Happy New Year!

Happy almost 2012! 

www.BizarroComics.com

Peace, Joy, and Soap!

It all started while searching Pinterest for co-worker gift ideas... I liked the idea of taking something practical like hand soap and crafting it into something gift-worthy.  I started out with the idea of something simple, maybe with a little silver bell bling.  Then I found the most brilliant idea yet--transparency film inside the soap bottle!  For those of you who know me well, you understand how hard it was to use MarthaStewart.com for anything, but she had the best free monograms I could find for this project.  Add a cheesy little saying in a homemade card and PRESTO!  Co-worker Christmas presents are done!

Clear hand soap $0.89 each, Snowflake stickers $1.29,
Silver ribbon $0.74, Decorative bells $1.00

Transparency copy $0.10,
Labor to remove soap labels FREE (but my poor fingernails!)

Cutting the transparency to the right size for a circular bottle was a pain.
Next time I'll find rectangular soap bottles!

These bells were the best find at Dollar Tree!
I just had to restring them onto silver ribbon.

The stickers were originally going on the soap bottles, but they made cute
cards instead with the added bling from leftover wedding craft supplies!

All bagged up to go to work--I love the snowflake stickers on top!

And the biggest compliment? My boss thought I'd bought them somewhere!

Sister Scarves

My oldest nieces are almost 3- and almost 5-years-old. They are sisters, and at their age, they (or at least the younger of the two) want to have everything the other has. So when knitting scarves for them for Christmas, I used the exact same pink/purple/turquoise eyelash yarn for both and made sure they were just about the exact same length (sorry, I'm not double-checking by counting rows with furry yarn!)  These will accompany t-shirts from the Disney store.  I know, they're not the same shirt, but there were no Perry the Platypus shirts in a 3T, and I *had* to get a Perry shirt for at least one of them!

Crafty Card Display

I combined a couple of Pinterest ideas to come up with a way to display all of our family and friends' photo Christmas cards this year.

Cute ribbon plus coordinating paints and naked clothespins

Dave mocked me for taking the time to paint clothespin pieces

I debated adding bling to the pins, but decided I prefer the simple look

The finished product!

How Long?

How long does it take to turn this... 

... into a scarf?

Roughly two hours when you're doing ticket sales for a wrestling match at work!

Not Actual Size

My BFF saw the beautiful holiday centerpiece below on Pinterest and loved it so much that I knew I had to get her something like it for Christmas.  My wonderful baby sister pointed me toward Target.com, where I even got to choose between a couple different sizes of apothecary jars!  Of course I had to get some ornaments to go with it, and that's where I should have paid more attention because size *does* matter when it comes to filling jars...

The ideal centerpiece from Pinterest

The actual gift in Heather's winter decor colors

But another idea from Pinterest can make everything right!

What she may do with the jumbo-sized ornaments instead...

Early Christmas

My BFF got an early start to her Christmas shopping.  Before Thanksgiving, she gave me a gift certificate to spend at erincondren.com and steered me toward the personalized planners.  I ordered the Monthly Planning Notebook in "candy lace" print.

Such a pretty box!  And it's wrapped inside, too!

I even reused the box and inside wrapping for Dave's gift... hehe!

Matches my new purse perfectly!

Half of Heather's present arrived on her doorstep Monday, and the other half is scheduled to be delivered today. I can't wait for her to open it!

Beware of Christmas Paws

Twenty-five days till Christmas, and the decorations are still in a pile of boxes in the dining room--but at least we got them out of the attic! I dug out the advent wreath, the main part of the nativity set, and our stockings, but otherwise I'm procrastinating decking the halls. I blame Skeeter because I'm not sure what she's going to do with a fully-decorated Christmas tree. She's already pulled the bows off of a few wrapped presents I have stashed in the guest room...

Organization Attack

This past weekend, I felt the need to clean.

I emptied 90% of my craft closet's contents
onto the guest bed.

Skeeter thoroughly explored her "forbidden closet"
while I sorted and reorganized.

I was excited I could fit my craft books
in the closet!

Much better than my toppling stacks of stash!
I should have taken a "before" photo...

All I have left is to reorganize some yarn remnants and
my pattern notebook... and spoil the kitty!

