Crock Pot Ranch Potatoes

I live in the South, so stereo-typically, I love Ranch seasoning and dressing.  I also love the simplicity of using the crock pot.  However, the dishes are never "pretty" for a blog.  Oh, well.  I am tempted to not even show the after picture, as it always looks brown and gross.  Trust me the potatoes are wonderful, and a great addition to a cook out or pot luck.

Easy ingredients: about 2 pounds of red potatoes, one packet Ranch dressing mix, one can cream of mushroom, and 8 ounces of sour cream.  Low fat or full fat ingredients work fine for this recipe.

My potatoes were large, so I cut each into 6 pieces.  No need to peel them, unless you just want to.

Spray the crock pot with Pam (it just makes clean up easier, or you can skip this step) and mix it all together in the pot.  It will look like this before you start cooking.  Really, you could use more potatoes if you needed to.  

Cook 4-6 hours on Low.  My crock pot tends to cook more quickly than most, so 4/5 if all I need.  Enjoy!

Bathroom Before

We moved into our house seven years ago.  I cannot believe it was that long ago.  We purchased the house from a house flipper, and most of the house was essentially brand new. We have enclosed the basement into a play/man room. We wound up having to take on less glamorous projects: entirely new heating and cooling system down to new duct work due to mold and a new roof.  So, the bathroom was moved down the list.

The home was built in 1962, so the master bath is tiny.

 (Now I know you are LOVING the fish door ;)

As you can see, tiny.  We plan to paint, replace the fish door, replace the mirror and lighting, add a fan, and hopefully add a window treatment of some kind.  I am not interested in a major gut of the bath at this time.  The tiles on the wall are white with black flecks in them.  

So, big question, what color?  

The top photo is in artificial light, and the bottom photo is natural light.  So, what do y'all think? 1, 2, 3, or 4?

Any other suggestions?

PS, Check out my new Etsy shop!

www.savvysouthernstyle.net

Greek Artichoke Chicken

I love artichoke and I went looking for a baked chicken dish on Pinterest, that did not include mayonnaise.  Well, I did not find much.  So, here is my attempt at a new dish!

 

I started with two large chicken breasts, mozarella, canned artichokes, small tomatoes, Penzy's Greek seasoning, Parmesean, and olive oil

I placed the breasts into a greased baking dish.  Place the mixture around it, and top with cheese:

 Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until done!

1 can artichoke hearts

1 small container tomatoes

2 chicken breasts

2 T Greek Seasoning

1 T Olive Oil

1/4 cup Parmesean 

1 cup Mozzarella

Spray the bottom of a glass baking dish, and preheat oven to 350.  Slice tomatoes in half, and chop artichokes.  Add tomatoes, artichokes, Greek seasoning, olive oil, and half the Parmesean to a bowl.  Mix well.  Place chicken in pan.  Place the mixture around the chicken.  Top with remaining cheeses.  Bake for 40 minutes!

Globe Lamp

I needed one more gift for the husband.  I was wondering our local thrift store and scored this globe for $3.99.  It was only the globe, the stand was long gone.  It took some effort to pry the two pieces apart, but with patience they came apart.  I purchased the accent beads at Hobby Lobby.  The lamp was something I already had, actually I bought it 13 years ago for $.99.  I sprayed it a light cream.  Voila, easy Christmas gift!

www.savvysouthernstyle.net

Wiggins Hollow

Recently, I have become increasingly interested in my family history.  Luckily, my family has kept great records, and I owe a lot to my Great-Aunt Clara Nell.  She made a "Howell Book" many years ago, long before internet records were available.  It is full of family facts, lore, marriage certificates, death certificates, an adoption record, photographs, and so much more.

Another thing I am very lucky to have access to is a physical piece of history here in Alabama.  The Howells settled in North Alabama around 1820, and the chimney from the homestead still stands today!  Miles Myhill Howell (1789-1853) and his brother, Isham Howell (1787-1846) moved to Alabama in the 1820s from South Carolina.  They purchased this land at that time, and it remained in Howell ownership until the 1970s when it was sold to the forest service. 

 Isham's headstone, located at Friendship Baptist cemetery in Danville, Alabama.

 

Miles's headstone also located at Friendship Cemetery. 

Miles is my 4th Great-Grandfather, and my daughter's 5th Great-Grandfather!  Miles's son, William George Washington Howell, also know as WGW, would marry Frances Ellen Wiggins.  I am assuming this is where the name "Wiggins Hollow" came from.  The lineage for my daughter goes:
Evelyn (3 years old) is the daughter of Rachel Howell-Morris, who is the daughter of Robert Howell, who is the son of Arthur Malcolm Howell, who is the son of Sim Howell Sr, who is the son of Arthur Percy "AP" Howell,  who is the son of WGW Howell,  who is the son of Miles Myhill Howell! 

