Baked Apples

I made this recipe last night for dessert…
so simple and so yummy!

Take as many apples as you have people…
we only had three last night, so three it was,
and give em’ a good wash!

You’ll need brown sugar, butter, ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks.
(cinnamon sticks are optional)

Put 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar in each apple.

Cut up 1 Tablespoon of butter for each apple and put inside,  along with a cinnamon stick…

You’ll have a pan that looks like this…..

Now generously sprinkle the apples with cinnamon (forgot to take a picture of that..sorry) and bake at 350 degrees, until the apples
are fork tender…

Spoon pan juices over apples when serving…
also tastes amazing with
a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Now ENJOY!

Have a great day!

Missy

Partially core the apples…
don’t go all the way through,
leave a well…about half way down.

The Bold and the Beautiful…. Be NICE! :)

I am so excited to be part of a very unique blog hop. Gail @My Repurposed Life and MeganDVD @ Beauty in the Attempt are hosting “The Bold and the Beautiful-your blog reviewed”.

Please take a look around my blog, check out the layout, pages, buttons,  sidebar and gadgets. I would love for you to gently critique my blog. I’m hoping you will leave me some positive feedback about my blog. It would be great if you could give me constructive criticism but be sure to tell me what you like about my blog too! Do you like my pictures? Does my blog load quickly for you? How about the font?  Is there something else you’d like to see that I’m not currently doing? All tips and tidbits welcome!

You are welcome to join the party, it starts Thursday night and is open for a week.

Hugs
Missy

A New Find & Etching Glass

On one of my recent trips to our local Peddler’s Mall, I found these….

A set of four ice cream/sherbet glasses with our Monogram etched on it….

Aren’t they cute!

I got the set for $4.00!
I didn’t think a dollar each was too bad for personalized
ice cream glasses!

I love the bottom!
I’m sure there’s a name for it,
but it look like little beads to me.

So you wanna come for ice cream?

Did you know you can etch your own glass?
Craft stores have glass etching compound and it’s really easy to use!

Just tape on a stencil, brush on the compound (wear gloves, it’s seriously toxic!)..let the compound sit and wash it off and remove the stencil!

It’s that simple!

There’s a great tutorial on it
over at Create Studio,
you can see it here!

Have you guys found any treasures lately, or have you ever used etching cream?

Hope you have a GREAT day!

Hugs!

Missy

Thrifty Décor Chick Feature!

Fun news!

While Sarah, from Thrifty Décor Chick, is off to Blissdom, she is featuring bloggers on her infamous blog! (as seen on the NATE BERKUS show!)  I was very honored to be one of the bloggers chosen! (yay!)

Here’s a screen shot I did while I was on the
front of the blog.
(did this so I could have it, but thought I’d share)

If you guys would like to go see the whole thing  just click on the link!

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2011/01/showing-off-my-cottage-charm.html

Hope all you gals are having fun at Blissdom, I’m hoping to go next year and join in the fun!

Oh, and Treasures and Trinket Thursday is
still going on…..so click here to link up
something you love or are doing in your home!

Hugs!
Missy

Scrapbook Organization Made Easy! Treasures and Trinket Thursday!

Howdy my bloggy friends!
I hope you’re having a lovely week!
I have had, what I believe to be, the flu,
so my week has been less than wonderful!(achoo!..bless me! )

Oh well! It’s time for our Treasures and Trinkets Thursday Linky Party
and I’m linking up some wonderful little
Organizational Treasures!
Link up something you love, or something you’ve organized!

(and if it’s not too much trouble, could you link back to this post..thanks, I knew you would..you all are just special like that!)

How many of you have TONS of these tiny little scrapbooking/card-making pieces laying around?

I have LOADS of them, and they were
EVERYWHERE!

I found this little box of containers marked down at Walmart.

(It says $14.00, but I think I got them for $11.00….
not too bad for 30!)
They’re Martha Stewart wedding favor boxes…
but I had other ideas for them!

I picked up several packs of these heavy duty magnets
while I was in there…they have adhesive backs.

Aren’t these the cutest little containers..and they’re metal!
So sweet!

I put two of the magnets on the back of each container….some of my embellishments are heavy, so I wanted extra strength!

Then I started sorting and boxing! 

I put all the items in these that I use the most!

For the items I don’t use quite as often, 
I found this little contraption at
Tuesday Mornings!

Do these little compartments remind you of anything?

Yep, you could do this with the little medicine dispensers sold in the pharmacy department!

I went ahead and got this because it was marked down to $7.00 and it has the little book they go in.  It also has extra storage on the other side.  But hey, if you don’t care about that, you could probably find these little pill storage boxes at the
Dollar Tree or Dollar Store
and have storage galore for your little items! (or it would be great for earrings too for traveling or home!….so many possibilities!)

I also straightened up my craft ribbons, tags, and all my other
scrapbooking goodies in this office storage box…





MUCH NEATER!
(if you’d like to make a wrapping station for your gift wrapping ribbon go here,
the ribbon I use in this box is strictly
for card-making)

Here’s a look at everything all nice and neat!

