An explanation. . .

I feel so terrible that I haven't been posting as regularly as I would like too. I have genuinely missed posting and being able to chat back and forth with you.

We are so happy to tell you that we are expecting a baby this next summer. This will be number five for us and we are very excited. . .

but. . .

right now I'm feeling oh so yucky and sicky. I haven't been posting much is because I haven't been doing much except being sick and I can't imagine that you would want to read about that.☺ Actually, being sick is a blessing too (at least I keep trying to remind myself that it is) because as many of you know, I miscarried twins earlier this year. I never got very sick during that pregnancy and many told me to be glad of it, but I just knew something wasn't right.

So anyway, that's the deal. Hopefully soon after the new year I will be able to work on projects again that I can share with you. I have far too many ideas in my head that are begging to be done, but now is not the time.

I hope all of you have a lovely Christmas Season with lots of joy to you and yours. In all the busyness of the season take a moment to remember the REASON that we have so much to celebrate: Jesus came to earth as a baby to grow up and take the punishment of our sins by dying on the cross. There is nothing you or I could ever do to deserve such a precious gift and yet it is offered freely because God loves us so incredibly much. That is a wonderful reason to celebrate! See you next year!!!

Christmas Music Fun

A Simple Gift Idea

I had gifts for my nephew and niece, but thought that it would be fun to give them something a little extra. Something with some homemade love tossed in, so I decided to give them their initial with their name, the meaning of their name, and a verse on it so they would have something special to hang in their rooms. My mom made these for her grandchildren last year and it was a really special gift to them.


Supplies:

• wooden Letter-I bought mine from Hobby Lobby, but other store have them I'm sure.
• scrapbook paper- 8 1/2 x 11
• Mod Podge
• foam brush to apply Mod Podge
  
• acrylic craft paint that matches the scrapbook paper
• paint brush to apply paint
  
• wallpaper roller or something similar to smooth out the paper onto the letter to help eliminate bubbles
• computer/printer/scanner
• sawtooth picture hanger
• hot glue gun/hot glue sticks
• a hunky, computer savvy hubby to help design everything (not necessary if you know how to do this, but I found him to be completely invaluable)
• emery board or small piece of fine sandpaper
  

Okay, so as I mentioned I bought my letter for under $2 at Hobby Lobby. Remove all of those ridiculous stickers, bar codes, and whatever else they decided they had to slap onto these poor little defenseless letters.

I traced the letter on to a plain, white sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 computer paper. This was scanned into the computer so my hunky design helper had an idea of what the placement of the name and other stuff should be.

"S" is kind of a tricky letter so I labeled which side was the top. I was afraid that it would get turned on me after we scanned it and we would design it the wrong direction. For the letter "A" it was obvious what is the right direction so I didn't label it.

While Hubby worked on scanning the letters into the computer I painted the sides and the back of the letters with a similar shade to the scrapbook papers I was using.

Painting the back is not necessary, but I was having fun. I do suggest painting just a little bit over the sides onto the top just in case your cut letter isn't an exact fit in all spots. It helps to mask any slight cutting imperfections. (Not that I had any, mind you-HA!)

At my house, we are all about having the right equipment for the job so here are the letters drying on my professional drying racks with wax paper underneath ☺ (Why Yes! As a matter of fact the racks do look like tomato sauce cans . . .) I squirted the paint right onto the wax paper. The picture looks like I did it right onto the table, but I promise that I didn't.

Hubby was busy designing on the computer using the scanned in letters as a guide of his design. He used photo shop, but I'm sure other programs would work too.

After the design is complete, print it off on your 8 1/2 x 11 scrapbook paper and cut it out. Spread a thin layer of mod podge using your foam brush over the letter and place the cut out paper letter over the top smoothing it with your wallpaper roller if you have one. If you don't, I'm sure you could find something else to smooth it with. (A short dowel rod maybe??? playdough rolling pin???) If you have a letter with serifs like the letter "A" you do have to piece the paper just a little. If you match up the scrapbook paper it is hardly noticeable.

