Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

the treats are made and package, the gifts wrapped, and the Christmas music playing. the only thing missing is family. we have had to postpone our get-togethers..

why?

because of this....

we are having a blizzard.

this will be the most relaxing Christmas we have had.

no traveling

no hurrying to get to the next celebration

no eating too much.

nope we are staying home

just the three of us...ok four

if you count our dog.

oh,

one more thing.

please remember the real reason for this celebration.

the birth of our savior

Jesus Christ.

hope everyone stays safe but have a wonderful

Merry Christmas!!

a small town Christmas celebration

boy, seems like eons ago since my last post! i told you that i had a craft fair.

it was a week and a half ago.

in a small town just north of were we live.

it was a blast!

i love small towns and their celebrations. everyone comes and supports what ever is going on.

here are some pics of my table.

i have another one in a week.

so i am back to my studio...creating.

however i am having a hard time getting started. anyone else get creative blocks?

today, we had quite a snow storm...and by the looks of it, most of the central part of the good 'ole usa did.

the wind is going to pick up tonight to form some great drifts.

i hope everyone stays warm!

in between

...holiday open houses. i had one last weekend at the store my wares are at. i have another one next saturday. so i have been spending all my time here.

here are a few things that i have created for the open houses.

in the mean while...emma has to get glasses. these are the ones that she chose.
she should get them after thanksgiving.

she is a little excited.

any who...i will hopefully get to all of your blogs.

tonight.

i miss checking out every ones crafting creations.

tomorrow i am taking miss emma and a friend to disney on ice.

the princess stories.

should be fun.

have a wonderful weekend.

God bless

a thank you and a redone lamp shade

first of all, i want to say thank you to all those thoughts and prayers sent our way. it was a rough week. However, I thank God, that He gave my uncle strength in the form of family and friends. He told me at the funeral that God doesn't give us any more than we can handle. Just a deep faith.

This is the first time that i am joining kimba at a soft place to land for her diy tuesday.

i am a little nervous...hopefully i do this right.

i found this lamp shade last summer. at the time i didn't know where i was going to use it. but i loved the shape.

i started out by taking all the fabric and trim off. i then spray painted the frame with black paint...

i found a grain sack that i bought several months ago....

i love the texture and color of grain sacks...

anyway, i just cut the grain sack in half lengthwise and sewed the pieces together to make a long narrow piece. i wrapped the grain sack around the form and used clothes pins to hold it. then i took pins and started to pin pleats where ever there was a wire.

sew all the pleats....

i was going to cut off the top...the extra fabric. but when i started to stitch the cover on, i loved the way it fell over to form a little flounce. be sure to sew on some ribbons or such to tie the cover shut.

luckily for me, my hubby still had some overheard lighting that you plug in. just slipped my light shade on, and hang. i had some chandelier crystals that i hung from the bottom. i still plan on using some vintage millinery and lace to dress up the bottom.

thanks for coming and be sure to check out all the other diy projects.

God bless

alissa

i wasn't going to post this, but my uncle, and my cousins needs all the prayers they can get. he lost his wife earlier this week unexpectedly. she was only 53. we are all in shock. i will be gone the rest of the week to spend time with my family. God bless.

meet, jasmine the pumpkin

we got together with my parents monday to participate in the annual pumpkin carving nite. it started when emma was 3 years old.

we have a 3 year boxer, so when emma saw the stencil for a jack-o-lantern that looked like jasmine, of course that was the one she wanted. you can get it here, along with other dog breeds. i believe you have to sign up to join in order to get the stencils. it was pretty fun, but it took a bit longer to do. the scraping took some time to figure out the best way to do.

it is turning out to be a pretty wet day today. may be a good time to bake some bread.

english muffin bread.

the recipe will come later.

did i mention it is a easy recipe?

yep.

my kind.

hope this finds everyone well and healthy.

