Christmas Vacation Part 1 - Build-A-Bear

We had a great vacation. Here's what we did (in order):

1. Eat (Holy Smokes, did we ever?!)

2. Rock Band on the Wii

3. Board games

We first went to Mississippi. Matt's sister (and family) were at her in-laws house. Boy, we had a great time. We did all of the 3 things above. Oh my, was the food good! We totally became addicted to Rock Band. Thanks to Bob & Colleen for letting us come and being so hospitable.

Next, we ventured up to North Carolina to celebrate with my family. We bought the Rock Band 2 for our own Wii on the way up. We played all night, every night up there. We had the best band ever! Matt on bass, Andy on drums, Kevin on guitar, and me at the microphone. Whew boy, were we good! : ) The Wii is such a family friendly game that everybody enjoyed having their turn rockin' out...trust me, we have video proof! : )

Grandma Jean and Grandpa took Karalyn and Sydney to Build-A-Bear for their Christmas presents. Kari and Kevin bought them their animal's outfits. Karalyn chose out a bunny while Sydney chose a penguin.

Sydney didn't want her picture taken...
They chose "Jingle Bell Rock" to put in the paws. Sydney loves to hear Jingle Bells and Jingle Bell Rock - so perfect!

Here they are "cleaning" their new animals.

For the outfits, it was too funny. The girls turn the corner and here are all the Disney Princess costumes. Without any hesitation, Sydney picks Snow White with Cinderella's clear high heel glass slippers. Karalyn chooses Cinderella's dress and flowery shoes to match. That was it - done! We thought choosing the clothes would take forever as there are SO many options. Nope, they knew exactly what they wanted. What's even funnier, is the girls have absolutely no idea who those characters are. I'm sure they will soon enough. I don't have a picture of the final product...I will get one though because Grandma Jean bought the girls matching outfits to wear with their animals! So cute!

Merry Belated Christmas!

Ah, I guess my Christmas vacation is over! : ) I desperately needed a break. I have so many pictures to share. I'll start off easy - with just one. Before we left, we went to Matt's Christmas party. Notice the tree in the back...chopped down by Matt.

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 11 & 12

Day 11: My sister-in-law, Jen, made this fabric ornament ball pattern and put it up on her website. I had to give it a try! It's was just too cute to pass up. I tried to make mine into a jingle bell ball. I think it looks like a jingle bell, Matt, not so much. Ah well. The pattern is great. It usually is 6 pieces sewn together, I just used 5 to get a thinner, taller jingle bell. It does look great on the back of my chair! : ) I hope I made you proud Jen.

Day 12: Gift bags! So if I am doing your stocking stuffers don't look to close at the pictures! : ) I saw these little garland pipecleaners and thought they would make great handles to a little bag. The bag...felt. I cut out a heart in the front of the bag, scalloped the top and tied them up with some ribbon. Ta-dah! Done.

We made it through! And the 12 days only took 19! haha. Ah well, c'est la vie. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. And Happy Hanukkah too!

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 10

Everyone, we are going to make it! : ) I'm going to have to do 2 posts in one day...but we are going to finish with 12 crafts. The reason for the 2 posts in one day because starting Saturday I am taking a vacation. A (semi-)vacation from my shop, the computer, crafting...all to relax! I can't wait.

Anyway, on to the craft. Sydney loves snowmen these days. I don't think she's ever seen snow either...man, I love Florida! : ) I found this styrofoam snowman at Hobby Lobby and covered him with snowy glitter. All the accessories came later. Sydney said he needed a scarf - I'm glad to see she knows what she wants. He is now proudly displayed on her dresser next to the houses.

Quick Intermission - Take 2 & Update

I don't we are ever going to make it through Day 12 and yet we are so close!

No flu (yea!) just strep throat (yuck!). I had to go to the ER last night. My fever was 104 degrees! I just always thought at that temperature you go to the doctor immediately. I get there and the doctor pretty much says it's not a big deal and gives me some antibiotics. Okay.

