Easy Tomato Soup Recipe

Mccalls Magazine Homemaking Cover, 1939, Nickolas Muray

It' been a little stormy here, and in weather like that, I love tomato soup. I have a few fancy and delicious  recipes that require a bit of work, but a nice simple recipe is always good too (especially when you need to go to the store and are out of all fresh ingredients!)

1 can Campell's Tomato Soup
1 TB butter
1 1/2 c water (or milk or heavy whipping cream for creaminess)
dried basil (use fresh if you have it)
garlic powder
onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Serve with crackers and shredded cheese. A toasty grilled cheese sandwich and pickles make a perfect side.
How do you make your soup? Sour cream and chives? Crumbled crackers? Homemade from scratch? Do you like it smooth, or prefer it with lots of texture?

Homefront: White and Natural Mantel

Are you getting tired of my mantel posts yet? Well, it's been so fun changing them up for all the recent holidays and season changing, so bare with me a little while longer! (ps. I DID clean my mirror, but I am not a streak free master.) If you DON'T have a mantle, you can do this on the middle strip of your kitchen table or coffee table, on top of a cabinet, a dresser, a shelf over a tv or desk....

I am a little tired of my usual aqua and sage green, so I decided to go back to a natural palate. These pretty much all consist of vintage items found through super sleuthing for amazing deals, so I can't complain. The adorable raccoon art I found today for a song, so it had to be featured.

Basically, I decorate, by using the larger pieces on the outsides, and angle them in. Usually, I would put a taller piece in the center, but our mantle is so narrow especially with the frame of the mirror that I only am able to use small accessories. And other times, I leave the middle totally bare and just have a little vignette on the sides.

all four A's, I painted them white, expcept for the largest, which a friend gave to me already painted.

I had all four A's up (one per family member), but removed the center two for less of a clutter look. When I go across the whole mantel, it may look overly crowded because of my smaller pieces, though I still use the remove one (or two) item rule. Just do what works and tweak when you feel the need to get nit picky, but don't stress over it! Who knows, this whole thing may look different tomorrow.

The mantle consists of a painted black finial (is an nasty brassy color underneath), raccoon print, letter A, adorable vintage wood bunny, vintage vase with fresh white roses, vintage mattress spring coil, white lantern, glass jar full of white candlesticks, vintage aladdin inspired brass mini vase, tattered vintage book from my childhood and another large white letter in front of a painted white mirror and white deer bust.

I'm loving the natural elements and wish I still had my fresh picked cotton stems to add as well. Anyone know where I can get some?

*****

And on another note. I decided to take the plunge and do a gallery wall over my couch. I laid out 3 different styles, I would love some input on which you think looks best.

1. aqua and white frames and white letters, the largest grouping

2. minus the aqua frames, medium sized grouping

3. minus the white and aqua frames, smallest grouping (though I think if I use this, I would lose the letters and put the oval frame in their place. (if you are interested on how the frame wall turned out, visit here.)

*Linked to The Nester's Mantle Linky Party,
Just a Girl's How Show and Share Day
at Kimba's of A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day 
Life as Lori's Get your Craft on Thursdays
The Shabby Cottage's Thursday Transformation
Women Who Do it All's Idea Sharin' Wednesday
Tales from Bloggeritaville's Thrifty Thursday
Between naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursdays
Jellybeans & Firefly's Show off your Stuff
Jessica's The Hills are Livin Favorite Things Friday
 It's not here at Life in the Pitt's Creative Therapy, but lots of good ones are.

Mantel Decorating

i love four logs 

Pink, black and turquoise, love this. Very Alice in Wonderland with the artwork and eclectic vibe. The scale and slightly off symmetry of everything is just perfect.

I love Spring decorating, and I love decorating my mantle, but I don't quite feel it's ready yet to take out the Easter decorations. The Easter box is here and ready to go, but maybe I'll hold off for another week. In the meantime, my mantle has lots of white, some aqua and soft pastel green to make the transition.

My transitional Spring time Mantle

There are some wonderful ideas out there, whether you prefer to decorate by the seasons, or by what you love. If your style is shabby chic, vintage inspired, retro, mid century modern, colorful kitsch, contemporary, traditional, eclectic, a little bit country gothic... there is an idea for everyone here.

The wallpaper, pink rug and the whites with the wood floor are all lovely. The simple touch of the framed neutral colored art above the mantle and flowers are not overwhelming, but still charming. ~inspiration for decoration

Apartment Therapy + decorating tips love the unique shape of the brass vase, candles and the oval mirror. The symmetry is lovely and so are the colors. Look at the little square tiles on the fireplace, love it!

