Hearts and Home

Sneak Peek: 6 days and counting!

2012-02-21T06:37:00.003-06:00

Meal Plan Monday 2-20-12

2012-02-20T06:00:00.005-06:00

Monday ~ Minestrone recipe below

Tuesday ~ Homemade chicken strips, green beans and mac-n-cheese (I'll post my chicken strip recipe soon)

Wednesday ~ Breakfast: Waffles, eggs and fruit

Thursday ~ Black Bean Tacos and rice

Friday ~ French bread pizza and salad

Saturday ~ Salmon (still looking for a recipe, any suggestions?)

Sunday ~ Mostaccioli with roasted tomato and garlic (didn't make it last week)

Minestrone

Ingredients

1 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
5 carrots, sliced
6 cups vegetable stock
1 small can (6 ounces) of tomato paste
1 medium can (16 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 cup canned kidney beans, drained
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups baby spinach, rinsed
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup dried pasta
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for topping
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots, saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add broth, canned tomatoes and tomato paste, bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, spinach leaves, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, the longer the better.
Add the pasta and cook 30 more minutes
Once pasta is cooked ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Looking for more recipes? Be sure to visit the other sites I am linking up to: Menu-Plan-Monday, Homestead Revival Barn Hop and Monday Mania

Menu Board

2012-02-19T17:36:00.000-06:00

I found this cute idea this evening while I was looking around online for a few new menu ideas.

Spring is on the way

2012-02-15T14:57:00.000-06:00

I took a break from working to play outside with Twinkie. Her favorite game outside is chase in the back section of the yard.

I figured since the garden is in the same area I would snap a few pictures while I was out there.

The close up section is a mixture of weeds and garlic. The farthest area is part of the herb garden.

Lettuce and weeds. Why do the weeds grow faster than the vegetables?

The entry was to the garden is overgrown right now.

I started to get overwhelmed by the amount of weeds but then I looked at this cutie. She will be out there keeping me company while I pull them. That makes it a tad better.

Happy Valentines Day

2012-02-13T23:56:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! XO, Etsy from Etsy on Vimeo.

Meal Plan 2-13-12

2012-02-13T05:09:00.000-06:00

Monday
breakfast~  Mock V8 Juice and rice cake with peanut butter
lunch~ Special lunch with Vincent
dinner~  Vegetable Soup

Tuesday
breakfast~ Oatmeal and fruit
lunch~ Salad and leftover soup
dinner~ Simplified beef, homemade french bread and a salad

Wednesday
breakfast~ Apple, carrot and pear juice
lunch~ Pitas and fruit
dinner~   Mostaccioli with roasted tomato and garlic

Thursday
breakfast~ cereal and green monster juice
lunch~ quesadillas
dinner~ Cottage Pie made without cheese or sour-cream

Friday
breakfast~ eggs and vegetable juice
lunch~ soup and grilled cheese
dinner~  Pizza

Saturday
breakfast~ Waffles and fruit
lunch~ salad, fruit and grilled chicken
dinner~ Crunchy garlic chicken and potato wedges

Sunday
breakfast~ Oatmeal
lunch~ left-overs (gotta keep the refrigerator cleaned out somehow)
dinner~ Quick Lemon Pasta and tossed salad

Looking for more recipes? Be sure to visit the other sites I am linking up to: Menu-Plan-Monday, Homestead Revival Barn Hop and Monday Mania

Valentines Day Inspiration

2012-02-10T06:57:00.000-06:00

Are you ready for Valentines Day? Are you in the mood for love?

If not I have gathered a little inspiration for you.

Sweets for your sweet

This cute tutorial shows you how to display your "love Letters"

American Greetings has some cute free printable cards for you to give your loved ones.

