Kerosene Heaters & Crafts I've Completed

If you clicked on the "pages" section and saw the interior of my house, you may have noticed I have a few old kerosene heaters. I have a weakness for them! (Did I just say that out loud?) Yes I do. I always look for them at salvage yards and they are pretty abundant and inexpensive. I never paid more than $25 for one though they do need a good cleaning and refinishing. I always get them with their "guts" already removed cause that would just be messy to deal with.

I got my first one in an antique store in Lake George while on vacation a few years back. I ALWAYS wanted a pot belly stove but every time I found one, they were either HUGE or very expensive so I fell in love with these little kerosene guys. The one from Lake George was already painted so that required no cleanup or painting. I display that one in my foyer.

My next two came from an old and now defunct salvage yard in Bird in Hand, PA. It was called Stolzfus & Son but to be humorous they crossed out the word Stolzfus and wrote Sanford....Sanford & Son...Anyway, we had gotten some good stuff from him including an old, and I mean OLD, wood burning stove. It has to be refinished but Billy said that is HIS project. I also got a beautiful kerosene heater with a glass body. I had never seen one like that before. It was covered in layers of dirt and was filled with leaves and twigs from being outside in the salvage yard but I loved the glass body of it and bought it. Instead of it being all metal, it had enamel parts to it that once cleaned up are a very pretty brown. I ran an electric candle through her and use a "flicker" bulb, and she gleams so lovely! Sadly, Stolzfus & Son closed up his yard after years and years and retired. They now have a little bakery in their house instead.

While visiting my husband's sister and her husband in the Poconos, we went to a barn sale. From there I got another plain black kerosene one, and then I saw a little something I didn't know what it is and I still don't! All I saw was: it was small, had punched tin, and a little spigot! I was in heaven. I love punched tin. That is what my kitchen backsplash is going to be when Bill has the time to put it up! I bought the wee "thingy" with the spigot for $5 and the kerosene heater for $15 and refinished both. The black one I redid with a fresh coat of stove black and affixed a prim American Flag decal to it. The little guy I painted burgundy mixed with black, then distressed it with a dry rag. It now sits in my bathroom.

I hope my post wasn't boring--- gushing over my heaters. I love them and still plan on adding to my collection and maybe one day I'll actually get my pot belly stove. Something to hope for!

I also wanted to show you some of my crafts. I love working with flowers and birds and grapevine. Oh, and my little amish buddies I know are a little kitschy~~I know they are but they were adorable and I couldn't pass them up. When I got them home, I found them hard to display. Looking in my closet I found a stand up rack/holder that held suspended metal baskets for fruits or vegetables. I had put it away cause it was just too big. I took off the baskets, suspended my amish friends and added some ivy and then some clear lights. Now they can swing till their heart is content!

You're Invited!

Take a tour of my Home Sweet Home! My husband built our home in 2007. The house was previously a five room ranch that he knocked down to the ground and up from the earth came my dreamhouse. My husband Bill did EVERYTHING ~ from framing, to installing the kitchen, baths, painting, siding, electric, borders, landscaping, etc. He handpainted every piece of beadboard and molding. Every day I am so thankful . Go to the "pages" section and click on "Home Sweet Home".

Happy Wednesday!

Is the week going by fast or it just me? I always want the week the kids are off to go by slowly but it kinda feels like it's going by quickly. SLOW DOWN week! My kids are enjoying their Winter Recess! Today they are having a "mall day" as I call it. That's very special because we only go maybe three times a year! Seriously. Here on Long Island where we have many malls, I go RARELY. It's not the kind of shopping I enjoy. My son is looking forward to spending some of his birthday money and that's fine. I go to all the stores he wants to, and I let him spend his time browsing. Caitlin enjoys going to the Disney store and Claires, then we have lunch, shop a little more and its home. My kids think this is a vacation day! And my son doesn't want to go anymore often. He thinks it will take the specialness out of it. I think he's right. So we go on Winter Break, Easter Recess and once in the Summer. I will enjoy the Yankee Candle store and a couple others , and I love the Disney store but then I'm good to go ...HOME! Craft stores and supermarkets is where I like to spend!

I posted a picture of my stacking boxes I lovingly lugged all through the Green Dragon market. Above that table is my favorite shelf. I bought it at Kountry Korner in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania. It's one of my favorite shops. I actually haven't changed a single item on that shelf in three years because I was so happy the way it looked! I have to do better up-close photos so you can actually see! And I don't know what that white spot is that showed up on my photo either to the right (?)

