Sunday Morning Homemade Donuts

This family loves some donuts, we can put the hurt on a dozen without blinking an eye! Making them at home just makes sense, it could not be easier, a can (or two) of biscuits, powdered sugar, cinnamon, sugar, really whatever your preference is. Simply flatten out the biscuits, find something to create the hole, an plop those babies in hot oil for about 6 seconds...I mean really...yummo!

Blessings~Vanessa

                               I find it much easier to have all my holes cut out and ready before frying

                                                These have been given a powdered sugar glaze

                                                                Chocolate glaze :)

                                                    Only a few chocolate donut holes left...

Cute, Easy, and Inexpensive Gifts

I am always looking for gifts that are from the heart and thoughtful, as well as useful and fun. I think these little coasters re a hom run, pefect for grandparents. A trip to Lowes for the tiles( at .17 cents each) and little felt pads for the bottom( 4.00 for the pack) a bottle of Gloss Mod Podge, a glue stick, and any photos you like.

 Simply cut your photo to size, use glue stick to secure photo to tile, and add a coat of Mod Podge. Allow to dry completely, I used multiple coats. Your tiles may have an uneven edge from the manufacturer, no problem. Just give a coat of craft paint in the color of your choice. Glue the felt pads onto the four corners( so it wont scratch furniture). Now, stack together and wrap with a pretty ribbon. Easy peasy :)

Blessings~Vanessa

Busting out Chrismtas!

Hello all, hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. I am now officially sick of the leftovers! I'm thinking a huge platter of enchiladas for today, anyway, now that we have recovered from our Black Friday excursion, time to get down to business, bringing out all the decor, wrapping the gifts, and making fun Christmas foods for the kids (yeah, for the kids) :)! Here are a few of  my decorations so far.

 If you remember my HARVEST blocks, these are the same blocks, just the back side. I love that I can use these for months in a row. After the holidays, BLESSED will take center mantle :)

 Glitter ornaments that are super easy to make. Just a plastic ornament, spray adhesive, and glitter! I love all things sparkly!

More plastic ornaments, rub on decals, and ribbon. Cute and easy!

Blessings~Vanessa

Carrington`s 3rd Birthday!

 I can not believe that my baby, is turning 3! She is literally the baby of four and my oldest will be 18 soon, but I can still remember bringing her home like it was yesterday :( . Anywho...we had a little family party, a Minnie Mouse party at that, she certainly enjoyed it.

Blessings~Vanessa

Kids Craft

I hosted a play date for my moms group, and now that we are in full swing of holiday season, I thought turkeys would be a fun and easy craft for the little ones. I purchased styrofoam balls from Hobby Lobby, feathers, google eyes, large craft sticks, and used brown spray paint.  First I took each of the styrofoam balls and flattened one side, by pressing on the table to make a flat surface so our little turkeys would stand. Next, spray paint brown, I then cut the craft sticks in half, and stuck in the ball (this is the turkeys head). Glued eyes onto stick and stuck feathers in. You now have a cut little turkey, this would be a fun and not messy craft for kids to do while the Thanksgiving dinner is being prepared :)

Blessings~Vanessa

Stick to your tummy soup!

We are having our first litte taste of the cooler weather that is to come here in OK. So, in honor of cold weather, I thought yummy, cheesy, potato soup would be good for the soul :). It`s pretty darn simple and just sticks to ya` belly.
8 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 can chedder cheese soup
1 stalk of celery chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup ham( diced) or bacon
1 can chicken broth
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. flour
salt and pepper
shredded cheddar for topping
Place potatoes in large pot with water, bring to a boil. Once boiling, add chicken stock, boil about 7-8 min. then reduce heat and over for 10 min. or until just fork tender. Add all other ingredients except for the flour and reserve 2 Tbsp. of milk, and let simmer on low for about 30 min. Now add reserved milk and flour together before you add to large pot. I chose to serve in bread bowls ( from my bakery) sprinkled with extra cheddar on top...yummo :)

Blessings~Vanessa

Furniture redo

So, a few weeks ago I decided to take the old entertainment center out of the game room and re purpose it. I do not have a before pic but, you know the one, oak with a glass door and two shelves for components. yeah so, I removed the door, and painted the rest of the unit white, to match Hahhah`s room. It now sits in my daughters room and looks great( pics to come). And this is what happened to the door...first I white washed it, gave it a bit of sanding, and then added a picture hanger to the back...love changing things in my home for free!

Blessings~Vanessa

Halloween Fun

Hope everyone had a ghoulishly great Halloween! We had excellent weather here, low 70`s for trick or treating, very nice. Im pretty sure that we all woke up this morning with a candy hangover...too many Reeses in this house is not good for my backside either :)   I think I am going to ty and come up with a recipe for all this chocolate, I know I have heard of a candybar cheesecake...that just may be my answer.

