Classic Gingerbread

Have I mentioned that I am obsessed with Gingerbread houses? I think they are just the most adorable. I have dreams of hosting an epic gingerbread house decorating party but everytime I start to think about the details it all becomes a little overwhelming. Some day. For now I will have to console myself with helping out at my work's gingerbread class they host every year. We had an extra house one day, and some extra time so I got to decorate a house. I did one last year with the candy and such but this year I decided to let the kids use the candy and I would content myself with just using some royal icing.

Classic and sort of vintage feeling. And delicious...did I mention delicious? I think I better go make some gingerbread cookies to enjoy right now!

Happy Holiday Baking and Making!

Christmas Candy: DIY Outdoor Decor

I have had the idea in my head of making my house look like a giant Gingerbread house for quite awhile. I am finally going to start making that happen! I made some cute Christmas candy lollipops for the front yard for super cheap.

I started with a broken drying rack that I had lying around (I never throw anything away!)

 First I took all the white dowels off of the rack.

 I bought some styrofoam plates for the candy part. I needed something that would hold up well in weather. To make it look a little more candy-like and less plate-like I trimmed off the outer edge of the plates.

 ....And I kept the scraps to make some other project!

 Using craft paint from my stash I whipped up some lollipops. After experimenting with a few different designs I was most happy with the 'traditional' swirl design so I made more of those. This would be fun to do with kids- they could make whatever candies they wanted!

 Even though you will mostly only see one side of these I made each one so that both sides were decorated. After the paint was dry I took each pair of plates and sandwiched them around the dowels and glued them together. I finished them By wrapping some clear plastic bags on top and tying with some ribbon.

Thankfully the ground hasn't gotten so solid that I could fairly easily just shove these in the ground. It will look a bit more Christmasy once there is some snow on the ground! It will probably take me a couple of years to get enough projects done to make it look properly 'gingerbread' house but I am up for the challenge.

More outdoor decor to come!

Happy Christmas Crafting!

Better late than never...

Yay late Christmas presents getting done...finally! Here is my second t-shirt quilt. I was really working hard to get it done for Christmas but then I bought the wrong size backing material and I just froze. I even went and bought some new fabric before the new year but then the project just sat staring at me. Taunting me. But finally I put it together. I wasn't sure when I was going to see my friend to give it to her so through the power of facebook I sent her a picture. She saw the top when it was put together already but it does feel good to have it done.

I liked this quilt a lot because it is made up of both her and her husband's quilt. I think that is a cute way to meld the collections together and a super practical one if either party doesn't have enough old t shirts on their own! (Are there people like that? I am already saving up for my second quilt!)

 Used a red flannel sheet for the backing. Pretty cozy, and it looks like we are going to need it because our unseasonably warm winter is about to come to a screeching halt. Being from MN we like to be sort of hard core about the temperature but this year we have not had a chance to become acclimated to it yet so we are pretty much going to be a state full of whiny cold people for a few weeks before we toughen up for another season.

Team Friendship

My friends are such nerds. Recently the joke has been 'Team Friendship' and it is our slogan, motto, and battle cry. Two friends in particular were really into the idea. They decided who was in (almost everyone :) and they also wrote a little jingle that they sing together. We joked about getting t-shirts or sweatshirts made. So when Christmas rolled around and I was having trouble thinking of gifts for people I decided a couple of sweatshirts where just the thing. Of course I waited too long to get them screen printed so I headed to my trusty craft store and bought some flocked iron-on letters.

The results were pretty good!

They loved their gifts. Now I will probably make more for the other members!

Happy Holidays!

The last few days have been a whirlwind of holiday celebrations. Thanks to all my friends and family who made it such a special season! I will have to do a post about the generous gifts I received (my friends know me so well!) but today I am going to share with you a little post on what to do with some of that Christmas candy you got in your stocking.

Candy Christmas Trains!

This is a project my mom used to make when I was little. I made a few up this year to give with gifts but they would also make great party favors, gift card holders, ornaments, or place cards.

Basics:

 Candy. At the very least you need a pack of stick gum and some lifesavers. Around Christmas I buy the lifesavers in the 'holiday storybook' packs of six. I had to hunt around for the gum but the basic candy aisle in the store is your best bet. For the wheels peppermints work nicely. The 'cab' is a flatter piece of chocolate and the smoke stack is an upside down chocolate bell but a chocolate kiss works nicely as well. These are simply guidelines you can tailor it to your tastes and needs.