Anyway, thankfully it will just be a couple days until I am feeling better...and be healthy for Christmas!

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 9

Not too extravagant today - just keepin' it simple. It's just a little card/hanger thing you can attach to a present. It's really about making candy canes into hearts! You can do so much with the candy cane hearts...ornaments, regular cards, place settings, etc. Plus candy canes come in all different colors and sizes these days. The possibilities are endless! : )

I was asked to do an interview for this really great new blog that has started. They feature various crafters and artists. Patricia, who runs it, is fabulous and has done a great job. It's The Little Red Suitcase. Go check it out...and read my interview if you have the time.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming!

Okay, so sorry for the long delay but it's been a week. Basically Sydney had/has pneumonia. We have spent every morning at the doctor this week. She received 6 shots of antibiotics in 3 days! Needless to say, she hates shots now! Thankfully, we are done with going to the doctor. We have to call and let them know how she is doing but we have to let the medicines run their course. On Friday, the doctor said she is doing great so that's wonderful news. Thanks for all the calls and comments. I really appreciate it. And sorry again to leave you hanging for so long on an update.

Tomorrow we will get back to crafts and normal everyday events!

Quick Intermission

Today, I am wiped out. I finally took Syd to the doctor after 5 days of a fever. The doctor was kinda worried about her. We had to do a breathing treatment...no improvement. So we did it again. Thankfully, the second one worked. If it hadn't, we would have then admit her to the ER overnight. Sheesh! Anyway, we are going back to the doctor tomorrow to make sure she's okay and the new meds are working. So needless to say, I'm going to postpose Day 9 until this weekend. I know no one will mind. : )

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 8

Today craft I found in Martha Stewart Living's November issue. It was felt pinecones! And you know I've got felt! haha. I turned mine into a window decoration. You can find the directions here. It's super easy: felt, scallop scissors, styrofoam egg, and glue.

I think it's a great craft. It's just another fine idea from the creative minds over at Martha Stewart! : )

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 7

Sydney's getting slightly better. She has been constantly whining and I'm about to pull my hair out. Thankfully, I'm going to get a break and run to craft store in just a minute. She still has a bad cough and a runny nose. Matt and I were talking and saying that this is the first time she's ever really had a bad cold. For 2.5 years, that's pretty impressive. She must have Matt's immune system - definitely not mine!

Anyway, for today's craft came because I needed something big and Christmas-y for our mantle. It was just a big blank wall and I didn't want to spend any money. So I found an old frame (minus the glass), fake garland, and big red beads. I wrapped the garland around the frame and used clear thread to keep it in place and hot glued the beads to the garland. So after Christmas, I can still use the frame if I want. Perfect!

I wish I had another length of garland so I could make it "thicker" but I used what I had. If you don't have beads, use small glass ornaments. You can even hang things down in the frame if you want. I added little birds to the bottom. No worries, I've changed the pictures in the frames so they fit into the holiday theme.

There are a lot of other that you can do with this. You could just even decorate a frame with your family's Christmas picture in it. Alright, I'll stop now.

Oh, just one more thing. Matt cut down our Christmas tree this year! There is a huge Air Force preservation in our back yard. You can go back there and hunt, cut down fire wood and various other things, permits required. Matt bought a Christmas tree permit for $1 and "Viola!" - a dollar Christmas tree! It's not a Charlie Brown tree either. I'll take pictures and show you this week.

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 6

Alright, half way done. Just a super quick post since Syd is still having a rough time being sick. This is just a little bird I made out of felt. I put a clip on the bottom so it attaches to our tree.

We'll see who knocks it down first - Sydney or Martha?!

Update: For the banana cupcakes with honey cinnamon frosting...you can find the recipe here.

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day ?

