I love taking tours of  homes to see where they scored their favorite items and to see why they made the choices they did. 

The  website is called Apartment therapy and is  a peek into homes with interviews.   I find myself going here often.

A New Way to Approach Resolutions

If you are celebrating from home  here are some fun ideas to make your own Decorations

On the eve of our new years resolutions I had been thinking about how I wanted to approach my list.  I came across a blog  where the lists weren't listed from one to ten but rather monthly.  I adore this idea given most resolutions are not kept or finished.  It takes thirty days to destroy a bad habit and to start a  new one!

Wonderful.  So I will be making twelve one for each month of the year.  Monthly goals rather than the dreaded resolutions!

If eating more healthy or adding more vegetables to your life is one of your resolutions:


Took me a second to realize this was a hat. 




purse





Healthy edible underwear



Life Resolutions

I saw this and loved it! 

This was a wonderful surprise of color after our snow storms!

I hope your Wednesday is going smooth!

Don't throw out those outdated coupons!

Did you know that Commissaries will accept coupons up to six months old ?  I did not either!

Overseas military bases will accept expired grocery coupons up to six months from their expiration date as well as non-expired coupons. We just recently learned of an overseas military base that needs coupons, and they have given us permission to share their information with you. For the cost of postage, you can help our military families save big every month!


Here is a really easy way to support our troops without leaving your home!  The most desirable coupons are for household items such as diapers, toiletries, and laundry soaps. 


Read more about this and the necessary  addresses here:

http://www.couponmom.com/military-451

Let it Snow!

Well we had a wonderful Christmas Complete with

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!        In Alabama no less

Hope your day was everything you wanted it to be!

Tree and the Cat attack!

The Tree

The tree this year right before it was attacked by my cat!  I was standing in front of this cute tree when I pondered the thought of maybe going blue and silver next year when suddenly my cat jumped from the entertainment center on to my tree causing it to fall over.....Let us skip to the end and say only three ornaments broke!  For all the chaos that is a Christmas miracle of sorts!

I do not have the heart to show you the aftermath, but all is back to pretty!  

I do have some work to show you and have been meaning to, but I think I will create more over the holiday and present everything after.  I have some copper, given the silver prices make me weep, and a ring I made myself for Christmas,  another I made for the shop.  See I am not totally selfish! 

Have a wonderful Christmas if you do  not see me before then.  I hope you get everything you desire and deserve!

Kathleen xxoo

This is Ms. KiKi enjoying the warm house and perched up on the couch to avoid those annoying dogs!

This is her saying  "Beat it!"

I am still around just relaxing and letting this Christmas sink in.  Taking it slow.  Hope you and yours are enjoying your holiday!  I have some chocolate chip cookies with walnuts and milk with my name on it!  See you!

Much love,

Kat

http://thesoho.blogspot.com/2010/11/tuesday-giveaway.html

giveaway I thought you might like!

I added a few things to my shop and will continue all week!  Images for postcards I had done.  
here is one of the images they came up with :

I also saw this on facebook and loved it!

Four things

1.  First thanks so much I love you all and value all the support brought my way!  Really it has brought me such peace.

2.  There will be a spectacular shop update in all my shops today.

3.  Third  this is a kick ass recipe for dinner rolls from my ever loving haunt http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/11/herb-dinner-rolls.html


******Herb Dinner Rolls*******


•1 cup of water

•2 tbsp of butter, softened

•1 egg (hold under warm water before breaking it)

•3 1/4 cup of bread flour

•2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

•1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

•1 tsp dried oregano

•1/4 cup of sugar

•1 tsp salt

•3 tsp regular active dry yeast

Place all dough ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. Select the dough cycle and press start. Once the bread machine stops (it was one and a half hours on my machine). Grease a cookie sheet. Divide dough into 15 pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Brush with butter then cover with a cloth.

Let the dough rise in a warm place 30 to 4o minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy.

 
 
maybe something you could whip up for Christmas or just because!  
I am crushing on this blog.   There I said it! 
 
