Category: holidays

pretty pleats for paper

pleats-step-81
Whew!  It’s been a long week. 

I had the stomach flu for most of the week, then towards the end of the week, I had 2 events to get ready for.  One being my husbands family Christmas and the other, a coffee fellowship time at church this morning.  Whew! 

Today, I finally worked on my December Daily. 

I got out my sewing machine and decided to make pleats for paper! 

Here’s how:

  • Cut a scrap of paper that is the appropriate size for your layout (paper project).  Then cut a piece of ribbon quite a bit longer….I didn’t measure it, but I would guess almost double the length. 
pleats-step-1
  • Next I applied adhesive to the back of the ribbon (or it can be applied to the paper).
pleats-step-2
  • Begin your ribbon with a little excess hanging off of the edge so that you can tuck it around the back.  Now you can start to create pleats along your paper.  Pleats can be as close or as far apart as you want. 
pleats-step-3
  • Once you have reached the end of your paper, wrap the end of your ribbon around to the back and secure.  You are ready to sew! 
pleats-step-4
  • Paying attention to the direction that your pleats fold, sew in the same direction.  You can use whatever type of stitching that you want.  I used a zig-zag stitch. 
  • Here are 2 examples of the pleats that I made. 
pleats-step-5
pleats-step-6
  • To finish, you can simply trim off the excess paper along the bottom, (or leave it) and attach to your project!  I also added a santa flair pin to this set of pleats. 

It’s as simple as that! 

That completes my December Daily: Day 4. 

pleats-step-7

kate’s purse

purse-a-web
My niece & nephew have spent the entire weekend with us.  In a house of 3 people, the youngest being 15, there aren’t too many things to entertain a 10 & 6 year old. 

EXCEPT for……. 

Craft supplies! 

Kate, the 10 y.o. made this cute purse.  For the most part, all by herself!  She came up with shape, handstitched the edges, (whipstitch, is what I call it), hemmed the flap, we added a snap for closure, a shoulder strap and a flower & button embellishment!  It’s quite a pretty bag! 

We’ve also strung many letter-beaded bracelets, hand embroidered hearts and lettering onto fabric, sketched, AND we’ve been to our local museum for the Annual Christmas Tree Festival, (which I have gone to for yeeeeaaarrrs), drove around to look at the Christmas lights, shopped for furniture, drank hot chocolate, watched Christmas movies and MORE!  (I’m going to need a vacation from my weekend…lol) 

Hoping to work on my December Daily later tonight/tomorrow….I will post pictures soon! 

purse-b-web

cozy Christmas

ornament-womens-group-dec
Last night I attended a “Cozy Christmas” women’s event for our church. 

We had a nice evening of fellowship, fun Christmas games and of course all sorts of Christmas goodies & coffee. 

Today, I had lunch & Starbucks with my great friend, Lisa.  It was nice to slow down and enjoy great conversation & time with her. 

I have been working on my December Daily…can’t believe it’s December.  I will be posting some pix from my DD tomorrow.   

my chocolate chip cookie recipe

cookies-2-dated
(Wednesday evening) I was baking some cookies for a Christmas party that is today. 

I didn’t have any holiday M&M’s, so I went with my no-fail chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

I love these cookies!! 

Here’s the recipe:

Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from an online recipe)

Ingredients:

  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup cake flour OR 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour ( I use the all-purpose flour)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened (I usually don’t use real butter, however this time I doubled the recipe and used half real butter and half margarine sticks)
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups to 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (ok, this is where I go crazy… the more chocolate the better is my theory, so I usually use at least 2 cups of semi-sweet chips PLUS 2 cups of either M&M’s or chocolate chunks, or mini-chips or mint chips…whatever chocolate chips I have on hand)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375′.
  2. Combine all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder & baking soda in medium bowl.
  3. Combine butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl. Beat until creamy.
  4. Add eggs and vanilla extract.  Beat until well mixed.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.
  5. Stir in morsels.
  6. I use the Pampered Chef large scoop to place dough on Pampered Chef Baking Stone, a few inches apart….(my PC stones have never failed me….my cookies never burn…although, you can use an ungreased cookie sheet if you want!)
  7. Bake for 16 minutes on a stone.  Remove from oven and leave them on the stone for 5 minutes, before moving them to the cooling rack.  Cookies will look lgolden brown on the outside and ooey gooey in the middle.  Cookies will continue to bake slightly when left on the stone.  (If you are using a sheet, 10-14 minutes are recommended or until golden brown and cooling for 2 minutes before moving to rack.)

Yield: 1 batch using large scoop = approx 35 cookies

*My recipe is peanut-free.  *Make sure to check your chocolate chip ingredients if this is a concern for you. 

