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!