Clearance Candlesticks – Before & After!

I’m one of the weirdos who loves to go to Target daily right after Christmas to see what clearance stuff is left. It’s not like they’re going to get new stuff, but the old stuff just keeps getting cheaper and cheaper! You’d be hard pressed to find me in a Target in the days just leading up to Christmas, but after? I’m there. Sometimes more than one Target in a day. What?

I had had my eye on these white ceramic candlesticks since I first saw them back in, oh, October? 1) They don’t look Christmas-y to me at all, yet they were part of the Christmas stock this year, and 2) I wasn’t going to pay full price. No way, no how. These were $16, $15, and $12. Now, that’s not a bad price, but I’m cheap (hi, have you read the name of the blog?) and decided to wait it out.

On one of the days I stalked the Christmas mess clearance section, I hit the 70% off jackpot. They had all three sizes, and none of them were broken! I knew immediately that I wouldn’t leave them white, but I had no idea what color(s) I wanted to use. I love colors, but I tend to like colors that don’t match my decor – hard to explain, but I am drawn to colors that just don’t work in my house. So, I decided to play it safe and go metallic.

Three bottles of paint and some trim later, I sat down on a Saturday night and got to work.

Tip: Use foil as a paint palette. The paint won’t leak through, you don’t have to scrub a plate, and when you’re finished you can roll the sponge brushes up in it and throw it away! (I have heavy duty foil, so your mileage may vary)

One coat in: Loved the champagne color immediately, hated the silver, gold was “eh”.

Two coats in: Still love the champagne, silver was getting better (do you know how hard it is to find a good silver metallic paint? I will just say that I mixed two silver paints together to get a decent one), and gold was still “eh”.

Three coats and finished painting: Champagne is by far my favorite, silver is good, and I still don’t love the gold. I’m going to rethink that color tomorrow, or maybe go over it with something a little less yellow-gold.

(FYI: All of the paints I used for this project are Plaid FolkArt Metallic – Champagne, Metallic Silver Sterling (enamel), Silver Sterling, and Pure Gold.)

Okay, now that I’ve looked at these things for a day, I’m leaving the trim off. They need *something* but I’m not sure what – maybe glitter or beads? I’m also going to “mute” the gold color a little bit, probably with a mixture of silver/champagne. Copper paint would be too harsh, as would oil rubbed bronze!

So – this is it for now! I am off for training this week, so I’ll be back Thursday and I’ll make sure the candles are on and decorated for Valentine’s Day!

Have a good week, guys!

What’s better than cake?

I found this recipe several years ago (with a saucy name).  This has become my go-to dessert to bring to any get-together.  Everyone usually oohs and aaahs over it, and our husbands are all in agreement.  It’s pretty fantastic!  I was always a little embarrassed when people would ask “What kind of cake is that?”  Now, instead of blushing (I am on staff at a church, people!!), I can thank one of the Real Cheap House Husbands of Texas.

At the Real Cheap Housewives Christmas party, we were all gathered around the {large} spread of food, and sweet Jaxon says “Daddy, what is that?”  Jody can be quick on his feet when he needs to be!  He replied, “That’s uh, uh, uh, Better than Playing Outside Cake!”  We all died laughing!  I give credit where credit is due.  Thanks, Jody for keeping it family friendly! Now this sinful dessert has a new name!

You will LOVE this cake, It’s easy to make and always gets rave reviews. Be warned, it’s rich.  If your new years resolution is to lose weight, try this in moderation.  Your Valentine will love a taste of this chocolate decadence!

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Enjoy!

Monday’s Minute Makeover: Painting without Permission!

How many of you have a mantel that looks like this one?…..

If you do, I’m talking to you!

What? You can’t even see the mantel? My thoughts exactly!

It’s simple and serves it’s purpose, but it just blends into the brick. So, I thought I’d remedy that real quick before decorating for Halloween. And while dad was out running errands.

