Easy Halloween Cards From Shutterfly.

Did any of you take advantage of the free offer Shutterfly had a few weeks ago?  I decided to have cards made up for Halloween using some images I had created.  The first is of one of my girls.....doesn't she look wicked?

 The next image was one I made of the legendary Hitchcock.

Feel free to use either image yourself or create your own!

Shutterfly walks you through the process of uploading the cards and adding sentiment.  Super easy!

This was so much faster than making cards myself and they are totally unique from any store bought ones.  Gotta love that.

Diana

Light As Air Cookies---Only 10 Calories!

I have been trying to eat healthier, exercise daily and lose weight for the last three months (27 pounds lost so far!).  I am finally seeing some results which has me excited.  One of the downsides of this new lifestyle though is not being able to eat some of my favorite desserts.....so sad.  But I have found a cookie recipe that let's me have a little (or, on a bad day, a lot of) sweet during the day without any worries.  These delicious cookies have only 10 calories a piece so you can eat quite a few!

The recipe is from Taste of Home and is very easy.  There is some wait time so start these a few hours before you need them and you will be fine!

Vanilla Meringue Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1-1/2 teaspoons clear or regular vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Dash salt
• 2/3 cup sugar

Directions

1. Place egg whites in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 250°. Add vanilla, cream of tartar and salt to egg whites; beat on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition until sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form, about 7 minutes.
3. Cut a small hole in the tip of a pastry bag or in a corner of a food-safe plastic bag; insert a #32 star tip. Transfer meringue to bag. Pipe 1-1/4-in. diameter cookies 2 in. apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
4. Bake 40-45 minutes or until firm to the touch. Turn off oven (do not open oven door); leave meringues in oven 1 hour. Remove from oven; cool completely on baking sheets. Remove meringues from paper; store in an airtight container at room temperature. Yield: about 5 dozen.

Yum Yum

Diana

Spent the other day out at the cabin doing a little more work on the bathroom.  I painted the rest of the walls gray, sealed the tile and hung up the new shower curtain.  I still have a bit more to do but it is really looking like a real bathroom now!

 Went with a clear shower curtain so the room looks bigger.

 Plus you can see the cool tile we put in at eye height!

 We put in a soap holder......I don't mind the shampoo sitting on the floor but keeping soap down there is just icky.

 Here is a view of the sink and toilet.  You can see how small the bathroom's footprint is from this picture.  The shower tile is on the left lower corner.

 The window adds a lot of light.  At first the bathroom was windowless but my husband added it and I love it now.  You can also see the tile floors.  Soon we will have the baseboards in.

  

Anyone else think this is a pretty cool bathroom for a cabin?  Just wait til I add a few more touches!

Diana

Creepy Banner

I didn't add too many new things to our Halloween decor this year......but one thing I threw together at the last minute was this creepy banner for the mantle.

I printed some images from The Graphics Fairy and just added a little ink to aged the cards.

 Tiny clothes pins from the craft section at Walmart hold the cards on a long piece of twine.  Couldn't be easier but still adds a huge element to the Gothic look I was going for.

Diana

One Last Plate

Have you seen the cute little doily plates from IKEA?  Well, I added a handle to it and now I have yet another dish to serve treats in or hold bedside junk.  I have also run out of the handle hardware I bought on Ebay so you won't be seeing anymore of these projects for a while.....

Diana

Tiered Plates

Cheap plastic plates and leftover hardware from a previous project add up to a fun little "use what you have" craft day!

I picked up these two plastic plates last year at Target on the sale shelf for almost nothing.

 Won't this be cute as a gift or on the Fourth of July tablescape?  Took all of about five minutes to make so instant gratification!

Diana

Make It Do!

I don't do much hand embroidery anymore.  Once I found out that an embroidery machine could do it better and quicker, I put away my floss and hoops and bought a machine.  I never looked back until I saw this adorable pattern . Even though it wasn't available for machine embroidery and needed to be done the old fashion way, I knew I had to try it!

 It took a few evenings to make and my skills were definitely rusty.  My stitches could have been evener and I did stress a bit about that.....then I decided that my efforts were good enough and to just relax and enjoy the process!

 Isn't it the sweetest thing you ever saw?  If you want the pattern you can get it at Sarahjanestudios and make your own.  I promise you will love it!

Diana

Almost Completed!

First of all let me apologize for the poor lighting.  It was a overcast kind of day!  I hope to go out to the cabin in a few days and finish painting the bath AND get some new pics.

 I moved things around a bit and got a new trunk for a coffee table.  Made by the local Amish it is cedar lined.  It is also made from reclaimed barn wood.

 We got the shower tiled, the new slate floor in, and all the fixtures installed!  Don't know why I didn't take a pic of the accent tile in the shower........

 Teeny tiny sink.

Slate floor with a ton of sealer on it.

We still need to finish some molding and a bit of painting.  We also want to make a mason jar ceiling fixture, make new curtains, hang a shower rod and curtain, and install a medicine cabinet.  But at least it is operational again!

Diana

China

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately but we went on a dream vacation to China.  Will have a few posts ready soon!  Diana

At P1 of the Clay Soldiers excavations!