Redneck Wine Glass

I'm sure you've probably seen the Redneck Wine Glasses that came out last year.  I originally saw them at Hallmark for $14.99 each. 

Well......I'm just too darn thrifty (ok - cheap!) to pay that much for something I can make myself!  Plus mine are Genuine Texas Redneck Wine Glasses! Mine cost less than $2 not including the glue, paper and fabric strips.

The base is a glass candlestick from the dollar store (Crosby even has an Everything's a Dollar now) and the jar came from Walmart and I think it was about 75 cents.  I glued it together with E6000 glue which is seriously awesome stuff.  You can get it at Walmart in the craft section and it is like a really thick super glue. Just turn the mason jar over (makes it easier to center the candlestick) then place a bead of glue on the candlestick on place it on the jar. Let it dry overnight.

I made the tag in PrintShop and converted it to a jpeg for everyone to use.  I have a 3 1/2" scalloped circle punch that I used to cut them out, then glued them back to back and punched a hole in the top. You could use ribbon to tie them on but I tore small strips of fabric and also used some twine on mine.  The lid has a small circle of red white and blue paper inserted between the ring and cap.

The last embellishment is hard to see but I added some small rhinestones on the bottom and glued them on with the E6000.  I used what I had on hand, but you could really bling it up if you wanted to.

This is the back of the tag.

Supplies

The tag is a jpeg and it should print out correctly for you if you print it full size - 8 1/2 x 11.

So fill her up and shout a big TEXAS YEEHAW 

as you toast to the LONE STAR STATE! 

Another Craft Room Lamp Update

A month or so ago, I updated one of the lamps in the craft room and today I finally got around to updating the second one.

These are so easy to do with the self-adhesive lamp shades from Hobby Lobby.

Supplies

I like the newest one with the eyelash trim much better than my first ones.

What do you think?

Horseback Riding

Sunday we went over to our friend's Marty and Kenny's place and rode their horses - or as their granddaughter Aubrey calls them "Neigh Neigh's".  I think I've been on a horse exactly twice in high school (and as we all know, that was at least 100 years ago!!!) So this was quite an adventure for me.

We had a blast and leaned lots about horses.  They have 3 and they are all extremely gentle and well mannered.  Aubrey had her first ride and didn't want to stop.

Thanks Kenny and Marty for a wonderful day!

Aubrey has to pet each one of the Neigh Neigh's.

Saddle 'em up!

Ty would only watch from the other side of the fence.  

But he did come through the barn and got really close to them.  

That's me - on a horse - can you believe it?

Tim rode too!  I really didn't think his hip would be up to it, but he did fine.  Wasn't even sore the next day.

Aubrey and her Grandpa Kenny - Look at that adorable face!  I took this while riding next to them.

Ride Cowgirl Ride!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

If you want an extremely easy and seriously delicious cupcake recipe, then you need to try Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cupcakes.

I saw her making these on the Food Network and they have since become my family's favorite.  Took them over to Marty's on Sunday and they were a hit.

Here is a link to the video of that episode - Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cupcakes

Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• Chopped pecans and fresh raspberries or strawberries, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

The only change that I make is to the frosting.  It seems to be to thin when I make it with all the butter and cream cheese that is called for in the recipe.  So I either add more sugar and then end up with at least half left over or reduce the cream cheese to 8 ounces and the butter to 1 stick.  Even then, I probably still add at least 2 more cups of confectioners sugar.

Let me know how yours turn out - I think you will love them!

Kitchen Cabinet Makeover

So if you are like me and have stock cabinets, you don't have anywhere to store your cookie sheets and large baking pans in an upright position.  It was such a pain to have them all stacked on top of one another until I just couldn't stand it anymore.

I had seen custom cabinets with a section for storing these large pans and had a brainstorm about how to make my stock cabinet work for storing my cookie sheets.

My base cabinets have a 10" shelf running along the back and these shelves are just made out of particle board and always end up sagging in the middle.  So I asked my wonderful hubby to cut off a section that was equal to the height of the shelf and make a custom storage area for my baking pans

He used a jig saw to cut the shelf while it was still in the cabinet, then used an L bracket to brace it on the bottom and nailed it in to place.

It's not the most attractive bit of carpentry but it makes a wonderful place to store large pans.

Here it is with a few pans in it. The shelf leg keeps the pans from sliding down when I lay them on their side.

And here it is fully loaded.

(Notice how I turned the cookie sheets around so you couldn't see how grungy they are?)

Here it is all loaded with the shelf liner in it.  I let the liner on the top shelf hang down over the side to cover up the raw edge.

It worked out so well that Tim did the same thing for my Mom and she loves it too! 

Random Instagrams

Let me apologize in advance for my newest addiction - besides blogging and Pinterest that is!  

I just love Instagram and I can, for the first time ever take really great pictures!  Well, at least they are good!

I got home early tonight for the first time this week and went for a bike ride with Ty.  

Afterwards we watered the plants in the backyard and I took MORE pictures.

Our Schnoodle Annie - she is such a sweetie!

This was Tim's birthday present last year from his parents.

Pictures of our side yard and Ty's elephant ears.  He first planted these in Atlanta and we brought them back to Texas with us.  He's very proud of them and always shows them off to visitors.

Aloe Vera

Another picture of my favorite owl.

A really cool shot of the picnic table umbrella.

Lizzie and Annie say "Goodnight" !

Don't know about you, but TGIF!!! Finally!

Scrapbook Layouts

A few more favorite Scrapbook Layouts - 

I used off white acrylic paint on plain red card stock for the background of this layout.  

The letter is a copy of one that Leigh wrote at school in 1994.  I reduced it to fit on the page and distressed it with Tim Holtz distress ink. 

Christmas Wish

In the Blink of an Eye - pictures from 1990 and 2005 

OOPs!  I just realized that I misspelled Surprised !!! LOL!!!  Still love the layout though.  That's the fun of scrapbooking - you don't have to be perfect!!!  The Cricut should have spell check on it!!

My Singer Pixie - LOVE IT!  Mom bought this for me and it is made for crafting.  It is only about 10 inches long by about 10 high and keeps me from having to open up my Grandma's old Singer that is in the cabinet.  I love to stitch on my pages and this makes it so easy to do.

Singer Pixie Sewing Machine

Water Closet Accent

We have a great bathroom with a separate water closet (ok, that's a fancy way of saying toilet room!) but the tiny room is very plain and without any architectural details.

I found two prints at Kohls on clearance that I loved but they were really washed out on the sandy colored paint.  Then I held them up to the blue in the main part of the bathroom and they really popped and I decided to paint a strip of the blue over the toilet to jazz it up in there.

Helps add a little interest in an otherwise boring and very plain little tiny water closet - ok Toilet Closet!

iPhone Pictures

Just recently got an IPhone and I have fallen in love with Instagram! Here are some pictures of my backyard that I took today.

Come back down here squirrel and let me show you who's the boss!

This is a bird house that Tim made for me several years ago. 

Annie and Lizzie

Ok, if you haven't noticed yet, I have a thing for owls.

Ty and Mom