Simple Spring Mantel

Come on Spring!  I think the extra-warm temps have me impatient for spring.  And of course, all the wonderful spring ideas, crafts, mantels, and tablescapes get me excited too.

When decorating the mantel, I start out simple.  And usually add to it and adjust over the course of a few days...or weeks.  Or until something else takes my attention totally away from it, then I call it finished!

 
My friend painted the "faith" canvas.  I've known her since she was a little girl and she's in college now.   I had no idea she was so talented and I was happy to purchase some of her art!   The vases have a story too.  I'll share that later in another post.

This little bird came from The Dollar Tree.  I brought him home last fall and planned to spray paint him.   But I think his color fits right in with the black lines on the painted canvas. 

Not sure if he's happier sitting on the crate or on the nest!

Happy Spring!

Kerry

I'm linking up today at:

 
 

Shabby College Key Holder

Another project for the college house was a key holder.   Of course, it needed to be cute and totally not embarassing to your friends.  So after a nice lunch, the Bassman went with me to Anthropologie to see if I could find something cute and not totally embarassing.   Lo and behold they had the perfect hooks!  And at $2.95 each, I actually could afford to pay for college and make a keyholder!  Here's the Bassman displaying them so I could get a picture to show the girls.

The wood is a cabinet or drawer front that came from the Habitat Restore.    I used paint that I already had since it wasn't going to take much to cover it.  The hooks didn't come with screws so after a trip to Lowes, we had antique finish screws to match the metal hook.  The Bassman helped out with the drill.

This project was done before I started my blog, so that means it was done without making a lot of pictures to show.  

I'm finding that the end result of my projects are "lightly distressed", but the girls are happy with it and that's what matters.  The college house decor has to be "cute", and I may not know what is cute and what is not...just sayin.  After sanding the edges and toning down the bright yellow, I sent it on it's way to Tuscaloosa.   The girls attached it to the wall with 3M command strips since it's not very heavy.

Here's the key holder in use. 

I like it when the college house projects are a success and now I'm linking up below!  

Have a great weekend!

Kerry

 

Happy Pi Day

Cheers to you math teachers like my sister and math lovers like the Bassman and my daughters.  Thank goodness my daughters love math.  And if they needed help they could call on their Dad or my sister.  Me, I'm not so much help in the math department, I tend to be IT Mom.  And if you've seen the Staples commercial where they can't find IT Mom, I can totally relate! 

Anyway, back to Pi day.  I know you were wondering so here it is just so you don't have to look it up  π = 3.14159.  

Cheers!

Since I'm not such a math person, maybe I'll celebrate with some pie that I can relate to. 

Cheers!

Kerry

Simple, Perfect Chili and not so chilly

It was 58 degrees outside, a perfect day to make some chili.  Well, ok, that's not real good chili weather but that's as chilly as it's gonna get for a while here in Bama.  So I best get on with making my selection for the Sweet As Pie Cooking Club.  Don't delay another day because tomorrow the temp is supposed to be back in the 70s!

I have a standard chili recipe that my family loves.  But I chose this one to try something different, not like chicken chili different, but just different.  Turns out PWs recipe is actually very similar to my standard as far as ingredients.    A friend of ours has won chili competitions out in Texas.  He will tell you that real chili doesn't have beans in it.  I will tell you that real chili does have beans in it cause that's the way it always has been, it just does.

Here's the beef...and garlic.  (Yeah, it looks green and nasty thanks to the fluorescent lighting...moving on)

...and the spices.  I usually don't measure the spices out into individual bowls.  Seems like a lot of extra dishes to wash.   But the recipe said to do it and I guess I wanted to be like the Pioneer Woman, so I did. 



I did have to add water a few times as it cooked.

It is simple.  It is perfect.  The Bassman liked it too.  I'll be adding more liquid, it was pretty dense.



Now, bring on the 70 degree days!  I'm ready!

I'm linking up with Sweet As Pie Cooking Club and Tasty Tuesdays at

Kerry

Spring Forward to New Life

Last summer I planted a few herbs in pots.  I used them as often as I could in the dishes that I made.  So flavorful, much better than dried.  Even looked for recipes to use the fresh greens...chives, oregano, cilantro, thyme and mint.  I moved them indoors into the sunroom for the winter trying to prolong their life.  I didn't have a clue if they would do well or not.  I'm not really much of a gardener much less an indoor gardener!   One warm sunny southern winter day, I put them back outside for a good watering and dose of sunshine, and forgot about them!  Oh no, frostbite!

But with spring comes new life.  And the oregano seems to have survived my treatment of it.



Oregano

 And mint is a survivor too.  When the Bassman mixes a mojito, all I have to do is go out and grab some fresh mint!



Mint

 There are a few lonely green leaves struggling on the thyme plant, not sure it will come back though.  There is always hope.




Thyme

  Just like these plants endure and survive the circumstances they are in, we can endure and survive our circumstances too.  All we need to do is look to Christ, the giver of new life! 


Kerry

Hospice Chili Challenge

Recently, I volunteered at our local Hospice Chili Challenge fund raiser.   I met some really nice people and ate some really good chili too!    While peeling about a ton of potatoes, I met the sister of my boss at my first job.  I won't say how long ago my first job has been!   I love chili, but I didn't prepare any for the competition.  So that freed me up to do lots of tasting.  After the tasting, I would be helping count the tickets to determine the People's Choice winner.   

See the Double Chocolate Chip Muffins I made?  They're way down at the end of this table of yumminess.


Bake Sale

After bidding on several things at the silent auction, I did win a nice tote bag and a haircut coupon.



Silent Auction

There were several old lockers painted by students.  This one raised over $300 in the auction. 



Lots of paintings, drawings, and photos from talented artists in the Fine Art section.

Fine Art Silent Auction

I thought this was neat.  It's a lion made of rope.  Supposedly, it was a craft made by seaman while at sea.

Lion craft

Then there's the chili.  There were all kinds of chili.  The chicken chili was wonderful.  There was also real estate chili, church chili, political chili, etc. etc.

This looks like Auburn chili, but it's actually rocket science chili.

Rocket science chili

...and the dental chili...I just had to ask if it was good for my teeth (ha ha)!



I did ask the politicians if their chili was political chili.  No pictures though, there are enough political pictures around these days.   Don't you think?

And the winners received a chili award.

Chili Trophy

A very successful fund raiser for a very worth cause.  


Kerry

End of the Internet

Today I found the end of the internet. 

I didn't even know there was an end.  It's true.  Google said it was, so it must be true.   And I also didn't realize there are other internets I can choose to look for.  It's true.

See? 

This cracked me up!  

As a sometimes frustrated-bloggie-newbie dealing with Blogger, I have also been afflicted with a non-computer related virus that is having its way with me this week.  This was just what I needed for a good laugh in my groggy state of mind! 

I guess you just had to be there.  

On this internet...

~Kerry~