Thanksgiving Rustic Place Card Holders

Let's talk RUSTIC place card holders for the big Thanksgiving meal.  

Martha Stewart offers this rustic place card.  

Do It Yourself Duo offeres this Pinecone place holder.

If you are handy with a saw, you could do this one from Sarah Drake.

The Joy of DIY offers this one -

All of these would be easy and inexpensive to make.

November 3rd - National Sandwich Day

Today is National Sandwich Day.  I know all about sandwiches.  I fix two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every single day for D's school lunch.  He loves sandwiches.  

Both of my boys love Subway sandwiches.

Can't argue with that!  

I tend to lean toward bologna sandwiches.

Sometimes, I even add cheese!! (And always, always with Duke's mayonnaise!)

Left Over Halloween Candy

Isn't this cute?  I found several of these legs used for place cards.  

Looks like it would be easy to do and I know the boys will love it! 

Matter of fact, I could go ahead and make them for Thanksgiving.  It will be here before we can turn around! 

All these pictures came from Pinterest  - I love Pinterest!!

Happy Halloween

Pinterest #4 - Mason Jars - Mixed reviews

Seems that mason jar are the trendy thing to store things in today.  

7 Layer Salad - An Accomplished Woman website

I thought this looked so pretty and practical.  All of us take our lunch every day.  That's four lunches going out the door every day.  So anything I can make ahead is a plus.  Some days, it's a pack of crackers!

When I saw this idea, I decided to give it a try.  I must say that I LOVED it!  I could just eat it out of the jar or empty it on a plate.  My husband did not care of it at all!  He did not like using the jar, or eating out of the jar, or bringing the jar back home, etc...  Did I mention he was not a happy camper?  The boys did not care for it either.  So, I will use this for me but no one else.  

Now, what's my next one?

Pinterestly yours,

Pinterest #3 - DIY Natural Room Scents - Success

I had pinned a natural room deodorizer and thought this would be a good day to try it out.  D had cooked eggs this morning and let's just say I spent a good part of the day with the doors open and the attic fan on to clear out the smoke!  *grins*  That's OK, how else is he going to learn how to cook?!

Anyway, I had pinned this:

Oranges, cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves mixed together...such wonderful smells.  

Monica has listed other combinations as well.  It's a good thing!  

In fact, it is so good that it was featured in the April 2013 edition of Woman's Day magazine.

I put it in my small crockpot and left the lid off.  

I turned the crockpot on high and just checked to make sure there was enough water in the crockpot.  

And, I am including this sweet picture of Maxie just because she is always with me.  She follows me from room to room.  Pure love!  Plus, she was ever so kind as to pose for me!

I hope you will give this a try!

Southern Snow

 

You can take the boys out of Russia, but you can't take the snow love out of the boys!

Apparently, in the South, one does not need coats, gloves, hats, etc... to build a beast of a snowman!

 

Pinterest #2 - Door Jammer - Success

At night, my husband likes to prop open the bedroom door so the kitty cats can come and go at will.  If he doesn't, they will scratch at the door until someone gets up and lets them in - spoiled kitty cats!!

So, I went on Pinterest and combined several ideas into one and came up with this. 

I took pony tail holders and crocheted directly on the band.  I cast on 10 stitches.

 

Then, I hdc to the appropriate length.  I think I crocheted 9 rows.

 

Works like a charm!  The door jammer keeps the door open without propping something in the doorway (like a basket that I almost tripped over!)

This was quick and easy - 10 minutes at the most from start to finish!  

It would also be handy for a baby's room.

So, success for Pinterest Project #2.

Monday Menu on a Tuesday!

Here it is already Tuesday and I have not posted my menu for the week.  I know some women LOVE to cook, but I am not one of those.  I like to cook but I can think of others things I would rather be doing - like reading a good book or crafting.  Nonetheless these people I live with think that I should cook since I am the mama.  I have to remind myself of that from time to time!

Monday - turkey, gravy, rice, broccoli, and brownies.  This was a big hit - not a drop left over.  I think I had this on last week's menu but I substituted something else.

Tuesday - Spanish rice with beef.  I know I should have cooked a vegetable but I had a really bad headache and this is a complete meal (at least that was my reasoning since it had canned tomatoes in it along with meat and rice.  Isn't that a complete meal?!)

Wednesday - cabbage and polish sausage.  I think I had this on the menu for last week as well but I think I cooked spaghetti instead.  I need to use the cabbage this week.

Thursday - chicken strips, green beans, garlic mashed potatoes

Friday - egg salad sandwiches, chips. (I have a dozen of eggs that I need to use.)  I will need to pick up some bread.  Hmm, maybe I will have Dennis pick some up on his way home from work.

Saturday - we usually eat out after Mass on Saturday nights.  I'm OK with that!

Pinterest Project – Fail

I have decided that I need to start doing something every week that I have pinned in Pinterest.  This week, I decided to organize my yarn.  Here you see a picture of a beautiful way to not only organize your yarn but to be very pleasing to the eye.  I thought, “I can do this!  I have everything I need!”

For My Love of Yarn website

So, Thursday morning, I emptied the shoe organizer and made way for the yarn.  I spent hours going through yarn, sorting, carefully putting colors and/or weights together.  It was so fun.  And, when I finished, it looked just as nice as the picture above!  I was so proud.  Then, it happened…

Enter sweet, innocent-looking  Oscar!

Yep, you are right.  This cat went crazy on me.  He waited until I turned my back and stole a skein of yarn, ran to the living room, and proceeded to have his way with it!  Poor yarn.  I rescued the yarn, told him no, and put the yarn back.   Problem solved!  I am feeling pretty proud of myself by now.  I went to the kitchen, came back out to the living room, and he had yet another skein of yarn!!  We went through that whole process about four times until I had the bright idea to close my closet door!  (I am a little slow!) 

Thinking that solved the problem, I got up this morning, took my bath, and got dressed for work.  Yep!  You are right!  Right there, on the rug, was Oscar again with a skein of yarn!  I give up!  While this is a lovely way to store yarn, it does not work in a household with cats!!  So, back into the storage tub the yarn will go! 

Purrs,

Susan

Monday Menu

For the past several weeks, I have been cleaning out my pantry and freezer so I can restock.  I have thrown away way too many things that have expired - not just from a few months but from YEARS ago.  Some I opened and threw out since it was not good.  Saturday, I went to the grocery store and spent way too much money.  With two teenagers in the house, my grocery bill is getting higher and higher.  My goodness those boys can eat and eat and eat - well, you get the picture.

This is my menu for this week:

Monday - oven baked BBQ chicken leg quarters, dressing, gravy, and green beans

Tuesday - home-made vegetable soup, crackers.  The cold weather is coming back and I need something warm.  Plus, I am working until 6:00 PM with teacher/parent conferences.  I need something that the family can feed themselves.  Otherwise, their daddy will go through fast food.

Wednesday - I am torn here.  I could have cabbage with polish sausage, and mashed potatoes OR I could have spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread.  Either meal would be a winner at my house.  I guess I will decide come Wednesday afternoon.  Regardless, it will be one of the two.

Thursday - chicken fillet sandwiches, chips

Friday - eating out to celebrate Nikolai's birthday.  

Saturday - this will be left-over day OR I might fix nachos (again, depends on my mood and if we have any leftovers.)

Come join us anytime!

Susan