The Gift of Homemade

I've received several homemade gifts for our newest arrival (the best homemade gift of all).  I had an amazing baby shower and I was so impressed with all the talented women and the homemade gifts for my little girl.

I received these three blankets.

 I love these knitted beanies and this taggie dinosaur is so cute. 

 They made hair clips at the baby shower.

My mother-in-law sewed this ruffle tutu to these grey leggings.  So cute!

 My mom made this comfy bird blanket.  

 And of course the best gift of all.  My little girl.  

Fresh Wreath

A few years back I helped do an activity where we made fresh Christmas wreaths.  Wreaths sell for around $20-$25 at the grocery store or at a tree farm and they are super easy to make.  When we did this activity we bought the wreath frames in bulk from someone who had a wholesale card for items like that.  The cost for us was about $3 a wreath frame.  To make a wreath you will need

Wreath frame (they are metal)
green wire (the same type of wire you would need to make a corsage)
wire cutters
garden pruners
tree boughs/branches
decorations-bows, pine cones, berries etc.

I got all of my branches when we picked up our Christmas tree.  Usually Home Depot or Lowes will have a pile of excess tree branches and if you ask they will most likely give it to you for free because they will be throwing it out.

To make the wreath start attaching branches to the wreath frame and tie down with the wire.  Just go in a circle and fill in any bare spots while trimming as you go.  Give your wreath a spritz of water here and there to keep it fresh.  Easy and super cheap!

Wood Block Nativity

Back in October my church had a super crafty Saturday and we made these cute wooden nativity sets.  They are great for little kids.  I really don't know where the women in charge found the craft I'm just in awe that she cut out over 500 pieces with a jig saw for the activity.  That's some serious dedication.  The silhouettes are all made out of vinyl.  We used some type of spray that would be similar to using mod podge to seal the vinyl in place.  Super cute!!

A corner in the baby's room

Getting the energy to get all my projects done for the baby's room has been a challenge.  If I can get the mobile done I'll be thrilled.  Here is a corner of the room..  I think I'll add a basket with books in it eventually.

 Lamb pillow tutorial found on the Purl Bee.  Click here.

 Paper flowers found at Dozi Design.  Click here.

Asian Salad

Cooking is not my specialty but this creation I've put together I really love so I wanted to post this "making".

My base recipe came from my mom which I think came from a church cookbook.  I added a few things and found a dressing I LOVE and this Asian Salad reminds me a lot of the one at Souplantation or The Red Tomato.

Ingredients:
Bag of lettuce (I got one with carrots, and radishes but I buy whatever is on sale)
Can of Mandarin oranges in their own juice.  
Green Onions (I used one that had about three offshoots and I like to use the green and white part)
Celery (about three to four stocks)
Slivered almonds (add to taste.  I also had some pecans so I threw a few chopped in as well)
La Choy rice noodles (smashed Top Raman works too)
Cooked chicken (I boil my chicken and then cut it into small chunks.  I added about 5 tenderloins to the salad)
Sesame Seeds (to taste)
Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame reduced fat dressing (this is what brings the salad all together.   It's really yummy.)

I would post a picture but we ate it all.  Next time.  :)

Halloween Costumes 2011

We had a blast with our theme.  

We definitely have a lot of train tracks around where we live which would have been fun for a picture but they are all very much in use.  

 My mother-in-law made Matt's awesome vest, chaps and belt buckle.  The red cowboy boots I found at an antique store in town.

Spooky Tree

I saw this picture and decided I wanted to make some kind of tree.  I used a flower pot that wasn't in use, collected branches from the back yard and filled the pot with sand to hold the branches in place.  I added a couple crows (I found some after I finished my wreath at Michaels), spider webs, and raffia and tulle to cover the pot.  My husband added the corn and pumpkin and I think it's a nice touch.  I need to play with the spider webs a bit.  They got a beating over the last few days with the heavy winds we have had.