Illuminations..

Some of my favorite craft items are luminairies, either solar jars, or some type of garland lights.  Soo, after finding this great idea on Pinterest, and after planning yet another party at our house for this Saturday, I finally got all the necessary items and got to work.  Here is the original idea..

Found here..

Loved that idea.

Soo, I grabbed my box of 200 Dixie Cups,

an older book for the pages,

and cut out a template

using a cup that was cut

open and had the bottom cut off..

Wrapped my book page around each cup..

Cut a cross hatch opening on each one

using a serrated knife,

which really was easy peasy..

 Grabbed my string of white lights from

Hobby Lobby's wedding section..

  Poked each light through the bottom of the cups..

Strung them and hung them on the porch..

Turned out pretty well..  : )..

Can't wait for the party..

It's going to be a Shish-ka-bahbq..

We are having shish-ka-bobs with lamb,

pork, beef and chicken, with mixed veggies,

roasted veggies, and several other healthy

food items..

I'm joining DebbieDoo's Newbie Party
again this week.  Great host, great site,
great participants!  : )..

Kitchen Art Inspiration..

Soo, while I was *ahem* working at the group home last weekend, I ran across this crafty little idea on Pinterest.

I found it here..

I'm more of a dark color fan, soo, I got some

silverware..

 Not sure if it's true or not, but I saw

something on Pinterest that said to wipe

metal objects down with vinegar before

painting them to keep the paint from peeling,

but I thought I would give it a try.

Lol.  No one would say that on Pinterest

unless it's true, right?

I wasn't taking any chances.  Lol.

I wiped them down with vinegar.

 Found a box that my husband was nice

enough to leave laying around

and started spraying my silverware.

 Flat black spray paint, found out

it's best to wear rubber gloves when

working with this..  Thankfully, my

husband also has some heavy duty

hand cleaner!  : )..

 Flipped them after one side dried and

sprayed them again.  Let them dry,

pulled them out..

Found a little wooden tray / frame

that was laying around here,

added a little burlap, added

some little thumb tacks to hold

the creation on, and then

added my newly blackened

silverware.

Voila!  Easy peasy!

Love the look of the dark

colors.  Still have a lotta

burlap left, they had it on sale

at Joann's this week,

so (sorry Bliss!), I'll have

a lotta burlap creations to come!

Joining up with DebbieDoo's

Newbie party this week!

Great host!  Great blog!

Great ideas!  Great newbies!

: )..

Just a little somethin, somethin.. : )..

Soo, after making my little To Do list, I realized why I practiced on that.  Lol.  I gathered up my craft supplies that have been patiently waiting for me to figure out what they were going to make, and came up with something pretty neat.  : )..  Here is my little somethin, somethin for DebbieDoo's Newbie Party this week.

That was an old picture that I printed out..

Rub on transfer words..

And voila. A quick, easy deal.
All in all?  A little project for less than $4.

Can't beat that.  : )..

That being said, I am linking up to DebbieDoo's Newbie Party

again this week.  She has some great ideas and some really

great Newbies on her website!

Sunny Side Up..

I've always been drawn to the celestial sun/moon/stars combo.  I even have a tattoo on my ankle to prove it (ouch!).  : )..  I love some of the celestial items I have found online, but, eh, I always see the same old things.  Soo, I started to doodle and sketch some instead.  I love to free hand draw my suns and moons and stars, and got pretty quick and efficient at it.  Even did a few doodles at work, while waiting for alarms to call on.  Anyway, I wanted to sit down and make a little set.  This is what I came up with this morning.

I'm not quite sure why I went with a silver star, but,

eh, again, something a little different.

Here's a shot of a star I drew on my chalkboard picture frame at work..

It was a little fuzzy on the side though.  I was

teasing one of my former co-workers.

He and another Training Assistant used

to "tap out" and leave the one who was caught unaware

 to listen whenever our supervisor started

long lectures.  He quit abruptly, sooo, I crowned

him the Tap Out Champ..  Lol.

I miss those days, as well as Brandon and Kita..   : )..

Still, it's a pretty neat little frame.  I found it on

the clearance aisle at Target once.  Think I didn't

grab it quick?  Pshh.  In a heartbeat!

Here's a picture of my tattoo as well.

Lol, sorry, if I was more of a contortionist,

I would have been able to get a better shot of it.

That will have to do for now.  : )..

I'm joining up with Debbie Doo's Newbie Party again..

She's got some great things on her website and

she's got some talented Newbies that join in!

Click here for the link!

The latest craze that is sweeping the nation.. Lol..

