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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Wonderful Wednesdays #10 with Features!

It is getting colder and colder here in Michigan. I feel Thanksgiving in the air! I even feel Christmas in the air! I mean its 4 weeks until Thanksgiving, and 8 weeks until Christmas! It comes quickly!  And what have we been up to? Painting the kitchen, working on listing items on my Etsy shop and organizing my craft room (pics to come when I get it completely finished!). So, let's just jump right into the features for this week!

A Little Bit of Everything shared their Halloween Inside decorations! I love the "prim" look!


BeBe&J shared their Neutral Fall Mantel - so clean and fresh! 




Crafty Wife shared their DIY Spice Jars. I just love how she showed the things that went wrong and how to fix them!

Now, onto the party! 

  • Please follow Wonderful at Home on at least TWO of their networking sites (you can find them on the top of the page)
  • Please put the Wonderful at Home button (found on my sidebar), or a link somewhere on your blog, post or "where I party" page in order to be featured. Trust me, you will be thankful later! 
  • Link up as many of your WONDERFUL posts as you would like, but please make it a post and not a general link to your blog. They can be crafts, DIY projects, tips, repurposing ideas, recipes, etc! 
  • Visit at least TWO other link ups. Please - we are all here to support one another right!?
  • HAVE FUN! 
  • ** I will make EVERY effort to email the bloggers that are being featured, so that they are aware, and get to come see their feature first thing. Submitting your email at time of posting the link would be helpful. If you have any questions about privacy, please see my Privacy Policy If you are one of the ones featured, don't forget to grab the "I've been featured" button from my sidebar! 
Here we go! 




Sunday, October 27, 2013

Christmas at the Antique Booth!

The holidays are upon us. For a lot of people, its a little early. But for retailers, its really not. The two antique booths that my husband and I have with my parents have already been adorned with the holiday season. As I have shared before, I am full fledged into vintage Christmas. I was a little concerned that we were jumping the gun a little, but the customers have spoke (with their purchases!), and I think we made the right decision... it was time. With vintage stuff... Customers are usually collectors, or people who have a vision in mind, so they want first pick at whats out there. Here is what we have been doing with our Primitive style booth!

Isn't this vintage Christmas poster adorable, especially with the "Santa Stops Here" sign underneath? I placed them in the window of the vintage door we have placed at the edge of our booth.... so welcoming I think!
                                                


I wish the pictures did the booth justice, although seeing them makes me think that I need to add some above lighting. I'll just add that to the list right?! Did you spot that gigantic bottle brush tree at the bottom of the photo? I LOVE THAT!



The corner shelving unit you can see below - well we got that off the side of the road. Nothing better than something free AND functional! It holds my new line perfectly. Yes, the new line isn't vintage, but vintage style country, which I love decorating with!

 Can you pick out the fancy window I found on The Great Junk Hunt?! It has already sold! I thought it was well priced and I guess the customer thought so as well!

We added a little Christmas tree I picked up at the mall last year to display our Christmas ornaments for sale!

 I hope you enjoyed what we have going on in this booth. Stay tuned for pictures of the shabby chic booth coming soon!

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.  ~Norman Vincent Peale

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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Wonderful Wednesdays #9 with features!

Hello all,
Boy have we really gotten into fall around here. What I mean by that, is that Mother Nature has finally caught the hints everyone was giving her by wearing their boots, carving their pumpkins, and drinking their cider (with warm cinnamon doughnuts of course!). The weather has changed around here that is for sure. We even turned on the heat a tad bit, and have been getting good use out of our gas fireplace!

I want to thank everyone for their submissions last week, and for making sure my button or a link to Wonderful at Home was on your page somewhere! I hope you have enjoyed meeting other bloggers during the party.

Lets see the features now why don't we?

Implausibly Beautiful shared their Strawberry Peach Scones  - and boy don't they look amazing!?


The Barn Princess shared her Autumn Pumpkin Wreath - what a great fall craft to follow along with!


Craft Dictator shared how she made her Craft Central , and since I am in the midst of cleaning up and organizing my insanely messy and unorganized craft room, this one hits close to home! 