And then there is this lovely treasury I found on Etsy. It is called

'EAT....PRAY...LOVE! ' by RenaBags

Soft Ethereal Mint Phot... ellemoss $21.00	Tea Photo Kitchen art m... Raceytay $15.00	Eat Pray Love 7X7 Typog... bernabermek $15.00
Julie's Fudge - KEY... jewelofthelion $19.00	eat sign - kitchen sign... OldNewAgain $58.00	Spring Flower 3 Stone R... toosis $98.00
White Cat Kids Animal M... BHBKidstyle $10.00	Forest Cafe- Woodland H... amberalexander $40.00	Quilted Tissue Holder -... PatchworkMill $10.00
Red sunglasses retro ov... SoYesterdaySoC... $30.00	Keep Calm And Pray On, ... keepcalmcollec... $33.00	Green bird - fiber art... colettecolor $35.00
Original photograph, se... Overtherainbow... $30.00	Necklace Lily and Herb ... AhoyAhimsa $26.00	Personalized pillow cas... ClassicByNatur... $58.00
Tea Is The Answer To Mo... GemmaRobinsonD... $40.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Show Off Your Shop

2012-02-05T08:02:00.000-06:00

One of the hardest things about having your own business is getting found. You can the cutest, greatest, most can't live without product but if people can't find you it doesn't matter.

Then comes along Etsy Fort Worth. They have started a new weekly post called "Show Us Your....". This week they are allowing small business owners to link up to their blog for some free advertising. Do you have a business you would like to share, then head on over to their blog and link up! Oh, and while you're there be sure to check out my link, Hearts & Home.

Louder Than Words

2012-01-29T20:48:00.000-06:00

Urban Threads added this great design called Louder Than Words.

My brother was born totally deaf so when I saw the design I knew I had to buy it!

I am not sure if I want to try and get it done before Valentines Day or save it for his birthday.

Do you think it would look better framed or as a pillow?

Week Two: Dog Bed

2012-01-25T07:20:00.000-06:00

I am going to attempt to make Twinkie a dog bed to sleep on in my bedroom. I have tried taking her regular bed into my room but she gets upset and tries to drag it back to the sewing room. She sleeps on my bed right now on a small blanket. That was okay when she was small and would stay at the foot of the bed. Twinkie now thinks that she needs to sleep curled up against me. Needless to say that is not going to work, especially since she kicks in her sleep and whimpers in her dreams.

The bed is made and it came out rather cute. I knew I had picked the right fabric from my stash when while I was pinning the fabric she came and rubbed on it and then tried to take off with it.

The pattern was very easy to follow and only took a few hours to make including stuffing it and closing up all the openings.

The bow in the front is a drawstring. This allows you to make the bed either flat or bowl shaped. Twinkie likes curling up so I did a slightly relaxed bowl for her.

The first night I made it she tried to pull it onto the bed so that she could sleep on it and still be with me. I tried putting her on the floor in it but by the time I got covered back up she was on her blanket at my feet. I have been very consistent this week though about making her stay at the foot of the bed. She still tries to sneak back up next to me but it is getting less frequent.

Miss representation

2012-01-22T09:09:00.000-06:00

Week One: Chalkboard Paint

2012-01-18T14:21:00.000-06:00

This was written a week ago, I just got around to downloading my camera.

This week I am working on turning my kitchen pantry door into a chalk board. When the kids were little we covered an entire wall with chalkboard paint so they could create whenever they wanted too. The board is still covering the wall and currently has a giant Pac-Man screen on it. Every time I go past the board I think about writing on it. Then while looking around on Pinterest I saw a chalkboard door. I thought it would go perfect with the new look I have planned for the kitchen and allow me to scribble a picture when ever I feel like it.

I taped of the recessed section of the door first to make sure I have a crisp line. The rest of the door is going to be bright red. We are redoing the walls so the frame is currently off the door. I am also putting on an marbled antique door knob to match the rest when we are done.

I applied one coat and then sanded the rough areas smooth as directed on the can. The white areas are where I had to sand. I then applied a second and third coat to make sure it was smooth.

You have to wait 48 hours before conditioning the board which is simply rubbing chalk all over it and then wiping it.

I know the door itself is ugly but I am happy with the chalkboard portion and wanted to share the results. In a few weeks I plan to get the door painted and the frame put around it.

I placed a container full of bright chalk on a shelf near the door so we could easily find it. So far we have had two rounds of tic-tac-toe on it and left three messages.

2012-01-11T08:27:00.002-06:00

I found this via Pinterest. It is from Natalie's Sentiments.

