Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope your holiday preparations are going smooth. This is a busy time of year for those who celebrate this wonderful holiday. Every time I go out on an errand I am so thankful it isn’t in two feet of snow. For so many in the Southeast U.S. you’ve already had unexpected snow!

We are now starting to shop for our Holiday dinner. Tom cooks a ham with his wonderful glaze, and I help prepare all the other dishes. I thought you might enjoy this jello mold I’ve been serving for years with our ham. This is one of three that we serve. I was trying to remember what I made with this long ago instead of putting cottage cheese in it. I think it was with ice cream and cool whip. I wanted to make this a little healthier to eat so I changed it to cottage cheese. It’s actually one though I enjoy knowing others can enjoy now, as I do not eat dairy due to watching my cholesterol numbers. This jello mold is a favorite of many of our family and I’m happy to share it with you. (Just a side note, I took a picture of my jello mold last year in my bowl, knowing that one day I wanted to share this recipe with you. The other picture was taken this year. Our new counter top and the back splash Tom put in is shown, do you like it?) I love my newly renovated kitchen, it’s much more efficient now with our new cabinets and more spacious.

Lime Jello Mold

• 1 box 3 oz lime jello (I have used the box that contains sugar or sometimes without)
• 1 can 14.5 oz pear halves or whole (I usually get it in it’s own juice, it’s less sugar – which is called, in pear juice from concentrate)
• 1 15 oz  container cottage cheese (I use about 3/4’s of that in this jello mold) Pictured is actually a bigger size.

Boil 1 cup of hot water, add to your jello in a bowl. Mix until dissolved. Add your pear juice to a 1 cup measuring cup, then add to that water until you get 1 cup. The idea of this is to get as much flavor from the can of pears that you can, don’t throw away that juice from the can of pears, use it. You are adding this cup of pear juice and water mix to the jello.

Now add your mix of jello to a blender along with the pears and cottage cheese, I like to use 3/4’s of a 15 oz container of the cottage cheese. If you don’t have a blender you can cut up your pears and stir in the cottage cheese. Mix well. I have always used a blender.

Sometimes I have put this in a mold with a Christmas tree mold on the bottom so the tree then is on top when it is molded, but most years I put it in a pretty dish. If you are using a mold you can do one of two things to assure your jello will come out of the mold. I learned long ago to put mayonnaise on wax paper, then spread it all over the jello mold, but instead of that you can use that spray canola spray if you don’t want to use the mayonnaise. Then when you are ready to get your jello out of the mold, flip it down on your dish then put a warm cloth on the dish to loosen the mold. Sometimes mine worked and sometimes, I thought, next year I will put it in a pretty bowl!

Make this the night before your dinner. I usually don’t put plastic wrap on it, but sometimes I do. Refrigerate, enjoy!

I love this holiday, I love knowing there is a Savior that loves us. Do you know what I love most about this holiday? It brings people together, with Greeting cards or events, that throughout the year we seem to not be in touch with, or that it brings those we love closer with such happy memories.  I hope you too have many happy moments this holiday.  All the best to you and yours.

God Bless You,

Vicki

These pictures of my top ten picks for 2018 are not in any order – I loved it all equally. I have so much to be thankful for!

1)  I put pictures of our trip to Frankfort, Michigan and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park together because those two places are very near each other. These pictures are only a few of my favorite places we visit when we are there; the Cherry Hut Restaurant, seeing the beautiful sunsets every night on Lake Michigan near the Frankfort Lighthouse,  and the Oliver Art Center near the Coast Guard station. When we came back to the place we were staying, swans were beautifully made and placed in our room. Then there is the incredible Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, voted at one time some time ago, the most beautiful place to visit in the U.S. It’s breathtaking to say the least. We spend many hours exploring the area every time we go. We have wonderful memories of our children climbing the dunes.

2)  The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Mi. Tom & I spent some time in the room where you walk in and creates a dazzling light show every move you make. It was in the children’s section of the Museum – so much fun!

3)  Making My Shopping Booklet – I absolutely could not live without this. I will tell you all about this on a later post.

4)  The Color Charts I made, only one is shown – I will also share a post about this – if you are a Watercolor Artist I am sure you share my thoughts about why using Color Charts make painting so much easier!!

5)  My new JOY sign I bought at Target to add to my Christmas decorations – for $3.00!! I love it, it gives me JOY!

6)  A Vegan Burger I order at Red Robin, I love this, it’s wrapped with lettuce instead of bread. I love crunchy stuff to eat and this lettuce eliminates lots of calories too. I know it doesn’t look too appetizing but it’s good. I am a vegetarian so I love this kind of stuff. I love broccoli too.

7)  Downtown Rochester, Michigan lights at Christmas time – Incredible – makes a perfect date night with your hubby or family night.

8)  My Watercolor picture Tom framed and put up in our kitchen – “Sunny Sunflowers” – it’s so cheerful, makes me happy every time I pass it. I took a picture of a huge cluster of sunflowers where we stayed in Stockbridge, Massachusetts a few years ago. These sunflowers look just like that picture. It was very near where Norman Rockwell lived. We visited the museum and his Art Studio there and enjoyed seeing some of his magnificent originals.

9)  My dress I bought when we traveled to Glen Arbor, Michigan, my shawl I bought at the Salvation Army, the tights I bought at Charming Charlie’s and the silver watch my daughter Susan gave me for helping with her wedding. (Her wedding was a few years ago). I have three more lbs. to loose before I reach my goal weight and  looking forward to sharing my weight loss journey with you on a later post when I loose those three lbs.

