My First Metamorphis Monday!

Today I am joining my friends on Metamorphis Monday hosted by sweet & beautiful Susan @ http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/. Most everyone has been over to Susan's, but if you haven't you definitely need to! Not only will you see more wonderful 'metamorphi' (that is my version of the the plural of metamorphis) going on, but you will love her blog!

The pictures I am showing you are from a craft project I made for a friend and fellow Curves co-worker when she got married last summer! Their romance was truly storybook! She's slightly younger than me. A sweet and beautiful divorced mother of 3 beautiful children, my friend had given up on 'happily ever after'. Then bam! A wonderful man swept her off her feet and after dating a little over a year they were married in a private ceremony with just her children on the beach in Panama Beach, Fla.! As I was looking for a wedding present I thought about a frame with shells for their wedding picture and then I thought "I could do that!" The added sentiment came from the shells I used because they were actually from the beach in Panama Beach on our last trip there! So checkout my before and after! She tells me all the time how much she and her sweetie love it! and they did put the family wedding photo in it! The newlyweds and the children walking along the beautiful beach all of them barefoot, with the sun going down behind them and dressed in their wedding attire.

I bought the mosaic frame at Marshall's and then hot glued the shells. You can see in the picture above that the tiles were a translucent glass with all the soft colors of the beach!

I made it to so they could use it horizontally as well as vertically. (I have a picture of the frame on its side but when I bring it over here it switches to this and I can't get it to rotate for some weird reason!)

Now I also wanted to show Vanna @ http://lvrofantiques.blogspot.com/ what her little cherub looked like before she gave it a good home!

I bought this little fellow at Hobby Lobby when the garden statues were on sale at the end of the season. I like to buy angel garden statues and then paint them for Christmas decorations.

Just look at it now!

I swear the little fellow looks like he's smiling! I just knew he'd find the perfect place in Vanna's oh so french and beautiful home!

Quote for the day!

I have started following a sweet lady's blog called http://thoughtsfromovertherainbow.blogspot.com. Her name is Susan. Don't you just love the name of her blog! Check out her "thoughts" about Lent. She has given us a wonderful challenge, that if I know most of us, should be no challenge at all! It made me think of this quote from Norman Vincent Peale we have on our bulletin board at Curves where I work...

"The way to Happiness:

Keep your heart free from hate,

Your mind from worry.

Live simply, expect little, give much!

Forget self and think of others.

Try this for a week and you will be surprised!"

Look for me in the funny pages!

Well Ladies...I received an email last night from a lady at Diane magazine wanting to confirm the information they were going to publish in the June issue! I am just guessing that this means I'm gonna be published in the Body Love section of the June issue of Diane Magazine! Aren't I so special!!! LOL

And Now My First Foodie Friday!

Last Saturday it was a cold and wet day so I decided to make some soup for a late lunch with my DH. I had also just bought Sandra Lee's new Semi Homemade magazine and had seen a great cornbread recipe that I thought would go great with the soup! Now, I really like Sandra Lee! I don't do that much cooking and actually prefer HGTV to the Food Network. One day I caught her show and really loved her and the way she cooks and I really like her style of decorating too! So I grabbed my camera and started snapping so I could join my fellow sisters in Foodie Friday hosted by the grand dame herself Gollum! But you don't have to watch just me boiling water, go on over to http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com and check out the real cooks!

Yes, I can boil water!

Then I did my imitation of Sandra by using "Bear Creek" bean soup mix. Just whisk the mix in to 8 cups of boiling water! This was the hard part: trying to whisk with my left hand and take the picture with my right!

Then I took it upon myself to add pre-cooked, pre-cubed ham and substituted 2 cups of water with chicken broth from a box. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes!

Now for the cornbread! "Spicy Cheddar Cornbread", how can that not be good! Gather my ingredients...mix 'em together....Voila!

Does mine look like the magazine picture?

My attempt at tablescaping our lunch!

