Getting Organized!

 Last fall my father in law offered me a large sized shutter after I expressed interest in one for a project.  I knew I wanted to paint it and use it to hold Christmas cards.  Behold:

I began by painting it red, but the red spray paint I bought was cheap.  It's worth the extra couple of dollars to buy Krylon or Rustoleum.  And while I definitely didn't set out to paint it gold, I happened to have some Krylon metallic gold on hand because I used it to paint the crowns for the Wise men to wear during the children's music at church :)  One quick, coat and my card holder was reborn.

I'm honestly thinking of painting the backside Krylon red and using it during the year as decor in my living room, then flipping it to the gold side during the holidays.  Can't lose :)

I almost put a solid piece of wood behind the slats so the cards don't fall through, but OBVIOUSLY that won't work if I plan to use both sides alternately during the year.  I grabbed a couple of decorated clothespins to hold up Christmas card photos, and just slipped standard cards onto the slats.  Voila!  Organized and attractive (at least I think so).

My next organizing project was this purse organizer that I've been thinking about for some time now.  I have a darling Vera Bradley make up bag that I keep in my purse to hold various objects.  But they always manage to turn over, slip to the bottom and get lost in the great abyss.

Ta da!!!  I made pockets for each item, slipped the belongings in, rolled it up and tucked it into my make up bag.  It's SO nice.  Now when I reach for my nail file, it's up right, where I can find it, not laying down at the bottom, stabbing me as I try to grab it.  I love little things that bring me incredible joy :)

The Christmas Story!

I read it every year, usually several times.  It's beautiful, and I never tire of it.  Here it is for you to enjoy as well:

¹ And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
² This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
³ So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife,who was with child.


⁶ So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.


¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 
¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 

¹⁴ “ Glory to God in the highest, 
      And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
¹⁵ So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”


¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
¹⁸ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
²⁰ Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.


Luke 2:1-20 NKJV

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Last week I stitched up a couple of these little gems: Homemade Heating Pads.  Microwave for up to 2 minutes to soothe away aches and pains, and keep toes toasty.  Or, throw them in the freezer and you have an instant cold compress for bumps and bruises.  Each flannel bag contains extra clean deer corn combined with cinnamon to make them smell wonderful.  The bags are then slipped into a matching 'pillow case' to keep them clean.  Oils from the skin and less than meticulous microwaves can get the bags really dingy, and since they can't be washed, the pillow case makes a great barrier, which can be machine washed and dried prior to the next use.

My girls love them, and Autumn uses hers nearly every night.  I love to put mine under my feet while I watch TV!  Unlike rice, corn heats more evenly and retains heat longer.  At least, in my opinion it does :)

A couple of tips if you make one of your own; 1) Use extra-clean deer corn, which can be purchased at Wal-Mart of all places.  Anything less will be really dusty and dirty to work with.  2) I like the scent of cinnamon, but any essential oil can be added to make the bags smell terrific.  3)  Do not heat for more than 2 minutes at a time.  Longer heating times can result in burns to the skin, and scorching of the corn inside.  Then it won't matter what you've scented it with, it will smell burnt.  4)  Use 100% cotton fabric.  Polyester blends can catch fire.  Obviously I don't need to elaborate on this tip :)

This one is mine.  It's made from ultra soft flannel and it's wonderful on those nights where the mercury drops to arctic temperatures :)

This one was intended for Cayla, but Autumn saw it and, well, the rest is history.  Cayla didn't stand a chance :)

I joined the link party at:

Glittered Christmas Lights!

Once again, Pinterest strikes.  This time with inspiration for Christmas.

Old style Christmas lights.......purchased at a church Christmas bazaar for $.50.

I have to confess....I hate glitter.  Well, I hate working with glitter, and I really hate when my kids want to use glitter.  But I love the results, so I stifled my glitter hatred and proceeded.  I wanted white or silver, super fine glitter, but I was too cheap to pay for it, so I kept searching.  I  found this 5-pack of colors on sale for $2.50 at a Craft Warehouse where my parents live.

Using a plastic cutting board as a work station, I covered the lights with Mod Podge and poured my glitter into a pinch pot so I could easily sprinkle it onto my lights.  Each light took about 30 seconds to create and I clipped them between clothes pins so they could dry.

I selected the most Christmassy (Yes it's a word.  It means anything pertaining to Christmas) looking colors to work with, but I think the blue is my favorite.  I know, I was surprised too because usually I gravitate towards all things pink!

Using some acrylic clear coat I sprayed the lights so the glitter wouldn't flake off and get on everything.  I think they turned out cute, and super festive.

So, what are you waiting for?  Go make some glitter lights!

I'm linked up:

Truffles Revisited!

Remember this?

Last Christmas, you may remember I made the most wonderful Oreo truffles (if I do say so myself).  My kids loved them and it was so simple I figured it was time to revisit the recipe and make them for one of our kid-friendly Thanksgiving desserts.  You can find the original post here and I've included the recipe below if you want to try them.  One more thing, the recipe calls for almond bark to dip the truffles in and I opted once again, to use CandiQuik.  As I said originally, it's more expensive but it's SO worth the price.  CandiQuik heats nice and evenly and can be reheated over and over, whereas I've found almond bark is not that easy to work with.  Almond bark can only be heated once and after that it hardens while heating, and then scorches.  Just my opinion!

Oreo truffles, dipped in CandiQuik, with harvest sprinkles!

