Thrifty Easter table 2012

I wanted to make the dining room pretty for our family Easter lunch.  My plan was to find some cute placemats and napkins, devise a centerpiece, and get curtains to hang. Two out of three accomplished!

At Goodwill I found this metal cup and saucer sculpture thingy for 99 cents. And 6 Battenburg lace trimmed napkins for $6.  They match the small tablecloth I will use on top of a Spring-y yellow one.

I needed the napkins for bunny ear folded napkins.  (I found the tutorial here.)  The round green placemats were on sale at Kohl's for $2.49 each.  I can use them for other holidays or just whenever.  The little yellow candles were a buck each at Wal-Mart.

 The tea cup thingy got some florist foam and moss that I already had with some flowers I picked up from Dollar Tree.  The bunny from Salvation Army got moved to the dining room as well.

Are you ready for Easter?  I can't wait to spend time with my nearest and dearest.

Gina  

Granny Smith Pies

Monday I made two apple pies, by Hubby's request, for the scouts that were coming to dinner.  They were warm and bubbly by the time they were ready to be served with Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream.

 

Granny Smith Apple Pie

• 1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
• 6 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Fit one pastry into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. (I used a casserole dish since I was making two pies and wanted them to "match")
2. Toss together apple and lemon juice in a large bowl. Combine brown sugar and next 4 ingredients; sprinkle over apple mixture, and toss to coat. Spoon into prepared pie crust.  I also put a few pats of butter on top of the apples.
3. Roll remaining pie crust to press out fold lines; place over filling. Fold edges under, and crimp; cut slits in top for steam to escape.
4. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°, and bake 35 minutes.

 

 I might have to add this recipe to my holidays file.  These were so good the boys licked their bowls. 

Gina

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Mealplan Monday #2

This week, we're having easy dinners.  

Monday - Spaghetti, salad

Tuesday - Kraft Fresh Takes chicken (I got a coupon for a free package so I am looking forward to trying it), skillet potatoes, and mixed veggies

Wednesday - Jamaican Rice and Beans*, sauteed squash

Thursday - Rosemary's Green Pepper Stew, corn muffins

Friday - Tilapia Tacos, pico de gallo, shredded cabbage, sour cream and monterey jack cheese, chili beans

Saturday - Dad Grill  

Sunday - Roast Pork, Green Bean Casserole, mashed potatoes with gravy, oven carrots, deviled eggs, rolls.  For dessert I'm making strawberry cake balls and trying my hand at these marshmallows, and maybe a coconut pie. 

*This is a recipe I got out of a magazine - it involves spiffing up a boxed red beans and rice mix with a can of diced tomatoes, and some diced leftover roast.  So good!

Gina

Scrap happy bookmarks

I recently pinned a cute tute on making use of tiny scraps of fabric by creating bookmarks. Since I'm an avid reader, I thought I would whip some up.

I used a bookmark I already have, as a guide.  Just laid my fabrics out in the order I wanted, stitched, ironed on some interfacing,  sewed right sides together with another fabric for the back, then turned right side out and stitched around the edges.  Easy peasy.

I added a loop of ribbon to the tops and stitched my initials on one side of my "artwork". Once I got the hang of it, each one took me less than 10 minutes. 

Bubbie came home from school while I was in the thick of it and asked for his own.  Which got me to thinking:  there's a lot of people I could make these for, including his brothers, sister, aunt, grandmother...good thing I have plenty o' fabric scraps!

Gina

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Mealplan Monday #1 - cut yourself some slack!

Last week was rough - no doubt about it.  Between my job, my family, and helping my mother with her cornea surgery, I felt like taffy - pulled in all directions.  So I purposely made sure that the menus for this week were easy so I could do some stuff I had put off!

Monday - Crock Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday - Cafe Rio Chicken Bowls with rice, pico, black beans, guacamole

Wednesday - Stouffer's lasagna, mixed veggies (Freezer meal night!)

Thursday - Homebaked Mac and Cheese, oven carrots

Friday - Buffalo Chicken Sammies, sweet potato tots, coleslaw

Saturday - Dad grills

Sunday - Leftover Beef and Beans from freezer, Cheesy garlic bread, salad

Gina

Painting fail

Several months ago I painted the inside of the bookcase a color to coordinate with the rest of the den:

 

 

It actually worked fine until anything bumped up against the paint.  Then stuff like this happened:

 And once I saw it I had to see if more would just peel off. The answer was yes.  

  Windex helped get it all to loosen up and come off easily.  And here I thought I was so smart using a paint with primer.  At least I got smart removing it with my widget and the Windex.  It was like removing wallpaper - except that it was stretchy. 

At least all of it came off without damaging the wall behind it. 

I just pulled everything out, cleaned it up, put things back like I thought they would work better.

The slick paint in the back of the bookcase apparently doesn't want to be painted!

Gina

No such thing as a junk drawer!

I was searching for something and realized it had been a while since I had done a clean sweep on this drawer.  I like to call it my "office drawer" since it has tools I might need in my daily job as mom/cook/cleaner/chauffeur/cat wrangler.

Just a little jumbled.  But where the heck is my widget?  I need it!

I remember having to fish around for a battery last time I needed one so I put a recycled container to use.  A perfect fit.

Baskets and really small ziploc snack containers are my friends.  And I love clips.  All kinds of clips.  Especially those honkin' big paper clips.  So handy.

I snagged a magnetic paper clip holder from hubby's old desk and now it holds safety pins.  Odds and ends have their own tiny spot.  

See our spare set of keys?  One driveway and four cars equals the automotive version of musical chairs.

I think it was 15 minutes well spent!  Some things were in this drawer that just didn't belong, so out they went.  Everything else got arranged neatly.  It pays to be OCD organized.

No such thing as a "Junk Drawer".  Space is too valuable at this house!

Gina

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