My Autumn Mantle

When I dress my mantle I really like to use items from around my home. Partly because of the challenge of coming up with a creative display this way, but more impotantly because it is definitely more cost effective for the household budget. So for example the lamps I had in my entryway on the sideboard and the rooster picture was

hanging in my kitchen. The ceramic pumpkins are part of a collection I have been adding to over the years. The metal pitcher I bought when we first moved to Rosemary Lane and up to now has been living in Grace's room, and the pretty harvest wreath I picked up at TJ Maxx last fall. The silver plated candle holders are from Towle and believe it or not I found them about 7 years ago at a flea market for only $10, for both!

I am really liking the idea of the lamps on the mantle...it's provides such pretty illumination for my mantle display.

Ahh...now we just to wait for those cool fall evenings to enjoy a roaring fire while admiring our lovely mantle.

Have a wonderful day!!

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Sharing at these parties...
My Romantic Home
Funky Junk Interiors
My 1929 Charmer
Alderberry Hill
Between Naps on the Porch
The Dedicated House
Be Colorful
Coastal Charm
Cowgirl Up Party
Savvy Southern Style
From My front Porch to Yours
Stone Gable
At the Picket Fence
2805
FRENCH COUNTRY COTTAGE
The Tablescaper
Debbiedoo's
Censational Girl
Fox Hollow Cottage

Our Homemade Peg and Pin Board

 

 

As you may remember, we are in the process of creating a command center in our kitchen to handle all of the new school year's paperwork and kid related information. And the one thing every "command central" needs is

Looking Back at Summer 2012

I'll tell you I have no idea where this summer went! Gosh next week my two kiddies will be climbing aboard that big yellow carriage heading off to school to begin a brand new school year! So here is a look back at our summer of 2012.

 

We began our summer with a two week long trek down South where we visted with family and friends. Hey we even got the chance to visit Mickey in the Magic Kingdom. The kids also swam, fished, went tubing, and made two very special new friends. We all enjoyed a whole lotta southern hospitality along with some awesome down home southern cooking!

 



We spent the first week of July camping in Victorian Cape May New Jersey. We hit the beach, did a little bike riding and then the night of the 4th we sat on the beach and enjoyed the most amazing fireworks display.
 

 

Back home we went to the Balloon Festival, did a little peach picking...Grace and Micheal even made it to a Met game.



 

It really was a fun packed summer for all of us...I suppose that may be where the whole summer went!

 

How was your summer???

 

Ciao 4 now!



Thank You

 I just want to give a big shout out of thanks to Pam from over at the beautiful blog BeColorful for featuring My Sister's Kitchen at last Monday's Motivated Monday party. And another thank you to Kim from the wonderful blog Savvy Southern Style for sharing My Sister's Kitchen as the most viewed link of the week earning 675 pageviews. My sister Kim was very excited about all of the lovely comments on her kitchen redo and of course the total number of pageviews it recieved since I posted it on August 13. To date  1728 pageviews have been counted for the post My Sister's Kitchen. To see the entire kitchen just click here.

Have a great Sunday!



Fresh Mozzarella and Cherry Tomato Toss

 

 

Our cherry tomatoes are are just bursting with flavor and are coming off of the vine in droves. So one of the things I love to do with these scrumptious little fruits is to toss them with fresh mozzarella and basil.

 

This recipes is easy peasy as well as super yummy.

Getting Creative with Pin Boards - 10 Beautiful Ideas

Currently I am working on a school command center in my kitchen for the upcoming school year. You know a place where the kids can organize and keep organized their school papers, homework, notes from the teacher and so on. Well one of the items I really need to help organized and communicate with Mr. Rosemary Lane is some sort of pin board. And since I am on a low budget now with getting my camera fixed and purchasing a new pocket camera to fill in while my poor Cannon Rebel is in the shop, I am going to need to create my own pin board from materials I already own. Thankfully I never tossed out the beat up cork board I use to have in the kid's playroom, so it is going to have to be the jumping off point for my new board. But I want something functional yet pretty so I decided to surf the net for some decorative pin board ideas. I was looking for DIY boards but did find a few being sold, and I have to say that I was surprised to see the price tags on some of those boards.

