Ladles of Love

I am ladle lover. I always have been a lover of ladles, even though I only own one. 


However, I do own restaurant, "cooking ladles" and small serving ladles, but I own only this one silver ladle. I covet ladles at flea-markets, but usually, the ones I love are rare. I tend to like the non-fussy ones that are still very elegant, have a lot of class, that don't need to show off and still do a great service by just being.

I recently discovered why I have had this long love affair with such rare silver ladles and why I am so fascinated by them. They remind me of my very good friends. I recently had a couple of surprises bestowed upon me for no reason other than "just because." A couple were from friends that I never even have met. 

I have been busy these past few weeks doing a lot of things that I planned and even more unplanned. And I have been waiting on the weather to clear to shoot some "after" shots of a little project I did for the holidays to show you and I think today may be the only day I can shoot it... which I will as soon as I get this post out. I feel I would be missing the holiday cheer without sharing what is on my heart, even with all the hustle and bustle around me.

It started with my friend, Debbie (aka, my little Debi) who called me up and said she had a little gift for me from someone who had sent it to her and asked if Debbie would get it to me. Since Debbie, Renee and I were to meet in a few days at 6AM to head out to a great little Christmas Market, Three French Hens, in Morris, IL (about a 4 hour drive from St. Louis)I would pick it up then. 

Well, what a nice surprise! I am not a morning persona at all, but my eyes were definitely wide open when Deb hands me a beautifully wrapped gift and tells me the cutest story about how Ruth, from The Beautiful Life, contacted Deb and wanted to send me a little something, but didn't have my address, but didn't want to contact me for it, and yet wanted to surprise me. 

As most of you know, I tend not to read as regularly as I wish I could on everyone's blogs, and when I do, I don't comment very often. But I was thinking of Ruth not long ago, and went to "check up on her" and to make sure all is well (yes, I really do that with most of you, you just don't know it) and I just happened to pop her a little note and comment and I guess I made a little comment about one of her items and how I was "eyeing it" because I loved it so much. This is the story that Deb was relaying to me as she handed me the gift and it was all starting to coming back to me....and before I even opened the gift...I knew what it was....a little white bottle that I just fell in love with!

I have to interrupt and show you the lovely aged and vintage card...and I LOVE that ribbon color...the inspiration for my holiday decorating...

Isn't this a great bottle? She sent it "just because." I have never met Ruth in person, but I have been a great admirer of her for years. The first time we ever "met" was years ago, around 2004, I think, when she called me while I was working in my store and my article in Mary Englebreit's Home Companion magazine came out about my apartment above my store and she had questions about how I did my tin counter tops. If you have never had the pleasure of visiting Ruth's site, you are missing out. She has been in numerous publications, but her best quality? She really does live a beautiful life and passes it on in very classy, unobtrusive ways. She ladles out the love. Thank you Ruth for being such a beautiful person.

That same day, of our shopping adventure, Deb had a little gift for me and Renee. She had come across these super little French....? We think they were at one time just common general store packaging for maybe grain, or seeds? Not sure. But leave it to the French to make something so common, so exciting to us giggly gals. She only had three, and Renee and I were ladled out lots of love from Deb that day when she parted with two of the three....now THAT is a big ladle of love...

A little battery votive inside makes it glow so beautifully at night!

Thank you Deb for just being my Little Debi...you are the perfect example of giving. And then, a couple of months ago...nope, not done yet. You see, I am very blessed. My ladle is large. I get a really nice, very unexpected, and very timely surprise from someone else I have never met. I just got home from St. Paul, from the Creative Connection Event, and I have to turn right around and head down to Texas for Round Top, unplanned and the day before I leave I get this little package. It is from another blogger friend that I have known for some time and we have have emailed a few times and I admire her in so many ways. 

Melanie, from Lucky Design 7, sent me a beautiful necklace that she designed and you can see for yourself why it means so much to me. I wore it the entire time I was down in Texas (and continue to wear often, especially on shoots).

