Gallery Wall - Vintage Windows

 Vintage windows are a favorite architectural design element of mine.  I have collected  a whole lot of them over the years.  

Mostly, I have had them tucked here and there in corners around our house and occasionally use them in different ways.

Lately, I have been on a "need to simplify my collections" kick.  

I love stuff, so this has been a challenge, to say the least - ha!

One way to get the clutter out of the corners of our living room, was to move the old windows.  I did not want to part with them, but wanted to display them more prominently.

 I decided to create a so called "gallery wall of vintage windows".

To achieve an eye pleasing layout, I made templates out of newspaper.  I gathered the whole family together and we taped up the templates in different arrays until we decided together what we felt looked best.

We love how it turned out!

I appreciate the design of each window so much more now that they are not hiding in the corners of our living room.

Girl Scout Thin Mints Mini Cheesecakes

There is good and bad this time of the year.  

Good that Girl Scout cookies become available for a short time and bad that Girl Scout cookies become available for a short time.  Ha!

I happen to be the troop "cookie mom" for one of my daughters.  

It's a busy time keeping everything organized with all the sales etc..

I don't know about you, but I get tired of the plain old cookies. 

So... I like to try to incorporate the cookies in to various treats.

I had some time to play today, so I made mini cheesecakes.

If you're a fan of the Thin Mints, I think you'll really enjoy these!

Thin Mints Mini Cheesecakes

makes 12

1 box of Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies

12 oz cream cheese

1/2 C sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/16 tsp peppermint extract 

1 egg

2 drops green food coloring

5-6 Thin Mints crushed

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, peppermint extract, egg and food coloring together.  Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.  Add a Thin Mint cookie to the bottom of each each paper liner.  Evenly distribute cream cheese mixture between the 12 cups.  Bake at 350 for 15-18 minute or until set.  Cool mini cheesecakes for a couple hours in the refrigerator.  To serve, top with fresh sweetened whipped cream, drizzle with chocolate syrup and top with 1/2 of a Thin Mint.

Enjoy!

Halloween 2013

To me, the best part about Halloween, is decorating.  Ya know,  I never was into seasonal decorating (well...except for Christmas), until I had kids.  
They get so excited and that makes it so fun!
Each year, I like to add something new and change things up a bit. 
One thing I added this year -  the 'BOO' sign I painted for our front porch entry that is bat infested.

 

Inside, I made a bare branch tree swarming with bats - scary!

The girls and I cut out bats from black construction paper and hot glued them randomly to the branches.

Kinda into bats this year, as you can see - ha! 

 

I'll be hosting a Halloween themed get-together next week, and wanted an easy craft for the group to do. 

 I thought fabric pumpkins would be fun and something that everyone could enjoy through Thanksgiving.

I used scraps of vintage chenille, driftwood for the stems, and felted wool sweaters for the leaves.

Having all the supplies on hand was a bonus!

Most people think it's crazy and creepy that I collect vintage baby doll heads.  How can something so cute be creepy?

For my tablescape, I added masquerade masks to the doll heads - OK... maybe a little creepy, but in a cute way - ha!

Well, there you have it.  A peek into Halloween 2013 at our house.

Now, if I only I could get into the dressing-up part of Halloween...

Tree Stump Table

 It's that time of year when outdoor project need to get done.

My hubby has been busy splitting rounds of firewood for us to burn this upcoming winter.

 

Meanwhile, I needed a little side table out on our patio, so I had him save me a round.

He was even so kind to sand the top smooth and brush on some polyurethane for protection.

It made the perfect table!

Now I can get back to the most important outdoor project of all.

Lounging!

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Happy May Day! A Little Tutorial

 

May Day is one of my favorite days of the year.

When I was a little girl, I loved to "ding and dash" at my neighbors house, leaving a basket of flowers hanging on their doorknob.

My girls love this tradition too!

This year, I made a simple pocket for the flowers to hang on the doorknob.

 If you're interested in making your own, this is how I made mine.

a. gather saved paper towel or toilet paper cardboard tubes

b. squish tube at the bottom to flatten slightly

c.  hot glue bottom edge closed

d.  gather fabric, paper etc... of your own choosing, cut, fit, and glue around tube

e.  fold and glue bottom edge fabric and tuck top fabric inside and glue around top 

f.  punch holes on two sides

g.  thread string through holes and tie knots to secure handle

h.  embellish however you like

add a tag, some fresh flowers from your yard 

 and now you're ready to "ding and dash!"

Happy May Day!

Coconut Bar Cookies

Treats are something I make a lot of.  

The reason; I have a hubby that enjoys having a homemade treat in his lunch everyday. 

There is one problem.  I get tired of making the same favorites over and over!

No one here would complain if I only ever made chocolate chip cookies.  Well... except for me.
How boring can you get?

I like coming up with something new, that's yummy and that can be added into the "treats rotation" so I don't get bored with baking!

Last night I made these tasty coconut bars.
Kinda my take on the traditional Magic Cookie Bar.
If you ask me, they're even better than a candy bar!
Nuts were omitted since some that live in my house, aren't fans of any type of nuts being in a cookie.
I aim to please - ha!
  

Here's how I made 'em.

Coconut Bars

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cube (1/2 cup) butter, melted

2 Tablespoons sugar

14 oz package sweetened, flaked, coconut

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 package semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

3/4 teaspoon shortening

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar in a small bowl.

Press into a buttered 9x13 baking dish.

Mix the coconut and sweetened condensed together, and evenly drop/spread onto graham cracker crust.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until coconut is lightly browned.

Let cool completely.

Melt chocolate chips with 1/2 tsp shortening in the microwave and stir until nice and smooth. 

Drizzle over coconut.

Melt white chocolate chips and 1/4 tsp shortening in the microwave.  Stir until smooth. 

Drizzle over the dark chocolate.

Let chocolates firm up then cut into bars

Enjoy!

 

Pink Roses

How could I not bring these pink pretties home with me from the grocery store?

Today I'm enjoying their beauty reflected in this perfectly aged antique plateau mirror.

 Just lovely.