Checkered Dress Redo~What should we do?

Sloan and I found this dress at a garage sale a while back and I thought it had potential!

So, I shortened it, shortened the sleeves, took off the pocket and changed the buttons. Sloan thinks there is to much black and white going on. Now she wants me to make a skirt out of it. She wants to know what my blog friends think? Can we make this work for a cute school outfit?

A Winner! Metamorphosis Monday and Tomato Salad

I wanted to announce the winner of the 500 Business Cards from U Printing!

The winner is~

Michelle Someday Crafts said...

I would really like some business cards for my blog!!!! I just became a follower!

Congratulations Michelle! Contact me so I can get your information to the sponsor. Thank you everyone for following me and making this giveaway fun. I really enjoy reading everyone's comments!

It's Monday, so I thought I'd share another project from my living room makeover. Be sure and stop by Between Naps On The Porch for lots of other projects.

This is my living room couch before. Kind of boring and blah.


Here it is with the new pillows I made. I'm really enjoying how they turned out. I cut my own stencil out of freezer paper, then I just pressed it onto the pieces of drop clothes that I used for the crown pillows. I was able to re-use the crown stencil a second time. I couldn't find my exacto knife and I had to use a box cutter!


For the pillow with the French Block and burgundy fabric, I took apart one of my old burgundy pillow and re-used the fabric. The largest pillow is made from a drop cloth and the gathered inset is made from some extra fabric I had. I also re-cycled the stuffing from my old pillows. Chauncey and Sloan loved pulling the batting into nice small pieces. That makes the pillows nice and fluffy!


My sister and law brought over several containers of cherry tomatoes and I knew I wanted to make a tomato salad with them and I knew just what kind of dressing to put on it. Hmm, this salad turned out so yummy and makes me think of summer!

Tomato Salad

3-4 cups cherry tomatoes
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 can olives, chopped
1/2-3/4 cup sliced pepperoni
1/2-3/4 cup sliced Porcelini peppers

Dressing

3 tablespoons pepperorincini juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, grated
salt and pepper to taste
6-9 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Put all the salad ingredients in a bowl and toss. In a small bowl whisk the pepperorincini juice, red wine vinegar, grated garlic, salt and pepper really well. Whisk in the olive oil and pour over the tomato mixture. Mix well, chill and serve.




Be sure and stop by Leslie Loves Veggies for a chance to win a Wolf Design Leather Jewelry Case! This is a picture of the one I like. You can find all the details at Leslie Loves Veggies Blog!

A Giveaway, Metamorphosis Monday and Ham and Asparagus Casserole

I have a little giveaway for you this morning! I found this cute bird necklace over at Ginger's blog Appleseed Gifts. She has the cutest jewelry! I thought this necklace was perfect for a giveaway from my blog because it has the little bird, and I'm Songberries! So, if you want to win this cute little bird necklace, here are the rules. You don't have to do all of them.

1) Become a follower of my blog, just go to the Friend Connect button on the top left side of my blog and push follow. Leave me a comment telling me you're a follower. If you've already been following my blog, then just leave me a comment and tell me you're a follower.

2) Follow me on Facebook. Upper left corner of my blog, push the follow button and leave me a comment saying you're following me. If you already follow me on Facebook, just leave me a comment saying you're a follower.

3) Grab my little button and add it to your blog. It's on the upper left side of my blog.

This giveaway will end Sunday the 28 of March at Midnight.






Here's a little project I did a while back. I had these fun old jars that were down in the basement. I like to keep the kids snacks in them. I've really liked the number craze that's popular in decorating, so I decided to add numbers to my jars. I don't have a before picture, but I bet you can just picture it!


So here they are! I really like them. I ordered the vinyl numbers from Creations By Kara. I just told her what font I wanted and the side and she made them right up.
Head on over to Between Naps On The Porch and see what everyone else is up too! Don't forget to check out my easy casserole recipe.




I found this recipe over at Inspiring Creations. I love casseroles because they usually go together fast. Asparagus prices are so great right now, it makes this recipe very affordable. We had this for St. Patrick's Day because of the green asparagus, but it makes a nice spring casserole!

Ham and Asparagus Casserole

1 lb of fresh asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces (cooked until it still has a crunch to it)
2 cups of ham cut into 1 inch pieces
3 cups of cooked white rice
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of chicken broth
3 cups of cheddar cheese divided
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large mixing bowl, combine asparagus, rice, ham, lemon pepper seasoning, 1 1/2 cups of the cheese.

In a saucepan on medium heat, combine the soup and broth and heat until hot, then add 1 cup of cheese and whisk until the cheese is melted. Pour the sauce over your rice mixture and mix until well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook at 350* for 20 minutes then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and cook another 10-15 minutes. Or until hot and bubbly.

Lamp Makeover, A Giveaway, And Tastes Like Lasagna Soup

Today I'm linking up with Between Naps on The Porch for Metamorphosis Monday and Skip To My Lou for Made By You Monday. I found this simple little lamp at DI, but when I brought it home my sweet hubby said it needed to be fixed a little before it would hold a lampshade. I found a nice plain white lampshade at Walmart on sale for $1.50. My sweet hubby painted the lamp hammered gold, and I got to work on the lampshade.



So here is my lamp after-wards. I love how it turned out!

Today I'm doing a giveaway from Yoplait Yogurt and My Blogspark.

They sent me a coupon for a package of Yoplus yogurt, which is wonderful and creamy and on the go lunch container with utensils, an insulated lunch bag, and a pedometer.

Preview

The lunch container is really nice and will be very handy for picnics this summer! They are offering the same thing to one of my followers!

So to enter my giveaway, all you have to do is follow my blog. If you are already following me, just leave me a comment telling me you are, if you want to follow me, just click on the follower button on the top left of my blog and then leave me a comment telling me you're following me. Easy Peasy!

This Giveaway will end Thursday, March 18, 2010.


If you'd like to get a coupon for a $1 of a package of YoPlus Yogurt, you can go here!

YoPlus is available in six delicious flavors including Strawberry, Vanilla, Cherry, Peach, Blackberry Pomegranate and Blueberry Acai. If you are looking for all the great health benefits of YoPlus with even fewer calories, YoPlus Light is the perfect solution, with one third fewer calories than the original. YoPlus Light is available in three delicious flavors-Honey Vanilla, Strawberry Banana, and Key Lime - all with just 70 calories per cup.





I found this recipe the other day over at Sweet Basil and knew right away that my family would love it! Chauncey keeps begging for soup when it's cold out! I added the hint that Sweet Basil gave on her blog along with the recipe.

Tastes Like Lasagna Soup

1 lb Hamburger
1 Onion, Chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper, Chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 (32oz) Box Low Sodium Chicken Broth
2 (14.5 oz) Cans Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 (15 oz) Can Tomato Sauce
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Broken Lasagna Noodles
3/4 Cup Fresh Grated Parmesan
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Baguettes to serve with soup

In a large Dutch Oven, combine hamburger, onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook over med-high high 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally until meat is browned. Drain well.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. *I always add a little extra broth to mine because the noodles absorb so much of it**Add noodles and simmer until the noodles are tender. Add Parmesan cheese.

Pre-heat broiler. Ladle soup into oven safe bowls, top with cheese and place under broiler until cheese is melted.





Be sure to check out Honey Bear Lane for a giveaway for a cute apron skirt!

Also check out Where Women Create for another giveaway!

And you could win a camera at Have An Epiphanie!

Win your choice of Apron from Flirty Aprons Ends 03/26
Audrey's Giveaways!