Pretty Pink Brunch with Recipes

On February 16, I had a Valentine Brunch for some friends.  Valentine's Day is past, of course, but pink is 'in' any day of the year!  This could easily be turned into a spring brunch, b-day brunch, and more.

Miniature German Pancakes served as a centerpiece as well as brunch food.

VERY easy to make and very fun.  Fill with any fruit or even a yummy pudding filling.  Thank you to Laura of Real Mom Kitchen for her idea and recipe found HERE.

Fresh fruit in a pink parfait glass sat on each plate.

Pink tulle is an easy, pretty way to dress up a chair.  And you can reuse it over and over again.

Our favors were a cup of Valentine Chex Mix.  Yum!  I gave each of us a different tea cup, too, in which I served hot teas or coffee.  I often like to let each guest choose their own teacup and then I tell them the story of each tea cup...where it came from or when/why it was given to me.

This pastry was made from crescent roll dough.  I put about 1.5 tsps. of sweetened cream cheese on each triangle of dough and topped it with 6 blueberries.  Then wound the ends of the dough up and around like a scarf around a neck, to make it into a little bread bowl.  Bake til alittle golden on top.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

These savory crepes were the BEST part.  The filling is made from a white sauce to which I added fresh parmesan cheese, cooked sausage, sauteed mushrooms, and spinach.  If you've never made crepes, it isn't very hard.  You can make this dish several hours in advance, then bake at 300 til hot and bubbly.  I used THIS recipe but without the lemon sauce and I switched out sausage for bacon.  Added more milk too, to make it the consistency that I needed.  Leave any questions about this in the comment section and I will answer there.

Our tummies were happy and our hearts were full.
It's so much fun being a girl!  :)

Blessings,
Donna


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Pink Froth

If you need a quick, easy, and festive jello salad or dessert for Valentine's Day, here it is!  It was originally made with Lemon Jello and is called Lemon Froth.  Super yummy.  But for Valentine's Day I like to make it with strawberry or cherry jello.

Here is the recipe...requires just 2 ingredients plus water and ice.

1 pkg. jello
3 oz. cream cheese
3/4 c. boiling water
1 cup ice cubes

Dissolve Jello in the boiling water and pour into a blender.  Add the cream cheese and blend until smooth.  Add 1 cup ice cubes to the blender mixture.  Stir until mostly melted.  Remove any unmelted cubes, and blend again for 1 minute.  Pour into one serving bowl or into parfait glasses.  Chill until firm.  A dollop of whipped cream on top is pretty.  And a chocolate heart poking out of the whipped cream would be a beautiful touch.
Serves 4
The recipe is very easy to double.

Making a special dish for your family is this easy!
Enjoy!!

Blessings,
Donna

Valentine Table

Once Upon A Time...I bought a sweet little glass topped side table from Goodwill.

She was dusty, forgotten, and adorable.

The price was juuuuusssstttt right.

She was painted, the glass top removed and cleaned, and the black top made a perfect canvas for displaying treasures from a recent special 25th Anniversary trip.  I always planned on re-doing the top for holidays.  But never did until....

I purchased some SWEET vintage Valentines at a flea market last week.  Three for $1!  Inspired, I took the glass top off, laid a sweet piece of October Afternoon paper out as the new mat, and placed the valentines atop along with a piece of sheet music, a paper doily, and some punched hearts.  Love the way the red pops on the black background.  

And there she is!  I'll put the other paper ephemera in a file folder to re-use again some time.  But I am going to have fun re-decorating this table every season, now that I've taken the initial plunge.

Keep your eyes open for your own little glass topped table.
A great canvas for new decor in just minutes!

Thank you for stopping by!  I'm hosting a Valentine Brunch soon, so come back to see ideas I'll be posting for it.

Blessings!
Donna
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Window to my World

Today I made one of my little dreams come true!  I finally got an antique window hung above our bed.  Happy sigh!  I did it all by myself.  No small feat!  I used 3M velcro strips, which means we can adjust it a bit when hubby comes home.  I'm trying to remember if I told him I wanted to put this window here...hmmm.  Hope he likes it!

This window is from Northern Indiana.  A neat little antique shop near Plymouth, IN, in fact.  I can't help but look at it and wonder about its history.  Did a housewife look out this window when it was new?  Or was this window in a shed, garage, or shop?

The cute rag garland was a gift from a very dear friend!  It's been the only thing hanging over our bed these past 1.5 years.  It looks perfect right over the middle of the window!  Thanks Lori!

Another fun thing that happened this week is that I got some personal calling cards in the mail!  I ordered these from Ink Garden...it was a special of 100 cards for only $4.99 shipped!  I have regular business cards for my etsy shop.  But I have often wished for some cards to give new friends so that they can have my phone number and email.
Ink Garden lets you pick your design, words, fonts, colors, etc.
(The black marks are for privacy's sake on the internet.)

And on the back, there was room to put more.  So I just made a little list of who I am.  And put my blog address.

And lastly, I didn't have something wintery to put on my front door.  So I decided to put up a vintage Valentine cut out.  Fun, cute, and different.  This was either from my younger years or my school teaching years.

Thanks for stopping by on this cold, sunny January day!

Blessings!
Donna
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Cute, Quick Homemade Calendar

I really enjoy having a photo calendar each year.  Last year I paid about $8 to have Walgreens make one for me on sale.  But this year I thought I'd just pick up this $1 calendar at JoAnn Fabrics.  Little did I know that it would end up being my favorite photo calendar yet!

