Got plain gift bag-itis?

Tonight, I sent my main man out to buy me gift bags.  He hit up the good ol' Dollar Tree but he came back with REALLY ugly bags.  They were not Christmas-y in the least.  Nope.  Not at all!  They were plain navy blue.  Huh?  What's a girl do do?  The presents need to be taken to school tomorrow morning and I have ugly gift bags. 

Well, thank goodness for my Cricut!  I could seriously kiss it at times like these.  I cut out some circles in 3 different sizes and some snow flakes using some scrapbook paper I had, grabbed some buttons and leftover ribbon and ended up with some pretty cute bags if I do say so myself!  I even used spray adhesive which made it super fast (and super sticky!).  In it the secretaries will find a cute Christmas mug, a snowman ornament and some peppermint bark.

I made snowmen out of the circles and layered the snowmen with the snowflake cutouts from my Cricut.  Then I added buttons for eyes and down the front, a ribbon for a scarf and painted on a nose and some black dots to form a cute happy face for our snowman.  Cute, no?

Christmas Craft:

Its not too late to get your Christmas craft on!  This one only took a few short minutes...would've taken less time if I hadn't had an 8 year old helper.  I've been dying to do this all month but I was super busy at the beginning of the month.  I had some surgery last Friday so the first part of the month was spent making sure that I had everything ready for Christmas.  Now that its over, I have some time to go back and do some things I really wanted to do.  I may even try to make gingerbread cookies...we'll see.

SO, the snowman ornament...who's seen these in the stores?  I totally thought I could do this...no problemo!

What you'll need:
clear glass ball ornaments
fake snow
black and orange paint pens
ribbon (optional)
white glitter (optional)

Take all the tops off your ornaments carefully!  You don't want to mess up the wire or the top part of the ornament!  Then fill with fake snow.

This is pretty messy...and much more so with an 8 year old!  Hubby will have to vacuum now since I can't!  I filled ours up about 2/3rds full so that the snow will move a bit. 

Here's Belle...She wanted to take a picture of her stuffing the ornament!

I found these nifty sharpie paint pens at Michael's.  They were sold individually which is nice.  You don't have to buy a big pack when you only need 2.  And, I have to tell you, I liked them better than other paint pens I've used in the past. 

Add a smiley face to your snowman.

And a carrot for its nose.

Here's all 3 of mine done.  You can see that I added a corncob pipe too.  It was an afterthought but the carrot looked so big that I wanted to balance him out a bit. 

Top him off with a cute ribbon.

And....VOILA!

You now have a super cute snowman ornament!  I think I love him.  I do have a thing for snowmen.  And, at a fraction of the cost, I now have my own!  I made 6.  I had the ribbon.  The ornaments came in boxes of 3 at the Dollar Tree (which had amazing Christmas stuff this year!).  I got the fake snow for $1.99 at AC Moore.  I got the paint pens at Micheal's for $1.99 for the black and $2.69 for the orange and I didn't even use a coupon!   Now that I have the pens and left over snow, I can make some more especially if I find clear ornaments on sale after Christmas!  I just adore that little guy.  I think I'll call him Fred.  Yep, Fred the snowman!

A great teacher gift

Mod Podge Initial Plate

Look out!

I told you they were coming!  You may get a couple of posts in the next couple of days...although its a bit busy around here but I'll try my hardest to get some more pictures taken of some of the things I've been doing around the house for the holidays!

First up:  Tinsel Tree

I made these a couple of years ago and LOVE them.  They are so fun and playful.  I have a couple of different sizes and different colors.  They are also super easy to make!  All you need is a cone, some tinsel, and the trusty hot glue gun (and have some scissors handy too!).  I bought my cone several years ago and then lost it....oops.  I found it again and was so excited to share with you this quick and easy tutorial!

Supplies:

First, you need to glue the tinsel to the very tip of the cone.  A lower temperature glue works best because hot glue and styrofoam are not friends. 

Then just start wrapping the tinsel around the cone.  You'll need to glue it in a few spots, especially for a large cone. 

See how I held the tinsel in place with my middle and ring fingers.  I flipped the tale of the tinsel over my index finger to give me room to glue.  Then just push it down and hold it for a sec and you're good to go.

