Italian Pasta Salad

Italian Pasta Salad
INGREDIENTS:

3 cups rotini pasta, cooked and drained
2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1/2 cup pitted ripe olives
1 cup Tuscan House Italian Dressing and Marinade or Caesar Italian Dressing

DIRECTIONS:

Toss all ingredients except dressing in large bowl.
Add dressing; mix lightly. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.



(recipe from Sharon)

Hope's Room Makeover

A few months ago, we changed Hope's Pink and Green Room a little by taking out all of the pink and adding blue in it's place. She really missed the bright colors of her old room and wanted lots of orange. Thank goodness we kept her bedspread and most of the bright items we took out for the blue room.

We bought a couple of cans of paint ( green and orange) and she loves the way it turned out.
Kayley offered to paint a plaque for above Hope's bed. Thanks Kayley!

This was my dresser growing up. All of the girls have used it. The knobs have been changed out

dozens of times. Hope wanted to get crystal knobs.

A Tomato Prayer

We are still trying to figure out the whole "gardening in Texas" thing. Jacksonville was supposedly tough but I managed to do quite well. We had gorgeous tomatoes that we ended up sharing with all of our neighbors and friends. Over the years we've had some pretty amazing gardens, if I do say so myself. Syracuse, New York was awesome but the Chicago garden definitely topped it. As Marci has posted, we are feeling "garden challenged" in Texas. She did a post about her Texas garden expressing her frustration. I was jealous, at least she had a tomato. I, on the other hand, have been growing beautiful stems! FINALLY we started seeing little yellow flowers. Was there hope for a tomato......Yeah we have some baby tomatoes, not just 1 but 2~ whooohoooooo

My goal ......... could we just have enough tomatoes for a dinner salad for the fam??????

Take a look at the buff (as Scott would say) stems though....... they're out growing the Lagustrum!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Should I mention, my dream, is to have enough tomatoes to make my own tomato sauce. I know, stick with the dinner salad for a family meal. Okay then, I'll hope for that!

Pineapple Hill Blog Contest

Win a Pineapple Hill Designs Gift Certificate!
To enter your name for our drawing:

*Visit our site and tell us what your favorite product is and why. (1 point)

(one favorite product per week)

*Post a comment on our blog . (1 point) (You can post more than one comment on separate post entries.)

Drawing will take place and Winner will be announced August 20th.
Earn Extra Points:
* Add this contest to your blog (3 points)
and/or
*Add Pineapple Hill Designs to your side bar. (5 points)

E-mail ( pineapplehilldesigns@gmail.com ) or Post the link to let me know where to find it.

Hydrangea Heaven

One of my favorite things about summer is the Hydrangeas. I have a spot in the back yard that they just love.
I read an article in Southern Living Magazine a few summers ago when we were living in Florida about how to use "Rooting Powder" to propagate Hydrangeas.

It really works!

Take a cutting from the tip end of a branch that did not flower this year (5-6 inches long). Make sure the branch has stopped growing, but isn't yet brown. Remove the lower leaves to expose the leaf nodes. Cut the largest of the remaining leaves in half. Insert the stem (dipped in rooting hormone) into a pot of moist, well-drained potting soil. Cover them with plastic, using stakes to keep the plastic from touching the leaves. Keep them in full light, but out of direct sun. Use caution with your south-facing window as the light could be too strong.

I tried putting the stems in water and that worked on some of them. I also read if you want blue Hydrangeas, pour pickle juice at the base. They love the acid. I like the green and pink hydrangeas, so I haven't tried that yet.

Bridal Shower

Today we had a little Bridal Shower luncheon with some friends from church. It was at my mom's house. It was so fun! Kayley told the story of how Scott proposed. It is so sweet, if you haven't heard it, check it out...too cute. Here are some pictures that Marci took. (Thanks Marci!)

Wedding plans are moving forward. So far we're on track with everything ... thanks to some very talented and generous friends. Cynthia and Leigh pictured below with Julie are doing all the flowers...We are so blessed!

I finished the last two pillows for my mom. Kayley took this picture for me. She's staying at my mom's house and I forgot to get pictures before I delivered them. She is going to get a picture of the last pillow and I'll add it later.

4 Down 3 To Go

The Family Room Pillows Are Finished........Today I had some appointments that were re-scheduled for next week, so I went to town on the sewing machine. Now my mom has the 18 X 18 & 16 X 16 red pillows, the red bolster pillow and my very favorite, the combined plaid and yellow print pillow with this great trim she bought.

