Better Late...Then Never

So I was downloading some pictures and found these ones.  I am so late in posting.  Been busy but should have at least gotten these posted in December 2011.  BUT not a chance.  So here are the rest of our Christmas decor.  Enjoy.

           This is the tree in the 4 and 6 year olds room. I know it is girlie and I only have one daughter but I bought everything for it last year during the after Christmas sale at Walmart.

This is the tree  that was in our basement family room.  I let the kids decorate it by them selves.  I think they did a great job.

Well, I hope to post tomorrow about a little trip we took today which ended up with us bringing home some goodies....  :O)  I am so excited about it...  Until then...  Have a great one!

Favorite Projects of 2011

After going through this years posts, it seems like I did not get very many projects done.  When in reality I have gotten quite a few more done than I have posted about.  I better get on that.  *New  goal for 2012:  Be a better and more frequent blogger!   So here are my favorite projects this year  (and in no particular order)....

 

1. Board and Batten in the living room.  You can read about it here, here, and here.

2.  Shelving for our food storage.

3.  New flower garden for next year (2012).

4. Book page wreath.

5.  My Halloween table scape.

6.  Room redo on a very tight budget.

7.  Our ADULT Christmas tree.              

Hope your have had a wonderful 2011 and here's to making 2012 the BEST ever! 

Our Christmas Tree

I thought it was about time to show you our finished Christmas tree  that is in our living room.  I decorated this tree by myself this year.  I let the kids loose on their own trees this year.  I will show those to you starting tomorrow.  I still have one thing to get for this tree.  I ran out of the string of pearls that I just can not seem to live without every year.  So I will have to make a trip up to Hobby Lobby to get another strand.  So no judging the bottom of the tree.  So on with the show..

 I decided to use some new, old, and even older ornaments this year and make the tree I have always wanted.  My colors this year are:  turquoise, lime green, red, pearly white, soft gold, and mercury glass.  I am in L.O.V.E. with this tree this year.

 The next pictures are of the "NEW" Mercury Glass ornaments that I actually bought last year but did not use.  Bummer because they are soooooo  beautiful.  Just look for your self.

 This next picture has both new sparkly lime green and red ornaments and the red long ornament that the Hubs uncle gave us for our wedding present 14 years ago.  He is/was a florist with his own business.  He even was one of the designers for FTD.  Anyways, he would decorate Christmas trees in his shop and then gave us everything for one the trees.  Can I just say GORGEOUS.  I love them all.  You can also see the pearl white and soft gold ornaments in this picture.  I bought those during the AFTER Christmas sale at Kmart like 10 years ago.

 This turquoise bulb is also from the Hubs' uncle.  They are soooooooo  pretty.  Love the hash marks.

 These blown glass heart ornaments are the kids FAVORITE.  I got them way before I met my husband.  So they are the oldest ones we have.  I got them from the catalog LTD.  I do not know if they carry them anymore.  But I sure do love the way the lights on the tree glisten off of them.

 So there you have it.  My ADULT tree.  Hopefully you like it as much as I do.  But, if you don't that is alright because I am the one that has to look at it every day...  :O)

Come back tomorrow to see the tree that the kids did in the family room.  It is a fun one.  :O)

Decking our halls for the holiday's.....

Wow, has is really been a month since my last post?  Time is sure getting away from me.  I/we have been really busy.  Always something that needs to get done.  We are in the middle of a big project for the kids.  We are moving what seems like the whole house around to accommodate the older boys having their own rooms.  But, that is another post for another time.  Well, tis the season  that the Christmas elves come and make a mess of the house for the holiday's.  Thought I would show their progress thus far.

                 Thought I would start off with a nice picture then show you all the real mess..

                            Why does Christmas decoration have to take up so much space?

See my lanterns on the bench?  I got those from a store here in Utah called RC Willey for, wait for it, $10.00...  Yep you read that right.  $10 for all THREE.  I love them.

See I told you it is a mess..  Cleaning up after these Christmas elves is my top priority right now.

They did happen to get the tree up in the living room.  PLEASE ignore the half covered wing back chairs.  They are still a work in really bad progress.  My sewing machine is still broken so I am trying to cover them at little expense as possible until either I get a new machine or mine fixed OR I go buy new slip covers from Sure fit.  We shall wait and see.  Anyhoo,  to the rest of the pictures.  This next one is actually very promising.

The snowmen will be finding another home.  Just needed to get them up off the floor so the dog does not chew them up.  Still working on that with him.  See the table in the left corner?  That is the table from this post.

