Christmas Craft Night with Sister

Mama, me, and sister have been planning on having a night of creating Christmas crafts for quite some time now. Sister and I had a craft night a couple days ago and we had so much fun! We drank wine, listened to Christmas music, made ornaments, ate too many pizza rolls and chips and dip, and even relaxed at the end of the night watching Bride Wars. Sometimes it's the little things. We had a wonderful night. I can't wait for our next craft night - Mama is going to join in on the fun and we will be making snow globes - sort-of - rather a twist on snow globes!

We started the night off right.

Yes, that is ice in our red sweet wine. Mmhmm. So yummy. And that is a lot of craft supplies. You've got some pom poms, syrofoam balls, yarn, lots of ribbon, sequins, and more sequins, straight pins, and felt. Good to go.

Want to see some of our lovely creations? Sister is awesome and taught me how to create these neat sequined ornaments. Love love love them! These are some of her creations. Aren't they adorable?! I swear hers look like you would buy them at a store!

And because this is hubby and my first Christmas as a married couple, I figured of course we need an initial ornament. I wrapped it in yarn and hung it from a mason jar that I filled with teal beads. And I made a vintage button ornament, a bird sitting in a nest, and my favorite: a sequin ornament which was taught to me by sister. 

And hubby and I put our tree up this weekend. I feel like it has the exact feel I wanted. It looks vintage-ish, but with an updated modern appeal. Goodness, I love it. I love the mixture of teals and pinks. So pretty. Just how I had envisioned it.

Do you make your own ornaments? If so, I'd love to see them, post them below. After our next craft night, I'll share with you our beautiful snow globes, I'll give you a hint: they are Anthropologie inspired.

Thanksgiving - Recipe Must Haves

This year for Thanksgiving, Jeremy and I are hosting. We are having my family over for a Thanksgiving supper. We are going to have everyone bring a couple dishes and have a buffet feast. I'm very excited to cook with my mama and make our favorite vegetarian dishes.My mama will be making a mashed potato casserole, which I will be sharing the recipe after Thanksgiving, along with some yummy mushroom noodles.

For now, here are the recipes for a few of the yummy casseroles I will be in charge of making.

Green Bean Casserole:

  

Ingredients: 

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can CAMPBELL'S® Cream of Mushroom Soup

3/4 cup milk

1/8 tsp. black pepper

2 (9 oz. each) pkgs. frozen cut green beans, thawed*

1 1/3 cups FRENCH'S® Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions

Directions:

MIX soup, milk and pepper in a 1 1/2 -qt. baking dish. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French Fried Onions.

BAKE at 350°F for 30 min. or until hot.

STIR. Top with remaining 2/3 cup onions. Bake 5 min. until onions are golden.

Scalloped Corn Casserole:

  

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh or frozen corn

 1 cup skim milk 

1 cup crushed saltines (about 30 crackers), divided 

3 tablespoons butter, melted 

1 tablespoon sugar 

Salt and pepper to taste  

Directions:

 In a large bowl, combine the corn, milk, 3/4 cup cracker crumbs, butter, sugar, salt and pepper. Transfer to a greased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cracker crumbs. 

Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 1 hour or until a thermometer reads 160°. Yield: 6 servings.

Cornbread Stuffing (Recipe to come):

 

And a NEW recipe that we've never tried is this amazing dessert: Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie:

 

How delicious does that DOUBLE layer pumpkin cheesecake look? To be honest, I'm going to use this for the cheesecake: 

It's amazing flavored, and literally NO BAKE! The simpler a recipe is, the better for this lady! And for the pumpkin layer of the pie, I will be using this recipe:

• 1 can of pumpkin (15 ounces)
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
• 2 eggs
• 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 9 inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice and salt until smooth.

Pour into unbaked crust and bake for 15 minutes.

Cover the edges of the pie with tin foil.

REDUCE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 350 and continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the crust comes out clean.

Cool. Garnish with whip cream.

Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Wish me luck. I'm super excited, but can you believe it's Tuesday evening and I've yet to go grocery shopping yet?! Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

I'll be posting a blog post this weekend about the baby shower I hosted for one of my best friends! Lots of DIY projects for the holidays, plus more so stay tuned!