My life motto has always been: “It’s easier to get forgiveness than it is permission.”

Then, dad came home. (I held my breath. Prepared for the worst.)

And…nothing. He. Never. Noticed.

It’s now mid-January and he’s never said a thing. And neither have I.

 

That Heather made me a cute “thankful” garland for Thanksgiving. Love it.

Do you have something you want to desperately paint? Take the plunge and do it! You’ll be glad you did 🙂

Have a great Monday y’all!

 

 

 

 

De-Christmas-fication {lights solution}

If you’re a Facebook fan or my follower on Pinterest, you’ll have noticed I mentioned/pinned an article from Real Simple on lighting your Christmas tree vertically, real or not. We have a faux tree in case you’re wondering, and it’s all white.

We planned on buying a non-pre-lit (got that?) tree, I had to find a good way to put on those pretty little lights. Enter vertical lighting. PIN!

Looks pretty dang good, if I do say so myself!

Then came January. Christmas has come to an end, and pretty decorations must go into storage. I had a box all prepared for Christmas tree lights. I started taking them off the tree and it was beginning to look like a huge mess. Luckily I came to my senses quickly ….

I started small piles around the living room. All in all, I had 11 strands – 10 for the tree and 1 I used above my front door. There may or may not have been a text message to my dad in a small panic of what I was going to use to keep from have a huge Clark Griswold ball of lights.

SOLUTION – pipe cleaners keeping them tied together. Bonus that they’re white so they’ll be easily visible. Being the crafter that I am, I normally have extras of most supplies. I’m always prepared! 🙂

I made a circle first, then after tying one side. I could have stopped there, but I went on and tied the other side to one already tied. Making something like a figure 8. Then I had more piles …

and DONE. I owned those lights like a BOSS!

Do you have any storage solutions? Or in need of some solutions for your holiday decorations?

A special link party for Sandy Hook Elementary!

Do you know what a link party is? Chances are, if you’re not a blogger, you don’t! A link party is basically one blog hosting a “party” where different bloggers add their posts related to whatever the party is for (example: recipes). If you are a blogger, they can lead to more publicity for your blog. If you aren’t a blogger, then you will have tons of links to click on and see different blogs/projects! They are fun to participate in, and fun to read too!

This week, we’re doing something a little different. We know many of you are as heartbroken as we are over the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy in Newtown, CT. A few other bloggers and I have teamed up for our very first link party with a cause.

Kelley at The Grant Life and Adrianne at Happy Hour Projects both host a weekend link party that opens on Thursday afternoon. This week, they joined forces and also opened up the party to as many co-hosts who want to join to donate $0.05 for each link to the Newtown area’s United Way. The thing is – that’s not all. Some other bloggers heard about it, and also wanted to match 5 cents a link – so for this special party, for every link you add, $1.00 will be donated to the Western Connecticut United Way. Even more fabulous bloggers offered to help us spread the word by co-hosting today’s link party. So no matter what blog you are visiting when you read this, we all thank you for supporting the party and the cause.

Because of how widely hosted this weekend’s party is. links you add here will be immediately visible on several blogs! The details are below including who is donating, and what you should link today. Thanks for coming by!

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My Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes

Oh, how I love to bake. Usually. I just can’t get into it this year. Between the ridiculous exhaustion and the nausea (and the recent start of morning sickness–at 12 weeks!), I just don’t have the energy or stomach to handle baking. Which kills me because that is one of my favorite holiday traditions.

But at least I can share my favorites with y’all and maybe that will get me motivated to attempt it as well.

This first one was discovered on Once A Month Mom and was an instant hit. I just found it last year but it is definitely a keeper since I got several requests for the recipe and/or more cookies.