God bless

alissa

a little glimpse

a photo of God's handiwork that i saw this week. this is the sunrise we had yesterday.

i am linking up to studio JRU 'a glimpse'. be sure to pop on over to see what others have seen as a glimpse of God's splendor.

in the mood...

for Christmas! i know, i know...it isn't even halloween yet. but we have had two snow storms the last 2 weeks. there are some years we don't have snow for Christmas.

emma enjoyed playing outside for a few minutes. as you can see here...

that is her version of a Popsicle.

apparently she wasn't cold enough!

a few weeks ago, i was invited to a Christian womens dinner to show off my items and speak for a Little bit. it is in december, so i thought i would make some winter and Christmas items to show.

and since i was in the mood for Christmas, here is what i got done today...there are a few little bling items i would like to add later.

the picture is out of an old book that i had found at an antique store. the edges were burnt a little, but it didn't affect the pictures. the canvas is 16x20 inches.

i have an eight foot table to fill so i better get busy...i am trying not to procrastinate.

hope this finds everyone well

alissa

buckets of rain makes for yummy dishes

it has been pretty cold, rainy, and foggy today.

snow is going to start tonight.

3-5 inches.

we went for a motorcycle ride sunday.

it was 72.

anyway, i love to cook when it starts to get cool outside...just warms my heart to warm up my family with some of their favorites.

i have two favs to share tonight.

i am going to start with dessert.

and it is easy, peasy.

only 3 ingredients.

this was adapted from a camping recipe meant to be made in a dutch oven, over a campfire and covered in coals.

see.

isn't it cozy already?

ok

first take a stick off butter and grease the bottom and sides of a

8x8 pan.

next, take a 21 oz can of your favorite fruit pie filling.

here, i used apple because that was the request of our daughter.

however blueberry is the best...

sprinkle a small box of jiffy white cake mix over the fruit.

then cut the stick of butter and put on top of the cake mix.

bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.

let cool slightly before dishing.

then add ice cream..of course.

it is easy to double to make a 9x13. we use two different types of fruit pie filling...just put one on each half and use a regular size of white cake mix.

yummy!

the next is creamy white chili

this has become my family's favorite soup

1 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1 medium onion

1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 cans (15.5 oz each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth

2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup sour cream

1/2 heavy whipping cream

~in a large saucepan, saute the chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. add the beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. bring to a boil. reduce heat; simmer uncovered, for 30 minutes.

~remove from heat ; stir in sour cream and cream

~enjoy!

i hope this finds everyone warm and safe. this is part of Southern Hospitality's recipe party. be sure to check everyone's good stuff.

thank you to everyone for the well wishes. emma is doing much better. not sure what she had, some 24 hr. thing.

God bless

alissa

studio makeover

the procrastinator party is done! be sure to visit the inspired room to see all the finished projects

my studio is done....well, not really but close. i would like to put up another small cabinet that i found out in the garage, cover my boxes with wallpaper and sheet music, and i have some other small details to finish. but it is much more organized. you can click on any photo to make it bigger.

this lamp i made out of an old lamp shade that i found about a month ago. i will show you how i did it later.

these shelves are made out of original woodwork to the house plus some woodwork out of my first home. i love these! they add that architectural detail that i love.

i plan on painting the table top.....

sometime.

thank you for stopping by! i better get back to my daughter that developed a fever over night. yesterday she said that there were 7 kids gone from just her class of 19.

some confirmed cases of H1N1.

yuck

take care and please come again

alissa

sneek peeks of my progress

so, i am getting somewhere in my studio...though it isn't going as fast as i hoped. i am not a

patient person.

i am looking forward to having it done...i am in the mood to create.

it is supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow.

