the new garden cart

While the twins were here yesterday, they helped Pa put together the garden cart he received at Christmas. It was quite a project!

Rose Red (looking at the instruction manual): “Which of these is English and which is Spanish?”

Pa's new garden cart

Pa's new garden cart

Pa's new garden cart

Pa's new garden cart

Pa: “Where do these holes go?”
Snow White: “PA! Look at the instruction manual!!”

Pa's new garden cart

Snow White: “I never got to use a wrench before!”

Pa's new garden cart

Snow White: “This is like we learned in first grade. First things first. First we work, then we play!”

Pa's new garden cart

Pa’s patient hands…Grand’s eager helping hands…

Pa's new garden cart

Pa's new garden cart

They learned about nuts and bolts and washers.

Pa's new garden cart

Pa: “Zero spare parts left over.”

Pa's new garden cart

Time to play…

Pa's new garden cart

Untitled

Thanking God for the wonderful gift of grandchildren!

~~Rhonda, AKA “Ma”

decoupaged Christmas ornaments

This week I made two new decoupaged ornaments. These are made with pictures from Christmas cards.

The first one is a city scene with a couple pulling a sled piled with gifts. This is the front…

Front - Christmas gifts

…and the back.

Back - Christmas gifts

The second one has dogs and cats on it. These pictures came from two different Christmas cards.

Christmas pets

Christmas pets

Christmas pets

I wrote a tutorial for decoupaged ornaments in 2012. Decoupaged Ornaments Tutorial. Reading over it now, I find it inadequate. I’ve learned a lot since then and have some tips that help produce a nicer looking ornament. I will work on a new tutorial and post it soon.

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ february 29, 2016

Last Wednesday we had three inches of snow and blowing wind.

mulberry tree in outline

And Sunday, the Lenten Roses were blooming in the warm sunshine.

Lenten Rose

DH dug a pot of daffodil bulbs and we watched them bloom on the kitchen counter.

Daffs

I continued work at the craft desk and added charms and dangles to finish a set of sixteen bird ornaments.

Finished bird ornaments

The cats are always a great source of entertainment. This evening, Clark and Winston were the ones being entertained, though, as they closely watched DH put together an Ikea cart. It will come in handy next to my recliner. Everything I need at my fingertips.

Cheering section

Sunday, Older Son and his wife prepared dinner for us. It was delicious! And so much fun to have them in the kitchen. We had planned on roasted chicken, but the day was so beautiful outdoors that Older Son grilled the chicken instead. One was prepared with an herb rub and one with a spicy rub. So good!

Delicious dinner

This week’s menu isn’t quite that ambitious!

Monday
Fridge Food

Tuesday
Spicy Tomato Cream Pasta
Garlic Bread
Sugar Snap Peas
Garden Salad

Wednesday
Oven BBQ Pork Steaks
Crispy Roasted Potatoes
Corn
Brussels Sprouts

Thursday
Cube Steaks with Mushrooms
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Steamed Carrots

Friday
Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
Whole Wheat Honey Bread
Beefy Tomato Soup

Saturday
Ham or Turkey Sandwiches
Grapes

Sunday
Crock Pot Creamy Ranch Chicken
Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower

You can find many menu ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ february 22, 2016

The twins came over for the weekend. It was a lot of fun to have them around. I sent them out with my camera to take pictures of signs of spring. Rose Red was very interested in all the camera buttons and settings.

Taking pictures of signs of spring.

Snow white spent more time looking for interesting things to photograph.

Looking for signs of spring

They found some lovely signs of spring.

crocus

daffodils

daffodils

We have a busy schedule this week, so the menu is accommodating that.

Monday
Fridge Food

Tuesday
Carry Out

Wednesday
Crock Pot Pork Chops
Oven Fried Potato Wedges
Green Beans

Thursday
Homemade Pizza

Friday
Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
Celery and Carrot Sticks
Grapes

Saturday
Spaghetti
Garlic Bread
Corn
Peas

Sunday
Older Son and Dear DIL are making dinner for us. I love it when they come over and gift us with a delicious meal. It’s one of my favorite things we do together.
Roast Chicken
Potatoes
Asparagus
Green Beans Almondine
Buttermilk Biscuits

You can find many menu ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

spring is in my backyard

DH found these in the back yard yesterday. I am so happy to see them!

