Pink Rice Krispy Treats: Baby Shower

Rice Krispy Treats for a Girl Baby Shower

Easier than you think.

From Pumpkin Seed to Pumpkin Meal....You Can Do It!

From this.......

To this........... EASY!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie: Easier Than You Think

Chicken Pot Pie

All time favorite at my house.

Make Dog Treats At Home: Natural, Quick and Easy

Delicious Dog Treats Using Stuff On Hand 

The other night I was making a chicken pot pie from a chicken I had boiled earlier in the day.

I needed the broth to boil my potatoes and carrots in, it creates a richer flavor in the pie.

Well, you know how you get that chicken stuff that floats to the top of the broth.

Stuff that I skim off and toss. 

I thought to myself, "why are you throwing this away?, your dogs would love it"

as they were swarming around me.

It was like a light bulb went off. 

Make some dog treats with it!

I finished draining it and put that chicken stuff in a bowl.

Walked to the pantry and grabbed some good stuff for them.

I ended up grabbing oatmeal, Flaxseed meal and pumpkin seed meal.

Mix it all to a consistency that looked like it would bake well.

I happen to notice a half eaten apple that someone just left on the counter.

Wasn't that sweet of them.

So I grated it up and put it on top of the dough.

I used a round cake pan lined with parchment paper and 

pushed the mixture around the pan to a thin layer.

Baked it with the pot pie at 375 degrees.

When it looked and felt crisp, I took it out to cool.

After it cooled I was able to break into pieces.

The dogs loved it.

I love treating my doggies.

My hubby jokes that our dogs eat better than we do.

Really its because they don't complain about my cooking :)

These were so easy to make and were done at the same time of the pie.

Which was a bonus.  Dogs were happy and I loved having a treat for them.

I wanted to share this not really because of the recipe but because of the easiness of 

making use of what we have and not being wasteful.

My Dog Treats Ingredients were:

Chicken pieces (residue) and broth

Oatmeal

Flaxseed meal

Pumpkin seed meal

apple pieces.

Chiari Malformation 2 Years After Surgery

Chiari

2 years after Decompression surgery

2 years later....

Espen swam with a dolphin this past summer

It has been 2 years February 24, 2016 since his Decompression surgery.

I thought it would be nice if I would share with you how he is doing.

Coffee Table Makeover DIY

A friend asked me to redo her coffee and end tables for her.  She loved the quality and durability of her tables, just wanted a new look.

I have never refinished furniture for anyone but myself.   I was a bit nervous, 

due to being a perfectionist.

I told her I would and I am glad I did.  She loves them.

I wanted to share with you the before and after.

Refinishing furniture is pretty easy and I hope that you will be encouraged to 

tackle a piece of furniture in your own time.

Before

After

Homemade Crescent Rolls

I admit it... I am a bread lover. 

 I believe bread is the perfect compliment to every meal.

Breakfast needs toast.

Lunch needs a sandwich.

Supper needs a roll.

Desk Remade: From EWW to New

A couple months ago my son asked me for a desk for his room.  Sounds easy enough.  Not really.  It needed to be a certain size, so that it didn't seem overbearing for his small room.  Shopping online got a little overwhelming none of them seemed to fit the bill without being over $300.  My son grew inpatient.  One Saturday I found a desk that was the right size, but it was pink and white.  Then I noticed the desk was wood and pressed cardboard.  The desk was $15, I debated and debated wondering can I make this into something.  The only reason I went for it was the price and it really was the right dimensions.  Here is before.......

and after....

Some Of My Favorites From My Visit To IKEA

The other day I had a chance to stop at IKEA.

If you ever get a chance to go, I recommend it.

WARNING:

You can get lost in there :)

You will be shocked at how much time you can spend in there,

especially if you take a friend.

It is so much fun to shop with a buddy.  It always brightens my day,

to hear the, "ooh look at that" or "I love that" statements.

At the beginning of the store, it has display rooms.

This helps to entice you. :)

It is fun though.  That is where you will hear the "oooh, look at that".

Then you stop at the cafeteria.  Grab a bite to eat.

Then shop the market area, where everything displayed is for sale.

This is where you load up the card, very wisely. 

I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the things,

that I thought were really cute and priced well.

This basket was displayed at the end of a bed.  It was the size of a coffee table.

I can only imagine all the things it could hide.

I look at getting this throw or blanket every time I go in.

I'm afraid my dog's nails would ruin it.  My pups think every blanket we own is theirs.

It reminds me of a throw at Pottery Barn.

My Hardwood Floors Lost Their Shine! Quick Shine Help.

Hardwood Floors

I love hardwood floors but they can drive me crazy.

I struggle with finding ways to keep that beautiful, hard wood shine.

My normal mopping for my floors is a bucket of warm water and vinegar.

After a while they become dull.

So every now and then I use this,

"Quick Shine"

By Holloway House

Below, is the before on the right, and the after on the left.

The shine last for about 2 -3 months.

I will share with you though, that this it is not a quick job.

At least not for me. But to have the shine back, I find it worth the hassle.

The first thing I do is put everyone in bed.

Yep! That means I am up late. Sorry.

I vacuum, then mop by hand.