A Pumpkin and a Plan: Part II

The ingredients were ready to make Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies (aka "test run cookies" before I attempted the recipe for Pumpkin White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies).

The batter was a little gooier than expected (but so was the homemade pumpkin puree), so I added some corn starch and a little more flour...and then *after* I had baked the first batch, I realized that I had forgotten to add the oatmeal. Since there wasn't much of a pumpkin taste to the first cookies, I also added 1/4 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice to the second batch.

The last tray of "test run cookies" from the second batch (with oatmeal and Pumpkin Pie Spice) died a horrible death when the wax paper I used as a cookie sheet liner started smoking so badly that I'm surprised the smoke detector didn't go off.  I thought I'd read somewhere that wax paper was okay in the oven--guess it's not!  Dejected at what seemed like such an epic cookie fail, I turned off the oven and rifled through my recipes till I found a cookie recipe I had most of the ingredients to bake.

After a grocery run (and dinner), I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They actually look like the picture on the recipe, so yay!  Next time, I'll prep the recipe in half because it had trouble staying in the mixer (just the opposite of too-gooey cookie batter).

I *will* attempt Pumpkin White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies again, but this time I think I'll stick to canned pumpkin...

A Pumpkin and a Plan: Part I

Thanksgiving week, Monday evening: The pumpkin is baked and mashed in preparation for baking 

Oven roasted pumpkin, ready to be scooped

After scooping, mash the pumpkin into a puree

Thanksgiving week, Wednesday afternoon: The pumpkin is prepped for an evening of baking 

Only had to work a half day, and all the co-workers knew I was going home to bake

Used the blender to puree the pumpkin "applesauce" into pumpkin "baby food"

Holiday Week

A shout out to everyone else who has to work this week--I hope you are able to get away in three days for thankfulness and turkey-feasting among family and friends!

Friday Funny

It's been a while since I've posted a Friday Funny, so how about a Thanksgiving-themed funny?

 

Only 6 more days till turkey feasting!  And hopefully everyone will be healthy--no sudden-onset 24-hour bugs (me this past week...) or pilgrim-shared small pox!

Too Cute

Today's turkey art is brought to you by my BFF's daughter.

Auntie Karen loves you, Miss Faith!

Only one more week until Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey

When I first saw the adorable ribbon turkey on She's {kinda} Crafty, I immediately emailed him to my mother with a request that she please make him for me for Thanksgiving.

Stacy's Ribbon {Gobbler}

Mom didn't have cute ribbon to work with, so she made her own version with scrapbook paper. He came to work with me today and is now leader of the countdown turkeys on my door.  He's got a Post-It in his beak informing everyone how many days are left till Thanksgiving.  FYI, just 10 more days!

More Decor

Two adorable mini-posters from Pinterest printed by Snapfish: $2.75

Eat Pie

Gobble On

Two simple acrylic 5x7 frames from the Dollar General: $2.00

More Turkey Day adorableness on my mantle: PRICELESS

Only a dozen more days until Thanksgiving!

Green Bean Casserole

Only two weeks till Thanksgiving! Dave and I have a Thanksgiving potluck dinner with friends this weekend, and the dish I always bring is green bean casserole. It's a very basic recipe given to me by my mother (who probably got it from the back of a can of cream of mushroom soup or something).

Yeah, my casserole doesn't look that pretty when it's done...

Mom's Green Bean Casserole

3/4 cup of milk

1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 - 14.5 oz cans of French cut green beans (drained)

2/3 cup French fried onions for mixing into the casserole

2/3 cup French fried onions to serve on top of the cooked casserole

• Mix the first four ingredients together in an 8x8 dish
• Cook at 350° for 30 minutes
• Garnish cooked casserole with the remaining French fried onions

I've seen some recipes with 1/8 tsp pepper and/or 1 tsp of soy sauce added to the mix as well!

This year's special ingredient: Cheddar French Fried Onions!

Leafy Blessings

Yet again, I found inspiration on Pinterest. If you follow the "Thankful Leaves" pin back to its origin, you'll find that you can purchase the kit online. Instead, I found a free leaf template (thank you, Google search) and got crafty!  Oh, and does anyone else find it amusing that chocolate and Diet Coke rank right up there with Jesus?  LOL!

Only 16 days until Thanksgiving, so what are you thankful for?