My sister had given me some pine cones from her yard before Christmas. I scented them, and they have been "fermenting" :) in a tightly closed bag. I think it's time to check them! I did a woodland scent. I prefer to scent my own as I can never understand why stores that sell the scented ones use overpowering CINNAMON. And I like the smell of cinnamon but not on pinecones. Funny, I can never find pinecones scented, lets say with PINE! Always that overpowering cinnamon.

Tomorrow I will get my photos posted of some projects I have worked on. I wish I had the talent Miss Cat Nap Primitives has to sew! I'm working on it though! I want to sew new accent pillows for my parlor room couch. You have me determined to learn Miss Gina!

Have a great day and make it a fun one!

Chicken Enchiladas

We had our chicken enchiladas last night for dinner and today I am posting the recipe. This is a really simple one; I just adjust ingredients to feed my family. They say it makes 4-6~~not in my house! We are hearty eaters so I just add some more of everything.

*Chicken Enchiladas*

2 cups COOKED chicken

1 Cup Chopped green bell pepper

1 80z package of cream cheese (cubed)

1 jar of salsa divided

8 flour tortillas (6" size)

1 pkg of Mexican style cheese

1/4 cup milk

Stir chicken, peppers, cream cheese and 1/2 cup salsa in a saucepan over low heat until cream cheese is melted.

Spoon some of your chicken mixture into tortilla and roll up; place seam side down in lightly greased baking dish. Repeat.

In a saucepan on low heat, combine milk and 1 1/2 cups of Mexican style cheese. Stir until smooth. Pour over tortillas and cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees until thoroughly heated (approximately 20 minutes). Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and add remaining salsa.

The photo of the tortillas already prepared is what they looked like BEFORE they went into the preheated oven.

I've been walking around my house thinking of making some changes to all my stuff. I love changing my items around here and there but now I think I want to really switch it up. Maybe it's the anticipation of the change of seasons? I'm not sure. I'm going to make a few switches and photograph it so you can see what I've done. Don't you love looking at your stuff and remembering where you got it? I was thinking that about this large set of stacking boxes I have that I LOVE. We had gone to the Green Dragon Amish outdoor market in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. I was in one of the "booths", and I saw these great stacking boxes. They were on clearance for only $12. I couldn't pass them up! They were going to be cumbersome to carry yet I knew if I didn't take them right there and then, they would be gone. My sister-in-law actually passed them up because she didn't want to carry them. My dilemma was that the car was very far away in the VERY crowded parking lot and we were right smack in the middle of the market. Plus, I have a fear of getting lost at those big markets. Well, we bought them and we carried those stacking boxes for a good part of the walk through, passing them back and forth! It was funny. I was so thrilled I had them, I didn't mind! We juggled them till lunchtime when we were once again closer to the parking lot! I always think of that when I see my boxes.

Have a great day! My little Caitlin has the dentist today so I'm hoping that goes well!

Presidential Birthday Cake!

Good Morning! The kids are off from school for Winter Recess, also called Presidents Week. They are on Winter Break now. Caitlin's kindergarten class talked about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington all week . They sang Yankee Doodle Dandy and My Country Tis Of Thee and when Caitlin heard it was their birthdays~~~~Cake Time! We made a quick Pillsbury Funfetti mix and being the patriotic family we are :) out came the 4th of July plate to display our cake and of course, our red, white and blue sprinkles. Caitlin sang "My country hisabee" (she did her best), and we all enjoyed cake.

It's going to be a nice laid back week with the kids home. We had some snow last night and it's supposed to be a mix of rain/snow later so we'll be in today. I'm planning on making my chicken enchilada recipe. I love them and have been craving this yummy dinner.It's a great recipe (SUPER EASY) , and I will post it a lil' later.

I'm also pulling out the St. Patrick's items~~I just have a few. I do have alot of little party goods so I think I will be inviting a couple friends over for a St. Patrick's lunch during the month of March. The kids love doing that. My husband is a mix of English, Irish, Scottish and Swedish but only claims "Im Irish!".....He's a character. I am 100 % Italian but every year I tease him that the shamrocks aren't going up cause he doesn't acknowledge Columbus Day. He says Columbus didn't discover America and that there were explorers before Columbus who actually did. My argument is that the other explorers weren't smart enough to put a flag to claim it so COLUMBUS did . Hence, Columbus discovered America! I pretend to decorate for St. Patrick's Day begrudgingly (haha) even though I LOVE Ireland and would love to visit some day and I do love those celtic woman cds I have. Beautiful music. I make corned beef , potatoes, cabbage and brussel sprouts every St. Paddy's too; afterall I consider myself Irish by marriage! All in good fun. And I do like Irish soda bread with a nice cup of tea.