 
4.   I was featured on another blog and it was nice to see so thanks to her! 
http://hivennn.blogspot.com/2010/11/etsy-feature-gaia-metal-studio.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Hivennn+%28hivennn%29
 
 
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Holiday weekend!
 
 
Kathleen xxoo

Loss

I have been dealing with the loss of my father in the past week or so. I really appreciate the well wishes of my friends and
family that pop on here to keep tabs on me......If I have not replied yet on Etsy or in email I will get to it, but know I have
read them all. Replying just became to hard and emotionally draining. I have been getting my feet back firmly on the ground and I finally have arrived back at home.

Here is my father and mother  in an older pic  that I love.   I will miss you daddy. 

Have a great day and tell your father you love him today.

Kathleen xxoo

“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.”


– Joseph Campbell

Roasted Acorn Squash with Grain and Warm Spice Salad

First off check out the bike giveaway at the bottom of the page.  It is only going on till the 17th of this month so snap to it!  click on the link and it will tell you how to put your own button on your website to register.   I love the idea of being able to cart all over with massive amounts of flea market finds, children, and or groceries! 

Secondly this recipe is lovely and light.  Vegetarian.  Simple.   I copied and pasted the recipe for you but here is the link to the site as well.  maybe you will fall in love with something as well!

 I still have been procrastinating doing my pictures.  Please send me some lovely, ambitious thoughts today I need them.  The weather changed cold and I guess the thought of leaving my warm nest isn't  particularly attractive.


Roasted Acorn Squash with Grain and Warm Spice Salad

1 acorn squash, cut in half and seeds scooped out


1/4 cup wheatberries*

1/4 cup couscous*

1 cup torn, packed spinach

1/4 cup golden raisins

2 TB pine nuts

1/4 cup finely diced red onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 carrot, finely shredded

2 TB lemon juice

2 TB apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 TB olive oil

1 TB honey

1/4 tsp. each: cinnamon, cumin

1/8 tsp. each: cloves, curry powder, turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place squash, cut side up, on a baking sheet or in a glass dish. sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dot with a little butter on the inside. Bake 30-35 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife.

2.Meanwhile, cook grains according to package directions.

3.Place spinach in a large bowl and set aside.

4.Toss together the raisins, pine nuts, onion, garlic, and carrot in another bowl, set aside.

5.Whisk together the lemon juice through the spices in a small bowl and set aside.

6.When the grains are done cooking, drain if necessary and toss immediately with spinach, causing it to wilt slightly. Add in the raisin mixture and dressing, tossing well to combine. Spoon into squash halves and enjoy!




* These are just the grains I happened to have on hand. And in fact, the couscous was a harvest grain blend. Feel free to use whatever grains you like or keep handy. Even a mix of lentils and wild rice would be nice!

Baklava and Jewelry! yay

I tried this tonight and OH MY GOD!   It was really good.    I found a new site that I have been hooked on http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/  so far everything I have made has been pretty amazing.  Take a look around.


Baklava

Ingredients:


4 cups walnuts (chopped)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 cup butter (melted)

1 pound phyllo pastry (thawed)

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick cinnamon

2 inch slice lemon peel

2 inch slice orange peel

3/4 cup honey



Directions:

1. Mix the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

2. Brush the bottom of a 9X13 inch pan with butter.

3. Brush butter onto the top of a sheet of the phyllo dough and place the sheet into the pan. Repeat until there are 8 sheets in the pan.

4. Sprinkle 1/3 of the walnut mixture onto the phyllo in the pan.

5. Brush butter onto the top of a sheet of the phyllo dough and place the sheet into the pan. Repeat until there are 2 sheets on top of the nut mixture.

6. Sprinkle 1/3 of the walnut mixture onto the phyllo in the pan.

7. Brush butter onto the top of a sheet of the phyllo dough and place the sheet into the pan. Repeat until there are 2 sheets on top of the nut mixture.

8. Sprinkle 1/3 of the walnut mixture onto the phyllo in the pan.

9. Brush butter onto the top of a sheet of the phyllo dough and place the sheet into the pan. Repeat until there are 8 sheets on top of the nut mixture.