So, why don't we get on with the party then?
  • Please follow Wonderful at Home on at least TWO of their networking sites (you can find them on the top of the page)
  • Please put the Wonderful at Home button (found on my sidebar), or a link somewhere on your blog, post or "where I party" page in order to be featured. Trust me, you will be thankful later! 
  • Link up as many of your WONDERFUL posts as you would like, but please make it a post and not a general link to your blog. They can be crafts, DIY projects, tips, repurposing ideas, recipes, etc! 
  • Visit at least TWO other link ups. Please - we are all here to support one another right!?
  • HAVE FUN! 
  • ** I will make EVERY effort to email the bloggers that are being featured, so that they are aware, and get to come see their feature first thing. Submitting your email at time of posting the link would be helpful. If you have any questions about privacy, please see my Privacy Policy If you are one of the ones featured, don't forget to grab the "I've been featured" button from my sidebar! 
Here we go! 




Saturday, October 19, 2013

Chicken Tortilla Soup - A Max & Ermas Copy!




I used to be obsessed with going to Max & Erma's to get their Tortilla Soup and Salad combo. It's a spicy, creamy comfort soup that becomes an expensive addiction if you aren't careful! So I went on the hunt for a copycat recipe of it. Some time doing a bit of research later, and mixing a few things around - BAM. Now, when I make soup, I MAKE soup. I like to make enough to have some in the fridge, and in the freezer so on cold Fall and Winter nights, we can defrost some and stay warm. This recipe will do that for you!

Why don't we get to the recipe then, as I know you have been drooling over this picture while reading the first paragraph!

Here's what you will need:

  • A medium size stock pot and blender
  • 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz cans)
  • 2 cans of Cheddar soup (10 3/4 oz cans)
  • 4 cans of Cream of Chicken soup (10 3/4 oz cans)
  • 4 cups of chicken broth
  • 1 10oz can of rotel tomatoes (the ones with chilies)
  • 2 4oz cans of diced chilies
  • 1 jar of hot (or medium) Picante salsa
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 Tbsp onion powder
  • 1 lb of cooked chicken diced
  • Shredded colby jack cheese
  • Tortilla strips

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken in oven safe dish and cook for 45 minutes
2. As chicken is cooking, combine all soups in the stock pot. Whisk together until combined.
3. In your blender, puree the Picante, chilies and Rotel tomatoes
4. Add the puree and the chicken broth to the soup and stir together. Mince the garlic and add that and the onion powder in
5. Add in the chicken and two small handfuls of the shredded cheese and bring to a boil. Simmer on low for an hour
6. Garnish with cheese and tortilla strips


I gave my husband a spoonful before he left on his boys night and he said it was great. He turned back around and said "can I have some more?!" I am pleased with the way this came out. It is pretty thick and since I haven't had the soup from the restaurant lately, I am not sure if it is too thick or not. I am going to ask hubby for his opinion when he has a whole bowl of it (probably tomorrow!), and if he says that it is too thick, I may throw it back in the stock pot and add some more chicken broth. Other than that, SUCCESS! 

Enjoy! 

"Only the pure in heart can make a good soup"
Ludwig van Beethoven


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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Wonderful Wednesdays Linky Party #8 with features!

Boy, has this month gone by fast. Since I came home from my Ya Ya vacation in the middle of September, it has been wacky! I suppose October will always be like this if the Detroit Tigers continue to make the playoffs. With our love for Michigan football, and Playoff baseball, Cider mill trips, and our normal every day activities...we are slammed busy with little sleep.

I have really enjoyed looking through all the link ups at the parties. Especially the fall time links, so this week, is going to be all about Halloween/Fall as far as our features go!

