Decorating, Cooking, Party Ideas, Travel, and a Halloween addiction




Friday, April 23, 2010

DIY magazine organizer

I took one double sized cereal box ....

Make a few creative adjustments....

Wrapped it in some leftover wrapping paper....
TA-DA
cost-$0
time -10 minutes
I actually made 3 for myself. This would be super cute if it was all one image across the back off all 3 boxes like a quote or some vines or something.

look what I found!

I found these cute little frame at Target. They were about $3 a piece.
I took some pictures from an old "witches date book" from llewelyn prees and clipped them for this adorable trio.

total-$9

vegetarian chili

My husband , who has been a vegetarian for 20+ years asks me to make this practically every week.

12 oz. each small red kidney beans and pinto beans, fully cooked and rinsed
2-3 onions depending on size around 2.5c. chopped

I always add a few carrots to this vegetarian chili to give it a little color and bulk.
Not shown: 2 ribs of celery chopped into a small dice

tomatoes,
I usually take a dozen or so ripe tomatoes and blanch them myself , slip off the skins and then cook it with the other veggiees until they becomes stewed tomatoes. But you could easily use 3 cqans of prepared stewed tomatoes

Now saute the  onions, carrots and several cloves of chopped garlic in some olive oil . Once the onions become translucent, start adding in the tomatoes, while adding,crush them up .season with salt and pepper.
I sometimes add 1 green pepper chopped at this point
Once all the ingredients are stewing , add the beans and if necessary some water/vegetable stock , so it is a good mixture of chunks and broth.
 add 2 cans of chili beans
Take about a cup of the beans and mash them up then add it into the pot. This will help the consistency of the broth.

When I season things I do not measure, but This is pretty close.

3Tbsp. chili powder
2Tbsp cumin
2tsp cayenne
salt
pepper

FYI chili is always better the next day, so make it a day in advance for best taste.
Garnish with cheese crackers, and cilantro

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Side Table Makeover

This is a side table I have been dying, literally DYING to fix up. It's old glazed style was soooo not fitting in with the new living room paint/makeover
Drumroll please....


A fresh coat of paint for both the table and the hardware make it sooo much cuter. The handles are now a lovely shade of oil rubbed bronze to tie in with my other furniture.

With a couple of cute accessories, this little table is ready for spring!

AWWWW

This sweet girl is Celia, a kitty we rescued a couple of months ago. She is such a ham while she is sleeping I had to post these pics

St. Augustine part 3

St. Augustine is home to Flagler College, a beautiful old building that was once built as a winter haven for the turn of the century upper class. All that excessive spending is obvious all around the campus.
It was one of the first hotels to have electricity in Florida.
This water fountain is also a sundial, and the main center portion is supposed to represent the Sword of Christ.
The interior of the lobby is awesome. It is carved with all types of  figures, the Four Cardinal Directions, The Four Elements, The Four Seasons...etc. As well as many important historical figures pertinent to the area.

St. Augustine part 2

St. Augustine was one of the nicest places I've visited in Florida. It had a great old historic vibe as well as some beautiful scenery and very sweet residents.
This panoramic view was taken from the top of the lighthouse. 
Definately worth the 17 flights of stairs!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

St. Augustine part 1

Last year we took a super fun trip to St. Augustine. We stayed here...
 This inn is very cute as well as having tons of delicious food and beverages available pretty much 24/7. Not to mention a couple of the rooms are supposed to be haunted!
As soon as we parked the car {on a cobblestone street !} this little cutie was there to meet us
We did quite a few touisty things including the Fort.
The crest of the fort and a beautiful old canon.

.
We also went to the St. Augustine lighthouse {also haunted!}
This is looking down from the top of all 17 fleights of iron curling stairs.
This was soooo dizzy in real life.
I will post more of our trip later.....

Vintage Jewelry

I have a serious thing for vintage jewelry. No matter if it comes from Goodwill or my granny's. I love it all. Here a few pieces I've collected .....




 I really need to figure out how to convert those old-scool clip o nearrings to regular ones.