Glitter Pinecones

While in Ohio for Thanksgiving, I discovered a bunch of pinecones at my in-laws house.  I don't find any around my house so thought this would be a perfect opportunity to snag some.  I like to use them in my Christmas decorating.

So I grabbed a grocery bag and went to gather some pinecones.

I got quite a few.

I thought these were especially cool because they were long and skinny.  The ones I usually find here in Georgia are short and fat.

Instead of leaving them brown, I decided that I wanted them to sparkly.

So, I was off to Hobby Lobby to get some glitter.

I started by brushing glue on all the parts I wanted glitter on.

I then liberally dumped glitter over the pinecones and then tapped off the excess.

Then I put them on the newspaper I was using to dry.

The newspaper was supposed to minimize the mess but I'm sure I'll be seeing glitter everywhere for the next 2 weeks.

I then continued with the rest of the pinecones.  I did quite a bit of glitter on them, you wouldn't have to do that much.

We did gold, red, silver and then my son wanted to mix the 3 colors so we did a few multi-colored ones.

After they dried, I put some in my glass hurricane.

I actually should have let them dry a little bit longer but I had to get the table cleaned off and the floor vacuumed so we could eat dinner.

I also had enough to fill another glass bowl for the kitchen table.

I love how they turned out and think they are so festive.  It was such a fun and easy project and my son really enjoyed helping.

I'm linking up with these parties:

Help Wanted!

My house looks like the North Pole exploded and landed among us.

I'm not sure where to begin.

I'm currently taking volunteers to come help me get this mess sorted out.

Hopefully I'll get done before Christmas, and before anyone in the family would like to sit down on the loveseat.

Have you finished your Christmas decorating already?

Does it usually take you over a week like it does me?

Maybe it's time for me to scale down; way down?!

"Can't stop eating them" Sugar Cookies

Today is my kids last day of school for a week.  They get the entire week of Thanksgiving off.  Whose crazy idea was this, may I ask?

My son's class had a Thanksgiving feast today.  They made some stew in the crockpot and I volunteered to send in cupcakes.  We're not big stew people, but we can do sugar.

I wanted to do something a little different than just a plain ole cupcake.

This is what I came up with.

I started by making some sugar cookies.  I wanted the cookie to be small enough to sit on top of the cupcake.  I looked for a turkey cookie cutter and couldn't find one.  I didn't want to use a snowman or santa since this was a Thanksgiving feast and Christmas will have it's day soon enough.

I decided on a star.  It's easy, generic and will work on top of the cupcakes.

I made my "Can't stop eating them" Sugar Cookies.  This is the easiest sugar cookie recipe you will ever try.  The dough works up really well and is so plyable.

It rolls out so easy.  I just love working with this dough.

I then cut out stars.  Lots and lots of stars.

And I baked them. For about 11 minutes.

While I let them cool, I made the cupcakes.  Their are 25 kids in my son's class.

Seriously!

I had to make 2 batches of cupcakes just to get that 1 extra cupcake.  I actually joked with my son that he didn't need one.  He didn't think I was funny.

I didn't take any pictures of the cupcake making.

They are cupcakes, we've all made them. You know what that process looks like.

Once everything was out of the oven and cooling, I made Royal Icing to pipe onto the star cookies.  I thought orange would be a nice Thanksgiving-ey color.

I then iced the cupcakes with a Buttercream frosting.  I made the cupcake icing brown.  Again, going with the whole Thanksgiving color pallet.

After the cupcakes were iced, I put the star on top of the icing.

I love how they turned out.

Hubby thought they were silly and said the kids wouldn't care what they looked like.

True, but I cared and I thought they were fun to make.

That's all that matters.

I even got one of those big cake/cupcakes boxes with the window at JoAnn's so they would be all fancy and professional looking.

I even used one of my labels I got from erincondren.com.

How fun!

 I hope the students loved them as much as I enjoyed making them.

