An easy craft......

Here's a quick and easy holiday craft....

....and directions can be found HERE and HERE !

A WISE Table Setting....

Here is a cute winter table setting....

....in tan, black and white...

...the striped dishes are from Ikea....

...and the owl dishes are from the Christmas Tree Shop...

....the chair covers were purchased years ago...

...they stretch and fit over a variety of chairs!

And what is on the menu for dinner?

"Owl" let you in on a secret.....TAKE OUT!!

Pizza, salad and chicken wings!!

The Christmas Crate....

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is this "Christmas Crate" I painted  almost 30 years ago.

I painted a produce crate from the grocery store and stenciled on all 4 sides...

I also added some "snow" to the edges....

...and a few shipping stickers...

I have used it to hold dishes on the buffet, to deliver Christmas gifts, to hold a hot casserole on the table, as an appetizer tray....

...and even to deliver cookies:

It has held lots of special sweet treats throughout the years!

It is definitely one of my decorations I look forward to bringing out every holiday season!

What is your favorite Christmas decoration?

Happy Thanksgiving....

I am anxious to spend the long weekend with family.....enjoy your Thanksgiving!

A tasty salad.....

A quick, little, colorful and tasty salad for your Thanksgiving dinner....

Cherry-Chocolate Bundt Cake

For years I collected Leisure Arts books.  

They were loaded with crafty ideas, and excellent recipes.

I have passed many on throughout the years, but kept the holiday books.  This one has many 

"dog-eared" pages. 

This recipe has been a favorite of mine, easy to make and delish!  It is a light cake with a mild chocolate flavor - sometimes I add extra cherries :-)

In case you missed the last post, my favorite bundt pan is a silicone pan!

Happy National Bundt Cake Day....

Throughout the years I have used a variety of bundt cake pans...

...$30 Nordic Ware pans...

...$15 teflon pans....

...$10 aluminum pans....

...BUT my favorite is a SILICONE bundt pan !

WHY?  Because I was tired of this happening:

The cake just slips out of the silicone pan:

and I liked it so much that I also bought "mini" silicone bundt pans:

Happy National Bundt Cake Day!!

Come back tomorrow for the recipe for a Cherry-Chocolate Bundt Cake!

Happy National Pickle Day....

For many years I had my FACS students make pickles.

One reason was because many did not know "where pickles came from".  

This is a simple recipe that makes 2 jars

Happy National Pickle Day!!

The importance of giving credit where credit is due....

In December 2011, I was in The Anthropologie Store in Eastview Mall in Rochester, NY.  One of their displays for the holidays was this "Book Tree",  made with over 300 hardcover books and strung with a set of large Christmas lights.  I posted a photo of it on this blog (HERE) and the post has been viewed over 13,000 times!   I also reposted it a year later (HERE).  This photo has also been pinned and re-pinned, and sadly I didn't "watermark" it the beginning.  I edited the post a year later, adding my blog name to the photo.  

I have seen it posted on a variety of sites, without a photo credit.  Which brings me to this point.  One should always give photo credits to any photograph they find on the internet.  Like art work, photos, quotes, lyrics, etc should always be given attribution to the origin when possible.  Watermarking each photo is very time consuming and that is why you rarely see it!

I always love it when people share my photos online, it makes me feel incredibly special but more importantly it validates that you appreciate my creativity - it shows that you recognize the time I took to stage the photo, take the photo, to upload it onto my computer, to edit and retouch it, and to watermark it.

Everyone likes to be recognized for their creativity.

Recently a few sites have re-posted the Book Tree photo and I have received numerous requests to make this tree!  A perfect example of "lost in translation"!  Links back to the original post were not posted and people went to my Facebook page, assuming I made the tree, and asked for me to duplicate it for them.  This tree was 4' high and certainly not an easy item to duplicate, nor to ship!  I referred all interested parties to Anthropologie and their creative decorating team.

Did you also know that when posting on Instagram  you agree to this:
“You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on or through the Service or otherwise have the right to grant the rights and licenses set forth in these Terms of Use” Instagram Help Center

"Picture Courtesy" credit should also be given on Facebook.

So, back to the tree, If you have a few hundred hard cover books, they were simply stacked in a circle and the base was about 10-12 books, progressively stacked in smaller circles.  The lights were strung afterwards.