Family Fingerprints

Well folks, it’s time for a change : ) Say goodbye to Family Fingerprints, and hello to town{homemade} with me! Homemade from our townhome! We’re just a click down the street, so come by, comment & let me know how you like the changes, and stay awhile : D

Well Family Fingerprints friends, I haven’t forgotten to tell you about our baby turning 9 months old (!) and I do have lot’s of fun crafty goodness coming your way, but we’ve been busy with some other things : ) There are exciting changes being made behind the scenes this week - a blog make-over is coming your way! So stay tuned…I can’t wait to share what we’ve (yes, Stephen gets mad technical props on this one) been up to! 

Stephen has been on fire in the kitchen this past week : ) and usually fire in a kitchen is a bad thing, but not this time around ; ) Using this recipe as a guideline and adding his own twist to it (1-dredging the chicken in a flour-spice mixture, an egg wash of 3 eggs and a third a cup water, and back in the flour-spice mixture; 2-tobasco in the marinade & in the egg wash; 3-using just chicken breasts; and 4-sifting the flour), Stephen made the BEST fried chicken for us, a couple nights back.

We had it again the next night!

Um, so good. We made everything from scratch except for the cheese - which will be tackled next time around : ) here’s a shot of the pasta we made, as we were staring to layer-up the dish!

Ready for the oven:

And here’s the end result! Sorry I don’t have a good picture showing off the layers (which stuck together fabulously, go Stephen!). I forgot on the first night and the cheese just doesn’t look quite as flattering once it has been reheated ; )

fyi- that pan lining paper is a lifesaver! That links to a page where you can get a coupon to save $1 on it!

Happy Epiphany to you all! It’s 3 Kings day today! Growing up, this was the day that we would take down our Christmas tree. The Christmas season lasts from the day after Thanksgiving right up until today, if you ask me ; ) So, as the “last” day of the Christmas season is upon us, I had to fit in one last Christmas post - showing y’all Abbie’s Christmas outfit!

I just added some felt poinsettas to a red dress and a matching headband!

All three of us, for Abbie’s first Christmas : ) (Stephen’s sweater can serve as a reminder in future years that this was the year I was in love with gray!)

Happy New Year!

Here’s what’s been happening in our kitchen lately:

One of the first meals Stephen made for me was sweet and sour chicken. He hadn’t made it in a while, but did this week, and tried a new recipe for it. We had this on top of some white rice - yum, loved this dish!

Once upon a time, there was a wonderful basement filled with all sorts of treasures…my grandparents’ basement : ) My sister and I loved playing down there when we were growing up. So many boxes to open and things to explore. I still feel like I’m on a treasure hunt when I head down there as an adult…though now I find treasures in things I would have just passed by years ago. 

I found this lovely old window frame down there late this summer! Grandpa cleaned it off and sent it home with me. I got some paint to match our trim and gave it a fresh coat.

I was inspired by this great project from one of my most favorite blogs, the House of Smiths. That’s where I got the idea for chicken wire, which my dad happened to have on hand! Stephen’s dad had a staple gun, which he used to attach the chicken wire to the frame for me. He also added the wire (seen in the picture below) that was needed to the hang the frame on the wall.

Then I used the staple gun to attach fabric to the back of the chicken wire and frame. (This is the same fabric used in my picture frame tray.) 

I spray painted some small clothes pins gray to hold pictures / birthday cards / Christmas cards to the wire.

Here’s a close up of the wire against the fabric:

I love this! It makes displaying cards simple and easy. And I can change out everything as often as needed.

On Christmas Eve, after we got Abbie to sleep, Stephen and I made a pecan pie for after lunch the next day! We used this recipe and it turned out great! And don’t worry, the pecans really do all float to the top while baking, see!?

Another new place for seasonal decorations to go - thanks to Stephen’s dad for putting them up!

shelves: IKEA (link for bracket)

pitcher: IKEA

free printable: today’s creative blog

This was one of those projects that you buy all the pieces for, planning something else entirely, but somehow it clicks and you realize they work much better another way…This frame was bought to hold this project. And the fabric was meant to be mod podged over the ornaments I had. But then I changed my mind : )

Enter: an old frame from Goodwill

I chose this frame because it had a “depth” to it, which in turn worked out perfectly as a tray! I just spray painted that gold away and slipped a piece of my fabric under the glass. I also have a piece of fabric hot glued to the back of the frame, to keep from scratching my table.

Currently dressed up for Christmas!

I’m excited to have another place in my house where the decorations can be easily switched around with each passing season and holiday.

I love how easy this was and yet what a big difference it makes : )

This is the first of two or three projects that I’m working on - using just one yard of fabric to give our living room a new look!