First crocus of the season.

Crocus

So refreshing to see the beautiful colors of crocus blooms.

Spring!

In the evening, Middle Daughter and I caught up on several episodes of Top Chef. A friend gave us ten pounds of pecans, so while I watched, I picked pecan meats. Got a quart with lots more to crack and pick.

Picked a quart of pecan meats.

The grands are here today and the weather is beautiful. I think we’ll have some fun!

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ february 15, 2016

We are seeing signs of spring, even if it’s only inside the house. Our late blooming Christmas cactus has a bud.

first bud

And the hippeastrum is blooming. My mother called this clivia, but that isn’t the correct name. She took a start from this plant at her great-uncle’s house years ago. It is commonly called an amaryllis, but it’s not a true amaryllis.

hippeastrum

I made peach pie for my Valentine. While I had the rolling pin out, I also made a pie for our friend Gary and had enough crust and peach filling left to make a little pie that we shared with our friends Roger and Marilyn.

one little pie, two big ones

I’ve been working on ornaments. I ordered some small deer last week. Today I painted them white and glittered them.

painting and glittering the new deer

Then I made an ornament using one of the little deer.

dioraa ornament

I also made 30 new soldered ornaments this week using Christmas cards with bird pictures. Here are a few of them.

soldered ornaments

soldered ornaments

Getting down to business, here’s the menu for the week.

Monday
Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

Tuesday
Carry Out

Wednesday
Ravioli and Cheese Bake
Salad
Green Beans

Thursday
Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti
Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Corn
Garlic Bread

Friday
Smoked Pork Shank and Beans
Cornbread

Saturday
Fridge Food

Sunday
Spaghetti Carbonara
Garlic Bread
Sugar Snap Peas
Corn

You can find many menu ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

picture puzzle blocks 2

Wednesday afternoon, my friend Tricia came over and we worked on picture puzzle blocks together. I made a set four years ago. The tutorial is here:

picture puzzle blocks

This time, I made a set with pictures of the twins. The blocks still need another coat of Mod Podge and then a sealer. I’ll get to that later today. The finished size for this puzzle is six inches by three inches, using two inch square blocks.

picture puzzle blocks

picture puzzle blocks

picture puzzle blocks

picture puzzle blocks

This one shows what happens if the picture isn’t cropped to avoid having someone’s face caught in the wrong spot. This picture had been cropped previously and then saved, so I didn’t have the original. I had to work with what I had. But I love the picture, so used it anyway. If these were gifts for children, they wouldn’t mind, or even notice, probably.

picture puzzle blocks

This picture shows Snow White and Rose Red wearing Christmas sweatshirts I made for DH and our children about 25 years ago. Snow White (on the left) is wearing the one her daddy wore and Rose Red is wearing the one her grandpa wore.

picture puzzle blocks

Your turn!

picture puzzle blocks

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ february 8, 2016

Today is cold and windy. Overcast and snowing now and then. I’m thankful for our warm home.

thankful for a warm house

A good day for Winston to catnap in a comfy spot.

Winston's catnap

I finished the menu for the week. I had it laid out yesterday but didn’t get around to finishing the post. Here it is. The Slow Cooker Chicken and Corn Chowder was very good. I added leftover mashed potatoes to it and also two cups of shredded cheese. Next time, I will add a can of creamed corn to it in addition to the whole kernel corn. Also, I didn’t add a thickener. It didn’t need it. Perhaps because I used mashed potatoes.

Monday
Slow Cooker Chicken and Corn Chowder
Harvest Grain Toast

Tuesday
Fridge Food

Wednesday
Sloppy Joes
Homemade Buns
Roasted Ranch Potatoes
Green Beans

Thursday
Chicken and Rice Casserole
Sautéed Mushrooms
Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Friday
Smoked Ham Shank and Beans
Cornbread

Saturday
Fridge Food

Sunday / Happy Valentine’s Day!
Marinated Pork Tenderloin
Mashed Potatoes
Corn
Green Beans with Mushroom Sauce
Apple Pie and Homemade Ice Cream

You can find many menu ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

a few shadow boxes and diorama ornaments from the past week

I have been using Christmas cards that were kindly shared with me to make some new shadow boxes and diorama ornaments. Following are a few of them. Note: the pictures don’t give a good sense of scale. These ornaments range in size from two inches to three and a half inches.

