Chunky Primitive Votive Candles

These chunky votives are a great addition to any primitive or rustic decor. You can even make them in any color or scent that you want.

Beef and Bean Enchiladas

So far I have shared recipes for Chicken Enchiladas, Enchiladas Verdes, Chicken Enchilada Pasta, and Beef Enchilada Pasta. So it should be pretty obvious that I LOVE enchiladas. I also like variety though which is why I have recipes for so many different kinds. Today I am adding another - Beef and Bean Enchiladas. They taste just as good (if not better) than any that I have had in a restaurant. Give them a try the next time you are craving Mexican food.

Balloon Animal Necklace

This balloon animal pendant would be fun for a kid or someone who just refuses to grow up and wants to add some whimsy to their wardrobe. All you need is a small package of Sculpey!

Slow-Cooker Black Bean Soup

Nothing is better on a cold winter's night than a good, hearty soup. This black bean soup uses a slow-cooker so you don't have to worry about soaking the beans overnight. Just place everything in your crockpot in the morning and the beans will be nice and soft by dinner time. It is also full of flavor without being spicy.

Bacon Wrapped Deer Tenderloin

Whenever we eat something new, my husband almost always says, "Is it the best _______ you ever laid your lips on?" Well this deer tenderloin is definitely the best! Shelby got it from one of the guys he works with at the welding shop. I swear a redneck man could be incapable of making himself something as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich but you put a piece of wild game in front of him and he becomes a gourmet chef! ;) This recipe makes the venison perfectly moist and tender with hardly any of the usual gamey flavor.

Mini Burlap Wreath

 

Continuing with the rustic Christmas style, I made some cute mini burlap wreaths!

Pallet Wood Christmas Countdown

In December little kids (and overgrown ones) often start every day by asking how many more until Christmas. So it can be helpful to have a countdown calendar so you don't have to calculate it every morning. This pallet wood countdown goes perfectly with rustic Christmas decor. Even if you don't want to make a countdown, this tutorial can be helpful to make other pallet wood signs. 

Cinnamon Spice Ornaments

Cinnamon spice ornaments are a classic. They make your home smell amazing work with any decorating style. They look particularly great with a rustic or primitive tree. 

Since they are made with edible ingredients they are safe for little ones to work with. My guys (both the little one and my husband) proved this when they decided to try a bite of the dough because it smelled so good. Haha! Apparently it doesn't taste terrible.

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Just in time for Thanksgiving, here is a delicious recipe for Pecan Pie Cheesecake! It goes great with Pumpkin Cheesecake and is the perfect end to your family meal. 

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get this post up in time because I have been busy getting ready for my very first craft show! It is less than two weeks away and I am really starting to freak out! Every spare moment until show will be spent crafting away. Hopefully I will be able to finish everything in time and people will like my work enough to buy a bunch of stuff 'cause we got serious medical bills to pay y'all. On the plus side, regardless of how the show goes, I will have tons of projects to share very soon. :)

FREE 2016 Printable Planner

I first created this printable planner for August 2014 - July 2015 and it was so popular that people requested pages for August 2015 - December 2015. Since then, I have had additional requests for a 2016 Calendar. I had hoped to make this available sooner but I switched software programs which made updating the planner more complicated. Then my son had some health issues that required surgery and pushed me into a long blogging hiatus. Now life is returning to our new "normal" and I am back to blogging. Better late than never, right? Anyway, here are updated calendar pages for 2016! Sometime soon I hope to share some pages that allow you to enter the dates yourself so that you can continue to use this calendar even if I am not able to update it for subsequent years. 

Hot Wheel Pincushion

Want to make your sewing space a little more fun? Try turning a Hot Wheel into a pincushion! This would also make a cute gift for the sewers in your life. :)

Tutorials From My Etsy Shop

I have spent the last couple of days cleaning up things around here at the blog and my Etsy shop that closed down last October. I left the account open just in case I decide to go back to selling crafts again later on. That way I get to keep all of my reviews and followers. We I logged back in, I realized that I still get people stopping by the shop after following a link. I have even gotten a few messages from people wanting to purchase items.

Since closing down, I have finished adding tutorials to the blog for all of the items that I used to sell in the shop. I started adding links to each one as a shop announcement. As the list began to grow I realized that I had sold too many different products for that to work well. So I have gathered all of them together in this post.

If you are here from Etsy, scroll down to find the tutorial for the item that you are looking for. I hope that you will stick around and find other tutorials that you are interested in as well!

Turn Your Favorite T-Shirt Into A Pillowcase

My husband, Shelby, recently cleaned out his closet and got rid of a bunch of clothes that were a bit too snug or that hardly ever get worn. One of those was his Shelby Cobra t-shirt. He wasn't quite ready to toss it though so he asked me to turn it into a pillowcase for him. Follow this tutorial to make a pillowcase with your own sentimental t-shirt that no longer gets worn.

Beef Taco Pasta

The flavor of this Beef Taco Pasta reminds me a lot of Chicken Enchilada Pasta. I loved this alternative though because we bought a quarter of beef that my father-in-law raised so we have a bunch of ground beef on hand! I have been enjoying finding new ground beef recipes so that we can use what we have in the freezer without having the same meal every night.

Frozen Chocolate Chip Cookies

My family loves cookies but if I bake the entire batch all at once we have a tendency to go through them all in a day or two. To help us control our cookie consumption, I have started making a couple of batches and freezing the dough so that I can bake only what we want to eat at a time.  We have enjoyed having a greater variety this way and it saves time. I used mini chocolate chips in this recipe which makes them easier to evenly scoop and you are sure to get chocolate in every bite!

If you already have a favorite chocolate chip recipe, scroll down anyway for some tips freezing and baking with frozen dough.

50 Family Christmas Activities

Wanting to focus on time with the family this holiday season but not sure what to do? Here is a list of 50 fun, family activities for the holidays. Obviously you don't want to do all of them in one year or you would just be trading one kind of chaos for another. Go through the list as a family and pick out a couple that you would like to do together. Save the rest for next year.

Create a New Space by De-Cluttering and Rearranging

We have been busy doing more de-cluttering and recently freed up a bunch of space in the living room. Inspired by this extra square footage, I decided to flip the furniture placement. I had measured it out a few times and knew that everything would fit but I wasn't sure how it would feel or how my husband, Shelby, would like it.

Family Room Pallet Art

The wall in our living room above the couch has been blank ever since we moved in a year-and-a-half ago. Which is probably why when someone stopped by to pick something up that I was selling, they asked if we were moving in or moving out! I was just waiting on the right piece of artwork and hadn't found it yet. 

Pixie Dust Pendant

This cute pendant would make a great gift for any pixie, young or old, to easily keep their pixie dust at hand for when they need a little magic.

Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins

One of my favorite things about fall is pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING! I'm like Bubba from Forrest Gump only instead of talking about shrimp its pumpkin. :) Pumpkin Coffee, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Puppy Chow, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Butter, and now Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins!