What time is it?

It's time for another giveaway! I have joined MckLinkey's Giveaway Blog Hop.

This time I have decided to give away one of my gerber daisy polymer clay pendants similar to the one pictured below.
Close to the one I am wearing in this picture when I was spotted last fall.

This pendant is a bit smaller than the one I am wearing (it's a little larger than 1 inch in width). It will come on an 18" chain.

To Enter:

• Leave me a comment below to enter telling me what your favorite item in my shop (I know there isn't much in there right now, vacation does that) or my sold section or what you would like to see me make for Christmas.

Extra Entries:

• Follow my blog (current followers count). Leave a separate comment letting me know you are following my blog.
• Blog about this contest and link it back to this blog. Leave a separate comment with the link to the post for an additional entry.
• Become a fan of my shop on Facebook. Leave a separate comment letting me know you are a facebook fan.
  

Anyone can enter this contest, please make sure you leave me an e-mail so I can contact you if you won.

The Giveaway ends Friday, Aug 14th at midnight EST.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the giveaways on MckLinkey's Blog Hop.

Good Luck!!

MckLinky's Weekly Blog Hop - wk4

Welcome to MckLinky's Weekly Blog Hop!!

This week the theme is Favorite Recipe or Dish. I have a couple I would like to share...

Baked Potato Soup
I originally shared this here.

Here is how I make my Baked Potato Soup.

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 6 c milk
• 4 green onions (sliced)
• 2/3 c flour
• 2 c cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2/3 c butter
• 12 or so slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
• salt & pepper to taste

Bake potatoes and cool. Peel off skins and dice. Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add about 2 cups milk to saucepan. Combine half of the flour and 1 cup of milk in shaker. Shake and slowly add to pan. Do the same to the rest of the flour and milk, until all combined. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Make sure to keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Add potatoes, onions, cheese, bacon, salt & pepper; cook until thoroughly heated.

Somewhere in the original recipe there was sour cream. The person who gave this to me doesn't like sour cream so she deleted it. It's tasty without it, but feel free to add it if you like.

When I made this for my vegetarian mother I deleted the bacon and then just added it to each individual bowl after dished up. You can also do that with the green onion. This recipe is also very good with ham instead of bacon or add broccoli instead of any meat.

Chicken Wing Dip
I originally shared this here.

4c chopped chicken
12 oz red hot sauce (we love Franks here in Buffalo, it's sooooo yummy)
2- 8oz cream cheese
1c ranch dressing
1c chopped celery
1c monterey jack cheese (put on top...I personally have been mixing it with the rest of the ingredients so there is yummy cheese throughout)

mix all ingredients and bake 30 min on 350.

(photo was taken of a 1/2 batch prior to baking)

I usually make a 1/2 batch for small gatherings. Beware, I made a 1/2 a patch and brought it to a cookout a few years ago (thinking that there would be lots of dips because it was bring a dish to pass thing) and it was gone in 15min.

**I usually serve this with tortilla chips.**

Thanks for hopping by! I love comments, I would love for you to leave a comment so I can check out your blog, too.

I entered this photo in a contest. Please go on over here and vote for me, Whimsical Creations.

MckLinky's Weekly Blog Hop - wk3

Welcome to MckLinky's Weekly Blog Hop!!


This week the theme is 3 Things You Did Not Know About Me.

Here are 3 Things You Did Not (or maybe do) Know About Me...

1. I worked full time at the headquarters to a local grocery chain until the day I gave birth to my son 8yrs ago. I was the Office Manager in the Demo Dept. As the Office Manager I billed vendors for demonstrations. Demos are the people who give out product (free food) in the stores.


2. I was introduced to my husband by his brother. I worked with his brother and he is one of my best friends. It was great to go to family functions while I was dating my husband because I also had a friend there. It is still great today. When my brother in law told me about his brother I had a list of criteria that boys had to meet. You see, I had dated some doosies. So my list was that he had to 1. have a job, 2. have some life ambition (a goal), 3. not live at home. Well, he met the first 2, but he lived at home. I was not sold. I met my husband at a softball game 14 yrs ago. (he played on the same softball team as my brother in law) Well, the rest is history. BTW...my husband has 2 brothers and both of them also have red hair. And because last Saturday was my wedding anniversary I am including a photo from my wedding of my husband's family. The brother that introduced me to my husband is the 3rd from the left.
   


3. I love daisies. They were the theme of my wedding after I saw them in a Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. I still have that magazine tucked away in my attic. I also love to take photos of flowers. Here are a couple daisy photos I took this week in my back yard.

BTW...don't forget to enter my giveaway here.

MckLinky's Weekly Blog Hop

Welcome to MckLinky's Weekly Blog Hop!!


This week the theme is FAVORITE PHOTO.

Well...I am really indecisive. I have a few favorites right now...

My son looking really old...

My daughter in her tutu...
I am in love with the whisps of her hair across my daughters face...
This is a photo of myself & my husband on our wedding day July 11, 1998. I have this framed in my bedroom...A photo I took of a friend's son at his first birthday party...
Thank you for stopping by and checking out my favorite photos. Have fun hopping. =D

MckLinky Weekly Blog Hop - Welcome!

Welcome to MckLinky's Weekly Blog Hop!!

This week the theme is INTRODUCE YOUR BLOG.

For those of you who are new to my blog...hi my name is Melanie! For those who are not new to my blog, welcome back! I am a married, 35yr old sahm of 2 children, a son age 8 and a daughter age 2. I am also a polymer clay artist. This blog is about my family, my life, my creations & my finds along the way. I love all things handmade and enter way to many giveaways. BTW...I am having my own giveaway right now here. I started this blog a year ago in an attempt to share my creations with people. Since then it has become so much more than that to me. I love being able to connect with my family and friends through my blog. I have also made many amazing bloggy friends while writing this blog.