Source: onceamonthmom.com via Tricia on Pinterest

 

Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies
makes 3 dozen

3/4 cups butter or margarine, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses (original, not blackstrap)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

additional granulated sugar for rolling cookies

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and beat well.  Add molasses, mix well.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Chill dough overnight {I have found that even just chilling for an hour or so seems to work fine}.  Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar.  Place two inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown.  Allow cookies to cool for two minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Allow to cool completely, then transfer cookies to gallon freezer bags or freezer safe containers.

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The next recipe is one that I found in the newspaper a few years ago and have kept the clipping ever since and made them every year. I really like them but you have to like shortbread. They are crumbly but addicting.

PS…this Pinterest link isn’t the exact recipe but I wanted to give you a picture and this is very close…just doesn’t make the same amount basically.

Source: delishhh.com via Lacey on Pinterest

 

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

(serves 90–AKA makes a BUTTLOAD of cookies)

2 cups margarine, soft

2 cups powdered sugar

2 t. vanilla

4 1/2 cups flour

12 oz. mini chocolate chips

Cream margarine, sugar, and vanilla. Gradually add flour and then chips. Roll into logs and chill (I have left the extra logs in the freezer and pulled them out to bake as needed throughout the season). Cut and put on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes. Cool on racks.

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My last recipe (I have several favorites, but I am limiting myself) is one that I have made for many years. Nestle used to have mint chocolate chips that were just chocolate flavored with mint instead of the green and chocolate mix. I preferred the original, but they are no longer around. They are still excellent cookies that get gobbled up quickly…so double or triple the recipe.

Source: stapleyfamilyrecipes.blogspot.com via Whitney on Pinterest

 

Deep Chocolate Mint Cookies

makes 1 1/2 dozen

1 1/2 cups (10 oz) mint chocolate chips, divided

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 t. vanilla

Melt 3/4 cup of chocolate chips in small saucepan over lowest possible heat (I have also just used the microwave). When morsels begin to melt, remove from heat, stir. Return to heat for a few seconds at a time, stirring until smooth. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar in small mixer bowl. Beat in egg, vanilla, and chocolate. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in remaining morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are puffed (don’t overbake). Cool 5 minutes.

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I hope y’all enjoy my favorite holiday cookie recipes and make some for your family. Come back and let me know what you think!

What are your favorite holiday cookie recipes? Share with us!

Pin there. Done that. {Kids craft}

I know! I know! There wasn’t a Pin there. post last week. Were you sad?? You better say yes.

This week’s is Christmas + craft + kids = Mommy might need a drink. 🙂

Source: lovingmynest.com via Tarah on Pinterest

You need ….

paper plates
cotton balls (Hello, Dollar Tree!)
red construction paper
glue
scissors

I saw this neat craft and figured it would be SUPER easy for a 3 year old and 1 year old to do, along with an almost 5 year old. I was right. The key though, have every thing ready to go. I cut everything out.

I cut the center out of the paper plates and attached the cute little Santa hats I cut with the red construction paper.

This is clearly my OCD child. Every cotton ball is perfectly lined up and he nearly freaked out when I suggested adding a second row on the bottom.

Then there’s this one. Oh, this child. He just threw the cotton balls on there with no rhyme or reason. My kind of a dude … sometimes. He DID allow the suggest of a second row to make the beard thicker.

And finally, her. I had her in my lap so I could help. Yeah, I put a ball down, she took it off. I put another down, she took 2 off. FUN times!

Yes, those are my kids in shorts … on December 19th. The shorts/t-shirt combo scream Santa Claus completely, don’t you agree? Obviously, Little Miss thinks it is a fancy pearl necklace. I’ll just let her keep thinking that.

RCHOTX Christmas Par-TAY!!! {recipes}

We had our first Real Cheap Housewives Christmas party. Let me tell you, it was excellent. Its always great when we can all get together, its always great when we can craft together, but just sitting around a dining room table talking and laughing is fantastic! The 8 kids running around didn’t even bother us … too much.

As Heather mentioned, we had food. LOTS of food. There was some wine as well. If you’re having a party of any kind, these recipes and foods would work great.

