DIY Decorative Serving Tray

I am so excited about today's post!!! I have been getting crafty lately and it's Thrifty Thursday!!! Before I begin, I should give you a bit of history on my living room decor. Several years ago, I fell in love with a red microfiber sofa and love seat when I was looking for a new living room set and brought it home. Upon arrival I realized it was going to be difficult to decorate around it. I have been decoratively paralyzed since I bought it 6 years ago. Luckily I recently received divine intervention at Target, when I stumbled across some microfiber pillows in the perfect coordinating colors, but more on that in a bit.

Mexican Rice...yiiippa yippa, andale, arriba!!!!

Hello world!!! I know it may seem like I have fallen off the face of the earth, but I am still here....I promise! I can't believe I haven't posted since March!!!! I wish I could say something awesome like "we've just been so busy!" or "The kids and I have been very active over the summer". That would be a lie, though, and I really try not to do that. The sad, honest truth is that we haven't done ANYTHING this summer. Seriously, other than a few pinterest projects and learning to crochet, I have sat around and let the summer pass me by. You see, the truth is that for the last couple of years I have been struggling with anxiety and depression. One of the reasons I began blogging was that it really helped me to combat the depression and gave me a reason to keep getting off my behind and doing something. I have been having a hard time lately just keeping up with the house and laundry, geez, I haven't even been going outside except to get groceries and tend to the garden, so I decided to start blogging again. It really gives me a sense of purpose....even if the purpose is just to share a few recipes, crafts or funny stories. It helps me feel connected in a way (especially if you leave comments....lol...hint, hint). So there, now it is out in the open, nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about, just the facts. As a matter of fact, when I finish writing this blog post, I am going to sweep and mop the floor, put in the last load of laundry (well, for the next day or two anyway) and then I am going to take the kids to White Water....yay, fun!!!!! I am actually going to drive all the way to Marietta without another adult in the car and (try) not to be anxious (yes Mom, I took my Prozac this morning).

Never underestimate the power of FLAN!

Lately, my girls and I have been watching season 1 of Sabrina the Teenage Witch on Hulu. Here's a quick shout out to Hulu and Netflix for showing all of my favorite 80's and 90's shows like Saved by the Bell, Jem and the Holograms and Sabrina....HOLLA! My kids love these shows as much as I do. Anyhow, the most recent episode we watched featured Flan and I realized that I needed to share my recipe for flan so others

This one's for the boys!

Has anyone else out there seen these ads at Walmart to make your headlights look like new? They look like this:

I always wondered about them, because the headlights on my 1998 Grand Caravan look like this:

Pamper yourself and feel the love!

Happy Valentine's Day! As I mentioned yesterday, I just love this holiday. I am really feelin' the love today. I really enjoy seeing my friends posts on facebook about what their valentine has done for them and I hope that I can give some love to all of my friends who feel unloved or left out of this day. Valentine's day is for everyone, not just couples. In my family we give a little something to everyone that we love, not just spouses. It doesn't have to be extravagant, although contrary to yesterday's post, my sweet hubby surprised me with roses and candy. I wasn't expecting it and was completely caught by surprise. It was also nice to see how thrilled my kids were that their dad had gotten something for me. They all knew before I did and I could just see the joy in their faces when I discovered my surprises. I am a stay at home mom, so I don't have a bunch of cash to spend and I really enjoy giving homemade gifts, so that is what I will be doing today. One of my favorite gifts to make and give (or keep) is a nice sugar scrub. I don't know if you have ever purchased one or even looked at the price, but they are so expensive that it's ridiculous (I am also pretty cheap thrifty.) The worst part about the high price is that they can be made at home with ingredients you most likely already have in your cupboard. Seriously, can we say highway robbery?

Who needs Honeybaked?

I don't know about you guys, but I am a real fan of ham....actually I really love pork (BACON) in general. I always look forward to Easter because my Mom always either cooks a ham or buys a Honeybaked ham. I had never cooked a ham until about a year ago, because I had no idea how and I thought it took hours of oven time. Boy was I wrong! I have been following Stephanie O'Dea for a while now over at crockpot365.com and she posted a recipe for a copycat honeybaked that looked so good! I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, so I winged it and made it my own and now it's a family favorite. Let me just pause here and tell you that if you haven't been over to her website, you should check it out. She has so many great recipes for the crockpot, you won't regret it! Now back to your regularly scheduled blog. So, this is how you make it and you won't believe how easy it is. Before I start, I must tell you to make sure you get the butt portion of ham when you go shopping, the shank portion won't fit in the crock (don't ask me how I know that).

House Rules 2.0

Well, my friends, today I am going to repost and edit and old post from a couple years ago. You may remember my posting about our Family Rules Canvas that I made based on a couple of other blogs. Well, I have gotten many compliments since I hung it up and my sister loved it, so I decided to make her one for Christmas. Here it is: