Christmas Card 2009

Oh my gosh, I LOVE Christmas cards! We live in a world of email, evite, e-everything! Do you ever feel like the only "regular" mail you get is bills? That's why I get so excited this time of year. I'm so excited to check the mail every day!

This year was the first year I decided to do a personalized photo card. We used a sweet girl from Etsy to create these:

Our friend, Rachael, took the picture one afternoon when we had a little impromptu photo-session on our porch swing. I look like a whack-a-doodle but it's candid and I love that!

*EDIT* One of my readers asked me which Etsy seller did our cards. I can't believe I forgot to give you her name (she was great to work with and one of the more affordable ones I found!)... It's sweetpapers.

I can't wait to visit the other blogs participating in the Card Carousel. Are you playing along??

Joy Pillows from Country Living Magazine

When I saw this picture in the newest Country Living, I thought "I can DO that!!"

Here's what you will need to make a set for yourself:
2 yards red felt (it's $3.99/yd at Hobby Lobby but they run 50% off a lot!)
1/2 yard of an accent felt (I chose brown)
white and red thread
iron on adhesive
stuffing for the pillows (or inserts... I bought the 16'' ones)

1. To start, I free-handed the letters onto paper. Then, I cut them out and made stencils for the accent color.
2. When I had my letters cut out, I used white thread to stitch along the edges of the letters. The magazine didn't do this (and you could totally skip this step!) but I wanted mine to look more rustic.
3. Then I got to work making the pillows using the red felt. I cut 6 individual 20'' squares (let's not kid, I didn't measure at all. I went all willy nilly but it seemed to work out fine). I sewed two squares together along three of the edges and part of the 4th edge. I left a 8'' hole to stuff the pillow inside once it's turned right side out.
4. Then, I followed the instructions on the back of the iron adhesive to attach the letters to the front of the pillows. I just eyeballed it to get it centered!
5. Then I stuffed the pillow insert in (oh boy, that was like putting sausage in it's casing!) and stitched up the hole by hand.
Ta-da!!
Oh, and while I had the iron out, I ironed our names onto our stockings. Joe, if you're reading this, I swear I didn't realize those letters were pink when I started!!
I love these pillows. Isn't that what this season is about, JOY??

Welcome Home - It's Christmas!

I'm joining Nester to show you around my house at Christmas! I can't wait to see what everyone else shows off. I've always been someone who loves to drive around at Christmas and look at people's houses and also look in their windows. In a non-creepy way!

Welcome in!
I like to jazz up the kitchen table for the holidays. Don't get me wrong: we don't actually EAT on these plates! ;-)

Christmas, Christmas everywhere!

We have two trees. One huge one in the living room...
And one in our bedroom.
I love falling asleep to the twinkle lights.
Every year Joe and I get each other one ornament. We have been doing this since our first Christmas. Those ornaments go on this tree. It is my favorite Christmas tradition!!
Come back tomorrow to see how I re-created the "JOY" pillows from Country Living magazine!
And then Wednesday I'm showing off our Christmas cards!

Happy Holidays!

Take A Bullet

My life in bullet points...

• Last weekend we went to a friend's daughter's first birthday party. It was so stinkin' cute - ladybug themed and they had t-shirts made for everyone. Isn't that a great idea??
• I'm sick as a dog right now. Joe says it's a sinus infection but I'm thinking - could it be Swine?? Because I think I'm dying, y'all.
• Although I'm sick I drug myself to dinner tonight because we had already made plans last week with a girl I hadn't seen since high school. She lives here in the same town as us and it was so weird to see her after all these years!
• I just realized Christmas is soon. *gulp*. Must. Start. Shopping.
• We have, like, four Christmas parties this year. How did my social calendar get so full all of the sudden??? I need dresses, stat!!
  

I've Got Rhythm

One of my friends asked me a long time ago what songs I have on my iPod that are good workout songs. Here is my "list". I'd love to hear yours because at some point you get to a place when you hear a song that's on your workout list and you immediately associate it with exercise. And that is the point when you need to update your playlist. Haha!

