Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Here she is my beautiful mom Emily hugging my beautiful daughter Valerie. I love them both so much! What can I say except that my mom is awesome and I hope to be just like her when I grow up. :) She's my hero! Her grandchildren adore her too!

We have had a wonderful Mother's day weekend. Let's see, it all started Thursday when I won 2 not just one Mother's Day Raffle baskets!!! I could hardly believe I won these awesome baskets. I gave my mom the Reading basket. It was filled with books, magazines, chocolates and so much more! I swear it weighed 10 pounds, and I am not exaggerating. It also contained 2 $25.00 book store gift certificates! She loved it!!! I couldn't keep it a secret until Sunday, I gave it to her on Friday.

Friday evening I took her to an Elegant Women's Dinner at Bear Creek Church here in Lodi Ca. We got the chance to dress up and enjoy a ladies only evening.

This morning my mom, her 4 grandchildren and I attended church. My brother later made dinner for us at her house and I was finally able to present her with the cake slices made out of paper. It was a great Mother's Day Weekend.

Easter Decorations---Finally!

Easter is only a week away and I finally got the decorations out. Pretty minimal but at least it looks like spring around the house. The items on the mantle are my favorite from my little collection, especially that sweet bunny! Not much on this table and Holly decided to get in the pic. See the tole painted bunny basket on your right? Well I made that over 25 years ago! I didn't take to tole painting so well, but the bunny was worth keeping. This bunny table runner and glass bowl were both great garage sale finds and the speckled eggs I have used in my jars and in the bowl were purchased at Joannes last year.
I think I found this little bunny at the $ store and the little hanger on the door knob is from Avon.I replaced the candle on this candleholder with a plastic easter egg. Just a few items on my vintage record cabinet.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend and that you are ready for Easter too!

Easter is on the Way!!!

These are the easiest boxes I have put together yet. You can go HERE for the tutorial.
You need heavy cardstock, adhesive, a scoring tool (remember Martha Stewart has an inexpensive one at Michael's) a couple of brads and some embellishments.

Three Cadbury type eggs fit perfectly in these, but you could fill them with any Easter candy.
I made several of these in a short amount of time.

More different style boxes to come for Easter!!! So come back soon!!!!

A luncheon and a product review

My sweeties mom is having a Valentines day themed luncheon tomorrow. She purchased these trays at IKEA for the luncheon. She wanted to dress them up a bit, so we added some heart shaped doilies and a few hearts. Cute, but not too much.
She is having 8 guests and was going to go to See's candy for some treats. I couldn't let her do that! I made these little boxes and filled them with Hershey nuggets.

Much cuter than See's ;) and a little less expensive. Now for my bargain buy/product review of the month!!! The crafty twins Judy and Julia clued me into this one. This is the Martha Stewart scoring tool. It fits a 12 X 12 sheet of paper and the measurements are clearly marked. There is a place to store the tool. The best part of this is that with a 50% off coupon at Michael's, this little prize cost me a total of $10.89.

And it works great!!! Perfect for all those boxes I love to make!!!

If you have ever looked into a scoring tool, you probably saw the Scor-Pal. That item cost about $40.00. I just didn't want to spend the money on it! So I am very happy with the Martha Stewart version!

No more slacking, got to get crafting!!!

I have been on vacation since Christmas. In the last 7 days I have been to the movies 3 times! I have rented 7 movies and by the end of the night I will have watched 10 movies in the last 7 days! I think that may be a record for me. I feel so guilty!!! At least I can say that I have kept my house up (somewhat )as well as the laundry and made homemade chicken noodle soup today (I guess watching, Julie/Julia may have inspired me to cook just a little bit). So I am not a total slacker right???? Yikes! I think I need to get back to work and get in a routine again! I also got a trip to San Francisco squeezed in with my kids to celebrate my daughters 21st birthday. But I still feel like a slacker!!!!
We are having a 3 birthday celebration at my house tomorrow. I was planning on copying an idea from Imperfectly Beautiful for a monogrammed cupcake tower, but am now leaning towards something different, like the $12.99 ice cream pies at Coldstone Creamery. The cupcake tier would be impressive, but the ice cream pies will taste better. What to do??????

