~veterans day momentos~

Each Veteran's Day I like to recognize the veterans

I personally know. Whether that be by mailing them

a card, calling them or writing something

on my family blog about them and their service. 

My husband's Grandpa proudly served in

the U.S. Navy during WWII. It's been nearly

a year since he died and I wanted to be sure 

to acknowledge his service even though he's not

with us anymore. It disappoints me

that the stores really don't have much to 

offer for those wanting to acknowledge 

the importance of this day. I suppose

Christmas is much more profitable 

for the retailers. Even in the greeting

card section I could only find 4 different cards

for Veteran's Day (I bought 3 of them).

For Grandpa I decided to make a personalized

ornament to hang at his headstone.

 

Remember all those Christmas bulb ornaments I got 

last year? They came in handy again. I'm finding there

is a ton to do with these ornaments. I'm going to stock

up on a bunch of them again this Christmas.

I printed up a picture of him as a young, handsome naval dude

and put it inside the bulb with some

star shaped confetti. I then decorated the bulb

with some Americana stickers and ribbon.

Finally, I attached it to a wooden dowel.

Grandma was happy to go with me and it brought

tears to my eyes to hear her talk to Grandpa

and tell him she was proud of him for 

his service as she placed the flag at the base of

his headstone. Before the tears could

leave the corners of my eyes though she had

me laughing with the next sentence.....

"I hope it's not too hot down there."

Wherever you may be Grandpa....:)

thank you for your service.

Happy Veteran's Day. 

DON'T WAIT FOR VETERAN'S DAY TO THANK

OUR VETERANS.  They are veterans everyday....

not just one day a year.

The sacrifice of a veteran and his/her family is 

so great.  And don't assume the sacrifice

ends when their tour does. Most of the wounds of

war aren't visible, physical wounds. Many veterans are 

"emotionally serving" their whole lives. 

The emotional trauma of war can effect

the quality of life for the veteran

and for the family as well.

If you've ever loved a person who's been

to war you know this firsthand. 

If you don't, consider yourself informed now.

They deserve respect and recognition.....

give it to them.

  HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY.

~ kids shirt transformation~

There were a few shirts I loved on my little

guy when he was a baby that I couldn't bear to

throw away. I kept them 

because I wanted to put them on my little girl too.

I figured if I paired them with

a skirt or something girly that it wouldn't 

look so obvious that it was a boys.

Well-I tried that and it still looked like a boys shirt.

I decided I needed to do something different

to "girlify" the shirt a little.

Here was the shirt before:

And here is the shirt after:

I just added a pink bow to the head.

Use whatever color ribbon you want and make

the bow the size you need.

Pin it on the shirt and sew the bow on either side

of the center where it ties:

The bow is secure and although the bow is small,

I think it gives it just the feminine touch it needed 

without taking away from the 

simple cuteness of the shirt.

Maybe I'll add a little tutu made out of tulle too!

Oooh....that would be cute.

Will let you know how that turns out.

~decorating with jars~

My holiday decorations differ each year.

Same stuff but I never arrange and display them

the same two years in a row.

I don't do it on purpose.

In fact, if you want to know the real truth

it's not because I'm creative....it's 

because I can't remember how I did it 

the year prior. I really need to start

taking pics of the stuff because there have 

been years that

I've been quite proud of myself.

I have a lot of jars.

I can veggies in the summer/fall and 

my husband cans smoked fish (the best you've ever had)

in the winter. We always have jars stashed away

in the hutch. Often times I end up using the jars

for my holiday decorating. 

Here's my latest with the jars:

I stuffed them with a little bit of fall foliage

and plastic pumpkins,

turned them upside down and 

tied some raffia around them. 

Simple and understated yet still festive.

You should see what I do with them at Christmas....

maybe you will if I can remember :)

~two-faced~

I love fall decorations.

I've said that before right?

Let me show you a trick I've been doing for

years with my pumpkins out on the front porch.

With the SAME pumpkins, I transform my porch

from this:

(nothing spectacular I know...I wasn't feeling it this year)

To this:

SAME PUMPKINS....just turned around and embelished a little.

If you are to get up close and look at the backside

you would see this:

Hey....I've got to get my money's worth.

Talk about getting your bang for your buck.

In years past the pumpkins have actually lasted 

until Thanksgiving without wilting and caving in.

I just turn them around and put some fall

foliage that I bought at the dollar store in and around them.

If you haven't already thrown out your jack-o-lanterns

TRY IT!

~self-binding comforter~

I don't know about you guys, but to me,

there's nothing like a blanket made especially

for you by someone who loves you.

Wrapping up in a handmade blanket is 

equivalent to that person wrapping their arms

around you, protecting you and loving you.

When my little guy was born (5 years ago) he 

got so many beautiful blankets. From bassinet to 

crib to toddler bed; I had sizes and shapes for each stage....

handmade from loved ones and given to me at

my baby showers.

