Vintage Brooches for Sale!

I stumbled upon these lovely vintage brooches the other day and I had to list them on my etsy shop. They're too cool not to share with the world. If you're interested in purchasing one, just click on the title to go directly to the etsy listing. 

Vintage Gold Tone Skeleton Key with Pearl

Gold Tone Vintage Abstract Daisy and Ribbon Brooch

Vintage Gold Tone Monet Abstract Swoopty Curl

Is this a treble clef? Is it a swooshy swoopty thing? I don't know, but it's lovely.

Vintage Enamel Strawberry Brooch Pin

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew

Stumbling upon "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" on Netflix was just about the best thing ever. Parker Stevenson is a doll and Pamela Sue Martin is a feisty whipper snapper. Why they thought they could swap out Nancy characters towards the end of the show is beyond me. But anyways...here's a little eye candy...I mean "Costume Studies", if you will.

Frank Hardy

Frank and Joe!  (I actually found a Shaun Cassidy record the other day at Goodwill...we'll see how that turns out.) 

Nancy...

Sorry these are weird quality...I definitely was taking pictures of her outfit while I was watching the show. Thought about being her for Halloween...but I don't think I'm ready yet. 

I mean who's name is "Parker Stevenson"....he's bound to be adorable and an actor. 

And this is totally unrelated but I found it in a google search. 

( I think this is hilariously true of most Christians...can you really validate the things you're doing?..)

(Uh oh...soap box.)

T-Shirt Yarn Spider Web Halloween Photo Booth Display

Well, that was a wordy title...but I wanted to give all the guts up front. I was inspired by seeing this done with gray yarn on pinterest...but I needed a little more pizzazz for a bold backdrop. (Just found out how to spell "pizzazz".)

Anyway, here's the final product and how you make it! It wasn't too hard...the tweaking at the last minute will get ya, but after I realized I should have stopped "messing with it" about 5 times it was almost too late and then it just 'settled' into something wonderful and slightly 3-Dish. I'm really excited about this being my Halloween party photo booth backdrop.

I cut these letters from black poster board paper to add a little holiday spirit. 

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Materials Needed

- Black (XL) t-shirt

- Sharp scissors

- Clear or Black Push Pins

- Forgiving Husband

- Patience...maybe like an hour (or watch your favorite scary movie)

 Step One: Cut roughly 1" strips from a black t-shirt....or whatever color you want...you could make a hot pink spider web if that's what you're into. The sky's the limit.

Pull the strip until it gets skinny and curls up. This is how you make the "yarn". 

Amass a pile of yarn which will look like a creepy pile of worms. 

Start by pinning up a large X on the wall space where you will be installing this giant spider web. Luckily my husband doesn't seem to care that I've put zillions of tiny holes in this wall. 

 [ I guess he'll be fixing that later for me. ]

Build your spider web lines with more X's or T's. I stopped at 4 lines (one X and one T)...but you could do a few more for more detail. I call these the "skeletal lines". Everything is Halloween themed right now ya'll. 

Here you can see where I started out thinking a curved web lines would be a good idea....

Then I made the early decision to just tighten them. This was the right decision for my personal sanity....hard to battle against gravity sometimes.

So sometimes I tied a little knot...but most of the time I'd take a long piece and just make a loop around my skeletal lines until I got to the end of my yarn. Each new start requires a new knot, but that's not a big deal. It's easy to work with when your yarn isn't too long. 

Less tangly possibilities. 

Voila! T-shirt yarn spider web! I love how this photo has a green glow to it...oooooh, scary. Radioactive spider web!

Fall Break=Halloween Party Decorations Done!

Every year my husband and I throw a Halloween bash with all the fixins. I have accumulated a ton of decorations and pinterest ideas throughout the years. This year we haven't designated a costume theme and instead we are having a costume contest. I haven't officially quit decorating...I just thought I'd get these ideas out there for anyone who is needing ideas.



So, a new addition to the party this year is a photo booth complete with a handmade black t-shirt yarn spider web. For a tutorial on how to make this, click here: tshirt spider web tutorial.

Below you can see me and my wonderful husband modeling the concept.

Standing Pose

Sitting pose

Next we come to one of my new passions...tablescaping, in the words of Gene Belcher: 
"It combines accurate table-setting placement with creative themes and costumes."

