Easy Decorating DIY

I have some very easy decorating ideas using natural items you have or may have in your yard or find on a nature walk...

Apples in a pretty bowl or platter with magnolia leaves arranged around them. This would be great for a fall or Christmas centerpiece.

A wicker tray with a candle and apples arranged around the candle.. This would look better with more apples and also with gourds and small pumpkins for fall or even pinecones. I think it would also work with an arrangement of Christmas ornaments.

I really love this... a cute vintage kitty cat planter with small flags inside and a vintage stars and
stripes bowl.

This is just 4 small glass vases with 1-3 rose buds and black-eyed susan for contrast. I then snipped some leaves from my Japanese maple and tucked them in. I arranged them on little mirror and added a few battery operated votive candles.

I love hydrangeas and my bush is just now producing blooms...in mid-October. I hope they develop before it frosts so that I can pick some to decorate with.

10 Things to Make With Flour Tortillas

I made a little pizza tonight using a whole wheat flour tortilla as the base and was thinking about all the things you can make with them.

1. Mini pizzas - use tomato sauce, toppings like onion, thinly sliced zucchini, diced tomatoes and peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni, mozarella cheese, parmesan cheese, fresh basil, ricotta cheese. You can use any combination of these and others you may have. Bake at 400 degrees until brown and cheese is melted about 10 minutes. I made one with sauce, onion, yellow zucchini, shaved parmesan and fresh basil. These make great appetizers, snacks, light lunch or dinner and could be paired with soup or salad for a heartier meal.

2. Quesadillas - Use leftover chicken, cheese, onion, peppers, salsa, spinach. I really like chicken with spinach and cheese served with salsa on the side. Put tortilla in non stick pan, fill half with fillings of choice, fold, cook on side, flip and cook on other side. Again, these would make great appetizers when cut into bite sized wedges, snacks and dinners paired with soup or salad.

3. Cut into wedges and bake on slightly oiled cookie sheet until brown. Serve with salsa, guacamole or humus.

4. For a dessert - rub lightly with oil or butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, bake until golden and cut into wedges.

5. Another sweet idea - spread lightly with nutella, fold and cook in pan, cut into wedges. You could also add sliced bananas or strawberries before folding.

6. Make wraps - you can spread lightly with cream cheese to make everything hold together better and then add sliced turkey, cheese, lettuce or used packaged slaw mix for great filler.  Also great filled with chicken or tuna salad.

7. Sweet snack - Top a baked tortilla with canned apple filling or your own apple filling. Top with some shredded cheddar cheese and bake until filling is warm and cheese is melted.  Would also be delicious topped with caramel sauce instead of cheddar cheese.

8. Pinwheels - spread with cream cheese, and then add chopped peppers and onions, roll up and then slice to make pinwheels. You can also add deli meats before rolling up.

9. Breakfast burrito - fill with scrambled egg, bacon or sausage and cheese.

10. Dumplings - I have not tried this but read about it on the Taste of Home blog. Cut in strips and add to dumpling broth. They say the plump up like regular dumplings.

Vingettes Displays that I Have Rencently Seen and Liked

Here are some vingettes I have recently seen either at home or at a recent trip to an antique mall that I thought were nice. I hope you like them too.

I especially like this little bench with the black design on a burlap fabric and the painted wood in a blue/gray.

really like this painted chest or sideboard. It would look really good in my bedroom with my TV above it.

This reminds me of fall.

Fairy garden.

Chicken & Bean Soup with Corn Just Using What Is on Hand

I made this soup tonight with some ingredients I had in my pantry.

Here are the ingredients, more or less:

1/2 large onion, chopped and sauteed in a little oil
Then add the following to the pot and simmer for about 30 minutes:
1 can of chicken
3/4 cup frozen corn
1 can white beans
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
dash of hot pepper flakes
generous squirt of sriracha sauce

Upcycle Recycle Inspiration

Recycled old toilets into a planter

This is a clever recycling project.





Table painted pink...

I saw this in a display window in downtown Bloomington, IN

DIY Ugly Table Painted White Thrifty Style

Here is a picture of a table that I just painted white. It was a really ugly wood that had water mark stains. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of it before. I really think it turned out well.

I went to the hardware store and found some primer that was not mixed as the customer wanted so it was on sale for about $2.  They did not have any paint that I liked the color that was on sale. So, I went to Menard's and found a gallon of antique white in semi-gloss on clearance for only $5. I did some light sanding between coats. I like to use those cheap sponge paint brushes because I think I get smoother coats. I also clean the sponge brushes and reuse them several times.

Gardening Inspiration from my Community Garden Visit

I just visited a community park and garden in Bloomington, IN called Will Detmer park. I just discovered this wonderful place. It gave me lots of inspiration for gardening...for next year since it is already August.

I would like to grow some beautiful tall sunflowers that just kind of look down on you...

and some sweeping rows of black-eyed susan and coneflowers...

I

I also saw pumpkins...

and vegetables in raised garden beds...

Here are cantaloupe and watermelon...

Not sure what these are.  I think they are tomatillos...

More pics of the gardens...