I do that as to get every piece of dirt and dog hair up.

The shine is like a glaze and that piece of hair becomes trapped under the shine.

I buy a mop from the dollar tree, then throw it away.

You want to start in a corner and work your way back, you will be blocked in 

until it dries.

Squirt and mop. 

Easy enough, right?

You have to be careful though, because you can apply too much shine (glaze) to one area.

The glaze comes out quickly, so be cautious.

Try to go over it for an evenness.

Below is a picture of a squirt, just to give you an idea.

This is a picture when it was finished and dried.

I got the shine back! For now... ;-)

I have only been able to find this product at Walmart.

If you have any helpful tips on hardwood floors, I would love to hear them!

We could all help each other in this battle.

Swan Creek Candle Review

Swan Creek Candles

Have you ever heard of the Swan Creek Candle company?

About 2 years ago I was shopping in a little shop.

  There was an amazing smell that drew me to the corner of this shop.

You can smell them without taking the lid off.

I've been in love every since.

Let me tell you about these candles. 

I do want to let you know Swan Creek doesn't know I am writing this post about them.

They only know me as an order #.

When I experience a good product or a good experience,

I like to share it with all my friends.

When shopping for these candles, I could only find them in

the Bass Pro Shops and this little store in Gruene, TX.

Of course, when you shop in a store you pay a little more. However in the store

you can smell them to find your favorite scents.

I found, I can order online for a little cheaper and guess what, 

they usually throw in a Thank You gift. 

Isn't that wonderful of them?

This time my Thank You gift was Pink Marshmallow Frosting melts.

Yes, it does smell as amazing as it sounds.  The day my box came my daughter was 

drawn instantly to that package.  While she was doing her school work, she sat with that 

Pink Marshmallow Frosting opened beside her.  She just kept taking deep breaths and rejoicing

in the smell.

Swan Creek is very careful to wrap everything really well.

Look at all that bubble wrap.

My favorite scents are Vanilla Pound Cake, Gingerbread, Thai Pear, Warm Cinnamon Melts

and now Pink Marshmallow Frosting.

I would love to know if you have a favorite brand of candles or 

if you love Swan Creek Candles too. 

Leave a comment and share your wonderful finds.

Organization of Your Different Flours

Organizing all your different flours.

When changing your diet it can become overwhelming,

buying and storing all the different flours.

My freezer was becoming an unorganized mess.

This year we are trying to change the way we eat.

We have experimented with Gluten Free in the past.

None of us have been diagnosed with Celiacs disease but we

have an Uncle with it and a son with Autism.

For some of these reasons, we are trying to change to Gluten Free.

It has become much easier but still can be challenging.

Here's what I came up with for my sanity.

It looked something like this.

A Glimpse of My Kitchen

Living in a Log Cabin can make photos difficult

the photos tend to turn out darker.

I haven't learned the art of using a flash or extra lighting yet. 

My favorite part of my kitchen is our sink. 

I have always wanted a big farm sink. 

It holds tons of dishes.

On this day, I just happen to have all the dishes done.

Farm House Sink

Decorating With Signs: "Say Something" In Your Decor

Have you noticed how everyone is 

using signs in their decorating now.

The sayings can be anything....

something you find funny, something that encourages you

or even a Bible verse.

In the store the other day I saw this sign.

It is something I need to be reminded of.

It is so easy to always look back for me.

I just chuckled when I saw it.

I'm still wondering where I could use this reminder in home.

Getting Trendy From Your Old Clothes

Dilemma I don't have time to go shopping or the funds.

I really liked these pants, when they were in style.

As you can see they are to short and flare.

So there they hung in my closet, for years adding to the clutter.

While having coffee with a friend and this woman walked in

with the cutest pants on. 

They looked similar to mine in the closet but rolled.

My mind raced to my flare pants, I was hoping I could achieve the look.

Below is the before and after photos.

Flowers from Trader Joes

Have you ever been to a Trader Joe's?

I hope you are fortunate enough to one in your area.

 They have the best deals on flowers.

Simple Hydrangea bouquet

Organize Your Shower in Minutes

Ready to go from this...

To this...

or this...

Fun First Birthday Decorations

Celebrating the First Birthday

Party Ideas

Our first grand baby turned 1 this year.

You can imagine it was a milestone in our lives.

My daughter was all over the web getting ideas.

Don't you just love Pinterest and Blogs?

I wanted to share with you some of the ideas she and I came up with.

I want to give her the credit she comes up with amazing ideas.

This party was for a little boy but you definitely could use most

of the ideas for a little girl too.

Time to pack away all the Christmas stuff... here are some things I've learned

It's that time of year, where it's time to put away all the wonderful Christmas stuff.

I am always excited to put it away and do a little spring cleaning at the same time.

On the other hand it is a little sad.  Christmas is such a magical time and it comes and goes so fast.

I learned a couple of years ago that if I store my Holiday stuff in 

clear totes it makes things a lot easier.

The clear totes help me to see the items, that way I don't have to get 

all the totes down.  That's a bonus. 

                                                                               

Favorite little things at Christmas

Just a couple little things I love at Christmas

I love how throwing a red quilt on the end of the bed

makes it feel like Christmas time.