Now all you need is your trusty glue gun.

 The order really doesn't matter as long as it works for you but for me I always start with the gum and lifesavers, then the chocolates on top and the wheels last. Since it is hot glue it dries super quick and when you are ready to eat it you just pop off the candy.

 I made up a whole bunch for this family I babysit for...unfortunately the mom let them dig in right away and 5 minutes later the trains where decimated and I was left with 4 very sugared up kiddos! My mom used to make lots of these and I would take them to school as a treat. Since they are not strictly Christmas-y they work really  nicely for that. We just always had them at Christmas so that is what I think of when I see them.

Have fun with it and Happy Crafting!

Holiday Decorating on a Budget

And when I say 'on a budget' I mean zero money. Well actually I think I spent 3 bucks on computer paper.

I took some old Christmas garland from my mom's house and spent a night watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and cut out some paper snowflakes. I didn't use any fancy schmancy patterns but I hear that there are some really good ones out there.

 Strung some up with yarn to add some dimension above our table- also borrowed the table cloth from my mom!

 My empty frames are back! I just love them so much. I strung them with some vintage white garland and hung a single snowflake from each one.

 We decided to leave our 'Three Broomsticks' decoration up from the Harry Potter Party so I decorated them too. (Roomie changed the sign to read 'It's a Wonderful Life'!)

All the extra snowflakes got stuck up on a blank spot. Easy, festive, cheap. That is the only way I decorate! We have been just getting warmer temperatures and rain for the last couple of days here in MN so our perfect dusting of snow has left us! Hopefully we will get some more before Christmas...until then the inside of our house will have to function as our Winter Wonderland.

Happy Holidays!

Keep crafting...only ten days left before Christmas!

All I want for Christmas....Tickets to the SOLD OUT Doomtree BLOWOUT tonight.

Not gonna happen but a girl can dream right? As long as I am dreaming I might as well add that I want Michael Fassbender to take me to the concert. Sheesh.

What unattainable things are you wishing for this holiday season?

Happy December!

This post celebrates finally have internet at my new place. Plugged in and ready to go! December is here and now is the time to buckle down and get stuff done. I already have a white elephant party under my belt and the month will hopefully be filled with other fun with friends and loved ones.

Until then I will be waiting under the mistletoe, just like Joan Crawford....

 

I am in love with this picture. 

Happy Holidays!

Candy&Snowflakes Earring GIVEAWAY

Sorry Thanksgiving, but I just don't care that much about you. Sure I will hopefully be with people I love and eat tons of food but I can't get excited for you like I can for Halloween or CHRISTMAS!

Yep I am sort of skipping right over Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas. One thing I have already done is make myself some festive holiday earrings. I could have gone to the mall and probably found some but where is the fun in that? Instead I hit up the craft store and got crackin'. I am so in love with these post earrings that I made.

Perfect for me to wear at work! Snowflakes are always gold in my book and these candy earrings will be more than perfect when I help out with the Gingerbread House class.

I love them so much I made a few more pairs and put them in the shop. And I decided that you can win a set of these cuties for yourself!

Just leave a comment between now and Thanksgiving about what you are most excited about for this holiday season and you will be entered into the 'drawing' for a set of candy and snowflake earrings in GREEN.

Everyone else will be shopping on Black Friday but you can win a treat for yourself or a gift for someone on your list! Sounds like a win to me...

Winner announced Friday, November 25th.

Good luck!

Happy Birthday Barbara Stanwyck!

 

Isn't she simply gorgeous? Today I am celebrating the birthday of Barbara Stanwyck.  If you do not know about this actress I suggest you look her up at imdb. Her bio says that she is probably best known for her role on the tv show 'The Big Valley' but I know her from her movie days.  Beautiful and sassy Stanwyck played a large range of roles from comedic to femme fatale. If you are at all interested in seeing any of her films my two favorites are Double Indemnity and Christmas in Connecticut- and these two movies could not be more different!

Double Indemnity stars Stanwyck alongside Fred MacMurray as a femme fatale in the mood to kill her husband in an insurance scheme. It is a classic noir flick and should be seen by anyone who enjoys the genre.



Christmas in Connecticut is the complete opposite. It is a screwball comedy starring Stanwyck as a writer for a 'Home' magazine. In her articles she pretends to have a big beautiful house in Connecticut  where she is the perfect homemaker. In reality she lives in New York City and has no idea how to make toast let alone cook, clean, and raise children. No one is the wiser until someone has the idea to do a Christmas promotion piece where they send a soldier to spend Christmas at this 'perfect' home. Amazing comedic timing and a great Christmas-time movie!