Stumbling Upon Happiness shared their 20 Halloween Recipes










I just love fall don't you!? So, now onto this weeks party! Just a few things we ask with a smile :)

  • Please follow Wonderful at Home on at least TWO of their networking sites (you can find them on the top of the page)
  • Please put the Wonderful at Home button (found on my sidebar), or a link somewhere on your blog, post or "where I party" page in order to be featured. Trust me, you will be thankful later! 
  • Link up as many of your WONDERFUL posts as you would like. They can be crafts, DIY projects, tips, repurposing ideas, recipes, etc! 
  • Visit at least TWO other link ups. Please - we are all here to support one another right!?
  • HAVE FUN! 
  • ** I will make EVERY effort to email the bloggers that are being featured, so that they are aware, and get to come see their feature first thing. If you are one of the ones featured, don't forget to grab the "I've been featured" button from my sidebar! 
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The Great Junk Hunt

Hunting for junk.... a lot of people don't get it. They say "junk! What do you mean JUNK!?" And my response is always "the rustier, the chippy-er, the dirtier the better!". I love the old, lost, unloved junk. I love saving it from its almost certain death. Giving it a home, and someone to love it again.

Trust me, if I could keep it all myself, I would. But I can't, so I go on the hunt. The last outdoor flea market of the year in these parts would be considered extreme to most. I woke up at 4:00am and drove an hour and 15 minutes to get out of the car in the rain, and look through loads of wet treasures sprawled out on a race track.

It pretty much rained, or at least misted on us the entire time we were there. Things were dirty, wet and there were more than my fair share of bugs and spiders crawling on some of this stuff. It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E! There was one particular area that I liked the best. a whole yard full of tables, old windows, junk, salvage items (like items from old houses), and boxes and boxes full of JUNK. Then, they had trucks filled on the side with more junk that they just kept bringing out as stuff sold. HEAVEN!




We got there when it was about 7am, so it was kind of comical trying to rummage through things in the dark, in the rain, pulling a shopping cart, with a purse while everyone was pushing past you trying to get to things first! On top of that, the guys who were running it were screaming to each other and to us "who needs a price check! Dont pay attention to the tags! Make an offer!" It was great! Check out some of the great things I got...

What a beautiful old window right?! This one was hard to let go of! But again, I can't keep everything for myself!

Right when I saw this mirror/shelf combo, I was hooked. Look at that beautiful detail! It is SOOOO dirty in this pic, but I wanted to show you this version of it so you could see what we were dealing with out there!

 Aren't these porch posts beautiful! Like I said, the more chippy, the better! I keep thinking... what did the house look like that these came off of... and why was it torn down!?

 This was another one of my great picks of the day. It was leaning on an old truck behind the table and I almost didn't ask because it looked as if it was set there because it was already sold, but we decided to ask anyway, and ended up getting it for a steal! I can't wait to get this in my booth!

 ...you can tell it was a great trip, my Equinox was completely packed at the end of the day! We couldn't fit one more thing in!


Later in the week after my big trip, I worked for almost 6 hours on pricing and fixing up my booths. Holy moly its a lot of work. Thought you might like to see some updated pics. This is what our primitive booth looks like right now. Its not all the way there, but it is going in the right direction I think!





Thanks for stopping by and seeing what we have been up to!

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Sunday, October 13, 2013

Sweet Cornbread and Cinnamon Honey Butter



I just love cooking and baking. I love being in the kitchen with I Love Lucy, or a holiday movie (depending on the season) on my kitchen TV... I just love the days I get to do this.

Lately, I have been wanting to experiment, and I have been seeing a lot of cornbread recipes floating around Pinterest, so it got me thinking.... maybe that is what I will try next! I am sort of a cornbread snob. I get very picky when it comes to the texture and taste. If it is dry and hard... its a no no for me! The cornbread I love the most - Boston Market. We all know that this is some of the best corn bread around. Trust me, they aren't paying me to say that. I received no corn bread in lieu of that statement. It just is what it is. A warm, sweet slice of corn bread... nothing says comfort more than this.

So I looked around for some ideas on how to get the taste that Boston Market has, and I found this recipe hanging around everywhere. It seemed too simple to be true. Could it be that easy? Well let's try it why don't we?

