Christmas Tidbits

Hope you had a Joyeux Noel. This is the sign I made for my friend, Brandi's birthday. It was in October...Mama needs a Cricut!! And she's gettin' one soon!!

Christmas at the In-law's. Looks like Santa forgot to take other families their presents, huh?? The two dark haired beauties belong to a friend.

The dad who made me. Friends don't let friends do drugs. K? My dad is only 60 and has had a wild ride. He normally has facial hair and favors Sam Elliot. The treatment facility he is at makes the guys shave their facial hair. He gets to come home once a month and we celebrated Christmas with him this past weekend.

My little girl and her twin cousin. They look a lot alike in real life. Genes are crazy things!!

My dad's famous(infamous-;)) peach cobbler. Let's just say I need some brillo pads. Yeah, fun Monday!!

My Pink Christmas package I made. Not my best, I don't think. I was wondering what was wrong with that sign and by the time I figured it out, I was not redoing it. No siree, Bob!!

Fishee-boy at the in-laws opening a gift. He caught on quickly, of course, he really loved the boxes this year!!

Jackson at my mom's house. Yeah, these photos are in no particular order!! Dumb blogger won't let me move them. Hummph!!

The dad who raised me. Thanks for that!! He used to remind me of Travis Tritt. All my daddy's look like famous people!!

Lilly with her daddy. Still at Mom's...

And blogger has these enormous gaps between pictures. What??

My Mom's tree. I love it!! This is the tree that I basically grew up with. So BIG and full!!

I hesitated posting this picture, because it is so not flattering of me, but I had to show off the pj's that my husband finally got me for Christmas Eve. Yes, he caught on after 7 years of marriage!!

The photo of my children that would have been put in with Christmas cards had they been sent out. I was pleased with how it turned out.

Christmas Eve...I made the stockings. That night!! All except the one on the right. Emilie gave me that one for our stocking swap. Sorry the picture is so dark. I did decorate my mantle that night too. Just couldn't get it together this Christmas. Of all the Charlie Browns, I was the Charlie Browniest.

Santa came!! Woohoo!!

The beautiful children in their Christmas Eve pj's.

We had a great Christmas!! Next year I vow to actually get to a few things I didn't do this year. And find more ways to incorporate Christ into our holiday. After all, it is His birthday, not ours.

Happy soon to be New Year!!

Motley Crew of Christmas Stuff

I am sitting here posting instead of doing the million other things I should be doing. Anyone relate?? Anyhow, of course my pictures are flipped again and I cannot move them. Okay, the above photo is all my packages ready to go to a cookie/ornament exchange that my friend, Jaime, hosted. I am a firm believer that packaging is almost everything. I love to make it look fun and festive. The cookies(whose recipe I will post soon) are in my favorite fun plastic bags and I had to add a bunch of ribbon and fun bow to the basket to tote them. I even snuck in a felt deer. The ornament is in the polka dot bag and the hostess gift is in the takeout box. You can see it below.

I just took a clear glass ball from Michael's, added in some fake snow, used rub-ons to spell snow and some fun, festive ribbon completes the little gift. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the actual ornament I took for the exchange. It was cute, though!!

Lilly, very fashionable in her brother's clothes, wanted to help me cook one day, so I let her stir the pot. Gotta love those boots. Three kids later and they don't fit anymore.

Our little peppermint baby...

Another little hostess gift. Kimmy, one of the girls in our homeschool group, hosted a Mom's party and we exchanged $10 or under gifts. Oh, forgot to add that onto the post, but I will, along with the cookie recipe. Anywho, here I just put some Bob's soft candy canes in a jar(I pick these up from the thrift shops all the time) with lots of ribbon and a tag. I love inexpensive, but cute ideas.

Hope y'all have a Happy Friday!! I am off to shower and hopefully find Christmas Eve pj's. Nothing like waiting until the last minute...

A little prim, A little priss, Mrs. Claus's Kitchen, You don't want to miss!!

