Frame Upcycle

I found this framed art in a "free" bin at a garage sale and immediately snatched it up. It had a great scrollwork design, but most importantly, it had that canvas lining that seemed to be so popular a few decades ago. I love the look of the canvas accents that you don't see much anymore on modern frames.

The art in this frame was a textured painting on a heavy tile-type of surface. I took the frame apart, painted the gold, white, attached a piece of scrapbooking birch-wood over top of the tiled art, and attached a clip for photos. Love!

An old mailbox

Attended my first auction/estate sale with Kevin's grandparents a few weeks ago.

I felt super "official" with my number, and was excited/nervous to start bidding.
Grandpa Lee gave me a bunch of good tips, and Grandma Martha kept me company and pointed out items they had their eye on. I love those two. <3

The one thing I wanted. I got. For the max price I said I'd pay (whew).

A quick DIY.

Found item in garage sale "free" bin:

Thought "Gross". Thought "potential".

Brought home.

Rummaged through paint supplies.

boom. paint.

boom.chalkboard.

Got artsy with chalk.

Posted on craigslist.

Quick $10.

The End.

Sweet Corn- It's coming out of our "ears"

Last weekend I took a visit to my parents' house to help them with some summer canning/freezing! I am D.E.T.E.R.M.I.N.E.D. to learn this dying art to keep my Mamma and Grand-mamma's recipes/traditions alive!

Among other things, one of our big undertakings was freezing sweet corn. We ended up having over 50 cups of sweet corn to freeze. When I arrived at their house, I was greeted by Dad in the garage, cutting corn off ears of corn in assembly line fashion, with the oldies cranked up so loud the neighbors could enjoy ;) ---I knew this was going to be a fun day. When I walked in the house, mom was right where I know I can always find her: in the kitchen, working away!

Every so often Dad would bring in another pan of fresh-cut corn for us to start preparing, and would make sure he was there to offer advise on a process he wasn't fooling anyone about knowing nothing about.

Mom and I took turns measuring out corn into pans, adding water, pickling salt, & sugar (about half of Grandma's recipe, because "we don't need that much sugar", according to Mom), blanching them, and dishing them out into freezer containers.

Turns out, the freezer containers we used were old containers my Grandma used to use, and still had a lot of her old labels stuck to the lids. The ones that were still stuck on, we left.

This was one of the labels that fell off, and was special/nostalgic, as it was from the last year she canned corn before she passed away. I felt like she was right there with us, overseeing our process. <3

Healthy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

1 pkgs lo-carb tortillas

1 can enchilada sauce

1 can corn

1 can black beans

3 cups shredded cheese

4 oz cream cheese

4 cups chicken

Lime juice

cilantro

oven to 375

Pour a thin layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish – top with two tortillas – and then another thin layer of enchilada sauce. Use a spoon to make sure all of each tortilla is coated with sauce.

Mix chicken, cream cheese, a little enchilada sauce, salt, pepper

Evenly distribute 1/2 cooked chicken mixture on top of the tortillas..

Mix Corn, beans, cilantro, and lime juice.

Evenly distribute 1/2 corn mixture on top of the chicken

Layer ¾ cup of cheese on top of corn mixture

Top with 4 tortillas

Repeat, ending with with tortillas topped w cheese.

BAM!!!!!!!!!!

So good, there was no time for even a photo. Sorry!