Some Sweet and Easy Treats

I've been making some easy treats for the family and thought that I'd share a few...

This stuff is YUMMY!

Here's the recipe...

1 bag microwave popcorn(the plain seems to pop more without all of the leftover kernels)

20 large marshmallows

1 cup brown sugar

1 and 1/2 sticks of butter

1 tsp. of vanilla(optional, I never use it)

2 tsp. of kayro syrup(sometimes I use regular syrup)

Makes about 12 clumps

Melt marshmallows for about a minute in the microwave,  add syrup.

Melt butter and add brown sugar.  Let it come to a boil and stir making sure to not scorch.  Let it boil until it comes to a soft ball when adding droplets into cool water.

Add all ingredients together and mix well, then pour over popped popcorn.  Make into clumps on wax paper and let cool.

A perfect simple sweet snack in minutes!

Here's another sweet treat!

I just had some of this a few minutes ago and thought what a light and wonderful treat it was!  But of course I love strawberries and blueberries!

Here's how I made it...

I bought two bags of frozen strawberries, 1 bag of frozen blueberries, a loaf of angel food cake, cream cheese fruit dip and strawberry glaze.

Tear some angel food cake to layer bottom,

Spread some glaze over it,

then layer strawberries.  Do twice and then spread cream cheese fruit dip.  Pour entire bag of blueberries on top.  I had a little bit of cream cheese dip left, so I smeared it over the blueberries and then added the rest of the angel food cake and the strawberries.   

The frozen fruit tends to not make the angel food cake "mushy" being stored in the fridge.

 Hope you enjoy...I sure did! 

No cooking involved and it only took a few minutes1

My kind of stuff, lol!

~The Deck is DONE!~  For now....

After a few days of shopping, planting, cleaning and some painting...here it is.  I am so glad I like chippy paint!  If I didn't, boy would I be in BIG trouble!

This little swing has a story....my oldest duaghter and I lugged this thing in the box up the stairs and put it together...took it apart...put it back together...took it apart...put it back together...well you get the picture.  You see, I don't like reading directions, lol!  And let me say, it was HOT out here while doing it!  Sara was dying like the typical teenager that never likes doing anything other than what she likes to.

This table was given to me by my aunt and uncle when they moved to Florida.  It was green so guess what I did?  You got it...spray painted it white!  The chairs were a find at Walley World and got a make over too!  I found the rug at Home Goods and the wicker chair was another facebook yardsale purchase.  It needed some paint too!

Last summer the hubs and I built the so called pergola and I made a cover for it and hung the sheers.  Thsi deck gets a little hot, so we added some much needed shade to actually enjoy this space.  A few years ago, I decided to stain the boards.  BAD idea....after the first winter, it was all peeling.  I have pressure washed this sucker and stained it over and over with every stain imaginable!  This summer it isn't getting anything!

I found the mirror at Home Goods and the chair was a thrift store find.  I slipcovered it with some bedding that I no longer needed.  I just adore topiaries and when I found this one at Lowes...I knew I had to have it!

The girls and my husband bought me the pink geraniums for Mother's day.  They know mama loves PINK!

I made the shelf under the window with some book ends that I found at Home Goods.  They were a bright pink so I painted them white.  They bled and became a light pink...how neat was that?!

The chandi came from K-Mart...it got painted too!

These planters were brown when I bought them from a lady.  I love them white!

More pink geraniums!

                                               

I made a slipcover for the potted geraniums since I didn't want to paint it and ruin my pretty flowers.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed a peak of the back deck.  Ther is more around  the corner, but I am still working on it!

Always remember to live a good life and to love freely!  God is so good!

                        ~WELCOME TO OUR PORCH~

Yesterday was not a good day in the Hays home....the hubs was having some trouble putting in our hot water tank.  He had a few leaks, ran a few too many times for parts instead of buying extra (he tried to save a little money) and the stress level of having to fill and drain that sucker over and over was just not good at all!  So, like I always do, when I get a little upset, I clean.  And this is what I did......

What began as frustration turned out to me thinking..."what have I gotten myself into"  as the sweat began to roll.....

The rug came from a friend who didn't want it anymore.  All it needed was a little TLC and a good scrubbing.  I am elated with it,  Thanks Sue!  The rocker was a trash find from my sweet husband.  He knows me all too well.

I ended up carrying all of the furniture off of the porch to be sprayed down with clorox and scrubbed.  Well that ended up turning into scrubbing the whole front side of the house, lol!  We looked like Sanford and Son out front.....

All of the cushions were washed and I found some slipcovers I had made a few years back.  I drug them all out .... it was like Christmas all over again!

I had bought some flowers on Sunday and thought that I'd just put them on the porch until I planted them....now I'm thinking "how can I keep roses in pots?"   I am just so smitten with the look!

This is one of three planters that I found on facebook yardsale and painted white.  Love them!

All in all, I am lovin' the look....I have my little bit of shabbiness outside to enjoy. 