4-5 inches.

a little early here for that. hopefully it won't knock down the soybeans.

and because it is going to be nasty i think i will be baking lots.

maybe i will even have a recipe of two for you.

maybe.

until then hope everyone stays warm.

my studio redo

i really hate to show everyone these pictures, however i am joining the procrastinator's party at the inspired room. so i HAVE to show everyone what i am going to work on. if you are a very organized person, please advert your eyes.

here is my studio...

as you can see it is ...umm....a little messy. i am a little (a lot) embarrassed by this. you see this is the room everyone walks into as soon as they come in the door. it is our back porch (nobody uses the front door).

so as a part of becoming more organized and have a simpler life...aka not as much to clean and put away, i thought this party would be a great way to get in gear.
i am going to purge, hopefully there will be quite a bit that i can get rid of, then i am going to organized the rest. i do want it to be inspiring, not just organized. my big plan is to do this.....without spending money. we are on a very tight budget, so unfortunately we don't have cash to spend on pretties.

this is the color scheme i plan to use. tarnished silver, ironstone, burlap, and sepia tones. thankfully i have loads of paint from old projects and plenty on goodwill finds that i can use to pretty it up. it is hard to see but the wall paint is a soft moss color, so i think that it will work with some of the natural details that i want to use.


the project has to be done in two weeks. i will be showing you little peeks of what i have been doing.
make sure you go check what everyone will be doing. i am sure that there will be some great projects.

hello? is anyone out there??

boy, i can't believe that it has been almost a month since my last post. life just got in the way. thankful nothing too serious, except letting my dog in after being outside for a mere 10 minutes. she was acting weird. then we smelled why.

yep.

a skunk got her. that lead to opening all the windows, turning on all the fans, about half a can of lysol, and leaving the house for the whole day.

so anyways, i hope to get back to the swing of things, 'cause i have a lot to share. hope everyone is doing well and i will check on all of ya later.

God bless and have a great weekend
Alissa

some thrifty finds

welcome everyone! i am joining thrifty mondays at southern hospitality. you can pop over there and see what everyone has found for a wonderful low price.

around here there aren't too many flea markets, but during labor day weekend there has always been a pretty large one about an hour away. i was really looking forward to going but was a little disappointed. the numbers of vendors were down...about half. i did find a few things but had better luck at goodwill and my favorite thrift store.

i found some more additions to my milk glass collection. about 50 cents each. i love using these for candles. they are my 'fireplace' since i don't have one. i will have to show you later what they look like when lit.

at goodwill i found these! for $3 each! and they are huge...about 3 feet. i was so excited...i know they are not everyone's taste, but that is ok. i think i will be painting them black and hanging them by our pantry. mr. farmer is so excited...*wink* here is some more inspiration for these extra large utensils here. dessert must have been on my mind saturday! found two sets of sherbert cups, milk glass and those dark green ones. we are going to be adding shelving to our pantry this fall and wanted old mason jars to fill up. found all 12 for $30. the frame i found is for a project that i will show you later.

and finally this cute vintage plates.
thanks for visiting and hope you can come again!
God bless and have a wonderful labor day.

May the Lord bless his land

with precious dew from heaven above.

Deuteronomy 33:13

feathering my nest---fall style

happy fall y'all!

it's fall nesting week at the inspired room. if you haven't visited melissa, i suggest you pop over there. but i warn you. you maybe visiting her for quite a while. i look forward to seeing what everyone else has done for the harvest season.

i love fall, so it is probably the season i decorate for the most. i wanted to share with you my dining room. i had forgotten about the harvest banner that i made last fall...so that was the first thing up. the painting is one that i had found at a flea market and snatched it up as fast as i could. i love the haying season. maybe it is because i am married to a farmer. maybe it is because it smells so good. but i loved the barn, the colors, the scene of the whole family helping on the farm. plus it was $3.00. i added some of my dried hydrangeas, some found feathers and some wheat.

in this corner, i put some sunflowers in a nail keg that i have had for years.

i found this wooden dough bowl at at antique store for $2.50, then added some decorative acorns that i found at target last year. the antler was a shed that mr. farmer found in his pasture a few years back.....i claimed it as my own. to decorate with. i don't think he is real pleased!

so here is the whole room. thanks for stopping by!