I don't even know what day we are on anymore! : ) And I almost forgot to post. Syd has a bad cold that we've been dealing with all day...and now night. Poor girl is so tired and can't get any sleep with her stuffy nose and fever. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Alright, let's move on. I found this $1 book of favor bag type things. I didn't really care for the flimsy paper or the paper design of all the "boxes" so I re-made them. I made my own Christmas cupcake favor boxes. You could put a variety of small goodies in them. I tied them off with ribbon and added holly leaves with a jingle bell on one. I like them - of course, they are cupcakes. Unfortunately, you can't eat them.

Speaking of cupcakes, I had a baking itch the other day and made these banana cupcakes with honey cinnamon frosting. Wow! They could sell in a professional bakery, they were that good. I'll see if I can't find the recipe online. It came out of an Everyday Foods magazine awhile back.

Happy Friday. We are currently watching Season 4 of the Office. So funny.

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 4

These are one of my favorites. I made these little nativity toys for Sydney to play with to explain the real reason for Christmas. They are pretty small - maybe 3 inches. I just glued the little faces on and sewed the rest. I'm hoping I'll be able to make some for next year that are all sewn together, so they'll hold up a bit more. I'll probably make some for my shop too. Hmph, lots to do! : )

So here's Joesph, baby Jesus in the manger, and Mary.

The angel.

And what's a nativity scene without an animal!

In other news, Sydney's pretty sick today. She has a high fever that has developed to a runny nose and a dry cough. I'm hoping a good night sleep will clear it all up. I'll keep you posted on that one...

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 3

Today's craft is a little appliqued t-shirt for Syd. I just found a silhouette of a fawn online and cut it out of fabric and sewed around it. I know it's a fawn and not a reindeer but the shirt is green with a red heart - that's counts doesn't it?!

I put the shirt in action for Syd's Christmas picture with Santa! Sydney was so excited to see Santa and gave her best "cheese" smile for the picture. Sorry for the poor quality picture. We had to scan it in.

So cute! She doesn't even know what Santa is suppose to do! He's just a Christmas guy in her book. I'm more than fine with that right now.

Have a great day.

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 2

Hope everyone had a good Tuesday. I've just been a busy little bee today and have felt food taking over the house: craft room, dining room table, coffee table, and an extra table in the laundry room! Oh my! Anyway, let's move on to other crafts. Today, is some painted houses. Joanie, Jean's mom, gave me these super cute paper houses earlier this year. I painted them and cut up some pine cones and glued them to the roof for added flair. I added some glittered snow to the tops too.

A little bird...

Right now, they are residing in Sydney's room. A little Christmas merriment of her own. She enjoys them (while not touching).

There's the little village. You can find the houses at Hobby Lobby along with all the necessary paint and decorations - minus the pine cones. You can get those in my backyard. : )

12 Days of Christmas Crafts - Day 1

Hmmm...what to start with? How about some cupcakes? That's always a good start! They are a gingerbread cake with lemon cream cheese frosting. It's from an old Gourmet Issue. I recommend making them if you like gingerbread. The recipe is below. Do you see my wonderful cupcake stands?! : )

GINGERBREAD CUPCAKES WITH LEMON CREAM-CHEESE FROSTING:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1 large egg, beaten lightly

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup boiling water

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon thinly sliced crystallized ginger, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Into a bowl sift together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice and salt. In another bowl cream 1/2 stick of the butter, add the granulated sugar and beat the mixture until it is fluffy. Beat in the molasses and the egg, beating until the mixture is smooth. In a measuring cup combine the baking soda with 1/2 cup boiling water and stir the mixture to dissolve the baking soda. Stir the baking-soda mixture into the molasses mixture (the mixture will appear curdled) then stir the molasses mixture into the flour mixture, stirring to combine the ingredients well.

Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and spoon the batter into the liners, filling them halfway. Bake the cupcakes in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. The cupcakes may be slightly flat or indented on top. Transfer the cupcakes to a rack and let cool.

In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, add the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla and beat the mixture until it is fluffy and smooth. Beat in the lemon zest and the lemon juice and chill the frosting for 30 minutes. Spread the frosting on the cupcakes and top each cupcake with some of the crystallized ginger, if desired. Makes 12 cupcakes.