It's called, "Brooming".  It's a freak of nature, caused by the earth's gravitational pull and will only work through today, Tuesday, March 6th.  I've saw several friends posting it on their facebook pages but I was skeptical.  Until I actually tried it.  Pretty cool.  I had to work with the bristles on our broom, but by gosh, it worked!  Until the puppy sniffed it and knocked it over, and by puppy, I mean this one, Fergus Ozborn Macdougall, the newest addition to our family.  And took off like a bolt of lightning!  Whoosh!  It's pretty crazy if you ask me.  You've got to try it before the phenomenon ends.  : )..  Good luck and have fun.  Here it is.  "Brooming".

I am linking up with DebbieDoo's Newbie Party to spread the fun!

It's awesome.  You have to try it while it lasts!

: )..

I also had to cheat and post a friend's picture because mine was too big to upload.

Here my friend's picture again.

 

Just a little fun for the day..

 Always loved the song, woke up in time to catch the

movie with Sandra Bullock and Tatum O'Neal..

Very apropos that I had already whipped up my

Love Potions last night..

Here is a couple that must not need Love Potions..

Ahh.  Young Love.  : )..

Wishing you all the same...

Linking up to DebbieDoo's Newbie Party..

Check out her great talent and talented newbies that gather!

Click Here for her link..

Aha! Finally..

Soo, I saw this great party light idea on Pinterest (yes, I'm addicted and need a Pintervention, lol) that I have been wanting to do for a while.  Little by little, I squirreled away my supplies.  A few little bottles here, a few little bottles there, some floral tape from my Christmas White Elephant Gift Card that dh stole back from someone who stole it from me during their turn (ha! Bring back up to your White Elephant game!  : )..  Hehehe..) and a string of white Christmas lights that I have had for..  Umm..  Quite a while. 

Click Here for the link to my idea..  (Apparently, they do not wish for us to see their site unless we are invited, however, I believe someone so nicely included a picture of their project on Pinterest.  Sorry website blogger, I will request a view and hope that you might forgive me for perpetuating your idea, but it was too great to pass up.  If that is a blogging faux pas, I beg forgiveness from my fellow bloggers.  And besides..  If you look at the link, it said "We all need these".  I totally agree!)

Here is a shot of their strand..

 I love party lights.

I love little shot bottles..

Ergo, I love little shot bottle party lights!

 Here are some of my empty bottles,

no, lol, I didn't drink all of those..

I don't need that kind of an intervention..

: )..  Really.  I know.. I'm a wineaux.  Lol.

Stuck a light in each one individually..

Wrapped each with floral tape..

Turned the lights on..

And turned the lights off..

Some things I learned..

Use brighter lights..

Clear bottles..

And get a longer string

and more bottles.  : )..

Other than that..

I'm pretty happy with how

this project turned out..

I am linking up with DebbieDoo's Newbie Party..

She's got great ideas and some awesome

Newbies on her website!

I also linked up with Cindy Adkin's linky

party at Whimsical Musings.

Thanks for hosting Cindy!

Mediteranean Popcorn.. : )..

I've been trying to eat healthier foods, including snacks.  I have been snacking on yogurt with fruit, apple slices with peanut butter, almonds and a few other assorted odds and ends.  Now, I found this delicious idea from our Tyco Health Matters website.  It's a pretty tasty little snack, and a lot more healthy than the regular version of microwave popcorn.  Here it is..

 One pack of fat free butter popcorn..

 1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan Cheese..

1 1/2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning..

 Put the popcorn in a bowl, drizzle with

EVOO, then Parmesan Cheese

and then the Italian Seasoning.

Toss to blend well.

You can store it in a sealable

plastic bag.  It says to eat it

within two days.

It's a pretty good treat...

 I was enjoying it while sitting outside

on our deck, it feels a lot warmer than

that looks.  The pups were playing,

until Milo realized I was snacking on

popcorn.  He even liked it, although

he didn't get much.  He liked it

better than he did this lime.  : )..

He wants to know what in the heck that is!

He said..  Ughh!  Blech!

Aha.  I think I have found our new

chew stopper.  Limes.

Sooo much tastier than bitter cherry

spray!  Ick.  That stuff is terrible on

burgers.  It gets everywhere!

Poor puppy.  Although he did lick it

twice.  : )..

I'm linking up to Debbie Doo's Newbie

party again.  Ya'll should check out her

website!  She has a lot of great newbies

and she's got a lot of neat ideas as well!

This is me today! : )..

Soo.  After our Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner Winery Winner Wine Tasting and Pairing Party in October (which was awesome), I have been looking forward to the Level 6 Missouri Winery Passport Journal winery dinner for four at a location of our choice.

