A very Merry Christmas to you and yours!

family tree projects

Here are a few Family Trees projects others have done:

Char at Crap I've Made- The white background really makes the tree and the leaves stand out. Love it.

Carole- I love the two blues she chose for the leaves.

Amelia- The original size was too big for what Amelia needed so she shrunk it to 12x12. Perfect size to add to a scrapbook!

Templates available here.

Anyone else making these for Christmas presents? I intended to make one for my parents but didn't get to it. They are arriving tomorrow morning. Yippee!

Also- It has come to my attention that the frame size I originally recommended (20x24) is not a standard size in stores. I suggest buying what ever is closest to that (without being smaller!) and cut your background paper to the frame opening size.

vintage dresser

Tuesday night I was running errands in an area of town I don't usually frequent and on a whim I stopped at a Goodwill and I found this great vintage dresser for $20. This is one of the best ones I have found. It is actually made of wood and the drawers are dovetailed.


I already had a vintage dresser in my boys' room:


but it wasn't large enough to hold all their clothes. This one will find a new home at my Mother-in-laws house.

I love thifting! I am cheap and I love to find a good, quality piece of furniture for minimal money. I love to wade through the crap to find a gem, it's exhilarating to me but you know what I love about thrifting the most? The extra bonuses that you weren't expecting. This time the hidden bonuses were two shoulder pads, one very old unopened pack of shoelaces, one (thankfully unused) panty liner, lots of dust and cobwebs. Talk about score!! Hahaha.


For those of you keeping track this is the fourth vintage dresser I have found in the last 8 months. I have two others that I have had a couple of years. Perhaps I have a problem?

christmas treat boxes

I stayed up late last night assembling the treat boxes. Each baggie has about 4-7 pieces (depending on size) of candy- basically a nice sampling. With as much candy that is consumed this time of year, I thought going with less is a good idea. The plan was to put the fudge, marshmallows, peanut brittle and peppermint bark in each box but the boxes were too small. I could barely squeeze three of the four treats into each box. I have used these take-out boxes for the last five years but this is the first time I have used the pint sized boxes. It worked out well though, I am taking all the left overs to the ward party tonight. Which is good because I am sick of being in the kitchen!


I opted for simple this year. Red box and a Martha Stewart tag tied on with bakers twine.

Now it is time to get out of my pajamas and deliver the treats!

peppermint bark

2 14 ounce bags of white candy melts
2 cups rice crispy cereal
12 candy canes, crushed

Line a 12x17 pan with foil and spray with cooking oil. Melt the candy melts according to the package directions. Stir in cereal and the candy cane powder and tiny pieces. Spread into prepared pan (it's okay if it doesn't spread all the way to the edges). Sprinkle candy cane pieces on top and gently press down into candy. Let sit until set, 30 minutes or so.

luscious fudge

I have been making this fudge recipe every Christmas since 2002. This year I thought I would branch out a little and try something new. Bad idea! I tried a recipe called Golden Fudge and hated it.

Luscious Fudge
12 ounces milk chocolate bars, bar, broken in pieces
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
7-ounce jar marshmallow creme
12-ounce can evaporated milk
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups chopped walnuts

Combine milk chocolate bar pieces, chocolate chips, and marshmallow creme in large mixing bowl. In heavy saucepan, mix evaporated milk, sugar, and salt. Bring to a roiling boil over medium heat and boil for six minutes. Pour over chocolate mixture. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon till creamy. Add vanilla and chopped walnuts. Mix well. Pour into buttered 9x13-inch pan (I used a 12x17 jelly roll pan). Let stand two hours, then cut into squares. Makes 5 pounds candy or approximately 100 1-inch squares.

recipe from "Christmas Recipes from the Lion House"

peppermint marshmallows

I had never made homemade marshmallows before but it is something I have wanted to try for a while. They are surprisingly easy to make and come out so soft and fluffy!

I used a basic vanilla marshmallow recipe found here. To make them peppermint-y I added finely crushed candy canes to the syrup and swirled red food coloring on top for looks.

the halls are decked!

(they have been for several days actually but I had to tidy the house enough so I wouldn't be embarrassed to take pictures!)

Don't you just love how the bottom 1/3 of the tree is empty? Ah, life with a toddler.

Normally I rearrange all the ornaments after my kids "decorate" the tree but I couldn't do it this year... they were so proud of their work. Every time I look at the tree I smile and cringe at the same time.

My handmade wreath, circle felt garland, and stockings (from Kohls 4 years ago).