I'm eager for my son to get home so I can find out.

You can get all my recipes here.

I'm linking up here....

Creamy Brussels Sprouts Bake

Creamy Brussels Sprouts Bake

1 package (8ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen brussels sprouts, thawed and drained

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream until smooth; set aside.  In  a large skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in butter until tender.  Stir in brussels sprouts.  Remove from heat; stire in cream cheese mixture.

Spoon into a greased shallow 2-qt. baking dish.  Cover and bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.  Uncover; sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing

"Can't Stop Eating Them" Sugar Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 sticks butter, cold

1 egg

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, if desired.

Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside.  Cream the sugar and butter.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix well.  Gradually add the flour mixture, a little at a time, and beat until just combined.

Knead the dough together as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.

Roll dough out on a floured surface.  Cut into your favorite shapes.

Place onto cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Royal Icing

{This icing is great for building gingerbread houses, outlining sugar cookies or piping details.}

3 Tablespoons meringue powder

4 cups sifted confectioners sugar

9 Tablespoons water

Beat all ingredients at low-speed for 7 to 10 minutes or until icing forms stiff peaks.

When you remove the beaters, you should be able to see peaks in your icing that do not fall when you jiggle the bowl.

Add desired color and mix well.

Keep icing covered with a damp paper towel while outline, piping details or building gingerbread houses.

 Thinning icing for flooding

Add water, a teaspoon at a time, until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Let sit under a damp paper towel for a few minutes then stir with a spatula.  Deep covered when not in use.

Happy Anniversary

November 18, 1994

I would like to take the time to wish my wonderful husband a very happy anniversary.

Seventeen years and we are still as happy as we were on our wedding day.

We haven't become world travelers or made millions but we have made a very happy life together.  I thank you for all the times you have stood by me through my crazy ideas that I sometimes come up with.  You have been a great partner in raising our children together.  I am so honored and blessed that you chose me, a small town girl from Ohio.

I love you very much.  Heres to another 17+ years together.

October, 2004

Our 10th Anniversary trip.

Happy Anniversary Honey!!

A free cupboard upgrade

I love a FREE cupboard.  This is the 2nd one that I have gotten and been able to redo.

I got one at a garage sale that we redid.  You can read about it here.

About a month ago, a good friend of mine posted on Facebook that she was getting rid of a tv cabinet.  She showed a picture of it and said it was free to the taker.  It looked like it was in perfect condition and since I needed a new stand for my tv in my office, I said that I would take it.  All I had to do was move it.

No problem.

Hubby and I went and got it and put it down in my office.  I have my tv on top, it's a little tall for a tv stand with it on top, but it's doable.

This is what it looks like with my tv on top.  It had a few scratches on the bottom but not that bad.  The black top fits in perfectly because I'm doing black accents in the basement.

This is what it looks like inside.  I think the tv is actually meant to go inside but I have other plans for it.

I decided that I was going to add additional shelves inside and use it as storage space for all my crafting supplies.

I measured the current shelf and then went to Home Depot and picked out some cupboard plywood.  I had them cut it for me, picked out some black paint and then came home eager to make over my new cupboard.

I thought I had taken some pictures of the wood when I was painting it but somehow they are missing.  Anyway, I painted the wood black and after I let it dry for a couple of days, I put a clear polyurethane on it.  I wanted the new shelves to feel like the rest of the cupboard.

I applied 2 coats of the poly on both sides and the edges.  I let the shelves dry for 24 hours in between coats.

I then inserted the new shelves into my cabinets and filled it with my stuff that had been taking up space on the air hockey table.

I love how it turned out and all the storage space it gives me.  I especially love that I can shut the doors and all the stuff will be hidden.

I have a 3rd shelf that I could paint black and replace the natural one with.  I'm not sure that I'm going to do that as I like it with natural on the top and bottom and the black ones in the middle.

Here is a before and after:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm linking up with these parties..... make sure you check them out!!

