CHRISTMAS DECOR 2015...

This post is just for my reference so I don't have to think next year if I don't want to...

HOME-MADE GIFTS FOR CHRISTMAS...

We had a good group for the Hubs family Christmas despite the craziness of our schedules!  Several of us still made home-made gifts to exchange - here's what I made:

Coffee bean candles - Pinterest inspired.  My son had some coffee beans he thought were too old to be any good, so I decided to figure out some thing to do with them.  Supposedly (?) as the candle burns it heats up the coffee beans and smells good.  I put them in cute ramekins.

Here's the other gifts:  a red tray of treats (2 jars of home-made jelly and pecans shelled from the yard), Room freshener spray made up from essential oils, and a shadowbox winter decoration.

We enjoyed our time together mostly just playing games and eating a great Mexican meal together!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM WAWAWAUGHS...

Well 2015 was a good one!  Blessings to you and yours this holiday season!

A NEW RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS...

CRANBERRY BLISS BARS!

I had some of these at a women's retreat back in October and loved them!  From what I heard they used to be a Starbucks thing...anyway, I decided I MUST try to make them.  I'm not usually a fan of white chocolate, but it works for me in this treat. Here's the link I used for Cranberry Bliss Bars.

I think they're so pretty and it's always fun to try a new recipe for Christmas treats!

COME AND GO COLLEGE CHRISTMAS...

This year we had a "come and go" party for our college friends.  I tried to make it easy on their schedules, since technically it was Dead Week (no activities) for the students and they are supposedly studying.  We had a good group over, watched a little "White Christmas" and ate a lot!

 We had everyone choose a button that described themselves - these are just a few that were left so there were many different ones.  We had fun with it!

 cousins

The Menu:

Ham & Cheese party sandwiches

Sausage balls

Cheese cubes

Hummus and pita chips

Veggie tray with dip

Banana bread

Pumpkin roll

Almond bark popcorn

Salted Caramel Christmas candy

Butter cookies
Hershey's kisses

Apple cider punch

You never know what they are going to go for - I thought the Hummus would be a hit since a friend of mine told me her group ate it up.  But ours didn't hardly touch it!  That's okay, my son and I eat it almost every day!  Tip: Always have party food you like so if there's leftovers it's a win-win situation.
What really went over well was the Apple Cider Punch.  I decided to share it with you because I've been making it for about 30 years and I love the blend of juices!  It came out of a paperback Avon cookbook.

Apple Cider Punch

4 cups Apple cider

2 cups Cranberry juice

1 cup Orange juice

12 oz. Apricot nectar

1 cup sugar

2 sticks Cinnamon

Heat and let simmer 20 minutes.  

Top punch with floating orange slices 

decorated with cloves.  Serves 10-12. 

TEEN BEDROOM TO OFFICE CONVERSION...

My daughter just got her old job back and she'll be working remotely. The internet is much quicker at our house so for now she is going to office out of her old bedroom.  :)

Sadly, the beautiful paint job we did 13 years ago wasn't to her liking anymore.  She and her husband updated it quickly with grey paint and a shiplap wall.  They also bought a thrift store table to be her desk, and added some character to it.  It's coming together nicely!

I didn't get a good before picture but here it is with drop cloths just before painting.  

 Whatta ya think?  Looks like a nice office space to me!  

We made the letters for her wedding, so I'm glad she still likes them and wants to use them!

Close up of the shiplap wall 

I love the way it turned out!  I love color but I also love the monochromatic look.  Nice that I wasn't the one doing it, too.

CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS PARTY...

With the 50th Anniversary of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special there seemed no better theme for our class Christmas party! I found different goodies all over town for decorations and prizes.  

I made a Charlie Brown Christmas tree and ornaments - see under Crafts

I even got out my old trash can from the 70's - I usually keep it in my closet.  Then I noticed they are selling pretty well on Ebay...but I think I'll keep it!  

We had a lot of fun eating, chatting, and playing Charlie Brown trivia.  The costume winners:

Linus

The little red-haired girl and Charlie Brown

Woodstock and Charles Schulz

Happy Holiday partying from the Football and Peppermint Patty!  :)

REPURPOSING OLD GOLF BALLS...

I decided to decorate for Christmas with a natural color scheme and red accents this year.  I'm using more things from nature too, like pinecones and sticks.  I think it's going to be really pretty!

I needed some more balls for the tree so I made these out of jute twine and old beat up golf balls.  All it took was a little hot glue and I had those wrapped in no time!

The beauty of this simple craft is that you can probably find the exact color shade of yarn if you are wanting colored yarn balls for your tree.

AFTER SEVEN YEARS...

She's baaa-aack!

Our daughter left for college in Arkansas seven years ago, and little did we know she wouldn't be back for a long time.  She came home for one summer after her freshman year.  After that she wasn't here any other summers due to her study abroad and being a trek guide in Colorado.  She graduated and moved permanently to Colorado and found a job in banking, living in a beautiful old neighborhood in Denver.  Along came a guy who won her heart and they got married just 11 months ago.  They acquired a bus and a dog.  They began making a tiny house out of the bus.  He graduated in May in A & P and got a job in Arizona, which after a few short months, they realized was not the place for them.  So, they are back in OKC!  Needless to say, we are thrilled to get to see them more often.

We helped them move into a ranch house nearby, where the bus is welcome and so is Tucker! 

I love thinking back about the last seven years and all the adventures she's been on and seeing how God has blessed her.  

TWO NEW THINGS THIS THANKSGIVING...

1.  Tucker came with us.

2.  Son #1 brought his lovely girlfriend!  There's a saying in the family:  If you bring somebody to Thanksgiving, there's probably a wedding in the future!  We certainly hope so!

I think it's safe to say both of them had a good time.  Here we are doing the Turkey Trot in the rain Thanksgiving morning.  They both participated!  Tucker especially enjoyed checking out the cows near our race route.   

We enjoyed our Pumpkin Bash after Thanksgiving dinner like always!

The yucky weather kept us inside more but no one is complaining about rain in southwestern Oklahoma!