Heated Neck Wraps

Minky Fabric... What's not to love about it? 

Susie loves this stuff.

She is always asking me to make her something out of it.

  So this year for Christmas, I did just that.

I found these two wonderful tutorials on making

Microwave Heated Neck Wraps.

I would have loved to have done a tutorial on mine for you, but I have a habit of kinda mixing patterns and making my own thing.  You never know what I am going to end up with.

Have you ever made a project where you take a little inspiration from a few tutorials and make it your own ?

At Sew 4 Home   you can find a quick and easy tutorial on whipping up a few of these in a day.

(PHOTO FROM    SEW 4 HOME)

If you have extra time and want to make a really special one, maybe for a sick friend,  Modify Tradition  has a wonderful tutorial on making a fabulous neck wrap with a quilted cover.

(PHOTO ABOVE FROM  MODIFY TRADITION )

I decided to make my wraps with a little personal flare...

I monogrammed their initials in the corner.

I think Sista liked it...

She said it helps relax her neck after a long day of painting.

I made my Brother In Law one out of striped ticking. 

At first, I think he was not to sure about heating rice in the microwave. But after the first demo, everyone at the party wanted to try it out.

Of course, I could not let Sista relax with just a neck wrap, so I whipped her up a pair of lounge pants to match.  

Looking for some inspiration or have something to show off?  

 Go by and checkout or link up with,

Three Mango Seeds

Linking up with Skip to My Lou ~ Made By You Monday

AND

So Very Creative Linky Party

New Years Wealth & Health With Cabbage and Blackeyed Peas

 New Year's Day is not complete in the South

without a big ole plate of

smothered cabbage and black eyed peas.

 Southern tradition is that eating cabbage brings you a year of wealth and the black eyed peas are supposed to bring you a year of health. 

Can't beat a wonderful year of HEALTH and WEALTH

Well I don't know about the coming year,

 but I know that it for sure gave me a week of gas...LOL

 This is our little raised bed garden. 

The cabbage really did well this season.

 Can you see our little strawberry plants?

YIKES...  walked around to pick the biggest cabbage..looks like that little bunny we have been seeing wanted to get a little wealth for the new year.

    Beautiful cauliflower ..yummy fresh

Camo Man has a wonderful way to fix cabbage with Italian bread crumbs and Italian dressing, but I will have to watch him make it and  write it down for you, because he just throws things in the pot.
 But here is another wonderful way to fix your cabbage. 

SMOTHERED CABBAGE

Ingredients
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped ham chunks
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large head cabbage, cleaned and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water
Salt, Slap Ya Momma, and black pepper to taste

Steps
In a large heavy pot, cook the onions and ham in the vegetable oil over medium heat until onions are wilted, about five minutes. Add the cabbage, water, salt, cayenne and black pepper. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes or until the cabbage is soft and tender. Yield: 6 servings.

So pretty on the counter almost hated to cook it.

Does your family have a New Year's Tradition?

Hoarding In the Make~Up Drawer

Hoarding In The Make~Up Drawer 

 Don't Laugh, It Can Happen!

Have you ever just lived with something day in and day out, never noticing what it has turned into...

(No this is not about my husband)

Sometimes the things that are supposed to make you pretty are in such a mess, its just not that pretty.

Ok...are you ready for the excuse? 

 Well every weekend, I travel to our second home, so on Sunday night I just stuff the makeup bag back into the drawer..on top of the other makeup that I do not use often...

Lord...these are all those "Free" lipsticks.

You know they give you the colors

 NO ONE would ever wear...

Flaming Red, Outrageous Orange,

 Poop Brown 

 yeah yeah, you get the picture.

Can't throw them out...I may meet someone that can use that Outrageous Orange or the Poop Brown.

My daughter gave me this awesome

 pink face goo...about three years ago.

It now has white dots in it...I don't think they are moving, but maybe I should throw it out.

Crazy huh? 

 I really only wear make~up about twice a week, so how did my drawer get this way?

Well time for a clean out!

I just love these little baskets...they make my make~up routine sooo much easier now.

AHHH  CALM...How I love CALM

Maybe that is the true preventive for

wrinkles...CALM

When In Doubt... Check It Out

Look at this sweet little crab...  yeah, I know he is missing a claw. 

 But did you know he is smarter than most of us? 

He was looking for a shady spot after some little kid dug him up.

 He knows to not get in the sun and only comes out to play at night!

Thought I had it right, go out late in the evening.

Wear all the  protection you can from that big orange ball in the sky,

sunscreen, glasses, hat...you get the picture.

Yesterday, I had a visit with my dermatologist.  

Even with all the precautions,

I still had to have not one, but TWO large biopsies taken....

OOOOCH very painful! 

I had a spot on my arm that I thought was a bug bite that would not go away...well it would get better and then next thing I knew there it was again, 

I finally went to the doctor.

She then wanted to look at the rest of my torso...

could not understand why, but agreed

 One mole that I have had for so many years  under my arm
(has never seen the sun)...now GONE! 

She totally caught me by surprise when she saw it and insisted it had to go!

Now the wait for the lab report....hate that part.

Waiting is worse than the actual removal.

For those of you that read my sisters blog,  she has been well fussed at for getting that sun burn at the beach!

DID YOU KNOW...

~ One in Five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of their lifetime.
~ One person an hour dies from the skin cancer Melanoma.   WOW that is scary.

~   I have a link straight to more information on skin cancer and prevention,

 American Cancer Society

My new motto .... When in Doubt...Have it Checked Out.