The three remaining pillows are for the entry way bench and sitting room.

Hope is so cute. I asked her to take a picture of the pillows for me, which she did but then she took some more when we went to Grammie's house. She's just like Marci....loves the camera!

Here ate the pictues she took with the new faux painted kitchen.

Kitchen Nook ~ Kitchen Desk

Kat's Kitchen My mom asked Kayley to paint a plaque for the cat's little spot.

Pillow Talk

I made the first pillow for my mom this morning. She prioritized the order she'd like them for me, since I only have little tidbits of time here and there to sew.
I'm showing pictures of both sides. This fabric is so adorable.











This is the 18" X 18" inch~ she wants another pillow in the same fabric 16 X 16. I love to use Invisible Zippers.

They are so easy to work with and look fabulous....they're invisible!

Because I said so!

A friend of mine sent this to me a few months ago and I just came across it again. I'm sure you'll relate.... Enjoy!

My NEW Project!

I used to have a business, KAM Designs, sewing custom pillows and home accessories. I've been busy with my other endeavors and haven't made any pillows in quite awhile. My mom just asked me to sew some pillows for her Family Room. I'm really excited about it. She recently had her kitchen Faux painted by an amazing artist, Leigh Townsend at www.dejafauxanddesigns.com . If you live in the Katy/Houston area and need some custom work done, she's amazing!



My mom wants to incorporate more of the warm colors from her new kitchen into her Family Room. We went to Calico Corners and picked out some fabulous fabric and trim!

~This is what she wants~
~Her Fabrics and Trims~

I can't wait to get started!

You've Got Supper

I found this great site from the Happy Homemaker. It's free and easy! You just sign up and they email you weekly menus.

Some of my other favorite place to go for "Recipe Inspiration" are: my daughter's recipe blog: On My Menu.

Taste Buds from AnneMarie

More of my Favorites are listed to the right and below under

Recipes.

If you have a favorite recipe to share .... feel free ~ I'd love it!
Here are some other fun places:




Dine without Whine~A Family Friendly Meal Planner




Healthy Menu Planner





MomsMenu.com

Star Spangled Decorative Garland

You Will Need:

-stationary weight paper in red, white, and blue (8.5 x 11)
-Paper cutter or scissors
-Ruler-Pencil-Mini-stapler
-1/8-inch hole punch
-White cotton stringInstructions

1. Cut paper down to 6 x 11". Using the edge of the ruler to make crisp folds, fold the paper in half; then, fold it in half twice more. Open the folded paper, and use the creases as guides to accordion fold the paper to resemble a fan (come girls, I know we've all done this when we were kids!).

2. With the paper still folded, find the center, and mark it with a pencil. Use a desktop stapler to staple the center. (The staple should be perpendicular to the folds.)

3. Make a mark, 1 inch from each end on the folded side of the fan. Using scissors, trim both ends of the paper on an angle, starting from the 1-inch marks and cutting to the paper's edges.

4. Fan out the paper to form a star, and bring the ends together. Staple the ends together with a mini-stapler.

5. With a 1/8-inch hole punch, punch 2 holes, one fold apart from each other.

Thread cord through one hole, around the back of the star, and then through the other hole.

Compliments of : martha

Ribbon Mania

Ribbons and Ribbons and Ribbons.....Oh My!

I've mentioned previously, I LOVE Ribbons! I'm actually obsessed. Poor Kayley inherited my disorder. We could spend hours in the fabric store admiring all the ribbon colors, textures and variety. I get so excited when I find them on sale or spy any that are unique to add to my collection. They don't go to waste either. I use them for sooo many things.



They really are the perfect embellishment!

Over the years there has come to be this dilemma " how to store" all the beautiful ribbons. Several years ago I saw this idea of putting dowels through a tray. I just wish I could find another perfect tray. This one was from Southern Living and had the pre-cut holes which are perfect.
Last year I found these Ribbon Drawers.

They are great because you can stack them. I tested them out for myself and loved them so much I put them in my e-store.



Guess What! I found out there are a lot of Ribbon Freaks out there. I came across some other fun ways to store ribbon. I love this girl's idea from Capture the Moment.

RIBBON SPOOLS

She uses wooden spools that you can buy at craft stores or may even have on hand.
I'm definitely going to do this for some of those smaller pieces that are not on rolls.

These Ribbons are rolled around paper towel holders. I love this idea!

The Ribbons shown in these two pictures are wound on cardboard and chipboard:

and the too cute, RIBBON TREE !