TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS #37

photo source: The Creek Line House

Welcome to

TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS
#37

I can tell we are all ready for Spring! Lots of great seasonal projects last week...
Thanks everyone for participating...

SPRING BIRD NEST TUTORIAL

Even though the wind is howling and the rain is pelting against my windows and it is brrrrrr... cold, I am thinking Spring!

Here at StoneGable, the birds are not building nests yet, but I am! These homemade nests are a bit messy but easy and fun to make! 

I'll show you how...

PAINTING A BUFFET

Let's make a deal... If you don't look at the blue painter's tape everywhere or the uncovered electrical sockets or the storage boxes or the ladder in the background or the missing hardware on the buffet or the mess still around because we are not finished painting... then I would love to show you the buffet I painted over the weekend.... 

Deal?     Okay...

ON THE MENU MONDAY~ WEEK OF FEB 25, 2013

I'm so ready for spring... I feel like this has been my mantra for the last couple of weeks. I may be ready, but Mother Nature is not! It has been bitter cold here at StoneGable! I'm ready to switch my cooking to spring mode... lighter foods and delicate flavors. But not while it's still soup and stew weather outside.

I'll have to wait a just a little longer... 

So, here's what 's on the end-of-winter menu...

DON'T BE A STENCH!

photo credit


We live in a sanitized world. We have clean water to bathe in... deodorants for our bodies... laundry soap for our clothes... dishwashers for our dishes...Mr. Clean for our countertops...flushing toilets....air fresheners... car fresheners... pet fresheners... carpet fresheners... and that's a good thing!

But not long ago the world smelled like a very different place...

THE FIND~ BUFFET HUNTING

I've been hunting! Scouting out antique markets, second hand shops and yard sales trying to bag a new/old dining room buffet or sideboard.

Like any trophy, it needed to be better than average... with distinct markings and lots of detail! 

With the help of my friend Fiffer (a thousand thanks!)... I brought my trophy buffet home yesterday!

CHOCOLATE FILLED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Shortbread cookies are a sentimental favorite of mine.

They are buttery and sweet and simple and refined!  They can be made with as little as three ingredients... I use five!

Shortbread cookies were the first thing I ever baked...

TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS #36

photo source~ Elizabeth & Co.


Tonight RaeAnn ( a dear friend) are I are going to see Ina Garten! The BAREFOOT CONTESSA herself!

I am not one of those crazy women who screams and waves and wears "the t-shirt" and pushes and shoves and blathers on and on. Well, not usually!

I AM buying a new Barefoot Contessa cookbook and hoping she will sign it... AND I'll try to get my picture taken with her to share... I'm one of those women!

I really admire Ina and her great cooking skills and scrumptious recipes. But what I really love about her is her sense of fun and common sense. Gotta love her!

So enjoy the features and I'll check in later tonight when I get home...

POCKET NAPKIN FOLD TUTORIAL

This is a fun easy way to fold a napkin and include the flatware too. Making a POCKET NAPKIN takes less than a minute and adds a lot of interest to a tablescape!

Here's how...

FORMULA FOR SETTING A CASUAL TABLE

It's fun to set an elaborate, awe inspiring table now and then...but let's be truthful... most of us don't dine like the Downton Abby bunch every night!

That got me thinking... What if we had a "formula" for setting a pretty, tasteful table that could be easily duplicated and embellish at a moments notice... one that was so easy we would all want to use it for an everyday meal or company. One that we have tucked away in our minds so setting a table would be a breeze!

Over the next year I'm going to set a table each month using this formula, adding seasonal touches but keeping the "basics" the same.

Here are 10 steps for making that happen...

ON THE MENU MONDAY~ WEEK OF FEB 18, 2013

As much as I wish it were spring... here at StoneGable we are still in the deep freeze of winter... brrrrr!

There are still a few weeks left to enjoy rib stickin', warm-you-up comfort food. I really love to cook seasonally.

While I am reading spring recipes and wishing for it's harbingers... I am wearing my husband's wool hunting socks and sitting by the fire! Funny thing, In August I'll be longing for a day just like this!

Now, here's what's on the menu...

SUNDAY SCRIPTURE~ SON OF MAN

Do you know what Jesus called Himself most often in the bible?

SON OF MAN

 I have always found this to be most interesting, and for a long time. very puzzling! Why Son Of Man?