Getting Myself Organized

Take a look at what was delivered yesterday.

I was so excited.

 Let me back up and explain.

Even in this day of electronics that can do almost everything for you, I am still a paper calendar/planner girl.  Even though I can view our shared family calendar on my laptop or my phone, I still like to use an old-fashioned pen and write it on a calendar.  I've tried to change and only use my calendar on the phone, but it just doesn't work for me.  I end up breaking down and buying a calendar.

Before the beginning of a new year, I will spend hours perusing all my options at Office Depot, Staples, Wal-Mart, Target.. basically any store that I think might carry a paper calendar that would have everything I want.  I like to have a monthly and weekly views, I like to have places to write phone numbers and notes to myself.  I like to have a To-Do list and a pocket.

I just recently found the Life Planner from erincondren.com.  I checked out her website time and time again, watched the video, looked at all the pictures.  I mean, if I was going to make the leap on something like this, I wanted to make sure it would be exactly what I was looking for.

The end of October, about a week before my birthday, I saw a deal on Plum District.  It was for a $50 Erin Condren gift certificate for $25.  A great deal, I could get the life planner for 1/2 price.  On my birthday, I went to some book stores and specialty stores and poured over their planners.  They all ranged in price from 25-45 dollars.  A lot of them had a little of what I was looking for, but none of them had everything I was looking for.  I'm pretty picky when it comes to my calendar.

It was then that I made my decision.  I was coming straight home and buying the offer from Plum District.  I could then get the Erin Condren Life Planner for $25, which is a fabulous deal.  So, that's what I did.  It ended up costing me around $30 by time I added in the shipping. Let me just say it is worth every penny.

First of all, it's customized to me.

It has my initials and my name all over the front.  I just love that.  Nobody can say it isn't mine now can they?

I see so many calendars that go from August to July.  I just can't stand that.  I like to have an entire year in one place.  Not to mention, I'm not ready to buy a calendar in August.  That's something you do in November or December.  This calendar starts in November and goes through December 2012.  I love how it starts in the month we are currently in so I can transfer all my November/December stuff and don't have to carry around 2 calendars for 2 months.  So smart!!

When the box arrived, I couldn't wait to get into it.  So lets see whats inside, shall we?

I'm already in love with the wrapping alone.

Inside the blue envelope were these stickers.  I can use them for so many things; gifts to friends, baked goods; so many things come to mind.  They sent these just because.

What a nice thing to do.

They also sent a Hello and Welcome letter with $10 off my next purchase.

I don't get that from any of the local stores I shop at.

In the very back of the life planner is a zippered pouch.  It will be so great for receipts, cards to mail, stamps or just random notes that I don't want to lose.

It was also filled with some goodies.

More stickers with my initials on them.  Cards that I could put my contact info on to give to people.  Stickers to put on birthday presents.

It also came with these 2 great paper clips.  How fun are those??

Each weekly view has a place to write your goals and to-do's.  I also love how the day is broken into morning, day and night.  Sometimes when I just have one big square to write stuff in, I forget something because it gets jumbled up with everything else and I just don't see it.

 That shouldn't happen with this.

The life planner is chock full of places to write ideas, thoughts, goals, to-do's or just general doodling, what ever it is you like to write down.

It also comes with stickers... got to love stickers.

And I can fit not 1 but 2 pens in the spiral.  You never know when you will need to write in different colors.

So after all my looking and shopping for the perfect calendar/planner.  I believe I have finally found it.  I am definitely sold on this one.

 Now I need to check out the website and see what I can get with my $10 off coupon.  Maybe some notepads or more of those stickers.  The possabilities are endless.

Are you still a paper person?  Have you tried keeping your life organized on an electronic device but just couldn't do it?

I am linking up to these parties.... check them out.

 

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way being reimbursed for the review of this product.  I just wanted to share my own thoughts on a product that I found and will work very well for me.  Thank you.