Melanie tells me that my writing and so on has helped her over the years and she just wanted to send me a little something. What she doesn't realize is that her timing on this little gift and HER words of encouragement meant more to me than she will ever realize. Heading down to Round Top was very nerve wracking for me as I was very tired and I was hoping to make a dream come true which involved my photography and writing. It was a very unplanned trip and having this little bit love around my neck was just the ticket. I don't have any contracts to date, but there seems to be some hopeful talk. :-) But it was Melanie's ladle of love that filled me up as I drove 15 hours down south, alone, with only my thoughts, my dreams, and it was this little necklace around my neck that basically told me that no matter what happens, this blogger friend of mine made me feel very loved and I love her back. 

And finally, just last week, as I was swimming through packages of goodies from our Three French Hens trip with the gals that included a trip to Ikea, a good meal at a little diner with our waitress, Janice, and with Renee "winking" at everyone who walked by with her ever-growing blurry eye that kept watering up and itching and later turned out to be pink-eye (Deb and I did not catch it, but we all did laugh all day and night at her dilemma of not seeing price tags...we are great pals...), I find another gift waiting for me...

This package of goodies was from my dear Texan friend and blogger, Anne of Fiona and Twig. We have never met either. I am a big fan of hers and to say the least, her photography. She just sent this for "just because." Just because she wanted me to know she was happy to know me...and that is what a ladle of love is. Has a ladle ever spooned out anything but something scrumptious? When there is a ladle around, aren't most people anxiously waiting for their turn to get ahold of it and scoop up and slurp its contents? That is exactly why my good friends are so special. They aren't showy, or fancy, or pretentious. They are probably embarrassed that I am blogging about them. They are just being who they are...loving and just wanting to show it now and then and I am slurping it up in pure joy...

These came just in time! I think there is only one left by now (I know...it has only been a week...) but I am blaming my barber husband for most of the damage. I have been so busy lately I haven't really had a normal schedule and these little cookies have saved my life. Thank you Anne for allowing me into your life and for all the sharing you do with all of your readers. I am truly, truly blessed.

What a joy it is to have friends that I have never even met. I am sure all of my readers can relate. We in blog land all have those, I am sure. Soon, I will share with you a blog friend that I am actually going to meet early next year...half way around the world! I think it is time that I go and meet my beautiful friends and I am saving that announcement for a special post later...

And what a joy when I do get to meet my readers. I met such a reader this year at The Creative Connection. However, she happens to live right here in St. Louis, but we can never seem to connect. She is a knitter and asked to interview me on various subjects for her Knitting Contrissmas, and she posted the interview recently and I thought you might enjoy reading it. I am not a knitter. Sometimes, a nitwit, but not a knitter. Not sure why I am on a knitting blog, but I am honored all the same to be with such talented and notable women. But mostly, read her other guests....they are super interesting and you most likely know of them! I learned a lot from them. Oh...my friend's name? Tina.  That's it...Tina. Like Cher. Her blog never says her last name, so I think of her like Cher. Just Tina. Tina the knitter. Really, go visit and see all the cool people on her interview list. I am on day one (of Dec). She does a new gal every day of December!  Thank you Tina! Tina the knitter.

In the meantime, I have to get back to work. I am still in the process of getting things done. I was down for four days with a migraine, which put me behind, but I did get some things done and below is a little sneak...and hopefully I can take some photos today of my holiday project. But I am looking out the window and it is starting to look rainy. You gotta be kidding me!  I better get hopping...I can't believe this, I have tried for a week to get photos for you readers about this project that I am so happy about.

Okay, here is a little of what I have been doing...

This year, I am going simple. I picked a lot of pinecones from the neighborhood and am keeping it simple at our place....taking this simple natural element and spicing it up just a bit...

That's a reflection of me, looking at you. I am wishing you were here with me :-)

Wishing you a ladle full of love and just enough spice to keep things interesting. Thank you for indulging me and for just being you. I will be back sooner than you think...!


from my house to your house,

Handmade Holidays...Homemade Madness...

Hello! Hello!

Is it windy? Are the leaves falling? Are hints of the holidays just around the corner? 

I decided to take some time off, well, some time off to do some stuff. Most wouldn't call that time off, they would call that "time doing some stuff," but I call it time off to finally do some stuff. Stuff like getting my office in order, finishing up some computer work, resting, reading some articles, taking a photo class...some cooking... and getting ready for the holidays! I haven't taken time to actually get ready for the holidays in years. I always throw it all together the days prior because I just work up to the last minute.

