Easy to make snowflakes

Making snowflakes since its to warm to snow...

Not everyone loves snow but surely even the non-snow lovers will love these snowflakes.  Since I had a little free time today I thought I would try my hand at making these snowflakes that I saw on another blog.  

Would you believe me if I told you they were easy to make and were made out of brown paper lunch bags?  The hardest part was cutting them out.  My scissors weren't very sharp so that made cutting them a little difficult but other than that it was easy as pie.

I saw the snowflake posted on the blog Hymns and Verses. Isn't this the most perfect screened in porch?  I loved it as soon as I saw it.  It is decorated beautifully for Christmas and those snowflakes drew me in instantly.  

 Since I had a little free time today I thought I would try my hand at making some of these beautiful snowflakes.  Be sure to head over to Hymns and Verses to see more of her beautiful screened in porch and for the link to Cuckoo4Design for the original post that showed how to make them. 

One down and two to go and my stair railing will be complete.  

Give it a try, I think you're gonna love them too!

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things...

Family Gatherings and Christmas Morning

As the days are inching closer to Christmas I’m still perusing my favorite blogs and finding way to many decorating ideas that I love.  For those of you that have blogs you follow there is a great app called Bloglovin’ where all of those blogs can be followed from one place. It’s very easy to use and it’s a great way to find new blogs to follow.   I could list several of my favorites here but that may be a post for another day. In the meantime here’s a few of my favorite things. 

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year.  It’s a time of year that is full of love, goodness, caring and giving.  It’s also a time to decorate our homes and a time to make friends and family feel welcomed into our home.  

For several years now it has been a tradition that we get up early, open gifts and then cook breakfast for our family. Some arrive in their PJ’s, still sporting their best bed head hairdo (this includes adults) and others have already dressed so that they are ready to move on to the next meal.  I guess you can tell it’s not a fancy event but it is one of my most favorite mornings of the year.

Normally it’s a paper plate kind of morning but this year I decided to fancy it up a bit after I found these at one of my favorite places to shop for home goods, World Market.  By the way they just opened one in Lexington...I’m so excited!  Be sure to visit their website and sign up for their rewards program which has all kinds of membership benefits and best of all it's free.  You get member pricing as well as special discounts and did I mention its FREE to sign up...free is always good.

They may cost a little more than paper plates but over the next couple of years I would have spent that much on the disposable plates. I'm also using a set as our everyday dishes too so that makes it even more of a bargain.

We usually do what I call assembly line dishing, you know, the one where you carry your plate around and fill it up from the multiple dishes of food sitting on the kitchen island.  Well, guess what...we'll do that again but I do love to set my table and pretend that this is how it will be.

I'm loving the look of my place settings.  Just in case you need another reason to shop World Market these placemats came from there and work so well with the tablescape.  They come in a set of four and are available in two different colors.

I do love to shop and shopping local is something I try to do as often as possible.  For the past three years I have been buying Christmas plates from one of my favorite Kentucky pottery shops.  I don't buy a full set but instead I buy three or four and mix and match them on my table.  

  This amazing little shop is called Dirty South Pottery and is located in Winchester.  They have a shop there in town and they set up at local arts and crafts markets but in case you can't make it to shop in person you can always shop their Etsy Shop.

This year I'm thinking everyone will leave with their own personalized ornament.  They are inexpensive to make and add such a personal touch.  I thought I would use them as a place setting card but truth is we just aren't that formal in my family.  That doesn't mean I can't make one for each person to take home with them though.  I'll post the how to a little later this week and yes even though it's getting close to Christmas Day there is still time make them.  

If you don't have a step of stamps to stamp the names on with you could always leave them plain.  I'm sure your family and friends will appreciate the personal touch and thoughtfulness of them.

And yes our newest addition to the family won't need his own plate this year but of course he gets a little something with his name on it.

This little tree has been one of my very favorite Christmas decorations since I got it a few years ago and this year I think it makes the perfect center piece.  The minature ornaments remind me of vintage Shiny Brites and they are still available for purchase at Anthropologie.  After looking for the perfect little tree to hang them on and almost giving up the search I luckily found this little beauty in Lexington at Decorator Warehouse at an end of season sale.  

I can't wait to have family gathered around the table on Christmas morning.  Hearing the laughter of the little ones and the big ones too always makes me happy.  

Here's a sneak peak of the place cards/ornaments.  As you can see they are not perfect and some may not even be intact now...anyway hopefully I can get that post up this week.  Hope you all have a great week

It's another Instant Pot Recipe

Sooo...I'm all in on this Instant Pot thing now!  How in the world did I sit back and not use it for the last couple of years?  If you have one and you're not using it, get that sucker out now and let it work its magic...you won't be disappointed.

Listen...we are a hard working bunch of women and we deserve to make use of anything that is going to make our lives a little easier.  Anyone else out there agree? 

Below is a link to my newest recipe find and a few pictures to show you what it looks like as a work in progress.

This recipe is appropriately titled...The Best Damn Instant Pot Boneless Pork Chops and I will have to agree that's just what it is.

Look how delicious they look even before cooking them.  Just a little confession they may have been a little freezer burned when I got them out of the freezer this morning but once they were cooked you would never have known it.

Did you know you can brown your meats in the Instant Pot before you cook them?

Look how yummy these look after just a few minutes of browning them in the Instant Pot.  Maybe its a country girl thing...but anything fried or browned is like a little slice of heaven and I feel safe in saying this is not just a me thought.  If you agree throw in a hallelujah if not that's okay too, I still love ya.

