Wednesday, December 30, 2015

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...















Sunday, December 27, 2015

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!

Thursday, December 24, 2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM WAWAWAUGHS...


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


Saturday, December 19, 2015

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!





Wednesday, December 16, 2015

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. 








Friday, December 11, 2015

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.


Monday, December 7, 2015

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!  :)

Thursday, December 3, 2015

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.