Monday, November 07, 2011

Christmas Crafts To Try

  It's feeling very Christmasy around here. We got our first real snowfall this weekend & the Christmas music has started in full force. I was working on whipping up a Christmas banner for a friend this weekend. I'm almost done & will post photos & details soon.

  As many of you, I've been pinning lots of wonderful craft ideas for Christmas on Pinterest. Here's some crafty projects I plan to do for this Christmas:

You may remember that I found some vintage spools on my last thrifty outing
This is what I plan to do with them.

Update: To see the ones I made, click here.

via

I've started on these candy canes already. I'm doing mine in blues & greys. 
I quite like the twine & newsprint too. 
I think sheet music would look divine as well.
via

I have a big bag of pinecones I love to use & have been looking for different ways to incorporate them into my Christmas decor. I have this exact vase & think this is a fun use of spray paint. 
My Christmas colours are blue, white & silver. I think I'll paint them in those colours.

Update: To see the ones I made, click here.

via

I've been diligently saving toilet paper tubes to use as treat packages for my kid's little school friends. 
I have several different ideas like this pinned. We'll see which one I go with. :)

Update: To see the ones I made, click here.
via

So, what were you up to this weekend? Anyone decorating for Christmas yet?

Enjoy your day!
Linkin" Up:


Friday, November 04, 2011

This Weekend's Project

  This weekend, I'm delving into another Christmas project. This one is for a friend of mine who owns a store & wants to hang a "Merry Christmas" banner in her front window. Here's the inspiration:

Source
She wants her banner to actually be two separate banners. One for "Merry" & one for "Christmas".

I'm excited to start working on it! I'll post about it once it's finished.

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Birthday Card Bliss

  Birthdays... they come every year without fail. They seem to be coming more often the older I get. Why is that? My birthday isn't for another month, but just posting these has me thinking about my upcoming birthday... I think I'll throw myself a party... But seriously, what lady wouldn't enjoy getting a hand made card for her birthday? I know guys aren't always appreciative of this kind of thing, but ladies usually are, right?


I stamped that flourish with brown ink, then used Stickles to "colour" it in.



  Have you got a birthday coming up? Are you doing anything exciting to celebrate?
I'm thinking of adopting my friend Sarah's birthday tradition. 
She invites all her girlfriends out for lunch (last time we all went for sushi). 
We just talk & get to have some fun, girl time. 
I think that would be pretty perfect.

Enjoy your day!


Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Pinterest Recipe Reviews

  A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about Meal Planning via Pinterest. I haven't tried all the recipes I've planned to yet, but I thought I would do reviews of the ones that I have made. Don't worry, I'm a nice person. I won't be mean.

  I didn't include this dessert in my Meal Plan - mostly because I forgot. We had friends over for dessert on Friday evening & this is what I made:

Reese's Fudge Pie


  I'm all about chocolate & peanut butter. And really, I didn't think I would ever say this, but... this was almost too sweet. It has a fudge layer which is really dense & super rich. A ever-so-small piece is ample! I don't think anyone finished the big pieces I cut. I would make it again, but cut the pieces smaller. Definitely serve with coffee. Note: I made the crust with Oreo crumbs instead of graham crumbs.


  Red Lobster Biscuits


  These get a 10 out of 10. They were amazing. We each had one in hand & put it in our mouths at the same time. You should have heard the sounds coming from us! You must try these, if you haven't already. AND they are super easy to make. I would definitely make them again. Actually, I already have made them again. :)



  This tasted very good, but I didn't get the cream sauce right - it was too soupy. It was delicious though. Make sure you have everything prepped before you start cooking. Things get cooked & added pretty fast. I would make it again.



  This is a fabulous recipe! A couple of notes: read the recipe through before you start making it. The instructions are laid out in a different order than the ingredients. That confused me for a minute until I read everything through. Also, be warned that you need to freeze the cream cheese filling before you can use it in the muffin batter. That takes a couple of hours. If you know these tips in advance, you'll have a happy muffin-baking experience. :) I will most certainly be making these again!



  I actually made these just last night. I've been trying to include meatless meals in my meal planning more lately both to save money & because it's healthy to not have meat all the time. These tacos were delicious! Our kids even loved them. I will be making them again soon.


~~~

  So those are the recipes from my Time To Cook! & Sweet Treats boards on Pinterest that I've tried so far. If you haven't signed up for Pinterest yet & want an invite, leave me a comment with your email address & I can send you one! I promise I won't send you any spam. None.... Zero. Zilch. Nada. 

  What have you cooked up from Pinterest lately? I'd love to hear about it! Now that Christmas is less than 2 months away, I'm itching to try some of the crafty goodies I'm seeing. I'll be sure to post about them. Stay tuned!


But for now, over & out.
Enjoy your day!
These are not my photos. All images owned by the bloggers who originally posted their recipes in blogland.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Butterfly Wall Art

  Welcome to November! Where has this year gone?? How was your Halloween? I actually ran out of candy this year for the first time ever. I think it was due to the mitt full I was giving to each kid. I was determined not to have any left overs. Nope, no leftovers here. Now just to fend off the temptation from the candy my kids collected at the Fall Festival...

  Awhile ago, my friend Sarah from Prairie Perch asked me to do a butterfly project for her little girl's room. She brought me the frame & a pillow sham that had the colours she wanted me to use. I finally got to it this weekend. Here's what I came up with:


I used my Cricut to cut the butterflies. The butterflies originally had antennas on them, 
but it looked too busy with the layers so I trimmed them off. 
I used mostly paper from My Mind's Eye with a little Echo Park mixed in.

With the pillow sham

I can't wait to see it in her little girl's room! I'm sure she'll be sharing the space when she gets everything in place. 
When she does, I'll link up, so you can all see too.

Enjoy your day!
Linkin' Up:





Blogging tips