Clean Eating Meal Plan 1-9-12

2012-01-09T21:39:00.000-06:00

The first meal plan of 2012! I started the new year juicing and eating mainly raw foods. I did slip twice but overall I stuck to the plan.

My schedule at work is now fairly consistent which has made meal planning easier. To make things easier on me I am using some premade meals on the nights I work. I hope to buy some smaller pans so that I can freeze up some quick meals but for now Sams is taking care of it for me.

Eating healthy was hard on the days I worked nine and ten hour shifts. I often found myself ordering a to-go salad from Chili's since they are in the same parking lot as JoAnn's. The cost and inconsistent quality aggravated me so two weeks ago I bought some cool salad and soup containers. Now I can make my own salad!

Monday
breakfast~ Mock V8 Juice
lunch~ tomato soup and veggies
dinner~ black bean tacos and rice

Tuesday
breakfast~ Apple, pear, spinach and carrot Juice (my favorite
lunch~ salad with boiled eggs and grilled chicken
dinner~ Cilantro Lime Chicken Cacciatore

Wednesday
breakfast~ Juice
lunch~ Pitas and fruit
dinner~ Angel Hair with cherry tomatoes and basil and salad

Thursday
breakfast~ Crepes
lunch~ quesadillas
dinner~ Spicy Southwest Chicken soup. Recipe from Food Network

Friday
breakfast~ fruit smoothie
lunch~ Salad
dinner~ Weight Watchers zero point soup

Saturday
breakfast~ fruit
lunch~ salad, fruit and grilled chicken
dinner~ Guiltless chicken Parmesan and tossed salad

Sunday
breakfast~ Oatmeal
lunch~ Left-overs ( I work all day)
dinner~ Ratatouille Stew and French Bread

Looking for more recipes? Be sure to visit the other sites I am linking up to: Menu-Plan-Monday, Homestead Revival Barn Hop and Monday Mania

A Sneak Peek at the 52 weeks

2012-01-07T06:27:00.002-06:00

In no particular order I thought I would share a peek at a few of the projects I have planned for the next 52 weeks. I am using One Yard Wonders, Simply Sublime Gifts, Amy Butler's Style Stitches, Sew Serendipity, Bend The Rules Sewing and a several patterns out of my stash. I also have several projects from HGTV.com and Realsimple.com.

I promise they are not all sewing projects!

1. Chalkboard door
2. camera bag and strap
3. Front room pillows
4. Bed room curtains
5. Footstool from Butterick b5230
6. Pillowcases
7. Dinning room and kitchen curtains
8. Pot Holders
9. Nightgown for me
10. Redo the laundry room
11. Smoked round pillow
12. File Cabinet Cover

13. Hanging Wall pocket
14. Plant markers for the garden
15. pincushion
16. lunch bag
17. Bias Skirt
18. Skirt with embroidery design
19. Craft and tool belt
20. Bird Mobile
21. Dog Walking coat for Twinkie
22. Basket liners
23. Recover the bench at the foot of my bed
24. Paint a mural in my sewing room

Good-Bye Grandpa George

2012-01-06T11:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I woke up ready to celebrate my 39th birthday but within a few hours of getting up I found out my grandpa had died in the night. George married my grandma when I was around 11 but he lived down the street from her so he had always been around. Even before he was my grandpa he teased me, played with me and kept me "inline" as he called it.

Grandpa George adored my grandma and made her life wonderful in every way. He was calm, peaceful, loving and giving. My summers with them were filled with camping trips, boat rides, fishing, more yard sales than I care to remember and thousands of trips to McDonald's and the ice cream shop. Grandpa thought ice cream should be a daily event but grandma only allowed it weekly.

As I got older Grandpa and I swapped gardening tips and tales of who had the largest tomatoes. His were always bigger but since they lived in Ohio I always got the first tomato of the year.

When I had children of my own they each took a trip to Ohio with my mom where my grandparents spoiled them just as they had me. Grandpa taught them to make bread and grandma taught them to play jingle bells on the piano. At Christmas time every year we received the same gift from.... McDonald's gift certificates. Grandpa said every kid had to eat there at least once a year (he thought it was crazy I didn't take my kids there at least monthly).

