I had an idea.....

I had an idea this morning concerning tablecloths. I love vintage tablecloth. My favorites are the ones with the pinks and blues. 

The problem is that when I find them, they usually have stains that are pretty bad and I don't know if I could get the stain out. 

The other problem is the size. My table needs a 102" long tablecloth and those are just about impossible to find. 

I see a lot of people who buy the vintage table cloths and make pillow from them. 

But I really don't use that many pillows. So I kept looking and saw where people use them to make kitchen towels.

And I thought that was cute and I could do that. But I also thought about using them to make a table runner.

Then last night, I was going through the house turning the lights off before bedtime. As I walked through the kitchen it hit me....APRONS! I love aprons and I thought that is something that I could make from vintage tablecloths. Any stains would not matter as I could use the good part of the material for the apron. How cute would that be?

Then I thought of pot holders as well. 

And how cute to make them with pockets and enclose your favorite recipe for a little gift. 

I think I am on to something. May need to go antiquing this weekend to look for some old linens. 

Just in time for baking season..

I got this lovely in the mail yesterday. It is the Colonial Mist mixing bowl. Colonial Mist is one of my fave patterns. I was so excited with the trade!

When I was at the store, I happened upon a new flavor of Betty Crocker Icing. Whoever decided to mix chocolate and caramel together for icing is a genius. Can't wait to try this on a chocolate devils food cake. 

I got up this morning and made brownies in my new mixing bowl. I love baking and this time of year gives me that opportunity. These will be used tonight in making one of my favorite desserts, Reese Peanut Butter Brownie trifle. Yum. Can't wait. 

Since I have to cut the brownies small for the trifle, I bake them in a cake pan with parchment paper. That way I can lift them out easy and then just use my pizza cutter to run through them to make the small bite size I need. 

Come back tomorrow for the finished dessert with step by step instructions. 

Weekend Wrap Up

My weekend started off busy with making chocolate cinnamon cookies with chocolate frosting. 

Saturday morning, I headed out to my Thirty-One meeting. I took a couple of tea cups 

When I came home, I stopped at the mail box and there were a couple of keys to the larger boxes and I found this packages waiting for me.

I had traded some Pyrex in my Pyrex 4 Trade Facebook group. The first box had my snowflake divided dish. 

The next one had a piece I was so excited to get. It is the black gooseberry pattern. Very hard to find around here and this is the first time I've seen this pattern in person. I love it. 

The last box was the Snowflake Garland. Isn't she a cutie?

After I ooo'ed and awe'd over my Pyrex, I got busy getting the food for my Origami Owl ready. First thing I did was to sit my ghost cookie jar in the middle of my milk glass cake plate. I surrounded it with orange iced cookies.

Then I sit up my counter with the food. I love the little serving cup and napkins in the argyle pattern. 

I used a lot of my Pyrex in the fall patterns. I thought it turned out pretty good. 

A friend of mine at work gave me a recipe for ham & cheese bread using Crescent rolls. They turned out really good. 

My daughter-in-law gave me a recipe for Luvin' Spoonfuls which is made with biscuits, sausage and cream cheese. I had a hard time with the biscuits rolling into balls so I ended up doing them like turnovers. They were delicious. 

I used my new black gooseberry bowl to put mini Oreo's in .... vanilla and chocolate. 

The party was a ton of fun. We played with the charms and the necklaces to create what we wanted. I'm still deciding a few more things on mine, but it looks like I earned enough to get the locket and chain I want plus my charms.

All in all, it was a great day.

Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings growing up were always the same. Mom was in the kitchen fixing breakfast. We were picking out our clothes to wear to church, Daddy was sitting in his favorite chair by the door reading the Herald Dispatch. And Les Beasley and The Florida Boys were on the television. 

The show was on for over 3 decades, becoming one of the longest running gospel music TV series. They features such greats at the Happy Goodmans, The Hinsons, and The Cathedrals. I remember this show with fondness. My love of gospel music has its roots in this show and the many wonderful voices we were blessed with each week. Many of those old greats have gone on to live in the very Heaven they sang so much about. In honor of their memory, here are some of my most favorite moments from the show.