10) The wooden bowl we bought at the Holland Bowl Mill on our unforgettable trip with our son Chris and his family to Holland, Michigan.  We are looking forward to using the bowl for our salads and fruit.  Charles VanTongeren founded the Mill and we are still doing research to see if I am related to him. My great grandfather, Jan VanTongeren founded North Holland, Michigan in 1843.

Well, that’s all 10! Hope you too have many memorable happy times, people, and things in your daily life that make you happy. I lost my mom at age five and dad at age twelve, so I have learned to savor each moment while I’m on this earth. We are not here very long, time passes so quickly. I love every minute I have with my loved ones and this beautiful world God gave us. As I said in the beginning of this post – I have so much to be thankful for, hope you do too.

Take Care. Until next time,

Happy Creating, Happy Exploring,

Vicki

There is so much I am thankful for; ducks at the park, Birch Bark trees, Mother’s day cards, food I like to cook and eat… the list goes on and on.

I hope your days are filled with many wonderful moments with family and friends and you are at peace with yourself and with those around you.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a happy one. These are some of the pictures I wanted to share with you that put a smile on my face. I included my stuffing recipe, it’s so easy and so delicious.

.

Stuffing Recipe

We usually get about a 20 lb. turkey, so I use about 4 loaves of bread. If all your stuffing doesn’t fit in the turkey, you can always cook it for about 20 minutes separately in the oven and have it for another meal.

• 4 loaves of bread, I cut mine in cubes, my husband tears the bread, do whatever you prefer.
• Poultry Seasoning. If you prefer use, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme…just think of the song years ago, Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel, do you remember it?
• Butter – lots, 2 or 3 or 4 sticks – whatever it takes to moisten it.
• 4 – 5 stalks celery – cut in cubes
• 1 large onion, (add more if you want) cut in cubes
• salt/pepper

O.K. This is so easy, now melt the butter in an iron skillet, or any skillet you have.

Add the celery and onion until wilted.

Add the cut up bread and poultry seasoning (I just add it until the bread is covered, I stir, add more, then if I think it needs more, I add more) – sorry I never measured it. Now add salt and pepper. If you are using the spices mentioned above instead of the poultry seasonings, sorry I never measured those either, I just add those spices on top, stir, add them again & taste it to see if I added enough. Don’t worry, you really don’t have to measure if you don’t want to. It will be delicious!

Stir while cooking until it appears brown. That’s it, now you are ready to fill the cavity of the turkey. I usually use a spoon to scoop all the stuffing in the bird. You can wait a little bit until it cools a bit before putting it in the turkey. Remember to close the opening up with poultry lacers (if you don’t find them anywhere else, I saw them for sale on Amazon)

Just a side note, I am a Vegetarian, so I make mine like the above instructions, only difference is, I use olive oil instead of butter and I cook it for about 20 minutes outside the bird in another baking dish. I watch my cholesterol numbers closely and olive oil is better for me.

Enjoy!

I want to also thank-you all for the inspiration and encouragement you have given me this past year just by taking the time to take a peek at my blog posts. I love sharing my thoughts and art with you and I hope you have been inspired in some way or I have brightened up your day. Feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving,

Vicki

Hello Everyone,

It was great participating in the Wall to Wall Art Fair in Troy, Michigan this past October, 2018. I met so many wonderful Art Enthusiast’s and Nature Lovers.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by my booth. You made my day! We saw some past customers and it was fun to meet some new folks!

I am inspired to continue creating and making lovely art, thinking of everything beautiful, combining color and design.

Until next time…

Happy Creating,

Vicki

From Scraps …

to Showstoppers.

Some materials I used to make the cards

I had fun today replenishing my cards in my stash. I needed three Sympathy cards and also more Get Well cards.  I also will make more cards in January and February and will show you what I make with more scraps in my craft room. I always look forward to making them. These are the cards I send to family and friends and don’t sell. I also send my 5 x 7 Watercolor cards at times.

Some of the materials used to make the cards today were:

-Scraps from my printed designs that the color was not quite right, Kleenex boxes I cut, other various scraps I have in my craft room sorted by color

-Recollection 65 lb. paper & also 100 lb. paper from Michaels for the base of the card

-Stamps – With Deepest Sympathy, Stampabilities, FR1124, bought at Michaels & a Get Well stamp

-Stamp pads: 1) Vivid, premium dye ink pad, teal  2) Color Box, opaque pigment stamp pad, Christmas  3) StazOn, solvent ink, Jet Black 4) StazOn Timber Brown 5) Memento, Bamboo Leaves, 6) Hero Arts Shadow Ink, Butter Bar, 7) Color Box, gold

-Calligraphic pen – medium pen water base ink and a Recollections Signature, gold

-Stencil – DCWV template

It took me an hour and 1/2 to make the 3 Sympathy cards and it took an hour and 1/2 to make the 5 Get Well cards, not long at all. It was fun. I find my favorite YouTube videos to watch while I do it. I will watch other Artists paint or handmade items Crafters make.

Happy Creating!

Vicki

P.S. We are renovating our kitchen, family room, and Tom’s office. He doesn’t have access to the printer to update the slide show for awhile, so sorry about “our dust”.  I will look forward when we can do that again. The renovation is going well, but will probably take until Thanksgiving to complete!