memories....

Anywho, I saw these little guys in a shop in Georgetown, Colorado. I thought they were soooo cute, so doing what I do, I came home and made a few. They are grouped in 3s so I made 7 sets of the elves and 5 sets of the Santas.

They are made out of round and square dowel rods. Cut, sand, and paint....too cute! And super simple if you like to sit and paint while you watch TV.

I still have to put little noses on them...and the kids think I should put a little fluffy white tuft on the Santa hats.

I'll post a picture of them when I finally get them finished.

Just thought they were kinda cute "wooking" at me...or creepy....hum....

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MORE fall projects....

Okay, you are probably tired of all the fall projects. But if you do a little or add a little every year, you will end up with so much fall decor you will seriously contemplate getting a storage unit. (I checked...adding decking in the attic was cheaper!)

I added this little touch to all my doors and windows last year....

A simple little thing that really makes statement!

I bought the little fall candle wreaths...you know, those little "wreaths" you set a big fat candle in. I think they were 60% off at Hobby Lobby...so they ended up being less than $5 a piece! I added a pretty little ribbon (again, fall ribbon was on sale!), then I tacked them to my awesome black doors and above the windows!!

I also made a few more fall urns. You can find a tutorial here on how to make them. I found 2 black urns on clearance at Lowe's weeks ago. I had a little scarecrow thing that was kinda corny so I wasn't going to display it anywhere, but it looked pretty cute in the urn!

I also had a few branches leftover from my project here so I stuck them in one of the urns. These urns are smaller than the ones I made a few weeks ago so they really didn't take a lot of material!

Seriously simple little projects that take little effort or money but really dress up the place!!!

HAPPY FALL!!!!

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Final days of summer....

It has been a relatively mild summer...not too hot and lots of rain...for that, I am so grateful!

And this weekend the daytime temps are suppose to be in the 60s...FALL IS FINALLY REALLY HERE!!!

My yard has survived the summer without ridiculous water bills and my annual flowers and hostas are still full and beautiful! As a matter of fact, my flowers have really popped the last few weeks because the temps are a little cooler and they didn't get depleted by the brutal heat of July and August.

Today I looked out and saw one of my kitties enjoying the final days of warm temperatures! Soooo cute!

I believe I have introduced two of my kitties...Molly here and Simon here.

This is Finley, my autistic kitty.

Laugh...most people do. But I really think he is autistic. He isn't mentally challenged (believe it or not cats can be retarded) . He is just very "socially inept." It is really difficult to get a picture of him. I had to take this one with my telephoto lens!

I rescued him when he was 6-7 weeks old and he has been raised in a loving, playful home. But even after three years, he still acts like a feral cat.

He is terrified of everyone but me and he will only tolerate me when he comes in at night. If ANYONE tries to go near him, he bolts. During the summer he stays outside and will move inside when it gets cold. Then he will hide all day and only come out at night when I am alone. Then he will climb into bed with me and be a sweet kitty that wants to be petted...never held, just petted! The minute he hears anyone in the house, he will bolt!

So for now, I will admire him from afar. He really is a beautiful kitty!

And then there is Ms. Kitty....

She hates everybody but the lab, Ginger. I caught her at the apartments when she was a kitten. I brought her home and put her in my bathroom until I could catch her sister so I could take them to the "pound" together. Unfortunately, Katie saw her and thought I had brought home a kitty FOR HER. Yeah, not really, but how do you explain that to a 8 year old.

Anywho, Ms. Kitty got an infection on her neck years ago. To treat her I had to hold her down every day and clean her neck and pour peroxide on her. Sooooo, she hates me...and pretty much everyone else. She loves Ginger...and Brian's feet. Seriously, she loves his feet and his shoes...go figure.

All of my kitties are rescues...and they were pretty wild and unruly when I first got them. But they eventually warmed up to us and became very loving (albeit annoying at times) kitties...except Finley!

BTW, it was interesting to go back to my spring pictures and look at the "before" and "after" pictures....

Amazing what a few little annuals, a few months and a mild summer will do! As much as I love fall, I hate the thought of the first freeze....

HAPPY FALL!!

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Another little fall project....

My daughter, Sarah, was quick to point out that I have ENOUGH fall decor. But every year I try to add just a tad more.

This Pinterest pin was my inspiration for my project today....

....I pinned it last year and planned on making it for the Christmas holiday season. But I could never find a box or crate I liked, and well, I just never got around to it!

But several months ago I bought an old wood crate at an auction. And my neighbor trimmed some of his trees so I finally had some straight branches I like!

So I decided to make a simple fall display that can easily be used for Christmas decor as well...nothing permanent, so it will be easy to break it all down and change it out!

First, I started with the wood crate, the tree branches, and pine cones I picked up in my yard. If you aren't as fortunate as I to have big pine trees that drop thousands of pine cones and tons of needles in your yard every year (grrrr), you can buy pine cones at any craft store.

I cut the branches in varying lengths with my chop saw. If you don't have a chop saw, you can use a skill saw or hand saw.

I stuck the branches in the crate, randomly, and then used crumpled newspaper to fill the bottom and hold the branches in place. If you want something a little more permanent, you could always use floral foam...or even foam insulation like I did here. If you use foam insulation, you may want to line the sides of your box with plastic or paper to keep the foam from oozing out the sides!

