Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Christmas Pretty!

Hey Y'all!

As promised, here's a peek at my Christmas decorations. Enjoy!


A peek at my kitchen window. Sweet baby trees and a Santa screen!


My bakers rack with my Department 56 Houses and a small tree with candles.


Polka dot tree. Didn't show up well, but you can see some of my favorite Hallmark ornaments!



Our "live" snowman and cardinal tree. I love my garland with the pinecones and sticks! Sorry it's blurry!


So do you have your trees up yet?

Tootles!
:) JKP

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

I LOVE Cupcakes!

Hey Y'all!

I hope where ever you are, you are getting to see some snow! Where I live, we only see snow once in a blue moon, so it is really special when it happens. I just love snow and how white and fresh it makes everything look. My Christmas wish is to go somewhere where it snows during Christmas. I would love to take sleigh rides, go caroling and stay in a big ol' lodge. And. Drink hot toddies! :) Anybody out there have a winning Powerball ticket???

Anyhoo. Since I don't live where it snows, and for that matter, where it gets cold very often, I have to create a Winter Wonderland in my house during Christmas. This year I have three, yes THREE Christmas trees in my living room. One is real, the other two are artificial. I have collected Hallmark ornaments for YEARS, so I have plenty of ornaments for all of the trees. However, this year, I wanted to shake things up. One of my trees is an aluminum green tree. It is like metallic tinsel. Over the past two years, y'all have heard of my love for cupcakes. They are the perfect treat for someone like me because I can't eat a lot of dough-y foods with my stomach. I can still have a sweet treat and not feel sick! So I decided that one of my Christmas trees this year needed to be dedicated to my love of cupcakes. I started to poke around on Pinterest and I found the most amazing craft project. And, y'all know how I LOVE the craft projects. So with some Styrofoam balls, artificial snow, regular glue, hot glue, ribbon and some plastic holly berries, I made some precious cupcake ornaments!

If you would like to make your own cupcake tree (and let's face it, what girly girl wouldn't want one?) here are the craft supplies you are going to need:


2.5 inch Styrofoam balls (use a coupon and get them half off at the craft store)
Artificial snowflakes ( I used regular and iridescent to get a sparkly effect)
Cupcake liners.. foil ones and Christmas themed ones
A hot glue gun and glue sticks
Craft or school glue
A foam brush, a paper bowl, and toothpicks
Christmas themed ribbon
A Solo cup or Styrofoam block to hold the snowballs as they are drying

To start, combine the regular and iridescent snowflakes in a bowl. You might also want to spread paper towels or newspapers out on the table you are working on. The snowflakes get EVERYWHERE! :)



Next, poke a toothpick on the bottom of one of the Styrofoam balls. Coat at least 2/3 thirds of the top of the ball with glue.


Then roll the ball in the snowflake mixture.


While you are making the other "snowballs" you want a place to put the finished ones to dry well. I stuck mine into a Styrofoam block.

I let mine dry overnight to be safe. If it is not dry enough, the next part won't work.

Once the "snowballs" are dry to the touch, plug in your hot glue gun. If you are making this craft with little ones, make sure you take over here.

Separate out your cupcake liners. I did a combination of foil and Christmas themed ones. Simply line the side of the cupcake liner with hot glue. Then, place the "snowball" into the liner, cupping your hands around the ball. Don't push the ball down to the bottom. The hot glue will grab the sides. Your "cupcake" will look rounded on the bottom if you push it down to far into the liner. *Side note.. the foil liners get REALLY hot with the glue, so be very careful!*



Now, once the cupcake liner has cooled, we get to have some fun! Cut one of the holly berries off of the bunch, but leave a stem. With a toothpick, tuck the ribbon down into the cupcake. Insert the stem of the "berry" into the hole made with the toothpick and ribbon. Add a dab of hot glue and push the stem in all the way into the cupcake.


And viola!!! You have a cupcake ornament!


You can also leave the stem "up" and make it more cherry like.


Now you can make enough for a whole tree!



And, a close up!



And here's a thought... if you find a white tree on clearance AFTER Christmas, you can use a Valentine's day theme and keep it up longer! You can also use smaller Styrofoam balls and liners too! :)

I'll be back tomorrow with some pics of my Christmas decorations around my house. I just love to have on my lights in my house at night. It is so peaceful and relaxing to me!

Tootles and happy crafting!
:) JKP

Monday, November 28, 2011

Thankful

Hey Y'all!

WHEW! My Thanksgiving break just flew by! I had good intentions of posting during break, but something always got in the way! Cleaning, laundry, oh. And. School work! Last night I sat down to post only to realize that our 2nd nine week interims are due on Friday. So I went ahead and took care of them last night. It wasn't so bad this time. I have all of my Christmas decorations up and a great Christmas movie was on TV. ALSO. I have a brand new sofa! Woo hooo!

I noticed the day before Thanksgiving that Big Lots had a sofa that I just loved. And for those of you that know me, know that I needed a new sofa in the worst way. So Santa told me that could be my Christmas present!

Here I am getting to know my new sofa in the store. This was just the model, mine came all wrapped up! Santa delivered my sofa on Friday!

As you can see, here is the new sofa in my living room. We have moved some things around since this picture was taken. Pitty Pat is in love with our new piece of furniture. I love that it has a chaise lounge on one end. :)

Before Thanksgiving break, I did get some knitting in. One of my favorite projects that I have been working on is fingerless gloves. These are so easy to make and will make great Christmas gifts.


