It is Tablescape Tuesday over at betweennapsontheporch so here are some ideas for you. Make your table come alive by using some color! Placing your silverware in different places also adds a little zip to your everyday table. 
Go get yourself some daisies from the grocery store and put them in unexpected places on your table.
Use two napkins! I used a red one underneath the salad plate for some color and the yellow one folded into a flower for some punch.
I know....I know some you are saying to yourselves...two napkins? What for? and I answer...FOR FUN...WHY NOT? It looks pretty.
I used a square white plate for yet another look.
Go get yourself some daisies from the grocery store and put them in unexpected places on your table.
Use two napkins! I used a red one underneath the salad plate for some color and the yellow one folded into a flower for some punch.
I know....I know some you are saying to yourselves...two napkins? What for? and I answer...FOR FUN...WHY NOT? It looks pretty.
I used a square white plate for yet another look. My daughter... Madeline and I were just playing around with ideas one day and took lots of pictures so I could post them here on the blog. I hope it makes you think about trying something new and different once in awhile to make your everyday feel special with just a little effort.
Heart Shaped Chocolate Cake With Marbled Chocolate Lid
By The Style Sisters - Monday, January 26, 2009
Heart Shaped Chocolate Cake With Marbled Chocolate Lid.
This is my most favorite Valentine's cake that I make every year. There is a really long involved recipe which you can find Here but I shortened up a few things to make it a little easier.
I use a yellow cake mix and added some semi sweet and white chocolate melted to the batter to make it richer.
I do bake it in a heart shaped bottomless cake pan with aluminum foil pressed all around it to hold the batter in as it says in original recipe.
I make a delicious buttercream frosting and add chocolate to it.
I replaced alcohol with Orange Juice.
It is soooo delicious and my family looks forward to it every year.
Are you making anything special for Valentines day?
Start off with a simple placesetting: I used a cute beachy plastic dessert/salad plate (from Big Lots 4 for $4.99) stacked on top of a square white plate placed on an angle and then stacked on top of a large yellow plate used as a charger plate. It's o.k..... but it is just not popping for me so on to the next photo so you can see what I continue to add to make this really look great.
I have added a punch of color by using a plastic hot pink goblet with a little paper umbrella in it and we have taken the plain white napkin and put a silk flower around it for a napkin ring. I cut the flower off the long stem but left about 5 or 6 inches so I could bend it into a circle to wrap around the napkin.
More color!! I found some amazing blue tissue paper laying around the house and I decided to make a table runner from it!! I also set the other placesetting across from it and used an orange colored plastic goblet for fun. Just by adding a few simple colorful accessories, the table top now pops and it looks like a celebration is just about to happen. Have fun, be creative, try new things to make your dinner table come alive.
I have added a punch of color by using a plastic hot pink goblet with a little paper umbrella in it and we have taken the plain white napkin and put a silk flower around it for a napkin ring. I cut the flower off the long stem but left about 5 or 6 inches so I could bend it into a circle to wrap around the napkin.More color!! I found some amazing blue tissue paper laying around the house and I decided to make a table runner from it!! I also set the other placesetting across from it and used an orange colored plastic goblet for fun. Just by adding a few simple colorful accessories, the table top now pops and it looks like a celebration is just about to happen. Have fun, be creative, try new things to make your dinner table come alive.
Hope Wipes Out Worry
Our cute brother underwent surgery again on Friday. They were hoping to remove any cancerous spots on his liver and re-attach his colon so he would not have to wear a bag. The doctors came back with not good news. They found more cancer...but some good news came last night.... that some of the "new" cancer they found was actually shrinking! So that means the chemo is working. They did blast out the cancer that was on the outside of his liver but they don't know if there is more on the inside. Our entire family has had a rush of emotions come flooding over us .....and it has been tough ....as you can imagine. But through this affliction we continue to have great hope. Tim himself is still very positive and has a great outlook on the whole thing.
I struggled to figure out a way to send some hope to my brother especially since I live far way.....until I taught a lesson to our Young Women on Sunday about Following the Example of Jesus Christ and one particular story touched me.
A young girl was having a hard time in her life. She was filled with discontent. Everything seemed wrong...friends, her home was unattractive, her own personality was unattractive, they were poor etc.. To get help she went to a lady that was leading the kind of life she wanted to have. The girl poured out her heart to the lady and after a gentle word of sympathy said, You can change all that if really have the will to do it...
To begin a new life...live for 24 hours as if Christ were right beside you, seeing everything you do. Then come to me again and we'll talk about it again. Will you do that? The young girl agreed. The girl went home and she knew she was expected to get the table set...she went and took out a wrinkled tablecloth that had stains on it...Here she had her first thought of change. "If Christ were coming to eat with us, I wouldn't put on a soiled tablecloth" she thought in her mind. So she got a clean one and then thought to put a small bowl of flowers from the yard on the table and put the butter on a fresh plate. Her family was shocked...and asked her who was coming for dinner? The girl said I don't know of anyone I'd rather fix things up for than you my parents.
