What To Do When You Don't Have A Headboard?

Greetings Friends~ ~ ~I would like to share with you a little bedroom project. Below is the Before. Wallpaper is all over in this house done by the previous owners. Right now it's staying right where it is. I do like wallpaper but you know what I mean when I say I had rather choosen it myself. The whole house is of victorian decor. The paper in the bedroom is on all 4 walls. A window on each side of the bed looked a little disjointed to me so I wanted to tie it all together on the bed wall. Also note that there is no headboard. The effect I was going for was to create a headboard of sorts. I attempt to achieve that with lots of pillows till this point. Also the small picture gets lost on the big wall but it is all I have right now that fits with the decor.

Below is the After picture. I robbed the spare room of the window valance. It really is a wine color but may look black on your screen. Covering the wall between the windows I hung 4 lace panels that match the ones on each window. Then hung the picture over the lace. I like the way it ties the wall together. What do you think?

I pulled the roll shades down in an attempt to get a true color of the valance. Notice the wall to wall carpet in the bedroom. A black background with cream and pink flowers. All of the carpet in the house is patterned. All put down by previously owners. Not something I would have thought to do but I love how it hides the dirt and dust bunnies. I have Always had hard wood floors so this is a new experience for me. The only hard wood I have is in the diningroom where I have an oriental covering most of it except about a foot around the edges.

The previous owners put borders all over the house. I'm not crazy about them but for right now they will stay and I am making the best of them. Below is the border in the bedroom, a swag of sorts edged in lace. In the above picture you can see the border above the windows. The wallpaper is also of a swag design.

You might have noticed lots of cooking going on here at the blog. I love to cook and you can see by my bedside table what I mostly read.

Also lots of little bottles of Essential Oils that I use every day to give my body the building blocks it need for a happy and healthy immune system. I keep a tray full on the bedtable and every morning and evening I will rub an oil or two on my body. It's a great preventative measure. The smell is also emotionally uplifting and a few of the oils are conducive to a good nights sleep. If you are having trouble sleeping contact me for some suggestions. I love to share my knowledge of essential oils. Sharing about these specific oils is my passion!
You can also visit my website to watch a video and learn more.

www.2FeelGood.com

I am pretty pleased with the results of this small transformation.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

You might want to visit Susan Here for a list of others who are joining in the fun of Metamorphosis Monday. Susan is our weekly host for this amazing event. Thank you Susan.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

Let's Start With Dessert!

Haven't you always wanted to start with dessert? Let's do it.
A few of you asked for my cheesecake recipe that I made for the party so here goes. The most difficult part is the oranges for the top and really it's just a little time consuming. I do this after the cheesecake has been refrigerated overnight. Decorate it the next day. It's a great do ahead dessert.

AHRISHA'S CITRUS CHEESECAKE

1 Box Spice Wafer cookies crushed fine

1 1/2 sticks Butter Chilled and diced

1/4 C brown sugar

Put 3 ingredents in food processor and pulse till begins to come together. Pour into a 10" spring form pan with 3" sides and press into bottom and up sides of pan with a smooth bottom glass. Bake 350* for 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temp.

4 - 8 ounce packages Cream Cheese, room temp.

1 3/4 C sugar

3 T. Fresh lemon juice

3 tsp Vanilla

pinch salt

3 T. Flour

5 large eggs

Beat cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, salt till smooth. Add flour and mix in. Add eggs one at a time till blended. Be sure to scrape bowl occasionally. Pour into cooled crust.

Bake cheesecake till outer edge is puffy and only slightly browned and center is just set. Do not over bake. This is variable for each oven. My last oven baked this cake in 1 hour. This last time I made it in the new oven it took 1 1/2 hours to bake! I suggest you set the timer to 60 minutes and check it then go from there. It will jiggle in the center slightly but will set up more as it cools. Remove from oven but maintain oven temp.

2 C sour cream

3 T. Sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Wisk together and pour over warm cake smoothing to the edges. Bake till just set, about 5 minutes. Cool cake to room temp then refrigerate overnight in the pan. Do not remove from pan till totally chilled. Run a knife between the crust and the pan to remove cake.

Slice 3 oranges very very thin. Using only the pretty large slices from the center of the oranges.