And now for the cornbread recipe: 2 tblsp. veg. oil, 2 (6.5 ounce) pkgs. yellow Martha White cornbread mix, 2 (1 ounce) pkgs. taco seasoning, 2 lg. eggs, 2/3 cup water, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

Preheat oven to 400*. Grease 9-in. iron skillet w/veg. oil and place skillet in oven while preparing cornbread. In a lg. bowl combine cornbread mix, taco seasoning, eggs and water, stirring well. Pour batter into preheated skillet and bake for 12 minutes. Sprinkle cheese evenly over cornbread and put back in oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and cornbread is golden brown.

This is straight out of her wonderful magazine and I really hope I'm not violating any copyright laws! And by the by, the cornbread was delicious!

My Very First Blog Award!

There I was, feeling all sorry for myself! I drool over all of ya'lls tablescapes! I envy all of your gorgeous homes! You all have so many followers! And everyone has all these cute little awards 'cept me! Poor, poor, pitiful me!!! (recognize that song!) And then I see my good RMS bud Vanna ("winks!") at http://lvroftiques.blogspot.com/ Delusions of Grandeur has a new posting and lo and behold she gave me an award! Vanna has the most gorgeous antiques in her home! Believe me when I say that her home is not a grand delusion! C'est Magnifique!! Most of you already know her, but if you don't, go over there right now and say hi to a wonderfully funny and sweet lady! I have to say I feel very honored to be one of her recepients of this award!

Now the rules for receiving this wonderful award are as follows:

1.) Put the logo on your blog or post.

2.) Nominate atleast 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude.

3.) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4.) Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5.) Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

And the Nominees Are:

My sweet and creative niece-n-law Heather at http://butterflygenes.blogspot.com/

So sweet Chari at http://happytodesign.blogspot.com/

My sweet RMS bud Athella at http://athellag-ocdesigner.blogspot.com

Who doesn't love Laurie?! at http://bargainhuntingwithlaurie.blogspot.com/

Sweet Donna at http://designson47thstreet.blogspot.com/ because we share the same love and passion for silk flowers but not cleaning chores!

Lovely Cindy at http://sisterhoodofthecreativehearts.blogspot.com/. Cindy was my very first visitor! And I think she puts all of us "sisters" thoughts best when she says in her profile "I am an admirer of all kinds of beautiful, creative things!"

Sweet Debbie at http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/. You've got to check out her staff!

Mary Ellen at http://megardengal.blogspot.com/, "Mary's Meanderings". Her home is as sweet as she is!

and sweet Sheila at http://notesongs.blogspot.com/. She makes everyone feel so welcome and works hard to respond to everyone visiting her! And she's cute as a button!

A Little Spring Cheer!

Yesterday in my neck of the world it was sunny and beautiful! Trees are starting to show signs of life, jonquils are starting to bloom and beautiful quince is showing off its gorgeous coral blossoms! My VBF brought some jonquils and sprigs of her quince bush to my mother yesterday when we had lunch with her. We both were sighing with anticipation about getting to work out in the yard! I'm going to get some of her quince to plant in my yard! Even my daylilies are popping their green heads out of the winter droll and then.....today I look out my window and it's raining and cold and miserable and we might get sleet or snow! I hurried out yesterday afternoon to cut the jonquils that were blooming before they got hammered by winter weather! Why don't you get a cup of coffee (with some hazlenut creamer of course!) and come join me at the kitchen table with these bright yellow beauties! I bought the little mug with the bluebird on it at TJ Maxx about a week ago! Don't you just love that place! You can find the best little treasures there! God Bless you all and thanks for dropping by!

Shopping Spree at Old Time Pottery!

Today my best friend (refer to the previous post below in the white bikini) and I went to eat lunch with my mother who is in assisted living then we went shopping! Of course, neither one of us has any money right now what with kids in college and private schools and utility bills!, but that didn't stop us! We headed to the local outlet store Old Time Pottery! It's right up there with Marshall's and Hobby Lobby as favorite places to shop for home stuff with me! (At this time I just want to check and make sure Vanna noticed my title rhymes!) (winks!) Anyway, all I needed were some kitchen glasses, not the tablescape kind! the kind my kids take up to their rooms and leave until they become petri dishes! (OK I'm sorry that was TMI) so where was I?! Oh yea! Anyway, I don't even participate in the tablescape thursday and I'm looking at everything thinking about how to use it in a tablescape! Then I found these beautiful glasses! For $1.99 each! Look at the pretty etching of leaves! and the stems are a beautiful spring green! They'll look so pretty with my everyday china!