This is my living room in the photo. This is how neglected it is lately. No, not really...hahahaha. But it is a photo I took, and yes, styled, for a shoot. Yes, styling can entail trash and waiting for just the right light to hit (if you use only natural light, that is). 

But I share it only because it reminds me of how I usually feel AFTER the holidays are over: A mess, worn out, and pooped. I am determined not to end up feeling this way this year and I hope that for you too. So, I figured, I would share with you some of the few items I made last year for some of my friends, as I can't show you what I am attempting to make this year, yet. 

And maybe by showing a few simple things I made last year, even thought it is before Thanksgiving, it will give you some very simple ideas that may get you through the holidays with some ease. And maybe when the new year arrives...you won't feel how this photo looks when it is all over.  :-)

Below are some of the crafty gifts I made for friends last year. Just remember I had a post not long ago that said, "Artsy does not mean crafty." 

This little tree in a silver creamer was actually a gift to me from my friend, Renee. Isn't is adorable? I just love it! It is made so simply. I added the watch faces and then took some photos of it and then took the photos and made some cards from it. And then I took a photo and framed it for Renee for her home. See below:

This little farmhouse frame was used to frame the photo of Renee's tree and then on the back I put a little photo and note for her. So instead of just taking one of my own photos and framing it I took a photo of something she made for me.

Below is are little sour cream pound cakes that I made and handed out to family and friends with the recipe on a card that was on the bottom. The cake is really good and I love wrapping it in such simple paper. The recipe is at the end of the post. This pound cake is everyone's favorite.

This photo I gave to my seamstress, Maureen. She is a wizard with scissors and I wanted something personal for her. 

And these scissor photos were given to a friend that just completed her super cool craft room where we girls gather and do fun projects. What a better way to celebrate a project room than with a creative project from a friend that loves you?

I was shopping with some fun girlfriends (Debbie and Renee) at an out of town flea-market where we spent the night, had tons of laughter and non-stop talking, and eating pie. While shopping I came across antique lap trays. All in mahogany. I bought them all and then painted them, aged them and painted the names of my girlfriends on them. I saved one tray for a friend's husband, Terry. It was so cute, because Terry loves to use his bed as his office desk, which drives my girlfriend crazy, since I designed custom bedding for her. So I decided to paint a lap tray for his laptop and coordinate it with her bedding. I left it on their doorstop, and he was so surprised and it turns out he loved it and uses it all the time. He says the little lip on it keeps his laptop from getting too hot and keeps his lap cool too. That made me happy he liked it so much. Who knew?

I made a batch of caramels as well. One year, I wrapped the caramels and placed them in little chinese take-out boxes and then wrote little "Chinese" proverbs on the scrolls and inserted them in the boxes. I never took photos of those...must have been yet another year where I made my gifts only days prior to the holidays. I will make caramels this year and take photos and give you the recipe - early enough so you can make them too! It is time consuming, but worth it.

Here is Elizabeth's Sour Cream Pound Cake...I have had this recipe for 28 years...I still read the recipe off the original paper I wrote it on...over the years I made some changes as I made this recipe countless times and adjusted it. Over time, friends just started to call it "Elizabeth's Sour Cream Pound Cake," although I don't know where the original recipe came from. I think I have it memorized, plus my additions, after all this time...

Here is the recipe with a few more instructions and my own additions and tips over the years:

"Elizabeth's" Sour Cream Pound Cake

Oven 350 degrees
Bake 45 minutes


3 Cups of flour
3 Cups of Sugar
6 Eggs
8 oz Sour Cream plus 1/4 cup
2 Sticks of Butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs rum flavoring
1 Tbs almond flavoring


In electric mixer (if you have one it is easier) cream butter and sugar.
Add 3 eggs 1 at a time
Add 1/2 of the flour and mix in
Add rest of eggs 1 at a time
Add in the rest of the flour and mix
Add in the other ingredients and mix


Tips: 


Have sticks of butter at semi-room temp. Not too soft and not too hard.


Crack eggs one at a time in small bowl and THEN add to the mixing bowl  (this avoids any shells getting into the recipe)


When flouring the baking pans, I use lots of flour and tap out ALL flour, especially in the corners


When baking, I just slightly under bake the cakes where the toothpick comes out just slightly wet when poked in the center. Once the cake is cooled, the cake will be extra, extra moist and heavy and will stay moist over the next few days and not dry out.


