Why oh why was I not told....

I can't believe what today is....and I can't believe nobody gave me a heads up or let me know it was coming. Today is...

It just doesn't seem fair. Had I known, I could have baked a cake to take to work and we could have eaten chocolate all day. Sad, just sad. So since I am not baking a cake, I thought I would share my chocolate cake recipes so maybe you can make a cake today even if I can't. I would love to do another two layer cake, but I don't have the patience for that as much any more. 

But I make the same cake in a 9 x 13 all the time for work. My cakes are always moist and get rave reviews. They are always moist. But that is nothing I do. I owe it all to Duncan Hines cake mix. I use either the Butter Recipe Fudge or the Devil's Food Chocolate mix. So my cakes are semi-homemade since I use a mix but I do make my icing from scratch. Here is the icing recipe for a standard chocolate cake. 

1 box of confectioner sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 stick of butter (I always use Parkay)

5 tbsp cocoa

5-6 tbsp milk (whatever it takes to get the consistency of spreadable icing)

Put on cool cake.

The next recipe for my favorite chocolate cake is a cheat on the famous Texas Sheet Cake. If you will recall, the Texas Sheet Cake has cinnamon in the chocolate and a lighter milk chocolate color to the cake. So if you like that cake, but hate the time it takes to make from scratch, you can get the same flavor by using Duncan Hines Swiss Cake Mix.

The only thing you do different to the cake is add 1 or 2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the cake mix when you are making it. It's that simple. I use 2 so I can get more of the cinnamon/chocolate taste combo. Then you use the regular recipe for the Texas Sheet Cake frosting. You want to time it so it is ready to pour on the cake while the cake is warm. This is a similar recipe to above but this cooks on the stove first. 

In mixing bowl, pour in 1 box of confectioner sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and sit aside

In small sauce pan, mix:

1 stick of butter

4 tbls cocoa

6 tbls milk

Cook over medium heat until it starts to boil (not full rolling) and pour it over the 10X sugar and vanilla. Beat with mixer and pour on warm cake.  This is one of my favorite ways to have chocolate cake.

If you want, you can chop up walnuts or pecans and sprinkle over the top of the icing or if you prefer, put them in the cake mix. I just do mine with no nuts since not everyone in my family likes nuts. 

Hope this gives you ideas for National Chocolate Cake Day. Have a great one!

Amish Creations & Country Market

There is a shop in my town that I drive by every day. I used to go in there with Hubby because he loved Amish butter, but I haven't been there in a long time. 

I had to run to the office for a few minutes yesterday so my daughter asked me if I could stop in at the Amish store to check out some of the exterior designs they had on their outside wall. She is interested in getting one for her house.

Since you don't have to twist my arm to get me to go shopping (even if it was just window shopping yesterday), I went ahead and stopped in to check it out again since it has been a few years since I had been in there. Oh wow! Just let me say that I definitely am redoing my bedroom in Amish/Primitive style like I was thinking about. Check out some of the lovely things I saw yesterday.

I like this store so much because not only does it have some primitive style, but with the Amish factor there are many things with a farm fresh theme for a county kitchen.

Some of the most unique cutting boards I have ever seen.

Small cabinets that would be perfect for so many things. 

I have always loved the little berry style garlands and wreaths. This store has so many to choose I could have stood there all day and admired them.

That had medium size cabinets for sale as well as the small. I saw larger cabinets and shelving cabinets, but I was so enthralled I forgot to get pictures of those.

Adorable signs with old buildings that I fell in love with.

So many "knick-knack" type things to set around your house.

See what I mean about the items with the berry wreaths. 

I was in love with these cats. Three in a set. I was going to get the picture and then look at the price, but I was so thrilled about everything I was seeing that I forgot to look at the price.

I love the metal stars. I always have. 

Another cute cat product. These were just a couple of bucks if my memory serves me right.

I really want this star for decorating on my porch from May through July.

Tons and tons of unique little signs and things to put in your decor.

They even have window valances.

And table runners. Hmmm. I don't have a theme in my dining room, may have to change some things up.

That was just the tip of the iceberg. That store has so many nooks and crannies that I am going to go back when I don't have anywhere else I need to be because I want to check it out more. And no I didn't forget what my daughter wanted me to look at. They have tons of the metal outside decor. From smaller stars.....

To big round designs.....

To small windmills for your garden. One item I saw was $30 something, but everything else was from $8.99 up to $26.99. The prices were amazingly reasonable.

The staff is so friendly and courteous that they made me feel right at home. I really enjoyed my visit there. I am going back again next week. But in the meantime, when I came home I visited online at Amish Creations on Facebook . They have so many pictures of all their wonderful products. As I was browsing through, I saw quilts. WHAT? I forgot that a friend of mine told me to check there. Somehow I missed seeing them.  I hope they don't mind, but I borrowed a couple of pictures from their Facebook page to show you what I loved. This is so perfect for me. I have to stop back in there now to get prices.

So how did I look at all this splendor and keep from buying anything? Well, I didn't. I couldn't resist picking up this little tray. So many of their things are items that can fit in any decor, whether you decorate in Amish, Primitive or just simply a hodge podge. I am putting this in my bathroom since it is a beach theme and I have lighthouses in there.  

If you are ever up this way, be sure and stop by and see Amish Creations & Country Market. You won't regret it. They are working on their website right now. I can't wait to see it when it gets finished. Check back often at www.AmishCreations.com. 