So Happy Birthday Barbara Stanwyck! You may be gone, but you are not forgotten.

Christmas treats and friends' ugly sweater party!

 Want to make some super easy and delicious holiday treats? Then I invite you to try the super fast Christmas candy my friend brought to my attention during the snowstorm last week.

You take pretzels (I found these 'waffle' pretzels which in my opinion are delightful!), top it with a hershey's kiss (experiment with the different flavors, I made mint truffle, Irish cream, and dark chocolate), pop it in a 200 degree oven for 3-4 minutes (just melty),  and then take it out of the oven and top it with a festive m&m (or two) and let it set. SIMPLE! DELICIOUS! Completely addicting. The perfect balance of salty and sweet. Bag a few varieties up and you have a great hostess gift to bring to your next soiree.

Here are pictures from our most epic ugly sweater holiday party. Yep the crab dish made another appearance! I love it so much I am just going to carry it around with me. We had homemade chicken wild rice soup, bbq mini wieners, shrimp and cocktail sauce, fresh made potato latkes, cornbread, a cream puff tower, spritz cookies, chex mix, puppy chow, and homemade candies.

 Mike showing off the extra sweater I bought just in case. I think the ruffles make it.

But Sarah def wins it with the ugly/sweet sweater with dangling mittens!

Christmas Presents a win and a FAIL.

I made some of my Christmas gifts this year at my place of employment. It was kind of nice to go in and not have to work. I spent a couple of epic days working on some projects.

The first is a clear win. It is a platter for my grandma. She really is into Jim Shore. You know? The little wooden figurines at Hallmark and the like. Yeah that guy. Quilt motifs and such. Well my grandma also likes Santa figurines. She has a whole set of really cool ones that she painted herself and for a couple of years now everyone has been getting her Santa themed Jim Shore items. I decided to take the Santa/quilt motif idea and incorporate it into this platter.

 I free handed the Santa and then did a quilt pattern on his outfit and then a simple version of that same quilt pattern on the rim. I think it turned out splendidly and I can't wait to give it to her!

The next platter was a slight fail. There was one very similar to this as an example in our store and I decided it would be a cute gift for the family that I babysit for. The mom used to be my violin teacher and I started babysitting for them when the had only two kids. Now they have number 7 on the way!

 I was so nervous about spelling one of the names wrong that I in fact DID spell one of the names wrong. Sorry Philip, I snuck an extra l in there on ya. But overall I really like the colors and the 'bubble' technique on the background.

The next gift was a complete fail but it was in no way my fault. The paint 'shivered' in the kiln which basically means that it is just flaking off. To say I was upset is a bit of an understatement. I spent HOURS on this piece for my aunt. It is a 3 piece 'tea for one' set including a teacup, teapot, and lid. ALL THREE SHIVERED. Angry.

 It was a Jane Austen theme. I used just two colors, a creamy off-white and a deep rich brown. The top piece used the 'lace' technique. The second layer had a silhouette of Jane Austen on each side and the bottom layer had the opening quote from Pride and Prejudice. I was so proud of it. Now of course we don't have anymore of this exact piece in and I wouldn't have had time to get it done in time for Christmas anyway. I guess I just need to decide if I ever want to attempt it again.

 You can see the cracks in it.

And this is what is happening. Le sigh.

Xmas Ornaments

Finished a couple more ornaments.

This one was for the giveaway. It is Tennessee, can't you tell?  It is in the mail and on it's way!

I finished these as a gift set. The little boy and girl cacti are from a pattern by sewcharitable. So cute!

O Christmas Tree

I caved and bought a fake tree. I love real Christmas trees but there is a long story as to why I can't have one in my house. So I got around the problem by putting one up in my room. It makes me insanely happy. I was being a bit of a Scrooge for a couple of days (apologies to my friend who received a super angsty fb message the other day!) but I am better now. My faith in Christmas has been restored and I am back on track for Christmas.

 I only dug out one box of ornaments and it proved to be enough. I tend to go a bit overboard at times.

My First Christmas. I am a sucker for that kind of stuff.

Power Rangers!

Christmas Sebastian? Why not.

Handmade gingerbread ornaments. They still smell good and these were made in '94!