What an odd thing to call oneself! 

When I dug in the bible for the meaning, I found it even more interesting and very very telling...

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER!

Many of you know that we are doing some major redecorating here at StoneGable. The living room, dining room, foyer and front hall stairs are getting a much needed facelift! We are slow DYI'ers so don't expect a "reveal" in the very near future"!

Decor project, for me. tend to be like snowball... once I get in "decor mode" the snowball of inspiration rolls along gathering every home decor project in it's path!

I am always ten projects ahead in my mind...I cannot go to sleep at night because I am trying to figure out how to knock out the bathtub in the guest suite bedroom and replace it with a no walls shower... or I wonder what style of board and batten paneling I want on my main bathroom walls... or what color to paint my laundry room cabinets and would cork floors work in there... or how to decorate when we knock out the windows in the family room and replace them with double french doors.... 

Decorating is like a snowball rolling down a two mile hill of heavy wet snow gathering steam and every packed snowflake in it's path....

CHOOSING FABRICS

Choosing fabrics is my favorite part of decorating! I could spend hours looking through bolts of fabrics, books of swatches and racks of samples!

As many of you know I am redecorating my formal living room, dining room foyer and stairs.  This area is all connected and needs to be coordinated and flow... I want a casual elegant feel to the area.

New modern pieces mixed with traditional pieces that I could never replace nor want to. Neutrals with lots of textures and some architectural surprises to shake things up a little.

 I want to be able to live in these rooms, flopping down on the sofa to read or having my girlfriends over for a luncheon and lots of laughter!These will not be show rooms... they will have to work for their keep!

I wanted to give you a peek at what I have chosen so far...

TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS #35

photo source!~ Hymns and Verses

Happy Valentine's Day...
and welcome to TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS # 35.

Just want you to know that I love all of you and your creative and inspiring Tutorials... great and helpful Tips... and all your fun and interesting Tidbits! Thanks so much for making TTT a part of your week!

xo

It's so hard to pick features but these caught my eye and interest...

LO-CARB VEGGIE EGG MUFFIN CUPS

Oh yummy! Lo-Carb Veggie Mufin Cups have been my new favorite breakfast for awhile now!

I whip up a dozen... eat a couple and put the rest in the frig for a grab-and-go-breakfast.

These muffin cup are full of fluffy egg goodness and a great way to use up leftover veggies...

REUPHOLSTERING A CHAIR... THE SAGA, PART I

Have you ever started a project and soon after you had begun you realize you were way in over your head... bitten off more than you could chew... that you were taking the final exam and had never read the text book?

I was so confident that I could recover a simple chair pad (silly me)... I bought the NEW FABRIC and the trim material and the welting, and a new staple gun. I was ready to go!!!! This would be a breeze, even though I had never covered a chair pad in my life!

 How hard could it be? No problem, it's only a chair pad, for heaven's sake...

So I dug in with a lot of excitement and a little hubris...

ON THE MENU MONDAY~ WEEK OF FEB 11, 2013

Happy Valentine's Week!

You can find a Valentine Menu and Tutorial at the end of this post. Bobby and I are not celebrating until next week. He works late this Thursday!

I have been in a cooking mood lately. I've been trying and tweaking a whole bunch of new recipes. I have recently been eating lo-carb so I am especially interested in converting lots of recipes to fit my new lifestyle. Bobby, however is not eating lo-carb.... so I cook many "regular" meals and I usually eat the protein and veggies.

I do miss pastas and pizza and baked potatoes. Although I don't eat them on a regular basis, I do treat myself to "regular" food now and then. I'm trying to perfect a lo-carb pizza.

The biggest benefit of eating lo-carb is I have so much energy! Carbs really do make me tired! You might notice a tiny shift away from carb laden meals here at StoneGable... but I hope you will still find all my meals interesting, full of great flavors and fresh ingredients and delicious!

Now, here's what's on the menu...

WHY DO WE NEED A KING?

Every morning (well almost) I meet with God and we study His word together.

Right now I am studying the book of Matthew.

This book is so full of the imagery of the "kingdom of God" and what this everlasting kingdom will be like... no wonder the theme of Matthew is "behold, the KING OF THE JEWS"... for every kingdom needs a king!

The Jews of Jesus day knew that there would be a time when they were no longer under the bondage of another nation and they would have a kingdom that would have no end... and that it would be ruled by a great KING. 

