Silhouette Shirt

Can you believe it's New Year's Eve?!

What was your favorite part of 2010?

What are you looking forward to in 2011?

Any resolutions out there?

I don't think I'm going to make any this year...that way I won't have to break it next week! hehe

I only have a short post for toay, I'm sure you are all celebrating and busy busy anyway!

Here's a cute shirt I made for the little boy I tutor. 

(I needed a good reason to play around with my new Silhouette even though I had so much to do!!)

 He LOVES playing "Punch Buggie, No Punch Back" in the car...so I though he would get a kick out of this...

And here's the back.

Cute, right?

He thought it was funny, though I'm not sure he thinks it's "cool" to wear a homemade shirt.
Oh well, it was fun to make for him.

Don't forget to enter my first giveaway!! It ends at midnight.


 



Homemade Hot Cocoa

Did anyone else have an awesome snow storm this weekend?? We sure did! But because of the wind, there are places with 1 inch of snow and others with more than 12...so weird! If you look out of our back door, the snow is over 3 feet high, but over the huge mound is no more than 5-6 inches.

My FIL and Hubs posing after a few runs down the hill. 

This little guy missed the "migration" memo.

He was hiding in a drain pipe and was very upset with all the wind!

I think maybe he needed some homemade hot cocoa...mmmm.

This recipe was given to me by a woman at my church a few years ago and I have made it every year since. It's a super simple recipe that can be made ahead of time and heated as you go. I usually make a batch, share a mug with SP and put the rest in a 2 qt container in the fridge...that way, we can heat it up whenever we feel like a cup of chocolate yumminess :-) 

The best part about this recipe is that it is fairly light and low in sugar...particularly for how rich it is. I usually cut mine with skim milk or add a few tablespoons of eggnog (depending on how sweet I'm feeling that day)

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

1 (14oz) can of Sweetened Condensed Milk, I use Fat Free

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

1/8 tsp Salt

6 1/2 cups hot water

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large sauce pan, add water, stir. Heat through and serve with cute little marshmallows and a good book.   :-)

Thanks for visiting!
:-)

Fastest Angel Costume Ever

At 4 pm: 

"Jackie, I need an angel costume by tonight"

The 6 year old I watch needed an angel costume for his school play. No problem...except, I had to work with whatever we had on hand because there wasn't enough time to get anything else by that evening.

Challenge ACCEPTED.

Halo: Silver pipe cleaners and sparkly string. Score.

Wings:  Wire coat hangers and white stockings. You can also give a light coat of spray paint to make them whatever color you need.

 

Robe: White sheet. I only had a fitted sheet available so I cut off all the elastic and rounded the edges. I measured his head, cut a hole, then rolled up where his arms needed to go. I cut slits to make the arm holes and hot glued the edges together because my sewing machine was at home.

I'd say it's a pretty sweet costume for the hour I had to make it! I even found some silver garland for his sash and to cover the metal coat hanger.

TADA!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas.

From my family, to yours! 

 

 But the angel said to them, 

"Do not be afraid; for Behold, 

I bring you good news of great joy 

which will be for all the people; 

for today in the city of David 

there has been born for you a Savior, 

who is Christ the Lord"

Luke 2:10-11 (NASB)

Gingerbread Rice Crispy Treats

Here is a "quick and easy" treat for this week!

 Look what I found at the grocery store....

 Ummm, YUM! I have several recipes up my sleeve for these babies, but of course I HAD to make these first.

I didn't do anything different from the regular Rice Crispy Treat recipe, except that I used the Gingerbread Marshmallows. Awesome. I had to share them with my parents and siblings so they weren't in the house too long.  Dangerous! These would be a great treat to send to school with your kiddies for their Christmas parties!

Mmmmmmm.

My First Giveaway!

Ok bloggy friends! It's Giveaway Time!

In honor of reaching 100 followers, Wingledings is hosting its first giveaway... 

A $10 Dunkin Donuts Gift Card

 A copy of Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook..

And perhaps a surprise or two!

I'm so super excited about this!! 

So here are the ways to enter: One comment per entry.

1) Share your favorite Christmas memory.

2) Be a follower of Wingledings.

3) Be a facebook fan of Wingledings. 

4) Tell me what you hope Santa brings you on Saturday! 

Since it's Christmas week, I'm going to leave this giveaway open until December 31st. I will announce the winner on January 1st!

Good luck!

100 Followers!

Good morning!!

Guess what!! 

Last night, Wingledings reached

Thank you all for your continued support. I love all my readers! 

And now I get to have my first giveaway.

