Silver Snowy Pine Centerpiece

I was sitting at my desk area yesterday, and this is what I had for Christmas decorations going on.

Needless to say, I wasn't loving it!  This was some reimagining from back at Easter time.

I love all the different ways I've been able to use it!

So, onto Christmas decorating my little centerpiece stand.

Enter some fake greenery

Some spray adhesive and epsom salts

Voila!!!  Snowy pine branch!

I poured some more "snow" into the bowl, and added some little pine cones.

(These were picked and carefully handled all the way from Montana many years ago!

Many bags were transported!)

I slipped in an old silver gravy boat, a little pillar candle and lit the candle.

 

 

 

 

So with a little silver, a little snow, a little pine, and a little light....

A much nicer view at my computer!

Living today to the fullest ~

cindy

A New Layout!

It's almost a New Year, so out with the old and in with the New!  I found this template at All Blog Tools.  There's a couple more customizes that need to be done, but I can't find them in the HTML!  So tomorrow is a new day and hopefully they will pop out and I can fix it!

Living today to the fullest ~

From Wall to Vintage Coaster

It all started with a regular unsealed porcelain tile I picked up at Lowe's.

These were pretty cheap.....34 cents each!

Add in some vintage graphics from various sources of the internet

One of my favorites is Graphics Fairy

I used a Lazertran product, but it could easily be done by

decoupaging a printed image onto the tile and sealing the top.

Close up

For the backing, I had some foam with sticky backs that I cut into 3"x3" squares and stuck right to the back!

All wrapped up with a pretty bow

And this will make the cutest gift for someone on your list, or a cute addition to your home!

I'm linking up with

Living today to the fullest ~

Recipe.......With A Holder

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE blogland!! So many creative people, my head just hurts with everything I want to do!

I had the last of my craft fairs for the year Saturday, so yesterday, I created for myself. Well for myself to give to others for Christmas gifts. This next couple weeks I will be creating gifts. I love to give. Just to see the sparkle in their eyes when they open it up!

Infarrantly Creative hosted a Pennywise Presents on Friday. I had to create a whole new bookmark folder just from those links!

Homebody linked up with

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Framed Thrift Store Silver/Recipe Holder

This just screamed Miss Betty Crocker Daughter! She's really grabbed hold of cooking, baking, and from scratch!

Enter my creation..........

I started with a Dollar Store frame I already had.....heehee..I removed a photo to use this frame, onto bigger and better uses for this frame!

Went out to my winter paint booth

Window overlooking creek (ventilation) and the workshop woodstove (heat and fan makes for fast drying!)

Spray painted the frame black

Sanded down some areas

Used my forever lasting can of dark stain to give depth and an old aged look

Left that in the workshop to dry!

Inside, I picked a paper that reflects DD. She loves words, family, toned down colors. So I picked this piece of scrapbook paper. Used the paper in the frame to cut to size. (I would have used the glass, much sturdier, but I'd already cleaned it! No fingerprints!)

And because it was a bit too bright to match the frame, I aged that up a bit, too, with my coffee/cinnamon mix

Found an old silver fork in my stash and took it to the vise to bend the tines

Assembled the frame with the paper inside, and hotglued the bent fork right to the front of the glass!

Then I sat down with Photoshop and designed a recipe card to match the paper. I'm in the process of filling up the recipe cards with some delicious recipes of Suzanne's and the Community Cookbook at

Chickens in The Road!

The bestest, most versatile, good old fashioned bread recipe!

Linking up with

Happy creating, my friends!





Living today to the fullest ~

Real Soap...The Old Time Process with Modern Conveniences

Something was intriguing about real homemade soap. The process, the qualities, the ability to actually create my own bar of soap.

Unlike commercial bars, the glycerin made naturally in the soap making process are retained. Glycerin is a humectant, meaning it attracts moisture to your skin. Glycerin is a natural by-product of the soapmaking process and while commercial manufacturers remove the glycerin for use in their more profitable lotions and creams, handcrafted soap retains glycerin in each and every bar.  This alone made me want to make my own soap!  

I researched, researched, researched. There are different processes, different recipes, different ingredients. My bookmark on soapmaking is VERY large!

There is hot process and cold process.  Hot process soap is cooked -- crockpot, in pot on stove, in pot on woodstove.  Cooking the soap cures the soap as it is cooked -- you can use the soap as soon as it is hard.  Cold process is simply that.  After the oils and lye have been combined and brought to a trace, it is poured into molds until hard, removed from the molds, and then left to cure in the open for 4 - 6 weeks.

There are many recipes available all around the internet.  I use SoapCalc to create my recipes.  You can enter the oils you have on hand, how much soap you want to make, and it gives you the recipe in grams or ounces. To me it looks like a chemistry list!  It also gives you the qualities of the soap you are making -- how well it is as a cleanser, the hardness, how sudsy, how moisturizing.  This takes a huge headache out of the way!

So many months after getting the first little itch of wanting to make my own bar of soap, I DID!! I made SOAP from scratch!  What a feeling!

I decided on the hot process method. Maybe a little A.D.D....I just couldn't wait 4-6 weeks to try my first bar of soap. Then I chose the crockpot method. It's almost like putting your dinner in the crockpot. Put everything in, turn on low, cover and let cook. If it looks like it's going to boil over, simply stir down.

Gather all supplies

Recipe in hand

Computer right next to me with Adventure With The Sage crockpot tutorial
so I could follow step by step

The mold is lined with freezer paper and all ready before beginning. John made me this mold with hinged sides so the soap can be released easier.

Soap is cooked, ready to pour!

