Initial Plaques

I have the entire week off from work (which I am sooo enjoying) and my desire to be creative has awakened. I absolutely love the Initials everywhere for sale to hang on a wall or sit on a special shelf. The other day I happened upon a blog detailing how to create such a cute little initial plaque. Today, Mom and I hit the town, went to Hobby Lobby and shopped 'til we dropped. It's New Year's Eve and I'm sitting at home with the Hubby making plaques and watching Seinfeld reruns...my kind of night actually. Well, here was my starting point for my plaques.

The items you will need are a wooden initial, a decorative unfinished wood plaque or a plaque you pick up at a thrift store that can be repurposed, scrapbooking paper, glue, paint, sandpaper and decorations if desired.

Step One - Sand your boards if necessary.

Step Two - Paint your plaque and your initial in a color(s) to coordinate with the paper you have chosen.

Step Three - Thinly paint on mod podge or glue on the face of the plaque and center your piece of scrapbook paper.

Step Four - After smoothing out any wrinkles in the paper, firmly rub the edges with sand paper. The sandpaper against the edge of the plaque will crease and cut the paper. Then, gently remove the edges.

Step Five - Dry brush the edges of the paper with paint.

Step Six - Lightly brush mod podge or glue over papered surface.
Step Seven - Hot glue your initial to the face of the plaque.

Step Eight - Coat initial with mod podge. Spray a clear coat over plaque.

Step Nine- Attach with a glue gun any bling you desire!

There you've got it!

This one was made for my Sis, Karen. Her nickname is K2 at the office because there are two Karens in the same department. She needed a little pick-me-up this evening so I hurried and finished it and e-mailed her a picture of what would be arriving on her doorstep in a few days.

This one was made for my kitchen or bath. I love red & black and have it throughout our home. I also love a little western theme - I AM A TEXAS GAL after all. It has a silver cowboy hat on the upper corner and a silver pair of boots on the bottom corner.

I've got three more plaques and a door hanger under way. This is such fun and a great stress relief! I used to do a lot of crafts, wreaths, paint, etc., but the stresses of life have gotten in the way. I think it's time my creative spirit shines through somewhere besides in the kitchen! Hope you give this a try!

Tearful Goodbyes

Today was a trying and tearful day, a day our family has dreaded for many months. My sister's youngest son, Jared, said goodbye to all of us today. This was the last time we will see him for many, many months. Jared serves his country in the U.S. Army and will be flying out to Afghanistan on Monday for his second tour. We surprised Jared with a family send-off dinner at Johnny Carino's this evening. I was busy with my camera, catching sweet little moments and documenting memories for each of us to carry in our hearts - brother and sisters saying good-bye, the mom kissing her son one last time, grandma sending her young grandson off to war. Please say a prayer for this sweet young man each night as he is fighting for our country. He will be policing and securing convoys in a dark and troublesome place as we live, play, relax and enjoy the comforts of home.

Gift Towers

The Christmas rush for Deb's Delectable Edibles has come to an end with the delivery of the last gift tower to its very deserving recipient. After a very long week of baking, candy making, popcorn roasting and cookie decorating, Mom and I packaged up the delectable goodies, placed them in their beautiful little boxes and sent my very own santa out in his sleigh to make deliveries to good little boys and girls from our little small town all the way to the Big D.

There were telephone calls of thanks and grateful tears of joy. My favorite recipient was an elderly lady who lost her husbad unexpectedly several years ago. She has the biggest heart and would give you the shirt off of her back. Each year this special lady is included with our corporate client deliveries in an effort to brighten her Christmas. As we stood on her porch and she accepted her special box of goodies, she wept, giggled & brought tears to my eyes. Something so small as a pretty hat box filled with goodies touched this woman's heart, made her know she wasn't completely alone and brought her enjoyment through the afternoon as she nibbled away. I know because she called our office each time she had something different to tell me how good it was! How precious!

I had such fun with these! I filled my towers with Cream Cheese Pumpkin Roll, Cranberry Pumpkin Bread, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Double Peanut Butter Cookies, Coconut Macaroons, Snickerdoodles, Pecan Tassies, Fudge with Pecans, Peanut Butter Fudge, Texas Millionaires, Double Dipped Peanut Butter Balls and Texas Longhorn Crunch. Here is just a glimpse of my offerings...
Now, there is shopping to be done, decorations to be put up, and gifts to be wrapped. This afternoon I finished up with my GW find, the mini Christmas tree I purchase for $1.50. Drum roll please, my little glitzy glam tabletop treeDeck Them Halls Y'all!