Then two years before my grandma died Scott and I took the kids to spend Thanksgiving with them. We stayed 5 days and didn't really do anything but watch movies, look at pictures and take pictures of us all doing silly things. Every year that goes by I cherish those pictures more and more.

Yesterday as I began to cry God instantly comforted me with the reminder my grandparents are together
again. Grandpa is no longer tired, sick or lonely. He has been reunited with the love of his life.

Thank you grandpa for being a wonderful husband to my grandma and the best grandpa a girl could have! I will miss you but I rejoice in the memories you have left me with! If you care to read more about him you can here.

52 Weeks of Crafting/Projects

2012-01-05T22:29:00.000-06:00

A new year means it is time for new goals. This year I have decided to do a project a week.

I don't have every week planned out but I can tell you that it will involve a lot of different supplies. Also most of them will have nothing to do with work/my business. They will simply be projects or crafts that I am doing for fun.

Some weeks I will have a link up if anyone is interested in sharing what they are currently working on. Maybe we can encourage each other to use up some of our craft stash, I know you have one.

Broccoli Soup Recipe

2012-01-01T21:09:00.000-06:00

I have made this recipe four times now and it has come out delicious each time. The last three times I have increased the broth and decreased the milk; no one noticed.

I like my broccoli soup chunky so I don't blend all of it. Leftovers freeze and reheat without any problems.

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cubed
4 cups fresh broccoli, including stems, chopped
2 cups low-sodium, fat-free chicken or vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:

Heat oil on medium heat in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Gently sauté onion, garlic and celery for 3-4 minutes, until onion is softened. Add potato and chopped broccoli, followed by the broth and milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Allow soup to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender in 2-3 batches, and blend until smooth. Return soup to pot and heat gently until ready to serve.

Serves 6.

Per Serving: Calories 88, Calories from Fat 16. Total Fat 1.8g (sat 0.3g), Cholesterol 1mg, Sodium 83mg, Carbohydrate 13g, Fiber 3.1g, Protein 4.9g

2012 Etsy Fort Worth Team

2011-12-31T09:21:00.001-06:00

I am very excited to be starting another year with this wonderful team!

Click on any image below to view that item listing.
Click a shop name to visit that shop.

Art/Photography
Briana Kew Photography
JML PhotoworksKitschy Ya YaWildflower Art Studio

Ceramics
Laughing Crafter Studio

Childrens Clothing and Accessories
Fluffygirlboutique
Hearts & Home
Krafty MommySmockin RobinThe Mulberri Bush

Fiber ArtsCoco and CocoaDye2Spin
Handbags, Hats and AccessoriesBook-InzCooperStreet
The Tangled Web

Home DecorJust Hang It Just off Normal

JewelryAmy Nicoles Art Jewelry by Ilene Kay
Art Masquerading as Jewelry
Bespangled Jewelry
Emma Alison Designs
Fine and Dandy
Fitzy Sparrow
Gnash ArtsPeach Pear Plum
Robot Pop
Sincerely Serenity

Pet Products
The Red Dog Barkery

ScreenprintingLittle Lee Studios Seamingly Artful

Soap
The Soap Addict

Free Printable Paper Dolls

2011-12-22T08:15:00.000-06:00

Are you looking for a fun last minute gift you make for that special little girl in your life? How about this set of old fashion paper dolls? You can print the entire Ginghams paper doll set for free. There is even a set where the girls visit grandma.

I remember spending hours playing with my paper dolls growing up and then later got to play with them with my daughter. Sydney never really liked Barbies but she did like her Little House on Prairie paper dolls and Madeline Color-forms set.

Be sure to print the actual doll on heavy paper such as card-stock.

If while playing with these your little girl falls in love with the clothing be sure to visit our shop where you can get her a prairie dress set of her own.

Winding Down and Gearing Up

2011-12-21T21:32:00.000-06:00

Sydney's Stocking
The embroidery is much cleaner than
it looks in the photo.

