food, crochet, merriment
This weeks giveaway is…
…a bus load of Christmas paper goods–just right for perking up all your Holiday communications.
Christmas Stationery and Envelopes
Christmas Ribbon
Christmas Notecards
Magnetic Photo Frames
Gel Pens
Christmas Stickers
Christmas Note Book
Pocket Day Planner
Good Luck!
“Kissing the Face of God” by Morgan Weistling
“Part of the purpose for telling the story of Christmas is to remind us that Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Indeed, however delightful we feel about it, even as children, each year it ‘means a little bit more.’ And no matter how many times we read the biblical account of that evening in Bethlehem, we always come away with a thought—or two—we haven’t had before….
“I, like you, need to remember the very plain scene, even the poverty, of a night devoid of tinsel or wrapping or goods of this world. Only when we see that sacred, unadorned child of our devotion—the Babe of Bethlehem—will we know why… the giving of gifts is so appropriate”
Jeffrey R. Holland
Searching around online at all the “stuff” there is to do, to see, to make, to buy, to have at Christmas time–can be a bit overwhelming. In fact, sometimes it feels like my brain’s going in 17 directions at once. A person can blow up that way.
There’s just so much. But sift through it–I did–and bookmarked everything that made me sigh or smile or slow down for a minute and think happy thoughts. The rest can just blow away.
Now, understand–all I can really show you are things that work for me–but that’s ok. People have been scooting closer to whisper good ideas in each others’ ears since before the flood.
I think it’s how we keep each other warm.
Quick~Easy~Fabulous:
Gifts in a Bottle About a hundred ways to pack joy in a jar.
Recycled Paper Ornaments This should keep little hands pretty busy.
Salt Dough Ornaments Other food-ish ornaments as well.
Simple Christmas Simple, low cost Christmas Projects–just click past the ads.
Felt Cookies I know, I know…again with the felt!
So much fun stuff.
If you get a good idea from any of this–I hope you’ll share it with us.
These little fridge magnets were so easy and fun to make…
I couldn’t get myself to stop…
Start with clear, glass craft pebbles–size 3/4″ and 1-1/2″ worked well with 3/4 in magnet buttons. I found all this at Walmart–but I’ve seen them at the dollars store too. You just have to keep your eyes open and snag them when you can.
Next, decide what you want as your pictures. I used stickers, fabric and tiny words from magazines. The original idea was to use photos, but I’m getting low on printer ink, so I had to improvise.
Cut your pictures out and glue them on the back. I just used Mod Podge–anything that dries clear will work. Next–once the glue is dry–use a hot glue gun to stick the magnets on the back. Be careful here, especially with the tiny pebbles. I thought I had finally made friends with my evil glue gun…
I was mistaken.
Let the cute little things sit and settle for a day or two before making them hold the plum pudding recipe on the fridge. It will seal the bond to let it rest a bit. An Altoids box is a great storage case for your magnets–and also makes it easier to wrap them up as a gift.
Especially if your fingers have bandaids all over them.
Sheesh.
I know that Thanksgiving is over and we are all moving merrily onward to Christmas and all that shiny, sparkly stuff that we can’t get enough of. But in the interest of true disclosure, I want to share a few photos from last week. I think it’s is only fair to show you who you are really dealing with here.
I might be sorry…
We’ll see.
To say that our family loves stuffing–would be like saying, “a two thousand pound canary is a pretty big bird.” Yeah. We are certifiably stuffing psychos. We dry bread for daaays–7 loaves worth. And that’s just for our family. When my sister’s bunch and mine had Thanksgiving together, it was more like 12. So don’t look for counter space ANYwhere at our place, because we are using it.
WE’RE DRYING BREAD. Pans and pans and pans of it.
Are you frightened yet?
Perhaps you should be.
We have this big bowl. My sister and I share it because there can’t possibly be two bowls like this on earth. Oh, it’s a big bowl alright (remember the canary?). It’s so big that we have to store it out in my dad’s bake shop, hanging on the wall, because there is no cupboard big enough to hold it–it’s too big. It holds 12 loaves of dried bread without even whining. That’s big.
Have I said big too many times?
It’s for dramatic effect.
So then, it’s a given that someone will need to be willing to sacrifice their life in the service of their fellow family, by cutting up the hoards of onions that a batch like this requires. Jillian selflessly volunteered–and we nearly lost her–
but in the end…
she pulled through.
She is also personally offended that I said we nearly lost her. Again, for dramatic effect.
Next, we boil the buttery, sagey, oniony broth until it is absolutely perfect. I’m not sure when that is exactly…it’s something that only a true stuffing genius knows.
We’re born with it.
The secret, magical, perfect broth is then poured over the unsuspecting dried bread…mushed around until all the spices are mixed evenly. I don’t have a picture of that because I was busy doing the mushing.
It is then toasted in the oven and fed to the awaiting crowd.
Ok…all that white meat was a big hit too.
They say turkey puts people to sleep…
but we know the truth.
Stuffing’s the culprit.
It’s a knock out…
