Random Goodness Tuesdays ~Planning & Storage

Random Goodness #1:
I love this creative Dry Erase Menu Planner created by Positively Splendid!

This could be made by hand with papers and stickers or done with the aide of a Cricut or Silhouette machine. This is perfect for busy families! The only downfall I would see to this planner is that your kids just might invite extra guest when they see their favorite meals planned ahead of time! You might want to add a RSVP area to make sure you prepare enough food! ;)





Random Goodness #2
Here is a great How To on making Magazine Storage Boxes!
If you use the appropriate size box, you get two out of each box!

From this:


To this:


Head over to A Bowl Full of Lemons to see her How To!



Random Goodness #3
Here is a great little "sprucing" of IKEA boxes! I'm totally loving the color scheme and patterns! I especially love the seedheads in the green paper on the upper right side!



Check out this project at Trans-Craft-Inental!

Be sure to come back next week for more
Random Goodness Tuesdays!

Random Goodness Tuesdays ~Christmas Eye Candy!

Can you believe Christmas is only days away?!

I've been looking at all kinds of fabulous decorating ideas online, yet the only Christmas Decor I have put up is a boutique swag above my daughters exterior front door when she moved in the first of the month. Oh, and the plastic light up Santa on her great front porch. But, my 21 month old grandson is scared of it!
Go Figure!

As for my own home and My Guy's home...
I have tons of ideas, but I do fight the Winter Blues.
But there is also a somewhat good reason.

Quite honestly, I have all my Christmas items packed away into the enclosed balcony storage room. The room that needs to be entered through to get to that storage room is packed with some things that still need to go to my daughters recently moved into huge rental home. After the first of the year I will be so glad to finally get all those items out of there! There are also items to be re-purposed for this Summers Craft Fair and things that I simply cannot force myself to let go of yet.

If only the Update & Remodel Fairies would come to my aide for my home... some of my blues would start to dissipate! Two main rooms in my downstairs are screaming for attention.

As for the disarray upstairs >>> a number of things have been cleared out of the lower level and plopped into the Balcony Storage Room and the Unused Catch All Bedroom upstairs!

The disarray downstairs >>> one room is stripped down to the bare lathe and the on hold sewing room is s t i l l waiting to be started.

My body simply cannot take the physical labor very well anymore. But I'm not defeated yet - just waiting for the assistance and more money that I need.

As for having the energy and room to get to the stored decor and glisten up my home for Christmas...
there's always Next Year!?

SO...........
ONTO THE MAGICAL SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS...
In someone else's home! ;)

I ran across a website called Houzz.com
It is Chocked Full of fabulous Idea Books with tons of photos to pull inspiration from! It's quite an interesting site!

This link will take you to the 50 Photos of Amazing Holiday Decorations.
Well worth the look!

Below, each photo (linked) below will take you directly to the website for the room that these fabulous projects are located at - outside of Houzz.com.


Toby Fairley's
Monkey Around this Holiday Season:
Bright, festive and downright Monkey Around FUN!



Sweet Something Designs
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree:
I love the woodsy, natural elements in this theme that have been sparkled up for a beautiful Woodland Christmas Theme!



The Happy Home's
DIY Gift Wrap & Card Ideas:
What a Grand Presentation sitting under a tree! This would also be good for keeping presents sorted when traveling.


Be sure to go to 50 Photos of Amazing Holiday Decorations to see ALL of the Christmas Decor ideas that are showcased there!

And you might want to make weekly - if not daily - trips to see all the wonderful things that are in the Idea Books at Houzz.com.

Thanks for stopping by to browse a little Christmas Eye Candy!


Be sure to check back next week for more
Random Goodness Tuesdays!

Bissell SpotBot Pet Review and Steam & Sweep Hard Floor CleanerGIVEAWAY!

Have you been wanting a Steam & Sweep Hard Floor Cleaner?
Win one here FREE ----> Two of a Kind Working on a Full House Bissell Giveaway!



I have FOUR rooms of linoleum and hope to be adding three rooms of laminate soon. And that's just my downstairs! Ohhhh how I would love to win one of these babies!

There is a Great Review over on Two of A Kind...
for the Bissell SpotBot Pet.


Bissell has many types of cleaners that you could put on your Christmas List!

For people with kids and/or pets:
Did you know that they had this Big Daddy that does professional cleaning in your home?!!
Take a look at the Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine™!

Be sure to check out All the Other Amazing Giveaways that is posted on Two of a Kind Working on a Full House!

Read the directions for Extra Entries on all of her giveaways!

Good Luck and Happy Holidays to you all!

Candied Turkey Bacon!YUM!

I ran across this great recipe and just happened to have bought turkey bacon last night! WOW! I think this would be great to take to a Holiday Party! I think I should make this a Holiday Tradition for my family on Christmas too!

Here is the recipe I found and it is followed by my photos with a suggestion.


