My New Year - things I want to do, but don't want to call "resolutions"

My 2013 New Years..... things I want to do but don't want to call "resolutions"

You know, the word "resolution" sounds a bit... sad to me some how. Using it makes me feel like I was a failure somehow in the previous year... and I don't think that is really true :). Having moved my husband and I out to the "country", started our antique business, started this blog, and much more, I feel I accomplished a lot... but what do I want to do in 2013.... well let me think...

I'd like to increase our family by 1 (need hubby's help on this one :))
  To increase sales at our Antique Booth
  To lose some weight
  To get my craft room set up and beautifully
  To grow my blog
  To try a slue of new recipes
  To have a whole year of loving what I do and doing what I love
  To learn something new
  To teach something to someone
  To read at least 3 books
  To bid and win on at least ONE storage unit at a storage auction
  To be a better couponer
  To craft, craft, craft
  To do some volunteer work


Now, if I try to tell myself, that is a complete list, I will be kidding myself! But what's the harm in adding things later?  

I think I have two items on that list that are the utmost important to me.... actually, let's not joke... I KNOW this! 
Loving what I do is a big one.... I spent years and years working because I need money, instead of working on something I love, and making money while I do it. So this year, I am going to do whatever it takes to do what I love and love what I do, because I refuse to spend another year, not.
And of course, the "increasing our family by one" is HUGE. Let's call it what it is people, it's my biological clock ticking ticking ticking. When I see a baby, I want it. Luckily when I joke that I am going to take it, my FRIENDS laugh and usually offer for me to TAKE it, for at least one night! Ha! (I am not dumb enough to make this joke to a stranger - they might be scared! :) 
So these two are at the top of the list... but all are important... and I think I'll start now.... 

Have a wonderful, happy and healthy New Year... and all year. 

"Let our New Year’s resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word."

Goran Persson, former Prime Minister of Sweden

Vintage ornament wreaths

Obviously, I cannot get enough of vintage Christmas.... I just can't! There is something beautiful about vintage Christmas bulbs that you just cant find in newer ones.  I am absolutely sure you cannot get a more beautiful wreath than these! Just another one of the projects that Wonderful at Home has been working on....Enjoy!

"I collect antiques. Why? Because they're beautiful."

Broderick Crawford

It's a very vintage Christmas....

Well... as Christmas Eve evening is at our fingertips, I realize how sad I am that Christmas is almost over! I have enjoyed to no end, incorporating so much vintage Christmas into our lives this year. It has become much easier as we have moved, and live more in the "country". With the opening of our antique booth in November, I have been attracted to all things Vintage and access to such items are much easier! Hold tight to the old Christmas items you find at your Mothers, or Grandmothers house, for these items are timeless. There will never be items like it again, and each vintage items holds a memory that you can pass down from generation to generation.  Here are just a FEW things around our house that support our love for a Vintage Christmas - tell me or show me what Vintage Christmas items you have placed around your home this year! Is there a history to them? Were they your grandparents, did you find them at your favorite store?

Vintage style Santa with bottle brush trees - set next to my wedding china an old Limoges and tea cups

An entire Christmas tree dedicated to my beautiful vintage Christmas bulbs.... but this one is my favorite

Who doesn't like an old bottle brush wreath?!

Ball/Mason jars are a must around the house.... add some Christmas picks and they look even more beautiful around the holidays!



"Something about an old-fashioned Christmas is hard to forget."
- Hugh Downs
Enjoy!

The Magic of Christmas.....

 There are so many amazing Christmas traditions we have as a family, and each year, we start new ones. I have to say that I believe I have the most amazing family, and Christmas has always meant something... BIG to us. It means spending time with family, making some amazing food, remembering loved ones passed, cherishing the time we have together, making cookies, admiring our tree, remembering why its called CHRISTmas, being thankful for what we have. As I spend the first Christmas as a married woman, joined together with my best friend, I realize that I am so happy to have this time together, and so excited to make memories and traditions of our own...
Here are some of the traditions we have with our family.... share them, use them and tell me some of your traditions...