10. Slice the baklava with a sharp knife.

11. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown on top, about 25-35 minutes.

12. Bring the water, sugar, cinnamon, lemon and orange to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

13. Add the honey and simmer for 2 minutes.

14. Remove the cinnamon, and peals from the syrup.

15. Pour the syrup over the baklava when it comes out of the oven.

16. Let the baklava cool for a few hours.
 
 
New Jewelry-
Some new things that have not made it to the shop yet, but they should be in there tomorrow.   There are a few more pieces and I will post them tomorrow. 
 
 
 

Some rings that are sculptural wire (Fingers look so sexy up close!)  It looks like I have chicken skin.

Snowflake Necklace

                                                                                     Snowflake Earrings

Few new pieces

I  worked my butt off all weekend hoping to add some new things to the shops .  I organized,  get outside, and start taking pictures then huge gusts of wind come slap me around.  They were strong enough to  start taking my props, jewelry, and me out.  I was a trooper and stayed out in that freezing cold for about and hour then said......screw this!  I think the final straw honestly was my procrastination of calling the "tree guy".  There is a branch that is sickly or dead above  my deck  where I was standing.   Better safe than sorry.

I have a few things listed on here and on Flickr, but they  haven't made it to Etsy yet, and I really don't know when they will sadly.  Today is a warm blanket and hot cocoa kind of day!  

Woven Sterling Bracelets

Pod Earrings

Heather Earrings (Shiny Finish)

Large Textured Leaf

Dream catcher Earrings

Hope you are having a wonderful wind free day!

Kathleen xx

Something to put a smile on your face today

I saw this video today and laughed my butt off.   mostly looking at the people around them going WTF!

http://crowleyparty.blogspot.com/

Its a Village People Invasion!

kathleen xx

My Evil Princess Vampire

That is the title she chose and the outfit we tried to compile.  She didn't want fake blood on her and kind of threw a hissy.  She did get over it and liked the end result.  This is her before our trip out the door to stampede the neighborhood for our candy loots!

Closeup of her Evilness

I cannot believe I took this picture in front of  my messy desk!

She helped carve this year and did two of her own pumpkins.  Less intricate this year but more fun!

Chicken Pot Pie

So I have had an amazing week in  jewelry.  I have sold a few pieces from my new shop.   I have received a few special orders and a wonderful man called me to make something special for his bride of 30 years!  So very sweet indeed.


This is a favorite of mine I thought I would share.  I also do not  put the pie crust (yes I use pre made shhhh!) on the top of mine.  I cut the pie crust  into  squares, brush them with olive oil, butter, or whatever I have on hand and bake them in the oven.  I just found over time the crust falls into the pot pie and get completely soggy.  Sorry if you like it that way, but I tend to toss it.   Another option is garlic toast (toasted Italian bread rubbed with a clove of garlic---saves on the calories also!).

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on

3 tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of salt

Freshly ground black pepper

5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

2 chicken bouillon cubes

4 tablespoons 4

2 medium  yellow onions, chopped

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 cups medium-diced carrots

1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)

1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
 
 
   
Directions:


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into cubes you should have 4 to 6 cups.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot  melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

BOO!

Getting Into the Halloween spirit is not hard for me I love it so much.  I think we carved out four pumpkins so far and I have eight.  I have not done the final touches on them,  but here is what I did last year and I think they came out great. 

                                                                Roasted Pumpkin Seeds




There was also alot  of scarecrow making at my daughters school here are some highlights. In total there were 32! Which is really amazing and fun.  I think they all turned out great, and  here are my favorites.  I did a long shot of the row to give you an idea of  all the Frightfulness!

Here are some fun things you can do for you or with a child to give your porch some creepiness!

http://thinkcrafts.com/blog/2010/10/30/4-easy-halloween-decorations-you-can-make-with-your-kids/



I also loved the Halloween pictures on her site today celebrating this weekend.

http://shannoneileenblog.typepad.com/happiness-is/2010/10/spooky-inspiration.html