Every year AFTER St. Paddy's Day, I always end up in CVS or Walgreens getting all kinds of little items for like 25 cents( little mugs, picks, necklaces), and I can't resist them. It's time to put them all to good use! St. Patrick's Day luncheon!

My husband is on the hunt for me at the home he's working at for some rusty items to use for some outdoor planters. It's amazing what people consider to be old junk! I'm waiting patiently for one of my favorite events we go to every year~the Hicks Nursery Flower and Garden Show. Hicks Nursery is an operating FAMILY nursery on Long Island for over 100 years and their flower show is amazing. Besides the beautiful plants and flowers that you can buy, they have different set ups of gardens, ponds, backyard fountains, and more. It's so great. We go every year and I take tons of photos; even the kids love it. It's completely interactive. They give you lovely ideas for your backyard with gazebos and little bridges over ponds, and you can walk through and go in and take your time. It's in early March and it really gets you excited for planting. On Long Island, we can't begin planting till Mother's Day or our stuff will die. We get cold snaps and *poof* it's all over. So Mother's Day is the day!

Have a great day and don't forget to wish our Presidents a happy birthday. Tell them Caitlin sent you!

A Little of This, And a Little of That!

As you can see I posted some photos of some crafts I did. I wish they photographed better. I love working with new supplies but since I haven't really gotten any new stuff lately to work with, I used some supplies I had. The little green wire chair had (at one time) a ceramic planter in it but it broke. I certainly couldn't part with such a cute little chair (I have a thing for little chairs) so I found the galvanized wash bucket to fit and worked from there. It's very spring-ish not prim but I will find a place for it! The little rocking chair I had gotten many years ago from a catalog called Collections Etc. It originally had little resin cats sitting on the arms of the chair and was a little planter. One of the ceramic cats got damaged over time so I removed them and redid my little rocker. I put that in the parlor room. I think it's sweet.

What I do love doing is painting wooden items. I had gotten a couple of these wooden benches from AC Moore, and I painted this one in sage green and white and used rub on transfers of strawberries for decoration. I also made the little decoration that sits upon it. My favorite one I painted is more the colors that I love~~~burgundy and black. I'll show that one next time. I have two Amish dolls sitting upon it. Before we tore down our ranch and built this house in its place, my kitchen was decorated in 1950's reds with cherries and strawberries. The little green and white bench would have been perfect for it. It was a cheery, cherry kitchen. This house is all earth tones and prims and country. I found my true calling of colors in this house~~warm and cozy. I love burgundys, blacks, tans, mustard. They just call to me!

I do know what supplies I want from Michaels! I was there recently and they have really expanded their supply of prim "details". Lots of rusty ornaments in all sizes, some nice wooden items to paint, a better selection of folk art paints and alot more. I was making a mental list of items I want so when Billy finishes constructing my craft room, I can fill 'er up!

Speaking of Billy, he has been coming home with some amazing finds. He's been working for several weeks for a great family that sold their older home and is moving into another older home on the same road! He did wood floors in their new home, and has been building window seats and bookcases, and now he's gonna start building them a new basement. He was also completing some things in the house that they sold such as taking apart their old treehouse (which will now be OUR new tree house :)~~~but here is what is special. He has been coming home with some great things that the family has discarded from their old house. He brought the "works" of an electric fireplace that gives off heat, a ton of candles, a really big log holder (we needed that), some great big coffee mugs with matching little plates, beautiful storybooks and even a couple of outdoor statues of bunnies! All stuff they didn't want anymore! Even though I have a real fireplace, I was excited about the electric one cause Bill is going to build a cabinet or a little hearth for it and we can put it in any room here. I was excited! I also love that he knows to bring the stuff home to ME rather than let it go into the dumpster at the house!

That's about it for me. Caitlin wanted to bake a cake for the Presidents (Washington & Lincoln) since they explained in her kindergarten class that they have a week off celebrating "President's Week" aka Winter Recess. We have it every February. Since it's their birthday, they needed cake! I hope Lincoln and Washington would have liked Pillsbury Funfetti with chocolate icing!

Looking Forward to Spring!

Every year when I take down my Christmas decorations, I always leave up my various snowmen and sleds and "Winter" decorations. After all, they aren't Christmas. I usually leave them up till the beginning of March but not this year. We have had do much cold weather and snow this year, that I'm hoping (crossing fingers) that if I take down all my wintery decorations, maybe we won't get anymore snow! So today, down it all came, down came the Valentines and up went the shamrocks (for my husband.) I'm dreaming of Spring and Easter and light jackets. I never felt so strongly about this before. I hope my little ploy works. Bring on the sunshine!

