My Babies Are Growin' Up

A few months ago, our three precious New Hampshire Red babies went to live with their Aunt C. I was heartbroken when they left, but I knew they were going to a home just as loving as ours was.

Since I was over yesterday crafty with my sister, I just HAD to go out and get a couple of pics of the babies so you could see how they were doing. Well, as you can see, they are growing by leaps and bounds and are growing up into very handsome roosters and a beautiful future hen.   As you can see, they love my sister.....and you'll see just how much when you get to the last pic!  :> )

C. with Nugget

Me with General Tso

Little Miss Melody - out of view is her

sweetheart, Gregory PECK!  lol

 

The Gang - Gregory Peck, Miss Melody's sweetheart,

is the white rooster all the way to the left

ROFLOL!
Don't you just LOVE this pic?  She loves them
and they love her!

I am so glad that my babies are happy in their new home....I didn't expect anything different!

Fun With Sissy

Today I am at my sister's house and we are having a crafting day.  WOO HOO!  The boys are playing video games and the girls are making snow cones and playing with their dolls.  This frees us up to have some time together.  It always seems to be quieter when there are extra children around!  lol

I hope I can get some good pics of the babies so you can see just how much they've GROWN!  I pray you are all having a WONDERFUL DAY!  See you later!

You've GOT To See This - Especially Renee

PLEASE PAUSE PLAYLIST ON FAR-RIGHT SIDEBAR BEFORE VIEWING VIDEO!

My friend Renee over at "GLOW ACADEMY" just got a treadmill.  When I read that on her blog, I knew I just HAD to share this video!

I know you will love this....it's so COOL!!

Perfect Potatoes au Gratin

We had these at my sister's house when we celebrated Christmas with her and her family and all I can say is WOW! You only need three words describe this recipe:

Creamy . . . .Delicious . . . .PERFECT!!

For this DELICIOUS recipe, you will need:

• 4 whole Russet Potatoes, Scrubbed Clean
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Freshly Grated

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Smear softened butter all over the bottom of a baking dish.
Slice potatoes, then cut slices into fourths.

In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

**Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.

Repeat this two more times, ending with the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling. Add grated cheese to the top of the potatoes and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving by the spoonful. NOM, NOM!!


**For this step, I just put all my potatoes in my baking dish and poured the milk mixture over the top of them and gently stirred.....I did not layer anything.

Merry Christmas

Primitive Candle Garland

I have a bag that I  take with me in the car, that is whenever I can remember, so I can keep my hands busy.  I don't like to be idle, although sometimes I don't have a choice.

These primitive candle garlands are very easy to make and don't take much time at all.  You can make your circles and tie whatever size you want to fit whatever candle you have.

For the garland, you will need:

3 different fabrics for your yo-yo's
3 matching buttons
twine
scissors
sewing needle & thread

For your circles, you need to make sure you cut your fabric out with a circumference DOUBLE the size you want your finished circles to be.  I made a template out of cardboard that has a 4 inch circumference because I wanted my yo-yo's to be 2 inches when I was finished.

After you have finished cutting out your circles, you will sew small stitches all around the outside edge.  When you have gone all the way around, pull your thread, gathering your circle in the middle.  Don't cut your thread yet.  Here I make a couple of extra stitches, just to make sure the ends stay together.  Now it's time to sew on your button.   When you get that sewn on, cut your thread.

Now it's time to lay your yo-yo's upside down, in the order you want them.  Sew them together at the edges that touch.  After that, tack your twine to the back of each yo-yo.  I stitched it in three places on the back of each one, making sure it is really secure.  Now all you have to do is tie it around your candle!

Gettin' Crafty - Handmade Personalized Picture Coasters

I absolutely LOVE to make things whenever I can, but I truly enjoy it most of all, when I get to create gifts for those special people in my life for their birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and Christmas, etc.  Here is one of the gifts I made for Bean coasters  Don't worry, she won't see these pics.  My family doesn't read my blog unless I tell them too!  lol

Why have BLAH looking coasters , when you can have BEAUTIFUL and PERSONALIZED coasters instead?  Remember.....you can you decorate these with any picture, graphics, you want!

These coasters are SOOO CUTE and SUPER UBER EASY TO MAKE!  For these personalized coasters, you will need the following:

4 ceramic tiles in your choice of color, texture, and size (I like the textured 4x4 ones from Home Depot @ .31 cents each)

4 squares of scrapbook paper and cut these whatever size you want for your tile. I wanted a nice border of tile to be seen because I thought it was really pretty, so I cut mine paper smaller, leaving about a half inch tile border.

4 pictures printed to your smaller than your paper so you will have a pretty decorated border.  I had to finagle these with my printer because I am COMPUTER ILLITERATE and couldn't figure out how to work the darn thing to make them the size I wanted, where I didn't have to cut them down.

