Mod-podge fabric "vase"

I saw this very cute idea in Bloggyland and decided to make one for my mom's birthday - a fabric wrapped and mod-podged vase made out of a pickle jar!

Over the years she has given me a lot of scrap fabric in the hopes I will one day make a quilt.  I just don't think I have the patience for that, but I love the sweet little prints.

 I tore off some strips and left the edges frayed.

 Then I painted mod-podge on a clean jar

 and wrapped the fabric all around it.  

I have an old cookie sheet I use to keep my table from getting mp'd!

 Cute!

I covered the jar thread at the top, too.  She might use it for more flowers, or even as a pencil jar later on, so she probably doesn't need the lid.   Then I gave it a couple coats of mod-podge and let it dry.

We had a fun visit in Brenham and went to the quilt show in La Grange.

How appropriate, right?  And she loved the flowers (:

Gina

Adventures in painting

Well, thanks to some encouragement from a couple of bloggy friends, I forged ahead on my plan to make the front two rooms the same color.  I just had to get mentally prepared, and that was easier said than done...

See that up there?  It's a 10 foot wall.  I stood on the next to the highest ladder rung to line out the wall with my pad painter - shaking and sweating the whole time.  I had the living room "nook" done, complete with moving furniture and putting decor and curtains back in about 6 hours. 

(Notice the newer paint looks yellow-ish now, but  it dries darker, and softer.)

The pad painter is great for edging around stuff, like the built in shelf above the couch. 

My newly painted room and I LOVE the color!  Thanks for the encouragement, Melissa!

(The Inspired Home)

Oh, goodness, Day 2  - more tall walls.  Muscles sore and yet I have to get back up on that ladder.  

This was a real pysch challenge for me, afraid of heights. 

(Goodbye forever,  minty green!)

 At this point my painting clothes were drenched and I was talking myself through it out loud while listening to Parliament on Pandora.  Listening to music while I paint helps me forget that I could fall and crack my skull and no one would find me til the afternoon...just breathe, Gina.

Stay tuned - newly improved front rooms coming soon...

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Taco Soup

Tidy Mom is hosting Soup-a-Palooza today and though I wasn't going to post until Wednesday, I just had to put in my two cent's worth and show my family's favorite: Taco Soup!  I know there are about a thousand versions of this out on the internet, and truthfully, I can't remember where this one originated from, but I think the ranch dip mix has got to be the secret ingredient that makes it the best!

Taco Soup for the crock pot

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pkg. mild taco seasoning mix

1 pkg ranch dip seasoning mix

1 can Rotel

1 can water ( use the Rotel can)

1 can chopped green chilies (I use the mild ones)

1 can corn, undrained

1 can pintos, undrained

Brown the meat and onion, then mix into the crock pot with all else.  Cook on low 6 hours.  Serve with Fritos and grated cheddar.Yuuum......no leftovers!

So that was our dinner last night, and here was our dessert:

I had fun making strawberry cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries - once I saw how much they were charging for them at HEB I thought (once again) "I can do that!"  Yes - they were delicious!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day - bring on Spring!

Bedroom chairs update!

It's amazing to me that a little less than a month ago this is what the bedroom chairs looked like:

By the time I had posted about them I had already been dragging my heels for a year or so...and talking about it on the blog was just what I needed, 'cause I got to work picking out a fabric, trucking them over to the upholsterer, and within two weeks...

 I LOVE THEM!!!

This fabric and pattern  is so cool!  And the workmanship on them is perfect.  They went to great pains to match up that enormous repeat so that both chairs look exactly alike.  There was a small amount of fabric left to make a couple of crafts, this toss pillow, for one:

If the weather cooperates this week, I will make a trip to IKEA for some pretty white curtains and a black rod.  I love the new look in here, and so does the cat, apparently. 

I think my MIL would be proud!

Gina

Snow Day 2011

I can't say I blame the people up north for thinking we Austin folk are a bunch of weenies when it comes to snow.  But, really, the roads here are downright treacherous when covered with ice.  And no one here knows how to drive in it.  Schools panic and close.  Employers offer paid lodging at nearby hotels. You would think it's Snowmaggedon.

 Look at that - barely a dusting - but first the rain fell, then the snow.

  

 

 

We've got "wintry mix" in the forecast today - no more ice, please? 

Gina

Sugar's talent

If it's one thing Sugar is good at, it's laying around.  

And she seems to sense when you need her furry, fat girth upon you.

She's like a 20 pound heating pad that purrs.  "Keep away from Dad.  His knee hurts and I and making sure he stays put!"  If there isn't a person to lay on top of she has other options:

 A couch, or one of 5 beds.

 My newly re-covered chair or a sunny window.

Or even the random laundry basket.

Gina

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Hubby turned the big 5-0 on Monday.  And, as per tradition at Camp Rustown, I let him decide what kind of cake he wanted - he picked pie.  Said he thought a chocolate pecan pie sounded good.  He had never actually had one, and I didn't have a recipe, so I turned to Cooks.com and adapted one that was the best pie I have had in a long time...

Chocolate Pecan Pie

1 ready made pie crust

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 c. light corn syrup

1/2 c. sugar

1 4oz. bar of Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate, melted

2 T. butter, melted

1 t. vanilla

1 1/2 cup pecan halves

Preheat the oven to 350.  Lay the crust out in a 9 inch pie plate, crimp the edges.  Mix all but pecans until well blended.  Stir in pecan s.  Pour into crust.  Set the pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 55 minutes, or until set.  (You can insert a knife halfway and see that it comes out cleanly).  Cool.

 

This pie tasted like a gooey, fudgey version of a pecan pie and was delicious.  The quality of the chocolate makes a big difference - you could melt chocolate chips (1/2 c.) but try to buy the really good ones.  

And Hubby gets a slice of it in his lunch today - his first day back after knee surgery. Hopefully, it will sweeten his day. 

Gina

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  “Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom  sponsored by Cherokee USA, Le Creuset, Wilton, Bags by Bloom and  Harvard Common Press”