Catching Up

My husband had meetings in Grapevine, Texas so I decided to take off and go with him.  His meetings were held in the most beautiful setting, The Gaylord Texan which is a sister hotel to the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennesee.  I didn't need to leave the hotel for it has most everything you could want.....boutiques, resturants (that's all I need).  I didn't have my camera or plan to take pictures so all I had was my phone camera.  This is the atrium.  This picture doesn't do the atrium justice.  It is gorgeous.  It has one wall that looks like the Alamo and several typical vintage-like Texas oilwells.  The theme at this time was trains so there were miniature train sets all over the atrium.  When my daughter was there in the fall the theme was Alice in Wonderland.  How fun for children who visit! 

The atrium was also filled with freshly planted hot pink geraniums.  I can't wait to plant spring flowers.  If it wasn't for all the traffic in the Dallas area I could be a happy Texan :)

I was hoping to attend church with my mother Sunday so I wanted to fix her a little surprise to take along.  I printed out this scripture and put it in a frame (added a big bow)

 .

I found a site on Pinterest that has free printable scriptures. 

I also stitched her a couple of kitchen towels.

I didn't get to surprise her by showing up at church but I plan to visit her this week. 

Hope your week is off to a great start!

XOXO,

Karen

Our Little Butterfly

I've been out of touch this week.  I have been under the weather all week but not enough to go to the doctor.  I was hoping I could kick this sinus/cold on my own and I think I have :)  I'm much better tonight.

Our Sloan is turning 1 and we have her party tomorrow.  My job was her birthday shirt.....{no pressure of course}  I always procrastinate when I'm afraid to tackle something. 

This is her birthday party invitation...my job was to come up with a shirt to match. 

I started with the birthday number and pennants from "Hang To Dry".  I then added a butterfly from "Joyful Stitches", my favorite little flower from "Embroidery-Boutique and topped it off with her name in Fantini Swoop from "8 Claws and a Paw".

My daughter said it looks just like the invitation!  Yah!  Mission accomplished.

Then I saw these cute yard signs that I wanted to try.  Next time they will be better...the first run is a learning experience.  I cut 6 circles on my Cricut...8.5" and 8".  Added lettering using my software and a font that I downloaded.  I ran to Lowes for dowel rods that would hold my circles.

Final touch....ribbons, fabric, rickrack....anything I wanted to use.  It has a "shabby chic" feel to it. 

I can't wait to see Sloaney tomorrow on her big day!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Little Girl!

XOXO,

Bella

Red Valentine Treats & Blue Dog

A little friend of mine is having a Mickey Mouse birthday party today.  I found a free Mickey svg file and cut it with my Cricut.  I used it to decorate this pail for her to store her "stuff".

Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Peyton!

Valentine shirt for another little friend of mine.  I made one of these earlier this week and forgot to take a picture of it before delivering it.

I think the hearts make the design....cute!

I made more soap.  This time I used a silicone mold that has hearts, flowers, roses and butterflies on it.  I am able to make 4 hearts at one time.

The soap dries in about 30 minutes and then you are able to pop it out of the mold and make more.  I melt about 5 ounces of glycerin to make the 4 hearts.  It's easy and fun to make.

{A birthday gift from my daughter and son-in-law} 

 It's not a George Rodrigue but I bet you were fooled :)  When I taught French, I would teach my high school classes about our Louisiana native artist, George Rodrigue and his Blue Dog paintings.  We would learn about the inspiration for Blue Dog and the Cajun influence on Rodrigue's paintings.  After learning all about it each student would draw and color his own Blue Dog.  Several times I took my French Club to the Blue Dog Cafe in Lafayette and we would go to museum exhibits to see Blue Dog paintings.  I guess you could say I love Blue Dog. 

After many requests, my son-in-law painted me my very own Blue Dog.  Yes, he is talented and can paint just about anything.  This is suppose to be my Chihuahua, Yogi with Blue Dog....funny.

I love love it! 

