12/8/11

Christmas Card Display Holder

OK...I have to be honest... I'm SUPER proud of this one and LOVE how it turned out.  I had seen on Pinterest how to put ink on wood, and I KNEW I wanted to try that.  *Then* I had this great idea.  To make a Christmas Card Display Holder...


Honestly, I am a little disappointed in my camera here (I mean, it couldn't be that the photographer HAS no idea what she's doing with the fancy camera, could it??  LOL).  But, I HAVE to tell you... I LOVE the way that it turned out!!!

12/7/11

FREE Photo book... Day 3 Stockings & Stuffers @vistaprintweb

Day 3: Stockings + Stuffers: Free Flipbook Surprise friends and family by putting a personalized photo book in their stockings this Christmas. At Vistaprint you can customize your free book with ten of your favorite photos and add captions to each one. Feel creative? Upload drawings to create a children’s story or picture books. Or, add stickers and stamps to your stocking and treat your photo book like a sticker book. Shipping $5.91 CLICK HERE

Egg Brunch Casserole CROCKPOT

So here's another AWESOME pin that I found a while ago.  I am a member of the MOPs group at my church and on this specific Tuesday, my table was responsible for bringing food.  So, I totally took advantage of this recipe.  Set it and forget it, right?!  SO EASY and super yummy!

Here's what you need...
6-8 strips of bacon
1 onion
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 red or green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 (2lb) bag of frozen hash browns
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
12 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Here's what you do...
Spray Crock Pot with non-stick cooking spray.  

Cook bacon til crisp.  Let it cool, then chop it into 1/2 inch pieces and set it aside.


Saute onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 5 mins.  


Layer 1/3 of the frozen hash browns in the bottom of the Crock Pot with 1/3 bacon, 1/3 onion/garlic/pepper mixture and 1/3 cheese.  


Repeat layers ending with cheese (I LOVE cheese, so I added extra).


In a large bowl, mix eggs, milk, dill, salt & pepper. 


Pour over ingredients in the Crock Pot.  




Cover and turn on low.  Cook for 8-10 hours.


When it's done, a thermometer in the center should read 160 degrees F.

I mean, how EASY is that??  Made for a REALLY easy morning.  I just had to load it in the car.  And... as always, it smelled... DELICIOUS!

Visit A Latte with Ott A to print out a recipe card and find more yummy recipes!!!

12/5/11

10 FREE Holiday Products & Gifts @Vistaprintweb


10 FREE Holiday Products & Gift Ideas! Get our top 10 Holiday Products for FREE Today! Choose from Flat and Folded Holiday Cards, Wall and Desk Photo Calendars, Holiday Postcards, Totes, Holiday Labels, Mugs, Stamps, & Business Cards. Products are FREE, pay only for shipping & processing. Order today; receive in as few as 3 days.

Check out and Sign up for Box Tops for Education @boxtops4edu

I'm not sure if you've ever participated in Box Tops for Education or not... but I can tell you that the program is fantastic.  Last year over $49 million were given to schools.  So, click the picture (where it says sign up now) and go sign up.  Find your school or a school close by.  Even if you don't have kids, this is a GREAT opportunity to give back!

Embroidered Stockings for $7.99 + FREE 7 day shipping @Vistaprintweb

Day 1: Stockings + Stuffers – Embroidered Stockings for $7.99 each with free 7 day shipping! Fill your home with Christmas cheer by hanging embroidered stockings on your mantle. Personalize this soft and fuzzy decorations with your name or the name of a loved one. Our best stocking deal available, this offer includes embroidered stockings and 7-day shipping for just $7.99 each! CLICK HERE

12/2/11

Handprint Christmas Tree


So, I pinned this SO LONG AGO (here)... I just HAD to try it out with my little ones when I was on my desperate crafting search.  I REALLY love the way that it turned out.  If I were going to do anything different though, I would have gotten a larger canvas.  I think that the one I got was like 16x20 (maybe?!).  Bigger would have been MUCH better, you can always add more rows.  Anyhow, luckily my munchkins still have small hands so it worked out GREAT.  Had I had the larger canvas though, we could have added a row of hands for each adult in the house too.  Lesson learned.

So, I went to the craft store here and the canvases were on sale.  Who doesn't love a sale?!  For a 2 canvas pack, I paid $6.95.  Add in a bottle of green paint (washable of course) for $2.99 and I was set.  If only I had remembered my 50% off any item coupon... it would have been even better.  Oh well.  Another lesson learned.

Well, I'm SO grateful that the canvases came in a 2 pack.  If you look at the second picture, you can see where I tried to put my hands on and then had my little one stamping away... I had NO PLAN!  I visualized it perfectly in my head.  But, when it came down to it, it turned out AWFUL!  So, on to canvas #2.  Lesson Learned.
  

12/1/11

Finished Melted Snowman Ornament

So, they are dry and hanging... check them out... HOW CUTE?!  Can you tell which one my 18mo old did vs the 3 1/2 yr old?  HA!  But, I totally love them BOTH.  I mean, when a snowman melts, it probably looks a little more like the fist one than the second, don't you think?? Click here for the 'how to' on this fun craft.

Melted Snowman Ornament

Ok... so I was having a bit of a dry spell when it came to crafts.  So yesterday I went on an overload...  and had a BLAST!!  I remembered a craft that I used to to with my students every Christmas when i taught first grade.  See, it was a tradition at the school that each class made a different type of ornament and we would all decorate a common tree in the hall.  It always ended up looking SO GREAT!!  Anyhow, my standard class ornament was the melted snowman.  I just always thought that they looked SO CUTE, so of course when my angels made theirs, well... they are just the GREATEST!!!  Sidenote... a friend of mine has also made these as ghosts for Halloween and made them necklaces instead of ornaments... so there are LOTS of fun ideas with this. :-)

So, it's simple... get some glue (glue-all works better than the school glue, not sure why... but it does) and squirt some out onto wax paper.  Remember shape doesn't matter, it's a MELTED snowman.


This is my 18 mo old having fun with the glue :-)


I pre-cut the shapes, (an orange triangle and a black hat), let the kids grab some small twigs from the backyard, and had some google eyes.  (you could TOTALLY let older kids cut the stuff themselves and/or add more, buttons, black circles for a charcoal mouth, yarn piece for a scarf... etc...)  

You just let the kids add the pieces wherever... REMEMBER the snowman is melted, placement doesn't matter.




Add in hooks for hanging.  I used ornament hooks but paper clips would work fine too.



So here are ours drying...





I add glitter because the glue dries pretty clear.  Just helps a little.  I'll add the finished pics later today.  I JUST flipped them so the back would dry.  LOVE this one :-)