Here is what you need:
1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix
1 box of Jiffy yellow cake mix
2 eggs
Milk and water

Pour both the cornbread mix and the yellow cake mix together in a mixing bowl, then add the rest of the ingredients to it per the package. Mix it all together, and pour into a 8x8 square baking dish. Bake per the package. Of course I checked it several times as I did not want it to overcook, so I suggest doing that. Even though the cake mix helps the softness of this recipe, you can make anything dry and hard if you aren't careful.

This cornbread got me thinking... wouldn't it be nice to have some sweet butter to go with this? Some Cinnamon Honey Butter to be exact? Yes... of course it would! Plus, as someone with PCOS, I can always have more cinnamon! It helps metabolize sugar! And it is so simple and quick, I just had to give it a shot. With a little research, I decided to do this:

1 stick of butter, room temp (soft) - NOT MELTED
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
Honey and Cinnamon to taste**

**Yes, I said "to taste" - the reason is, is because I like it a little more on the cinnamon side, and hubby likes honey, so he would like it more on the honey tasting side. Do not be afraid of this, just add a little at a time, and taste as you go!





I hope you give this a shot, because it really turned out great, and of course, it was even better because I got the thumbs up from hubby on the cornbread! He said it was even better than Boston Markets! I don't know about all that, but it was nice anyway! Next up, I am going to get him to try the butter :)

Enjoy!

But since you're asking me, I'll tell you my opinion: all cornbread is authentic, as long as it's good, hot, and made with love and fresh ingredients.
-Jeremy Jackson

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Wonderful Wednesdays #7, with features!

Happy fall ya'll! Fall has defiantly decided to grace us with its presence in the past couple days. We have had rain, cooler weather, sunshine and everything in between! The leaves are changing, falling and it is beautiful around here! I wish it lasted longer. I love the fall colors on the trees and they just seem to fall so quickly!

I have been very busy - as usual. This weekend was slammed with U of M football, Tigers playoff baseball, a migraine (blah!), and a early morning flea market (the last one of the season, so I had to!). I will share some of my finds soon!

The last post I did was five days ago, and I barely got this one off to you in time! I recently did a review for The Pasta Shoppe, where we are giving away a gift basket FULL of pasta. So make sure you head over and enter it before it ends on the 13th! Its a free, no catch entry. I just want to share with you, what I was able to enjoy! And hey, who doesn't like FREE food for their family!?

Now, we had some great participants in the last Wonderful Wednesdays linky party. Here are a few that stood out!

Start at Home  shared their Update on their Master Bath. My husband happened to be looking over my shoulder when I was reading her post and was super impressed! I hope I will get a update on our master bath now as well!



Crafty Allie  shared her Fall Wreath. I am always a sucker for a good wreath! I especially like how rustic it looks.


The Moon and Me  shared their Wicked Good Treats Pail. We love Halloween in this house, and this would be great for a Halloween party!



Now, onto this weeks party! Just a few things first:

  • Please follow Wonderful at Home on at least TWO of their networking sites (you can find them on the top of the page)
  • Please put the Wonderful at Home button (found on my sidebar), or a link somewhere on your blog, post or "where I party" page in order to be featured.
  • Link up as many of your WONDERFUL posts as you would like. They can be crafts, DIY projects, tips, repurposing ideas, recipes, etc! 
  • Visit at least TWO other link ups. Please - we are all here to support one another right!?
  • HAVE FUN! 
  • ** I will make EVERY effort to email the bloggers that are being featured, so that they are aware, and get to come see their feature first thing. If you are one of the ones featured, don't forget to grab the "I've been featured" button from my sidebar! 



Thursday, October 3, 2013

The Pasta Shoppe product review & Giveaway!


**This is a product review. If you have questions about how those are handled at Wonderful at Home, please visit our Disclosure/Privacy page**

Have you all heard of The Pasta Shoppe? YUM! I mean, who doesn't love pasta?! I can't actually think of anyone! Read up on how much we loved this product, and enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post for a chance to win a $30 basket of  pasta from The Pasta Shoppe!

