The Boxer

I have a shadow box fixation. I blame my grandmother, Nonnie. When I was a little girl, Nonnie had these delightful little shadow boxes hanging in her entryway. The dioramas depicted primitive country kitchens with a charming little mouse featured prominently in each one. I adored them and never forgot about them. Unfortunately, my grandmother hadn't kept them when she moved to a new home, so I had to turn to Ebay in my quest for replacements. Ebay rarely lets me down, and that time was no exception. They were made by Enesco in the 1970s, and even though a lot of them were made, there are surprisingly few on the resale market! But Ebay came through for me, and few clicks later, I had adorable mouse dioramas on their way. They've been in my kitchen ever since, and I never tire of them.

How cute are these???

You'd think that two kitchen dioramas would be enough. After all, how many tiny rooms in boxes does one girl need? So far, the answer appears to be four- though I'm not ruling out future acquisitions.

This cheerful Southwestern scene joined the collection after I found it in a junk shop. It's nothing particularly special or valuable, but it's colorful and fun, and that's good enough for me.

I love the dried chili peppers!!

This is my latest find. My mom and I wandered across it this weekend as we were exploring one of my favorite antique stores- the awesomely named Junk in the Trunk. It's missing a couple of pieces, but at $9.50, I consider it a steal. It's (probably) a German Black Forest piece, probably from the 1940s. In great condition, they can go for around $150. This one isn't in great condition, but it's still totally cool, and well worth $10. I wish I knew more about where it came from, but I'm glad to have it either way.

Junk in the Trunk also yielded this really cool cork carving. These were really popular souvenirs in China in the 1940s. My other grandmother, Mimi, had one that now lives at my mother's house. She refused to let me steal it, so I had to buy my own. Then, a year later, I found another tiny one that I picked up for the low, low price of $1.

A whole tiny world in a box!!

My collection of tiny worlds makes me ridiculously happy. Maybe it's because they're so calm. There are no kids arguing, no laundry piling up, no floors that need mopping. Other than an occasional dusting with a paintbrush, they don't need anything to stay serene and lovely. And who couldn't use a little more serenity in their hectic lives!

Shenanigans!!

I don't really know when St. Patrick's Day became a holiday with lots of decorations. I also don't really care, because it's delightful. St. Patrick's Day has all kind of fun stuff- green glittery shamrocks, corned beef, heavy drinking, pinching people... What's not to love? I've embraced all the secular flotsam and jetsom that surrounds the day, and that includes the decorations.

I spent yesterday afternoon turning the living room etagere into an homage to the Irish. Even Goldie Horn got a fabulous shamrock headband!

I threw in some crap from the Dollar Tree and some mini canvases I painted a few years ago, and a fun banner from Target. (Seriously, who doesn't love shenanigans??)

But my very favorite part is my leprechaun village. I made this a few years ago using the cheap little unfinished wooden birdhouses from Michaels. All it took was a bag of pebbles from the Dollar Tree, spackle, craft paint, moss, twigs, and glue to turn them into adorable tiny stone cottages. Add in some moss mats, greenery, and tiny fairy lights, and you have a village fit for a leprechaun king. I stand in front of it and stare at it at least five times a day. It's so green!! And charming!!! I just want to shrink myself and have a pint in the tiny pub. Honestly, I think I might love it more than my Christmas villages, and that's really saying something.

It's even more charming with the lights on!

So even though the leprechauns will only be in residence for two weeks before the bunnies start edging them out, I'll enjoy their little hamlet every day. And if you need me, you can find me staring longingly at miniature cottages, and idly dreaming about pots of gold at the end of rainbows.

Ancient Chinese Wisdom

Hello... Is there anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me... After a couple of months of radio silence, I'm back and ready to blog. It took me a couple of months to recover from the holiday hoopla, and then everyone had the flu for three straight weeks, so my only projects were Lysoling and cloroxing everything. Plus, it's hard to get motivated when it's cold and gray, and you're still poor from Christmas.But Spring is springing, and I'm ready to make everything pretty!! I have a list a mile long, but we'll start slowly.

I have finally painted EVERY SINGLE ROOM in this house. My oldest son was a holdout. He liked the weird, bilious, grey-green that his room was painted when we moved in. But a few months ago he wanted to move some furniture around, which meant we had to move some art around, and he was finally ready for a paint change. He chose a dark, moody grey that totally fits his dark, moody teenage attitude!! I don't have many pictures since he turned it back into a disgusting hovel of dirty dishes, coke cans, and sweaty clothes basically as soon as I closed the paint can. This is as much as I could snap before the filth began to creep back in.