Soap is poured into the mold.  With the hot process method, the top has a rough texture.  I really like this, a rustic, simple look.

Look at the suds!

After the soap has hardened for about 8 hours, slice, and let dry on a screen for a few hours. John also built me this guillotine style slicer.....this helps to keep the bars real close in weights.

SOAP!!!!!  And I no longer need lotion........another savings!!!

I have made dozens of batches of soap now in just over a month. Some unscented, some with a goat's milk base, some with additives like oatmeal or brown sugar, some scented with different fragrance oils.  It's a very amazing process.  One I feel so proud of attempting and succeeding!!!

I do have to put this disclaimer.......Real soap is made with lye. Combining oils and lye together is what makes soap. Plain and simple. Working with lye could be dangerous. Protect yourself with safety goggles and gloves. I haven't had a problem, but I will always practice safety!

I am working on our store here on this site.  The soaps will be available for sale!!!!  If you don't think you want to try this process, check out the store up above, my readers are my favorite customers!  And I help out my favorite customers! ;)

Living today to the fullest ~

Help Me Help Her

It all started a year ago....when I felt the crunch of a layoff and the bleak job outlook here in West Michigan. But I knew I would be able to handle it. I started finding ways to reduce the expenses (especially the easy ones, that were so not important to us that we cannot even remember what they are today!)

I googled "old fashioned homemade bread". I know there are all sorts of bread recipes, but to me I wanted the one that Mom can no longer remember, the one she made for years, the one I grew up eating. I came across Grandmother's Bread, at Chickens In The Road. This was the recipe Mom had used years ago every Sunday when she made bread for the week. THIS was the recipe I wanted.

Made from Grandmother Bread

I copied the recipe and read a couple of her blog posts. I realized this wasn't just another cooking blog, she posted about everything I wanted to learn.....gardening, canning, cooking from scratch. She even has a little farm. I love the stories of the farm. I can't have a farm, but I would if I lived outside of town! The freshness of milk, eggs, your own meat.

But as I continued to read and follow Chickens In The Road, I was understanding her subtitle "Life in Ordinary Splendor". This is when my values began changing regarding materialism and what I needed in my life to make me happy. I decided to step back, get off the corporate bandwagon (as that isn't going anywhere very quickly now anyway!), and live my life a little more simply. Making and banking money wasn't making me happy.

Time Spent With Family Makes Me Happy

Suzanne writes her blog every single day. Through it, I can find motivation, and the push to dig deeper into me to bring something new out that has been wanting and waiting. She has applied to the Sam-e Good Mood Blogger Gig, where she will write a blog post every day for the Good Mood Blog.

Will you please Help Me Help Her? The final voting round is underway....and I am helping because this is important to her! This is how I know I can help to repay everything she has given to me in the past year -- MY MIND! This vote is per IP address. Every browser has a different IP address, every computer has a different IP address. I vote 4 times per day! I would vote so many more times to help Suzanne win if I could! This is why I'm asking YOU!

Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

Living today to the fullest ~

Room to Inspire: 100th Post and a Giveaway ~

Room to Inspire: 100th Post and a Giveaway ~

Chelsea is having a fabulous 100th Post Giveaway!! Go check her site out, absolutely fabulous!

Living today to the fullest ~

Suzanne from Walton, WV

Good Mood Gig from SAM-eSuzanne from Walton, WV

Suzanne of Chickens In The Road, the very first blog I read every morning with my cup of coffee, is in the running for a position at Sam-e writing for the Good Mood Blog -- a very worthy contender!!

Last fall, I googled "Homemade Bread" and landed on Suzanne's site. I have learned so much from her -- wonderful recipes, crafty ideas, gardening expertise.

So please do me a favor? Click on the button above and vote for her (can be done daily from each computer you know of!!). This is an actual paying gig that she is more than worthy of receiving!

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Shadows and Reflections

Joining in with today.



As I stand on the dock in the afternoon light,
Who am i seeing?  What am I seeing?

Just me and my shadow
A friend who will never leave my side
Watching reflections from the autumn air
Watching, feeling the grasses weaving about




Thinking, deliberating.
 




No, there's not an absolute to these questions



Daily these answers will change.





And on this warm afternoon fall day
I am just a woman wanting some peace
Some peace in the fall air to rejuvenate
Some peace in the fall air to formulate some plans
Some peace in the fall air to take in the beauty
Some peace to simply breathe,
To appreciate the beauty around us - it's not all ugly.

It was Shadow Shot Sunday yesterday in Australia, but some wonderful shots to take a look at! Here are last week's collages, some wonderful, awesome shots to take in! And here is this week's link!


Living today to the fullest ~

I'm A Flea Marketeer

I'm joining party today!

I love, love, love green canning jars with zinc lids. They are always on my "want/need" list and will never be removed!

I use them for my pantry storage, in every size!

I won't pay over $1 for one...many are sold for much more, but if you scrounge enough, you can get them much cheaper. I've even found some that I paid $4 for a box of 10 with extra lids!

I'd been wanting to find a display piece for them on my counter to hold those things I use most.....salt, pepper, cornstarch, baking powder and baking soda.

And look what I found on my last venture out...

A beautiful, chippy red, old wooden tool box!  And it's a huge 35 inches long and 9" deep!  Lots of room!

I about shook with excitement when I spotted it under a table at the back. And what made me even more giddy? It was under the $1 table!

With a little WHOLE LOT cleaning and some oiling, I am just in love with it. And it just so happened to fit to the inch the space on the counter.

It was destined. It was meant to be. It is mine.

Go! Go visit the rest of the Flea Market Style Party! There are so many more inspiring, creative blogs to check out!

Living today to the fullest ~