I bought 4 of them because I only have 4 complete sets of my everyday china. But I quickly decided after I got home that I needed more just in case!

And then I found these wonderful christmas plates!

Adorable Chickadees!

Glorious Cardinals!

Fabulous Finches!

Cute Nuthatches!

And now for the big reveal!! They were $1 each! Well I thought that was pretty good! So maybe by next Christmas I'll have figured out how to do one of these tablescape Thursdays!

Time Flies When You're Having fun!

My post tonite is about time and how fast it goes! One day you're graduating high school and frolicking on the beach in Florida in a bikini, young and carefree...then you're at your 30 year high school reunion and old boyfriends are showing pictures and you suddenly realize that you're older than your mother was in that picture! then your DH reminds you you're as old as your mother was when you and he got married! Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind getting older; they do say it beats the alternative!, but you tend to forget that you're getting older until

something like this comes along to, oh so suddenly, remind you!

Since I don't know how to post these with titles the top is me and my friends in Florida 1978 right after graduating high school! I'm in the green bikini standing up in the back with my still best friend! The picture here is my mother. I'm right behind her! This was at my friend's house while we were all getting ready to leave! What were our parents' thinking!!!!!!! By my calculations my mother is only 44 years old here! ARGGHHH!!!

Don't Hate Me 'Cause I'm Beautiful!! or follow-up to my Curves photo shoot!

It's really hard being a supermodel! People doing your makeup and hair and dressing you in gorgeous clothes...then you have to work! Sit this way, put your hands this way, lean toward me, turn your head that way but keep your eyes on me, chin up, pull your shoulders back, sit up real straight, NOW RELAX! Whew! I'm exhausted! And the endless powdering of the T-zone and adjusting the clothes and on and on and on!!! I'm kidding! I had a blast! Everyone was so nice! They kept telling me how gorgeous I looked! Heck, I would've come for the free lunch! I wasn't worried about how I looked! Now, I have to admit, they did my makeup and hair totally different than I normally do and it's hard to think you look okay when your hair isn't at all like you like it! They wanted a natural feel, which really meant I didn't have half the eye shadow I'm used to wearing! And she filled in my eyebrows! They're lucky to even get plucked by me! And girls I actually used an eyelash curler! Under strict supervision of course! I met wonderful people and thoroughly enjoyed my day...and it was all day! I got there at 9:00 am and my final shot took place about 4:45 pm! Whew again! I have to admit I was ready by that time to get back into my jeans, merrell's and my son's peach polo button-down shirt and wipe those eyebrows off! I'll post some pics if they send me any! and of course if I don't look totally fat in them! It's true what they say about the camera! Atleast that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

A Super Model is Born!

I mention in my profile that I work at Curves. If you don't know, Curves is a great workout place especially designed for women! Well, last spring the people who put out Diane magazine, which is the official Curves magazine, came to our neck of the woods for a casting call. And now guess what?! I'm going downtown tomorrow to do a photo shoot for the magazine! Our manager just got back from New York City (as they say in the commercials) where they shot her pics for the cover!! If I make the magazine I'll be in the very back under a section called Body Love. It's a section that focuses on what women like about their bodies. Trust me it wasn't my rear end that's for sure! So I know you want to know... what I loved about my body, (mostly out of the process of elimination) was my arms! No they're not skinny but because of working out at Curves they ain't too flabby!! and they come in handy when you want to give someone a big hug when they need it! Now my challenge to you is to hear what you love about your body and why! Don't be shy ladies, keep it clean, and be proud! God gave you every bit!

This is my very first official posting! It is so much fun to see what other creative people are doing and visiting their beautiful homes! Years ago when DIY shows were brand new I caught a segment showing how to make tassels. They actually handwrapped the wooden spools with various colors of silk threads. That was before you could go to the computer and look up instructions from the show and so I promptly forgot how they did it! But I always wanted to try it...then for my mother's 75th birthday my nephew's wife made my mother 2 unique and wonderful tassels! The time had come to try my hand at this and voila! This adorable little bird sits on a nest of various ribbons and a little beaded fringe for sparkle. My best friend loved it and it's hanging in her kitchen now!