This is the only clean space in the room

I also managed to finally paint the kitchen trim that looked like it had been through a war. But I don't have any pictures because it's boring. Painting trim is the least satisfying project ever, and I only have about five miles of it left to go. Yay...

But I did do a quickie project the other day that makes me smile every time I see it- and it took me less than 5 minutes and cost $1. I'm a big fan of fortune cookies. Not the actual cookie- those taste like slightly sweet cardboard, but I love a good fortune. And every once in a while, you'll get one that's really great. When that happens, I like to keep them. But it's very hard to keep up with an inspiring message on a tiny slip of paper, so I turn them into art. My husband and I got these years ago, and they sit on a shelf in our bedroom.

It's been true so far!

The other night I cracked open a fortune cookie to find this little gem, "You will overcome difficult times." Now, I realize that's generic, but we've had a few mild struggles lately, so it spoke to me. I saw it as both a promise and encouragement and worth keeping around. Luckily, I already had this tiny dollar tree frame sitting around. They're actually meant to be place card holders, but I'd picked one up to frame a sweet note that one of my twins had written me on a mini post-it, and I grabbed another while I was at it. All I had to do was glue my fortune on a scrap of sparkly cardstock I had on hand, and slide it in the frame, and voila'- art for a dollar!

Well, I guess technically it would be a dollar and the cost of Chinese take-out, but my in-laws brought that when they babysat my kids, so it only cost me a buck. And now I have a little bit of encouragement on my kitchen windowsill for the days that I start to doubt myself.

Fa ra ra ra ra...

Christmas Decorating Log
Day 27

I can no longer use my fingers due to the lacerations and arthritis that I incurred while fluffing 47 miles of garland. The dog is buried under a 7 ft. drift of fake snow. The incredibly bright c9 bulbs on the kitchen tree have given us all sunburn, and I'm pretty sure I have glitter lung. But it's festive. So f***ing festive...

Okay, so maybe it's not that bad. It really only took four days, and I've regained full use of my hands. We've started wearing sunglasses in the kitchen, but I'm still not sure what to do about this pesky glitter lung. (It's a real thing- look it up). But who cares- it's finally done!!!!

It kind of looks like Christmas projectile vomited all over my house, but no one can accuse us of not having the holiday spirit!! Would you like to join me on a holiday tour of home? Not really? Too bad! (And yes, the pictures are crappy. Sorry, the good camera is broken.)

Welcome! Please note the festive pot

of dead mums I forgot to remove!

The foyer theme is "psychedelic Grandma 

got run over by a reindeer"

Lovely!

AAArrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!

Shitter's full...

Sam, our stupid elf that no one believes

in, yet he still showed up. 

So bright you gotta wear shades!!

No, seriously, it's blinding. And hot.

Even the bathroom wasn't spared.

We added a new tree this year, 

because two just wasn't enough. 

What's Cookin'?

Happy Thanksgiving Eve Eve!!! I currently have 2 1/2 gallons of turkey brine cooling in my fridge, and I'm preparing for my second-favorite day of the year, Cooking Day!! Thanksgiving is obviously the best day of the year, but Cooking Day runs it a close second. That's when I put on my coziest yoga pants, tie on my apron, and spend the entire day in the kitchen preparing my Thanksgiving offerings in the glow of the Thankful tree. I figured I'd share some recipes with you and give you the chance to share your favorites or offer advice on the turkey-day prep.

So festive, and filled with gratitude!!

Let's start with the bird- after all, it's called Turkey Day for a reason!!! We have a totally awesome pellet smoker that we LOVE, so we're smoking the turkey this year. My husband and I have been researching smoker recipes for a week, and the one thing they all agree on is brine. Nobody wants a dry turkey, so our 16-pounder is spending the rest of the day in this beautifully fragrant brine. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/my-favorite-turkey-brine/ I've used it before, and it can't be beat.

We're still deciding on the best method for smoking.I definitely don't want to lose those delicious drippings, so I think we're going to keep it in a roasting pan. And my husband bought some butter injector thing, so we're apparently going to shoot up our turkey like a heroin junkie. I'm still deciding on whether or not I'm going to do an herb mixture under the skin, or let the butter do its business. And then there's the carving quandary. Carve before refrigerating? Refrigerate whole and reheat and carve the next day? I'd welcome your input.

Dressing is a no-brainer. I use my mother-in-law's recipe because it's perfection. You take two bags of Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing and basically follow the recipe on the bag, only double the butter and chicken stock. Maybe it seems like cheating to start with a bag? I don't know, all I know is that it's DELICIOUS. And sure, there are lots of great dressing recipes out there, but if you're looking for something that's foolproof, I'd highly recommend this one.

