Ornament Swap

Every year, my friend Natalea Kandefer hosts an ornament swap and I have been fortunate enough to have participated in several of them. Doing so results in a variety of wonderful ornaments handmade by some very talented artisans. This year in addition to Natalea and myself, participants included Kimberly Laws, Vivian Neroni, Sandy Camarda, Patty Szymkowicz, and Linda Richter.

 The extra ornament above was created by "Sandy Claus."

In addition to making some fun ornaments, we all try to package them in pretty wrapping. This is how I wrapped my ornaments.

I've been collecting these tiny one-ounce jars of Bonne Maman preserves for a while now and I thought they would be great for making itty-bitty snow globe ornaments.

I topped the lids with holly, berries and snowflakes and made a hanger out of red and white baker's twine.

Snowballs Anyone?

I got this cute bucket and scoop at HomeGoods a few weeks ago. I was planning on filling it with ice melting salt to sprinkle on my front stoop.

But I decided to make some snowballs the other day and thought they would look cute in the bucket. They're easy to make...start with styrofoam balls in various sizes, then "frost" them with drywall compound or spackle and sprinkle with glitter.

Eventually I'll put the bucket outside the front door, but first I want to spray them with some clear sealer. In the meantime I have them sitting in this vignette.

Crafting While Decorating

I've been slowly decorating my home for Christmas and crafting at the same time. I make something and then display it and then go make something else. It's kind of an unorthodox way to decorate, but that seems to be the way I end up doing it every year.

I'm taking Christy Tomlinson's 12 Artsy Ornaments of Christmas e-course. She has a whole new line-up of projects from last year's e-course of the same name. I loved that class and this one is just as fun.

This wreath project was taught by Jaime Soucy and it is made entirely of coffee filters! Of course I've  altered the filters with bright red polka dots (I adore polka dots!). I hung it on the door of my kitchen cabinet using one of those hooks (I got mine for $2.99 at HomeGoods) made for hanging a towel or potholder. It's made specifically to fit over your cabinet door or drawer, so it was perfect for hanging a wreath. In addition to the bronze, they also are available in white, chrome and stainless to match your kitchen

Jennifer Rizzo is hosting an awesome virtual Holiday House Tour all this week. Check it out...it's amazing!

Wednesday is Pie Day!

The other day I was at HomeGoods and found a little cookbook called, "Mini Pies" for only $3.99. I couldn't resist buying it because I thought these bite size treats looked mighty tasty. 

If you can't find it at your HomeGoods store, Amazon has it for a couple dollars more here.

All the recipes are made in either a standard size or a mini muffin pan. I already had some Granny Smith apples in the fridge so I decided to give the "Caramelized Apple Tart" recipe a whirl.

 I never quite thought of myself as a pie baker, but these little pies were pretty easy to put together.

And oh boy, these were SO yummy!

I plan to keep these in the freezer and pull them out, one at a time, when I feel the need to have a little something sweet!

Hot Cocoa Please

Now that Thanksgiving is over and we are packing away the Fall decor, I decided to put together a hot cocoa station since the weather is starting to get a bit cooler. Actually I just completed Jeanne Oliver's lovely e-course called, A Creatively Made Home, and a beverage station is something Jeanne put together on the counter of her butler's pantry. I don't have a very large kitchen, so I put mine on a silver tray and placed it on top of a wicker fern I have in the corner of my dining room. It works!

Happy Thanksgiving

   

       ~ Image via Pinterest ~

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more.

If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."

~ Oprah Winfrey ~

What are you thankful for?

Making Yogurt

Did you ever think about making your own yogurt? If you're like me, it sounds way too complicated. And why bother with all that fuss since you can just buy it all ready made for you at the store? Well guess what? It's not that hard to make! And it's pretty easy too. 

 You don't need many ingredients - just 2% milk and a few tablespoons of plain yogurt - that's it! Honestly.

 You simply heat up the milk and mix in the yogurt.

Pour it into a jar, then wrap in a couple of towels to keep warm and let it sit on the counter for about 5 hours.

 And then - voila! You have yourself a quart of delicious homemade yogurt.

 You can eat it plain. Or you can stir in a spoonful of preserves.

Or have it the way I like it -  topped with some crunchy granola.

If you want to try making some fresh tasting yogurt for yourself, you can find the recipe I used here. 

Fun At Grandma's House

 This is what I've been up to this past week. My daughter and her hubby were on vacation and I got to dog-sit for my two adorable little grand-dogs, Hank and Shooter! (Some of you may recall, last year at this time these two cuties went missing while on vacation and we weren't taking any chances this year! You can read about their saga here, here and here.) 

 Hank posing and being especially cute.

 Let sleeping dogs lie.

 Shooter & Hank

 Looking out the door at the first dusting of snow this year.

 Shooter, waiting for his mama & papa to come.

 Mama & Papa were stuck in traffic. Here's Hank, wondering if they will ever arrive.

The house is very quiet and empty now that the boys have gone home, so I think I may go for a drive out to the 3 French Hens Holiday Market today. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Everything is Extraordinary

Today, as I was sitting in my living room working on my computer (with my two sweet grand-beagles sleeping at my side) the dancing flame of the lit candle across the room caught my eye. I became so mesmerized by it's flickering through the mercury glass holder that I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Unfortunately all I had within arm's reach to capture the moment was my phone, which has a less than desirable camera. But after working with the image in Photoshop and applying a few Kim Klassen texture layers in an attempt to camouflage the poor quality of the photograph, I kind of like the end result. And the quotation sums it all up perfectly!