I wrap in wax paper and then use a large zip lock baggie to store them in if not giving them out right away. This keeps them very moist and heavy.


The batter will be very heavy and you will need to spoon out the batter, it will not pour.


This will make two regular loaf pans or several small loaf pans.


I do not double the batch. I make two batches instead. 

Hope you enjoy the pound cake as much as I have for so many years. You will want to make quite a few....they don't last long. And yes, you may freeze them as well.

I will try to get a batch of caramels made soon and get that out to you. I hope showing you that even a very non-crafty person can make some gifts and with funds being tight, we can still come up with some personal and fun gifts. I think the most fun is the taking some down time and enjoying the process. When I finally found the time to make these projects....my regret was that I didn't slow down to enjoy it all because I just ran out of time. But when I got into the projects, I enjoyed it so much...all the more reason I wanted to slow down this season.  

You know how I like to keep it real on my blog, so even in my rush, I took some  very quick behind the scenes photos to show you how the above "pretty photos" weren't so pretty behind the all the rush - hence the rest of the name of this post...Homemade Madness!!

The madness began with making the pound cakes...thinking as they bake...I will just "do everything else."  Remember how I think I can do a week worth's of work in one night? Well, below shows how my thinking is so waaayyy off.... hahaha

I begin with my sour cream pound cakes...while they bake, I will just make all the other things....yeah....right....

I still need to get my photos done of the little tree...and make cards...and make the gift of the photo framed....and then I notice....ahhhhhh!!! The damn cat had made her way into the caramel tray sometime earlier that day and "sampled" it!! I now have to make a new batch...or...maybe just cut that chunk out...no one will know....right??? But I ended up making more because it was a big-ass chunk and I was so mad....and now back to the kitchen.

I am feeling pleased...I got my "sample" tray done and the others are drying...and look! it is still daylight!

I come up with this bright idea of something I saw somewhere that inspired me. But I decided to do "my take" on it. To make some chicken wire trees in my window seat - THREE of them, all lined up and then stuff paper all around them with lights...I thought...that would be so easy!

Several hours later, and one scraggly tree with no paper on it yet and I am pooped and not liking it....

Oh, did I mention all this was taking place on December 23rd? So, I scrap the damn tree idea and decide to go down to Flower Row before they close and go buy all fresh greenery, which I usually do every year, but didn't find time because of my schedule...as you can see, it is now dark....

I am standing here, as you can see, by the roll of chicken $#@& wire on the right, debating and trying to convince myself that once all the paper is on it and all three are lined up, that it will really be "cool looking" now that I have an European grain sack wrapped around it. Yeah, right, a SACK makes it so much better.....NOT....

I am feeling a little more merrier now (something to do with the bottle of wine, I think) and the smell of pine and greenery. As you can see, it is pitch black out. The pound cakes are baked and smelling good too. As you can see, I haven't given up on the damn tree...NOW, I have tried waxed paper thinking that might work...but NOT.

But then....damn! I realize that I need to get the cards done...and my markers are old and drying up...must get new ones this year. So, now I am in my office...forget the trees....and down to the basement is my one lonely tree and there it still sits, mocking me. 

Sometimes, seeing my crappy pictures, my crappy, messy house, and my crappy attempts of "crafting" makes me laugh NOW.  But at that moment, I was thinking...."Geesh, Elizabeth...get...it...together!!" When in reality, I should just in the moment give myself a break. Because if I were reading this on someone else's blog, I would just laugh and think...OMG...I am just like her...a real spaz! 

Why are we so hard on ourselves to perform...especially when it is just our own selves? I mean, no one was even coming over...I wasn't even entertaining....I wasn't having a dinner or anything...and yet, I was beating myself up for waiting until the last minute. Although, I didn't really "wait," I was working so hard, I just didn't have time. That makes sense to me NOW, but last year, I didn't see it that way...I saw it as not using my time wisely and not "having it together." 

I really hope for you this season that you aren't as mean to yourself as I can be to myself. I hope  if you find yourself saying mean things to yourself, you click on my blog and scroll right past all the pretty photos and go right to my mess and think....I have a Spazzy Cyber Sister...I am not alone!! And give yourself a break.  I know I am giving myself a break this year and I want the same for you too - because I love you.

Big messy hug to you.


from my homemade mad house to your house,