The Pasta Shoppe is just the place to get some unique, well priced and scrumptious pasta meals!  I had the pleasure of trying some of their product this past week. They sent me the nicest basket of pasta a person could ask for, including two soups (Chicken Noodle and Wintertime Chili), Spinach Basil Garlic Angel Hair pasta, Cheesy Pasta (in the shape of farm animals, Zoo Animals pasta, as well as Halloween and University of Michigan pasta! For the sake of this review, I chose to make the cheesy pasta (oh, that's because Mac n Cheese is my FAVORITE!), and the Spinach Basil Garlic Angel Hair (because my husband LOVES Angel Hair pasta)!



First, let's talk about the Spinach Basil Garlic Angel Hair pasta. The instructions were simple. Put the nests in some boiling water, drain, and who-la!  I did also decide to chop up some onion and brown them in butter. Once the onion/butter mixture was ready, I placed the cooked/drained pasta into it, and placed in warm bowls. Adding some shredded Parmesan cheese, and the next thing I know, I was getting the husband thumbs up of approval! 


The Down on the Farm Cheesy Pasta was next. How simple they make it! In just a few easy steps (boil the pasta, drain, add the butter, milk and cheese powder), and I had a great meal ready to go! With the cute farm animal shapes, and the cheesiness of it, its sure to get your kids attention!  


A great thing about The Pasta Shoppe (other than the great taste, the ease of making it, and the affordability), is that they have a great fundraising program as well. If you are in charge of your kids sports team, school fundraiser or another group who is looking for a fundraiser, you would be a sure hero for bringing this to the table! I especially like the affordability of it. Do you know how many times lately, I have been asked to order off the neighbor kids fundraiser sheet, and I choked as I looked at the cost of some cookie dough?! Ummmm no thank you! Plus, I can make my own cookie dough, but no, I am not going to make homemade pasta, so if a neighbor, or my friend at work asked me to buy some of this pasta off their kids fundraiser sheet, I would be very much up for that! The return is great as well, you get 40%-50% profit based on your brochure master order size. There are also rewards for sales of a certain size. You can find out more information on The Pasta Shoppe's Fundraising Facebook page. Also, check out their main Facebook page, so you can get all the latest news regarding new and exciting pastas, contests and fundraising!

Now, onto the giveaway!

You have the chance to win a gift basket of pasta, valued at $30! Make sure to head over and browse the choices on The Pasta Shoppes page, because they are going to want to know which ones you want!  All you have to do, is read this blog post, which hopefully you already did! The winner will be contacted through email, by me, and I will ask for your address at that time in order for your gift basket of Pasta to be shipped. We just ask that the winner respond within 4 days, or another winner will be drawn. It's as simple as that, and you will receive a bunch of meals, that are easy to cook, and delish!
Good Luck!



Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Wonderful Wednesdays Linky Party #6 with features!

We sure did have a lot of good entries at the party last week! They made me hungry, and got me wanting to start some projects!

We had Buckets of Burlap share their post titled Fall is in the Air. I pretty much dream of my house looking like that! There isn't a piece in that post that I dislike - it is all just my style!


Dimples and Delights shared their recipe for Peach Vanilla Bean Jam - YUM! And, they gave you two ways to make it. One of them being low sugar so I can't wait to try this out! 



Createinspire, shared this lovely, Chippy Teal Dresser project. Between the beautiful top, great knobs, and perfect chippy-ness, its a beautiful piece!   


I hope you enjoyed these features as much as we did! Now onto this weeks party! Here are a few things we ask as you get ready to party with us this week:
  • Please follow Wonderful at Home on at least TWO of their networking sites (you can find them on the top of my page)
  • Put the Wonderful at Home button (found on my sidebar) somewhere on your blog, post or "where I party" page in order to be featured. If I can't find it, you can't be featured. I hope you understand, but we are trying to help each other drive traffic right!?
  • Link up as many of your WONDERFUL posts as you would like. They can be crafts, DIY projects, tips, repurposing ideas, recipes, etc! 
  • Visit at least TWO other link ups. Please - we are all here to support one another right!?
  • HAVE FUN! 
  • ** I will make EVERY effort to email the bloggers that are being featured, so that you are aware, and get to come see their feature first thing. If you are one of the ones featured, don't forget to grab the "I've been featured" button from my sidebar!