Candied Turkey Bacon
by Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body
and adapted from The Kitchn

turkey bacon 

brown sugar 

kosher salt 

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Place bacon on lined cookie sheet, making sure not to overlap any edges. Lightly sprinkle each piece of bacon with brown sugar (about 2 tsp/each) and place cookie sheet in cold oven. Set temperature to 350 degrees and bake 20-25 minutes.

Around 18 minutes check on them. Keep checking on them from 18-22 minutes to make sure they aren't burning (since all ovens are diff. temps). But a little darkness on the bacon is good, you just don't want charred bacon.

Remove the pan from oven and place the cookie sheet on a wire rack. Sprinkle kosher salt over bacon pieces. Once the pieces cooled enough to handle, I put them straight on the wire rack to let them cool completely.

Here is my photo blog making this yummy treat!

Below is when I probably should have removed it from the oven!

This is what you are looking for!

I got back on the computer and left it in about 4 minutes too long! 

Computer Brain - Imagine That!

But the lighter pieces still taste very scrumptious!

Be sure to let your parchment paper extend up the side of the pan. Some of the brown sugar melted under the sheet and created a yucky mess. Next time I will use a cookie pan with a lip and crease the paper to keep the mess inside the quick clean up paper! 

Credit: http://fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.blogspot.com/2010/05/candied-turkey-bacon.html

and adapted from http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-meat/try-this-candied-salted-bacon-096893

Mama’s Holiday Wish List 2010 GIVEAWAY!!!

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

That somehow all my weatherization & update fix-it projects on our house will get resolved this year! Eight years of drafty areas and problems from the terrible handywork of the owners before us needs to be resolved so that our house can become "a home". I also need to make certain changes on the house for My Guy to be able to move into our home as his Multiple Sclerosis progresses in the coming years. He will need to move out of his above garage apartment to one level.

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?

Since my divorce, I have not had a Christmas Morning tradition. Now that my life is running smoother, I need to start one again - especially with new grandchildren!

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

See Wish Number One. It has been such a burden to live with the conditions of my "home". We need peace and tranquility.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

We've not been able to really spend much money for Christmas for over 10 years. Just getting together to eat and visit is our main highlight.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

Trouble, Rummy, and Monopoly.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

There was never an actual tradition. I need to decide on one and carry it on.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?

I'd rather have money invested into my house. It would feel like going on a long trip if my house issues were resolved finally.

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

I think the kids and grandkids would be delighted with PS3, Nintendo Wii and XBox 360!



Be sure to read all the rules and get as many entries as you can! There is a regular GiveAway and also the Grand Prize GiveAway that is related to this post!

Good Luck Everyone!
And Happy Holidays to you all!

Random Goodness TuesdaysTis the Season

Random Goodness #1

Years ago my mother did all kinds of wood crafts. She even had a gift shop that she sold Children's Furniture she had created. I remember Mom making a log taper candle holder and embellishing it with Christmas decor. These can be done up in many different styles. I love the tutorial shown for the Log Candle Votive by Design to Shine.



More to come later today... I was busy for days helping my daughter move, then resting up. Once again, I'm behind schedule. Check back later for more!

Random Goodness TuesdaysChristmas Crafts!

I'm hoping that my daughter calls me tomorrow to tell me she was chosen to rent a 5 bedroom home. She needs the space. Maybe not THAT much, but it's a much nicer house than the three bedroom homes she has looked at! I would love for her to have plenty of room for the kids and not be cramped.

Random Goodness #1:

I can just see this big fella, the Frost-Free Snowman sitting in the corner of her living room this Christmas! How fun would that be!? Family Fun has so many cute projects!




Random Goodness #2:
When I was a preschool teacher's aide, I was in charge of doing crafts. I also was the craft coordinator for MOMS Club (in a Dallas suburb). I created a craft for the kids to become gingerbread men and they took them home for ornaments. They were similar to these found at Oriental Trading.

I used brown paper bags (free from grocery shopping). I used fiberfill to make the bodies a little plump. But instead of putting their photo in the tummy, the photo was the actual face. They were So Cute!

Just flip the front piece over and glue the face of the photo into the face area of the gingerbread man before assembling. I do not find any gingerbread online made like my craft. I wish I had a photo! I inserted a folded piece of ribbon at the top before gluing the front and back together. I used craft paint with a pointed end to draw the decor on the body. I added a little red ribbon to the top/side of the face on the girls. It's a Very Fun Project!





Random Goodness #3:

I saved the Gem of this post for last. Here is a beautiful creation by All Things Heart and Home called Tiny Tickles of Joy. This was a project for Fall, but changing the paper out to a Winter or Christmas theme is perfect for the Joyous Season we are about to enter. Head on over to see her great tutorial!




Be sure to check back next week for More Random Goodness Tuesdays!

Random Goodness Tuesdays Birds, Dragonflies and Owls

I started this post for last week but never got back in here to finish it up. I've been on the go. So here is the Random Goodness Tuesdays post for Tuesday November 23rd!


Random Goodness #1:
This is a project that I may use in my own home. The sewing room will have a curtain fabric of off white linen and black branches with buds. I think this would compliment it very well.