After the party, I think life will get back to normal and I will look forward to getting into some Valentine crafts.

I took an inventory of what supplies I had on hand. Thanks to Julia I have lots of paper!!! I also found some ribbon and embellishments, just need some fresh ideas! Have any you want to share????? Stay tuned, I will figure out something to do with these supplies soon! I promise ;)

Happy New Year! Peace!

Well I just can not believe how quickly the years fly by. I turned 48 this month, Christmas flew by and my daughter turned 21 December 27th. Where has the time gone??
This year has been tough for me with matters of the heart. But, I am finding my way. John and I are hanging on to love and hoping for peace in 2010. We have pretty much figured out that everthing starts with love peace and happiness, and then things can only get better from there.

Which brings me to the true subject of my post today. The wish of peace for all! It begins at home. Here are some "peaceful" moments in my home.
Here is my son Zach and our dog Eva enjoying a quiet moment. Don't they look comfy? Eva has turned out to be such a perfect fit for us!
Eva and Holly seem to be "tolerating" eachother as they rest on my bed. Dog and cat side by side, how is that for peace?

Here they are sharing the attention with mom. They have their moments of disagreement, but then they seem to just co exist peacefully. Hmmm, just like with humans? :)
I do truly hope for peace in the New Year, for myself, my family and friends, and you my faithful blog readers. Happy New Year! May you reflect on your blessings with thanksgiving and look forward with hope to a wonderful 2010!!!!!!

A busy pre Christmas weekend!

We started our Saturday by volunteering to host a childrens Christmas party for a local non profit family organization. Several of us and our children helped the kids with crafts, a hot dog lunch, some cookie decorating and a visit with the big man Santa of course!!! It was hectic but fun!
My 11 year old son even enjoyed his time with Santa! I think he Believes! :)

I will never be too old to visit with Santa!

Later in the day we had a family party to attend. It was a great evening!!! We didn't get home until almost 2 am. I didn't wake the kids up for church this morning. But I went with my parents and todays music was Christmas carols of course! My favorite!!
The message was about finding PEACE, and these days who doesn't need to find PEACE. The message was very touching.

Then off to get my baking supplies for the week.

I tried to make candied walnuts, but I was out of parchment paper and thought I could use wax paper. I was wrong! The walnuts stuck to the paper! So that didn't quite work out.

Then it was on to making "Cracker Candy". I got this recipe from a friend at work. The recipe says that it is from Aunt Libby's Kitchen. I don't know Aunt Libby, but I am thankful for her recipe.

Ingredients:

35 to 40 Saltine Crackers

1 12 oz package of chocolate chips

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions: Line a greased 9 X 13 cookie sheet with crackers, one layer thick only. Melt butter in sauce pan. Add brown sugar and stir until sugar is melted, blended and bubbly. Pour over crackers (crackers may float-that is ok) Place in preheated 350 degre oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Add chocolate chips to to top, spread until melted evenly over crackers. Add nuts if desired. Bake again for 15 minutes. Remove and cool. Cut into squares.

It took quite a while for the chocolate to set. Here is the packaged finished product.

December 4th??? Are you kidding me???

Really, I just can not believe that Christmas is just around the corner! It is scary how fast time flies. I do plan on finishing up my shopping today. I have really cut the list down, probably just like everyone else. Although I cut the list down, I still have to make my packages look pretty!!! I am loving this paper and ribbon purchased at Costco. Such a great deal! The ribbon comes in a roll of 50 yards! I have enough for gifts and crafts!!! Score!!! I also purchased the gift tags at Costco, they are very pretty, and there are so many different designs that come in the package. There are even gift card holders in the package. The paper came in a two roll two sided set! Since I am cutting back on my shopping I probably won't even use 1 roll this year. I love the blue white and silver snowy look!!!! Great deal!
I found this cool sparkly bow at Big Lots for $4.00. I love the color! I really didn't need it, but I hung it on the inside of my front door, for me to look at while I am in the living room!