Body Language - Jesse McCartney
C'm On Feel the Noize - Quiet Riot
Cherry Pie - Warrant
Circus - Britney Spears
Down - Jay Sean (feat. Lil Wayne)
Fly Above - Kandi
Girls, Girls, Girls - Motley Crue
Gives You Hell - The All American Rejects
Ignition (Remix) - R. Kelly
In Da Club - 50 Cent
Low - Flo Rida
My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson
Obsessed - Mariah Carey
One, Two Step - Ciara (feat. Missy Elliot)
Party in the USA - Miley Cyrus
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
Right Round - Flo Rida
Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake
Show Stopper - Danity Kane
So What - P!nk
Temperature - Sean Paul
You Walked In - Lonestar

Cooking Light Magazine, Dec 09 Issue

About four years ago I ordered a 12 month subscription of Cooking Light magazine.

In an ironic turn of fate, I'm still receiving issues despite the fact that I never renewed and also moved no less than four times in that span of time.

If only US Weekly would make the same mistake.

Because, truth be told, I don't even really like Cooking Light magazine. The recipes are just too advanced for someone of my novice caliber (someone who sometimes has a bowl of Capt'n Crunch cereal for dinner).

Anyway, I actually read this month's issue. Because HELLO they had cookies on the cover! Cookies and chocolate!


I thought I would share with you two recipes from this month's issue that I thought looked tasty.

Roasted Cornish Hens with Cherry-Port Glaze

Ingredients (note there's only FIVE!!):
1/2 c cherry preserves
1/2 c port
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 (1.5 lb) cornish hens

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place wire rack on a baking sheet and coat rack with cooking spray.
2. In saucepan, combine preserves, port, ginger, vinegar and 1/4 tsp. salt. Bring to boil, cook 9 minutes until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove and discard giblets and necks from hens. Rinse with cold water and pat dry. Remove skin and trim fat. Tie ends of legs together with twine. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under hen.
4. Sprinkle hen with salt and ground pepper.
5. Put hens on rack and bake at 400 for 15 minutes.
6. Pull hens out and brush with cherry mixture. Put back in oven and bake 40 minutes. (Brush with cherry mixture every 10 minutes)

Popcorn Brittle

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
5 1/2 c popcorn without salt/fat
1 1/2 c sugar
6 T. light corn syrup
1/4 c water
3 T. molasses
1 T. butter
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Line a baking sheet with foil, coat foil with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Place popcorn in a large ziplock bag, seal. Crunch popcorn and set aside.
3. Combine sugar, syrup and 1/4 c water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook 1 minute or until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Cook, without stirring, about 8 minutes. Stir in molasses and butter about 5 minutes. Stir in baking soda, vanilla and salt. Stir popcorn into boiling syrup mixture. Working quickly, pour popcorn into prepared pan, spread to 1/4 inch thickness using a wooden spoon coated with cooking spray.
4. Cool completely and break into large pieces.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Yesterday Joe and I put a live, 11-foot Fraser Fir Christmas tree in our living room. Yes, we are crazy for Christmas!! We actually got it at Home Depot. What? You didn't know they had Christmas trees? Neither did we, we were there for light bulbs and our local tree farm was closed for the day. They had a great selection!

Loading her up

When we got home we remembered that you're supposed to cut an inch or so from the bottom of the stump so it will live through the month.

One year we forgot to trim the stump, and got the tree in and fully decorated before we remembered. And we actually tried (out of desperation) to lift the tree from the base (ornaments still on) and saw off the bottom. In the middle of the living room. There were needles everywhere. And the stress. OH the stress.

To think we almost forgot again this year.

So we got the hand saw out while she was still strapped to the roof. We quickly realized that wasn't the best angle to saw through a tree.

So we sawed. And sawed. Not. Cutting. Arm. Sore.

Maybe we can pry the end off with a shovel?

Step away from the shovel! Let me have a crack at it...

Success!!

Every year I come up with a different color scheme for our tree. This year we did red, purple and gold.

I'm a big believer in putting things in your tree OTHER than ornaments. This year I did birds, peacock feathers, pearls, flowers and bows. Every angle of the tree has something different and special to look at.