Marlboro Man's Sandwich Recipe, It's A Beautiful Thing!

Have you ever visited The Pioneer Woman's website? If not, then you are in for a treat! She has the most scrumptious recipes fit for a cowboy (or a cowgirl) and the pictures of her making the dishes are amazing, you'll feel like you are right there in
the kitchen with her.

I stumbled across her website about 10 days ago and have already made her Marlboro Man's Sandwich TWICE! It has enough b u t t e r in it to make Paula Deen proud, but wow...what a melt in your mouth experience, and QUICK and EASY, too!

And last Sunday, I made her Delicious, Creamy Mashed Potatoes with her secret ingredient, CREAM CHEESE! I used to make them like that and forgot all about it...and you know where I got that little tip? I overheard 2 older ladies talking about it in a grocery store about 15 years ago, lol!

Life Lesson: Eavesdrop on all grocery store conversations!

And with the potatoes, I made her 2008 Year Of The Pot Roast...so yummy, so tender...I have been making roasts for at least 17 years, but none like the one I made last Sunday with her tutorial, wow!

Oh So Tender Pot Roast and yummy carrots and rosemary:

Mmmm....Gravy! In my new Frank Oma, I mean Frankoma soup mug:

Thanks, Pioneer Woman, you made all of my cowboys happy!!!

Now I definitely need a treadmill!

Pretty Candy Dish - Repurposed

I was over at one of my favorite blogs one day and was yet again inspired, it was Joy from JOYS OF HOME and this time it was her cutie patootie Mint Tray that I was coveting!

So, I put my thinking cap on and decided to look for boxes or things that could become boxes...here are my finds, I think you might be surprised:

Garage Sale, 50 cents:


Garage Sale, $2:

Can you believe that you can transform those country bumpkin wall hangings into boxes? Well, you can...and here's how...

With the 2nd box, I had to remove the wooden characters, they popped right off with a wallpaper scraper...now my 4 year old has new toys, too :)

Spray paint the box black (or any color that you'd like).


I added those stick on felt protectors on the bottom of the trays, after the paint was dry:



Then, if you want, add scrapbook paper to the bottom of the tray/box with spray adhesive. I did this to mine because the candy dishes did not cover the entire bottom, so I thought it would be a nice added touch.


Once the paper is glued in and dried, I then sprayed the entire box with a clear top coat. And then let that dry.


Next, I glued my candy dishes unto the box. I did this because my boxes were shallow and that is the only way they would stay put. The candy dishes are actually votive candle holders. You can purchase them at The Dollar Tree or Walmart:








Put something heavy on top and let it dry overnight:



I added some Fall garland, from The Dollar Tree and some yummy chocolates:





And here is the other one I made:



There were no dividers, so I had to improvise with ribbon:





I hope you liked my little projects...I sure did have fun making them and will continue to make these, I think they are so pretty and what a nice gift...thanks again, Joy for the inspiration!!!

A little note to my Blogging Friends....I have not been able to leave as many comments as I would like to because I am up to my neck in WALLPAPER! I went into my kitchen the other day and just started ripping it down...I'm impulsive like that, are you? I'm still here though and will be visiting all of you as soon as I can!

I have a question, too...how do I get a Horchow Catalog delivered to my house? I don't see any way to sign up for one on their site. How can I copy their ideas, if I don't get the catalog, lol ;)

ttfn, my blogging buddies :)
Bella

How Many Lemons Are In Here?