Mini Sausage Wreath
Mini sausages
Refrigerated crescent dough rolls
Red bell pepper
1/3 cup butter
Rosemary for seasoning
½ cup BBQ sauce
½ cup whole berry cranberry sauce

Preheat the oven to the temperature specified on the crescent dough rolls package.
Unroll the crescent roll dough and separate at the perforations to create 4 rectangles. Press together the remaining perforations in each rectangle.
With a knife or pizza cutter, cut each rectangle into 8 strips (for a total of 32 strips).
Wrap each mini sausage in a strip of dough. Lay out the crescent-wrapped sausages in a wreath formation with their sides touching on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 11-15 minutes or until golden brown.
While the wreath is baking, combine the BBQ sauce and cranberry sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until heated through. Serve with wreath for dipping.
Melt butter and brush the butter on top of the wreath. Sprinkle with rosemary.
Cut a red bell pepper into a bow shape for garnish.
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Strawberry Fluff fruit dip
Strawberry cream cheese spread – softened
Marshmallow fluff

Mix together, refrigerate or serve.
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Candy Cane Chex mix
Rice Chex® cereal
White Almond bark
Crushed peppermint candy canes (about 8 regular size)

Line cookie sheet with foil or waxed paper. {I just put wax paper on the counter top} Place cereal in large bowl.
In microwavable bowl, microwave almond bark uncovered on high about 1 minute (microwaves vary, could possibly do 1 min 30 seconds), stirring every 30 seconds, until the bark can be stirred smooth. Stir in half the crushed peppermint candy.
Pour over cereal; toss to evenly coat. Spread mixture in single layer on cookie sheet. Immediately sprinkle with remaining candy. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes. Gently break up coated cereal. Store in airtight container.
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Pizza Balls
1 (13.8 oz) can of Pizza Dough
2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregeno
2 cups shredded Mozzerella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice (pepperoni, pineapple, ham, veggies)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease either a glass pie plate or a square 8×8 glass baking dish.
Take dough out of the can and let sit out for a little bit to get room temperature so its easy to work with. While your waiting for the dough to sit out this is a perfect time to grate your cheese.
Once dough is ready, grab a pizza cutter and cut out into 12 squares.
Take a square and fill it with the cheese and any other toppings you desire. Be careful not to fill it too full. Eyeball this.
Next, take each four corner and pinch all together, making a ball. Pinch together to seal, and then place the ball, seam side down into the glass dish. Repeat with all the other squares.Once the balls are placed in dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle evenly with the oregeno, garlic powder and parmesen cheese. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown! Let cool 5 minutes before eating. Enjoy by dipping in ranch dressing ormarinara sauce

source: Life as a Lofthouse

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Sars’ 7 layer dip

Find a grocery store that has it and buy it.

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Sausage Balls

Pork Sausage – regular and sage (or if you prefer hot, go that route)
Grated cheese of your choosing (I used Colby Jack)
2 1/2 cups Bisquick
2-3 TBSP Mustard
2 tsp Garlic powder
2 TBSP Worchestire sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Pull out 2-3 cookie sheets. DO NOT grease them. I never have good results when I do.
Mix all ingredients together, leaving out Bisquick to add after everything else is well blended.
Roll 1″ balls and place on cookie sheets.
Place in the oven for 20 minutes (depending on how your oven cooks)
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Crockpot Brisket Sliders

2-3 lb brisket
BBQ sauce of your choice (I always look for the ones without HFCS)
Hawaiian rolls
mustard
pickles

Throw the brisket and BBQ sauce in the crockpot for 6 hours on low. Serve with Hawaiian rolls.
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Cream Puffs ala Whitney

Find your nearest Costco.

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Target Cheesecake provided by Brittaney

 

Better Than Sex — Christie brought and cooked. 🙂

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A picture of all of us together? NO WAY!! 🙂 Those cute little aprons we’re wearing? Christie gave those to us. (Close up in next picture!)