When you get to the bottom, you're going to want to cut it and then glue it so that it covers the bottom of the side of the cone (not the bottom of the cone- they won't stand!).  Pull it back on the other side...about 180 degrees from where you put your last glue spot and glue it again so it does not slide off the bottom on one side.  You can do it several times if you feel the need but I usually only do the 2 times on the last row and have never had problems with them.

Here is what they look like with my snowmen. I actually have more but most of them go in the kitchen although they may not make it there this year.  I may put one or 2 out here to keep the other snowmen company.  We'll see.  I'm not showing you my whole black cabinet yet because I have a few things to add to it...remember my fall sign?  Yeah, I'm cooking up something for Christmas too.

And did you notice how in the first picture, the Christmas tree behind the blue tinsel tree is a little blurry?  My friend just taught me how to do that today!!  WooHoo!  Love the new camera!

Up next, a different kind of Advent Calendar!

I'm working on it...

I promise that in a few days, this blog will be much better!  I have so much to do right now between decorating and shopping and it HAS to get done.  You will get to see it all, have no fear!  The dining room is half way done, the living room is half way done. There are boxes everywhere.  I was going to wrap last night but there is no room.  I have a few projects I'm especially excited to share with you!  And, since I have an amazing husband who loves me so, I also have a new laptop and Canon Rebel XS to aid in the process of this blog!  And, I know Steph is busy with those two amazing girls!  One of them has some health conditions that prevent Steph from contributing as much as she'd like.  She has a couple of things I know she needs to share with us...hint, hint...but hasn't had the time (or energy really) to put them up here.  I'll get her on the phone late one night and get her to get them up.

Toni

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...Its on Its Way!

I'm so stinking excited about Christmas this year. It will be the LAST year in our house in Virginia and its going to be an unusually busy season for us! So, I'm going to start pulling out Christmas stuff this weekend. Yep...THIS WEEKEND!

A few days ago, Belle and I hit The Dollar Tree. I just love The Dollar Tree! One of the things that I like best about it is that the owners are from this neck of the woods. And, the wifey went to Longwood...my Alma Mater! A few years ago, they decided to promote higher education and donated $3 MILLION to my college...so yes, I happily give back to them! It has been hit or miss for me in recent years for Christmas decor. Well, can I tell you that its not the case this year. I think I could spend $50 on new Christmas decor. They also have an awesome new website where you can order in bulk online...too cool!

Here are a few of my favorites...and trust me, this is just a drop in the bucket!

They also had large felt ornaments and snowflakes...the likes of which I've already seen at Target for much more!

               I love these little cuties!  I think I need a few red ones for my hutch!  They also had some mirrored ones!  Yes! Mirrored ones!!  SO stinking cute!

 

I can just see these velvet stockings altered to be just ADORABLE!

 

I have a special project lined up for some tinsel.  I can't wait to show you! 

 

 You can buy these everywhere it seems, but I just loved TDT's colors this year...and not to mention they are a bit cheaper than the ones at Walmart and Target. 

 

Mirrored ball ornaments!  LOVE 'EM!

 

I just love the shape of these ornaments....and I need some new GREEN ornaments for my red, white and green tree.  

Speaking of my red white and green tree...I have a major craft that has been a year in the making (so what if I took 10 months off from them?) to show you very soon.  I have 3 left to complete...almost there! 

Pumpkin Dip

A couple of weeks ago, I made a wonderful dip. Steph is making it soon and will get a picture on here for us since I didn't take one then. It is so yummy and fitting for this time of year! It isn't low calorie though...darn that powdered sugar! I wonder if I could tweek it with some fat free cream cheese and splenda? I might give it a try soon.

1 package of cream cheese
15 oz can of pumpkin
16 oz. box of powdered sugar
cinnamon and either ginger, nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice. ... Read More

Beat the cream cheese till soft, then add sugar. Add pumpkin after its well mixed. I used nutmeg because I didn't have either the ginger or the pie spice and it was fine. I added a bit more cinnamon than it called for...so just add a little at a time and taste it till you like it. I served it with apples, pears, graham crackers, nilla wafers and ginger snaps!