Thinly coat the top and sides of the letter with the modge podge sealing the scrapbook paper to the wooden letter. Apply as many coats as you feel necessary. I think I did three coats.

To finish the letters, gently sand the edges with an emery board or small piece of sandpaper to make sure that everything looks seamless and smooth.

Apply the sawtooth picture hanger to the back of your letters with hot glue.

Kendra also made something similar and blogged about it here. Check it out because it was very cute too.

Happy crafting!!!

Peppermint Candy Cane Bark

We needed some quick, easy, inexpensive, and yet thoughtful homemade gifts to give to some very special people. So we made Peppermint Candy Cane Bark.

Oh, Yum! It tastes very similar to Hickory Farms Melt Away mints which I absolutely love and can eat way more than I should.

I did make a few changes. Not because the recipe isn't good the way it is, but because I couldn't remember from last year what the exact ingredients were when I was grocery shopping. (And of course was being spontaneous so I didn't have a list) I used white Almond Bark instead of white chocolate chips and it worked fine. My candy canes were stubborn so I blended them. Apparently my new blender is quite powerful, because it completely pulverized the candy canes. I thought it was kinda pretty so I dusted the top of the candy with more of the luscious pink powder. As Bob Ross always says, "There are no mistakes only happy accidents." Well said Bob, well said. . .

Here they are already for gift giving in little boxes that I found at Hobby Lobby in their holiday section.

Oh, and if you haven't seen Beki's recipe go take a look. I'm thinking that's going to have to be made at my house very soon.

Do you have any quick holiday recipes to share with me??? I have a hunch that this year I'm not going to have a ton of time for baking. Have a lovely weekend!

All Clean and White. . .

Yesterday was an interesting day with lots of mischief. I'm not sure why some days are like that, but that's the way it goes sometimes.



I went shopping in the afternoon and after arriving home my hubby was preparing to leave. I thought Pumpkin was still asleep as I didn't see her and no one told me she was awake. So I mixed up a batch of no bake cookies and set Princess and Super P. to scooping them out on waxed paper while I went upstairs to check email.



What should I find but Little Pumpkin smearing a salve all over a table and playing with my makeup bag. Huge mess.

As I was cleaning it all up, Super P hollers up the stairs asking if they can lick out the bowl from the cookies. Thinking that this meant they were finished making all the cookies and just wanted to nibble the crumbs that remained, I told them they could. I was still cleaning up Pumpkin's mess so I didn't go to check on the cookies.

Princess came up and said that she wanted to make sure that it was okay that they ate the cookies left in the bowl. Hmmmm. . . this was starting to sound a wee bit suspicious so I went and checked. Sure enough the bowl still had quite a bit of cookie dough that hadn't been scooped out. The wax paper was full of cookies, so Super P thought everything left in the bowl was fair game.



While cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, the kids started getting into trouble in the bathroom. . . well you get the idea. Crazy day. . .



But look at today! All fresh, clean, and white with the magic that the first snow of the season brings. It makes me think of the quote from Anne of Green Gables,


"Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it." Well, no mistakes yet anyway. . .

Anyone else have any days like this too???? Please tell me you do.

Winner!

The winner of the hand-embroidered purse is hotomom!
Congratulations!

Thanks so much to all of you for your overwhelming support of this giveaway! I must admit that I never dreamed the comments would reach 309 or that I would gain so many new followers. You are the BEST and I sincerely appreciate each and every one of you.

My Weekend

I spent part of my weekend creating another crayon and pad holder using the tutorial from Skip to my Lou. Pumpkin has really enjoyed hers, so I'm hoping her close-in-age cousin will also enjoy it for his birthday at the end of the month. I tried to use fabrics I already had on hand.