In a large pan with a flat bottom and sides bring to a boil 1 C Sugar & 1 C water. Boil a few minutes and stir till sugar is melted. Reduce heat to a simmer and place the orange slices around the pan in a concentric circle as on the top of the cake. Simmer the slices slowly till transparent, about 1 hour. Cool, then place around top of cake one by one. Decorate with whipped cream. ENJOY!

The main course dish was Pasta Premavera and with all the vegi's from the garden it was a good choice and it's so easy to make for a crowd. The Alfredo Sauce I used is from "The New Complete Book of Pasta" by Maria Luisa Scott & Jack Denton Scott. This is a book I have had for years and one of my favorite cookbooks. If you ever run across it pick it up I'm sure you will enjoy it.

I saute all the vegi's individually in butter and set them to the side while I make the sauce. I season each vegi as I like with fresh herbs of thyme, oregano or sage and S & P. When the sauce is finished and the pasta cooked I toss it all together in the pot I cooked the pasta in then serve it in a big pasta bowl and everyone can help themselves.

Alfredo recipe

1 stick of Butter Do not substitute
1 1/2 C Light Cream
Lot's of freshly milled black pepper

1 C. grated parmesan cheese

1 egg yolk

Melt butter in a pot then add cream and gently warm over med heat. Do not boil. Wisk in yolk and pepper. Sprinkle in cheese to melt. Stirring till slightly thinkened and hot. Toss with vegi's and pasta. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

Pickled Red Beet Eggs. Are they popular where you live? Here in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country they are served everywhere. This is what they look like just after I put the hard boiled eggs into the pickled beets. After a day or so they get very dark red and taste yummy.

This jar was a WalMart purchase and is perfect for this. The lid prevents spills as I am moving the jar from the fridge to the table.

This was all part of my menu from the party. Hope you enjoy the recipes.

Please visit Designs by Gollum to view the list of others joining Michael Lee for her weekly event, FOODIE FRIDAY.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

Please Help Me To Decide???

Hello Friends~ ~ ~ What a yucky little basket I scored at Good Will for $1.97. I believe it is an older basket and thought it would be perfect for carrying all my produce in from the garden or maybe a pretty flower arrangement??

Here is the sweet thing all cleaned up. It looks good with flowers. Maybe it's trying to tell me something?

Ok Folks, this is where I need your help. This is my dining table. I got it at a second hand shop a few years ago for $150.00, couldn't believe my luck. I love this table but not the color so I want to paint it white. No surprise there, right? This is the question, I can't decide if I should paint the table top also or leave it the natural wood and just paint the legs and the apron?? What's a girl to do? I would really appreciate your opinion here. The graining on the top is beautiful. There are also 2 boards to make it larger and they both have the apron on them also. It's a great table and weighs a ton. So, What do you think?

Now for the score of the weekend. Went to a flea market with my friends and got these plates. I'm so excited I just love them! White poppies on a beautiful background. The young man had one out on the table and when he saw me looking at it said, $15.00 then paused. Now I'm thinking, this plate is so cute if I can get him down to $10 I'll take it. Then he says, I've got 5 more in the van and he proceeds to dig them out and says, You can have all 6 for $15.00! I about passed out.

They looked like RS Prussia so I turned them over and saw the RS in the garland with the star above and Germany printed under it. I believe this is the stamp that followed the Prussia era. Do any of you know about this RS Germany stamp?

Honestly, I don't care if they are worth a good deal of money or not I just really love them. It makes me swoon to see a table set with beautiful china. They are 8 1/2" across and one has a tiny chip on the edge.

Don't they look happy in their new home?

Please click the link Here to see everyone who joined in for the fun with Susan over at BNOTP.

Please visit them and see what they are up to. I get the best ideas visiting your blogs.

Thanks for stopping by here for a visit~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

It's A Summer Celebration

Hello Friends~ ~ ~ Please join us for a Birthday Party. I wanted the theme to be masculine for the Birthday Boy so I choose birds & bird houses as he is an avid bird watcher. The table was decorated with all manner of bird nests, houses and such mixed with many types of candles. Each family was invited to take a bird house home with them as a rememberance of the event.