My two fav colors with aqua, is yellow & orange. This room has it all. Simple, colorful. ~Shop Ursula

Add a piece of mantle art! You should see the before, flip through the slideshow here... what a huge difference some color and a little update can make! I know this transformation is pretty large and intensive, but you can paint the bricks white (I've done it and loved it), slipcover your couches and pillows, change out a few accessories, or even paint a few pieces to match, paint your walls, simplify what you have and that's really all. It sounds more than it really is. -Better Homes and Gardens

One of my favorites, The brass wheat scones are a theme we love too. I usually hang my mirrors horizontally, but the vertical style allows for taller vases on a narrow ledge and adds drama. ~Elle Decor

Copper mantle sfgirlbybay is lovely and rich. The mid century modern sunburst mirror and fawn figruine is adorable. The soft pink flowers in the aqua watering can... simple and lovely ~homebug

analisa's white fireplace is simple and gorgeous with it's minimal accessories, and bazaar style features a modern funky shaped mirror with retro art and deer figurine. Love the aqua and red.

Techinacally a Christmas mantle, due to the bleached bottle brush trees little fawn and tree, but her husband's homemade wood scrap wreath and paper flowers can be year round! ~rock paper scissors

Ornate, beautiful and still homey with the clean lines of the black iron bed and unfussy bedding. Love the aqua and white with a modern romantic touch. I love the open space on the mantel, I do that too.

One ornate white fireplace mantel with a gallery frame wall, lovely! Mariu de Andre's Home Elle Decor UK

Shabby white and slender brass letter V feels so elegant together, and the pop of pink flowers is perfect.

The firelace houses a quilt rack for a cozy reading nook. Love this artistic home library. ~sfgirlbybay

If you don't have a formal mantle, install a wooden shelf and call it done! The vintage and antique mirrors and silver vessels piled together adds some pizazz to the room without being distracting.

A simple vinyl sticker or painted design looks great as a centerpiece when it is a neutral color and has soft lines. Small grouping of photos, flowers and special momentos are a perfect intimate addition to a mantel without feeling too staged or showy. The neutral color scheme is cool and casual.

I love these mirrors, the fact she uses them in alternating gray and white and they fit the space perfectly just astounds me. It's a big focal point, but simple vases and a stack of books add minimal decor so it isn't too overwhelming. Mommy Suprise Contemporary Mirror Mantel

One of my favorites! The crystal garland, curvy white vintage dresser mirror, white button wreath and all sorts of haberdashery and candelabras are lovely and chic. The roses add softness. ~Golden Paws

This feels Country Gothic to me, the huge mirrored window pane and sconses are gorgeous. Look up at the branch inspired chandelier and wooden beams! Alicia Wardenss, Better Homes and Gardens

I love the grey, detailed mantle with the simplicilty of the brass candlesticks, pencil profile sketch, white bud vases and the greenery cuttings. Staged, but cozy and inviting. ~decorology

Typography fans gather 'round! We have a bingo spinner, blocks and all sorts of vintage letters and numbers. The ornate mantle feels at home here, and it's elegance is muted with the colorful rust.

Twice Remembered Mantel's has an assortment of frames, a single letter and topiaries.

julie's super kitschy nick knack mantle is like a shrine of wonderment and and marky1969's fireplace is unique and eclectic. Dramatic black with floral tiles and mustard wallpaper in a bold white flower pattern, they keep it simple with a single white vase with flowers and tall, slender white candlesticks.

This is one crazy mantle! It has everything one needs to feel at home in their quirky little abode. This is the no holds barred style, hey, and if it makes you happy, it makes me happy! Apartment Therapy

Layla, used a vintage headboard to emphasize her fireplace. I love her mantle decor, simple, elegant but maximum style, as usual at The Lettered Cottage.

Even more mantle styling inspiration goodness can be found at Matters of Style, and at Little Green Notebook. Some amazing ones there. Tomorrow... turn  that mantle find of yours into a cozy diy headboard.

Family Time: Blessings of Snow (and a snowman)

Living in Texas, means we are used to the idea of not having snow that sticks through the day. So, imagine our surprise and delight, when we had a White Christmas for the first time in Texas for over 40 years, AND we had enough snow to make a snowman yesterday... and it stayed around and even almost doubled today!

 

 

*above trees from yesterday, and I thought THAT was a lot of snow*

 

I'm quite certain we will not be able to attend our little Valentine event this weekend since the roads will be too icy to drop the kids off at the grandparents, but that's okay by me. For more reading about our family snow day, visit my blog post here!

Farewell December, Letting Go of Christmas and Decorating Wintery

paper deer craft by lindsey brackeen

I'm a little tormented. I was so busy moving and catching up on orders, I didn't post many Christmas ideas this year. Even though Christmas is over, I use this blog as a springboard for myself to reference for later, and I need to file these great ideas somewhere! So, this week will be catch up for me, then I'll get down to new stuff, mmkay? For now though, many of these can still be implemented as "winter" decor.

This little montage of Lindsey Brackeen's holiday mantle, my jaw dropped a little. I love the bright white, a bit of style and sparkle, without being too dark and heavy feeling for the holidays. I love how she hand tied the wreath with torn fabric scraps with her little boy. So sweet. The natural elements are wonderful as well.

Lindsey also made these adorable little gift tags you can use next year. I love here idea to use them as a garland as well. Visit here to download them.