Last week, I hurriedly worked on a photo order through Walmart.com.  My idea was to print 3-4 pics for each page and crop them so I could get several events/memories on each month. Then suddenly I had a TERRIFIC epiphany!!  Walmart lets you make photo collage prints for just 9 cents each!!!  It was so fun to  make a 4x6 photo collage, WITH TITLE, for each month!  That allowed me to get several photos (usually 6) per month and even be able to title them.

Add caption

And so here is the January page.  I am loving this in our master bathroom.  While I do my hair in the morning, I can see my loved ones and remember special times.

It can be hard to decide what pictures to do each month.  So my plan was to choose favorite pics/events/memories of that month from 2011 and put them on the coinciding month of 2012.  

This project was very economical and quick.  It might have taken me an hour to upload the pics to walmart.com and create the 12 photo collages.  And then just about 5 minutes to put them in my calendar using photo splits from my scrapbooking supply.
I can also say that it cost less than $4.  The calendar was $1 and the photos were 9 cents each plus alittle bit for shipping so they would come right to my house.  I like it so much better than my little $8 desktop calendar from last year b/c the photos are more clear and there are more per month.

And now...I'm betting you'd like to see one of my favorite pictures of my little newborn granddarling...right?  

This precious little babe was born one week ago today and his name is 
Carson Davis.
He is our very first little grand and we are loving him to PIECES!!!

He was about 4 days old here.  So beautiful.  So sweet.  So happy.  And such a God-gift!  I wish he lived next door, and not 6 hours away.  I am loving being his "Mimi" and am so thankful for the 6 days I got to spend with him, our darling daughter, and her husband.

Thank you for visiting!  Have you been to my etsy shop, Perfect Darlings?  I've sold over 60 of one certain handmade gift you'll find there...curious?  Go see!  :)

Blessings,
Donna


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Joy to the World...Our First Grandchild is Born!!

Carson Davis Gamble
7 pounds 1 ounce
Perfection!

Our beautiful first born Lindsey and her sweet husband Rich have given us our first little 'grand' and we are thrilled!

I got to be right outside the door, hearing it all take place!  And when he was born I got to come in and start taking photos.  Bliss!!

Just one hour old.  Such a sweet new little person.  My heart will never be the same.

'Papa'is quite proud and smitten!

'Mimi'...my dream come true!
Thank you Jesus for
new life,
health,
his godly parents,
and the huge blessing of being his
Grands.

Blessings!
Mimi Donna

One Word for 2012

Have you heard of the idea of choosing 'One Word' for your new year?  It's kind of a one word New Year's resolution.  You can read more about it HERE.
My One Word for 2011 was "Anticipate".  I chose that word for several reasons...we were new to this area and I wanted to anticipate the good things and people that we would meet in our new home.  I was anticipating God answering a deep heartfelt prayer request for one of my loved ones.  And we were hoping to anticipate the news that we would be grandparents for the first time!

We also had several special trips to anticipate...a family reunion at a gorgeous, huge lake house near St. Louis and nearly a week in Orlando at the Disney Resorts and Parks.
In choosing the word 'anticipate' I was putting my hopes in God for good things for the new year...anticipating blessings and answers to prayer.
So many of those blessings came to be!  Our first grandchild is due to be born ANY day!  :)  And we had the unexpected, bittersweet news that we have a 2nd grandchild due to be born in early March!  God is so sweet...we're going to have a grandson first and then a granddaughter...one of each!
My deep prayer for my family member has been answered!!  Not completely, but certainly a big change has taken place in this one's life.
Our family has made sweet, new friends in our town and had such fun investigating new places.
The trips we took were above and beyond all that we asked or imagined!
Plus we enjoyed our first Square Foot Garden and I opened a successful Etsy shop!  It's been an eventful year for sure!

And now 2011 has drawn to a close.  It's time for 2012.  And a new 'One Word'.
Along with last year's fun and blessings, some ongoing trials arose.  We face uncertainty in several key areas of life.
I am tired.
All the activity of our comings and goings, family events and news, my Etsy shop, and homeschooling has left me a little bit weary.
I am feeling drawn to a new word for the new year.  Everywhere I look I see this word in print or read of the idea of it and its synonyms.  
My One Word for 2012 is
Rest.

I want to take time to sit more with my Bible, my family, and for listening.
I want to rest in the Lord in the midst of trials and unknowns.  He already knows the outcome of the path ahead...fretting does not help or change things.  It just wears me out and causes me to worry.
I want to have a spirit that is at rest most of the time b/c I know that the Story Writer of our lives is turning the next page with the next bit of info at the right time.
I need to look into my husband's eyes and our children's eyes and just listen and be with them.
To sit and rock my darling grandbabies whenever I have the chance.
I hope to stand and look out the window for a moment each day and look for God's hugs and fingerprints.
To get outside for a bit each day to breathe the fresh air and feel His beauty all around.
And continue to take lots of photos, so that I can look back and be reminded over and over of the memories made each day.

Just like my little puppy-girl, I want to rest and just enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, touches, and tastes of the life God has given me...and trust Him in the midst of it all.  He is the Prince of Peace, and He lives in me.  Therefore His peace is always at my heart's fingertips, ready to fill me as I allow it.

Do you have a One Word for 2012?  I would LOVE to hear it, and why you chose it.  

I wish you peace and rest and anticipation for the new year of 

2012!

Blessings,
Donna