Give Away Day

This give away is to celebrate my 75th Post!
I can't believe the fun I have had and the friends that I have made. I want to thank all of you and give you a big warm hug for all the kind comments, the encouragement, and awesome ideas that we have all shared.

What you get.... 2 sweet, fat, little ceramic birds.... 2 matching tea towels.... a coordinating flower pot.... and a Decorating book from Better Homes and Gardens "Style by Nature"

Click on any of the pictures to see bigger details....

What it's gonna cost you... a comment... on this post...
I will announce the winner one week from today.

I always look forward to hearing from you!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies

OHHH! I MUST HAVE COFFEE FIRST!

Friday night was girlfriends night at our church. We had dinner and movie. Italian food and Return to Me! Mini Driver and David Decovney. Love this movie....I think I need to add it to my side bar... any way... I digress! Back to the point... I was supposed to decorate a table and take a dessert. I also had to go straight from work. Well, as I usually do... I ran out of time. I had to get up a 4:00am and bake a dessert. These cookies are my fool proof, fall back on, can't mess up, everyone loves cookies. So I thought that I would share it with you.

oooooo....more coffee, please!

Prepare ingredients as directed on back of mix package.

Shape in to even sized balls and bake in a mini muffin tin. ( ungreased )
Just until they are barely golden brown.

While they are baking unwrap 24 of the peanut butter cups. While the cookies are warm and gooey in the tin, push the peanut butter cups into the cookies. Remove from tin before they are completely cool.

Sorry! I didn't take a picture in the pretty little serving dish that I took them in. They were a hit though. So simple and everyone loves them!
I hope you enjoy them too!

I Didn't Forget...

No I didn't forget! I know I promised a give away to celebrate my 75th post last week. I still wanted to get two or three more items. You'll just have to stay tuned. In the mean time... Here's a teaser.

The New Faucets are Here! The New Faucets Are Here!

Before

Oh, my! Those couldn't possibly be the same hardware that was installed when the house was built in 1991?! What are you talking about? I DID clean them before I took the picture!

After

What a big difference! My hubs worked off and on this week and got all three installed! He's the best! I love them! AND him too!
EEEEWWWWW! AAAHHHH! Pretty....shiney....

My All Time Favorite Decorating Books and A Blank Slate

In so many ways I am just like the rest of you ladies. As much as I love my Christmas decor, once it's down.... I am so over it! : ) The best thing as I'm sure you all agree is the sense of freshness and clean that you get when you look at the blank table tops and empty hutches. It really gives us a chance to look at the space with new eyes.

I am not a decorator and certainly not all that creative. However, I am able, just like you, to draw inspiration from favorite decorating books. These are my "go to" books. I look at them at least 2 or 3 times a year.
So, with the dining room table polished and a fresh cup of coffee poured ... I set about one of my biggest struggles. A centerpiece. A vignette, if you will. : )
The criteria: No money spent, and it must incorporate a few of my pretties.

This is the oldest Mary Engelbreit book that I have. Home Companion. I think it came out in the early 90's. I can look at this book over and over and still see new and inspiring things to create.

Remember when everyone was doing sunflowers! : ) This is still cute to me.

Classic blue and white...You know I love that!

This is the most current decorating book from Mary Engelbreit. It came out in 2004 and it is actually her home in St. Louis Mo. I go through these pages and drool! : )

This Kitchen would inspire anyone! I love the cream and brown.

Wouldn't you love to sit here with a cup of coffee and the paper?!

This is her actual kitchen. Can you imagine?! It is so cute!

This is the final product. Next ... the hutch!

So with that little project finished, I have the pleasure of announcing that this is my 75th post!

I can't believe it. Of course I have a give away planned! Stay tuned.

It's Time For A Book Review!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

By Lisa See

Tomorrow night is Lit N Latte and I finished my book just in time.
I have to say that this is the first book in a long time that I absolutely loved!
I always rate books or stories on their ability to suck me in and take me to another place and time. This story does both! I found myself picking the book up to read it, even if I could only do a page or two.
The story is about love, life and female friendship in the early to mid 1800's in China. It takes the reader to a far away time and depicts the hardship of life for women in an exotic and, at times, horrific way. The author takes us on a journey through the entire life of a woman. It begins with her despised birth into a family, because a girl born into a Chinese family is considered a worthless branch on a tree. The story continues through footbinding, the contracting of an arranged marriage, years of education into submission, her wedding to a man she has never met, child birth, the servant hood that she must endure in her husbands family and hope of finding some worth as a Mother of a son or sons. The only respite is the arranged lifelong friendships that she is allowed to have.
The story is full of enchantment and the kind of friendship we rarely experience in todays world. It is also a story of regret and forgiveness.

I hope you read this story and enjoy it as much as I did!

Have a great week!

There's Another Woman In Our House....

She has a better figure than me and she's rather petite. She also prefers to be naked...(shocking!!) I gave her a collar, just because she should show a little modesty. I also think that she is a little shallow. I mean I can see right through her. I can tell... she'll be no help around here at all. She thinks its okay to just stand around and look pretty.

I think I'll let her stay.... She is starting to grow on me... : )

A Hefty Candy Canister

This was about a five minute project... I bought a glass canister at Walmart ...
about $12.

It was just glass with a black top... So I added some ribbon to the top and an ornament.

And then some ribbon strategically to cover up the seal inside the top rim.

It was so cute at Christmas that I've decided to keep it out year round...

What the H? It's A Craft Day!

I love Crafting.

I love Mod Podge!

The day before my beautiful daughter went back to school to finish her last semester, (sigh...) we decided we would have a craft day. Just the two of us. Fun right? She had to work on some little scrap book pages for her sorority sisters. But I didn't have anything in mind. We walked through JoAnn's. This is always a dangerous thing for me to do, especially with no plan, list or directive.
I have always wanted a big letter and I have been meaning to get to doing one of these. I have seen them on so many of your blogs. All of them so cute! Yet another reason why we love blogging!

So I painted the back and side gold, then tore random pieces of coordinating paper and glued them on. Covered the whole thing in 5 coats of Mod Podge. Glued on two buttons to the side..... just cuz!

And Viola!

I hung it in my office. I'm pretty pleased, I must say!

ARRRUUGGHH! What A Mess!

Pretty?

Oh Well! What goes up must come down. This is what I'm doing today.
It is a beautiful day here in Phoenix and I'm wishing this job was done.

EEEEEEE! Naked tree!

Am I the last in the blogisphere to take down Christmas?

Happy Weekend Everyone!