My nifty $5 find at a garage sale last week....before, chippy cream paint, crammed full of lemons and some cobwebs:

After...Hammered Bronze....and still packed with lemons and maybe even some cobwebs, because my oldest filled it back up without asking, lol...oh well:

I put it on the hearth with my other $5 find from last week. Since my hearth and fireplace are HUGE and so are these accessories...I think it kind of all works together:




Here is yet ANOTHER bucket that I found last week for $2. It was lilac purple, I sprayed it black and stuck this fireplace air blowing thinggee in it...what are these called? (It's called a BELLOWS, thanks RetiredAtLast!!!)I got that at a garage sale in Indiana about 5 years ago for a buck! And it has real leather, brass and nice stud sort of ornamentation on it...I don't love it, but I don't hate it either and for $1 I know it was a steal:

Oh, how many lemons are there? I have no idea....I was going to count them as I cleaned them off and put them back into the topiary, but my son did it on his own and didn't count them...so maybe one day I will get around to counting them, but today is not that day ;)

ttfn,
Bella
PS: Today is Tablescape Tuesday, sponsored by Between Naps On The Porch. Here is my Fall Tablescape if anyone wants to take a peek....click me :)

Hooray, Hooray, A Spray Paint Party!!!

Joy over at JOYS OF HOME is having a spray paint party!


So, if you have a project to share, head on over to Joy's blog and add your party to the list!


Here are a few of my recent projects...


White Pumpkins:















Hammered Bronze Stair Railings:








Silver Frame and the letter R:






Homemade giftbox, in Ivy Green and Chalkboard paint, which is black, so is that against the rules? Probably. I'm a rebel:

I do truly wish that I would have painted something Aqua. I love Aqua. So, why have I not painted anything Aqua? Now I feel bad for Aqua. I must do something about this...

ttfn ;)

Bella

Homemade Gifts, If I Can Make Them, So Can You!

(Note: I have scheduled this post to post at 4pm on Saturday, when the party starts! If that doesn't make me a Blog Geek, than I don't know what does!)...

Finally, I can show you the gifts I bought and/or made for my little grand-niece's 1st birthday :)

Here's the pretty bag full of goodies, want to take a peek?

Here's what's inside, I'm sure her favorites will be the pop-up books and Dora socks :)

But here's one of my favorites...this is not my niece's name, this is the ad photo from Kerry's BellaClaireBaby's etsy shop, is this adorable or what? They're Monogrammed BLOOMERS!!!

Here is the Monogram Art that I made for her:

And here is the picture frame that I made for her, I just love how this turned out...

"Thank Heaven For Little Girls" ribbon, so sweet...

Fluffy, shiny trim...this was the FIRST TIME I used a GLUE GUN! lol I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks after all ;)

I am so proud of this frame, I'm so geeky, I know, lol. But it's so pretty! I nailed one of those brackets on the back so they can hang it on the wall....because it really can't be displayed in one of these plate holders because.....I didn't paint the back of the frame...and now there is ribbon and trim glued to the back....sigh...live and learn...I am brand spanking new to crafting, so this is all a new learning process for me. But all in all, I still love how it turned out :)

And since was my first visit to their lovely home, I also brought some housewarming gifts...I put everything, well almost everything, into this box that I picked up at a garage sale...I painted it ivy green, and then painted the front of it with chalkboard paint. I packed everything in the box, wrote their street name and when they moved in on the front, in chalk, and then draped a fall garland around the box...

Here's what's inside...a family meal book, wine bottle coasters, a pad of paper, some chalk for their new box...and DARE Maple Leaf cookies, have you tried these? YUM!!!

I also ordered this from etsy. It is a decorative ceiling tin, with their family name and year married, inside a wreath. You hang it from the ribbon. This picture is from the etsy shop, ScribbleIt. You can order one here. I got one for my family, too:

Here is the monogram art I made for their family:

I think it looks so pretty in the box with the fall garland...

Now...do you all remember Joy from JOYS OF HOME's Mint Tray Project? Well here are a couple of versions that I made, one for them and one for us...but I have a feeling, I will be making LOTS of these, just like the Monogram Art. Thanks, Joy!!!

Here's theirs:

And here's ours:

I will show you how I made these in another post, but it was essentially Joy's project, but I also used scrap paper and glue, because my boxes were shallow and the candy dishes (candle holders) would not stay in place without glue. These would look cute with candy corn, too, I tried to buy some yesterday at Walmart, but they didn't have any...get on the schedule, Walmart! lol

And last but not least, some pretty flowers from my garden as a gift to our gracious hosts:

ttfn,
Bella