Happy 2013!

Happy New Year!  I am using photos I took in 2010 for this post.  These were the very first pictures I ever took with my brand new 50mm lens.  I was in heaven when I used it.  Now two years later I am dreaming of my next lens. 

Here's is to many more photos and much more fun blogging!  Have a fantastic 2013!

Sherry

I will link to:
Domestically Divine Tuesday at Far Above Rubies

Beginning Anew

Welcome 2012!  Time again to begin anew.  Fresh changes going on around my house for the New Year.

I created these devotional candles for the mantel.  In seeking peace and tranquility for the new year, borrowing from the French, this made for a wonderful look. 

The candles are really easy to create.  You just need the candles, which I bought from the grocery for $1.79 each.  I printed the holy cards from The Graphics Fairy, just browse images under religious.  Then to finish them, I tied twine and religious charms onto the front.  As the candles burn, the images should glow even more.

My rusty wire crown was from TJ Maxx.  I am seeking to borrow the calm and tranquility of the French Nordic style for this year.  I think there is a reason it is so popular, we need the peace of white.  My house is not white, but I am thinking I will adapt a lot of the looks to make for a peaceful setting in my home this year.  
I was so amazed that on my Christmas post I was wished Merry Christmas from people all over the world.  This blogging adventure has been wonderful.  So, to all of you reading all over...
Have a very Happy New Year!  
 Sherry
 I will join:
Show off Your Cottage Monday  at The House in the Roses  
Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday  at Coastal Charm
Tabletop Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life
Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage
Amaze Me Monday  at Dittle Dattle
Berfore and After Party  at Thrifty Decor Chick
White Wednesday  at Faded Charm

Home Sweet Home #47

Hello and Welcome to Home Sweet Home!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  I am using some photos I took last year for New Year's Eve. 

May each and every one have a wonderful New Year!  Here's to 2012!

Now, I will highlight some of the posts from last week's Home Sweet Home.

Sylvia at Sylvia's Simple Life showed off her home and the way she celebrated Christmas.

Gina is so talented at Gina Ceramics, she showed how to create your own Toile de Jouy ribbon.

Holly, at Down to Earth Style showed off her home and family in a Christmas home tour.

Linda at Beautiful Ideas showed off a wonderful "Christmas Tea for Lucus."  Click the links to view.

Thank you to all who join me at Home Sweet Home!  It is awesome to have you here!  

Sherry

I will join these ladies today: 

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence
Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Fridays Unfolded  at Stuff and Nonsense

Potpourri Friday at 2805

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Guidelines for Home Sweet Home Party:

Attention: To link up with inlinkz you must have a permalink back to this party in your post or they will not allow you to link.  

Link up anything in your home or garden.  During the holidays, I'll love seeing neat shops too!

My button is on my sidebar for the party, if you want to use it.   If you are new here I hope you will become a follower. Please don't link up more than two posts.  No Etsy link ups or direct advertising, please.  Please visit some of the other blogs and get some great inspiration.  Thanks.:)

Now let's see your beautiful homes!

Happy New Year!

May you have a very Happy New Year!

 I am loving this old clock.  It is one of my favorite things.

 I will link to:
Vintage Inspiration Friday  at Common Ground

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feather Your Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
My Favorite Things at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie
Seasonal Sunday at The Tablescaper
Shutter Love Tuesday  at Trendy Treehouse

Go and visit these blogs for more great images.

Perspective

Images: Restoration Hardware and digital-photography.com

Time is ticking on, into the New Year.  What perspective will you take into 2011?

 Have been doing a lot of undecorating today.

Here is hoping your Christmas had a lot of this in it.  

Sherry

Happy New Year!

A vintage postcard from 1912 wishing you a Happy New Year!  I have always loved this postcard, even though it is not in the best of shape.  The ship reminds me of a smaller Titanic which sank shortly before midnight in the same year-1912. 

Foodie Friday: Happy New Year!

I am making a traditional New Years dish, Hoppin' John. The custom of eating black-eyed peas  on the first day of the year stems from the belief that they will bring good luck to whoever eats them.  There are a lot of recipes for this but, I used as a base recipe Julee Rosso's recipe for Lucky Red Beans and Rice from Great Good Food.  She and co-author Shelia Lukins wrote the Silver Palate Cookbooks.  Rosso and Lukins always got the flavors right so I knew this recipe should start out with one of their recipes.  

*Note: I exchanged the red beans with black-eyed peas, which is the tradition, and I used   Jasmine rice (that is all the kids will eat) and I omitted the sun dried tomato.

Ingredients:
12 ounces of dried black-eyed peas
8 cups of chicken broth
1 ham hock (about 1 1/2 lb.)
2 cups finely chopped onion
2 cups finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 TB finely minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/2 TSP dried thyme
1/4 TSP cayenne
1/2 TSP freshly ground pepper
1 1/3 cups rice


1. Rinse the peas and place them in a large soup pot with the chicken broth, ham hock, onion, celery, green pepper, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, cayenne, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until the peas are tender.  
2. Add the rice and cook for 25 minutes more.  Ladel into bowls and serve immediately.
YIELDS: 12 servings

Have a very Happy and blessed New Year!  Please go to Designs by Gollum and see all the other Foodie Friday posts.

  

Tablescape Thursday: Happy New Year!

The countdown is here with a new decade approaching.  I join you with a festive tablescape whose main centerpiece is an old mantel clock.  Ever living in the present, it is midnight and the New Year is beginning.  At the end of my photo shoot some lovely angels begged to be included, blessing us all for the New Year.

 

 

 

The table setting is very bourgeois.  It is all in how you present it. 

Charger: Trees N Trends

Porcelain plates: Walmart

Silver: Gorham- English Gadroon

Goblet: TJ Maxx

 Champagne Flute: thrift store 

 

I included the angels at the end of the photo shoot.  I had them in the dining room on the table prior to setting up and I really enjoyed them.  They were an after Christmas purchase at the thrift store.  They had been marked down to $1 a piece so, they came home with me. They are holding cloth as if they are ready to swaddle the new baby New Year.  This is a dear image to me because I had my first born son on New Year's Eve.  I hope they also ring in for us all an amazing rebirth in the next decade!

The angels are perfect for the table because they look as good from behind as they do from the front.  They are also not so large that they obstruct your guest's view.

Creating these holiday tables has been so much fun.  Please check out more holiday tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch.  A special thanks to all who have viewed my very new blog.  Please feel free to leave a comment if anything inspires you.  I so enjoy learning and reading from your blogs.