This weekend we have had some crazy cold weather and there have been promises of snow in the coming week. Hopefully that will translate into good sewing time. (Sometimes cold weather makes me want to curl up by our little electric fireplace with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate instead.) I have soooo many projects that need to get done I beginning to wonder if I will make it.

This week in particular seems like crunch time. Gifts that need to be mailed need to be finished fairly soon and my kiddos Sunday School Christmas program is this next Sunday. Shepherd costumes must be made.☺ Our church has most of the costumes that are needed, but none that fit Little Pumpkin. Christmas cards need to be addressed.

And I have a confession: We haven't even put up our tree or one single Christmas decoration. Isn't that terrible??? Hopefully that will happen this week too.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Almond Biscotti

Yesterday I was in the mood to bake. I have been craving biscotti for a while and yesterday, I decided, was the day. I doubled the recipe because in a family of six if you want any you have two choices: eat a lot really fast or make a lot to begin with. So I made a lot and have been eating quite a few just to make sure I get my fair share☺

It would make a lovely gift for someone with a delicious coffee to go along with it. (Green Mountain Newman's Own Cafe Almond Biscotti for example-YUM)

Anyway, would you like to bake along with me??? Biscotti is not hard to make, but there are a couple steps involved when you bake it.

Measure out your butter and sugar (I'm using unrefined Zulka sugar from the Mexican food aisle so that's why my sugar isn't completely white)



Cream the butter and sugar together.



Add in your eggs and vanilla. Cream again. (Little Pumpkin likes to talk to the eggs-"Hello eggs! How are you???? Fine??? Oh, Okay. . .I love you!" Makes me wonder if she will grow up to be a great chef who coaxes her food into something amazing)



Dump in your flour, baking powder, and salt (my salt is also unrefined so that's why you can see little speckles in it-so much tastier that the refined stuff. . .)



Mix it all up and stir in your almonds. Spread it out on a baking sheet 12 inches long by about 3 inches wide. It does spread a bit while baking. If you doubled the recipe like I did, you will need two baking sheets. Brush with a wee bit of milk and sprinkle with sugar.



Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.



Cool for a bit and then slice diagonally 1/2 inch thick.



Bake again reducing the heat to 300° for 1o minutes and then flip them over and bake again for another 10 minutes. Allow to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar. I stuck a wooden spoon handle into the door to keep it a little bit open.



Oh, so good! I might have to go sneek another one. You won't tell anyone will you???

Almond Biscotti

1/2 cup butter, softened
1- 1/4 c. sugar, divided
3 eggs
1 tsp anise or vanilla extract (I used vanilla)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
Dash of salt
1/2 c. chopped almonds
2 tsp. milk

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and 1 cup sugar.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in anise or vanilla.
Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture.
Stir in almonds.

Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Divide the dough in half; spread into two 12 inch by 3 inch rectangles.
Brush with milk and sprinkle with remaining sugar.
Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Remove from the oven and reduce heat to 300°.


Lift rectangles gently onto a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.
Place on cutting board; slice diagonally 1/2 inch thick.
Place slices with cut side down on parchment lined baking sheets.


Bake for 10 minutes.
Turn biscotti over; bake 10 minutes more.
Turn oven off, leaving cookies in oven with door ajar to cool.


Store in airtight container.

Yield 3 1/2 dozen.

Giveaway Day!!!

a totally cute, but completely unrelated picture☺

It's here! It's here! Giveaway Day has begun!

Go to Sew Mama Sew to see a complete listing of all participating blogs and there are a ton! I could not be more excited. . .

But before you go to Sew Mama Sew to find other giveaways, don't forget to sign up for the giveaway right here on my blog if you haven't already. It has been so much fun to read all the things that you put in your bag. Lots of good ideas: I'm already going to have to add silly putty and floss to mine☺

A couple of other giveaways to enter locally are here at Pampering Beki and Country Living with the Veers. Super cute stuff I tell you.

Have fun checking out all the fun blogs and signing up for some fantabulous giveaways!