My hubster and I are going to be vampires this year...no "Twilight or Buffy/Interview with a Vampire" references. I'd say we're more of your East Nasty rebellious non-conformist type. So here's my tablescape...obviously this will look way different with actual food on it and not just lightbulbs. But here's a good base anyways... 

I made a black spiked bunting that is getting lost in the curtains, so I might replace that elsewhere...

Here you can see my striped witches legs...super easy with masking tape and a cut in half pair of Halloween clearance tights.

Next I bring you to the back of the front door...I tried the spiraling black paper bats. I'm not sure if I'm a fan...but a new way to hang these super cheap-o paper bats I cut out is fine by me. I like using fresh ideas for old things and the budget appreciates that too.

A couple of years ago I made this wire spider web using rebar tie wire and smaller wire. I spray painted the whole thing matte black. This is something I use every year so it was worth the sore fingers of working with rebar tie wire. 

Some painted wooden pumpkins...made from scraps of different sizes of wood. Painted orange and black with acrylic and latex enamel, then hot glued a cut tree branch to the top. 

These are actually pretty creepy. I haven't decided what else to do with this table yet....but it needs something a little more. 

Of course there will be candles everywhere, but I hope you enjoyed your Halloween party sneak peek.  

Low Carb White Chicken Chili

Tennessee had a lovely fall day about a week ago that had everyone in a good mood...then it got hot again. But regardless, we had the ONE awesome preview to fall. Oh I can't wait. So, that day inspired a light chili supper for me and my hubby.


Low Carb White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

Pulled chicken from a Kroger Roasted Chicken....or you can cook your own, but I wanted to save time
1 can Cannelini beans (which are apparently not to carb friendly)
1 can Red Kidney beans
1 can Large Butter Beans
1 can Garbonzo Beans (which turned out awesome)
1 onion finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
1 Carrot chopped
1 sweet pepper chopped
3-4 strips raw bacon chopped
1-2 cups heavy cream
12 ounces chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 stick real salted butter....never use margarine....REAL BUTTER is amazing and better for you.

Topping:
Sour Cream (All-Natural has the lowest carbs)
Cheddar Cheese
Avocado


How To:

I prefer using my Martha Stewart dutch oven to make any soup or chili. It's so awesome. (Shout out Martha!)

Anyways, I started by browning/sizzling some butter, the bacon and garlic. Ina Garten always says if you want people to think you're making something good, just saute some garlic in butter. SO, this is your flavor maker base. If this starts turning brown at the bottom, then you're doing a good job. That's the good stuff. Also, remember to use a wooden spoon for this.

While this is sizzling, I went ahead and rinsed and drained all the beans. I just dump the cans in a colander and rinse well.

Then I had pre-chopped my carrots, onion and peppers so they'd be ready to join the garlic and bacon yumminess. I just dumped those in and stirred 'em up.

Now here's where I wanted to add some liquid so I used about 3/4 of this lovely free range chicken broth. I felt very East Nashville purchasing this item. (Insert Portlandia quote: is this local?)

I also added the heavy cream and the beans once there was lots of liquid in there.

Now you can learn from my mistake...I added my chicken at the beginning and by the end of the 4 hours of stew time, the chicken was mush. It was still delicious...but it was mushy.

I let mine simmer on low heat (like the 2 setting) for as long as I could wait to eat this. Basically 3-4 hours...but it would probably be ready after coming to a boil then simmering for about 20-35 minutes....I would add the chicken about 15 minutes before you're ready to eat it if you're on a tight schedule.










It's probably a good idea to bring it to a soft boil before you decide to go to simmer mode.

This is the photo I sent to my hubby....to get him to come home from work. Just a little teaser...who can guess what's in here? (clue quote)









When you've waited as long as you can wait, then it's time to dig in. I topped mine off with some cheese, sour cream (of course) and avocado.....DELICIOUS and low carb! Yay.

PS...Another chance for you to learn from my mistake...thinking my garden's jalapenos weren't going to be hot, I added a can of Rotel too...big mistake. This chili was SPICY! Like back of the throat breathing fire spicy..but it was still yummy. So ...DON'T add a can of rotel. :)


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Here's a nice little bean chart I found from http://www.slowcarbfoodie.com/2011/07/23/what-kind-of-beans-should-i-eat-the-great-slow-carb-bean-index/

For ONE CUP of COOKED Legumes....