Thanks, Nana!!!

Another thing that came to me with marriage was a love of cranberry sauce. It's not like I'd never seen it before I got married, but I'd never been really inspired to try that gelatinous can-shaped log. But I was a fool!!! Luckily, my husband remedied that on our first Thanksgiving and I've been a cranberry convert ever since. While I've got no complaints about the canned variety, I like to go a little fancier for the big day. So I go back to the Pioneer Woman (that girl's got Thanksgiving down!) for sauce that's so good my children eat it with a spoon. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/cranberry-pomegranate-sauce/

Gravy is pretty basic- turkey drippings, flour, turkey stock, salt, and pepper. Sometimes I throw in white wine and thyme if I'm feeling fancy. The key is to make LOTS of it. I know a lot of folks use the neck and the giblets, but I just can't. Boiling the neck looks like boiling a big, old, wrinkled... nevermind, I just don't.

Once all that is done, it's time to start on my very favorite part- dessert!!! This year I'm making two sinfully delicious cheesecakes. The first is a chocolate chip cheesecake with an oreo crust and a sea-salt caramel topping. The other is a pecan pie/pumpkin cheesecake hybrid. Recipes are below, but I'm warning you- they're dangerously delicious.

Oh, and you might be wondering, "where are the sides??" No worries, there will be sides aplenty. We have a big crowd, so we do potluck. I'm taking care of the turkey, gravy, dressing, cranberry sauce and desserts, and leaving the rest to everyone else. But it couldn't be Thanksgiving without the sweet potato souffle' and broccoli casserole recipes handed down from my grandmother, or a newer favorite- my mom's cranberry apple casserole.

My Dad's favorite

Divine!!!

Mimi's recipes are the best

SherBear's specialty

I hope you enjoy some of these recipes, and that you have an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving! May your turkey be juicy and your family discussions friendly!


Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Crust:
1 sleeve of Oreos crushed to fine crumbs
3 tablespoons melted butter

combine well and press firmly in the bottom of a springform pan.

Filling:

3 blocks of softened cream cheese

1 cup of sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla (Trader Joe's bourbon vanilla if you've got it)

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each, beat in vanilla, then fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 350* for about an hour or until the edges are set. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

Topping: 

You can use the one in this recipe http://jessicaerinjarrell.blogspot.com/2016/01/salted-caramel-chocolate-chip-cheesecake.html or you can do what I do- use a jar of fleur de sel caramel sauce from Trader Joe's. 

Spread it over the chilled cheesecake and watch your family devour it.

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/2 cups gingersnaps crushed to fine crumbs

3 tablespoons melted butter

Combine well and press firmly into springform pan

Pecan pie layer:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

2 eggs lightly beaten

1/3cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup of flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon bourbon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and boil for 1 minute, Remove from heat and stir in nuts, bourbon, and vanilla. Set aside to cool slightly. Whisk beaten eggs into filling until smooth. Pour over gingersnap crust.

Cheesecake layer:

3 blocks of softened cream cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 can of pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!!)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in pumpkin, spices and vanilla. Pour over pecan layer. Bake at 350* for one hour or until edges are set. Cool to room temp and refrigerate. If it cracks, no big deal. Top it with some whipped cream before serving!

Holi-Dazed and Confused

It's that time of year where you never know what holiday you'll see represented if you take a walk through your neighborhood. The majority of mine is very Thanksgiving- mums, decorative gourds, your various autumn splendor, but we've got a few errant jack-o-lanterns lurking around, and I did spy a sneaky reindeer on a front porch this morning. Such is to be expected during the holidaze.

I had Halloween packed up before noon on November first, and am currently rocking some decorative pumpkins and a pot of mostly-dead mums. It's festive.

But I realized I never posted our Halloween finery- and it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. So let's rewind a couple of weeks to check out the spooky mantle and terrifying trick-or-treaters....

and the horrifying haunted house!!

Not so scary during the day, but at night...

I spent the day of Halloween freehanding scary silhouettes and chasing my kids down to trace them, then taping them into the windows for an awesomely creepy effect. I was pretty pleased with the overall effect, and will hopefully make it even more spooktacular next year.

My twins are always losing their heads...

Now the ghosts are gone, and I'm preparing for my favorite holiday- Thanksgiving. What could possibly be better than Thanksgiving? It has everything- food, family, decorations, multiple pies... But while I'm talking turkey, several of my nearest and dearest (you know who you are) are already dreaming of a white Christmas while rocking around the Christmas tree with their jingle bells.

