Thanksgiving Ideas and Cranberry Salad Recipe

So, I totally need to start decorating...this weekend!
First, I have a cranberry salad recipe that will knock your socks off!  Promise!
I can't stand the gelatinous muck that comes out of the can.  Gag.  {to be fair, I have never actual tried it, but it gives me the willies!}

I made this recipe up a few years ago to avoid looking at the can crap.

Cranberry Salad with Cream Cheese Topping 

1 lg can of Mandarin Oranges (drained)

4 Apples(I use Fuji, you'll want sweet apples to balance the tart cranberries)

1(12oz bag) of fresh cranberries

1 (3oz) pkg of strawberry jello (raspberry and cranberry are good too)

1/2 c Sugar

Pulse the apples and the cranberries in the food processor.  Drain oranges and toss with apple and cranberries.  Toss sugar and jello into fruit mixture and stir.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Cream Cheese Topping 

2 pkg cream cheese (room temp.)

1c Powdered Sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 lg can crush pineapple drained

4c cool whip

1 c chopped pecans

smash cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla.  cream together until smooth.  stir in pineapple. fold in Cool Whip. mix thoroughly. add pecans .  You can make this ahead of time and let it sit for about 20 min before serving or just make it when needed.

It's so delicious!!  Try it!!

Now on to Thanksgiving Inspiration from Pinterest:

-Make your life beautiful!!

& Chair Upholstered!

So, I got this chair a while back for super cheap at a flea market.  I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it until I did some pinning.  Then I got to work.....

To make do the chair, I took it apart....lots of staples and nails.

Getting all the broken caning out was a beeotch!

I had these divot holes left from the buttons, my dad (who does upholstery) told me to steam the foam and it would fluff back up...I just filled the holes with cotton balls :)

Then I needed some fabric to cover the chair, I was going to go buy some when it hit me....I have black curtains from a, I-was-in-too-much-of-a-hurry-to-decorate-because-we've-only-lived-here-a-month-and-I-am-hosting-Thanksgiving-after-just-having-had-a-baby, decorating forget it moment.  I just grabbed a curtain and started stapling.  Making sure to pull tight as I stapled.  If you have a border collie or other long haired dog, you will need either a lint roller or a sheet to lay your seat on....mine got REALLY hairy!

After, it was covered I decided to add the & which I totally LOVE!

I just filled it in with some white fabric paint that I had!

Then I sprayed the frame and painted it white.

Tiny helper is optional, she often would retreat for some R&R in the castle behind her!

After it was all said and done, I added some rope trim to the chair and put the done stamp on it!

-Make your life beautiful!

SUNDAY: 
The Girl Creative ,The DIY Showoff ,Sisters of the Wild West ,The Tattered Tag ,Flamingo Toes, Under the Table and Dreaming , I Heart Nap Time 

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Sew Can Do, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime,  Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie, Type A, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Today's Creative Blog, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Strictly Homemade, A Diamond in the Stuff, All Thingz Related, Handmade Tuesday,
WEDNESDAY:
Blue Cricket Design, Not Just A Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sew Much Ado, Organize Your Stuff Now, Seven Thirty Three, Sugar and Dots The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Inspired by Charm

FRIDAY:
Remodelaholic, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Little Lucy Lu, My Simple Home Life

Whipperberry, 

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors, be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Young and Crafty

Old Window Headboard

Sadly, this is my last entry for Crafting with the Stars. :(  Bummer...but, I still lurve the project!!

I struggled this week....like, a lot! I was going to paint some fabric and that didn't go as planned...I don't sew. My sewing machine is basically a giant paper weight, so I needed to be a little more creative. So, I made my daughters some headboards and painted them some curtains!!



I painted the striped curtains with hot pink paint and a white twin top sheet from Wal-Mart. After I painted the striped curtains, I painted the old window frames I picked up at a flea market for $10 each. They started red and I painted them white originally.  I used them in our bedroom as the headboard.

I'm thinking of making a tufted or different headboard for the master bedroom now!

For this, I switched it up to a much more girly pink! I planned to paint a multi-colored chevron to use for the headboards...epic fail. 



My inspiration for this project was this amazing set from PB Teen:

I may have had a mild nervous break down.