Pillowcase crafts

I stumbled on something interesting today. Things to make with cute pillow cases. Sometimes I will be at a yard sale and they will have a stack of adorable vintage looking pillowcases in pretty patterns. I look at them and think "I wish I knew something to do with them."  Well now I know thanks to a 5 minute craft post on Facebook. One idea and I headed to Pinterest to see how many more. If I could think of a way to parlay my love of searching Pinterest into a career as a Professional Pinterest Searcher, I could make a fortune.

I admit I have seen this one before. As a matter of fact, I took one of my unused pillow cases last year when I went to the beach and did this very idea. I was able to get my five t-shirts I wanted to keep hanging all under one pillowcase. And because it is snugger than a garment bag and I laid it on top all the luggage, my shirts made it to the beach in great shape and I just removed the pillow case and hung them up. Not to mention using these as a garment bag is easier to clean than a piece of luggage and took up a lot less room.

This one appears like the took an embroidery hoop and a pillow case to create an over the door clothing hamper. Again, you can toss the hamper in the laundry right along with the dirty clothes to always keep it clean and fresh. It looks like they put a draw string, but not sure if you would have to if you aren't carting your dirty laundry anywhere.

A wonderful draw string bag. Not sure what the intention was for this bag, but it is cute. It could hold a kids sleeping bag for camping trips or slumber parties. 

I really like this. They took a couple of pillow cases and made a smaller pillow with a pocket and a strap for carrying. How cool would that be for long road trips. Fill the pocket with books to read or activity books and the child has an automatic pillow while they read.

Here's a picture of several she made.

And if you are lucky enough to find a vintage pillowcase that was hand embroidered, you could always make a valance or tier curtains from it.

Okay, this is just too cute. My only thing is because of the shape, it's going to involve some sewing to make it fit. 

What a wonderful idea for wrapping an odd shaped or oversized gift. Simply gather and tie with ribbon.

They cut this tote bag from an old pillowcase. Cute.

Those were all great ideas. I also saw on the Dollar Tree Crafts site on Facebook this cute idea for a glue gun station. I see these trays all the time and wonder what I could do with one. Well, now I know. I have to go right by a Dollar Tree today. Wonder if I should stop in? Who are we kidding? You know I am going to stop in.

What new things are you finding in your world today?

Some decor from my niece

My niece Amy has sent me a few more things she has used to decorate for Valentine's day. She was telling me that one of her items was $5.00 and one was $4.99 at AC Moore. But when she got to Dollar Tree they had the $4.99 heart for just $1.00. It pays to check Dollar Tree first I believe. She got some of her other items at either Dollar Tree or Target's Dollar Section. You can decorate with really cute things just by adding something you already have to items that are $5 and under. Check out what she has done.

  

This last item is  not Valentine's but it was very important. Junior Mint's has an Easter item now. I've never seen these, but since I always have Junior Mint's I need to find them. Her little girl, my great niece, is as obsessed with Junior Mint's as I am so they had to share this with me. 

That's it for today. Have an amazing day.

Mother Nature has a weird sense of humor...

Mother Nature is at it again. I just want to tell her to get a grip and stick with one season at a time.  

Just last Wednesday I drove through this on my way home from work. Thursday and Friday were still bitter cold. 

Saturday was a little warm in the afternoon, but still had to wear a coat. The I woke up Sunday and looked outside. Check out the sun peaking up over the hillside. Could it possibly be the beginning of a sunny day?

As the sun rose, the skies were beautiful and I could even see the mountains in the distance. 

Loved the blue sky above the field across from my house.

Fixed me some lunch and did some picking up outside. Then realized it was warm enough to break out the flip flops to go to the store. I normally don't until after the middle of February. But hey, it was 65° and beautiful. No coat needed so I wasn't about to put on shoes and socks. It felt so good. Just glad I always keep my toes polished, even in winter. 

When I got home, I decided to do some rearranging of my artificial flowers for Valentine's Day so I put them all in my McCoy pitcher that belonged to my Mamaw Eden and sat them on the kitchen table. Not sure if they are staying there or going on the dining room table. I'm "shopping" my closets today to see what is in storage boxes before I decide on the dining room.

Last night we had a little training session on the new patterns from Thirty-One. The spring catalog kick off starts today. I am super excited. I sat at the computer and enjoyed a Pepsi and some Junior Mints while I checked out all the new patterns.

I love a lot of them, but I really like this particular smaller purse. And I like the fact you can personalize in the blue area.

But I think my favorite pattern of all is going to be this one. I am in love. Somebody said it looked like wallpaper. I had to laugh because the truth is I like it BECAUSE it reminds me of wallpaper Mom had in the living room when I was younger only it was green. 

Well, I have been on a cleaning out closets, cabinets, and storage boxes binge for a couple of weeks on my days off. Today I am going to tackle the bedroom closet. Hope to get it gone through, thrown out, donated or simply boxed up in smaller groups so I can have some floor space back in my closet. Wish me luck.

Sunday Songs

There is a gentleman I work with who sang for years with the Freedom Quartet. I found a few videos of the group while John was the tenor for them. The words to this song are absolutely beautiful. John does a great job so I wanted to feature this quartet today.


This one does a great job featuring his tenor abilities.