Early decorators, bless their hearts. I've always considered them the scourge of humanity, and basically everything that's wrong with the world. But this year, I'm feeling slightly less hostile. Because y'all the world is feeling a little scary right now. Ever since we put an Oompa Loompa with a god complex in the highest office in the land, things feel more unstable than they have in a long time. And while this is not the place for a political rant about all the things I'd trust more than the current "leadership," (a monkey in a clever hat, Old Yeller- with the hydrophobia, egg salad that's been in my trunk for three days in August, steak from the Dollar Tree...), I think many of us will agree that the world doesn't feel very kind right now.

And nothing shows more love, humanity, and kindness than Christmas. So when I see more early decorators than ever in my facebook feed, I get it. We need a little Christmas- maybe not this very minute, but whatever works for you. Instead of rolling my eyes and huffing a sigh of disgust, I'm shrugging my shoulders and saying, "whatever. Shine on, you crazy diamond." And while my many, MANY boxes of decorations will stay packed until Black Friday, I will fully admit to a little Christmas crafting...

Maybe you can have Christmas without a glittery

village for your powder room, but I can't.

Whatever you're currently celebrating- whether you're still surrounded by Halloween candy, planning your Thanksgiving feast, or wrapping presents like a jolly little elf, I hope your Holidaze are happy!!

The Table That Nearly Destroyed My Marriage

There are lots of things I love about my house, but our cave-like living room was not one of them. It only has a couple of windows, and the overhead light provided by the ceiling fan is harsh and ugly. We looked into adding recessed lighting, but since it's a two-story house, it's difficult, and there prohibitively expensive. So for a year and a half, I made do with lamps. I had five of them in there, which you'd think would be enough- but you would be wrong. Because even with all that illumination, the area around the sofa was still a pit of darkness.

That's really the sofa's fault. We have a giant, ridiculously comfortable sectional that we named Couchzilla. We love it, but it's massive- like literally fills two entire walls- so there's no room for end tables. And my husband is very particular about lights that reflect into the tv. VERY PARTICULAR. It seriously makes him crazy, so every night around 8:00, I'd have to turn off two of my lamps, and spend the evening in a dim cave. I was usually asleep on the couch by 8:30 because it was too dark to stay awake.

I was tired of missing the second half of every tv show, so something had to be done. We had been looking for a long, skinny console table, but the problem was that it needed to be REALLY long and REALLY skinny. And anything that looked like it could even begin to work was very high-end and had four-digit price tags. Nuh uh, not happening.

On a Saturday TJ Maxx jaunt with my mom, I found a table that I thought might work. It wasn't quite long enough, and I thought it might be a touch too wide, but the price was right, so I took it home. After wedging it into place, and using my mantel lamps to stage it, I was unsure about it. It made the couch stick out awfully far from the wall. And that made the other end of the couch extend past the doorway, but I decided to live with it for a day or two.

Not bad...

Ummm, well....

Hmmmm

That night I had light, glorious light!!! It was so cozy and illuminated and I swore I was never going back. They'd have to pry that table from my cold, dead hands. Unfortunately, my husband was willing to do just that. He hated the table. He didn't mind the light, but he thought the table was the wrong size and Couchzilla looked stupid sticking so far out from the wall. I kind of agreed, but I was willing to overlook it. But he was not, and that set off an EPIC fight.There was yelling and threats of bodily harm (obviously, I was the one making those). I stomped out in a rage to go to the grocery store, and the child that tagged along asked "are you and Daddy going to get a divorce?" (We don't fight much, so he was a little traumatized...) I replied, "Of course not, silly!" But I muttered under my breath, "unless he messes with my table..."

I returned in a less-crazy state and was actually willing to listen as he showed me plans he had found online to DIY an inexpensive table. We could custom build something for less than I'd paid for the table that really didn't work in the space. I conceded that he was probably right on this one, and sent him off to Lowe's to procure supplies.

A couple of hours later, we had a table. It wasn't perfect- and there are definitely some wonky parts. I don't think the stair-banister rails we used as legs are perfectly even, and there are some gaps between the legs and sides, but It's all hidden by the couch!! A little paint, a little stain, and we were in business. Divorce averted!!

7 feet long, 6 inches wide

I found two really great lamps at TJ Maxx when I returned the table, so we were good to go. Now I have all the light I need even when I have to turn off those lamps that so rudely impair my husband's optimal tv viewing. A family in crisis has been saved by DIY!!

Success!!

Before we go, I have an exciting announcement!! Since our house isn't quite crazy enough and doesn't have quite enough dudes in it, we decided it was time for a new baby boy!

 Meet Max Power...