After I decided it wasn't the end of the world, I headed to Joann's for some fabric. While I am perusing, but what to my wondering eye should appear, but a perfect striped chevron and eight tiny reindeer. Seriously, they already had their Christmas crap out! I passed on the reindeer and picked up the fabric and a few more fun ones for pillows! For the headboard, I just stapled the Chevron fabric to the back of the old windows and screwed them to the wall. I took the lazy way out on the pillows...heatbond tape. It's my guilty pleasure...no sewing just my trusty iron. The iron only gets used for heat bond and to iron on Girl Scout patches....I do not iron our clothes. Oh, no my secrets out :) The girl's love their new room and I couldn't be more pleased and I only had one mildly neurotic episode!! 

We're not quite done with their room...I'm thinking they need this piece of art work and a few more ideas I pinned from pinterest!

I'm thinking it would be easy to add these to a pre-made white quilt or comforter!
Mama may not sew, but she can modify!

-Make your life beautiful!!

SUNDAY: 
The Girl Creative ,The DIY Showoff ,Sisters of the Wild West ,The Tattered Tag ,Flamingo Toes, Under the Table and Dreaming , I Heart Nap Time 

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Sew Can Do, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime,  Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie, Type A, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Today's Creative Blog, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Strictly Homemade, A Diamond in the Stuff, All Thingz Related, Handmade Tuesday,
WEDNESDAY:
Blue Cricket Design, Not Just A Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sew Much Ado, Organize Your Stuff Now, Seven Thirty Three, Sugar and Dots The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Inspired by Charm

FRIDAY:
Remodelaholic, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Little Lucy Lu, My Simple Home Life

Whipperberry, 

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors, be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Young and Crafty

Nate Berkus Knock Off Rug for CWS

Round one of Crafting with the stars was Knock Off.  The projects were uh-mazing.  As soon as the post went up for voting, I may have been slightly neuroticly worried.....I like a good knock off and I picked Nate Berkus's NY Apartment Rug.  I believe Ikea makes a cheaper version, but I like Nate's space!

My only cost was the painters tape which was $5-ish....I bought a lot of groceries that day and don't remember exactly.

I had the rug from Dollar General that I paid $10 for last year.  I bought it to lay over the NASTY crapet (yep, I meant crapet)  Got it home and of course it was about 1 inch too wide.  Suckola!  I then put it on the porch to catch the sand and dirt from tracking in the house....it still does, but not as much.

The rug when I started was filthy, dirt and sand galore.  I didn't wash it.  I vac'd it like 5 times and it still has sand in it!  Which is fine because it went right back out on the porch.  It's not big enough to warrant keeping it in the house.  Plus, we have very plush/shaggy 80's crapet, so rugs won't lay right.

It's like a light brown color.

Then I started painting and painting.  The paint is just regular house paint.  The white is marshmallow white from glidden and the black is an oops can Mr. TSL picked up for $5 to paint the kitchen cabinets from Lowe's.  Kitchen Cabinet paint no more.  I used it for this project and for next weeks project and I may paint the front door :)  It bubbles anyway, so it wouldn't make good cabinet paint.

After 2 coats of black paint, it was decently covered....remember this is going on the porch and is currently dirty from being there now.

it is actually covered better, but seemed to show brush marks in the crappy pic.

 I measured and divided by 4, so I could make the sections.  Then, I measured and marked it with white chalk...so I wouldn't have to wash it off!

Then I started taping and taping and taping.  After 2 coats of white paint, it looked like this:

• Sherry of Young House Love 
• Ana of Ana-white.com
• Katie of Bower Power
• Erin of House of Earnest 

Now, I need your opinion on something.......

We scored this amazing door at Habitat for Humanity for $10.  Mr. TSL hung it and I love love it! It's like adding another window in a room with little light!

It's wood on the side facing to dining room and white facing the sunporch.

I plan to either paint it candy apple red or black....what to do?

Here are my inspiration pics.:

RED

or

BLACK

Nate's rugs and inspiration doors via my Pinterest

-Make your life beautiful!!

SUNDAY: 
The Girl Creative ,The DIY Showoff ,Sisters of the Wild West ,The Tattered Tag ,Flamingo Toes, Under the Table and Dreaming , I Heart Nap Time 

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Sew Can Do, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime,  Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie, Type A, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Today's Creative Blog, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Strictly Homemade, A Diamond in the Stuff, All Thingz Related, Handmade Tuesday,
WEDNESDAY:
Blue Cricket Design, Not Just A Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sew Much Ado, Organize Your Stuff Now, Seven Thirty Three, Sugar and Dots The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, 

FRIDAY:
Remodelaholic, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Little Lucy Lu, My Simple Home Life

Whipperberry, 

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors, be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Young and Crafty