Day 25! Merry Christmas!!!

Day 25 - from Linda.  Peace on earth!  Such a sweet little girl on the cover.  The angel is a magnet.  She is happily hanging on my freezer.

Peppermint Tags!

I got my package the other day from Elizabeth's Peppermint Tag Swap and was so excited to open it.  Here are the tags that I made.  I loved that 40's kitchen and girl.  Check out the lovelies that I got in my package.  Here are some of the one's I had already clipped up in the living room.  I'm still finding a home for the others.  Aren't they just great!?!  I also found a home for the little puppy that E sent in the packages.  He fits in just perfectly on the tree.

Day 24!

Day 24 - from Wendy.  Snowflake faerie..yeah!!!  So cute!  Inside was a sweet little nest pendant.

Day 23!

Day 23 - from Amy.  I remember making these ornaments when I was a kid.  O, the memories!

Day 22!

Day 22 - from Hope in the UK.  I love the snowman charm - I can't wait to wear him out.

Day 21!

Day 21 - from Elena.  Such a sweet snowman with so much glittery goodness.

Wow 5 more days!

 I realized that I never posted a picture of my little tree all decorated with the swap matchboxes.  I didn't have room at home to set it up, so I added a little cheer to my office window.  As you can see in the background, we were getting a little bit of snow that morning.


I had a creative high last night and went to bed at 6:30am the following morning!

A friend asked me to create a banner for her sister.  All of her holiday decorations are snowmen and shades of blue.

I couldn't get a good picture of it all together, so I had to take pictures of it in pieces.  The word she picked was Wonderland - so it was a pretty long banner.  I think it might be the longest one I've ever made.

 One of the best things about it was all of the supplies came out of my stash.  Basic Grey & DCWV papers, Bazzil cardstock, Quickutz diecuts and misc other embellishments.

I was really happy with the end result.  What do you think?

I decided to try making homemade kettle corn tonight.  I've had the recipe so long, I'm not even sure where I got it.  It was actually really easy to make and tastes yummy.  My apartment smelled so good!!

You will need:
Yellow popcorn kernels
Vegetable oil
Brown Sugar
Water
Salt

First start off with making popcorn the "old-fashioned" way.  Take a medium size pot with a lid and add enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom.  Add enough popcorn kernels to make a single layer in the bottom of the pan.  Cover with lid, turn on medium-high heat and shake pot every 10 seconds.  Once the popping finished transfer to a large bowl.

In a second small sauce pan, add 2tsp vegetable oil, 2 tbsp water and 2/3 cup of light brown sugar.  Stir with a wooden spoon and bring to a boil.  After it comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat, pour over popcorn and stir to coat evenly. Add the amount of salt you would usually add to your popcorn - to get that great sweet & salty taste.  Let cool a couple of minutes and eat.  If you are planning on packing some up for a gift like I was - I spread it out on a couple of cookie sheets to allow it to cool and help separate it from forming into one giant popcorn ball.

See super easy & cheap - plus you don't have to wait till summer to get kettle corn from a festival.

Ken and I also made a bunch of cookies tonight, chocolate & peanut butter chip, snicker doodles and sugar cookies and some peppermint bark.  I plan on packaging some up for friends and neighbors.

Can you believe that Christmas is only 5 days away?  Ken & I have already exchanged a couple of early gifts.  I got a gingerbread house kit and a gift certificate for the Goodwill.  FUN!

Day 20!

Day 20 - from Pam.  Christmas brads...yeah!!  Love the glittery brads!

Day 19!

Day 19 - from Linda our swap hostess!  Very sweet box with a very sweet little fawn inside.  It even has some bling on it's bow.

Day 18!

Day 18 - from Valarie.  Who can resist that winking Santa?  I love the holly wrapped around the bottom.

Day 17!

Day 17 - from Kathy.  I love the little ornament enclosed.  I'd love to find a set of those.  The magnet is cheerfully hanging on my freezer.

Day 15!

Day 15 - from Shawnee.  A formal date for day 15.  The little snowflake charm catches the light so pretty.

Day 16!

Day 16 - from Freda!  Who can resist such a happy smiling snowman?

Day 14!