I've been a little busy trying to get ready for Christmas like the rest of you!! My computer is finally straight(hopefully) thanks to my friend, Jaime. Thank you, Jaime!! I had to show y'all some pictures from around my home, starting with the heart, the kitchen. I love the happy colors of the above photo. Almost everything was thrifted, except the tin cookie plate. Can you believe someone would get rid of those jars?? I'm glad they did-I love them!!

These pictures got flipped and I could not move them...Anywho, even the ugly chandelier got a little gussied up. Love the ribbon-y goodness!! I mixed a little brown, green ricrac, some fun polka dots, and others.

A full shot...I did buy an ugly brass chandelier to paint and fix up. Baby steps...

Have you been naughty or nice?? My friend, Brandi, gave me the dishcloths along with some other goodies for my birthday. Aren't they cute?? Mrs. Claus has been busy baking Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Pecan Cookies for a cookie exchange-Yum!! Gotta fatten up the husband, he has a very busy night ahead of him soon!!

A slightly prim area. I love cookie cutters and cannot resist when I see one for less than a dollar. I just put some of my Christmas cookie cutters in my dough bowl along with one of my favorite cookbooks and some fake cranberries. Fun, festive wooden candy canes in a hurricane. The sign was a penny at Garden Ridge this summer. I just love me a good bargain and so does the husband!! Actually, he would probably rather I didn't spend any money at all, but we all have our vices, right??

Hope you all enjoyed the sneak peak at my Christmas kitchen!!

Merry Christmas!!

Marinated Cheese

Marinated Cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

3 T. chopped fresh parsley

3 T. minced green onions

1 t. sugar

3/4 t. dried basil

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced(I use my Pampered Chef Garlic Press-love that thing!!)

1 2oz. jar pimientos, drained

1 8oz. block sharp cheddar cheese, chilled

1 8oz. package cream cheese, chilled

Combine 1st ten ingredients in a jar, cover, and shake well. Slice cheese in half lengthwise, then slice crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Repeat with cream cheese. Stand cheese on its side in a flat bottomed dish(I use a long, rectangular Glad container), alternating cheeses. Pour marinade over the top of cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight. When ready to use, transfer cheese to a platter, spoon marinade over top. Enjoy with crackers.

I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it!! It is so good and great because you make it the night before. The other dish in the photo(pitiful picture, I know) is my Artichoke Dip. Both of these recipes come from Southern Living Ultimate Appetizers.

It's Okay to Say MERRY CHRISTMAS

It really is...

A Very Un-Christmas Post

Hey Y'all,
If I am scarce around here, I will blame it on my computer. My mouse has taken to not working when it feels like it. I don't know if the computer is trying to get a virus or something, hopefully not...I have heard that the mouse is the first to start acting whack. I did purchase bsafeonline yesterday, but I am praying its not too late. A new computer is so not in the budget. Send your well wishes and prayers and hopefully I will be back with fun Christmas stuff. We are going to the Fox Theatre tonight to view The Polar Express and there will be snow(fake) and carolers, etc. I will take pictures, of course!! The best part...its FREE!!!
Our soup potluck went well on Saturday. We enjoyed being able to have our friends over and be able to catch up. My son has to act like he's on crack when other kids are around, and tried to open his sister's window-um, not safe-second floor window-nothing to break a fall onto concrete. Crazy nut!!
Okay, gotta go get ready for Lilly's ballet. They are having an open class today, so Daddy's and grandparents can come. Yay!!

A Stocking for Emilie

I was excited to be able to make Emilie another package. It is so fun to give and make things for people you "get", especially like-minded peeps or ones with similar style. Emilie loves the letter E, so I knew I wanted to get her stocking monogrammed. I didn't want to pay upwards of $8-$12. I was in one of my favorite antique shops for their Christmas open house and met a lady who embroiders and she only charged $3 for this. I was sooo excited!! I didn't have the black velveteen I wanted but realized that I did have this chenille bedspread in my van still. I had tried to sell it at a yard sale this spring or summer. Yeah, I don't much like de-cluttering. ;)
I had to do black and white toile since Emilie loves toile. I had seen in an old Family Circle magazine a stocking with a similar shape and loved it. Hence, the quirky shape...