1. Go to a Christmas tree lot (all 14 of us!!) the day after Thanksgiving, hunt for the most special tree, and cut it down ourselves
2. Watch a different Christmas movie as many times a week as time will allow
3. Have a Christmas cooking baking party, where the women get together and make - A TON of Christmas cookies, so we all get to take different cookies home with us!
4. Give our parents a special Christmas ornament every year
5. Fry a turkey! Until you've done it, you will never know how addicting fried turkey is!
6. Watch National Lampoons Christmas Vacation while decorating the family tree
7. The adult kids (me, my hubby and my brother) stay the night at my parents on Christmas Eve, and wake up on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought, just as if we were little kids!
8. My dad boils the giblets Christmas morning so it smells like baked turkey all over the house!
9.  Since there are no little kids (yet!), we draw names and each stuff a stocking for someone in the family
10. Hot chocolate bar! With all the fixings - Crock pot hot chocolate, peppermints, marshmallows while we decorate the tree
11. My Dad makes his FAMOUS biscuits and gravy for Christmas morning breakfast! Or, he makes the breakfast casserole that I have posted on this blog - AMAZING!
12.  At one of our family Christmas parties, my parents make the ever so famous Swedish meatballs that my Grandmother used to make. Since she is no longer with us, it makes us feel like a part of her is still here....
13. Deliver a tin of Christmas goodies to our wonderful neighbors - I got a few hugs from it this year and these are new neighbors since we just moved here!
14. Put some money into the Salvation Army buckets around town - and make sure to tell the ringers how thankful we are for their service!

*Now, it seems there are many more, but I want to hear from you as well! Tell me what your most favorite Christmas traditions are, and have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?”
― Bob Hope

Top 20 Christmas movies, from our family, to yours....

Merry Christmas everyone! I was thinking today about how much my hubby and I love to watch Christmas movies.... we just can't get enough! I am always looking for lists of Christmas movies online, to try and get new ideas for what to watch each season. I figured there HAD to be people like me out there! Now, I could have listed many more than 20, but I had to stop somewhere! Hopefully this list will give you some ideas of movies to sit in front of the fire with. So, make some popcorn and cuddle up with your loved ones this holiday season!

20. Surviving Christmas (2004)
19. Four Christmases (2008)
18. Three Days (2001)
17. 12 Dates of Christmas (2011)
16. Scrooged (1988)
15. Holiday Inn (1942)
14. The Holiday (2006)
13. Joyeux Noel (2005)
12. The Family Stone (2005)
11. Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
10. The Family Man (2000)
9. A Christmas Story (1983)
8. Miracle on 34th Street (1947 & 1994)
7. White Christmas (1954)
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
5. The Santa Clause 1 (1994), 2 (2002) & 3 (2006)
4. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
3. Grumpy Old Men (1993)
2. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989)
1. Home Alone 1 (1990 & 2 (1992)

“Christmas doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more....”

― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

 

Enjoy!

The Cuss Jar craft!

Well.... with a little one in the family now, everyone needs to watch their mouths as from time to time (and don't lie - everyone is guilty at some point!), a naughty word slips! I really wanted to make a fun, silly, but useful craft for my cousin - who is a lot like a sister to me for Christmas (and she has an amazing 2 1/2 year old boy. A couple times, when a naughty word has slipped (by someone in the family) while the little one was around, she had mentioned that she wanted to start a cuss jar, but was looking for something fun to have on the counter instead of just a plain ole bucket.  Since we are a family of vintage nuts, I looked around for a big enough Mason Jar that would be good to make this fun craft out of! Now, I am a Antique LOVER - we will get more into that about me later, but I wanted a big and very clean mason jar, so I grabbed this wide mouth Ball jar at Hobby Lobby. I pondered on the design for a bit, and while shopping at my favorite store in our humble little downtown one day, found a rusty star topper for mason jars! I knew this would work perfectly for slipping in quarters, or even dollars if its an exceptionally busy week for the Cuss jar :) - take a look at my finds for this craft:

 

 

After popping on these two great little finds - I grabbed some red and white star ribbon that I had purchased from Michael's last July, and thought that would give it a pretty "pop" of color. I also found some white and blue stripped scrapbook paper that I liked, grabbed my glue gun, scissors and twine and went to work!