We had the tasting and pairing party at Belvoir Winery in Liberty, MO.

Our dinner is going to be at Fence Stile Winery in Excelsior Springs, MO.

They have delicious wines and after looking at the dinner menu choices,
I really think that this is going to be my favorite reward from the Wine Association!

The dinner will be catered from Ventana Cafe & Coffee House.

Click here to view their menu..  : )..

William and Shriti from Fence Stile suggested some great choices, including buffalo chicken soup.  Ohh yeah.  That sounds sooo good.  I'm really looking forward to the main course as well.  I'm trying to decide between the New Orleans pasta, which has spaghetti, lemon pepper chicken, roasted red peppers, red onions, crushed red pepper, cajun spice with lemon twist and is served with garlic toast or the Tuscany Pasta, which has sundried tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, feta, olive oil and garlic.  They both sound great!

Anyway, after going to Fence Stile today and enjoying the wine, weather (almost 60 degrees) and a picnic, I've been feeling a little "winey".  The wineries had magnets and t-shirts with funny quotes, such as "Screw the cracker, Polly wants wine!".  My favorite though?  I found a t-shirt at Stone Haus that only had one word, but it was my favorite none the less.  It inspired me to create my latest submission for Debbie Doo's Newbie Party.  Please check out her website, you won't be sorry!  There are some great crafters who have joined, especially this one!  .  Without further ado, here it is..

 I have had these marble tiles from Lowe's for a while..

 I bought these crafty little stickers with my White Elephant WalMart Gift Card a while ago..  : )..

 So I stuck the letters on my tile and painted over them..

 Let it dry and then peeled the letters off..

Wineaux.  Lol.  That's me in a nutshell.  : )..

I love the wineries here in Kansas City.

Ladoga in Smithville..  Seriously?  Forward all my mail there, I am home!

Fence Stile in Excelsior?  Friday nights spent sipping wine while watching movies outside around their fire pit?  Count me in!

Belvoir in Liberty, MO?  Ghosts can't scare me away from their Sorelle Dolci!  Ha!

Wineaux.

Lol.
It doesn't get better than that!

My project.. Still a work in progress..

Soo.  I really love these Pottery Barn inspired rocks

that I found here..

I looked for some river rocks but kept finding small ones for a huge price..  Hmm.

Then, one day on Pinterest, I saw this great looking necklace..

 It was made with salt dough..

Looked easy enough, and I

had all of the ingredients on hand..

Soo, I made these

using the steps found here..

 I choose red, black and white because I love those colors together

and they were the best ones out of all the colors I tried..

 Soo, I made a little jar of hearts..

I thought, eh, it was alright, but..

It could be better..

Lightbuulb!

(I luv, luv, luv "Despicable Me")

 I had plenty salt dough left over

from my other project..

I kept it stored in an air tight container

until today when I made my own "river rocks"

And painted them..

Now I just need to make some chalkboard paint..

I think these will do for now..

Best yet?  I didn't have to buy anything for

this project.  I had every thing on hand.  Yay!

Now that's a project that I can work with!

: )..

I'm linking up with Debbie Doo's Newbie Party

again.  : )..  I love her website and she is such

a great host for us newbies!

Click here for her link.

Cheating on Chipotle.. : )..

I love Chipotle but don't get by there very often.  A couple of my co-workers were craving it last week.  Lol.  One of the reasons I don't go there much, my mother in law made a supper that tasted even better.  All you need are the following items:

Zataran's Dirty Rice..

(my secret, lol, if you spend

too much time on the 'puter

you can nuke this for 20

minutes and no one will

ever know.  Ha!)

 Browned and drained hamburger..

 Some black bean and corn salsa

(recipe to follow)..

 Some sour cream..

 A little shredded cheese..

 Wrapped in warm tortillas..

It's super easy and just as delicious, especially

with the black bean and corn salsa.

Here are the details for that:

Add one can of black beans, drained just a little..

Add one can of corn, drained..

Add one can of Rotel, undrained..

Chop some cilantro, we usually put quite a bit in..

Chop some onions..

Add a palmful of salt..

Squeeze one lime over the mixture..

(Rachel Ray says to warm your lime for 10 seconds in the microwave..)

Add a little bit of chili powder..

Stir it up and enjoy!  : )..

This is probably my absolute favorite salsa..

My dh makes it allll the time.  Yummy!

I'm linking up to Debbie Doo's Newbie Party again,

check her website out, especially if you are a newbie!

She's got some great things on there!