Blessings~Vanessa

Painted Signs

Here is a sign that I made yesterday, for a spot in my kitchen. It was totally free!! I used pieces from an old headboard. Love me some up-cycling :)

Blessings~Vanessa

2 ingredient pumpkin muffins

Seriously...all I need is two ingredients, I thought to myself. How good can they be? Well, I tried them tonight, and they are soopa scrumptious! This could not be any easier, a box of white cake mix, and a 16 oz. can of pumpkin, thats it folks! Mix and bake for about 15 min-20 min on 375 or until nice and golden. I did however decide to add a little powdered sugar glaze while they were still warm but, you could totally skip that part. Just a hint of pumpkin taste, yummo.

Blessings~Vanessa

Fall

So, as I started thinking of fall decor a lil while back, I have a few more pics to post. :) This is my mantle thus far. Still need a  few pumpkins and rick rack :). I know the EAT is not a Fall decoration but, I did finish this this weekend too.

Blessings~Vanessa                                                                                                                 

Honey...I'm home!

It has been quite some time since I have been on here, I have had a very busy and time consuming schedule, haven't we all :). Anyway, I'm happy to get back to blogging!

Its here...the beginning of the holiday season. With Halloween right around the corner, I have bags of candy filling my pumpkin baskets, ready to carve Jack o' lanterns, and getting the kids into costumes ;) I absolutely love this time of year, not hot, not cold, just right and the colors outside are awesome. I'm making and burning my granny's kitchen candles, have started going through all my pumpkin recipes and thinking about homemade Christmas gifts!! I have lots of fun crafts to share with you all and some super yummy treats, posting up very soon!

Blessings~Vanessa

Thinking about Fall

Ok, so as much as i am and oh so Summer gal, I am ready to throw the towel in on this one...too many 100 degree days make Vanessa a cranky girl! :) I have embrassed the fact that Fall is just around the corner and soon enough it will be time to make and burn yummy scented candles yay! Not to mention all the fun football party foods, double yay! ;)) So, since I am thinking about this, I thought I would do a little Fall project. Tea light candle holders. Start with a 4x4 post cut into what ever size you like, mine were 5 inch cuts. Then use a drill bit to cut out a 1 1/2 inch circle ( size of a tealight) then I painted them an antique white a little sanding then glaze. I found the letters at Hobby Lobby, just stickers that I applied with a litle ModPodge. From the photo it is a little hard to see the distressing but very cute and is going to be a nice look with my fall leaves and pumpkin garland. Also, I plan on adding the letters for BLESSED to the back side so I can use this year round :).  I have three more that I am going to add BOO on them...oh the possibilities.

Blessings~Vanessa

A Different Ceaser Salad

Tonight we had grilled chicken Ceaser Salad sandwiches...Yummooo!! I mean really whats not to love here,  I bought a Sourdough loaf at my local bakery, grilled up some tenders with all my favorite spices ( garlic salt, Old Bay Seasong, salt, pepper, seasoning salt) mixed a ceaser salad together, sliced the bread into two halves, butter and garlic salt on there then into the oven at 400 for 15 min. when it came out of the oven, I scooped all my salad mix on and made a huge sandwich which I cut into slices. We, are all stuffed :))

Blessings~Vanessa

Wall art redo

I had this picture on a side wall between my kitchen and formal dining room. It doesn`t really go with my decor now but, I didn`t want to part with it, knowing I would do something with it some day.I decided to turn it into a picture/ memory keepe for my daughter Hannah`s room. I simply used about half a yard of fabric( from my fabric stash) stapled it on, hot glued the ribbon in a cross pattern, and there it is. Cute, functional, no money! :)

Blessings~Vanessa

Meet the crew!

Since I will no doubt be talking alot about my children and hubby, thought I would share a brief bio on everyone.

My husband is Caleb, he is in the financial service industry. We have been married for four years and have a daughter, Carrington together, A.K.A. CareBear.
I have three older kidos from a previous marriage, two daughters and a son. My oldest daughter, Jordan, is now 17 and a senior this year. She is very passionate about the Theater Arts, Musical Theater, and is a self taught guitarist and piano player.
My son Michael, is 15 and a sophmore in High School. His interests are sports and especially skateboarding.

Hannah is the youngest of the older three, she is 13 and in the 8th grade, she has been active in soccer and tumbling. This year she tried out for Cheer and...made it :). So, that is just a little tidbit on everyone, hope you enjoy following along!

Blessings~Vanessa

Paint projects

Hello,  I was finally able to get outside even though it was late in the evenings, due to the extreme heat...to get a few little projects done. I am really happy about the Faith, Love, Family sign that I made out of an old side board to a bed. I started out just painting it heirloom white, then sanded it a bit, painted my words on and let it dry for an hour or two, gave it a coat of walnut stain and wiped off the excess off after a few minutes. A little more sandindg of edges  and she was done. This baby is over 6 1/2 ft. long, so im not sure were it is going  yet, either over my entertainment wall or on a beam between the family room and kitchen.                                                           Next is a great little find from the goodwill. An old cheese dome for 4.99 and a solid wooden candle holder for 1.99.  I started out by removing the glass dome and sanding both pieces. I painted them heirloom white, distressed, a light coat of stain and a little more sanding. Then used E6000 to glue the pillar to the bottom of the tray and there it is, my Pottery Barn knock off for 7.00! :))

Blessings~Vanessa