Robert Howell (my father), Me, Evelyn (my daughter), Anna Henderson, John Howell, and Sally Corum.  My family tree is complicated . . . I am not going to try to explain how I am related to everyone.  :)

It is an easy hike to the Hollow; I would guess it is 20 minutes in from the main road.  The area is absolutely beautiful. Lovely ferns outline our path in the beginning, and we crossed a shallow stream.  There is also a warm spring that runs through a nearby cave. 

For size refrence, that is my six foot, six inch tall husband standing in the red shirt:

The chimney was repaired, probably in the early 1960s, but the stones and large mantle stone are original.  The house stood until the late 1970's.  The forest service was forced to burn it down; local teenagers were having parties in the woods.  My father remembers frequenting this place as a child.  He recalls spending the night here with his father, and the sounds of the bobcats in the woods has stayed with him to this day!

Luckily, whatever large furry creature was living in it a few years ago has moved out!

Below are a few more, unedited, pictures from our last trip there on November 2, 2013.

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Sort of a Fire Place

In our house, we do not have a fire place.  It is a bummer, especially now that little E knows what Santa Clause is, and Christmas is coming!  Last year, my friend at Sew Homegrown made an amazing Faux Fireplace (See it here!).  I was inspired to create a place to hang stockings in our home.  I did not want to spend much, so I went shopping in my own home. 

Before:

Not bad, but not "fireplacey" (that's a word . . .)

After:

Still not a "fireplace" but I feel like it it a great place to hang stockings this Christmas!  The wooden shelf hung in my parent's house for a long time, and my mom gave it to me several years ago.  I could not come up with a use for it until now.

The stained glass was a gift from my husband several years ago, and the candlesticks were from a local garage sale.  The plate was a wedding gift I have not displayed yet, and the cement balls were from a long closed junk store on the Southside.  My new favorite is this:

Last week, I went to Hartselle, AL, and was drawn into a 70% off everything going out of business sale!!!  This beautiful crewelwork was $16!  It is dated 1931.

The blue vases are featured in an earlier post (Vases Before and After).  I think they add a good punch of color.

Oh, we added a dog, Miss Pickles, last week also . . . .you can see her basket next to the dresser!

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Colander Planter

I found this pretty colander at Target on the clearance shelf!  It was exactly what I had been searching the thrift stores for.

 I needed the following supplies:

Also, you need potting soil.  Here is a list of what you need:

• River rocks
• Moss
• Potting Soil
• Any assortment of ferns/small plants
• Colander
• Trowel (or your hands)

I covered the bottom with river rocks, the then lined the sides with the moss.  I wanted to put something between the soil and the large open slots of the colander.   Then, fill the colander with potting soil, and place the plants where you want them!  Easy!

It probably only took 15 minutes to complete.  I put it all together in the kitchen sink (it is raining, again, outside) to minimize mess.

My planter will go on my kitchen bar.  I used one mahogany fern, and three hedra helix ivies!

Sharing with: Savvy Souther Style

Vases Before and After

I found these beauties at the local thrift store for $1.39.  They were originally $1.39 each, but they were 50% off.  What a deal!  (But wow, they are bad!)   There is some damage, the flower is missing off the boy vase and the arm is missing off the girl vase.

  

 

One coat of primer, and they are already looking better!!!

 

I am pretty happy with these.  I had this turquoise blue at home already, and went with it.  I have big plans for these in my living room!  Stay tuned!

Child's Bench

Earlier this summer, my mother's neighbor gave this bench to my mom.  Her neighbor found it in the garbage, and gave it to my mom when my daughter was playing at their house.  I cannot find my before picture . . . .

The metal was green and rusty, and the varnish was peeling off the wood which was stained lighter.  It was in great structural condition, and is very heavy.  You can find these at Lowe's and other outdoor stores all summer long.  They are about $100 new. 

I cleaned and spray painted the metal, and spent a lot of time sanding the varnish and stain off the wood.  The whole project was less than $12!!!  I used left over primer, and purchased one can satin spray paint, one small can dark stain, and one can spray polyurethane!  I put 5 coats of poly on it, since it will be in the sun and outdoors. 

Repairing Veneer on a Painted Piece

You may remember this disaster.  The veneer clearly got wet sometime in the past and had bubbled up.  So, time to fix it!

  

 

Thanks Pinterest!  I cannot find the link now, but I saw another blog that suggested using veneer edging for repair.  I used a box cutter to cut out all of the area that was no longer attached to the wood below, it was fairly easy.  The Lowes near me did not carry iron on veneer edging, so I purchased this from Amazon.com.  The color of the veneer does not matter, because I am painting over it.  I went with a lighter color, just in case.