Day 14 - from Michele.  Yeah another one "L" Michele!!!  Look how cute this little vignette is!

Day 13!

Day 13 - from Heidi.  What a great idea - a wee house with a bottle brush tree!

Day 12!

Day 12 - from ?  I lost the tag on this one too!  Ugh!  So cute jingle bell earrings.

Day 11!

Day 11 - from Lyneen.  I love this pin!  I have a print in my office just like it.

Day 10!

Day 10 - from Cami.  It's this a little gem?  Lovely sparkly bottle cap pendant.

Day 9!

Day 9 - from Peace.  Yeah some of my favorite things...buttons in pendant form, in cute Christmas colors.  Love the vintage box too!

Day 8!

Day 8 - from Ruth.  Super cute snowflake, I got to make some of those.  Very cute earrings!

Day 7!

Day 7 - from Francie.  Lovely!  The little pin is so sweet!

Day 6!

Day 6 - is from Lauri.  It's that angel neat?  I just love it!

Countdown to Christmas Blog-Along!

I'm a little delayed in getting started with my blog-along.  So here are my treasures from days 1 through 5.

Day 1 - from Valery.  So cute!  The little wrapped up package is a recipe to make your own gingerbread men.

Day 2 - from Kelly.  So wonderfully vintage!  I love the little snowman hairpin.  Works out wonderfully for me, since I just cut my hair short.

Day 3 - from Grace.   So lovely!  Love the pendant, it's a vintage game piece.  Mmmm....hot cup of coffee.

 Day 4 - from Nichole.  Love the sheet music & vintage feel.

Day 5 - from Tracy.  Cute!  Love the little ornament for my little tree...I still need to take a pic of that.

Next to fall decorating I love Christmas decorating!

Anyone that really knows me knows that I am a thrifty shopper.  I shudder most of the time to even think about having to pay full price for anything.  I am a coupon clipper, a thrift store shopper and a bargainer.  I think that is why I love Black Friday so much…I must admit that it is a guilty pleasure of mine, searching the sneak peaks online and then sitting there Thanksgiving night with a stack of sales flyers, notepad and pen in hand to make my game plan for the next morning.  Granted, I’m not really as crazy as some, like that lady from the Target commercials – ha!  I purposely slept on the couch, set the timer on the coffee pot and had my clothes already laid out and ready to go.  As I headed out and saw the parking lot for Target and Walmart (mine are in the same plaza) I thought for a brief moment “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WOMAN???”, but then I sucked it up and went for it.  I managed to get some great deals and love the fact that Kmart will honor Black Friday prices to be put on layaway.  I treated myself to a couple of Christmas presents, because of that.

After I got home and unloaded, I decided to start decorating for Christmas.  I wanted a completely different theme this year, with more of a vintage feel and had been picking up items here and there for the last month.  Okay back to that thrifty thing…almost all of my ornaments this year where $1 or under.

These cute little reindeer came from the dollar spot at Target, the red reindeer were 2 for $1 at the Dollar Tree, the snowflakes from the a dollar store a couple years ago, the candy canes were 50% off at Michaels, the glass Martha Stewart balls were 75% off at Kmart last year after Christmas and the Santa boots were 40% off at Kohl’s and with my $10 off of $10 or more coupon, there were practically free.  I made a couple of minor splurges on Ebay this year, first was the vintage Santa topper – it was listed cheap because it was missing the piece that holds it to the tree, I fixed that by attaching it to my other plain star topper with some string, plus now it lights up.  I also got the glittered Putz house ornaments – I love them!  I got a new felt tree skirt at the Family Dollar for $5 and two new stockings there to match for $2 each.

I love to decorate, but my current apartment is very tiny, so I improvised and had to limit some of my items.  No animated Snoopy and Pooh this year, but I wrapped some of my wall art with wrapping paper and ribbon to bring the colors into a room, without taking up any space.

So far I haven’t been able to be too crafty yet, but I was able to whip together some ornaments for family members…thrifty again, I got a package of six glittery snowflakes for $1, used scrap Christmas paper to decorate and glitter letters I already had.  Quick, cheap & cute ornament & package decorations!  Plus my family loves homemade items – so I & my wallet win!