Anyhow here is what I found...

 Transformed Drawer

(Love this One)

 

 via BHG

My Poor Baby has Quit on Me!

Well I am going to be perfectly honest with you...I was planning to post one of my favorite summer recipes using the wonderfully fresh tomatoes which are currently on the vine in our garden. This recipe is my Summer Sauce and in addition to the fresh tomatoes it includes fresh basil, feta cheese and plump shrimp. But as it would happen, I went to shoot the photos of my perfectly plated dish today only to find out that my beautiful baby Cannon Rebel EOS has broke...(sniff sniff...tear trickling down my cheek).

So what happened you ask???

 

Homemade Sugar Scrub

I love a good exfoliation and the warm tingly feeling and scent left behind by peppermint! Well I wanted to try my hand at making my own sugar scrub so last Friday I stopped by our local health food store to pick up a bottle of peppermint essential oil.

Then I went through a number of different home recipes on the Internet looking to take the best of each one I found.

Football Season is Here!!!

Well football season is upon us and this season will be Michael's first time playing tackle ball. Last week he began football practice and Friday was the first practice where he had to show up in full armour! Michael was so excited that at 1pm in the afternoon he strolled through my kitchen completely suited up. I told him that practice wasn't for another 5 hours but his simple reply was...

"I need to see how everything fits mom!"

I'd say he is a wee bit excited about playing football this year, wouldn't you?



Gotta Love Road Side Finds ~ Wicker Love Seat

I have been kicking around the idea of slowly talking Mr. Rosemary Lane into possibly purchasing outdoor seating for our back patio. I thought I may have a good chance since it is the end of the season and most places that sell outdoor furniture are pretty much slashing their prices to move the summer merchandise out of their stores. But as luck would have it I found this wicker love seat sitting on the side of the road. Boy talk about being in the right place at the right time. Check out my road side find.



Yep...that's the God's honest truth. My sister, myself and the kids were on our way to Chuck E. Cheese last Saturday and there it was as we drove down the road. I turned around and went back to pass it a second time, then we stopped and Kim jumped out to ask the couple relaxing on their side porch if the love seat was up for the taking. They replied "yes" and moments later the love seat was in the back of my minivan and the kids were strapped to the roof! (Just kidding about the kids.)

The piece was in perfect condition, no holes or huge breaks in the wicker. So I cleaned it up and sprayed on a fresh coat of white paint.

 Luckily I was able to find a seat cushion on sale at TJMaxx for only $15. The two pillows are from Khol's, they sold for $7 each. The whole ensemble cost me less than $30!

Now I have a great new addition to my back patio. And I was so excited about my find that I took the $5 yard sale wicker rocker from the front porch and painted it white so it can be used to round out my seating arrangement. Oh and the tray on the coffee table is one I made a few weeks ago...click here to see  how I did it!

I think Mr. Rosemary Lane lucked out with not having to spend any money on outdoor furnishings, so hmmm...what can I think about buying now!

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Thank you!!!

Sharing at the following parties...

FRENCH COUNTRY COTTAGE
2805
Common Ground
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Addicted 2 Decorating
The Thrifty Groove
Nifty Thrifty Things 
Be Colorful
Coastal Charm
Knick of Time
Savvy Southern Style
From My front Porch to Yours
At the Picket Fence
My 1929 Charmer

Autumn eBook from "Front Porch Ideas and More" includes 21 Rosemary Lane!

Well fall is just around the corner and although I hate to say goodbye to the long warm days of summer, I can't help but to be excited about the autumn with its crisp air and beautiful reds, golds, and oranges against the backdrop of a grayish sky. Oh and I certainly do not want to forget to mention Halloween and Thanksgiving, two of my favorite holidays.