I just stuck the little metal boxes on the front of my metal
file cabinet in my scrapbooking area and they work like a charm!

AND, I still had tons left for future uses!
( I used some for spices in my kitchen!)
Handy, handy!

Well that’s it for today!
Hope you have a  great week!
Hugs!

Missy

Valentines Mantel…oooo la la

Happy Valentines Day!
Oh wait, it’s not Valentines Day..heck, it’s not even February! lol

Oh well, I don’t care…I’m the girl
that decorates for Christmas  BEFORE Thanksgiving!
(yep, there I said it, I do!)
So decorating for Valentines Day in January
really shouldn’t shock anyone!

:0)

I thought I’d show you what I’ve been up to, and how I decorated my mantel for V day~!

I started off with two Johnson brothers floral plates.
I swear I know the name of the pattern, but for the life of me I can’t think of it.  Don’t you just hate that!
  :-/  

Anyway, I paired the plates with a big ironstone white platter…
cause I LOVE white ironstone!

I used my cricut expression to cut out the
”BE MINE” in vinyl.

(have I mentioned how much I my cricut…umm…. yeah, probably about a thousand times!)

The red heart I put the vinyl on is just the top of a candy box I got from the Dollar Tree. ( I used the base in another vignette I’ll show you later)

On the ends of the mantel I put my cloches
that my mom made for me.
(you can learn how to make them here)

 

I put little boxes from the Dollar Tree under the cloches and also some red & white Christmas ornaments I got marked 75% off.
(they’re nestled in some Valentine tissue paper,
just make sure you turn them so you don’t see the hangers)

See the pretty candle holder/hurricane?

It’s made from a vase and a candle holder from the
Dollar Tree just epoxied together.

I put another smaller cylindrical vase down inside
of the first vase so I would have a thin wall of space between the two.  (thanks to Kim from Sand & Sisal
for helping me brain storm that idea )
I put redhots in that void…
it took  a LOT less redhots that way!
There are flameless candles down inside the hurricanes,
very pretty all lit up at night!

I used this shredded gift bag filler all around
the mantel to hide all the plate holders and
the plain mantel. 

I REALLY wanted to put a big white, fluffy boa on the mantel instead of the shredded paper stuff,
but couldn’t find one without
driving a ways…..so this worked AND it was free, I already had it!

Frugality is a good thing!

See how the filler covers everything up!

Works like a charm!

Here’s a few more pics for your viewing pleasure!

 

Did you notice that I have items of different heights and levels?
It’s easier on your eyes and gives them  a place to rest before
moving on to another area.

You’ll also notice I have things grouped
in threes.
Everything looks better in odd number
groups…i.e. 3 or 5.
(and at different levels in those groups)

Well, that’s it for my Valentines Mantel.
Stay tuned for another Valentine vignette.

I’m linking up this post with
Friday's Unfolded @ Stuff and Nonsense
Beth’s Mantel Party
from The Stories of A2Z.

Have a BLESSED day Hugs!
Missy

19 years ago today….

It was 19 years ago today, that I gave birth to one of the most amazing people I know!

Meet my beautiful son…Lincoln.

He has the biggest heart of anyone I know, he really does.
His little life started out rough….he had a stroke while I was pregnant with him.
(he had some seizures when he was
born and they had to give him an IV for meds….
broke my heart)

Lincoln stopped having seizures and was off meds by the time he was 2 months old. Yay! 

(God had a plan)

Growing up, Lincoln always had a skip in his step… we thought it
was just the way he walked, until his Kindergarten teacher said
her son had the same little skip.  He’d had a stroke too and she
knew the step well. 

We ended up taking him to Shriners and discovered, that he had cerebral palsy in one leg.
He did therapy, wore braces and
NOW, he is brace free and only has a
little lift that he wears in his shoe.

(God had a plan)

When Lincoln was 9 years old, he was
surprised to learn that he was going to have a baby
brother.

(He already had a big brother, so this made him the
middle child) No “Middle Child Syndrome” for Lincoln, his heart has always been in the right place.

(God had a plan)

Lincoln grew up on us….

and through all those years we discovered other
affects the stroke had on him..
he’s had to struggle with several
issues…ADHD, (the passive kind..he’s very laid back), the cerebral palsy, memory issues etc,
and later in high school the return of seizures…

(BUT GOD HAD A PLAN!)

Lincoln has overcome, or has worked through,
everything that has been thrown at him with a sweet spirit and a gentle heart…
he’s a trooper.

Today is his 19th birthday,
we are grateful to God for him.

He’s attending community college online
because he hasn’t been able to get his license yet, due to the seizures.
He’s also attending KY School of Ministry
to become a pastor,

because GOD HAD A PLAN!

No matter what circumstances you may be
going through….
just keep your chin up,

because God has a plan for all our lives
and what we go through may very
well just be shaping us into what God wants
us to be.

We never wanted to see Lincoln go through
everything he has, but God brought him
out of it all with a sweet and gentle nature.