It has been a busy month for Hearts & Home and for me. Today I finished up the last of the orders that needed shipped and as I type this I am on the last order that will be picked up tomorrow. It is an embroidered tapestry that was a much bigger project than I could have ever imagined. I should have known better that to save a project with tiny fonts done in metallic thread until the last minute, lesson learned for sure!

I work all day tomorrow but Friday I get off early so I plan to finish up my shopping when I get off. All I have left to get are stocking stuffers and my moms gift which is already picked out. I also still have to make three stockings but I can work on those at work between customers. That is one of my favorite things about working at a sewing machine shop, I get to work on personal projects. That is something that I had not been able to do in years. Now I am getting about 1-2 projects done a week.

Last week I made four stockings and some dish towels. The only draw back to working on them at work is on occasion customers come by and play with the machine which messes up the design. I am only allowed to smile and tell them it is no big deal if they realize they have messed it up. I have to admit that can be hard! Last week I remade one stocking three times because of adults coming by and playing with the machine while it is running.

Are you done with all your holiday shopping and crafting? Do you usually finish early or are you up sewing/crafting on Christmas Eve?

Merry Christmas From Twinkie

2011-12-16T08:46:00.001-06:00

Christmas Ornaments with your Cricut

2011-12-13T21:16:00.000-06:00

Last week while I had a few days off I decided to pull out my Cricut and try to make a few Christmas ornaments after seeing several cute ones online made out of paper. I used some old sheet music we had to give them an old-fashion look.

I used my accent essentials cartridge to cut out 3" circles.

Using my Cricut saved a lot of time because all I had to do was load the paper and remove the circles. I can't imagine how my hands would feel if I had cut all them out myself.

Next I folded the circles in half and attached them back to back (think accordion style) until I had a full circle. I used glue on the first one but that took too long and was messy.

On the next ones I used Zots and adhesive tape since I have somehow managed to accumulate way more than I need. As I Was layering I placed a ribbon down the center so that I would have a way to hang it from my tree.

I used 12 circles to make this one but you could use more or less depending on how full you wanted it to be. I have made 6 so far and love how they look on the tree. If you are looking for more inspiration for ornaments check out the video below. I think it would work with just about any cartridge or paper cutting machine.

Do you make your own decorations?

Christmas stockings

2011-12-04T20:59:00.000-06:00

It has rained all week-end so when I wasn't at work I worked on Christmas stockings for our pets. So far all I have done is Warg's.

I used Simplicity pattern 2545 and the stocking is much bigger than I thought it would be based on the picture. I used metallic thread for his name and the trim.

Warg is the male kitten we rescued in our alleyway several months ago. He is about 3.5 months old and is just now starting to meow.

A few days ago he even started venturing around the house and has even tried to take our adult cats scratching post. Of course in the end Izzy wins and Warg runs and hides.

Here is a picture of the stocking hanging by Warg. I can't wait to fill it with lots of toys! His big gift this year is going to be his own scratching post with a lounging spot on top.

I have Izzy's and Twinkies cut out but not sewn or personalized yet. I am using McCall's 5778 for Twinkies and McCalls 2991 for Izzy.

Hearts & Home Friends and Family Sale

2011-11-27T13:28:00.002-06:00

Hearts & Home is excited to take part in the first ever Etsy Fort Worth Friends and Family sale! Beginning Monday November 28th at midnight, get 15% off from any of the participating shops when you use coupon code "EFWfriends" at checkout!

You can knock out all your Holiday shopping with a few clicks of the mouse, whether on your lunch break at work, or from the comfort of your own home (go ahead, throw on your Snuggie, grab a cup of cocoa, and go crazy!*) Browse at your own leisure...You'll be amazed by adorable pet goods, the sweetest children's and babies' clothes, a wide variety of fabulous jewelry, awesome hand-knit and crochet accessories, delicious handmade soaps, and so much more! Won't it be great to give them something truly special without the hassle of malls, lines, or getting up at 3 in the morning to fight elbow-to elbow over mass-produced junk?? See, everybody wins!

While you are looking around at Hearts & Home you will notice several new items and that I now offer personalizing on almost everything! All you have to do is leave me a note in the "note to seller" section.