Pretty Bird Wall Art by Blue Cricket Designs


This could be approached in so many ways to change it up a bit. I think it would be lovely using acrylic paints watered down to glaze the edges of a canvas and then paint the branches and birds on with thick paint to give it some texture.


Random Goodness #2:
Fowl Single File (Ducks in a Row was Taken) made some really cute and inexpensive Dragonflies out of nature objects. This would make a cute child's project; a mobile comes to my mind.




Random Goodness #3:
These little owls are cute as can be! Another great project for children. I think any age would enjoy making these to display in their home! Head over to The Crafty Classroom for a nice photo tutorial to learn how to make these!



Check back next week tomorrow for more Random Goodness Tuesdays!

Random GoodnessTuesdays~Placemat Crafts~

With Christmas coming up, I thought these placemat crafts would be a nice addition to Random Goodness Tuesdays. Head over to Sew Many Ways to check out the nice tutorials on how you can make these inexpensive, useful gifts!

Floral arrangement holder:

These might be a way to throw together a quick table decoration as a cornucopia to hold your homemade rolls too!

Casserole Holder:


Fresh Baked Loaf Holder:


Be sure to check each week for more
Random Goodness Tuesdays!

Random GoodnessTuesdays

I've decided to start a new weekly post:
Random Goodness Tuesdays.

Why Tuesdays?
It's a Random decision.

I run across so many great ideas.

I just love to pass along information
that is full of Goodness.


This first project is an inspiration
that can be changed up with each
holiday and season.

But, first let me tell you why this is the
first item to be show cased.

I have been doing house renovations since
my children were all in grade school.
My first child
is on her own with a child.
My second child
will be leaving the nest soon.
My third child
is a Sophomore this year.

Never did I imagine I would
only have the addition
90% done at this point!
My mother has helped me A LOT.
We do have some small projects started
in the main part of the two-story 1920's house.

But now I am switching gears to get the
living room converted to a
Sewing/Craft/Computer Room.
It's a necessity to set up
my Work from Home Business Adventure
as soon as my full-time Family Job ends
due to retirement - sometime soon.

My diamond in the rough is much rougher
and much more expensive than I envisioned!
Not to mention
getting enough help to work on the projects.
And figuring out
how to battle the unforeseen hurdles
has been a time-consuming endeavor in itself!

The facets are out of whack
on that ole' diamond!

I have visions of someday
getting the upstairs overhauled.
Notice I say SOMEDAY!
And overhauled is not an over-statement!

Hey, 8 years ago - recently divorced -
I got the house for a steal.
Hindsight:
I should have found a contractor husband!
Obviously that has never happened!


It's my dream to have a couple rooms
for guest and grandchildren
that will make them feel welcomed
and create some wonderful memories.

I saw this post by The Blessed Nest
and immediately knew I had to
put this into my Someday File!
First I will have to strip and repaint
the stairwell and paint the paneled walls.
But someday this project will be
an ongoing ritual to make going upstairs
to the someday beautiful, fabulous rooms
fun and intriguing!

I can just imagine doing a
Jack and the Beanstalk theme too!
Let your imagination go wild
(or mild) with this one!

Random Goodness #1:





This next project really out-does itself!
Random Goodness #2.
I'm loving this Fantastic Makeover
On the Cheap! by Blue Cricket Designs
Don't you wish you could slipcover
paint colors for each season?!




With Christmas nearing faster
than any of us are prepared for,
Random Goodness #3:

I'm loving the creative Christmas Card Ideas with a Twist that The Crafting Chicks have done!


Thanks for stopping by.

If you visit the above blogs and feel compelled to leave a comment, please let them know you found their projects on my blog.

Be sure to check each week for more
Random Goodness Tuesdays!

Cornice Boards~For my Sewing Room?

I've been Waxing & Waning over what style of window coverings to use for my Sewing Room.

I ran across an advertisement for the following website and came back to the idea that cornice boards are possibly the way to go with the bolt of Eclipse Kohl fabric by Robert Allen that I purchased.

If I use cornice boards, I will have plenty of fabric left over to make room accessories with, and still have fabric left over to make handbags and their accessories. It truly is a lovely fabric. It deserves to have it's beauty spread around!

There is a gallery of different types of cornices boards that could be made here on Ready to Cover.

I think this is the style I will go with - should I end up doing the cornice boards!


Here is one over on DanteHill website:


I think I will make and paint stationary frames, then make my "cornice faces" removable with Velcro so that I can change out the "look and feel" for different seasons (or whims!).

AND, the upside of this - they will store nice and flat until I bring them back into the room. I will also have the option to move them to another room if I build more stationary cornices.

BUT, as I have mentioned many times, I am a Waxer & Waner! I'm a sucker for nice hardware, so I may end up just doing curtains as I originally planned when buying the bolt of fabric. Creativity is a Killer for me sometimes. I've always said that my mind is like a Gerbil in a Wheel! Go Figure! That's what keeps me interesting and vibrant! =)

Do you have cornices installed in your home? Leave a comment or a link for all of us to check them out! If you have any tips on making or installing, feel free to leave your expert advise!