Reviving a favorite!

I am alway drawn to signage. I don't know what the deal is, but I just love it! Do you ever watch "American Pickers?" Each and every time they come across a vintage sign, I positively drool. Someday, I would love to have a great room wall covered in old signs.

Someday I would love to have the piles of money that are necessary to purchase a wall-full of old signs. ;P

I bought this particular sign probably seven or eight years ago at a barn sale for $1. At my last house, it sat outside on my back patio, right across the top of my potting bench. It sat there for 3 years, rain or shine, snow-covered and heat-scorched. I love what it did to the wood, but the lettering pretty much peeled right off.

I decided to hang it inside here at the new house, above the kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to read anymore! So I repainted the lettering...hopefully it doesn't detract from the authenticity of the sign!

Giving my Little Darlin' a big girl room!

In our last house, our daughter's room was literally 8 X 9. And that included the closet, which was jutted out into the room, as opposed to being set in the wall. She had no space, bless her heart! Her room was painted yellow, with bamboo flooring that was kind of yellow-ish in hue, and decorated with gerbera daisies (LOVE a gerbera daisy...anytime, anyplace).

But going to a new place means a fresh start. I decided on a color scheme of baby blue with hot pink and yellow accents. Apparently this offended some people...I was asked why I didn't let her pick out her own colors for her room. One person even went so far as to ask me if I believe I have better taste than her.

Ummmmmm......yes, I do. She's 3. The other day she put on pink flowered pants with a red shirt (part of me was proud because she chose to wear a St. Louis Cardinals shirt....but still, not with pink flowered pants).

Anyhoo.

First, I took a mirror that I bought at a yard sale for $1 (it had previously been gold, and I painted it white) and repainted it in Krylon's "Watermelon." Then I printed off a series of silhouettes from the Graphics Fairy's blog on scrapbook paper, and "matted" them on coordinating scrapbook paper. I took the white Ikea frames that had been in her room before and covered them in German glass glitter so they would sparkle.



Voila, new room!!!

(And by the way.....she loves it!!!!)

Burritos from the "leftovers"

Once again, a large part of why I'm posting is so that I don't forget this recipe!
If I don't write things down, I will surely forget. I didn't used to be this way....I traded in my brain in exchange for some precious kiddos.

Shredded Beef Burritos

Leftover pot roast, marinated in fajita seasoning and shredded
Leftover white rice (from having Sweet and Sour Chicken)
Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Cheddar Jack cheese

Wrap in a tortilla and lightly brown all around.

The hubs drizzled queso over his....I put sour cream on mine. Ooooh, guacamole would've been sooooo good with this!

This was SO INCREDIBLY TASTY and made me feel pretty good as a domestic engineer....nothing went to waste this week!

A Rosemary Wreath and a Comfort Food Recipe

Yesterday, Centsational Girl posted instructions on how to make a Rosemary Wreath. I had decided to take it easy that day and not really work on very many projects so that I could ease my stress level. But then, she posted those instructions....and it turns out that I have a rosemary TREE growing in my front yard.....and one thing led to another, and......

It only took about 20 minutes. So that's ok, right?

I have been doing my best to try to keep some sense of normalcy for the kiddos thoughout this move. We took a week off of school so that we could get moved in, but then this past Monday, it was back to work again! We found a church that offers AWANA so that the two oldest could attend just like they normally would. We're trying to get in the swing of things.

But the truth of it is, we're strangers here. We don't know anybody, we (ok, so I'm only referring to myself here) don't know where anything is (and to be honest, people here are CRAZY DRIVERS...this is not an exaggeration...even they acknowledge that they are horrible!!!), and it's difficult to find a solid routine. I'm not sure exactly how we will fill our days once the job of unpacking and settling in is over.

So one of the things that I've tried to be consistent about is our mealtime. At home, I always cooked from scratch, and that means pretty much everything; last winter I learned how to make Amish White Bread, and we had it several times a week (the recipe is on Allrecipes if you're interested...it's not hard, I promise!). And the kiddos love these meatballs, so I'm giving you the recipe today. It's not anything terribly special, but it always goes over well in our house.

Mandy's Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup (or whatever you think looks good) bread crumbs
1 egg
Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic to taste

I put all of these into my KitchenAid mixer and then just let it whirl for a while. I find this makes the meat (and so the meatballs) very tender. I think a "real" Italian meatball has a variety of meats, but I don't really have the money to do that, so I just fake the flavors as much as possible! ;) Then I use a Pampered Chef scooper and and scoop the meatballs into a cast-iron skillet; this makes all the meatballs the same size and I don't have to touch the raw meat with my hands. I let them brown a bit and then cover them with sauce to finish cooking.

Also, sometimes I use store-bought bread crumbs and sometimes I take my leftover Amish White bread, crumble it up, add some herbs to the crumbles, and toast them in the oven. (This is what I did last night.) I hate letting good food go to waste!