Oreo truffles, dipped in CandiQuik and drizzled in orange frosting with autumn nonpareils.   (I wasn't as fond of the orange frosted truffles, but Autumn loved them and since she helped me decorate, I let her go for it. )

Easy Oreo Truffles

1 - 16.6 oz. (standard size) package Oreos
1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 - 16 oz. package CandiQuik vanilla (or chocolate if you prefer) coating
Nonpareils, icing, crushed Oreos or other 'toppings/decorations' of your choice

Directions:  Crush Oreos (I used my blender and it was awesome, but you can use whatever method suits you.  I hear a plastic bag with a rolling pin works.)
In mixing bowl, combine crushed Oreos with cream cheese.  Mix together thoroughly.  Shape into balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.  Put truffles into refrigerator (or freezer) to chill.  I left mine for over an hour.
In a separate bowl, heat half the blocks of CandiQuik (if you heat it all at once it will ALL get Oreo chunks in it and turn 'dirty'.) and, using a fork dip the truffles into the CandiQuik, coating thoroughly.  Set aside in mini cupcake liners or on wax paper.  Immediately sprinkle on nonpareils or other decorations and set aside to harden.

That's it!  Super easy, super fun, super quick and super delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pinterest Accomplishment!

 This evening I finally made a couple of the items I had pinned on Pinterest.  The first one was a treat for Chuck.  These peanut butter dog bones were a snap to make.  I found a dog bone shaped cookie cutter at JoAnn Fabrics and knew I had to try making some treats.  They're made with human grade ingredients so I decided to taste one.  They're awful......because they have no sugar. Chuck however, LOVED them.  The recipe is below (with my notes in red) if you want to make some for your furry friend.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Ingredients:

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 cup natural peanut butter (really? my dog thought the Great Value brand was just fine)

1 cup non-fat milk (I only had 2% and it was perfect - just ask Chuck)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

Next, I made dinner for the family.  With human grade ingredients - just in case you were wondering :)  This baked spaghetti was E-A-S-Y and you know if I'm saying it's easy it really IS easy.  The family loved it and fortunately, I decided in advance not to use a 9x13 dish, but instead, to divide it between two 8x8 dishes. I put one of the dishes in the freezer and we'll save that one for another night.  Cook once, eat twice - YES! Bonus!!!

I've made baked spaghetti many times before and we always thought it was decent, but this recipe contains the magic ingredient.........cream cheese.  It really improved the flavor, making it creamier, and it helps the spaghetti to stick together so after it's baked it cuts apart in nice, tidy little squares.  You know I like tidy!!!  I used the following recipe - my revisions are in red :)  ENJOY!!!

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole

Adapted from Food.com and salad-in-a-jar.com

12 oz spaghetti (I used 16 oz.)
1 (28 ounce) jars prepared spaghetti sauce
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced (I left this out)
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated (It was pre-grated, in the little green can :)

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

In a skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked through; drain fat and stir in spaghetti sauce.  Set aside.

Cook spaghetti according to directions on packet.  Drain and place cooked spaghetti in bowl.  Add cream cheese, Italian Seasoning and minced garlic.  Stir until cream cheese is melted and the spaghetti is thoroughly coated. 

Lightly grease a 9x13" pan.  Spread a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of the dish.  Put spaghetti on top of sauce and top with remaining meat sauce.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.

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So that's it!  Dinner for us, treats for Chuck and the feeling of accomplishment for having actually used one of my Pinterest pins!!!

Be Thankful!

It's the season for giving thanks, and what better way than with a list.  Because you all know how much I LOVE a list?!  So, here are 10 things I'm thankful for.  They're a tad out of the norm, but I figured family and friends go without saying.......I hope you'll play along and add your list in the comments section......

1)  Pinterest - Pinterest is a list-lovers dream only better, because it's pictures.

2)  Sweet Potato Casserole - It's the only sweet potato dish I really like and it's my sister's recipe so you know it's incredible.  If you've ever had Thanksgiving with us, you've had it.  And if you didn't try it, you only cheated yourself because it's amazing!!!

3)  Spray Paint - I've gone a little crazy lately painting everything in sight, or planning to anyhow.  For just a few bucks, spray paint turns trash into treasure.  LOVE!

4)  Lists - Whether they're on my phone, my Mac, or just a slip of paper, I'd be a disorganized mess without my lists.  Lists are essential.  And obviously the people at 3M think so too.....have you checked the price of "Post-It's" lately?

5)  Mason Jars - They're not just for canning anymore Toto!  I store everything from spools of thread to decorated clothes pins in mine.

6)  Organization - Admittedly, I'm not always on top of it, but I'm still thankful for it.  When I see rooms, cabinets, items, stores, anything completely organized, it gives me this wonderful, warm feeling.

7)  Discounts - Because retail is sooooo overrated!

8)  Blizzards - No, not the kind that shuts down streets and knocks out power.  The ice cream kind.  And as a member of the Blizzard Fan Club, I get 6 "buy one get one" coupons a year.  It's a family fave :)

9)  Humor - I'm grateful to God for giving us a sense of humor.  Afterall, who doesn't love to laugh so hard they have tears in their eyes?!

10) Tooth brushes - Yep!  I said it.  I'm thankful for tooth brushes.  Admit it, you are too.  As a child, I loved getting a new one from the dentist, and today, as an obsessive teeth brusher, I still love cracking open the package on a colorful, perfect-bristled brush.

Just so you know, this isn't just some list I randomly threw together.  I genuinely, at one time or another, have pondered the things above and thought, "Man, I'm thankful for this."  And I've thought it more than once about Post-It notes :)

Happy Thanksgiving!  Be Thankful!!!