OUTDOOR Mod Podge - it's very important you get the outdoor kind so it will make the coasters waterproof (you can get this at Michael's)

Foam paint brush

Felt (whatever color you like) - this goes on the back or each coaster so they won't scratch your table/counter surface

Aileen's tacky glue - or whatever kind of craft glue that you can use to adhere the felt to the back of each coaster

Directions:

Apply a layer of OUTDOOR Mod Podge to your tile, not real thin, but not goopy - somewhere in between.  If you have too much, your picture will move.  Lay your scrapbook paper down, smoothing from the inside out to the edges of your paper . . . . . .I used my Pampered Chef scraper for my stoneware!  lol  Set tile(s) aside and go do some wrapping, bake some cookies, or take a moment and have a nice hot cup of coffee.

After your Mod Podge and paper layer have dried, apply another coat to the entire tile, making sure to completely cover the paper.  Now you are going to put your picture right on top of your background paper, making sure to again, smooth out the wrinkles working form the inside, out to the edges of your picture.  Again, set aside and go do something FUN while it dries.

Now apply another coat of Mod Podge over your tile, completely covering the paper and picture.  Set aside and go give your kiddos a big hug and tell them how much you love them!   : > )

Ok, now we are down to the final steps.  After your tiles dries, you are going to apply two (2) more coats of Mod Podge, allowing your tile to dry in between each coat.  Now that you have finished your coasters, you need to allow them to cure for a day or two.

Now that your coasters have cured, it's time to put on the finishing touch, the felt.  Lay your coaster on top of your felt and trace around all four edges and cut out.  Apply your craft glue to the back, then adhere your felt.  When the glue has dried, trim off the excess felt so it will be flush with the sides and not visible.

Now you are ready to wrap up your handmade personalized picture coasters all nice and pretty.   See....that wasn't that hard, was it? I know you will really like these coasters and end up making a set for yourself.  I also bought bigger tiles and will either make trivets or get those little tabletop stands and put them up as pictures to decorate the piano!

Don't forget, if you make these coasters, please come back and leave a link so we can come by for a visit and see your beautiful work! 

White Chocolate Christmas Candy

If you have a sweet tooth, this is the candy for you!  I was given this recipe by one of my Girl Scouts many years ago, and it has now become a family tradition in our home to make this every Christmas.  It is so EASY, but sooooo ADDICTIVE!

To make our White Chocolate Christmas Candy, you will need the following:

1 - box Toasted Rice or Toasted Corn cereal
1 - bag mini pretzels
1 - pkg White Almond Bark
1 - bag M&M's
1 - bag of Peanuts - optional

First place all of your ingredients in a LARGE bowl

Chop or grate Almond Bark and melt using a double boiler. If

you're like me and don't have a double boiler, you can make one using a pot, 

and a glass bowl that is wider than the rim of your pot, so the 

steam when the water boils, will not get into your chocolate.  That 

will make it turn hard and lumpy, and it won't melt smooth enough for you to pour.

Put enough water in the pot that the bottom of your bowl touches the water.

Pour your melted Almond Bark into your mixture

Stir quickly, making sure you coat your entire mixture

Now you are going to dump your mixture out onto an area on your

table that is covered with wax paper, spreading your candy

out into a thin layer.

This allows the chocolate to cool faster.  If you don't have wax paper like me, 

a cookie sheet works just as well.

After your candy hardens, break up into whatever size pieces 

you'd like.

Store in an airtight container.  This is is a GREAT GIFT and looks so pretty 

in a glass jar where you can see all the colors of the M&M's.

I hope you and your family will ENJOY our White Chocolate Christmas Candy as much as we do!

Scripture & A Snapshot

I am linking up today with Katie Lloyd Photography for "Scripture & A Snapshot."  If  you would like to participate . . . . .

1.  Select a photo

2.  Add a scripture to it

3.  Put the Scripture & A Snapshot button in your post

4.  Visit Katie Lloyd Photography by clicking HERE and add your link to your POST!

Getting Ready For The Christmas Program

Tonight is our first performance of "A Forgotten Christmas" at our church.  In our program, one of our main characters is obsessed with details and lists, and EVERYTHING she does is on a clipboard.  I saw some small decorated clipboards on Pinterest and thought it would be neat to make one for the program.

They are super easy to make.  All you need are:

Clipboard
Scrapbooking paper of your choice
Mod Podge
Foam brush

After you have decided on your paper, lay out your design the way you want it on the board.   I made my design just a tad bit smaller than the board so the edges won't come up.  Then, put down a coat of Mod Podge.  Next, lay your paper down on the Mod Podge, smoothing out all the wrinkles and bubbles, working from the middle to the outside edges.  Allow to dry completely - this step really doesn't take that long.  Next, apply a thin coat of Mod Podge on top of your paper.  Allow to dry and repeat three more times. 

I tried to get "MY LIFE" printed on the paper itself, but I used wrapping paper on mine and it was a pain to get it to fit right in my printer, so I just printed the words out and Mod Podged them on afterward. 

If you design and make a clipboard, please stop back and leave a link so we can come and see what you have created!

Now I'm off to put together more treat bags and cookies for the program.

See you later!

Trimming The Tree