A lOt To UpDaTe!

I have been busy, busy, busy! I updated a ton...enjoy!

A gift fit for a CHIEF!

Mike and I were invited to the (Carlsbad Fire) Chief's house for dinner tonight! I could not have us show up empty handed (as in no crafts in my hand!)! Of course I ran around today all over town (at the last minute!) gathering things to make these fabric fortune cookies! They are so easy and fun to make! I made a plain one a while ago and then added a twist to it to make it perfect for New Years and a hostess gift! The gift was a hit! =) A fortune cookie is not complete without a fortune! =) Yes, I made those too!

Silver ric rac? I had no idea they made such a thing...I fell in love at first sight!

There are the fortunes packed inside of the jar!

Christmas...Loads of fun!

Mike and I try our best to split our time between both of our families on holidays! This Christmas started out with a great breakfast (breakfast pizza and french toast...mmmm!) at my sister and Kevin's house. Look at the little ham! She is something!
Polka Pajamas was the theme this year! =) P.S. I made matching flower clips too!


Makena was so excited for her auntie to get all of her toys out from the packages! Ugh! Can they make those silly things any easier to get in to?



After breakfast, it was off to Mike's parent's house (in good ol' Fallbrook) for some present opening and a nice time together! Yes, that is Mike's mom with Mike's dad's picture! It was gift that he thought would make her happy when he is gone....far away....in Scotland! Looks like she surely likes it! ;)

Finally, Mike and I traveled to my parent's house for some more present opening, yummy dinner, and game playing!
She was sooooo excited to get this tent! She gathered up all of her presents and had a camp out!
Princess Makena and Uncle Mike had a little party eating cookies together! Where is her shirt? Yikes!

It was a great Christmas! Hope you had a nice one too! =)

Let's Relax and Have Some Fun!

It was nice and relaxing to spend time with friends and family during this busy time of year! Here are just a few of those who were able to join us!
Guy and Jennie

Josh and Julie (a.k.a. the girl who needs to keep up with her blog ;) )

Mike and his dad with their matching mustaches! haha!

So glad this cute little family was able to make it! Hooray!

Darla and Joe

Cookies, cookies, and more cookies!!!

Christmas is my very favorite time to make and decorate cookies...I got this cookie recipe from a parent at school and fell in love with it! The frosting is amazing and always sets up perfectly. I provided the recipe for the cookies and the glaze below! Let me know what you think if you try them!

Best Ever Butter Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon baking powder

Combine butter, sugar, and egg in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, orange juice, vanilla and baking powder. Beat until well mixed. Divide dough into thirds, wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm (2 hours or overnight).

Heat oven to 400. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, one-third at a time (keep remaining dough in the refrigerator). Cut with cookie cutters and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 6 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely. Frost and decorate cooled cookies!

Glaze Recipe

1 cup of sifted powdered sugar

2-3 teaspoons of milk

Mix well.

Add 2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Mix well.

Add more milk if necessary

A few more orders...

P.S. I am hoping to be on Etsy soon....(well, hopefully!)

More felt clips...

I had requests for some hair clips for gifts...here they are!

Christmas Tree Decor!

I LOVE to decorate for Christmas! Here are a few pictures to enjoy of the tree and staircase garland....there will be more pictures coming soon!

Thanks Mom for my lovely tree skirt! Could not have done that one!

I couldn't resist making a lollipop as my tree toper!

One staircase full of garland

Yes...cupcakes! Were you surprised?!

Thanksgiving and Treats

I made these yummy Thanksgiving treats this year (pie crust with cinnamon!)...They were a hit (I just had to sneak a few here and there)! =) Sooooo yummy!

P.S. Thanksgiving was so nice this year (despite the fact that swine flu struck some of the fam...yikes)...especially going to Michaels (of course!) on Thanksgiving night to receive the excellent deals!!! That's when you know you have a bad shopping habit....thanks Mom for that gene! ;)

Felt Flowers

I am loving WOOL FELT right now!!!! I'm buying entirely too much, but I just can't help myself! I decided that I would try something new for hair clips and start exploring with felt! Here is something I threw together over the weekend! I plan to make many more!!!

Caden's 1st Birthday!

We had a great time at Caden's birthday! Thankfully I was done with my projects by then! He is an adorable little guy! The proud parents of this little man!


It was cake time...


Needless to say, he had fun! =)

The kids had a blast watching him eat the cake (including this little "man"!) Haha!


This little lady was a little pizza monster! No cake for her today!
P.S. Where are you Kandyce?! I have a pic of everyone else...ugh!

A few little projects!

I decided that I would get in touch with my sewing/crafty side and make t-shirts for Caden's 1st birthday! After procrastinating for a few days, I finished them with one hour to spare before his party! Oh the crazy pressure I put myself under! Ugh!

This one had me in tears! It was NOT easy to sew! =(
Yeah! His crayon book/toy car holder came out GREAT!!! This will come in handy for restaurants!
This is the crayon roll up that goes with it! =)

Halloween

I know that I am a little late, but I can't forget about Halloween! We had a great Halloween! We started the night off at Ryan and Kandyce's house for a yummy chili dinner and fun! Our neighborhood does a cute parade where all the parents and little ones parade around our neighborhood...very cute! We ended the night at Amber and Brian's for some late night munchies and fun! =) Thank goodness for the extra hour that we gained that night because we were tired from all of the Halloween excitement!

Pumpkin Carving!

Mike and I decided to carve our pumpkins last night (late last night...)! We went everywhere you could think of to find a pumpkin carving tool! No luck! Mike decided to go to Home Depot and get something that was similar to one of those tools! After an hour of calling places and driving around, that was our only choice! Pumpkin carving was long overdue since it had been a few years since he gave into my begging to carve a pumpkin again! =)

Mike had his idea already picked out before we even got home! Who was the one that complained about carving pumpkins?! ;)

See...free hand! No stencils! =)
A silly pumpkin face with a mustache! I wasn't surprised!

I decided to try something new...a moon, bat, and stars!

Oooooo! We can't wait to put them out!