Cinnamon sticks

I found out this amazing little hack this past week with cinnamon

sticks.  You can burn them just the same as you do with

incense.  Just be sure when you light them that you take a

minute to get them lit.  

I set mine in a small candle holder then lit it. 

The house smells like fall right now!

who would have quessed!

Give it a try~ 

Rancher Hat Shop

What an amazing weekend away celebrating my girlie's birthday!

We had a cowgirl weekend complete with cowboy hat making,

bull riding shows, horseback riding and dancing, and just plain girl fun!

But let's talk about this amazing hat shop called Rancher Hat shop

located in Scottsdale, Az

You walk into sheer fun, look at the hat wall with all the colorful hats in all styles imaginable. 

Once you have picked your hat you go to the creation station to choose

what you want your hat to be decorated. 

They have an enormous amounts of ribbons, charms, feathers, leather, chains, you name it. 

The gals that work there help you if you need to make your 

hat come to life. 

The gal is finishing the touches on one of our hats by

branding a cross on it. 

It turned out this gal was from our home state city of Arlington.

So fun that she was the gal we got to make our hats with. 

This is the hat color I chose, thought about the feather

but went in another direction and wrapped leather around mine. 

my two girlies with their new hats and all smiles. 

and me with my new cowgirl hat.

It was such a fun experience and weekend of fun adventures!

Galentine gift ideas

Galentine's day party, have you given them a go?

This will be my third year putting one on.

It's so much fun!

I usually have a lunch and and then we all swap swag!

I found these cute bags at Homegoods

remember these tea cup candies and note cards I made?

They got tucked into these little bags also.

One more fun item I found at the dollar tree were these

cute reusable valentine grocery totes.

It can be easily folded up and tucked into a little gift bag. 

It's time to host a Galentine's day lunch, join in the fun! 

I have mine scheduled for next friday so stayed tuned 

for some photos. 

Paper Bows!

Bows and bows are everywhere!

How about we make some cute paper bows that you can decorate for Valentine's day or bridal showers or birthdays.

Grab yourself some 12 x 12" scrapbook paper and cut it into 4 6" pieces. 

This is the new 12 x 12" scrapbook double sided paper.

This Valentine paper is double sided and FREE right now if you make a purchase of $50 or more with Stampin UP!

 HERE is the link to the paper, be sure to order with my name,

you can purchase anything from either the annual catalog or the mini, 

just have to spend $50 for the free paper.  It's gorgeous so check it out! 

Cut the sheet into 4, 6" pieces. 

Take each square at a time and fold them diagonally 

each way so that you have what looks like a pyraimid. 

Take your scissors and cut up each fold to the center

being careful not to cut through. 

Take two opposite sides together and cut just a very small

little corner of the paper off at an angle. 

You can see left to right the little bit of paper

that we cut away.

At the bottom cut up each side to create just a little strip

in the middle. 

Using your glue gun glue each piece of the bow to the center of the bow. 

Here just three are glued down, do all four. 

They should look like above. 

Now take the tail and fold it backwards, then wrap the front of the bow with the tail and glue them down.

I ended up making many of the bows and attaching them

as a garland.  

I hung the bow banner along side of my paper poms, 

they look so cute together! 

Cute? helpful?  will you try them~?

Valentine Gnomes

Happy sunday!

Challenging you today to look through your christmas craft stash and see if there is anything you have on hand that you can up cycle and use for Valentine's day.

I found these left over "christmas" gnomes from classes I had over the holidays.  

I quickly decided they could be easily used for Valentine's day.

I got out the acrylic paints and while I was on the phone with work details I painted away.  

The little coffee cups I stamp on paper then glued them to

cardboard and cut them out. 

The hearts on the other gnomes are little wood hearts. 

Again, using ALL the left over things I have. 

Take a peek and see what you've got, you might surprise

yourself! 

Homemade Valentines

Who says we are too old for old fashioned handmade

Valentines?   Not me!

I showed about three years ago how to make these yarn hearts 

here on my blog so I thought I would make some pink ones this year,

(using up pink yarn I have on hand) to make some. 

I always have my cream ones out on display all year round and whenever someone new comes over they want to know where I got them.  Well,  you can make them!

So I decided to give them to the gals in my women's group for Valentine's day.

I got online and found this pretty angel image and printed it

out and stamped "nothing fancy just love" on it and cut around it.

I grabbed some 5 x 7" cello bags and added the made

yarn hearts and the little valentine.  

So sweet don't you think?

The pink yarn hearts all packaged up.

If you want to know how to make them

head over HERE on my blog for instructions. 

After I got the hearts all  "wrapped" I stamped a little tag

that reads "love" and used a vintage safety pin to attach

to the heart.  If you don't have a vintage safety pin then 

the gold or silver ones would look just as nice. 

Also,  I found this yarn at the Dollar Tree.

Big skein of it in many colors for $1.25

Such a steal! 

Sweet Potatoe bites

Looking for a tasty appetizer or smaller lunch idea?

You are going to love these sweet potatoe bites.

Recipe below

Start by cutting your sweet potatoes into 1/4" thickness

Brush you pan with olive oil and set the cut potatoes

onto the pan. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

While it's heating up mix the chopped walnuts, dried cranberries,

spinach, honey, orange zest.  

Take some feta or goat cheese and add a dolop

on top potatoes

Now on top of that put a spoonful of the walnuts,etc.

Don't these look amazing!

Here's the recipe

I used goat cheese instead of the ricotta/blue cheese

Give them a try!