Christmas Gifts for Everyone Part 2 November 30, 2009

Just stumbled on this idea a little bit ago! Vinyl wall stickers! There are literally thousands of designs out there so you are sure to find a perfect one for anyone on your list.

• The new parents who already have everything on their registry- try this one:

• Newlywed Couple or the family that just moved into a new house:

• For the teacher, professor, or professional:

• The gift for the “whole family”:

• The sports fan who already owns all the memorabilia:

And there are thousands more! If you can’t find what you are looking for, you can even custom design one! I highly recommend checking out ebay because that’s where I’ve found the best deals!

I’m Getting Down With My Nerdy Self November 29, 2009

So yeah, I have no idea what to blog about. I’m just drawing a complete blank. I’ve been trying since yesterday and nothing. Looks like you get to hear about my evening.

We don’t have church this evening so it’s throwing off my schedule a bit. We’re at a friends house & (since it’s all guys here except for me & BabyDoll) I’m hiding in the corner on my lappy. (For which I have just realized I do not have a name. All of the other people that I know have a name for their laptops. Hm.) Just got done playing World of Warcraft (Almost to 72! Woot woot!). The guys are all playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. I’m feeling pretty nerdy. lol I guess I’ll just go embrace it & start googling Dr. Who.

When Do You Decorate Your Tree? November 28, 2009

I absolutely love Christmas. Nothing against Thanksgiving; I like it, too. BUT Christmas is my favorite!

I could decorate my house starting in October if it was *allowed* (the DPH is very specific about when we can decorate). I am allowed to put up Christmas decorations starting the Monday before Thanksgiving, but the tree doesn’t get put up until the day after Thanksgiving. It’s our compromise & it seems to be working so far!

So when do you put up your tree? Whenever you happen to get it or do you have a tradition that goes along with it? I’m all in the Christmas mood so share your stores!

It Turned Out Cute! November 27, 2009

The turkey appetizer that I talked about making for Thanksgiving turned out really cute!

And then, this is what happens when you don’t monitor the appetizer-eating… 2 children under the age of 7 do not get the humor, but so far everyone else has:

I’ve Been Ungrateful November 26, 2009

Lately, I just have been really crabby. I think it stems from the fact that I’ve been really ungrateful.

My husband has a fantastic job that allows me to stay home and homeschool our children. We have more than enough stuff. I go to see my family fairly frequently. We have plenty of food.

And yet, I’ve been ungrateful. I’ve been nit-picky. I’ve been crabby and mean. I haven’t been very nice.

But it’s now Thanksgiving. (Literally- it just hit midnight as I’m writing this.) This will be my “Thanksgiving Resolution” (since those New Year’s ones never seem to stick). I will be grateful. I have plenty. I have more than I need. I’m doing what I always dreamed I could. I love my life, my God, my husband, and my family. I will be thankful.

And just because I think it’s necessary on a day like this:

Digital Scrapbooking Freebies! November 25, 2009

Alright, so the original “Totally Awesome Free Digital Scrapbooking” post somehow disappeared. Here’s the updated version!

First up are  couple places with free fonts. These are very helpful when you want to change it up a bit.

Digital Scrapbooking Free Site - and this site even has some great tutorials!

Kevinandamanda.com

Next are the scrapbooking blogs! There are tons out there!

ShabbyPrincess.com- great site!

Peppermintcreative.com- You have to sign up for the newsletter, but it’s VERY worth it!

Scrapgirls.com- Theirs don’t last long, but they are fantastic!

CottageArts.net- they don’t update very often, but their freebies are good!

Digital Scrapbook Place- lots of freebies here

DigiFree- Great site!

Free Digital Scrapbooking

Just a few tips- you can end up with a lot of digital items! It’s best to organize them as you get them. I have mine separated into the following folders: Papers, Embellishments, Fonts, & Sayings. It works well for me & makes things easier to find!

Christmas Gift Ideas for Anyone November 24, 2009

I start buying for Christmas in January. This is usually great, but when the calendar hits December and I’m not totally done with shopping- I start to panic. The most typical “hard to buy for” people are my dads, but sometimes there’s just someone who is hard to buy for. I’m going to try to do a little section periodically for the next month about “Christmas gifts for the hard to buy for”!