Do you enjoy holiday baking?  I do.  Chilly weather makes me want to bake.  Maybe I should move my treadmill into the kitchen so that as I am eating my cookies I can walk off the calories instantly! lol

cookies-1
cookies-3

whoooo are you thankful for?

hoot-bag-3
Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope that everyone has had a great Thanksgiving, full of lots of delicious food and time spent with loved-ones. 

Well, as you can see above, this is the completed project that I made my lil miss hoot & her hunky hoot friend for. 

hoot-bag-9
Here’s how:

  • First I gathered a few assorted pieces of cardstock.
  • Using my Cricut Expression, “Bags, Tags, Boxes & More” cartridge, I cut a bunch of “popcorn containers” (6 1/2 inches)
hoot-bag-8
  • Using my bone folder stick (or whatever it’s called), I folded all of the sides & flaps.
hoot-bag-10
  • The absolute best way to seal the edges are to use one of these adhesive applicators.  This is the perfect size to run along the edges.
hoot-bag-11
  • After assembling the container, I simply press all of the flaps to make sure that the adhesive has stuck. 
hoot-bag-12
hoot-bag-4
  • Next I cut a length of ribbon to go around the container and then one to use as a handle. 
  • The ribbon that will go around the container, I ran through my sticker-maker.  I find that it is the best adhesive for ribbons. 
hoot-bag-14
hoot-bag-13
  • Using the computer, I printed up this little sentiment to place on the backside.  I wanted to give these to different people in our lives that we are very thankful for.  I wanted to be able to tell them that we are thankful for them.  I simply attached this with double-sided tape.  (I used a cotton-swab to ink around the edges a little.)
hoot-bag-2
  • Using the cute little hoot tags that I had made previously, I attached them to the front.  You can use whatever adhesive you prefer.  I used double-sided tape and a little glue. 
hoot-bag-15
  • I filled the bottom 1/3 with a few Hershey Kisses.  (Because they are yummy & because I needed something to help weight it down and make sure it would stand once I added the homemade chocolate lollipops.)  (Both the Kisses & lollipops are peanut-free.) 
  • I then filled it with crinkled paper, used for gift-bags.  I chose brown so that it would look like a nest…lol…  
hoot-bag-7
  • It’s hard to see in the picture below, but I they are homemade chocolate lollipops, in the shape of owls.  (Very simple to make.) 
hoot-bag-151
  • Here are the owls as they are placed in the container. 
hoot-bag-6
  • Below is the finished chocolate owl bouquet. 

Who are we thankful for?  We’re thankful for YOU! 

hoot-bag-5

…a few of my favorite days…

dd-09-page-11-closeup
These are just a few of my favorite days (pages) so far!! 

Above, I used an old piece of sheet music, misted it with Caramel Apple Mist, to make it look even older.  As a result, the edges always roll up from being damp.  I love that effect!!!  The Santa is a gift tag.  He fit perfectly with the theme of my December Daily. 

On day 3, the Santa is a 3D sticker that I placed inside a frame that I cut using my Cricut Expression. 

If you aren’t familiar with a December Daily, let me explain!  It is a Scrapbook/Journal made PRIOR to December.  The idea was created by Ali Edwards (she is amazing!).  You pre-make a page for each day of December.  That way, when the holidays are underway, and you are stressed by the hustle & bustle, it will be much easier to simply insert a picture from that day, or journal about it. 

Last year was my first time that I participated in creating a DD.  I made one mistake.  I tried to “scrapbook” each page ahead of time.  I used titles and themes for each page.  Yes, they were Christmas-themed, but it made it more difficult, because if the page was themed with “Christmas Lights” and I didn’t end up doing anything on that day of December that had anything to do with lights, then it seemed to mess up my page.  In other words, I detailed it TOO much when I made the page. 

SO, (if that makes sense), this year, I am attempting to remember the “less is more” theory.  That way, when it comes to that particular day of December, I will be able to title the page using what fits. 

If you’ve never tried it…give it a whirl!  You won’t be disappointed! 

dd-09-page-11-overview
dd-09-day-3-overview
dd-09-day-3-left
dd-09-day-7-right
dd-09-day-8-left
dd-09-day-9-right

december daily 09 intro

dd-09-intro-closeup
I have been working on my December Daily 2009. 

This is just a glimpse of some of the pages that I’ve uploaded. 

The above page is an intro page.  This paper is so pretty that I didn’t want to cover it up!  The bird part actually feels like felt. 

dd-09-title-page
This is a title page.  I used my “snowy embellishments” for most of the page numbers (December Day #). 

I’ve completed my December Daily thru page 15, but I haven’t uploaded all of the pix yet. 

I am hoping to have the entire DD completed in the next day or so.  I need to begin my Christmas cards…amongst other projects, lol. 

Ok. Time for a snack.  Enjoy your evening! 

dd-09-page-1-closeup