I'll be getting my ferns this week sometime.  I've been holding off because of "sweet little  Birds" love to build their nests in them.   I think their nest building is pretty much done.  I know I'll have a few stragglers, but not like I normally do.  They have all the trees in the world but they pick my ferns evrey year! 

Little Turkeys!

I spray painted the jar basket and watering can, what else of course...white!  I think I am turning into a major white lover.

This is Mamaw's chair....When she comes for a visit.  I wouldn't dare to sit there, she's totally selfish  isn't she?  Love ya Mama!

The stool was made be my Grandpa Jim....he passed away before I was born.  But I have heard so many wonderful stories about him from my whole family.  My Uncle Jack looks just like him.  So in a way I have a little part of him here on earth.  Love you Uncle Jack!

The cabinet holds all of our outside shoes.  I love things to be hidden...especially them!

See the pink pot?  My Mama brought that to me the other day....won't it be so pretty with some white impatients?

I'm planning on staining the brick...it's looking so faded and worn.  Plus I have never liked the red.  But that'll be another story...sigh...it just never ends with me.

 

It was a dreary morning, but now that I have taken the photo's and am doing this story...quess who's showing up now...

the SUN! 

But you get the picture....

                                 

I thought that I would share my recipe for meatballs.  I don't consider myself a master chef, but my family thinks I am, lol!

Here are the ingredients....

Two large packages of burger(you can use turkey too)

Two cans of Hunts for Meatloaf

1 greenpepper diced

Half  of a yellow pepper diced

2 cups of cooked rice( I use whole wheat)

2 eggs

A sprinkle of onion powder( I don't like to cut up onions)

                    

Then mix all ingredients together.

I use my hands and let me tell ya, it's a little messy.

After mixing, make into balls(it's kinda hard because thet are so mushy) and put into a glass baking dish.

You can make them as big or as little that you want.

I usually get a dish and a half with just a little left over.

That's where I get creative.  Sometimes I put it into a loaf pan or like tonight, I made it into something like sloppy joes.

I put the traditional ketchup on top.  It keeps them from drying out on top.

Bake at 350 for about an hour...give or take a little.  You definitely want to get them done. 

I have a gas stove and gas tends to take a little longer than electric.

At least it does for me.

This is a wondeful meal.  I like to make mashed potatoes and some sort of green vegetable with them.

This recipe is great for stuffing peppers too!

Well, I gotta go....

Time to eat!

Enjoy

I thought that I would fill you all in on a little secret, well not really a secret anymore....

I am starting my very own little Cottage shop that I have dreamed about for years now.  It's amazing how things have happened since I came home from the hospital last September.  It started with me worrying about not having the desire for decorating and creating. 

I had to do physical therapy to get my left arm to work properly and have been faced with all sorst of sickness and death in my family.  So many bad things were happening to us and I could not figure out why in the world it seemed like a dam had busted.  God was hearing from me a lot, lol!  I knew that God didn't save my life to take my loved ones away from me or to let me just fall on my face.  I knew He had something in store for me, just didn't know what.

After friends from facebook telling me that I needed to start a blog, I finally decided to do it.  Boy, was it hard!  I felt like I would lose my mind while doing it, but now it seems like so long ago and I am finally comfortable with it now.  After starting a blog, I was told that I needed to start a facebook fan page....well that was another fun and stressful thing to do, lol!  But now I love it!

I have made so many woderful aquaintences on there and so many have inspired me!  So many wonderful blogs were found and  some were opening up their very own shops.  This made me really think!

I had dreamed for years about having my very own place to share my creations with people plus make a little bit of money(just a perk to me).  The sharing was what I had dreamed about.    The hubs and I had talked about it through the years, but it just never seemed like the right time or we didn't have the money.  Plus our girls are almost grown.  So....I guess now it's my turn to get to be me and do what I love doing!

I am opening up my very own shop....hopefully to be built and ready by the end of summer.  I would so love it if it were done before then though!  I have been buying things left and right, some to sell and some to decorate with.

Here are a few photo's of what I've found....

Some things I have already been working on since I get so excited.  My vision is to have white beadboard with beautiful mouldings, an angled ceiling with this chandi all painted and sparkled up hanging from it.  The fireplace mantle will be redone and a focal point when first walking in.  The desk is mine to sit at with the chair that's been redone already.  Shelving will be painted and shabby'd up for all of the lovelies that I have already.  And that beautiful headboard will be made into a bench.  I am thinking of painting the floors in a diamond checkerboard in an aqua with cream.  May change my mind on that, but hey, it's fun dreaming!  I am still thinking about colors for the outside...maybe PINK!  I'll fianlly have that pink house that I've been dreaming about, tee he he! 

I hope to share this wonderful road that I am going down with all of you.  I haven't gotten a good night sleep from all of the dreaming I do every night and all of the talks that God and I have been having.  I thank Him so much for this dream of mine to fianlly be able to come true.  I know He's in it!