If you would like to see more of Blue Dog, check this site out and take the virtual tour of his New Orleans Art Gallery.

http://www.georgerodrigue.com/rodrigue/prints.htm

Girly Pails

Most of you have probably seen the pretty pail on Pinterest that is so simple, pink and girly.  It inspired me to get out some of my pails and add a vinyl monogram.  I wanted a script that was very feminine and I did not have one in my svg library of designs.  I thought why couldn't I use my embroidery fonts?  So I tried it and it worked.  I set up my monogram in my embroidery software called Embird.  I saved it as a jpg file (which is the type file pictures require).  After I saved it on my computer I opened my Cricut software called SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot).  I used the command "trace image".  I browsed and located the monogram that I had saved.  When I hit the trace image the mongram showed up on my Cricut software screen.  Then I hit the "cut" command.  And voila there it was.....my girly monogram.  So that means I can cut any fonts that I have in my embroidery library.  It was easy peasy!  If you have those 2 software programs you can do it, too!

This week is off to a great start....haircut & trip to the gym!

Have a wonderful Tuesday,

Karen

The Winner Is.......

Thanks to everyone who entered the Monogrammed Towels Give-Away!  It is nice to meet some of you and get to know a little bit about you.  I hope to have another give away very soon. And the winner is......Pages From The Heart!  I put the 5 names in a basket and had my husband draw the winning name.  Pages From The Heart please email me and let me know what thread color you would like for your towels and also the initial (s) you would like.  You may have 3 which could be yours alone or a combination of yous and your husband or just a single initial. The choices are yours. Also, I will need your address. Thanks again everyone.  Enjoy the rest of the Super Bowl and have a wonderful week!

XOXO

Karen

Super Bowl Sunday

After church I came home and finished these Valentine treats for my grand baby's day care class.  I've got to get them delivered.  Since they don't live here sometimes that can take some planning.

Anyway they are finished....all 25 of them.  Since there are 3 Graysons in his class I had to be sure they knew which Grayson they are from.

Of course it was a Pinterest idea but I did design my own circles and print them out.  I also, cut a larger red circle on my Cricut.

There have been lots of potato recipes on Pinterest lately and I LOVE potatoes fixed any way.  I have several pinned on my food board.  I've noticed when something is really good people put "crack" in front of the recipe name.  I take it that means something is so good it can be addictive :)

So instead of trying a new potato recipe I pulled out my mom's recipe and I'm going to call it Gram's( that is what she is lovingly called by her 8 grand kids and 9 great-grands) Crack Potatoes.  Yes, they are delicious and I want to share the recipe with you.

Gram's Crack Potatoes

2 lbs frozen hash browns

8 oz cheddar cheese

1 stick butter

1 can cream of chicken soup ( I use Cream of mushroom)

1 c. diced onions

16 oz sour cream

2 c. crushed corn flakes ( I use Ritz Crackers)

Mix all ingredients together.  Place in a 9x13 cooking dish. Top with crackers, drizzle with butter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

A Saturday + Rain + no obligations = a day of baking, sewing and trying some new projects!

Start with this

Press these into the tops of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven

And this is what you get.....{peanut butter cookies with chocolate hearts}

 Delicious and Easy

Sloan is almost 1 and I wanted to make her a few things for her 1st Birthday

Pink & Green

My favorite color combination right now. 

I was inspired by the newest towels at Pottery Barn for Kids (but knew I could beat the prices making them myself). 

We have a very special baby being born in March to a teacher at my school.  I wanted to be sure I got his things finished before the shower.

I made his mommy a pretty notebook to keep track of all those things busy moms have to do.  Also, a soft lovey with his name....Rylan.

 Burp cloth

Another burp cloth and little boy boxers

 Hooded towel

I use the tutorial..... Here

{Look to the left under popular posts}

Tomorrow I will draw for the Personalized Towel Set.  To enter please go to the post on Sunday January 29.

Have a cozy, rainy Saturday afternoon!

Karen

Another Oval Monogram for Sloan

Yes I like this design so much that I did another for Sloan

This time a pink and aqua combination

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week.  Tomorrow is Thursday already.  I am going to visit my kids and grandbabies after work. 

 {That makes for a wonderful Thursday for me.}

XOXO,

Karen