Yay! 

Come back later tonight to enter.

Have a great day :-) 

Magic Reindeer Food

I think the theme of my posts this week will be "quick and easy." With just four full days until Christmas, there is a lot to do which means less time for blogging. :-( 

Here's a quick project to share with your little ones.

 Reindeer Food

I loved getting this at Christmas and spreading it on the lawn Christmas Eve with my siblings and cousins when we were young. I made this one for my cousin's little girl and it hit home that we are now sharing memories and traditions with a new generation...so weird!

You only need two things for this one. Oatmeal and Glitter.

I just poured a bunch of each in a baggie, shook it up and tied a ribbon around it. 

Then I made a pillow box to send it in and tag with this poem:

Sprinkle on the lawn at night
The moon will make it sparkle bright
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam
This will guide them to your home.

 

And there you go! Now on Christmas Eve, go out at night and spread this magic food on the lawn so Santa can find your house! :-)

There's always tomorrow...

After the Great Fall of 2010, our weekend settled down considerably. I managed to get many gifts completed and wrapped, though didn't do as much baking as I had planned. Oh well, as we learned from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,

"There's always tomorrow,
With so much to do,
And so little time in a day.

There's always tomorrow,
For dreams to come true,
Tomorrow is not far away."

 

Don't you just love that movie? Such a Christmas Classic. My cousin's little girl fell in love with Clarice this season. Who wouldn't? She's adorable!

But to be specific, Ave really loved her bow. She said she wished she had a bow like Clarice's. 

Well little girl, that's what I'm here for! :-) 

 

(I didn't take a picture of it, but there is a clip on the other side.)

 

Come back tomorrow for a {quick and easy} Christmas treat!

Thanks for visiting!

'Twas the week before Christmas...

'Twas the week before Christmas

and strewn 'round our house 

were half finished presents and wrappings throughout.

The glue gun was ready, my Silhouette primed, 

the only thing lacking, was a little more time.

This weekend would hold my final real chance,

to finish these projects before the "Big Dance."

I brought out the paper, the bags and the wrap,

my tired eyes yearned for a long winter's nap.

When out in the den there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the couch to see what was the matter!

When, what to my furious eyes should appear,

A new-fallen tree; two cats trembling with fear.

More rapid than eagles they flew to their bed,

to hide from the Queen who called for their head.

The room was a wreck, surely Christmas was doomed,

Hubby grabbed for the towels, and threw me the broom.

Through whimpers and tears, we cleaned up the mess, 

how we would fix this was anyone's guess.

Needles and hooks and many glass splinters,

The worst mess we've had in a great many winters.

The snowman De-Grahamed! Limbs amputated!

But Morty and Ferdie survived, we were elated!

 

The tree was back upright, tied up to the wall,

The oraments were glued, except for this ball.

Christmas was saved, with minimal cost,

In the end, no precious decorations were lost.

Hubby heard me exclaim as I turned out the light,

"Don't wait up, I'll work through the night!"

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Is anyone else having a crazy busy week?! I cannot believe that Christmas is next week and I'm so far from ready! Yikes! Hopefully I can finish all my wrapping/crafting this weekend. 

 

On the flip side, we had our first light snow yesterday and I truly enjoyed looking out the window over a white yard. I love winter, even more than I love Autumn. (Although I could give up this bitter cold weather, for something in the 30's!) 

Now how about a little comfort food for your chilly evenings? I made these a while back, just to see if there was a difference from my usual potatoes...and there totally was! They were so creamy and delicious, I'm not sure I'll go back.

Recipe from Nestle

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup fat free evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter, I use light butter sticks

Directions

Place potatoes in large saucepan. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Cook over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender; drain.

Return potatoes to saucepan; add evaporated milk and butter. Beat with hand-held mixer until smooth. Season with salt and ground black pepper. I usually add a pinch of garlic too.

Thanks for visiting!Come back soon 

:-)

Anthro Inspired Candle Holder

Isn't it amazing how quickly Monday morning rolls around?! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I know I did :-) I have lots of pictures to share, soon!

Sadly, I haven't had a lot of crafting time this week outside of Christmas gifts..I think December is just going to be that way. But once Christmas is over, I can show you all the things I'm working on. (Just in case a recipient is reading!) 

However, I can show you this Anthropologie Inspired Candle Holder I made last night.

Cute, right? I first saw this on Under the Table and Dreaming and when I came across the Anthro version online, I had to give it a try.

Here's the real deal...