Creative Juices Flowing

This day began as a hectic Saturday with Mom and I out and about with the hustling, bustling Christmas Shoppers. We set out to find the perfect Christmas ornaments for our ornament exchange. Rattled nerves, empty hands and two hours later, we had had enough. There wasn't an ornament out there calling my name that was worth fighting those crowds. So we decided to wander on over to Cracker Barrell for a relaxing lunch and a stroll through the country store. Aw, we should have began our journey here. We had a wonderful country lunch and found the perfect most darling ornaments ever! I want to keep them ALL! But I won't, I'll be good and put them in the ornament exchange. Maybe! We were headed home when I asked Mom if she would like to whip into GW (Goodwill). I have often found some hidden treasures there for decorating if you know how to look past its current state and see what it can become with a little creativity, a little bit of ribbons, paint, glue and glitter and make a wonderful creation. Well, we hit the jackpot. I found the cutest little tabletop Christmas tree with a huge tree trunk base with the Garden Ridge tag still attached and it was a fair price of $3.00. BUT get this...it was half off so I snagged it for the grand price of $1.50! Yahoo! I knew where she was going, right in the center of my dining room table. She is a work in process and I will be posting the pics of her redo shortly.

I saw recently through the different blogging world Christmas Open Houses some plaques that were made with a little spray paint, glue, glitter and presto a beautiful creation. Well, that's when my search began and why I stepped foot into the not so pleasant smelling GW, wood plaques calling my name, wood plaques waiting to be beautiful Christmas creations, and Christmas trees waiting to be decked out. Well, I found two plaques that were pefect & we were so excited. I wasn't at home to take before pictures because we went straight to Mom's and spread everything out on the table, raided her craft closet for beads, glitter, paint and ribbon and the notions started flying. After a few swipes with the paintbrush, a little use of the glue gun, some glitter and trim later and feast your eyes on our divalicious little Christmas creations...

Guess how much those two gorgeous little plaques set me back! Just guess! Fifty Cents each, yep, fifty cents!

I also left with a sad little wooden Christmas tree with a terrible paint job and polkadots that was screaming to me "Make Me Beautiful!" I was up to the challenge. A few more strokes of the paintbrush, a broken pearl necklace for Christmas balls, leftover gold ribbon, a few buttons, some glitter, repurposed Santa and HoHo buttons & a dab of fiberfill later & isn't she the cutest little tree?!!!

And my sweet little Christmas tree cost fifty cents as well! I love it when a plan comes together!
My little Christmas tree makeover will be posted tomorrow after I have had my way with her! Until then, Merry Christmas & Happy Creating! It's good for the soul!

Another Year Gone By

Today I am a proud 36 years young - Happy Birthday to Me! I love my birthday and expect to be treated like a Queen on my day & I want to feel like one. Well, I guess this year is an exception because I feel like no Queen. I have fallen ill with a bronchial infection, am on four prescriptions & feel like a croaking toad. Yes, a croaking toad. Knowing I would feel like a non-Queen I knew it would take me a little bit longer to get in the swing this morning so I set that lovely alarm for 5:00 a.m. Guess what? It didn't make a peep! I was awoke by a birthday telephone call at 7:45 a.m. - I HAVE TO BE AT THE OFFICE AT 8:00! I had the perfect outfit picked out to sport my new birthday haircut and had been looking forward to a liesurely morning. Boy, did I have to kick it into high gear and I was forty-five minutes late. Whew! What a birthday greeting. My darling hubby did surprise me at the office with lunch from Panera, knowing I had to work through my day. I just love their French Onion Soup! MMMMMM MMMM! I'm starting to feel a little more Queenlike!

Now for the good stuff...presents, dinner and BIRTHDAY CAKE BABY! Hubby let me pick out my main gift (For some reason he is under the impression that I am picky!), and I selected a gorgeous new watch. Let me just say, I LOVE IT! Boy he has great taste, doesn't he?

My dear sweet niece Ashley gave me the cutest card..about the QUEEN's B-Day and the best gift you could ever receive...a gift certificate to my favorite department store so I can pick out what I want! Hmmm those 800 thread count sheets I saw on sale are calling my name!

To my surprise, my sweet hubby gave me a little something extra, a romance double feature DVD, Must Love Dogs and You've Got Mail. Wow, two of my favorite girly movies on one DVD - what a deal!

Mom surprised me with the most beautiful set of jewelry, jade and sterling silver necklace, earrings and pendant. I had asked for it months ago when we saw it and I had completely forgotten about it. What a nice surprise!