Bean  Type	Calories	Carbs	Protein	Fiber	Fat
Black Beans	227	40.8g	15.2g	15g	0.4g
Red Beans	225	40.36	15.35	13.1g	.88g
Pinto Beans	245	44.8g	15.4g	15.4g	1.2g
Great Northern Beans	209	37.3g	14.7g	12.4g	0.9g
Cannellini Beans	282	46g	20g	12g	2g
Lima Beans	216	39.3g	14.7g	13.2g	0.8g
Navy Beans	255	47.5g	15g	19.1g	1.1g
Fava Beans	187	33.5g	12.9g	9.2g	0.7g
Mung Beans	212	38.8g	14.2g	15.4g	0.8g
Adzuki Beans	294	57g	17.3g	16.8g	0.2g
Black-eyed Peas	220	32g	16g	8g	1g
ChickPeas (Garbanzo Beans)	269	44.9g	14.5g	12.5g	4.3g
Lentils	230	40g	18g	16g	1g
Soy Beans (edamame)	254	20g	22.2g	7.6g	11.5g

Low Carb Roasted Roots

This is a hearty and delicious side for any meal. I like to serve this with meatloaf or pan-seared chicken...pork chops....any meat really goes great with these. I would also serve a salad to lighten this up!

What you'll need:

3-4 Carrots (or half a bag of whole baby carrots) [6 grams a piece]
1-2 Sweet Potatoes [27 grams a piece]
3-4 Parsnips  [21 grams a piece]
1 Onion [10 grams]
2-3 Garlic Cloves
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Kosher Salt and Pepper and Garlic Powder

Optional things to try: brussel sprouts, beets (which are AMAZING), kielbasa sausage, yukon gold potatoes, red/new potatoes, green beans, apricots, pineapple...

*Now if you're trying to do super low-carb, I would eliminate the parsnips and replace with something green...brussel sprouts roast nicely. [just 8 grams per cup of brussels]



How to: (Pre-heat oven to 400 while you're prepping)

Chop the carrots and parsnips at angles into large chunks. I like to chunk the sweet potato into large "steak fries" chunks....and then add the garlic cloves whole. Roasting this with some herbs like thyme or rosemary in the pictures below adds some deep flavors. I chop the onion to keep it fairly large so it doesn't turn to mush during the roasting process.

Lay everything out onto a large baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil approx. 1/4 cup. I love the flavor of balsamic vinegar so I drizzle lots over everything. Next I sprinkle heavily with kosher salt and then add some fresh ground pepper, about 8 cranks. Finally, I sprinkle some garlic powder over everything and I use my 'clean' hands to mix everything up getting each piece evenly coated with goodness.

Bake on 400 for about 30-45 minutes until veggies are super tender and have a nice dark roasted look to them. This is a put it the oven and forget about it until you smell something wonderful kind of plan. It's not a bad idea to turn the veggies in the middle of the roasting process....I just take them out around 20 minutes in and stir them up...but make sure everyone is laying flat when they go back in.

This isn't my photo, but it shows how the final product should look. This has some lovely beets which I highly recommend!

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Here's a similar recipe I found from Pinterest with some "clear" instructions....

Roasted Root Vegetables

5.0 from 6 reviews

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Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 4-5

A simple and easy root vegetable medley roasted to tender and sweet perfection.

Ingredients

• 7 large carrots sliced at a diagonal
• 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3 medium sized beets cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
• 1½ tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped
• ½ tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
• ¼ cup butter or lard, melted (really you can use any cooking fat you want here, these are just my two personal favorites to use in this)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
2. In a large bowl add the carrots, sweet potatoes, and beets. Add the garlic, rosemary, and thyme, then pour over the melted butter or lard or fat of choice. Season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat.
3. Spread the root vegetables over the foil lined baking sheet so they are in a single layer and place in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until tender and lightly caramelized on the outside, shaking the tray and tossing them around a couple of time to ensure even cooking. Optionally, you can broil them for about 3-4 minutes after their done to get some extra caramelization on the outside of them.

Notes

These go wonderfully as a side served with a salad or just about anything!

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