They just sat and stared at each other because the girl was normally not like this.
The girl continued to do all kinds of things and kept reminding herself ..."Christ beside me" even when she went to her job the next morning (that she hated)...she reminded herself "Christ beside me" and was happy and friendly to all she came in contact with and even helped solve problems with rude customers. She then reported back to the lady at the end of the next day and expressed that she did it as best as she could and "well, it made everything different. I think I can see what you mean" she said. "Of course it did not change the things that are still bothering me...I'm still poor, can't go to school and I live in an ugly house...."
The woman answered her back and said "Ah, my dear you have only started the seed-sowing, 24 hours ago. Can you keep on as you've begun? You have the key word. It is Christ.
Fretting doesn't change things very much. but Christ does." Just remember to keep your daily walk close to Him. (Stories that Live Lucy Gertsch Thomson)
I decided to try the experiment myself ......I prepared my Sunday lesson as if He was sitting right beside me, I cooked a meal as though he was there, I had the opportunity to give some items to the needy and at first I just started to put them in a big pile and I thought about Christ and I neatly folded them and noticed a seam was out on one bed sheet...I went and sewed it up before I gave it away. Everything seemed to be different even though nothing had changed. I then came up with the idea to send my brother uplifting or funny quotes, positive and motivating stories and to send them to him everyday. My whole outlook has changed!
I would invite any of you to do the same...try the experiment if even for 24 hours and report back to me. I would love to hear what you have to say.
Also if any of you come across any great quotes that I could pass onto my brother please leave them in the comments.
Here are a couple that I sent my brother in the last few days....
A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner. English Proverb
“We are here in mortality, and the only way to go is through; there isn’t any around!” Elder Neal A. Maxwell
but Marjorie Pay Hinckley added: the only way to get through life is to laugh through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache. (I love that!)
I also found another one that made me laugh:
Frogs have it easy, they can eat what bugs them. Unknown
We as a family continuing to pray and search the scriptures for comfort and truly find it.
One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Hope does wipe out worry!!
Many thanks to all who have been praying for my brother we feel it.
Last night for our Youth Activity Night...(for some of the 14 and 15 year olds in our church) we had a good friend of ours come over to teach the kids about Chinese cooking. 
Carrie made us all kinds of incredible dishes...Chicken cashew stir-fry with green onions and red, yellow and orange peppers. 
Fried rice noodles with carrots, green onions, eggs and ham sliced into narrow ribbons
Eggs made like omelets then chopped into fine ribbon like strips to stir fry.
then.... she whipped up some ground pork with those really cool noodles that puff when you pop them into the pan with oil.
She also made some steamed rice, snow pea leaves with a sauce made from bamboo pith, the most incredible sweet and sour pork made from boneless country pork ribs and one whole Tilapia fish that she steamed with fresh ginger and green onions 
This is Carrie busily peeling the skin off the ginger while the men in the background are gobbling up the food faster than she can prepare it!
We must have had 13 youth...boys and girls and 5 adults before the night was over.
Using their chopsticks to eat the delicious food.
The kids were even taking photos of the food with their phones.
We learned so many interesting things about the Chinese culture and about how they cook their food. Carrie was amazing..... cooking and teaching and having a blast with all the kids. One interesting thing we learned was that the Chinese believe that if you eat the eyeball of the animal or fish you take on the power of the animal or fish and it is a great honor to be offered the eyeball. Carrie ate one and this boy (see below) ate the other.... gross but cool.
THANK YOU CARRIE FOR DOING THIS FOR ALL OF US IT WAS THE BEST NIGHT EVER!!
Carrie who works with my husband is Chinese....born in Hong Kong but she grew up in Costa Rica...Carrie speaks Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Spanish, a little Korean, some French and is completely fluent with almost no Asian dialect in ....English! Carrie is one amazing woman and boy can she cook!
Carrie made us all kinds of incredible dishes...Chicken cashew stir-fry with green onions and red, yellow and orange peppers. Fried rice noodles with carrots, green onions, eggs and ham sliced into narrow ribbons Eggs made like omelets then chopped into fine ribbon like strips to stir fry.then.... she whipped up some ground pork with those really cool noodles that puff when you pop them into the pan with oil.She also made some steamed rice, snow pea leaves with a sauce made from bamboo pith, the most incredible sweet and sour pork made from boneless country pork ribs and one whole Tilapia fish that she steamed with fresh ginger and green onions This is Carrie busily peeling the skin off the ginger while the men in the background are gobbling up the food faster than she can prepare it! We must have had 13 youth...boys and girls and 5 adults before the night was over.