 

I just measure on the spot, and only used half of the veneer.  It very easily glued down with the iron.  The box cutter easily cut it.  Luckily, this veneer was the same depth as the original veneer, and only needed one layer.   It did shrink a tiny amount once it dried, and you can see the seems.  That is okay because:

I puttied in all the cracks anyways!  Next, I will sand the entire piece again, and onto primer.

I plan to paint it a bright white, with a blue off center stripe (thanks Classy Clutter for the paint idea).  I found some awesome patina brass drawer pulls at the Decatur Habitat for Humanity (ReStore) for $1 each.  This piece had no pulls when I found it.  Here is what it looked like when I found it: Oh So Dirty Dresser.

Thanks for stopping by!  Leave a comment if you have any creative ideas for this chest!

Pool Noodle and the Garage Door

SO, I learned the hard way that my new car is larger than the last one I had, and this happened when the garage door was open when the back hutch of the car was also open:

Yeah, not a happy camper . . . .  Since I need to open the hutch with the garage door open, I had to figure out something.  Here is the angry, paint scratching metal:

Pool noodle from the Dollar Tree to the rescue!  All you need is a pool noodle, zip ties (small worked fine), and a knife.

 

(The pictures are not wonderful, but you get the idea!)

Keyboard Frame for Father's Day

Sorry I have been gone so long!  The summer really got going.

My husband is a big nerd (and I LOVE it), and I was trying to be creative for Father's Day.  Hopefully, he will not be checking the blog before Sunday . . . .

Below are all the supplies you need:

I found 2 off white keyboards at the thrift store for $.75 each!  I wound up only needing one.  I bought a frame at Hobby Lobby at 50% off.  A thrifted frame would be perfect too, but I did not have a flat one.  Grab your hot glue gun and a butter knife, and you are set!

First, pop the keys off the board, really easy:

However, the keyboard was REALLY gross underneath, and I promptly tried to clean my own keyboard . . .

 I lined the keys up, just to see how I liked them on the frame, and I just glued them all on after that!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

My First Yard Sale

Well, it is sort of my first yard sale.  I have helped with other people's sales, and I have helped with sales at the church I grew up in.  Who knew there was so much stuff in this house!  AND that is with me making 2 or 3 trips a year to the local America's Thrift drop off.

Here are a few things I found to work out well:

• Advertise on Craigslist.  Hands down the best tip.  Before the sale I had eight to ten e-mails asking about things I mentioned in the ad.
• Put directions to your house on Craigslist, especially if you live out of the way, or on an obscure street like we do.
• Make legible signs.  I made six signs on neon yellow poster board.  All the signs had were "Yard Sale," an arrow, and the times of the sale.  People are driving, they do not need a novel.
• Make sure to get a permit, if needed.  Call your city hall to find out.  Without one in my area you can be fined $500!!!

The items that sold that was totally shocking to me.  People wanted "man stuff" and this yard sale was pretty girlie.  The man stuff sold within the first hour, ALL OF IT.  We sold drills, tools, XXL t-shirts, and a lot of antiquated technology (ie, a Palm Pilot, Nintendo, miscellaneous cords). 

What did not sell was also surprising.  We did not sell a sofa (no one even glanced in it's general direction), and I only sold a couple of little girl/baby items.  I had two boxes of shoes for toddlers, in good shape, and I sold one pair.  In the consignment sale I participate in, they are the first things to go.

Anyways, it was an excellent sale.  We ran it two days, and we were rained out day two.  That was really a good thing, there was not much left, at all. 

Oh So Dirty Dresser Before

 Here is the new project!  I want to replace the bad (however, free) 1980s dresser in out bedroom.  I picked up this beauty at the Gardendale Flea Market in the &Whatnot booth (&Whatnot FB).

The main structure appears to be a basic cheap plywood dresser.  At some point someone added the details, they are solid wood.  At least this is my guess, because it really does not make sense.  I have never seen a cheap dresser with curved detail. 

The top is in BAD shape:

I am going to cut a section of the veneer out, and hopefully use my Pinterest skills to repair it . . .

Any ideas on color?  Design?  Out room has pale blue walls, dark furniture, and an embroidered leaf print white bedspread.  Maybe I will paint a graphic leaf on it, who knows!  Ideas welcome!

Child's Hutch After

Remember this beauty?

You can see more at Child's Hutch Before.  It was so gross, but had so much potential.  AND here she is:

I started with 3 coats of Valspar spray paint primer.  The wood is so old, and had been so exposed to the elements that is just soaked it up.  I also puttied some of the dings and holes along with the site of the old hinges.

Luckily, I was able to find some inexpensive and cute hinges on eBay. I painted the inside white and the outside Mo Better Blue (where they come up with the names, I do not know). 

Sammy and Miss E liked it too!

Linking up with: http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/