(I remember each and every one of them :) )

It was only natural that when he moved out of

his toddler bed and into his "big boy" bed that I

wanted him to have a comforter made just for him.

About a year prior to this, my husband came home

with some adorable fabric with John Deere tractors

arranged to look as if it was camouflage

disclaimer: my hubs doesn't go to the fabric store...

he found it for $1/yard at our FAVORITE secret

treasure store and couldn't pass it up. He got 

like 5 or 6 yards of it.

 

I knew immediately once I set my mind on making

the comforter that this was the material I wanted to use.

I wanted something very easy and simple.

I have made a lot of the self-binding baby blankets and

I thought, "Why couldn't I make the same style, just bigger?"

So....I did.

Do you know how easy this was?

I used a queen size sheet for the binding/back fabric.

The most difficult part of this project was finding a place large

enough to lay it out and pin it....

and bending over to do it (I was very pregnant 

when I made this last year).

I just laid out the sheet then placed the quilt batting

down on top of the sheet. Next I laid the flannel camo

fabric down and pinned it all around.

I don't have a link for a self binding tutorial but I'm

sure there are a ton swirling thru

the blogosphere. If you can't find one

and you're interested in making one of these let me know

and I'll try and get some instructions to you.

The trickiest part is the corners.

You basically have to do it the opposite

way you think it should be done. 

For the pillow case I just took some of the fabric

and ironed on a chubby monogrammed "E".

I gave it to him for Christmas LAST YEAR.....

YES-it has taken me this long to blog about it.

He loves it.

And I love finding him wrapped in it

all warm and snuggly :)
Some nights when I tuck him in he
smiles and says, 
"Momma-you made this blanket for me because
you love me don't you?"

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

"Yes E...as a matter of fact, I do love you."

Total cost for this was under $20.

~mummy juice box~

My neighbor brought this Halloween treat over

for my little guy today:

How adorable is this?

A juice boxed dressed up like a mummy. 

What a great idea!

She wrapped white electrical tape around the juice

box and attached some googly eyes.

Looks like she re-attached the straw with a glue gun after

she wrapped it.

Most importantly....she left an opening for the straw:

I think this is such a good alternative to candy.

 My little guy isn't complaining either......

 I hope all you spooks have a

SAFE AND FUN HALLOWEEN!

~baked chicken chimi's~

Since the final episode of Project Runway isn't 

online yet this morning let's talk about a favorite topic of mine....

FOOD!

Don't you find one of the trickiest parts of dinner

is trying to come up with something different?

Most women I talk to feel like they make the same

things over and over. I do it too.

The fall season is like my cooking New Year.

The colder weather always brings with it a desire to

cook more and to cook different things.

It's like an awakening for my kitchen since I 

HATE cooking in the summer when it is hot.

A couple years ago I got this recipe from a friend 

for baked chicken chimichangas.

DEEE-LISH-US!

I dug the recipe out of it's hiding place after finding

that my friend had forgotten/lost the original recipe herself. 

Since she needs the recipe again too, I thought I 

would just share it on here so everyone

can partake in the goodness of this dish.

 This is most of the ingredients you will need for the actual chimis....

pretend there is shredded cheese in this picture.

-tortillas

(these are the BEST kind you can buy in the store)

-olive oil

-shredded chicken (I used 3 breasts)

-cream cheese

-taco seasoning

 -cilantro (optional)

-onions (optional)

-shredded cheese

First off you want to shred your chicken.

Now combine the cream cheese with the chicken....

use whatever it takes to make the consistency you want.

I used about 6 oz.

Add your taco seasoning (a packet) and 

remaining ingredients that you want in the 

chicken filling mixture.

Next you're going to put a hefty spoonful onto 

your tortilla and roll it up with the ends tucked in.

After you get it rolled place it on a baking sheet

and brush some olive oil on it.
This makes about 6 chimis.

Place them in oven after they are all rolled and oiled down.

350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Now here's the REALLY good part.....the sauce!

I didn't take a picture of the ingredients but here's the list:

-1 can cream of chicken soup (10.5 oz)

-1 can green chilis (4 oz)

-1 jalapeno seeded and chopped

-1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice (about half a lime)

-cilantro (optional)

Put all the above ingredients in your food processor or blender

and liquefy. Transfer to a saucepan and heat up while your

chimis are baking in the oven.

It should resemble something like this.

Take your chimis out of the oven once they are slightly golden

and a little crustified. If you cook them too long they

puff up and explode. 

Garnish the chimi with some of this sauce and

whatever else you like.......

 Serve with Spanish rice and you've got yourself a 

delicious chimichanga platter without all the deep fried greasiness.

My 4 year old will even eat this!

I was thinking last night as I was cooking this....

you know you're getting old when instead of swapping

bar stories and cocktail recipes you are sharing

dinner recipes and reality T.V. schedules. 

Whatever recipes and stories you are sharing.....

ENJOY!

Linking up with Positively Splendid.