Using their chopsticks to eat the delicious food.The kids were even taking photos of the food with their phones.We learned so many interesting things about the Chinese culture and about how they cook their food. Carrie was amazing..... cooking and teaching and having a blast with all the kids. One interesting thing we learned was that the Chinese believe that if you eat the eyeball of the animal or fish you take on the power of the animal or fish and it is a great honor to be offered the eyeball. Carrie ate one and this boy (see below) ate the other.... gross but cool. THANK YOU CARRIE FOR DOING THIS FOR ALL OF US IT WAS THE BEST NIGHT EVER!!Top 10 Projects of 2008 part II
By The Style Sisters - Wednesday, January 07, 2009
This isn't really a project but it was kind of fun to use what I already had to make it seem different. I used my black and white dishes mixed with other dishes and napkins to create new table settings.
Black and white dishes with red napkins and a white daisy placed on napkin all on white table cloth.
Black and white dishes sitting a top of bright yellow dinner plate on top of brown place mat with vegetable napkin totally changes the look.
Classic Black and white dishes with white napkin on black placemat
Black and white dishes with lime green salad plate placed on black placemat for yet another fun look. It is like dressing yourself using different jewlery...I love it!
A spring wreath made from silk flowers left over from my daughters wedding.
Footed bowls made from baking casserole dishes and a smaller dip dish for the bottom. I simply epoxyed them in place and Voila! A fun new serving dish.
Since I do not own a hutch I bought a black shelf from Ikea and outfitted it to look like a hutch by using black and white dishes and baskets.
Black and white dishes sitting a top of bright yellow dinner plate on top of brown place mat with vegetable napkin totally changes the look.
Classic Black and white dishes with white napkin on black placemat
Black and white dishes with lime green salad plate placed on black placemat for yet another fun look. It is like dressing yourself using different jewlery...I love it!A spring wreath made from silk flowers left over from my daughters wedding.
Footed bowls made from baking casserole dishes and a smaller dip dish for the bottom. I simply epoxyed them in place and Voila! A fun new serving dish.
Since I do not own a hutch I bought a black shelf from Ikea and outfitted it to look like a hutch by using black and white dishes and baskets.
Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality is having a Top 10 Projects of 2008 party! So check out my projects and then hop on over there to see lots and lots of others to inspire you for the new year!
After: We painted the walls Robin's Egg Blue, We painted the bed frame black and all the furniture in the room black as well to unify the entire room.
Before: It was yellow with a white bed spread.
Bathroom After: Painted over the wild yellow and orange wallpaper with the Robin's egg blue paint
Before: the crazy yellow and orange wallpaper.
Family Room After: Slip covered the sofa with a fun red corduroy slipcover, Added a black and white striped slipcover to the chair and changed the pillows. Also added a textured woven natural colored rug and black coffee table.
Family Room before: Green sage colored sofa, no rug and no coffee table.
I think I have more photos of before and afters...but I need to search my computer for them.
Just take a peek at what my amazing sister, Tiffany at http://www.thechildrensnest.blogspot.com/ can do with the tiniest of tiniest spaces. This is her laundry/craft room and look at how she organizes it to work perfectly for a craft room.
You will notice the cool desk...it was on its way to the dump but she rescued it and put the "Tiffany magic" on it and made it so pretty! Go to her blog to read how she did it.
I love this tin mini chest of drawers that she found at a garage sale! It is so perfect to sit a top of a desk to hold a myriad of items.
Check out her wrapping center...ribbon, scissors all at the ready. All of this is in a 6'X12' room for Pete's Sake!!
Tiffany you Rock Sista!! LOL :)
You will notice the cool desk...it was on its way to the dump but she rescued it and put the "Tiffany magic" on it and made it so pretty! Go to her blog to read how she did it.
I love this tin mini chest of drawers that she found at a garage sale! It is so perfect to sit a top of a desk to hold a myriad of items.
Check out her wrapping center...ribbon, scissors all at the ready. All of this is in a 6'X12' room for Pete's Sake!! Tiffany you Rock Sista!! LOL :)
A Brand New Year......
First things first...I need to put away the Christmas decorations and clean up the place a bit and then....I am on to renewing a few things in the house this year. I really want to create an amazing craft room...one that I will want to spend time in and that is organized. Here are a few pictures that motivate me to come up with inexpensive ideas to get the looks.
These pictures are from http://springchickdesigns.blogspot.com/ awesome ideas for sewing craft rooms..plus she is one creative gal herself!
More ideas from Springchick
Another awsome idea from Pottery Barn. Love the open shelving under the desk top. Plus I love the height of the table.What things are you going to "renew or refresh" in your home this year?
