Merry Christmas

The BEST Tortilla Soup Recipe!

I was so happily pleased to see that my old next door neighbor from Texas posted this gorgeous picture (love the groovy bowl, Deatra!) with the following:  

Deatra Austin Smith‎Eileen Howley Teagle

18 hrs · 

 

Still a frequent meal for the Smith House 16 years later, Eileen's Tortilla Soup.

We love this recipe and it's especially good for a large group during the holidays when you are sick of eating heavy and rich foods...set up a soup bar along with cheesy toast and a salad and you're done!  Many requests for the recipe were posted, so here you go, gang!  Don't let the steps scare you off...it's not hard and soooo worth the effort!  Bon Appetite and thanks for the memories, Deatra Smith!

Winter Floral Arrangements

I was asked to do the florals for a corporate Christmas party this week and we went with a winter blues theme rather than the traditional red and green.  Silver, sapphire and turquoise blues with white roses.

The roses and fresh eucalyptus smelled fantastic!  I love the white and silvery sage colors.

I love changing up the same old green and red during the holidays...try hot pink and lime green, tangerine and aqua, silver and pearl and sapphire and turquoise!  Of course, there is always silver and gold!

So Many Little Houses!

I've been busy painting houses and haven't even stepped on a ladder.  I've had god luck painting more of my little house ornaments and note cards in my Etsy Shop. 

 I especially love to dress them up with seasonal decorations and landscaping that may not actually exist at the home...not yet, at least!  The above were used for note cards, invitations, new home cards and Christmas cards.

These are note cards...

and these are house ornaments...this one is the house my friend grew up in in New Orleans...

and this was commissioned for a customer for her sister's new house.

and for another new house...

and a family's treasured house at the shore.

Rhinestone Snowmen!

I was asked to host a craft project for our wonderful Western Arkansas Ballet's Sugar Plum Fairy Tea, celebrated before they get onstage to perform the Nut Cracker in early December.  I love seeing the little girls arrive in their pretty dresses and ready for crafts, treats and fun!

As all my projects...it starts with a sketch...this one to a rhinestone distributor in Canada to help me find the right supplies...

I had lots of wonderful helpers (most of whom take my craft classes and love to create!) and we made one to practice with before the girls arrived. 

The girls got to choose bead colors for the snowman's scarf...

They loved making and especially wearing them the rest of the season.

What a fun day and thanks to my wonderful helpers!  And WAB!

Fall Paint Birthday Party

It was a sweater weather kind of night with a pit fire roaring on the back patio and lots of adorable and energetic girls ready to celebrate a birthday!  I was asked to do a craft so we got busy painting a Thanksgiving themed wall hanger to take home.

We painted wreaths with bright and colorful leaves, berries, nuts and pine cones...

Each was wonderfully unique to the artist...look at all of that talent!

When the girls were finished painting, I inscribed in gold ink...

Ready to take home and hang on the wall or door!

Fall Recipe Exchange

My friend Jill and I have wanted to do a recipe exchange party before the holiday season for several years and finally did it this past week.  It's great to go taste and collect new recipes to use for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's that are new and different.  

It was a perfect, crisp autumn evening and the house was aglow with candles and good vibes.

Not all of our friends enjoy cooking but they brought over tasty dishes and it was fun to see and sample.

We set up the food in sections and put the bar outside.

The ladies voted on their top 5 recipes and we awarded prizes to the winners.

Who wouldn't want to sit outside on a nice evening with a roaring fire, a glass of wine and lots of friends to catch up with?

We decorated with naturals...and harvested them the day before the party.

Everything looked so lovely...Jill loves to cook and decorate and has such a keen style.  Love it!

I had the ladies email their recipes to me and I formatted them onto uniform cards with quick little watercolors to play up on our theme.  They could pick up recipe cards for the dishes they wanted to try at home and store them in an envelope I designed that copied the invitation.

It was such a great evening and now we all have an bunch of new recipes to try!  What was the recipe winner, you ask?  I can promise you this...you will want to make this easy and elegant dish over the holidays!  See below!

How Did We Get Here So Fast???

So, my baby had a baby this week.  Not what you're thinking...he became father to a mechanical baby for 2 days via his health class at school and learned the joys of sleepless nights, worrying about babysitters and rearranging schedules to suit the needs of his family.  It's a great lesson and one that all young teenagers should have to experience.   

As soon as baby came home, he got to go with Michael to get 2 cavities filled at the dentist's office.  Dr. Ligon helped Michael name the baby (Nimrod) and got a lecture about proper and regular brushing.  Wasn't my own precious boy a baby not very long ago?  Just look at him... 

And today...NOT happy about all the disruption from his day, football practice sitters and the general nuisance a plastic child can deliver into your complicated teen aged life.  He had to keep a diary about how he was feeling at the time the baby cried...most said tired and mad.  I didn't feel that way about him during those days...good thing!

I got to wrap up baby Nimrod in a little back pack and cover him up with an umbrella for the last football game of the season.  He only cried once in the downpour of rain, thunder and lightning.  I look forward to being a grandmother one day...but hope that day is far, far away!  

Pumpkin and Football Painting on a Beautiful Day Off from School!

What a fun day!  It was a no school day for our Catholic kids and a few of them came to Queenie's to paint pumpkins and footballs. 

 We had a great time and some of the kids painted both sides of their door hangers with fall/Halloween themes or College/NFL teams.  I forgot to take the picture of the back of their masterpieces.

The morning group was large and boisterous!   That's always a good stimulant!  The afternoon group was a little less loud with these two precious sisters...and we remembered to take pictures of both sides of their pumpkins!

Doesn't it just make you want to go out and buy a bag of candy corn and dive right in?  Happy Fall!