Happy 2013!

Finally, after taking a bit of a break, I'm getting around to posting some of the latest and greatest that has spoiled this family over the holidays
Let's start with this:

I wanted to make the grandparents something special from Big C. I had seen this done on a larger scale and had wanted to do something like it. So I had her finger paint to her heart's content. And of course, she gave her "stamp" of approval when she was done. Once it was dry, I cut it into different sized strips and weaved it. Turned out great and both sets of grandparents LOVED it!

This delicious recipe was the best Christmas breakfast EVER!

Ingredients:

2 rolls Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

8oz Cream Cheese

1.5lb Breakfast Sausage

1 Dozen Eggs

1/2 Cup Milk

2 Cups Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Beat eggs and milk. Scramble and set aside. Brown Sausage. When cooked, add cream cheese and stir to combine. Add scrambled eggs and combine. 

In an ungreased 9x13 dish, press down one can of crescent rolls to form a base, then top with sausage/cream cheese mixture. Add the shredded cheddar cheese, then top with the second roll of crescent rolls. Bake for 25 minutes. YUM!

Next, we had this delightful concoction. When I asked my mom for the recipe, I had to go into detail about how the only time I remembered eating it was when I was in middle school, maybe elementary. We were at our church's fellowship hall, practicing for Quizzing (all my Nazarene friends will remember these times.) My mom had made this treat for us and I remember how much I loved it. Fortunately, it didn't take her long to find the recipe. SUPER EASY!

Ingredients:

1 pkg marshmallows (10oz bag)

Popped popcorn

1 stick of butter

M&Ms (I used half of a large bag)

Directions:

Melt marshmallows and butter. Combine with popped popcorn and M&Ms and mix up.

spray hands with Pam and spread in pan or use wax paper to spread it. Let it set. Then cut and serve. It's basically rice crispy treats but with popcorn and M&Ms instead of Rice Crispies.

Finally, another mantle design. Yes, Valentine's Day is the next holiday. And before, I never really decorated for it. But again, this house with this gorgeous mantle, I just couldn't wait to decorate! I got Big C involved by helping "color" the hearts. I actually had given her three different colored sheets, then after she was done coloring, I cut out different sizes of hearts and just taped them up on the mantle. Little C enjoyed watching Mommy tape them up. Smiling every time I looked down at her. I used a couple of my letters from the Christmas mantle decor and added a heart and the 'V'. Turned out pretty cute. And simple.

Christmas Mantel Display

Finally, a few minutes to share my craftiness of the past week with you! Last week, my family came to visit for Thanksgiving and then Black Friday was actually my birthday. My sweet hubby took me out and let me purchase up some goods for making our new home pretty for the holidays. I've been so excited to decorate for Christmas since we first laid our eyes on this mantel. I knew it had to be something simple and yet powerful. So, here you go:

Started off with an idea from that addicting site and it turned out so well. This is everything as I originally purchased it. Let's just say the colors probably would have worked okay, but I wanted it to look more Christmasy, so I had to make some changes.

First, the letters I bought at Hobby Lobby. The 'N' and 'L' were in the clearance aisle for $10/letter. They both had some very tacky doodads on them, but I got creative and removed and painted them to fit. The 'E' was also purchased at Hobby Lobby for $6. The star was also from HL and was on sale for $10, it was super cute so I had to pick it up. The stick wreath I bought at the Dollar Tree. And the lantern was the one I used in the Thanksgiving Mantel Display. The Christmas tree was our first Christmas tree as husband and wife when we lived in our one bedroom apartment....oh, memories....

Here is the finished product:

You can see that the 'E' is totally different. That's because after I picked up the first 'E', my mom and I returned to Hobby Lobby later in the day and I found this one...already painted the perfect shade of red for the display. The 'N' we painted green and the 'L' we painted brown. A touch of Christmas lights and there you have it. I absolutely LOVE it! (Once I find our stockings, those will be up there too.)