 

and just because y’all know we like to keep it classy up in here ….

 

 

 

Izzy’s Jalapeno Corn Dip

 

We had our RCHOTX Christmas party last night and dang, we did NOT disappoint with the food. There was so much food there – it was insane.

I decided to make a recipe from a girl I used to work with – it’s easy, it’s good, and it’s cheap. I’m all about it! Everyone loved it last night, so I said I would post the recipe.

Izzy’s Jalapeno Corn Dip

2 bags frozen shoepeg corn (I used yellow corn because I am cheap – tastes fine either way)

2 blocks cream cheese (full fat – don’t use lowfat/no fat)

Small can of diced jalapenos

1/4 cup water

Chili powder

Shredded cheese for the top

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Dump the 2 bags of frozen corn (yes, you read that right – don’t thaw it), 2 blocks of cream cheese (I cut each block into 8 squares), jalapenos to taste (I don’t like mine too spicy, so I only use about 2 big spoonfuls), and 1/4 cup water into a 9×13 pan.

Stick it in the oven. After 10 minutes, take it out and stir it. It’s still going to be cold, so don’t freak out. Put it back in the oven. After 10 more minutes, take it out again and stir it. Put it back in. Repeat again after 10 more minutes. This time, cover the top with shredded cheese (I used a Mexican mix). Put it in the oven for 5-6 minutes or until the cheese starts bubbling.

That’s it. Eat it with Fritos or tortilla chips!

Easy change velcro wreath – Christmas Edition

My grandparents recently moved into an assisted living facility, and everyone has a wreath on their door. I’m the crafty one in the family, so that job was left to me. However, I also work full time in retail – and it’s Christmastime. You know what that means – no time, no energy, no desire to craft after work or on my days off.

I had this thought in my head before Thanksgiving, so you can see how long it took me to actually make it happen. I knew that once Christmas was over, my grandmother would want a different wreath (and rightly so, says the wreath freak) for different seasons/occasions. I had the bright idea to make a velcro wreath – and just switch out the attachments according to the time of year! (Disclaimer: I’m sure I am not the first person to think of this, but just let me think I’m creative for once!) That way, she can keep the different attachments with her in her apartment and switch them out whenever she wants to.

I knew I didn’t want to make anything too complicated, since I also knew I would have to make 10-12 of them to fill up the wreath. I found a template from Better Homes & Gardens and used that. You can freehand if you want, but I’m not about that.

I purchased 1/2 yard each of dark red, red, and dark green felt (FYI, that is WAY too much, but the smallest amount the store would cut was 1/2 yard, so whatever). I also picked up yellow buttons, squares of self-adhesive velcro, and an 18″ flat wooden wreath form.

I printed out the template onto cardstock so it would be sturdier, and then I got to tracing. With the dark red, I cut out 10 large and 10 medium flowers. For the regular red, I cut out 10 medium flowers. For the green, I cut out 20 large and 10 small leaves.

Once I had all the shapes cut out, I fired up the hot glue gun and assembled them. I put the large dark red on the bottom, the bright red in the middle, and the medium dark red on the top. I placed 2 large leaves and 1 small leaf on each flower. I glued a yellow button to the top.

Okay, the tedious part is over (and it wasn’t even really that tedious!). You can breathe now. Place the “loop” side of the velcro on the back of each flower.

(There’s a picture of the kind of wreath form I’m talking about – the only place I’ve found them is at Michaels – unless I’m just looking in the wrong section at Joann & HobLob!)

Next, attach the “felt” side of the velcro to the wreath form, making sure you space them out. I did it one at a time – put the velcro on, stick the flower on, put the next velcro on, stick the next flower on, and so on.

Continue until the wreath form is covered!

 

That’s it! That wasn’t too bad, was it? Now I have to come up with something for every holiday/season. My grandmother will love it, and it’s simple enough for me to do – it would be a nice gift for anyone!