I am also excited because last November I was contacted by Dave and Mary Morris from the popular website Front Porch Ideas and More about a publication they were planning to launch for the next fall. They explained that they were developing an ebook for the Autumn of 2012 full of inspirational ideas for fall porch decorating, featuring a limited number of what they believe to be the best and most decorative and fun porches for both autumn and Halloween. These ideas are to come from various bloggers, and in addition to all the wonderfully creative porches, they decided to include a few fall recipes in their publication that they believe their readers will enjoy.

This is where yours truly comes in. Dave and Mary found a recipe of mine that they wanted to include in their ebook. And I have to say they have excellent taste! Not because it's mine but because this is truly is one of my all time favorite dessert recipes. The recipe they are featuring is my

 Coffee Trifle with Chocolate and Toasted Almonds.



Can you imagine my excitement?  Whew wee, it is an unbelievable honor for me to be included with creative and talented bloggers like Rhoda from Southern Hospitality, Yvonne from Stone Gable, and Kim from Savvy Southern Style. 

But now the time has come for Mary and Dave to officially begin promoting their ebook Autumn on the Porch. All 251 pages of the publication will hit the Internet today August 15th, and is being sold for the wonderfully low price of only $6.97. Ok...now I have perused through the book and I must say that it contains some of the most fabulous porch decorating ideas for fall and Halloween I have ever seen!

So if you my readers would like to purchase Autumn on the Porch you can easily do so by clicking below...

 Click Here!

I truly hope you enjoy this publication.

Have a wonderful day!

Being Featured Today ~ Strawberry Banana Jam Update

UPDATE!!!

Just found out that my jam is also being featured today over at The Cowgirl Up party which is hosted by 4 seperate blogs!

Farmhouse Porch

Cedar Hill Ranch

The Ivy Cottage Blog

Craft Texas Girls

Thank you so very much fabulous cowgirls!!!

 

 

What a way to meet and great the day!!! I went to link up to one of my favorite link parties this morning and check out all of the wonderful features, only to find as I scrolled to the bottom, my strawberry banana jam amoung the features!

The blog ~ Elizabeth & Co.

Hop on over and check out all of the beautiful features at the blog party going on right now!

And have a great day


My Sister's Kitchen ~ Kitchen Remodel

My beautiful sister Kim just finished renovating her tired 1990's kitchen, and I have to say that the finished project is simply stunning! But before you go on to see it, I have to tell you how upset I am that I lost the "before" photos I took when our home computer crashed. So let me give you a little idea of what Kim's kitchen looked like prior to the renovation.

A Birthday Message for Michael

Oh my how time does fly! It feels just like yesterday that we came home with you Michael. You were only 16 months and about the sweetest baby ever. Then before we knew it, you were coming downstairs on your second birthday wearing just your diaper and a big grin. Your father and I were so excited because your birthday was the first one we got to be part of as new parents.

The years have just whizzed by and now here you are 8 years old and growing up so fast. I often wonder about your birth mom and I think about how proud she would be to see you playing baseball and soccer, being part of the boy scouts, and in knowing how incredibly smart and creative a boy you have become. But I think about her most today, on the day that she gave birth to you. I wish I could thank her for giving myself and your father the precious opportunity of being able raise and love such a special child.

We do love you my sweetheart, very much and we wish you a wonderful day today.

Happy Birthday Michael from the bottom of our hearts.

Love,

 Mommy and Pop

Thrifty Back 2 School Fashion

There is nothing more exciting for me than finding a great deal. But to find a great deal in kid's fashions for less than three dollars an item is just amazing. Better yet how about $2 or less a piece...astounding? Well my sister Kim has been out doing the garage and yard sale thing and this is an outfit she picked up last weekend for Grace.

The headpiece Grace is wearing was once part of a flapper costume. Gracie decided to incorporate the splash of pink on her head to add a little "pop" to her new ensemble.

Total cost for the top, jeans and little jacket $3.50...flapper headpiece $.33!

The smile on Grace's face...PRICELESS!

Deal or Steal?

What do you think?

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Thank you!

Linking to the following parties...
nifty thrifty things
Cheerios and Lattes 
The Dedicated House
Not Just a Housewife
Cedar Hill Ranch Cowgirl Up
Savvy Southern Style
From My Front Porch to Yours
The Thrify Groove