• Celebrate

    Halloween 2015

    This Halloween we wanted to create a spooky haunted forest but still keep it light and playful enough that it was still warm, inviting and not too gloomy.   Some dead tree branches from the yard were perfect for making a huge impact – and the best part is that they cost NOTHING! When you bring lots of natural elements into the decor everything falls into place. Sea shells, leaves, branches, pine cones and any other natural element can cover your decorating schemes for all the seasons and holidays. “Creepy Cloth” is a very loose weave gauze-like fabric that can…

  • Decorating - Food - Holidays

    St Patricks Day – Potato Soup

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day! With an Irish name like Hickey, people kind of expect us to celebrate good ole St. Patty’s Day. After discovering that the ‘traditional’ St. Patrick’s Day dinner of Corned Beef and Cabbage may NOT even be a traditional Irish dish, we decided to explore the alternatives.

  • Photography

    Holy Macro!

    Look what I found in the snow under super magnification!I’ve just started my very first attempt at Macro photography (without a macro lense!) and I am so addicted! Not only are the photos themselves fascinating because it provides a peek at the secret world of teeny tiny miracles and beauty, but the photos are also working as a springboard to inspire paintings!This ice crystal seahorse painting (in progress) was inspired by a macro photo of some slushy melting snow! From this hum-drum melting snow on the railing of our deck… …came the subject matter of this photo that looked to me…

  • Decorating - Food - Holidays - Recipe

    Groundhog Day Celebration

    Happy Groundhog day!   This year is the first time we are attempting to ‘celebrate’ Groundhog day. So here we go! To start with, we made Coco Krispy Groundhogs! It’s just the standard Rice Krispy Treat recipe only we swapped out Rice Krispies for Coco Krispies so that our groundhogs would be brown. Here’s the recipe: —————————————— INGREDIENTS 3 tablespoons butter 1 package (10 oz., about 40) Marshmallows OR 4 cups Miniature Marshmallows 6 cups Coco Krispy Rice cereal DIRECTIONS 1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.  2.…

  • Uncategorized

    Hot Chocolate Brownies

    ♪♫ At laaaaaast….my loooove has come along…♫♪Is it weird that the song At Last by Etta James played in my head, time stopped and swirly twirly cartoon hearts and snowflakes floated around my head the first time I tasted these?I also felt like Buddy the Elf declaring “I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it!” while throwing my elf hat in the air.We bought this brownie mix at Aldi, just because it seemed like a nice holiday treat to have while cuddled on the couch with a warm blanket, and a great Christmas movie.Now I…

  • Art - Disney - Painting

    Disney Haunted Mansion Painting in Progress

    It’s time for a peek into the artist’s studio! Here’s what I am working on right now… It’s pretty much finished… but I need to get away from it for a while and see it with fresh eyes.. I love Disney, I love Halloween.. Put ’em both together and this is what comes out…

  • Decorating - Holidays

    Free Halloween Printable and Tutorial

    Halloween is Creeping in…and creatures are stirring in the shadows… If you would like to have some of the most well mannered mice in your house for Halloween, look no further. Just print the solid black mouse printable below on card stock or other thick paper  cut them out  stick them to the risers on your staircase with circles  of tape on the back or if you want to save printer ink and you have construction paper on hand, you can do what I did and print just the red outline printable on regular printer paper and use it to…

  • Humor

    Confounding Confection

    Candy Crush Chocolate –Far more evil than Devils Food.Does your cruelty know no bounds? The game Candy Crush has caused me to utter a phrase so foreign and false that it feels like blasphemy – a phrase so profoundly opposed to everything that I have ever known to be true: “I hate chocolate” I don’t even know who I am anymore.

  • Humor - Photography

    Peachy Keen Photography

    I have always wanted to be one of those artsy girls who never goes anywhere without her camera and is always digging in and snapping amazing shots of both once in a lifetime photography moments as well as quirky unique ways of looking at mundane everyday things. I enjoy seeing photography that truly represents the inner workings of the photographer’s mind when all of the pictures are  displayed together in a body of work. I really appreciate when a photographer is able to somehow let you look at life through a new set of eyes and communicate something to you…