Refinishing and painting furniture is an easy way to update the look of any room. When you include creative elements like sponge-painting, distressing, or adding a marbled look, the refinished piece of furniture quickly becomes the focal point of any room. Once you know a few of these refinishing tricks, there’s no end to what…
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. The opinions and text are all mine. Whenever my grandchildren visit I like to have activities planned to keep them from getting bored, because when kids get bored they can get into mischief! Even when my own children were little, our…
Hey Everyone! This is just a quick post tonight to reveal the winner of the beautiful, hand-carved cookie utensils from Polder’s Old World Market. You might remember last week I posted an Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookie recipe that I made using hand-carved Old World Kitchen utensils. Polder’s is generous to offer one of my readers…
Today I’m happy to announce the winner of the $50 gift card from Antique Farm House! But before I do, I want to thank all of you who left such encouraging and complimentary comments! You truly made my day! I’m so appreciative of each and every one of you who reads my blog. Without you,…
The past 2 days I’ve been sick … the stay-in-bed-all-day kind of sick. I get horrific cabin fever when I can’t get out so when I started feeling better toward the end of the second day, I begged hubby to go for a walk down the forest preserve trail that our dead-end street empties into….
I was asked by The J.M. Smucker Company to create a springtime family treat. All opinions are my own. When I was kid I eagerly anticipated the day when we’d dye Easter eggs for the spring holiday. My brothers and sisters would gather around our pedestal kitchen table and make a colorful mess with mom…
I was asked by The J.M. Smucker Company to create a springtime family treat. All opinions are my own. When my family comes to visit, I’d love to set out an elegant spread of food and refreshments. But with my busy schedule, that’s not always possible. I work full-time as a marketing communications manager, and…
I was asked by The J.M. Smucker Company to create a Valentine’s Day brownie treat. All opinions are my own. When I was a young girl dreaming of my future, I knew I wanted to have children early in life so that I would still have energy to play with my grandchildren. I also wanted…
My entire family loves football, which makes me really happy because I enjoy sharing game day with people I love. Now that it’s play-off season, the football conversations are heating up in our home. We recently headed to my daughter’s house for one of the play-off games and I decided to bring goodies to make…
You’ve heard that old saying, “It is better to give than to receive.” But when it comes to the perfect wine lover’s gift, I believe it’s better to receive! When you have friends and family who love and good wine, the art of elegant gift giving is easy! You know a bottle or two of…
Shopping for Christmas gifts can sometimes be a bit daunting, so it’s nice when you get a little bit of inspiration to help with your gift selection process. This happened to me when I was shopping at Walmart the other day. I’d heard about the Amope Pedi Perfect™ recently and wanted to give it a…
Do you remember the first time you baked a pie? I sure do! I was a nervous wreck. It was back in my high school home economics class. Our teacher was explaining the intricacy of making pie crust and all the mistakes that could be made. I thought for sure I would fail our pie-making test…
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of COUNTRY Financial® for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine. Someone once pointed out the irony that being a parent is about the only job that requires no training. It’s one of the most important jobs the majority of us will face, yet we don’t spend…
What a weekend! I spent at least 10 hours each on Saturday and Sunday decorating the house and photographing it for my holiday home tour this Wednesday! I have over 70 photos and need to pare down the selection. Since I can’t use all of them, I’ve decided to share some of the Christmas decorating…
I should have been an architect. I love looking at historic homes and buildings, but I also love contemporary structures too. My cousin is an architect in Vermont and he designs green homes. My favorite small town for taking a walking tour of historic homes is my birthplace of Geneva, Illinois. There’s such a great…
PAM Cooking Spray sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine. Cooking is something I’ve enjoyed doing ever since I took Home Economics in 6th grade. I thought it was so cool that we actually got to spend time at school cooking stuff! That class whet my appetite for being creative in…