I guess my kitty is getting in the Christmas spirit, she decided to lounge in the top of a box with a bag and watch we wrap gifts. Silly cat!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Gobble Gobble!

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving! I look forward to a wonderful day with my family. I have so much to be thankful for today and everyday. My list of blessings is long, but here are the top blessings: My children, my parents, my friends, a great job, a home and a nice comfy bed. We often forget that there are many who do not have these things.

I am sure all my crafty blog buddies have much to be thankful for today. I thank my blog buddies for sharing their ideas and inspirations. Speaking of inspirations I thank my blog friend Jen over at Lipstick and Laundry for these cute little goodies! So simple to make!!!
Mini vanilla wafers adhered to a Hershey kiss with a dab of chocolate frosting, topped with a dab of chocolate frosting for a stem and there you have it Sweet Little Acorns!


Dessert is done! Doesn't it look yummy? This one is so easy and goes over very well.
This is the recipe:

1 package Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix

1 26 oz can of pumpkin

1 12oz can of evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups of sugar

4 tspns pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tspn salt

1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts

1 cup of melted butter

Cool Whip or Rediwhip for topping



Grease the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan. Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, spice and salt. Pour into greased pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over the top, sprinkle with chopped nuts. Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with whipped topping! Dee-Lish! I promise!

A little more Christmas Crafting

To keep myself from going insane. I have narrowed my crafting this Christmas down to 3 paper projects and a couple candy making endeavors. Both of the boxes in the photo are made from the tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers . The only difference between the two is I didn't add the top note die to the stacked boxes. These little stacked boxes are so easy to make and all you need for them is heavy cardstock paper, something to score with, adhesive (I use hot glue so they don't fall apart) and a small round punch. Actually, you don't have to use the round punch if you don't have one. Finish off with pretty ribbon and a little tag. I think they would look beautiful sitting on each persons Christmas dinner plate. I will make alot of these two and the little bags that I showed 2 posts back.
For my candy making this year I have decided on candied pecans and almond roca. Yummy! The homemade candy will go in clear cellophane bags with lovely ribbons and tags. Mints and kissses and other bagged candy will go in the boxes and bags. Ready, set, go! I want to get the Christmas stuff done! :) Happy Crafting!

Halloween 2009

Halloween has come and gone like a whirlwind. But boy was it fun! My weekend started with a day of errands on Friday and a wedding at 4:30 in the afternoon.
Saturday it was on to prepping for a Halloween party Saturday night. Followed by some clean up and un decorating and a little rest today.

Let's start the photos with my cute boy Zach! He dressed up as a businessman Friday. He learned how to tie a Windsor knot on You Tube. Took him about an hour of practice, but he figured it out! I was so impressed! I guess I liked the costume too much and made too big a deal over it and embarrassed him. So he dressed as a zombie for Halloween instead of a businessman! I was so disappointed! He was so adorable in a hat and tie! I must say that having a 60's themed Halloween party makes for some very colorful photos!

See what I mean? Loved all the colors and great costumes!!! It was so groovy!

Lastly, a new use for a picture frame that I found while watching Sandra Lee Semi Homemade on the Food Network. She took a frame and put some Halloween scrapbooking paper under the glass and then used it for a serving dish. It worked great for my pretzel ham rollups!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Now looking forward to a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Testing, this is my first post over here

Test, Test, this is only a test! :)

This is my first post at my new bloghome.

I am still figuring things out over here, may have to ask some of my other blogspot friends for some help :)

But let's talk about the 4th of July one more time. I do hope you all had a nice one. We could not have asked for nicer weather, sunny but not too hot! We went to Sacramento for a neighborhood street party and parade. Lots of fun! This was my 3rd year attending and it is always fun! Live bands, good food, parade! Could you ask for anything more!

Then got out to Lodi Lake last night for the fireworks. I had heard they were cutting the show to 15 minutes to save thousands of dollars. So I went in with a slightly defeated attitude about the whole thing. But I swear they went on for over 15 minutes and the finale was awesome! So I won't complain about the cutbacks. With the economy as it is, I guess everything has to get cutback, even 4th of July fireworks shows.