Tutorial for shadow boxes from Christmas cards: shadow boxes from Christmas cards

Tutorial for diorama ornaments: Christmas ornament diorama tutorial

Size comparison

This Christmas card seemed to ask for copper colored embellishments. I have a smattering, so was able to utilize some of them on this project.

Diorama ornament

I always like the white snowy themed shadow boxes. The Christmas card used for this little box was perfect. The placement of the sleigh and bridge and the river running to the front all worked to make a pleasing scene.

Diorama ornament

A close-up of the bottle brush tree and embellishments…

Diorama ornament

I thought this pink ornament needed a pink pipe cleaner trim. I had to order the right color so it sat aside for a few days until the order arrived.

pink and green diorama

Finished. The tree topper on the little pink bottle brush tree is a spacer bead.

Diorama ornament

The ball for this ornament is three and a half inches wide. The bigger ornaments give more wiggle room for placing embellishments.

Diorama ornament

This diorama is in a two inch wide ornament ball.

Diorama ornament

The scene with the large white deer is in a three inch ornament ball. The outside of this ball has white snowflakes on a dark blue background and a frosty beaded finish. It looks very nice with the white interior.

Diorama ornament

This ornament has a snowflake on a short chain, dangling from the bottom.

Christmas diorama ornament

I painted the bunny white and, while still wet, doused him in fine white glitter. When the paint dried, I added the black eyes and pink nose with fine tip Sharpie felt pens.

bunny ornament

I spent some time online looking for items I can use in new ornaments. I ordered some mini deer, snowmen, and bunnies. Also some greenery and more pipe cleaners in new colors.

If you’re interested, I have a Pinterest board that contains a few links to places I’ve found that carry items I can use when making Putz houses or other crafts that use miniature figures or Christmas craft supplies. Follow this link:

Putz / Supplies

A piece of advice for those who want to collect embellishments for art/craft projects. Keep track of where you bought each item. I wish I had kept track of where my embellishments came from. It would make it easier to replenish the supply when I run out of a particular item. It’s a little frustrating to run out of a favorite embellishment and not know where to find it again. I have started a file in Evernote for just that purpose. I take a picture of the item, make notes about where it was purchased and how much it cost and the date I bought it. In Evernote, I can add tags and/or write a description in my notes of the item. That makes it is easy to do a search on my Evernote files to find what I need.

I hope you enjoyed the new ornaments. I’ll post again as I work on others.

My Putz Christmas card shadow boxes and diorama ornaments are featured in my Etsy shop. ChristmasNotebook

~~Rhonda

roasted ranch potatoes

I tried a new-for-me recipe this week. I based my version on this recipe that I found online. Roasted Ranch Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese

I have to use dry onion (and not a lot of it) in dishes I make because my husband is allergic to onion. The dry onion flakes don’t seem to bother him like fresh onion does. For the dry onion used in this recipe, you may use any amount of sautéed fresh onion, scallions or green onions that you like.

Roasted Ranch Potatoes

5 pounds small red potatoes
1 cup bottled Ranch dressing
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
1 teaspoon dry dill (OR 1 teaspoon dry rosemary)
1 Tablespoon dry onion (or the amount of sautéed fresh onion that you prefer)
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9×13 baking dish.

Wash the potatoes and cut into large bite-size pieces. Do not peel. Place into a large bowl.

Roasted potatoes

Place the other ingredients into the bowl and stir until the potatoes are well coated.

Roasted potatoes

Place the potatoes into the baking dish and spread evenly.

Roasted potatoes

Bake in a 400°F oven for 45-60 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Baking time depends on the size of the potato pieces.

Roasted potatoes

The potatoes were delicious with hamburgers.

Roasted potatoes

I like to cook bacon in the oven. I line a cookie sheet with foil, lay out the bacon and bake in a 400°F oven for 10-15 minutes.

Makin' bacon

For the recipe, I diced the bacon into small pieces. I used a little of the bacon grease to fry the hamburgers.

For Roasted potatoes

Everyone gave the potatoes a thumbs up. This would be a good dish to take to a potluck. I haven’t tried this recipe in a crock pot, but I think it would work well. Wouldn’t be crispy but would still taste good. I’d cook it on low for four hours or on high for two or three hours.

~~Rhonda