So are you wondering what the recipe is?  Check out the link and add it to your favorites.  You will be glad you did!

Best Damn Instant Pot Boneless Pork Chops

For us we took the easy way out with sides.  Throw a little roasted vegetables in the oven and some instant potatoes (with a little dash or a lot of butter thrown in) and you are good to go.  

A little broccoli, squash and mushrooms roasted with some garlic, kosher salt and olive oil makes for a tasty side dish.

Hope you give this a try and enjoy it!  Let me know if you do and what you think of it.  

Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken

So...yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and fix a whole chicken in my Instant Pot and I’m happy to report that first of all it is delicious and secondly I made it thru without blowing the top off and putting a hole in my ceiling, thank you Lord!

If you don’t have an Instant Pot there are many places to get one and with Christmas fast approaching it would be a great gift to yourself or to someone you love.  I got mine a few years ago from Amazon during their Amazon Prime Day.  Here is the link to a 6 quart one like the one I used to cook this chicken.

6 quart Instant Pot

There are tons of resources for Instant Pot recipes.  If you do a quick Google search you will have so many options to choose from that it’s almost overwhelming. If you’re like me I read them and then decide whether or not to try it based on what the ingredients are, do I have them on hand and how easy it is. If I’m feeling really adventurous I’ll make up my own which can lead to disaster...

Today I took the smart route and found this recipe on the Damn Delicious website and I must agree it was damn delicious!  I followed the recipe with a couple of exceptions.  My chicken was about 6 lbs instead of 4 lbs as the recipe calls for.  I also put the chicken in the oven to brown the skin a little after I took if out of the Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken

The hubby says this is a keeper recipe so I guess we will be having it again.  I would recommend it for a quick and simple meal and as the rest of you hard working women know we need something easy and quick to fix for our family at night.  The chicken can be cooked the night before which makes it even easier after a busy day.  Pair it with some roasted vegetables or roasted  parmesan, bacon, garlic brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes (if your in a real hurry instant mashed potatoes work great).

Enjoy and if you try it let me know what you think.

Instapot fear...anyone else?

Do you have a Instapot?  Is it used often or just every now and then? For me that answer would be rarely...I'm always afraid of messing something up or blowing the lid off which I am quite certain would lead to a hole in my ceiling.

Tonight while heading home from work I, for whatever reason, decided I was going to fix a whole chicken in my Instapot.  Yeah, I know that's a big step from someone who has cooked nothing other than beans in it. So...with a quick stop by the grocery store and an even quicker Google search for a recipe I have a feeling this is the beginning of something delicious. 

Stay tuned to see if it's a keeper or loser recipe and if I blow a hole in the kitchen ceiling. 

Welcome Fall...I've been waiting for you

I was beginning to think Fall was never going to get here but finally she has made a semi-arrival.  I apologize to all of my summer loving friends because I know you are probably wishing us pumpkin spice loving girls would give it a rest...but we are really excited its finally here.  

Fall is a beautiful time of year. Despite the fact that plants are slowly closing out the growing phase of their life, they bring such beauty to the world. The bright orange and yellows are accented perfectly with a little pinch of green, purple and even white.

I always love shopping around for my plants, pumpkins and other fall decor during this time of year and shopping small and local is one of my favorite things to do.  

This is just a few of the places I have visited this fall and hopefully if you can't visit them this fall you will be able to visit them soon.

First up is Hummingbird Haven Greenhouse and let me just say you won't be disappointed when you make a visit.  All of the pumpkins and gourds came from there as did a couple of the mums.  They had beautiful things at reasonable prices.

For years I have heard people talk about this place but unfortunately I had not made a visit there till a couple of weeks ago.  It is literally in my back yard as a crow flies but getting back home from there was probably the most lost I have ever been in my life.  Long story short, I started to go to another place and changed my mind once I got there.  I then back tracked to Hummingbird Haven which meant I had to come back home another way.  GPS isn't the most reliable thing on the back roads but I firmly believe all roads lead to somewhere and I eventually hit the right road that led me back home.  It was a beautiful drive even if I was lost.

Hummingbird Haven Greenhouse

And how cute is this adorable little tray that holds all of these lovely treasures?  It was love at first site when I visited the Rockcastle River Trading Co and I knew it had to come home with me.  If you haven't heard of this little treasure of a joint maybe you have heard of the one and only Jon Carloftis.  He is an amazing gardener and is the owner of this beautiful little shop that sits on the banks of the Rockcastle River. 

Rockcastle River Trading Co

These pretty cabbages came from a little garden shop in Berea Ky called The Potting Shed.  They always have beautiful healthy looking plants.  They have a variety of plants such as, annuals, perennials, succulents and so much more.  They even have cute little pots that I know ya'll are going to want. 

The Potting Shed

Overlook the yellowing leaves...someone may have been a little slow in getting them planted.

These old mismatched terracotta pots came from the Habitat Restore years ago.  They fit perfectly in my new tray from The Rockcastle River Trading Co, its almost as if it was made to hold them.  

Front porch decorating (Looks like I should have swept the porch first)

The basket came from Big Lots.  If you haven't been there in awhile you should plan a trip.  I was amazed at the home decor department there now.

I found this brass pot in an antique mall and thought it would be the perfect spot for this bright yellow mum I bought from my niece.  

 And a vintage copper boiler is the perfect spot to stick this giant mum.

Time to close and get back to fall planting and decorating...till next time

Happy Fall Planting my friends!