I am doing Weight Watchers right now and found this one for a friend. If the above doesn't work out, I'm going to try this one! The points for the recipe are included!
Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup apple juice
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding, sugar free (3.4 ounces)
1 can pumpkin (reg size)
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (1/2 to 1 tsp)

In a mixing bowl, combine apple juice, pumpkin and dry pudding mix.
Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Stir in pumpkin pie spice. Let stand for
5 minutes. Serve on toast or English muffin. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

SERVING SIZE: 4 tablespoons

POINTS: 1

PER SERVING: 50 Calories, Trace Fat, 1 g Fiber

Nothing a little black paint can't fix...

As I wrote the other day, I've been doing a lot of prep work on some crafts around the house.  One of the things I've been working on is this cabinet.  It was U.G.L.Y.  I wish I was kidding.  I didn't take a before picture because you would've said..."You spent $10 on that?"  Yep.  I did.  I saw its potential.  And, even though it is slightly TOO big, it does look great!  I had to WASH it before I did anything.  I really wish you had seen how black it was.  YUCK!  I sanded and sanded it down on top.  I mean, there was all kind of gunk on it.  I also had to pry the old handles off.  I skipped the whole priming it thing because the paint that was on it WAS primer.  Then I painted it.  And painted it.  Because it was WHITE underneath, it took several coats and a small touch up brush to get rid of all the white.  I only painted the outside of the cabinet.  You'll never see the inside.  I didn't even take the doors off the hinges.  I didn't want to take them off and change them so I just painted right over them.  You can't tell.  Its not, I'm sure, what the "experts" would do but for a $10 cabinet, I didn't want to invest more money on hinges...especially when I'm not sure where it will end up when we move to San Diego.  It might be in the garage...and then who cares, right? 

I love it!  Reed even loves it!  And with it "dressed" for fall...perfect, for me anyway.  I had a couple of those things laying around the house but mostly I bought stuff for the top of it.  I know...bad.  But, the runner and the lamp are the only things that will stay there year round and they are also the only things over $10.  I picked up those little flower pots at Micheal's for half off and they were cheap to begin with.  I had one of the silver pumpkins...although it was green and I had to paint it silver to match the other one.  The books are mine.  I did get the pedestal at Target and the candle too.  I got the other glass pumpkins and the other silver pumpkin at Ross for cheap. I love a pumpkin!  I had that silver tray that we will use for mail and other odds and ends that end up right next to the front door.  I've been getting GIDDY just thinking about it a cute for Christmas.  I can't wait! 

And, it really serves its purpose!  Look at all I can fit in there...and there's more room!  Plus, if you look closely, you might see how nasty it was inside there.  Don't worry, its clean...just not so pretty!

 

Fall Sign

Ok, I'm slightly in love with this new sign I made.  I think I may make one for Christmas, Spring/Easter, and the 4th of July.  And, maybe any other season or holiday too.  I love it THAT much. And the cost on these babies?  Free for me...but really, I think you could do it for under $10.  I have a HUGE scrap-stash so I had lots to work with.  And I swear that it is way cuter than anything I just saw at the last local craft show.

I'm linking it up to Today's Creative Blog!


Here is what I used:
2 coordinated scrapbook papers 12x12 (1 sheet will be the main pattern, the other the accent)
2 different colors of card stock that complement the scrapbook paper
4 brads
3 flowers
3 buttons
11x14 black frame (I got mine at Walmart for $5 a couple of years ago and never used it)

You'll need to trim an inch off of one side of both pieces of scrapbook paper to make it 11 inches.  Then I glued the accent paper to the back of the main patterned paper so that I essentially had a piece of paper that was 11x14.  I used my Cricut to cut out the letters "FALL" and then I distressed them using gold ink.  I cut the other color of cardstock in a rectangle to fit the fall letters.  I used the brads to hold them together.  Then I glued the flowers down along with the buttons.  The nice thing about the cheap frames from Walmart is that they have a thin cardboard backing so it allows for some of it to bulge in the back. 

Ain't she cute?  Don't you love her too?  Really, this is way easy to do.  Just adjust it to suit you.  Use a smaller frame.  Use ribbon instead of flowers.  Use wrapping paper if you don't have scrapbook paper.  I was on the phone with Steph while I made this, from start to finish and it took less than an hour!  I'm sure it would've taken less time if I'd been able to settle on my scrapbook paper. 