Emilie uses frogs in her Christmas decor so when I found these spreaders I had to get them.

An E block. Love the shape. Found it the same night at the antique shop. I also got some that spelled Let it Snow.

I made the shutter ornaments. Love all the ribbons. I think I could have a ribbon shop. I would be happier than a pig in slop!!

The JOY sign I made also. Just took a wood plaque and wiped green craft paint on with a paper towel(couldn't find a paint brush...), modge podged some scrapbook paper, then stenciled the word.

Emilie wanted to collect Elves but didn't have any. I found some that same night at the antique shop. I thought they were scary-cute.

Some more stocking stuffers...two green mugs, Starbucks giftcard, a monogrammed key chain, cozy socks, an elf ornament, some other treats and goody bags for her kiddies.
I had so much fun putting together this package for Emilie!! Thank you, Robin, for hosting such a fun swap!!

I've died and woke up in the North Pole!!

I know I was gonna tell y'all about my fabulous package from Emilie a few days ago. Just know that sometimes a few minutes might really be a few hours(my husband can vouch for that-one time he left me at Kohl's and went home) and later on in the day might be a few days. Okay, now that we have that out of the way...I was sooo excited to be pair with Emilie for the Christmas Stocking Swap that Robin hosted. We already had an awesome Halloween Swap, so I knew this one would be just as great. I was not disappointed. Look at cute it was packaged!!

Emilie got the kids little gifties too!! Here is Fisher trying to figure out what this is. She gave them a book, a puzzle and a candy cane. Yeah, I gave my children the candy cane right after breakfast!!

Um, love the box and the glittered key. Emilie is the master of glitter. Lovin' the ribbony goodness...

The stocking. So beautiful. Her personal seamstress and my new bf ;), Jenny, made this stocking. I LOVE it!! Lilly thought it was going to be hers. Silly girl!!

Let's see what else...a vintage looking Santa plaque, a vintage style Santa glass ornament, glittery JOY garland, a glittered deer(how did she know I was heartin' deer this year??), a pretty embossed(?) mug with hot chocolate and candy canes(yum), and apple cinnamon candle that is burning right now, a wonderfully fluffy, GORGEOUS rag garland in my Christmas colors-it even has brown!!, Santa tissue that Lilly faked a snotty nose to use ;), red felt coasters, a silver tinselly ball ornament, oh, red Christmas toile fabric that I can sew with!!, a big ole' glittered snowflake...
Oh gosh, one of my other faves-a primitive wooden candy cane. I wanted some of these last year after one of my friend's had some.

Look at that fabulous snowflake!! That thing is as big as my face!! Love it!! I actually bought myself another one when I found it at the store. Now they are in my foyer windows.
See the key?? Isn't it a beauty?? Jackson said it was our magic key. Um, yes, I agree!! You can see the detail on the mug also. And that candy cane...swoon. Is it wrong to love a candy cane so?? If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be right...Heck, some of my real life friends would agree that I am not right!!

Love that garland!! Oh, my, goodness, it is luscious!! And it has another one of the candy canes. Ho, ho, ho!! Look at that little round guy. Love him!!
Thank you, Emilie, for a great package!!! Merry Christmas!!

Dining room progress

Hey y'all!! We have progress in the dining room. Yay!! We(my husband) has one more coat to paint and trimming it out. So far I really love it!! I also found a table and two chairs at Goodwill. They will not look the same as they do now. The table is not the picnic table I envisioned, but at $25, I could not pass it up. It will be receiving a makeover very soon, as we have our Young Couples Fellowship coming over Saturday for a soup potluck.

After all of the painting is complete, and the spring and Halloween is gone, and it is Christmassed up, then you know I will share updated pics. Oh, and later today, in my spare time(yeah, right!!), I will show y'all my awesome Christmas stocking from the swap. You don't want to miss that goodness!!