Category: holidays


Nov
2010

december daily 2010 preview

categories: holidays, new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
Finally am posting some pictures of my December Daily 2010.

If you want to see all of the pages, you can view them on my flickr page.

I think this is my 3rd or 4th DD.  Looking back, I learned 2 main things:

1.  Don’t try to create the page ahead of time.  Stick with the dates only and allow for creativity later.

2. I rarely have ever finished a DD once Christmas passes….so, I prepared up to day 25, added 2 more pages and that’s all.  Obviously, I can always add more pages, if time allows. 

This year, i wanted a “vintage-feel”.

Thanks for looking!

Nov
2010

Christmas cards 2010 version 1.1

categories: holidays, new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
Well, I said I would never do it again, yet here I am. 

Handmade Christmas cards. 

A few years ago, I made huge amounts & hated it. 

This year, I decided that if I see any cards that catch my eye, I will buy them. 

BUT, I will also make some.  Usually, I send out about 60 cards….

we’ll see if I survive this year  : )

Here we go!
I decided to use embossed white paper as the main background. 

So, last week, I sat on the couch with my paper-cutter, my white cardstock, and my embosser. 
Then, I decided to do some hand-stitching on them. 

I have tried to use my sewing machine on paper with about 65% luck.  Never guaranteed what the end result will be, so I decided to do it by hand.  I absolutely LOVE how the snowflake turned out, however, of course, that one took the longest to make. 
On this card, I used my Tim Holtz edge thingy to give it a rough, frayed look. 

I had bought pre-cut/scored Kraft cards & envelopes a while back on sale, so I decided to use those. 

I put a sheet of red cardstock behind the white…just so a tiny amount of the red showed around the edges. 

Weeks ago, I found the “Christmas Story” both the Bible story version and The Night Before Christmas version and pasted them into a word document.  Then I changed the font color to red and printed it out on cardstock.  I then took my Marvy punch (scalloped edge square–size purple) and cut a bunch of background squares. 

Then, I tied a ribbon around the white cardstock before adhering it to the page. 

I also took my Distress Ink and inked around the edge. 

I used my PapertreyInk stamp for the sentiment.  Inked around the edges with white Brilliance ink. 

To make it more dimensional, I used foam dots to adhere the scalloped square. 
I stamped the inside, added some bling and inked around the edges  (for that snowy feel). 
I added some snowflakes to the envelope. 
Here’s another version of the card. 

On the inside of this one, I stamped first and then placed some cardstock on top of the words and inked a snowy edge around the sentiment.  Thanks for looking! 

Oct
2010

embellishment swap

categories: holidays, new camera pix, simply scrappin, Uncategorized
I made these journaling tags for an embellishment swap over on the studio calico site.  It was a lot of fun, but it’s always hard to know if the person that will receive your items will like them!!!
The “Cookies” tag word, and cookies were cut on my Cricut.
The button wreath that I used on this tag, I made last year. 
I love how the white ink smudged along the edge looks like snow! 
All of the tags and tag pockets were cut on my Cricut also.  I love the endless possibilities!
I know it’s been a while since my last post, but I’m still here! 

Feb
2010

whatta surprise! (day 9)

categories: 40 till 40, holidays, my family, new camera pix, Uncategorized
WOW! 

A surprise party…for me!??? 

Tonight my hubby, along with my son, parents, sister and in-laws, threw me a surprise party! 

For ME!  I couldn’t believe it! 

I had a wonderful evening.  Lots of family, and my best friend & her husband…lots of laughs…I had a great time. 

Above is a picture of my tiara & wand.  Don’t all princesses need one?  lol 

Thank you Kevin, I love you!

Thanks, Nick! I love you too!!
Above is a picture of my personalized M&M’s.  We are an M&M family.  There are ALWAYS M&M’s at any and all get-togethers.  My parents are big fans of ordering personalized ones.  These even had my baby picture on them!  Too cute. 
My party was done in my favorite color combination…green/brown/pink.  (It’s lovely to scrap too!) 

All details were thought out.  My favorite coffees were brewed.  I really appreciate all of the planning and time that went into it.  I am thankful for my family/friends that were willing to spend their Saturday evening with an old lady turning 40.  I am truly blessed. 

oh no, you're going to sing to me?