I also took out all the crafts I want to repurpose. I have a supply of mushroom birds, straw, nests, and other goodies and plan on redoing some of my craft projects. It's been a busy week! Caitlin had a Valentine party at school, which was adorable, and also attended a birthday party for her friend. Now we are planning a little St. Patrick's themed luncheon with her other little friends and their really terrific Mom. My daughter loves to plan! We won't be doing it on St. Patrick's Day but to us, all of March is St. Patrick's Day! My husband took out two sets of green Christmas lights he wants me to put on the bushes outside the house! We'll see about that ;) !

I'm just in a Spring-type mood today! It's freezing out now and will be tomorrow but the weather is supposed to improve and be 60 degrees on Friday! Woo Hoo! Maybe I should pull out the Easter stuff!

Happy Valentines Day!

Mail Call!

Good Morning! Yesterday our temperatures dropped quite a bit. At night, it's almost 0! or feels like it anyway! I've been busy feeding my friends outside and this little guy is one of them! He is so friendly and waits patiently for a handout. I had given him some peanuts and after gathering a few, he decided to perch upon my mailbox and eat it! Last week, one of my squirrels must have been feeling the cold because he decided to remove some stuffing from a snowman I had sitting on a rocking chair on my front porch. Granted I was a little sad to see my snowman dissected as he was, but I also know that it has been a very cold Winter and that little resourceful squirrel knew what to do to make his nest warm. There was probably nothing he could forage for in the thick ice to make his nest warmer so he used his little head, saw the snowman and VOILA! Nice soft bedding! I might also add that all the squirrels I feed have never been aggressive or destructive; this is the first time they ever damaged anything of mine so you know conditions are extreme. I took the rest of the batting that filled the snowman and put it near my birdfeeders for my feathered friends to take and guess what? It's all gone. Have a great day and STAY WARM!

Valentine Tags

Recently I came across these adorable Valentine tags in my closet. I had received them as a little "bonus" gift from a super nice woman I bought necklaces from on Ebay several years back. She was a very unique crafts woman~~she took vintage postcards from holidays or just pretty scenes or flowers and shrunk them down and then took dominos and attached the picture to the domino. Then she would add little colored jewels to the picture to highlight them and add a string for a necklace. They were very cute, and I bought two Halloween ones from her. I LOVE VINTAGE HALLOWEEN! Just the thought of that special shade of orange, you know the one!, and black, is very exciting to me!My friend bought quite a few, and she used them to decorate her Halloween tree! Anyway, when I opened the box they came in she had also included a little "thank you" gift. It was these adorable tags! She photocopied vintage Valentine scenes and postcards onto tags, tea-stained them and then SCENTED them! They were so sweet! Unfortunately, the scent has faded but they are so cute. I think I'm going to decorate a Valentine tree with them. I have several prelit trees around the house that I adore. I had gotten four small pre-lit trees on clearance at AC Moore about three years ago. One is decorated with prim kitchen items, another in Americana, and the other one I always switch around. That will now be a Valentine tree. It was snowmen for Christmas! I'll post some pictures when I'm done and also my kitchen tree, which is my favorite! Check out the two domino necklaces and my precious little tags!

Sorry, I'm Just Daydreaming....

While our house is buried in snow and now ICE, I couldn't help but think of my porch last Spring. Lets go there for a few minutes.....how many days till Spring?

Happy Birthday!

Today is my son Billy's 12th birthday. To say that time flies is an understatement. My son is something special. At 12 years old, he loves all the things most boys his age do, but he has always been a little different. Billy has a fierce love for family and family times. He always did. He loves all his relatives and cousins and enjoys each of their personalities. The only thing that would make him happier would be if he had more of them! He loves family time even now. Now as some kids are so obsessed with friends, Billy still loves board games and nights where we will be watching a special show or movie. He loves all the things we do and takes an active interest in things like collecting and decorating and woodworking. When we go to Lancaster, he loves the farms, the crafts, the food. He notices and cares about things that most boys his age could care less about. He wants to know how things are done, how things are made, and how people are. He loves rides in the car. He loves to work with his Dad to make his own money which he usually enjoys spending on others, especially his sister.
Billy is my oldest~~he arrived ten years after Bill and I were married and Caitlin came along six years after Billy. He is an incredible big brother who gives is sister so much attention and love. He is not ashamed to kiss and hug us no matter who is around or where we are. He seems wise beyond his years and as one of his teachers told me just yesterday, "He's an old soul." He's truly my buddy, and I can always depend on him. Billy has always been one of those kids that you could take somewhere and be with someone and not worry about his behavior or manners. He really is something special. Happy Birthday my Bill!