Moving from Christmas decorations to deep into Winter Themes

The Christmas celebrations are over, the children and grand children are heading to their home, and it's snowing and cold outside.  The "Shine Banner" over the fireplace is out of date, and the "Fall Banner" that we had over the fireplace is also out of date.  I found some white burlap in the cutting room, and decided that "Winter" would be far more appropriate.

We developed some lithography in the "Rough Typewriter" font, and developed a couple snowflakes on Photoshop, pushed the Elna sewing machine into duty, and built a new banner for the fireplace.

The banner is available on our Etsy shop, if you want one for your fireplace also.

More Christmas decorations are coming down, and new decor items will be posted soon.

The "Shine Banner" which we utilized for Christmas is below:

 The new "Winter Banner" has replaced the Christmas theme.

Geese flying around our backyard

We had to stop decorating our home for a few moments to watch the geese fly around our backyard.

Getting Busy

Hubby and I are home, and have to get busy, since the children and grand children are coming over.

First (since it's 15 degrees outside), we had to take down the fall banner on the fireplace and give the fireplace some Holiday charm.

The other side of the fireplace could use the vintage sleigh that's been stored in the basement for the year.

And the pot rack needs some help also.  Off comes the pumpkin, and Holiday cheer is added.

We found some neat fabric at our local shop, and sewed a new table cloth, and put a simple center piece on the kitchen table.

A small side table decoration and small armoir upgrade.

We're getting there, but there is more work to do.

Happy Holidays to you and your family

Santa might be on his way !?!?!?

We put some lights on the house today.  The grand children are coming to visit, so we needed to assure ourselves that Santa can find it.

Do you think he can see it as he ventures out in a couple days?

Game Day Chili

It's forecast to snow tomorrow, so we are planning to make chili !!!

 

Our favorite recipe dates back to a 2000 Southern Living article.

 

Ingredients:

 

2 lbs ground chuck
1 medium onion, chopped
3 -4 garlic cloves, minced
2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans or 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (12 ounce) bottle dark beer
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can beef broth
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 (4 1/2 ounce) can chopped green chilies
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 -2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon hot sauce

Garnish

pickled jalapeno pepper, slices

Directions:

1.
Cook first 3 ingredients in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well.
2.
Combine meat mixture, beans, and next 11 ingredients in Dutch oven (I usually start off with half the beef broth and beer, and add more as needed); bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 3 hours or until thickened. Garnish, if desired.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/game-day-chili-430829?oc=linkback

Decorating at home for Christmas

Our lengthy Thanksgiving break in Maui, and needing to build some inventory for Christmas sells when we returned, has pushed back decorating our home.  It was 14 degrees today, along with wind and lite snow, so ....... we worked on the home.

First was the rec room table.   For fall, we have candles, etc.

 Now, we made the serving piece look "allot more like Christmas"

We thought that Chevron print is a new decor highlight, so we decided to remove the burlap table runner, and make a new one to fit the occasion.

Yes.  It's getting to look "allot more like Christmas"