Did I say that I LOVE gifts?!!! I am usually the one giving, giving, giving, so when it's my day, I thoroughly enjoy it! Seeing as how I am so sick, I decided I did not really want to venture out to a restaurant for my birthday dinner so I asked my sweet mama to cook for me. My request - her Southern Fried Chicken (in the cast iron skillet of course), Mashed Potatoes & Cream Gravy, and Green Beans. MMMMM MMMMM so yummy. Remember, y'all, I'm a Texas gal tried and true! My mama's fried chicken is out of this world, finger-lickin' good! I'm so excited! You've got to understand something - she hasn't made fried chicken for us in at least five years because for some strange reason she doesn't think it's healthy! Go figure! Well, tonight all bets were off! I wish you were here but that leaves more for me! This was my delicious dinner, fit for a TEXAS queen!

I was delighted to see the best chocolate cake ever, my mama's Wacky Chocolate Cake, which made its debut after dinner. I request this cake every year and have done so for as long as I can remember. I'm sharing this recipe because you deserve to have the BEST chocolate cake recipe there is! It's wacky alright, just look at the recipe, but it is out of this world delicious, so chocolatey and moist! I'll be eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I hope you try it - you will be pleasantly surprised when that first bite slides off the fork. Feast your eyes on the world's best chocolate cake...

Wacky Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:

2 cups unsifted flour

1/2 cup cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups water

3/4 cup oil

2 tbls. vinegar

2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Combine first five ingredients in a large bowl. Add the next four ingredients and beat three minutes at medium speed until thoroughly blended. Pour into greased and floured 13x9x2 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.

We use a chocolate buttercream with two tablespoons of hot coffee in it - makes it even more creamy and delicious! Enjoy!

Christmas Cooking Under Way

This is the beginning of the craziest week of the year for Deb's Delectable Edibles. I make gourmet gift baskets for corporate clients throughout the year, but Christmas is definitely the busiest. Yesterday I completed my shopping for just the perfect packaging (this year it will be a towering delight!) and then I headed off to purchase all of the ingredients for my delicious creations. Suffice it to say...my pantry, counters and tables runneth over! Today I got a head start on my week of baking and candy making and whipped out Texaslicious Pecan Pralines, Double Dipped Peanut Butter Balls, and a big ol' batch of chocolatey Fudge loaded with pecans. Oh what fun, I'm so excited! I'll be posting pics throughout the week as my project comes together.

After a long day of candy making and Christmas card writing, I thought a comfort food dinner was in order and the hubby asked for my Meatball and Potato Dinner. This recipe is one that I remember my mom making through the years, only I have adapted it to be gluten-free and it utilizes ground turkey in place of hamburger. I hope you will try this one, it is so wonderful and is great reheated.

MEATBALL & POTATO DINNER

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. Ground Turkey Breast

1 finely chopped medium onion

1 finely chopped bell pepper

1 egg (I used 1 TBLS milled flax seed with 3 TBLS water in place of the egg)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

3-4 large new potatoes, cut in 1" chunks

3/4 cup water

olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all ingredients except water and oil in a mixing bowl (it works best to use your hands to thoroughly incorporate all ingredients). Roll into 1-inch meatballs and place in hot skillet coated with olive oil. Over medium-high heat, brown meatballs on all sides. Lower heat to low and slide meatballs to the sides of the pan, making a place in the middle of your skillet for the potatoes. Place potatoes in the middle of the skillet and add the water. Sprinkle potatoes with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

This is delicious just by itself but I add a garden salad, steamed broccoli or fresh green beans to round out the meal. Enjoy!

It's a Celebration!

Today is the most wonderful day of the year for me. This is the day that my dearest friend became my sweet husband thirteen years ago. We have been through so much through the past years, my husband’s disability and four-year fight with social security, my PCOS-induced infertility, college, my change of career paths, sickness and family death. Through it all, we have remained side-by-side, united, best of friends and a little more in love with each day that passes. There are those days when my stress and hormones get the best of me and I could just smack him – don’t we all have those days – but I thank God for making this sweet and caring man just for me. Happy Anniversary To Us!

Added Note: My husband took me to the coziest, most wonderful little spot for dinner, The Library. We have several friends who love to relax after a long day in this quiet little spot but we haven't had the opportunity to try it out. Well, tonight was our night. We were greeted by twinkling white Christmas lights, a winding brick walkway, an old wooden porch, and the friendliest hostest & staff you could ever ask for. Although we didn't have a reservation, they took us right in when they found out it was our anniversary, gave us the best table in front of the fireplace complete with drippy candles, lush cushy chairs and the crackling fire. Our dinner was amazing, the best ribeye steak these Texas beef eaters have ever placed in their mouths! And then there was DESSERT!!! Our lovely waitress brought out this beautiful display...Italian Cream Cake, Chocolate Layered Mouse, Coffee Ice Cream Cake. OMG, it was heavenly! This is most certainly our new go-to place to reconnect, unwind and enjoy a quiet evening. Wish you were here!

The Happy Couple at 13 Years & Counting!