Here is a better view of the start of our holiday decorating.  This table was the only thing decorated for like a week until the elves decided to come and help out.  I love its' simplicity.

 We also had a little help from Rocco.    Thanks for coming.  Have a great weekend and enjoy getting your house ready for the holiday's.  :O)

How do you weather a storm?

Remember me telling you about the kids having a snow day last week on their last day of school before Christmas break? Well, I thought I would share some more pics from that day..

This is the hubs car sitting at the end of our driveway to show you how high the snow really got. It took me almost 3 hours to shovel just that part where his car is at.. You see the wonderful city will NOT let you shovel snow into the road but THEY have no problem plowing it into YOUR driveway. It was packed and super heavy!!! I did happen to take some pics of the kids playing in the snow... This is my favorite one...

Isn't she just the cutest?

They made this snowman... Then my daughter sat on top for quite some time... Sorry no pic I was shoveling...But then later I caught a glimpse of my eight year old doing the same thing... He had just fallen off when I got my camera.. It was a funny sight.... sorry you all missed it...

Then remember me telling you all about the pillow fight that led to my 3 year old in a sling... Well, we went to Primary Children's Hospital on Wednesday the 22ND and found out he does not need surgery right now... Just a cast... YEAH!! We just need to keep an eye on him after the cast comes off as to make sure he does not injure it again which will lead to surgery...

The hubs wanted a red cast for the Utes... He only does that because he likes to rub it in to the BYU fans at work... I had to explain to him that the cast was not going on HIS body so HE does NOT get to pick the color... The person getting the cast gets to pick... The hubs did say he gets to veto if pink or purple are chosen... Good thing the 3 year old picked green... It matches Buzz lightyear... which is his fav!!!

I did not have a chance to show you all the kids stockings... I made them last year...

This year I made the sign for them to hang on and I added some monogram bling.

I love how they sparkle.. They have different size gems on them.. I got them at Hobby Lobby. They were pretty cheap...

Here is the train table that the 3 year old got from Santa... It took only 8 screws and 5 minutes to put together.. The train track took much longer to put together...

Now this is the kitchen that my daughter got from Santa. It took 2 1/2 hours to put together.. We thought about making one but could not think of how to get it done with out her seeing it... So I was searching the Internet and came across this one at a super deal.. So, I bought it....

Here is the tree after Santa came to visit... I know it does not look like much but they got what they all wanted and they were happy...

Santa even liked the cookies the kids made....

This is after the presents we unwrapped and mom and dad were insignificant at that point...

They sure did leave a mess... But had lots of fun... :O)

I think they noticed me taking pictures... Well at least the younger two did...

Ahhh, the mess is almost picked up... and the 3 year old is still having fun...

Notice anything in this next picture?

No? Well, check out said 3 year old's underpants... They are on backwards... He was in a hurry when he had to go potty.. You know that train needed to be played with... :O)

As always have a great week... :O) Be safe!! And enjoy all the after Christmas Sale shopping...

Happy Holidays!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! May the Lord bless each and everyone of you and your families.. Be safe this Holiday season...

And eat lots!! Have a great one!! :O)

Oh fudge...and last minute projects!

I thought that would caught your attention... :O) I finally finished my ornament wreath and am loving it... I got the ornaments at Walmart. They were a package of 4 for only $1. The colors match my new tree perfectly... :O)

I had the ribbon left over from my PB knock off here.

It has wire in it so it was super easy to get it just right. Love that!!

Look how shiny!! I have been wanting to make one of these since I saw them last year...

Now I do... :O)


Next are the teacher gifts I did this year for my kids teachers...

I got the $1 candles at Walmart and just cut some scrapbook paper to size and wrapped it around and secured it with some tape. Then I printed off the tags and cut them and attached them to the front of the candles... SUPER easy and inexpensive... Got to love that....


Now, how about the fudge....

Me, well not so much of a fudge fan but the hubbs is... Well, that is before I came across my aunts recipe... I love this fudge!! It is so creamy and easy to make. Double score in my book!!

Just needed to show you all how yummy it all looks! :O)

Now for the recipe!

Million $ Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 can evap. milk

1/2 cup butter

Bring to a boil and cook for about 7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add 1 tsp vanilla and stir.

In your KitchenAid (which I recommend for this recipe) brake up into pieces the following.

2 jumbo Hershey bars

2 packages chocolate chips

1 pint marshmallow creme

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour hot mixture over all and beat until gloss is gone ( the dough hook works best.)

You are going to fall in love with how easy and creamy this is....

Enjoy and have a wonderful Christmas time!!! :O)