Because of the number of people attending I had to push two tables together to get the 12 feet I needed to accomodate everyone. I used a sheet for the bottom cloth and put on top the Log Cabin table quilt Mom made for me and this created the red and white theme.

Please have a glass of punch or water flavored with Young Living Essential Oils.

The dessert dishes and coffee cups stand ready for the sweetness that follows the meal

I had one giant hibiscus blooming so I cut it for the center of the table.

Isn't it lovely with the Phlox? I didn't want to get to large with the centerpieces. I find it is annoying when I can't see the person sitting across from me at the table.

Because this party was held in the screened porch and I wanted it to be less formal I didn't have napkins that fit the theme so I went shopping. I found dishcloths~ ~3 in a pack for less then $3.00. Take a look around there are 3 different styles 2 red and a plain white waffle cloth. I love the way they look on the table.

The flowers are from my garden.

Of course there was cake, Citrus Cheesecake with orange topping. It's one of my favorite recipes. If you would like to have it give a yell.

There is a great story about this sweet little pitcher above the cheesecake. I'll share with you at a later time. Be sure to stop back.

Susan is having her Blog Anniversary this week. Be sure to stop over and enter for the give-a-ways. Click HERE to visit our Tablescape Thursday host.

Thanks for stopping by I appreciate each one of you~ ~ ~Ahrisha~ ~ ~

An Oldie But Goodie

Mary has got a RUBY TUESDAY Party goin' on over at her place

Please stop by and take a look.

Greetings Friends~ ~ ~

I'm joining in the fun today over at Designs By Gollum for Foodie Friday.

Please stop over and see the links for everyone who is sharing.

Mixing up something good.

This is one of my favorite cakes of all time. The china was a flea market find.

Four dessert plates for $4.50?? Who could pass that up? Not me.

Love the pink roses. Got the sugar bowl at the same place. Great day.

How about a closer look.

Let us eat cake!


This one turned out really well. Sometimes I get busy doing something totally unrelated and bake it a little too long. Nothing worse then dry cake but this cake was perfecto.

My recipe is from a book I bought in the 60's when I was in high school. Yeah, yeah, do the math. This is the BEST frosting for a Red Velvet Cake. If you are using the cream cheese recipe try this one just once and you'll be hooked!

I have made some changes over the years and hope you will love this recipe too.

Make it a Wonderful weekend~ ~ ~Ahrisha~ ~ ~

Fabric, Thread and Many Hours

If I had not seen it myself I would have trouble believing, looking at this photo, that this is a small part of a quilt. I wish I had a picture of the whole quilt but my camera battery died. The shading in the flowers is amazing!

Please join me as we tour the Quilt Show in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Yes, the very same town that made the famous Hershey bar.

This quilt stole my heart, pink and cream and full of peonies. I love the shaping in the center and the opposite corners full of flowers. The clear tape you see in the photos was put there to keep us from getting to close. The quilts were arranged in groups of 3, left, center and right with the tape to keep everyone at arms length. No touching. There were women there wearing white gloves who would turn a quilt if you wanted to see the back.



I wish I could give credit to the wonderful people who put in the many hours of time and love to sew these quilts. Each quilt had a plaque with it stating the name of the person who made it and their city and state. There were also stories of how each person was inspired to made the quilt. Quite a few of the quilts were from the local area right here in PA. The show was so full it was difficult to get a clear shot for a picture.

This quilt had a pirate theme.

This one was truely amazing. It was titled something like Mother Earth and Her Children. The above ground scene and then all the little children and creatures in the tunnels below. What detail.

This is a sampler with each block being different to make the whole.

I loved this one with the many different types of flowers.

This one is the Three Sisters and also has a theme of the 4 seasons.

It was made by 3 sisters each one pictured on the quilt.

This alphabet quilt is lovely too.

Now this one with the camels and Egyptian hiroglyphs, What can I say, the pictures here do these works of art no justice at all. Each camel was stuffed so that it was 3 demensional then tassels were stitched on to decorate them. A beautiful wall hanging.

Reminds me of a snowflake and the tiny birds around the edge are lovely.

Lots and lots of embroidery on this one. Wish I had gotten a photo of the whole quilt but the center design was mesmerizing.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the tour of the Hershey Quilt Show.

Make it a great day~ ~ ~Ahrisha~ ~ ~