I also started knitting a ruffle scarf! This is made with the coolest yarn. The yarn is made of webbing and you knit in between the loops. This produces a ruffle! Sadly, this scarf has been frogged. During the Extreme Living Room Makeover, this got misplaced and it ended up falling off of the needle. So, I guess I will be casting on again this week.


Over Thanksgiving my family did the usual... we ate our Gobble Gobble lunch at The Boundary House in Calabash, NC. It is so nice and they always have it decked out for Christmas. Here I am with Mom striking a pose!
And last but not least, over the holiday, I found some time for a mani pedi. I needed this in the worst way! I have been having some issues with my left foot (the same one I broke a few years ago) so it was very nice to get the royal treatment for an hour and a half. I have this sparkly color on my toes and feet... It is Opi's "Don't Toy With Me." It is one of their Christmas colors. It makes me happy just to look at it!
Over the short break, I did manage to get my three! Christmas Trees up. As you saw from my last post, I had some Christmas Crafting going on. This year one of my trees is a cupcake tree. I will post directions tonight on how you can make your own cupcake tree. It is a very happy Christmas tree!
Well, I think I have caught y'all up on everything! I'll post tonight with directions for the cupcake ornaments.
Tootles!
:) JKP

Saturday, November 19, 2011

There's Some Christmas Crafting Going On!

Hey Y'all!
I am up to some crafting today for my Christmas tree! Stay tuned to see what these become! :)

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Oh Happy Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Y'all!

I just love that song... Oh Happy Day! It is a happy song... and I always think of it when I see something I love or just have a great day. Right now I am taking a break from some holiday knitting and baby shower knitting to watch a Christmas movie on the Hallmark Channel. I don't know how much longer I can wait to decorate... but it is still warm here, so definitely not for the next few days! I just love having my fire going, a great movie on TV and Pitty Pat in my lap!

This past weekend my best friend was here and we ventured to Kohl's on Friday night. For many years, one of my holiday traditions has been to always purchase a winter scene or Christmas scene coffee tumbler from Starbucks. Sadly, over the past year all of my favorite tumblers have been lost. So imagine how excited I was to learn that Kohl's had a great selection at only $5 each! AND... I had a $5 off coupon to boot! So. I. Stocked. Up.


In honor of Pitty Pat, I had to get a sock monkey! I also picked up a red cardinal and two snowmen scenes. I just love having a warm cup of coffee to travel with in the morning. And with my morning schedule with Pitty Pat, I just don't have time to sit down with a cup of coffee. Also did you notice my "J" cup I picked up this weekend too? It goes perfectly for my water AND my Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash. Oh HAPPY Day indeed!

Whew. If I can make it through the next three days and two days next week, it will finally be time in our school schedule for a break. I can't wait! And hopefully it will be cool enough to put up a Christmas tree by then!

Well, it's back to knitting and movie watching for me. Oh. Yeah. And a walk for Pitty Pat!

Tootles!
:) JKP

Monday, November 14, 2011

Why Hello There.... Stranger!

Hey Y'all!

Sorry for the radio silence, but I have been BUSY! The first weekend in November I had a family wedding in Columbia, SC. I was very excited to go back to Columbia for the weekend! However, that meant Mr. Pitty Pat had to spend some time at doggie camp. The weekend was lots of fun and I even got to eat at some of my favorite restaurants! The wedding was fun and I got to spend time with BOTH of my uncles at the same time! There are pictures, but I was so busy having fun, I only took a few. Here's one with me and Mom before the rehearsal shindig! This was also Mom's birthday! For her present I used 1 skein of Art Yarns Litoral and made her a Litoral Shawl. She loved it and wore it most of the weekend!



I got the shawl pin from The Knit and Purl here at the beach. On Saturday, before the wedding, we went to the Carolina Craftsman Arts and Craft Fair. Oh. My. It was great to be back in a metropolitan city that knows how to put on a craft show!

This past week I celebrated a birthday and it was fantastic. I had a great evening out with some of my best girlfriends. We laughed and had some yummy drinks. So far, 39 is SUBLIME!

This past weekend my best friend Marie came for a visit and we did a pre Girls Weekend Christmas Palooza scope out shopping trip. The weekend was great and we actually did get some great deals! Does it seem like everyone is in the Christmas spirit early this year? On my way home from school today I saw two Christmas Tree lots getting ready for trees.

One bonus of the early holiday season is that the Hallmark Channel is running it's Countdown to Christmas movie marathon right now. There is nothing better I like to do right now than hunker down with a good Christmas movie and knit on some Christmas gifts. I also have some baby gifts to work on. I put the fire on (well, not tonight.. it is currently 70 degrees!), pour some egg nog and off I go!

This coming weekend I am planning on seeing Breaking Dawn with my close friends. We are planning on going to a matinee and then grabbing a late lunch. YAY!

Also, I have developed one new addiction since I have been silent! PINTEREST is so addicting! I have pinned some great things for knitting and cooking. Also just pictures of snow! AND... I have some ornament crafts that I can wait to try out for my Christmas tree this year. Here's a hint... cupcakes anyone?

And last but not least, I leave you with a picture of Pitty Pat. This was taken the night I got home from Columbia. My little buddy was very happy to be home and in my lap!


Well, let me run!
Tootles!
:) JKP