Little Debbie knock offs

Yesterday my eldest son got into the car after church, bragging that he got 3 Christmas tree shaped brownies in his Primary class (our church's name for children's Sunday school).  Three brownies of the Little Debbie variety and he ate them all up!  I know, disgusting on several levels.  Needless to say, he didn't each much lunch.  But, this left my four year old green with envy.  Never mind that his teacher showered his class that week with three adorable crafts.  When you're a four year old little boy, tummies are very, very important to you.  So, he asked me in a very sweet voice if we could make Christmas tree brownies when we got home.  My thoughts immediately turned to the six dozen cookies and three loaves of banana bread I'd made just days before. Do we really need brownies too!  But, that voice was so sweet and it rarely is used in such a polite way and so, I gave in and said yes.  He had to drag me from my nap to do it.  I said I was so tired, but again he wooed me by saying it wouldn't be hard.  I could just get the ingredients out and he'd put them in and do the rest.  What a sweet boy!  So off to the kitchen aid we went and made one SMALL pan of brownies from scratch.  Lucky for me, there was extra frosting already in the fridge left over from last week's cookie marathon.  And thus, surprisingly, it really wasn't hard at all.  

They turned out pretty cute don't you think?

Peace on Earth Garland tutorial

This little Garland has been adorning my mantel this holiday season.  I wanted to share a tutorial on its creation.


It all began with the lovely tinsel & twig paper collection by The Girls' Paperie

I modge podged swatches of the paper onto 2" square chip board

Each square was then hole punched in the top corners.  

I created some vinyl letters for myself and rubbed them on.  Then, I strung the decorated chip board on some ribbon.

The paper flowers were made using 12 strips of 4" by 1/5" paper.

Each was folded and scotch taped at the end.  Then a little hot glue connected them all at the center.  I glued together a set of six at a time and then connected the two halves.  The centers were pre-made dimensional stickers from the twig and tinsel paper collection. But, you could probably substitute buttons, flowers, etc.

The flowers got a couple of hole-punches too and slid up next to the chipboard.

The whole garland was lite enough to tape up with scotch tape.

Here's to much, much more Peace on Earth!


I just might link up to a couple of these parties:

Christmassy time of the year

I hopped onto Becky Higgins (isn't she the best!) blog for a few minutes this afternoon and got inspired by her family's holiday decor.  I may not be Becky but, I do have some favorite decorations around my house that make me feel merry and bright this time of year.  I wanted to share some of them with you.

An oldy but a goody, I used to sell tons of these stackers at Mckinney Trade days.  I saved on for myself and am glad it's still around.

My impromptu wrapping station came about because I was tired of dragging the gift wrap box out from under the bed every other day.  I love these colors and lots of polka dots!

To remind me what snowflakes look like :)

My sweet SIL gave this sconce to me for my birthday.  I'm looking forward to changing it's topper seasonally.

found this cute guy at a Christmas bazaar a few years ago with my mom.  Now he sits in the kitchen window.

LOVE this idea!  just turn a bell jar upside down, fill with ornaments and then cover the bottom to upright.  My bell jar is from West Elm but, I found it at the outlets for $4!  I know, SERIOUSLY filled with possibilities.

A close up of the Christmas tree.  I couldn't get the lighting right to take one of the whole thing.  It's fairly eclectic but tons of memories in those ornaments.

A new addition this year.  The letters were originally a plain white from Hobby Lobby and I jazzed them up with scrapbooking goodies.

My favorite...our nativity scene!  My mother in Law sent a section of it each year for several years.  I love having a beautiful nativity to remind us each year what we're really celebrating.

Here's a close-up of the garland.  Maybe if I get really on the ball, I'll post a tutorial of this one.  


That's all for now.  There's more, but my dinner is burning.  What are your favorite holiday decorations?

A Wedding and A Monogram

This past weekend I got to take a little trip to spend time with family and attend the wedding of my cousin. 

Here's the happy couple.

Their special day began with a beautiful ceremony here: 

The bride called me a few months ago to ask for my ideas and help with the reception.  Since I'm the vinyl decal queen, that's quickly where my thoughts turned.  I designed the cute couple a monogram and then stuck it everywhere.  Here it is on the chapel doors.

 I wish my pictures were better but the evening reception lighting was all I had to work with.

 Lighting the way to these doors, were a row of lumiares.  I couldn't get enough of the snow.  It's a rare treat for a southern girl like me.

Once inside, a row of bow hung engagement photos greeted the guests.

Then the sweetest little table beckoned guest to pause and jote down a note for the new couple.

Is that not the greatest guest book ever!?

And of course, the monogram popped up again.

And again!

I also used it on the dance floor

 And surrounded it with some scattered snowflakes.  The littlest guests had such a fun time hopping from flake to flake.

 You have to see her cake and it's carraige

 And the milk and cookie buffet

 We made these poof balls the day before out of tissue paper.  An inexpensive touch of softness.

 And last but not least, I couldn't leave the centerpieces out.  They got a monogram treatment of their own. 

And that in a nutshell was my sweet cousins wedding.  Soooo glad I got to be a part of it.

Movember

My husband (who never ceases to crack me up) is bringing the Mustache back this month as he competes to raise money for men's health.  It's all part of an initiative known as Movember.


Click on this link to learn more:
http://us.movember.com/mospace/783638/index/tp/1


He'd love a donation if you're able.  The funds raised through Movember’s US campaign benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.


My Grandpa passed away from Prostate cancer when I was sixteen.  It was extrememly sad to see all that he went through.  I'm sure you guys have been somehow affected by men's cancer in your lives as well.  It's a great cause to support.

I'll post a picture of Chad's mustache the end of the month.  I'm voting on a handlebar.  What do you think?