First idea is a photo book! They are perfect for anyone! I usually buy at least 20 books a year for various gifting reasons. There are lots of options:

• For kids- “All About Me”, “Alphabet Book”, “My Favorite Things”. For Bubba’s birthday, I made him a “Lego Book” of all kinds of Lego creations he had made this past year. I also make both of my kids an “All About Me” book each year.
  

• For family- My grandparents have everything they could ever need and more plus, the have very little room for more pictures. The perfect solution is a photo book! I put pictures from the previous year in a photo book for them. They love it because it’s portable (so they can show it off easier!) and it doesn’t take up a lot of room.
  

• For friends- It’s a great idea for friends to commemorate a special event- whether that’s a birthday, anniversary, graduation, party, girl’s night, or just a get-together!

• For anyone- you can take a series of pictures and put them together into a book! I have made a book with interesting pictures of clouds & landscapes. I also have some pictures of trees that I would like to make into a book for someone. Maybe I should get to work on that soon.

You can get photo books from many places: Shutterfly, Snapfish, Winkflash, PhotoWorks, even Walmart and Walgreens.

Keep checking back before Christmas & I’ll give you more ideas!

Menu Plan Monday (on time for once!) November 23, 2009

Menu Plan Monday!

Monday-

Breakfast- Cranberry Vanilla Muffins

Lunch- Grilled Cheese w/ ham & Tomato soup

Dinner- Chili

Tuesday-

Breakfast- Yogurt & cereal

Lunch- Pigs-in-a-blanket & corn

Dinner- Corn Dogs & peas

Wednesday-

Breakfast- Cranberry Vanilla Muffins

Lunch- Quesadillas & green beans

Dinner- Omelets & sausage

Thursday-

Thanksgiving! Turkey, turkey & more turkey!

Friday-

Breakfast-Yogurt & fruit

Lunch- Mac-n-Cheese with ham & peas

Dinner- Tuna Melts and homemade cranberry sauce

Saturday-

Breakfast- Fruit & cereal

Lunch- Tacos

Dinner- Homemade Pizza

Sunday-

Breakfast- Donuts

Lunch- out

Dinner- chicken nuggets

Recipes:

Cranberry Vanilla Muffins

1 basic muffin mix (recipe here)

6 oz (approx. 1 ½ cups) cranberries

2 tbl. Vanilla (I like a strong vanilla flavor!)

¼ cup sugar

Mix up a basic muffin mix & add additional ingredients. Bake as directed in muffin mix recipe.

Pigs-in-a-Blanket

1 pkg Lil’Smokies

1 or 2 cans of little biscuits

Wrap a biscuit around a Lil Smokie and pinch together. Place approx. 1 in apart on cookie sheets. Bake time & temp recommended on the biscuit can.

Homemade Easy Pizza

1 pkg pizza crust mix (or refrigerated crust)

1 jar pizza sauce

1 pkg mozzarella cheese

toppings to suit

Follow directions on crust mix. Add pizza sauce to taste. Add cheese. Add any other toppings. I like to add a sprinkle of Italian Seasoning to mine as well. Bake at temp directed on crust mix.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

1 pkg (12 oz) cranberries

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Heat water & sugar to boiling. Add cranberries. Heat to boiling again. Remove from heat & cool to room temperature. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Check out more menus at www.orgjunkie.com!

Green and Sparkly! November 22, 2009

I was doing some random blog surfing (where I type in random words & then add “blog” at the end) and I found these really cool Christmas lights! They are solar powered (so you don’t have to pay for the electricity to run them even!). At first I could only find ones for $60, but then a lovely little search at Amazon led me to these for only $16.99! If you consider the cost of electricity, these will pay for themselves in just a few holiday season’s worth of use! And there are also other types of decor such as snowmen. I particularly like these snowflakes!

 

It’s a Sharpie! (Said with an Italian Accent) November 21, 2009

(It’s is said with an Italian accent because I’ve been watching the DPH play Assassin’s Creed 2 for the last hour. I’m now *thinking* with an Italian accent. lol)

(These are totally decorated with a Sharpie!!!)

Anyhow, I was looking for Christmas decorating ideas & I stumbled on this website that’s dedicated to Sharpie art! It’s got some great ideas (like for personalized wrapping paper), but I mostly love the Uncapped Gallery! Oh and the How To’s is fantastic! I’m totally going to use some of those ideas- like the ornaments one!