I make a little "tag" of sorts with the fun scrapbook paper and ribbon that says $.25 per swear and tied it around the mouth of the jar. I stenciled the word "Cuss Jar" onto a small piece of the paper, and glued that to a piece of the ribbon, so that the ribbon is showing around it, and hot glued that to the jar, and whooola! Check out the finished product below! I can say that it was a big hit with everyone when she opened it the other night during our early Christmas for the little one! If you are looking for a fun, easy and unique idea for a gift for someone with little ones... this is it!

 





Have fun! Everyone loves a gift that you put yourself into!

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.”
— Edward de Bono

Wonderful Breakfast Casserole

 

Are you looking for the perfect comfort food to make for your loved ones? For Christmas morning? Something that your husband or partner will be most appreciative for? Well this is it folks... My parents have been making this for us for years, and now I make it for my husband often! I made it for dinner tonight and to be honest, thats the meal I usually make it for because we crave it so often that we use the leftovers for our breakfast the next couple days and it warms back up beautifully! Something cozy to eat by the fire as we watch a Christmas movie was much needed tonight - I just feel like the Christmas season is going by too quickly! It takes few ingredients, and not much prep time - I hope you and your family love it as much as ours does!
Start gathering your ingredients!

Here's what you need:

• 12oz roll of Bob Evans spicy hot sausage (You can substitute with regular if you cant stand the heat!)
• 4 cups of frozen diced hash browns thawed (about half of a 32oz bag)
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups of Shredded Colby/Mont Jack cheese
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/4 t of pepper
• 8x8x2 Baking dish

Directions:
Cook sausage in skillet until no pink remains, Drain.
In your baking dish, layer potatoes, half of cheese, sausage and remaining cheese. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk and pepper. Pour over casserole.

Now, my recipe says to cover and chill overnight, but I rarely do. Just be sure that your potatoes are thawed and you cook it long enough or it may be a little watery. Bake covered at 350 for 50-55 minutes - cool for 10 minutes (if you can manage to keep your hands off it long enough!)

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.”
― A.A. Milne
Enjoy!

Santa Hat Party mix- yum!

Santa Hat Party Mix! No bake!

Well, its that time again - Christmas! Let the baking begin! I have really wanted to make a sweet and salty mix (emphasis on the sweet), so I looked up a couple recipes and mixed a bunch of ideas together, and this is what I got!

You will need:

• Bugles - I used the regular flavor
• Honey nut cheerios
• Cinnamon cheerios
• Honey Roasted peanuts
• White chocolate candy melts
• Red candy melts
• Nonpareils
• M&M's
• mini marsh mellows

**please note that I do not have measurements in here because it will depend on how much of the mix you want to make..

First, melt your red candy melts according to the package. Pour some Bugles into the melted candy, and coat each one. Lay each red coated Bugle on wax paper to let set. Set aside a little of the left over red melted chocolate to finish your Santa Hats later!
While the coated Bugles are setting, lay some wax paper on a cookie sheet and dump some of each type of Cheerios, Chex, and peanuts on the wax paper. Melt your white chocolate melts. Dribble the white chocolate over the mix, and stir. I usually do this a couple times to make sure everything is coated. Pour the M&M's through the mix and stir before the chocolate is set, so they get coated as well.
Set the mixture aside and let it set.
Now its on to making those cute little Santa hats!

Now that the Bugles covered in red chocolate melts are set, remelt the left over red chocolate and pour some of the nonpareils into a wide bowl. Dip the bottom of the Bugle into the red chocolate and then to the nonpareils. Once you are done with this, let it set a while so you can pick it up and put the mini marshmallows on top! I found that they didn't stay well so dipping the tip in red melted chocolate and then sticking the marshmallows on top helped it stay. Once these are all "set", sprinkle the  Santa Hats on top of the mix, and its ready to eat! I guarantee it will be a hit at your next party, with your neighbors in their cookie tins, or just a small sweet snack to have around at home!

Enjoy!
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.”
― Charles M. Schulz

Welcome to Wonderful at Home

Welcome! Wonderful at Home is designed to be a place where you can come, sit a while, and find recipes, suggestions for life at home, crafts and more! There are so many recipes floating around on sites like Pinterest, but who has time to make & bake and HOPE that these recipes will survive in your house? I hope to help out with that, as well as your crafty side of life.... So grab your notepad, take a deep breath from your inner crafy girl.... and stay a while!