I think it is hard for us as 21st century modern western philosophical thinkers to relate to the words and customs of the 1st century ancient oriental orthodox world that the book of Matthew was written in.  So much of the history, background, and mindset of the time needs to be understood to fully get a grasp the weight of why the Jews... and all of us need a king...

A WARM WELCOME

I'm "fluffing" again. That's what I call fussing... adding and editing touches to a room... mixing and matching...

I got two little additions to add to the J&J guest room...

STEAKHOUSE DINNER FOR TWO

I'm cooking Valentine dinner with my man in mind. What man can resist a big juicy steak with all the fixin's!

I'm not a fan of dining out on Valentine's day... too busy and those prix pixe menus drive me crazy. I really don't feel I get the best meal at a restaurant on super busy days and holidays!

So, I'm cooking a romantic steakhouse dinner for Bobby that looks like I've been in the kitchen all day... but really it is easy and fast...

BE MY VALENTINE DINNER AND DESSERT

What's a Valentine dinner without a yummy dessert!

This dessert is not only sweet and delicious but easy... and can be made ahead and put together at the last minute. My kind of dessert.

It is part of a dinner I am making today for 

After Class With Mrs. Hines Valentine Special

on Google+. 

I hope you will come over and see me cooking and get other great Valentine's Day ideas...

TUTORIAL TIPS AND TIDBITS #34

photo from CITY FARMHOUSE

What are you doing Friday, at 2:30 EST? I hope you will join me as I cohost a Valentine special over at Google +! Mrs Hines from MRS. HINES CLASS will be our gracious host.



I don't want to give it all away... I'll be donning my red apron to cook a Valentine's meal with our men in mind!  Join us by clicking HERE for the invitation!

I have lots of creative posts from last week to share...

WEDDING RECEPTION INSPIRATION

photo by Mary Field's Photography

When I need inspiration... it is easy to find! Pinterest is a non stop source of all things inspiring!

This spring my son Christopher will marry his college best friend, turned girlfriend, now fiance'...Abigail. They are so perfect for each other. I know this is said often of a couple, but this is the M-O-T-H-E-R who is saying it... and the young engaged man is her B-A-B-Y!!!!! They really are a special couple!

We couldn't be happier! The wedding and reception will take place in Florida... and we will have another reception for the newlyweds here. Here as in "StoneGable" here. YIKES!

ON THE MENU MONDAY ~ WEEK OF FEB.4, 2013

Hi Foodie Friends!

I reached into the archives of StoneGable to make a week's worth of previous foodie posts. 

Yummy! I only post what I love and having a week of some of my favorite foods is something to look forward to everyday.

I have some very fun news... I hope you will all join me as I co-host 

AFTER CLASS WITH MRS. HINES~ A VALENTINE SPECIAL

on Friday, February 8th at 1:00 EST... that's 2:00 EST
on Google +



I will be cooking a romantic and easy dinner for two with my sweetheart in mind! You can see me in my kitchen... and red apron... as I put together a man-pleasing dinner complete with dessert!

Mrs. Hines has lined up other bloggers to share some great Valentine ideas, too!


To RSVP click HERE.

Hope you will join in the fun...

NOW HERE'S WHAT'S ON THE MENU...

SUNDAY SCRIPTURE~ BLESSING THE LORD

This morning I woke up to a frosty covering of snow on the ground. The world around me was white and peaceful and calm.  What a blessing! God had blessed me with one of my favorite things...snow!
This made me think about "blessing".

I understand God as the one who blesses... not man. He is the one with the storehouse of goodness and in His grace rains (and in this case, snows) those good things down on us.

I wondered... how can WE bless the Lord, isn't He the One who blesses us... like He blessed me with snow?

Then why does David say in the Psalms...

bless the Lord,O my soul: and all that is in me bless His holy name...

COOKBOOK CRUSH

I always say...

I read cookbooks like romance novels. I visually and emotionally devour them! 

With the wealth of on-line recipes sources, videos and and tv shows (I'm watching Barefoot Contessa right now) I often wonder, why do cookbooks still hold such a spell over me and so many others...

I'M IN HERE!

If you think I have disappeared, you can find me in here... in the dining room. Bobby and I have been painting the wainscoting, windows and the walls! 

What a big job!