What's the hold up?

So, this rockin' craft blog of ours hasn't been so rockin' lately.  I'm working on it!  The past couple of weeks have been just a TAD bit busy!  Belle was baptized on the 11th and her birthday was on the 18th although we celebrated on the 17th with a bowling birthday party.  I have been busy...and my can of black paint has been my best friend.  No joke.  I now have a black front door.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it would look better any color other than WHITE.  YUCK.  But, what color?  I've been thinking about this for years.  My plan was to paint he shutters outside which are black and then the door to match.  Well, the shutters are already black and look pretty good with the white siding and red brick.  I bought black paint for some other projects and decided that I would have PLENTY to go around...and why not a black front door?  I can't WAIT to see my Christmas wreath on it! 

I have a very LONG list of things on my to do list.  As I get them done, I'll post about them here.  In addition to my new black front door, I'm also painting an old cabinet that I got at a garage sale for $10.  It was hideous!  I had to sand the top of it pretty good.  I'm still not pleased with it but I'm not sure you'll notice the imperfections when its all decorated.  Fall decorations are waiting for it!  Another black paint project is my grandma's coffee table.  It also has a crack in it so its going to take some repairing too.  I need to make some new dog beds for the dogs.  I also started a project last winter.  I can't wait to share it with you because it is SUPER cute!  And, there's more!  I'm just in prep mode.  Stay tuned!

The other day I was making Velveeta Shells for a girls since it had been a crazy day and I couldn't think of anything to feed them. As I was getting ready to throw the box away I noticed a yummy looking recipe on the back. I figured Lil Boo ( my oldest daughter) would really like it. So.... I went to Walmart for more Shells.
It was really good. I liked it even better the next day for lunch. I knew my youngest daughter Mamacita) wouldn't touch it, but I just saved a little of the shells and cheese out for her.
I didn't put the tortilla chips on top, and I used whatever salsa and taco seasoning that I had on hand.

VELVEETA Nacho Bake
Recipe Rating: Prep Time: 15 minTotal Time: 35 minMakes: 6 servings
1 pkg. (12 oz.) VELVEETA Shells & Cheese Dinner
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
3/4 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided
3/4 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa
1/2 cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips

HEAT oven to 400°F. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, cook meat with taco seasoning as directed on package.

STIR sour cream into prepared Dinner. Spoon 1/2 of Dinner mixture into 8-inch square baking dish; top with layers of meat mixture, 1/2 of Cheddar and remaining Dinner mixture. Cover.
BAKE 15 min.; top with salsa, remaining Cheddar and crushed chips. Bake, uncovered, 5 min.

Too many projects..

So I have been busy shopping all of my Goodwill's and the other thrift stores lately. I keep finding things that can be remade. Only problem is now I officially have too many projects, no more storage place, and no place to put the finished product. Of course that isn't stopping me though.
Steph

Its FALL!

I love fall!  Did you know that?  I love to decorate for fall.  I love the smells of fall.  I love the weather.  Pretty much, I love everything about the season.  This year, we've had a really nice fall so far.  We've never turned our AC off this early.  In fact, last year, I didn't turn it off till mid-November!  ANNNYWAY...my favorite room to decorate is my dining room!  I inherited my grandma's furniture but the chairs were in bad shape so I also now own my mom's old dining room chairs.  I dig them even if they are hard to move.  They aren't antique like the rest of the stuff in there but they look pretty okay.  I love both the china cabinet and the buffet and I love them most during fall and Christmas.  Here's my fall look:

See?  There are my lovely sunflower topiaries!  Cute!  Steph pointed out that since I didn't glue the balls onto the sticks, I only need 2 new balls and some different flowers to match other decorations!  So true!  I may try red and white roses for Christmas.  I made that other flower arrangement last year.  There is a mirror behind it with gold and red colored beads on it.  The flowers are red and orange daisies and green hydrangeas.  The daisies are in the center, then the hydrangeas on the outside.  I also stuck REAL sticks in the arrangement, right out of the front yard.  That bucket came from the dollar spot at Target last year...LOVE the dollar spot!  And then around the egdes is moss.  The toile dishes were from my grandma.  I love them!  The charger...well, I just like it and needed something to balance out the dishes on the other side.  I also found that great ceramic pumpkin at Target last year on clearance.  The other glass pumpkins came from Ross.  I stumbled across them on a shopping trip a few weeks ago and went a little overboard with the glass pumpkins.  There are 4 more smaller ones on the table.  See, I bought some awesome glass pumkins for my mom and my sister way back when at my favorite shop (in Maine...not in Virginia...boo) and have been searching for my own ever since.  For me, a display like this really needs to be balanced on both sides because there are 2 of the same lamps on each side.  When I worked at Lillian Vernon in college, I was in charge of balancing our shelf displays.  It helps lots of stuff look less cluttered, don't you think?  I'm a little anal about it!  The reason the ceramic pumpkin made it to the buffet was because there is a coffee cup infront of the toile dishes.  See?  Anal, I tell you!

 

 

Don't look too closely at my china cabinet!  It needs some serious windex.  There are all kinds of finger prints at the top of the door from me opening and closing it.  More toile dishes.  More ceramic pumpkins.  The small white ones are from the dollar tree!  Seriously!  Too cute.  Then there's some garland from Michael's thrown in there on the middle shelf.  The cream colored dishes match the charger although I would never use them together (I have brown for that..and black...and red...and black...and maybe gold too).  I don't have china, except the plates hanging in this room but I did want a really nice set of dishes to use in this room that matched the room.  They were a Christmas present from mom and dad a couple of years ago.  I heart them!  I seriously wish that this cabinet lit.  Granted, the shelves are wood so the light wouldn't reach the bottom anyway...but the top shelf sure would look pretty!  I tried putting small tap lights in there tonight but the light was too blue (halogen).  

I'll post more pictures of the dining room soon.  Like I said, this is just a peek!  See, I ran out of storage space in the dining room.  I have vases, candle holders and serving dishes that have no home right now.  I've been looking for a cabinet or dresser to store this stuff and had a spot all picked out for it...in the hallway right by the front door.  Well, I found one last weekend at a yardsale but it needs some work.  I plan on starting tomorrow to getting it look up to par.  I can't wait to see it painted black, housing my stuff, with some more cute pumpkins and fall decor on top.  Stay tuned...you'll see it as soon as its done!

Toni

What's Pottery Barn got that I don't?

See these cuties?  They are a pretty penny at Pottery Barn.  I saw them a couple of weeks ago and was instantly in love.  Yep.  I needed them.  Then I looked at the price tag, I about died.  Online it says they are $59!  See why I almost died?  YIKES!

But, I knew that I could make them!  I had the sticks from some leaf branches that I bought for another project.  I also had some floral foam to put in the pots.  So I hit Michael's tonight WITHOUT a coupon.  Shame on me!  But I still only spent about $19!  Here's my supply list:

2 branches

2 pots

2 foam balls

floral foam cut to fit in the pots

44 flower blooms

moss

First fit the floral foam into the pots.  I wish I had put rocks in the bottom or even maybe plaster of paris to make it more substantial.  Mine are a little wobbly and I will have to be careful when I store them.

Then I cut my sticks at about the same height and placed them in the foam about about the same height.

I went ahead and placed the balls on the sticks too to get them just about even.  It also helped knowing where the top and the bottom is while gluing them on.

Then I had Belle take all the blooms off while I started gluing them on with the handy dandy hot glue gun.

 

 Isn't she cute?  Belle too!  :-D

 

I love them!!!  I can't wait to get the dining room all decorated for fall!  I gotta figure out what to do with all my pumpkins though.  I have a bit too many!! Yikes!

Also, take note of my red birdhouse/candle holder.  It was UGLY green.  I spray painted it RED and love it!  I figure I can do RED for fall, Christmas, Valentines Day and the 4th of July!  She's a beaut!  For fall, she has red, orange and gold bead garland from Michael's, some fall leaves and a yellow candle.  Please ignore the Gymboree bag in the background...its Gymbucks time... I just now noticed it. 

Toni