After filling the bottom of the box with paper, I topped it with dried Spanish moss...again, you can buy it at any craft store!

After filling the box with Spanish moss, I took fall silk leaves and flowers and filled the top...it didn't take a lot of fall floral stuff...just some leftover sprigs from the urn project. Then I used the pine cones as "fillers."

For Christmas, I can take out the fall leaves and flowers and put something "Christmasy" in the box...maybe add some lights like the inspiration picture.

I am NOT a floral designer...so this project doesn't require a lot of skill...just stick, stuff and pretend.

Cute, easy, and relatively inexpensive...especially when you consider you can use it for both fall and Christmas!

HAPPY FALL!!!

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Little fall projects...

I really want to share a few pictures of our Colorado vacation....but man, oh, man. I have HUNDREDS of pictures to go through and I doubt you want to see them all. Some pictures are on my smaller camera, and unfortunately I can't find the cord to connect it to my computer. Sooooo, someday soon!

For now, I thought I would share a few simple fall projects this week.

I have a ton of little bottles I have collected over the years. But you could do this with coke bottles, old vases, wine bottles or even old perfume bottles. A little Kilz, white, yellow and orange spray paint and you have a super cute way to display fall flowers or foliage.

Word of caution...do not try to paint glass without first Kilzing it. I did...doesn't work.

So the first thing you want to do is clean and dry the bottles and then give the bottle a coat of Kilz!

After the Kilz dries, paint the entire bottle white. After that dries, paint the lower 2/3rd with orange and after that dries, paint the lower 1/3rd yellow.

You may notice I "free-handed" the spray paint layers...no tape. I like the look better than a harsh line. I stuck a few silk fall leaves and flowers in the bottles...sweet little display! I had a little brighter yellow I used on another bottle...but this is the only yellow I had on hand. Personally, I think you can use any color combination you like as long as you get that "candy corn" affect.

I even did this on an old fake pumpkin...turned out really cute (no, of course I don't have any pictures!) and it made an old pumpkin new again!

I have a few other little, inexpensive decorating tips I will share over the next week or so...at least until I can wade through all my vacation pictures!

No major projects. I did pick up a few interesting things at an auction last weekend, and I will share those as well!

HAPPY FALL!!!!

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We're HOOOOOME!

Yippeeee.

As much as I love Colorado, it really is good to be home. We took a train ride out of Leadville, CO Wednesday afternoon and then headed home.

Got in around 4 Thursday afternoon....just in time to celebrate my son's 24th birthday and visit with a nice State Trooper after my daughter's accident. Typical "home"...highs and lows. But there's no place like home.

I finished my fall decorating yesterday. The temps were still in the mid to upper 80s, so it didn't exactly feel like fall. But it finally does today.

It was tough leaving 50s and snow capped mountains and coming home to upper 80s! Yuck! So today's cooler temps give me hope for a few weeks of fall weather before winter sets in!

This week I will post some awesome pics of our trip out west! The mountains, a few critters, an awesome fishing trip!!! And I will also post a few pics of my fall decor! Not much different than last year's that I posted here but I hope to talk my "photog" son into taking some really pretty pics!

I don't spend a great deal of time "projecting" in the fall. It is my FAVORITE time of the year and I really want to take time to enjoy it!

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Chevron Chair before and after....

AGAIN!!!

Again, I dug into a project and forgot to take a "before" shot!

I remembered to take a picture about half way through the Kilz stage...so this is as good as it gets! Imagine dark, dated and basically kind of ugly.....

Dark wood. I'm a big fan of pretty wood, but I knew painting this chair a light color would really make it pop...and really update it! Not only was it a seriously ugly stained wood, it had a seriously ugly cushion on the seat, and another on the back. I decided not to put a cushion on the back because I love the cane and it was in mint condition...a rarity! I added a little "puff" to the seat cushion and eliminated the buttons to make the chair a little more comfortable and give it a "cozy" look.

Chevron...not my "taste" and honestly not something I would decorate with. But it is all the rage right now and I knew if I was going to make this chair appealing to a buyer, I had to go with what is in. And of course, this is "Razorback country" so anything red and white is going to be appealing!

So Chevron it is....

As always, two coats of kilz, sanding and tack cloth! Then two coats of a pretty "off white" spray paint I am a little obsessed with right now. It is a Valspar brand and it is not too white, not too yellow...just right.

It does need a little pillow...and eventually, if it doesn't sell right away, I will make one.

But for the next few days I need to get ready for VACATION!!!! Yippppeeeee!

Brian and I are headed to Colorado Friday for a week...sight-seeing, fly fishing, maybe even a little horse back riding. Just a week to decompress and take in the fall colors! The Aspens in Colorado in September are absolutely BREATH-TAKING!!! If you have never been, go. I love skiing and I love the snow, but Colorado in fall is a must see!

So this will be my last post for a week or so! I will make sure I post some pictures when we get home.

When I get home, it will officially be fall so it will be time for some major home decorating. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year...especially for decorating!!! As you can see here I usually go all out...I can't wait!!!

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