He will have a testimony like no other
and can use it to further the Kingdom of God
when others see what God has brought him through.

So happy birthday son, we love you more
than you’ll ever know…
We are SO proud of you!

His daddy made him this video
for graduation…but it still seems to fit.
Some of my long time followers have probably
already seen it, so you can skip over it,…
but I think I’ll watch it one more time.

(make sure your speakers are on!)

have a great day!
Hugs

Missy

Pretty in Pink Pantry! Treasures & Trinkets

Today is Treasures and Trinkets Linky Party!
Link up something you love!
I’ll be linking up to Beneath My Heart’s
Organizing your Heart and Home Party. 
so pop on over there and link up your organized pantry or
Kitchen area and come back here and
link up something as well!
Let’s have some fun!

I’d like to introduce you to my nice, neat and pink Pantry, but first I have to show you the before pics! 

I live in KY and I have to tell you I LOVE my KY Wildcats basketball, but I don’t want the UK blue color in my pantry…

LIKE THIS….!!

I think the people that lived here before us,
were going for a Mediterranean look,
but it’s just not me.

Here are a couple of before pics of my pantry,
just to give you an idea of what it looked like
before all my hard work!

What a mess!

To start my pantry, I removed everything from it.
(boy, did that create a disaster!)

I also went through and removed all
the expired items…
it’s a wonder I haven’t killed my family
with expired food!
OH MY!
(I threw away, about 10 cans of food…
this is the good stuff here!)

 

After removing everything, I was left with this….

Yuck!

OK, ya’ll see that hole up there in my pantry?
Well whoever built this house, thought it would be a great idea to put the main water shut off valve
??INSIDE the pantry! ???
Anyway, I had this gaping hole there,
and to top it off, it wasn’t even cut out
wide enough to get your hand on the handle to turn the water off,
So, here’s what I did.

I cut the hole out a little bigger to be able
to get to the handle,
then decided to build a door to
cover the opening…

I measured it out and found I needed an
8x10 door..
I had an epiphany!!

I figured if I needed an 8 x 10 door, why not
just use a picture frame that was that size!
I love it when my brain actually works!

Here’s the only 8 x 10 frame I could find around here,
and it fit perfectly!

(I know it’s a little fancy for a pantry,
but it was free!)

I couldn’t leave it that color,
so I put my favorite 9 year old in the world to helping me!
See the blur of his hand..that boy is workin’!

I’ll show you how I finished that off here in a second,
but next I primed all the shelves…..

The inside of the pantry……

and all the brackets….

After all the priming was done, I painted it
all out in Colonial Cream…the same paint I painted
my entire kitchen with.
(if you’d like to see how I did my kitchen,
go here, here, here and here)

I wanted something different in the back of the pantry,
so I chose the wallpaper I did my kitchen in..
it’s called Victorian Charm…a soothing, romantic
pink and cream toile…

I just measured the length of the back of my pantry, wet my paper and then booked it.
Booking is when you accordion fold your paper
so the glue sides are together and then you let it
sit for about 5 minutes to further activate the glue.
It looks like this….

 

Then I just hung the paper,
making sure it was straight in the corners.
I cut off the excess on the top and bottom
like this….

I repeated that process with my second piece,
making sure to match the pattern with the first piece.
EASY PEASY and OH so Pretty!

After the shelves dried,
I bought some of this stuff in a creamy color.

I just rolled it out and cut it to fit!
AH, clean and bright!

Now to show you my little door, i.e. picture frame!

It went from this…..

To this…

I just put the piece of plexi-glass back in the frame,
cut out the pattern of the paper to match what was around it and put on a hinge!
Walla…a door!

Access to the water cut off,
but pretty to boot!

Now to install those shelves!

Tell me that doesn’t look better!!

It was SO pretty, I didn’t want to put food back in it!
But I did…sigh.

I put my food back in “like” groups…
i.e. pasta with pasta sauces..

Then all my boxed items went together in one spot..
mostly rice and potatoes….
Can you tell we like our carbs around here?!

I did add these cute little jars from the Dollar General
to this shelf, to hold my potatoes, rice and pasta!
(thanks Traci for the heads up on these jars,
I LOVE them!!)

All soups and beans went together…

and then all my veggies! I did it like a grocery store,
they’re all lined up in rows, labels facing out.

I also re-did the over the door hanger
on the pantry door…

I added some cute tags I made and some
chalkboard tags I cut from Chalkboard vinyl.
(a GREAT invention!)

Cute huh?!
LOVE that chalkboard vinyl!

Here’s a pic of my Pink Pantry AFTER…..

 

The milk crates in the bottom, hold my tupperware.
SO, much cleaner and brighter than before!

One last time…just for kicks!

Before….

And AFTER…

I’ll be linking up my pantry makeover
to Traci @ Beneath My Heart
Don’t forget to go visit her and
then link up your favorite things here
and your organized pantry there.
Also linking up to:
Domestically Speaking's Organizational Party
POPP Party
Show off your stuff party
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
Thrifty Decor Chick's before and after party

Hugs

Missy