...you're still singing...

now the pressure of cutting the cake?!
I had a great time. 

I feel really loved & blessed. 

I am so thankful for my family and friends… 

(more pictures to come….)

(only 9 more days till I turn 40…maybe it will be ok after-all) 

Jan
2010

the TP tree

categories: holidays, my family, Uncategorized
For those of you that may remember our yearly toilet paper roll exchange, here’s what happened this year. 

(For those of you that have NO idea what I am talking about, you can read about it from my post last Christmas…to sum it up, my dad & I have been passing back & forth the same TP roll since 1988…read the story here.)

It was my turn this year.  I had totally forgotten about it until about a week before Christmas.  Well, in order to stump my dad, I knew I better get thinking. 

I remembered a post that I had seen on a blog about making fabric Christmas trees….uh-huh, that’s it! 

Here are the easy instructions to make a Fabric Christmas Tree:

Supplies:

  • fabric or ribbon
  • hot glue gun
  • tree (cone) shaped foam center
  • (because I was using mine as a decoy, I also bought a circular foam base for the bottom, so that the hollowed out tree couldn’t easily be spotted.)
  • additional ribbon or trinkets if you want to “decorate” your tree  ( I used ribbon bows on the top, but chose not to decorate my tree.)

Directions:

  • Cut (or tear) strips of fabric approximately 1inch x 4 inches. (Or cut strips of ribbon)
  • Take each strip, place a dot of hot glue on back side of fabric, fold strip in half, gluing it to itself…basically making a folded strip.  You can fluff it open a little at the end.
  • Once strips are ready, begin at base and start hot gluing them to the foam.  Each time I began a new row, I shifted slightly, like shingles.
  • Keep going all the way to the top.  Your last (top) row should stick out above the top of your foam piece.  (I cut a very small circle and tucked it down inside the top, so that none of the foam would be visible.) 
  • To finish it off, I made 3 bows out of ribbon and glued those to the top, helping to close it up slightly. 

My dad has a strong passion for supporting our troops overseas, and his home office is done in red-white-blue, so that is why I chose to use those colors, as oppose to traditional Christmas colors. 

For my tree, my hubby hollowed out the center of the foam, so that the TP roll could easily be inserted and hidden.   

It worked!  I gave my dad this gift for his office on the 21st and after celebrating Christmas on the 25th, I had to give him a clue in order for him to find it! 

We will see what he comes up with for next year! 

Dec
2009

cute shoes! uh, no.

categories: holidays, my family, Uncategorized
Today was the day that we bowled.  It’s a tradition.  We always bowl sometime during the week between Christmas & New Year’s.  My sister is a teacher, so she’s free.  My mom stays at home and my dad’s retired, but works occasionally…and Nick is off from school and of course, I’m free.  So, other than Kevin, we all go bowling. 

I remember bowling when I was little.  The loud, smoke filled bowling alley.  People drinking and rowdy. 

Now, the bowling alley is a different experience.  More family friendly.  (Asthma friendly too). 

It was a fun day. 

Dec
2009

chocolate soynut butter cookies

categories: holidays, new camera pix, severe peanut allergy, tasty treats, Uncategorized
soynut-cookies-dec-17
Found a yummy recipe online for “Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies”, but changed it up a bit, so that it would be peanut-free. 

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup creamy soynut butter
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1 large egg
  • 12 oz. all-purpose flour (about 2 2/3 cups)
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate minichips (I used over 1 cup–1/2 a bag– of regular semisweet chips)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350′.
  2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.
  3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.
  4. Add flour mixture to soynut butter mixture, stirring just until combined.
  5. Stir in chocolate chips.
  6. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on baking sheets (I used a Pampered Chef Medium scoop and Pampered Chef baking stones).
  7. Bake at 350′ for 12 minutes or until golden.  (When using stones, I baked for 14 minutes, then removed from oven and allowed them to sit on the stone for at least 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack.)
  8. Cool on wire rack.

Yield: approx. 3 dozen

Nutritional info based on using peanut butter:  Calories 128; Fat 4.5g; Cholesterol 6mg; Carbohydrate 20.5 g; Sodium 106mg; Protein 2.3g; Fiber 0.6g