It was really easy, try it! All I did was cut off the sleeves, used the two ends with the cuffs for the small vases and the upper arm for the large one. I hot glued the ends under to make a small cuff, just so that it didn't come apart. It only took about 15 minutes to make all of them and they will certainly add a cozy feel to my Christmas decorations!

I loved the way the knit looked on the vase, but it was just a little "blah" so I cut off the buttons and added them too :-)

I like them a lot better now! I just have to find a place for them in all the Christmas decor. I also added a flameless candle..but I only had one that wasn't being used somewhere else, so I have to get more.

Love it! And the best part is that all three were free! I had the glass vases and sweater in my stash just waiting to become beautiful...though I suppose I will have to but the candles, but hey, close to free is good enough sometimes! :-)

Thanks for visiting :-)

Eggnog Thumbprints

I am getting super excited as I get closer to 100 followers! Once I hit that magic number, I'll have my first giveaway! So shout it from the rooftops friends, let's make this happen! (Ok, maybe not the rooftops, but do share so everyone can get in on the fun.)      :-)  

Moving on...

Ok, so I have to admit...I love pumpkin. A lot. You may have noticed that from September to (almost) December I'm slightly obsessed with all things pumpkin. See?

Exhibit A: Banana Pumpkin Bread
Exhibit B: Pumpkin Dip
Exhibit C: Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Exhibit D: Pumpkin Pie Milkshake
Exhibit E: Pumpkin Muffins

Yeah, it's a problem. But if there is a support group for this, I don't want to know about it. I will always love pumpkin....until the day after Thanksgiving. Now I have a new first love, eggnog.

Now let me clarify this a bit. I really like the flavor of eggnog, but don't like to drink it. Hubby thinks that I don't like to drink it because it is high in fat, which is true...but I believe it is more than that. I don't know what, but I'm always a bit weirded out by how thick it is!

But mmmm, I love it.

Especially in this form:

(Photo Credit)

This ice cream has an amazing taste with nutrition stats to match. A 1/2 cup for 110 calories? Yes please! 

 

I guess what I am trying to say, is get ready for a whole lot of eggnog related recipes!  (Sorry for those who don't like this holiday treat...I promise to share other things too!) 

So let's get this party started! 

Recipe from Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter, softened (I used 1/3 light butter and 1/3 regular)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 
  FILLING:
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon rum extract
• 1 to 2 teaspoons milk
• 1 to 2 drops yellow food coloring, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Gradually stir in the flour, salt and nutmeg and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
• In a small bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; dip in egg whites, then roll in walnuts. Place 2 in. apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray.
• Using a wooden spoon handle, make a 1/2-in. indentation in the center of each ball. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until center is set. Carefully remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
• For filling, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar, extract and enough milk to achieve a spreading consistency. Tint with food coloring if desired. Pipe about 1/2 teaspoon into each cookie. Yield: 4 dozen.

Here's my little piping trick that I learned from Sandra Lee from Semi-Homemade. Maybe you all already do this and I'm just a slow learner...but I thought I would share on the off chance that it might help someone!

Ok, so do you ever feel like you just need another hand when you're filling your pastry bag?!

There you go. Problem solved. Place your pastry bag (or ziplock as the case may be) in a large cup and fold the edge over to prevent mess. Done and done.

Now take a look at these lovelies!

Drool...

Tomorrow I hope to have something crafty to share with you! 

Thanks for visiting! 

Child Friendly Christmas Crafts

It almost looks like Christmas in our apartment and my parents' house...almost. We'll finish this weekend and then I'll share some photos :-)

As we were bringing out the ornaments to decorate the tree, I found some cute toddler/preschool age craft ideas and thought I would share! Please ignore the quality of the photos...my camera was having a really hard time in the twinkling light of the tree. (Oh well!)

(Oh and look at our adorable helper! Ok, he wasn't much help...)

Mini Stocking made from felt and beads. Easy. Cute. Classic. 

 Clothes Pin Rudolph! Love this one.

Gingerbread Man made from felt, beads, and ribbon.

And this one is too cute! Light Bulb Rudolph! 

I love that my mom has so many of our ornaments from when we were little. It's so much fun to take them out and talk about years past. I think that decorating the tree is one of my favorite days of the entire year! And here is a photo of my all time favorite ornament...I know it's kind of lame, but as the girliest of all girly girls, this little house captured the heart of the wannabe domestic diva in my 5 year old self. :-)

I love the little Christmas tree in the living room! Isn't it precious?! Though I never understood why it has snow on it....

Come back tomorrow for my first Christmas cookies of the season! 

Eggnog Thumbprints!