Front door greetings

Earlier this summer, I purchased this wreath for $3 from a friend. I was so excited to put it up, that I really didn't take the time to add too much to it and just stuck it on the front door like this:

Well, 'tis the season, and it needed a face lift. After stopping at Michael's and grabbing some cute ribbon, I got to work. I knew I wanted a bow and I wanted to include the burlap ribbon I used in the Thanksgiving mantel display. I also wanted to try my hand at those cute fabric flowers....except I used ribbon. (I always hunt on YouTube to find how-to videos for anything I want to do.) I didn't do it exactly as the video said, but I got the same result, so I'm keeping them. They are a nice touch to the wreath.

I was thinking of covering the wreath completely in the burlap, but changed my mind and I'm so glad I did! I only used flower wire to attach everything, no glue. This way, I can change it up after the holidays!

Thanksgiving Mantel Display

Earlier this year we moved into a new home. We now have a fireplace with a gorgeous mantel. Of course, my first reaction was, "I could do so much with this!" .
I knew that I wanted to display our name, but wasn't sure how. I'd seen several of the frames with the words "Family" or "Love" or "Pray" spelled out in everyday things and thought that was pretty neat, but just didn't really have the time to go photograph 100 different things. So I settled on using my Cricut. And I'm SO glad I did. I was able to not only make our name frame, but also create a beautiful scrapbook paper tree using the same paper as our name. Both of these sat up on our mantel until now.
(I stole this idea from StumbleUpon, which is a similar site to Pinterest.)

I am very excited for the holidays because up until now, I really haven't had very much space to display all my decorations. The first order of business was to create a new holiday mantel display. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving is only 2 days away, but hey, better late than never, right? Plus, it's simple enough that it didn't take me long to put together, so I won't be too sad when it comes down. Especially because we'll be putting up my favorite decorations of all- CHRISTMAS!!!
Here's the display:

Left to Right:

• I bought this lantern last year at Pier One and stuck a plain white pillar candle in it. I've been using it as my dining room table centerpiece since. I had purchased some burlap ribbon at JoAnn Fabrics, so I make up a bow and used flower wire to attach it.

 

• Next is a piece of cardboard wrapped in craft paper to give it a more finished look. I then glued some of the previously mentioned burlap ribbon onto one side (folded it do give it a more dimensional look) and glued a coffee filter flower to the ribbon to add a little somethin somethin. I free-handed "give thanks" onto the front. I just drew a straight line with a pencil so the words wouldn't be crooked. I copied the font "Elegantlight" from dafont.com.
• The coffee filter flower is just 2 filters. Take the first one and pinch it together in the middle, add a little glue and let it dry, then do the same to the second filter. Then glue them together. Finally, use a scrap piece of the craft paper, all crumpled up and glue it in the very center.

• This is just one of the many decorations I haven't been able to put out for several years due to either cats or kids. So you can imagine my giddiness when I was able to pull it out this year. Nothing special with this one, just bought it at a store.

• I'm gonna brag about this one because it's seriously the EASIEST! I had a thin, tall flower vase that I filled with sticks that my toddler picked up for me outside in our yard. I took some burlap ribbon and wrapped it around the vase and tied it off with some brown ribbon I had lying around. Ta-Da!

And there you have it folks. My easy-as-microwave-popcorn Thanksgiving mantel display. I will definitely be posting about my Christmas mantel in t-minus 3 days!

Beginnings

I should say that I must have received creative genes from both my parents. As a child, I was always singing, acting, and making art. My parents supplied me with endless supplies and opportunities to release my creativity. For that, I'm very thankful. I love art because you don't have to be perfect at it. What you create is unique to you and no one else.

I don't know a lot of lingo, but I can say that I like a variety of styles and I'm sure I mix them when you're not supposed to or go overboard on one particular style. But, afterall, it's what I like and therefore, there's nothing you can do about it!

So we begin. This is a blog about the things I will create and do myself. I just needed a place to show off and what better way than this. I will do the best to describe the process, but I'm not a pattern girl and sometimes, I'm not into specifics. I like to go with the flow and do a lot of free-hand and free-thinking.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I will!