Charming Wine

I had so much fun creating these unique wine charms. I saw this idea in a magazine a few years ago. They used plastic buttons and hoop earrings. I knew I had TONS of shell buttons given to me by my Granny that where collected by my Paw Paw for years. I decided to also include beautiful glass beads. I had a little difficulty locating the silver hoops, even when we had more than the average amount of craft store in the area. I ended up finding them on e-bay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Silver-Plated-25mm-Earwire-Hoops-Wine-Charm-Rings-/180654440245?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0fd7ff35. They were very affordable and I could make tons with one order.
I decided to make sets of 6 to 8. I paired the button color with the similar bead color. I love the way the came out. Every guest will easily be able to keep up with their own glass. You could of course mix up the colors or add more or less.
These make wonderful hostess, birthday, teacher, or just because gifts! I would love to see photos of any that you create.
Cheers!
Toni

I have been a little busy.

So sorry I have not posted in so long. I have been busy with Birthdays. Since we meet 13 years ago, Allan and I have had fun celebrating our birthdays a week apart.(We also say we have to “break-up” the week between our Birthdays because he is to old for me for that week, and we also use the time to gather “new material” since we know everything about each other.) Some years are a little more exciting than others. We have done everything from Mexico to nothing at all.

This year I have to say was a fun one. I threw Allan a party at our house on August 26th (when he returned from a road trip). I grilled burgers, bought a huge pork roast, and got him his dream cake. It was a Girl Scout Thin Mint ice cream cake. I have to say it was WONDERFUL! All of our friends came to celebrate with him.

For my Birthday I decided I wanted to go out. We invited everyone to join us at the Crown Winery (only 5 miles from our house.. very nice!) Everyone brought finger food. We were able to do a full wine tasting and buy what we liked. The music was great, the company was even greater. My dear friend Lara made the most AMAZING carrot cake I have ever eaten! She said she would give me the recipe. Maybe I will ask to share it for everyone to enjoy. I savored the last few pieces for a few days after the party. I wish I had a close up photo of the cake, but my camera battery was dead and I didn’t have the self control to wait to get another. LOL!

Friends at the Winery.

Blowing out all 32 candles on the wonderful carrot cake.

 

HAPPY HAPPY TIMES!!

I love this new necklace.

I have to admit I am pretty good with a glue gun. If I can find a project that only requires a glue gun I will try it. I found this beautiful necklace tutorial the other day online.
http://www.littlemissmomma.com/2010/12/pom-pom-bib-necklace-tutorial-lmm.html
I HAD to try it. Now I am in love. They are so cute.
I decided to use a nice linen fabric. I believe these will be so great for the fall. I have already made three.

Summertime means…

Oh how I have enjoyed Summer. One of the best parts of Summer is the fresh fruits and vegetables. We actually planted our first garden this year. It has been so wonderful to eat food that we grew ourselves. I always look forward to grilling out, watching the kiddos run around in the back yard, and relaxing in the warm sun. I will miss the Summer when it leaves us soon. But, Fall is my second favorite season so I will be okay.

Here are a few of the wonderful meals I enjoyed this season.

This was a strawberry I got earlier this Summer. It just made me smile!

Yes this is a b.b.q. bacon cheeseburger. I LOVE grilling!

This is a grilled romaine steak Caesar salad. You have to try grilling the whole head of romaine lettuce. It adds a wonderful flavor.

I made fresh strawberry cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese frosting for the Hollis church wedding reception. They were SO GOOD!!

This is one of my favorite desserts for the summer. Fresh blueberry and peach cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream. It has to be HOT so the ice cream melts all over it!!

Double decker BLT with fresh  toasted French bread and tomatoes from the garden.

Roasted Vine ripe tomatoes (from our garden) stuffed with creamed spinach and topped with fresh mozzarella cheese.

Sophia begged for weeks to get a REAL coconut so she could “get a straw and drink the coconut milk out”. Well it finally happened. She wasn’t as impressed as she thought she would be! It didn’t taste like sweetened coconut.

Preston’s favorite lunch. PB&J with grapes and cantaloupe.

I also made a 2 layer Key Lime pie last week. But it was eaten before a photo could be shot. LOL! I know it will be made again very soon!

That is all for now. I am getting hungry now!!

I will be posting tomorrow about a fun craft project I just tried. You must see!!

Here I go.. FINALLY

Welcome to my blog!

This is something that I have wanted to do forEVER but never had the time; that is until now. I have been extremely busy for the past 7 years...finishing college, being married to a traveling husband, having two children, working, moving, moving again, owning my own business, and daily life. You know, not TOO much. I have been saving ideas, recipes, photos, and thoughts for years. Now, I would like to start sharing those things that makes me happy.

The first thing that makes me happy is my wonderful family. I have a terrific and supportive husband, Allan. He is the best daddy to our children and I love him more everyday. We have two beautiful children. Sophia is 6, and Preston is 3. I love them more than anything in the world. They bring me such joy. We live in small town USA now. I joke our cities keep getting smaller. We started in Miami FL, moved to Newnan GA, then Jackson, TN, and finally (for now) small Medina TN. After growing up in VERY small Mountain View AR, it feels like we are getting closer to home. We enjoyed designing and building our house here last year. I will be sharing many "happies" as we make this house a home together.

For those of you that have known me most of my life you know I have a love of food; well, more like a passion. I started that love in my Granny's kitchen at a young age. She has always been an inspiration to me, particularly in the kitchen. She learned from the best, her mother my Granny "B". She let me really "cook". She allowed me to get my hands in it and learn the techniques of cooking. Usually good ole' southern food, especially desserts. That is also where my sweet tooth was born.

From her kitchen I moved to her backyard, where I created masterpiece culinary creations everyday after school. I had the best looking mud pies you have ever seen. One has even been published in a cookbook (Thanks Stacy). That lasted until I was about 10 or 11. I came home one day and it all was gone. She said I was to old for mud pies anymore. She still let me use her kitchen, though. When I am stressed, upset, happy, or excited the first thing I think of is .."what can I make?" In this blog you will get to experience the foods that make me happy, no matter what mood I am in.

Another thing that makes me happy, for the last 6 years, is my new found "crafty side". I have never been able to draw or paint. After having my first child, Sophia, I started dabbling in hair bows with my friend, Susan. Well, that turned into such a stress relieving hobby for me. Before I knew it other friends wanted bows too.

When I moved to TN, in 2008, I met my dear friend, Rhonda. She is much more talented than me in the "Crafty" department, especially sewing. She helped me buy my first sewing/embroidery machine. Before we knew it we had a booming little business started. The last 2 years we have enjoyed having home shows and designing children's clothing and gifts. I have decided this fall not to sew for the masses, for now. I want to spend some much needed time with my wonderful family and on myself. And yes, finally blog a little about my life.

I hope you enjoy all my happy moments with me.

Toni