I Had a Busy Weekend!

Whew! I got back on Sunday night after a 24 hour whirlwind of decorating my brother's entire house inside and out. Now I am officially sick of Christmas decorating and have barely started on my own home. Once I got back, I was beyond exhausted and feel like a cold or the flu is coming on, so I didn't get a chance to pop in yesterday.

Thought you all would like to see a few pictures of how I

Making Home Decor Festive For The Holidays

For those of you in the U.S. like me, I hope you've had a very wonderful Thanksgiving. I was unsure what my schedule for the weekend but my brother asked me to visit him this weekend to help with his Christmas decorating. Therefore, this is a scheduled post that is short and sweet. I will be visiting every one's Pink Saturday posts when I return either on Sunday night or Monday morning.

Today I

Handmade Painted Christmas Ornaments

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who like me celebrated today! How many of you will be starting your Christmas decorating tomorrow? Actually, we started putting out our Christmas stuff a week or so ago so my brother who has his own home can enjoy our decorations longer.

Although by the end of the season, there will be several trees displayed in our home with themes, our "main tree" in the

....And The Winner Is.....

I know everyone is sick of me talking about my apron and cookbook giveaway, but I wanted to thank all of you who took the time to enter. Thanks to everyone who became new followers, tweeted about my contest, or added me to their sidebar. And thanks to those of you who have been long term followers who signed up too. When I first thought about doing my first giveaway, I was worried that no one

Not To Proud To Beg

Hi  people, it's Mommy's dog Holly again. Remember I shared my Halloween costume picture last month?


Mommy thought I was so cute that she entered me in the Better Homes and Garden photo contest for Halloween Pet Pictures.

I'm now in the running to win, so can you please for for me at : http://photos.bhg.com/category/vote/photo/598101

I know that you are probably really busy this week with

Crochet Wreath Ornament Pattern

It seems a bit strange showing off Christmas things before Thanksgiving. In the past, we never put our tree up before Thanksgiving, but my brother is rarely home in December anymore. Therefore, we try to have at least parts of the house decorated at Thanksgiving, so he can enjoy it longer.

Later in the week, I will be showing off some other handmade ornaments I've made, but today I thought I'd

Giveaway Deadline Is Almost Here: Enter Today!

Just a reminder that if you haven't entered my Apron and Cookbook Giveaway, you need to enter today. The last entry will be taken tonight (Monday morning) at midnight EST. 

Do not enter on this post. You must go here for your entry to be counted.

As I am writing, there are around 30 entries, so you still have a good chance to win!

On Monday, I will weed out the comments on the giveaway 

Granny's Pink Things

On Thursday, I shared some new to me things given to me by my grandmother and mentioned she gave me a picture and a plate that I'd share another day. Since both had pink in them, I thought I'd share those for Pink Saturday.

My grandmother is a lover of beautiful things and has curio cabinets filled with her collections all over her house. One cabinet in her bedroom had this plate in it......


I

Some New (To Me) Things

I had planned to show some more Thanksgiving decorations today, but I was too busy to take pictures of that this week.

However, I was at my grandmother's house the other day. She's a woman who loves beautiful things, but sadly her eyesight is failing, so she can no longer enjoy them. Therefore, she told me to take whatever I wanted from her house. I didn't take much because it felt wrong to

Recipe: Spinach, Mushroom, and Tomato Quiche (includes Gluten Free Version)

I love quiche. Granted, sometimes making quiche can be a lot of work, but I love the fact that you can have this for any meal and really change it up by adding whatever you have on hand.  The trick to this recipe is to keep the milk/egg/sour cream ratio the same, and you can come up with your own version of this quiche each time you make it by using any filling ingredients you like.

In fact, I

I Made This: Pink Capelet and Hat

I always have loved capelets. I'm not really sure why I liked them as a child, but I guess because I had a few I wore, plus I remember a couple of them my mom had when I was young. Now that I'm older, I crochet one every now and then for myself. Not only are they pretty, but I don't always like wearing a jacket, so it's easy to throw on when you need a little warmth on a cool day.

If you'd

Technical Difficulties.....

Hi everyone. Just a heads up that I'm aware my blog looks weird right now. It was fine when I posted this afternoon, so I have no idea what is going on. However, I'll be trying to fix it shortly, so please overlook anything odd that you see here.

Edited to add:

Seems the problem was only on my end. Everyone else I had look told me everything looked fine. If this ever happens to you, clear your

Thanksgiving Decorating (Part 1)

Is it just me or has November just flown by already? I didn't really get in the mood to decorate for fall much in October because the weather was so warm that the autumn season didn't feel like it was here. Lately it's been so chilly it almost feels like it's time for winter. However, I have tried to stick to the calendar schedule and am doing a bit of Thanksgiving decorating.

Since I don't

Shells and Surprises

There are a few things that say "cottage" to me, and shells are one of them. I remember as a child taking a vacation up and down the East coast and collecting shells at the beaches we visited or buying a few painted shells at the touristy type places. Once again, I've been collecting shells, but since I sadly don't live near a beach, my current shells have been picked up at the craft store.

Smothered Chicken Recipe (Gluten Free)

During the low carb craze, someone gave this recipe to me, so I have no idea where it came from or if she made it up. Yet, it's a dish I've made for a few years now, and everyone who's tasted it likes it. Even if you aren't watching carbs, it's still an easy recipe with ingredients many of us already have. Since I'm asked to share this recipe all the time, here it is.

For the gluten free

Apron and Cookbook Giveaway **CLOSED**

I wanted to do something special to thank all the readers who have found my blog over the past few months and finally decided the best way to show my appreciation at the time of giving was to give you something I made along with something that would help you bring joy to others.

Therefore, I am having a cookie baking giveaway in time for Christmas!



Winner's Apron and Cookbook!



Apron has

Holly's Favorite Pinks

Hi again gang! It's Mommy's dog Holly. Boy, I bet you are surprised to see me again so soon. However Mommy was busy yesterday....


That's me last spring.
....playing. Well really shopping, but she says most of you human girls think that's fun.

 By the time she came home she was tired, and it was too dark to take pictures. She fretted over what to do.....


Me sleeping with my bunny. I have to

My Cottage Garden Guest Room (Part 1)

I've mentioned working on my guest room a few times, and although I have a few minor projects I want to complete, today is the big reveal.

Needing a guest room and a craft room, and only having one actual room to work with, I had to get a bit creative on how to make this work. After all, I needed a place for guests to sleep. However, I didn't want to have a craft room with a bed stuck in the

Sweet and Sour Meatloaf Recipe (includes Gluten Free variation)

I know when you saw the title of this post, you are probably wondering why on earth am I posting a recipe for meatloaf. After all, most meatloaf I've had in my lifetime is not really that good. Many times, its either dry or flavorless, or worst yet, it's my aunt's gross version cooked in the microwave. If you've never had microwave meatloaf, take my word that you are better off naive!

The only

Mommy Made My Halloween Costume

 Ruff! Ruff!

Hello humans! It's Holly checking in again. Thanks for well wishes about my health last week. Overall, I am doing better, and I'm sure I'll continue to recover more in the next few days.

A few months ago, Mommy saw a cat dressed up as Raggedy Ann and decided I would be cute dressed up like this for Halloween. When I was sick, I was hoping she would forget all about that, and she