Mini bunting. I had so much fun making this. I LOVE it. It's so cheery. (Inspiration) The art gallery has been cleared to make room for the holiday artwork and to display Christmas cards.

Even the kitchen window gets festive!

The foyer and dining room

More bunting and a table runner made from a hand-me-down maternity dress.

The Santa on the sideboard was painted by my Grandmother in 1986. Not my usual style but I love it because it reminds me of her.

I am linking up to The Nester Tour of Homes, Hooked on Houses House Tour 2009 and The Inspired Room.

how to: evergreen wreath

Last week when we picked out our Christmas tree, I noticed a big pile of branches that had been trimmed from the trees. When I asked what they did with the branches I was told "give them to people that buy a tree". Sweet! I had never made a wreath before but I figured it couldn't be that hard. Turns out that Michael made wreaths as a service project when he was a youth living in Vermont. Who knew? The man has all sorts of hidden talents!

How to turn this:

Into this:

Gather your supplies- wire hanger, gloves, pliers, clippers and fine gauge wire (I use 26 gauge).

Straighten out your hanger wire. Form into your desired size. For the small wreath the hook part of the hanger was removed and the wire overlapped it self to make it 8" in diameter. For our large wreath we used the full length of the hanger.

Using your clippers, cut off lengths of the branch- about 18" and smaller for the large wreath and 12" and smaller for the small wreath. Make a bunch with 2-5 branches (depending on how full your branches are). Wrap the wire around the bottom few inches of the bunch and the hanger wire.

Make a knot (like a twist tie) when you start.

One bunch secured. Layer the next bunch over the first and wrap. Keep going around the hanger wire until you have reached the beginning.

Finished small wreath:

Finished large wreath:

Michael and I made the large wreath together. It is a lot easier with four hands! I was able to easily make the small one on my own though. Total cost for two fresh evergreen wreathes: $0!

peanut brittle

Recipe #1 for the Christmas treat boxes.


1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup raw Spanish peanuts (I used regular raw peanuts)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Butter a 15"x10" pan; set aside. In a heavy 3 quart saucepan, combine corn syrup, sugar and water. Place over high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a boil. When syrup starts to thicken, stir in peanuts. Stirring constantly, cook until the peanuts smell cooked and the syrup bubbles are a pale straw color.
Remove from heat and stir in butter, salt and vanilla (use cation as this will cause steam and could burn your hand). Stir in baking soda until it foams. Pour onto baking sheet and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.
Using two forks, or buttered finger tips, begin stretching the edges away from the mass of brittle. Work your way around the pan, pulling off pieces as you stretch. Place these pieceson the counter or on another baking sheet; turn the pieces upside down as this will cause the peanuts to stay in the center of the candy, rather than sink to the bottom. Continue in this manner until all the brittle has been stretched. Allow to coll completely. Store in airtight containers. Makes 1 pound.

weekend

Friday night we went to see Kovacs and the Polar Bear. My brother-in-law Andrew is the drummer. It was an awesome show.


Saturday we took the kids to spend the night at the Great Wolf Lodge. They have a huge indoor water park. Liam and Sutton loved it. Ezra... not so much. I was surprised that he disliked it so much. He loves water. I am guessing that it was just too much water for him. This was Liam's first time riding water slides. He was nervous at first but was hooked after the first one. I wish I had taken some pictures in the water park. It was awesome!

We happened to be there on the busiest weekend of the year! Saturday was the first night of their "Snowland" festivities. Santa came and there were lots of activities for the kids (it even "snowed" (aka little foamy bubbles) a couple of times a day in the lobby). We didn't do much more then the water park though. I am not a fan of big crowds. This is the lobby during Santa's arrival- way too many people for my comfort!

The kids loved the "wolf den" where their beds were.

I liked it too. It reminded me of when my older sister and I slept in bunk beds built into a closet. Except I didn't have a flat panel tv in my cozy bed nook.

We asked someone to take a picture of the family. Hmm... too blurry.

Let's just use the timer instead. Oops, nice back Michael.

Not quite.

Almost there...

We're all making strange faces... oh well, it's good enough.

As were we checking out we were able to catch the 'snow' again.

So pretty!

Tonight, after the kids are in bed, I am hoping to finish the Christmas decor. Usually I don't spend more then a couple of hours on that stuff but this year I have manage to stretch it out over a week. There are huge totes of decorations sitting in my family room and it's driving me crazy!

family photos

A few weeks ago we had family photos taken by Courtney Beck. I love them so much I had to share a few with you.

i wore my j.crew knock-off cardy

and a funny outtake:


Go to Courtney Beck's blog to see more.