Busy Day Ahead

I have a busy day today. My Thirty-One Celebrate and Connect meeting is this morning. I am so excited. Can't wait to see what all we learn and what the new amenity is that we will be receiving. I'm going to carry my new Thirty-One purse. 

A quick stop by the store afterwards to get the ingredients to make my orange sherbet punch.

Then home to get ready for my Origami Owl party. 

It is going to be a busy day. I love days like this. 

Party Planning

I am having an Origami Owl party tomorrow night and I have been contemplating my menu. I want to incorporate some fall/Halloween items into my menu. Here are a few ideas I  have seen this week. Since I am planning on an assortment of ham, roast beef, and turkey sandwiches, I thought it would be neat to cut them in cookie cutter shapes using pumpkin cutters.



I will pre-make some PB & J for the kids that will be there. I'm going to try to find a bat cookie cutter.



I'm going to use some of my Pryex for serving dishes that have the fall patterns.

I purchased some cute plates and napkins at Target last weekend to use for the party.

I think I'll make some spice cookies with caramel icing. I made some last year for Christmas and they were a huge hit.

I'm also going to mix up some candy corn and honey roasted peanuts for a snack mix. They are awesome together. It's like eating a Pay Day bar.

My daughter-in-law told me a cute idea for cookies for the kids. You dip Nutter Butter cookies in melted white chocolate and add mini chocolate chips for the eyes. Isn't this adorable. 

My daughter-in-law gave me a recipe for sausage balls called Lovin' Spoonfuls. I'm excited to get started.

Chocolate vs. Peanut butter fudge

My favorite candy recipes are hand me downs from my Mom. I think the chocolate one was also made by my Mamaw but not really sure. Some people call them fudge, but we always called the chocolate one chocolate candy. Not sure why. But I thought I would share my recipe with you today.

Chocolate Candy

2/3 Cup Cocoa

3 cups sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups milk

Mix together in a large sauce pan and place over medium heat. Cook to the soft ball stage. Remove from heat and add the following:

4 1/2 tablespoons Parkay margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat until it looks like it is about to start setting up. Pour in a butter platter and let cool. Cut, eat and enjoy.

Peanut Butter Fudge

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup milk

Mix together in a medium sauce pan and place over medium heat. Cook to the soft ball stage. Remove from heat and add the following:

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 heaping tablespoon of  peanut butter

Beat until it looks like it is about to start setting up. Pour in a butter platter and let cool. Cut, eat and enjoy.

Whimsical Wednesday

Just a little Halloween humor to make you smile. 

The Wonder of Wonder-Under

I love Wonder-Under. I have become obsessed with finding crafts to make with it. On a recent trip to our local used book store, I found this book called "The Wonder-Under Book of Christmas Creations".  The price? Just .25 cents so I had to have it. 

They have some awesome craft and gift ideas. This matching scarf, hat and mittens is just too adorable for words. 

I love this angel that was in the pattern book. My cousin makes things similar to this and it made me think of her when I saw it.  

These would be so simple to make and would be an adorable way to decorate a small tree. I may have to do this for a little tree in my kitchen or the kids room.  

I just love these stockings. They would be easy to make. 

The reason is adorable. I love poinsettias. 

I like this idea. They have made the fabric ornaments then attached them to boxes. This would be perfect to give gifts of cookies in the boxes with the ornament on the outside like a tag. 

These were used to decorate a coffee can that had been spray painted red. Again, a great idea for a gift for cookies or baked goods. 

These little snowman dish towels would be so simple to make. 

I love these little trinket boxes. You can buy these boxes at AC Moore and paint them. Then simply make a yo yo for the top of the box and add a star, heart or button for decor on the top. Just too cute for words. 

I am loving these gingerbread men pillows. 

And the placemats with the gingerbread men. 

This would be cute to put on a fleece blanket and give it as a gift. 

If you have a small lamp that you love, you could buy a spare shade and do this so you could change out the lamp at Christmas.

I love Santa's and this would be so cute for my spare chair in the living room. 

These little trees would be so simple. You could put them on pillows, stockings, dish towels, table runners, the ideas are unlimited. 

And the wonderful part is that the book has all the patterns in the back of the book.

Now I can't wait to get started on some of these projects.