Christmas Wish List - books

Dottie Angel 
This book comes with a scrap of fabric, vintage buttons, and a doily. Yum. Just my type of book. :)

 

One Thousand Gifts 

 

Design*Sponge at Home 

 Aren't they all so pretty? I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but man if I were to design a cover for a book, these would be my inspiration. There are a few more books and magazines that I may add to my wishlist, but for now, these are my top 3 contenders. I've heard nothing but positive remarks about all three of them!

What's on your wishlist? Do you have any recommendations for books I should add? Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Living Room Inspiration Board

I created an inspiration board this morning featuring some vintage chic looks that I adore and hope to recreate in my living room. Cute, huh?!  I just love the colors - they are just beautiful & I adore the textures. I have a large collection of mason jars as it is & love how they have embellished them with scrapbooking tags! The owl pillow is calling my name! The embroidered artwork with the mason jar is just precious and a must-have, as is the chevron area rug.

And just so I give credit where credit is deserved, here is where I found each of these items and I've included links so you can purchase them! :)
1) Chevron rug can be bought here! They come in different sizes and colors and are gorgeous!
2) Cute white end table can be purchased here.
3) The adorable owl pillow, which is also baby safe for all you mommie's or soon-to-be mommies out there, can be bought at Dwell Studios!  For just $22.00, you can't beat that!!!
4) The embroidered Mason Jar wall art display says "I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things in life which are the real ones after all. -Laura Ingalls Wilder" is made by Etsy seller ACottageLife and can be purchased here. How sweet are all of her items? So perfect for gifts or to spoil yourself ;)
5) The mason jars on a shelf with embellishments were found here. What a fun DIY site, too! You should totally check it out for some ideas for awesome new projects!
6) The amazing picture of the mason jars was taken by the talented Betsy Dallas Photography! Check out her work!
7) The super cute couch with the even cuter pillows was found on Knack.
8) Amazing, adorable fabric flowers in a teal vase can be found here along with an awesome tutorial for you crafty folk! {Or just have me make them for you! ;) }

Feel free to share the inspiration board, but please post a link to my blog :)

I'm struggling to find the PERFECT area rug for my living room. I'm asking for one for Christmas, and I want it to be the perfect one. I found a really nice, gray rug at IKEA that I love, here is a picture of it:

I'd be very happy with either the chevron rug or this one! Maybe I'll put both on my Christmas list and let it be a surprise! ;)

What's on your christmas list this year? What's your favorite item I blogged about?

Dogs AKA Furbabies

My dogs are crazy, lunatic, WAY TOO WILD, full of energy, NEVER lay on the couch and sleep, naughty, NO GOOD dogs!

They have selective hearing. For example, I'll say "No, get out of there!!" when Buddy Bill tries to jump in the bathtub. Does he listen? NO! But if he's trying to jump in the bathtub and I say, "Let's get a TREAT!" He turns around and runs into the kitchen next to the cabinet under the sink where the treats lie and waits for a treat! Who's in control?! Certainly not me! Drives me crazy. Or Dakota who manages to run out the front door every time it's opened... I yell "Dakota! Come inside! Dakottttaa!" and he runs further from me. Again, I say the magic word "Come get a TREAAAAT Dakota!" and he's running to me in a heartbeat. Dang dogs.

 

Anyway... they are cute when they want to be. It makes my heart happy seeing these pictures, and for a second, it reminds me why these pups are mine, and not yours and why I put up with the crap they put me through.

And on a completely unrelated  topic, check out these beautiful rose ranunculus bouquets that needed to be shipped out. Aren't they simply gorgeous?! I just love the way they turned out. They are sitting in a planter that I scored from an auction in a $5.00 box. I didn't even know it was in there, but I love it!! And it makes a great backdrop for pictures, too! More on that a different day! 

Ready To Move.

I have a major issue. I am ready to move out of our apartment, and we still have over a half a year left on our lease. I want to move into our 'first home' and feel that joy of really knowing that it is ours and that we can do with it what we want. I want to be a first time home buyer. I want us to be first home buyers, and look over at eachother when we get the keys to the house, and think 'WE DID IT!'

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved our apartment when we first moved in, but after a year and a half of living here with our two furbabies and all of our belongings, myself, and my husband, we're crowded, and this 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment isn't doing it for me anymore.

My hubby really loves it here because technically it has been 'our first home',  and I feel guilty for not loving it like I used to. He's very sentimental and he said it would make him sad to leave here.

So my plan is to continue trying to make our current home feel comfortable and cozy, and save save save and hope that by next Fall, we're able to buy our first home.

Garter Orders for Beth & Caitie!