Door Stops and Doll Heads!

My mother came to my house last week. Can I tell you how much I love my mother? I told her this trip, that no matter how old I get - when she dies - I will feel like an orphan. She is simply amazing. I think it might have to do with growing up in the 40's and 50's. There is simply nothing she can't do - even if that is a double negative!



This trip we labeled: Operation Bedroom Curtains! She came with a purpose - and as my dad says "I was cracking the whip". He calls it "Cracking the Whip" I call it bribing with chocolate, movies and dinner. I keep a steady stream of sweets in the house and it keeps her sewing machine moving! This is a picture of my bedroom prior to the new curtains.



We had a plan for what we wanted them to look like - but after we took a little shopping adventure to look for finials we knew our budget had different plans. We needed 28 "Finials" and they were running about 15 dollars for 2. That would be $210 - and that wasn't happening. We decided to put our thinking caps on and head to Home Depot for some improvisation!



We literally went up and down every isle. Could this plumbing fixture be used to hang a curtain? Could this rubber chair bottom boot be used to make a finial? In the end we settled on these door stoppers. They ran $1.50 each and we knew that after one stop at Michael's craft store we would have the complete package.



We bought a bag of 12 wooden "Doll Heads" for the finial part. The "Doll Heads" were $3.00 for 12 - which brought our total to $51.00 for all 28 finials! My hubby drilled the "Doll Heads" to fit snuggly on the door stops. Score! A quick coat of black paint and we were good as gold!



Here is the finished product. You can see we hung the first curtain and the next curtain is ready to be hung on the hooks.



Walla - Finshed bedroom!



Walla - Finished sitting room!



I love you mom! Thank you for spending your time with me! (I'm putting the whip away - till next time!)

Bean Dip and Babies!

The other night our friends, Brian and Chrissy, invited some couples over for game night. While I was there, I not only fell in love with her mother-in-laws recipe for bean dip - I also got my baby fix. Brian and Chrissy, have 4 children, who I have no choice but to believe they are all Cabbage Patch children come to life. They have the perfect dimples, button noses, and curls and just when you think they can't get any cuter - they smile and their dimples get even bigger! Thanks Chrissy for letting me inhale grossly inappropriate amounts of bean dip and letting me get my baby fix!



Chrissy's Bean Dip
1 can (9 oz) Fritos Bean Dip
1 (8 oz) block cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 package taco seasoning mix
8 to 10 drops Tabasco

Beat above ingredients. Fold in 1/4 cup green onions. Layer half of the mixture in pie plate. Spread 1 cup of jack/cheddar cheese over mixture. Repeat layer and add 1 cup of jack/cheddar cheese to top.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Leaving your Mark!

We are home now and reflecting on our wonderful time at my folks cabin. I don't know what is better - the fresh air and sunshine - or my moms basically letting me veg while she prepares amazing meals and does my laundry. (OK - the later is much better - who am I kiddding?)

One thing my girls always do before we leave the cabin each year is "Leave their Mark"! My mom started this tradition the first year they built their addition. We ink up their hands and press their precious little - and now not so little - hands onto the garage walls.



It's not only hard to believe it has been eight years since they added on to their "getaway in the woods" - but I can't seem to wrap my brain around how big my girls hands are getting. The proof is right in front of me!



Look at those cute little prints at the bottom - compared to the huge hands at the top! Could my sweet little girls be growing up behind my back?

How do you leave your mark on the world?

Benton's Boot Camp!

I'm here in the Catskills with my girls for the July 4th holiday. It feels like coming home. I have come to this lake since I was a little girl. I played with the kids in the cabin next door - and my kids play with the kids in the cabin next door. I love having a front row seat to their childhood memories. One of those memories is Gumma's Boot Garden. It started with those industrial looking little black boots second from the right in the picture above. My oldest, Logan, needed some boots to go find worms with Gumpa for fishing. We found those at the local Walmart - and an addiction was born!
Each year we bought, and left, a new pair of "Worm Boots" to the cabin for Logan. Since she is the oldest of the cousins, all the kids now have a pair of worm boots waiting for them to grow into.



A year ago today, I put my blogging boots on - and Kitchen Klique was born! Times flies - for children and blogs!

A Flag for July 4th that ROCKS!

July 4th is right around the corner. In our house it almost feels like Christmas. We celebrate the 4th - BIG! My parents live on a lake in upstate NY during the summer and July 4th means boat parades, decorating docks and the huge BBQ as well. Two years ago, while decorating our dock we found a picture of this flag in a magazine. We immediately knew we had to recreate it for our dock! We like to call it "USA ROCKS"



I hope you have a wonderful July 4th - filled with friends, family and FOOD!!!