Gifts Galore

I spent most of last night madly finishing teacher gifts. I had planned to do them much earlier but the accident set me back so last night I powered through. I made several of the note boxes for teacher assistants, the music teacher, librarian... Found the them at a dollar store ages ago and just covered the top and inside of the cover with some paper and added a few embelishments here and there depending on the paper. The one with the notes was, of course, for the music teacher. I made matching pens for all of them too, but the music one is the only one that I beaded. I also made these fabulous gift card holders that I gave to their classroom teachers along with a DVD tin album and a set of tile coasters. So easy! Just used the top note die for the big shot and a brad! The inside has a top note cut in half and adhered along the edges to the bottom top note. The brad allows the top to swing open. The last picture is of a card my mother in law sent to each of my kids. Isn't he cute?

Frosty

I got this card from a friend and thought it was post-worthy. Especially since I have not had much opportunity to stamp. I love this little snowman and 3 of him is even better! Thanks, Nicole! I did get some stamping done last night as I madly try to get teacher gifts done. My back has been very sore and I have not been able to do too much but I pushed thru last night and made a few things that I will try to post later today. My 6 year old is home sick AGAIN and we are heading back to the doctor at lunch to get her checked out.

Not Again!

So for those who visit my blog on a regular basis, you may recall that I was in a car accident this summer (a guy turned in front of me as I was going thru an intersection). My van was a write off and I got a beautiful new Volvo S80 that I love. Well, today I was in another accident. Again, totally not my fault. A guy had stopped at a stop sign and I was driving past on a secondary highway and I guess he decided to go without looking and drove right into the driver's side of my beautiful new car. I don't think he expected to hear the words that came out of my mouth when I finally managed to climb out the passenger side door! I am still so angry right now. We are not sure, but the car is likely a write off. What are the chances that I would go through life with no car accidents and then have 2 in just over 4 months? And pretty major ones, too. Sheesh. The blessing is that I was alone, my injuries are minor and I was able to walk away. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't stopped in the first place, especially since he was driving a large delivery truck. I can guarantee I would not be posting right now! And the really scary thing is that my brother was in an accident at that exact corner 3 years ago and was nearly killed It was his big beautiful dog riding in the passenger side seat that saved his life. Unfortunately Okeet did not survive. Anyway, this is not the post I had planned for today but that's life. I just hope everyone reading this will take a little more caution the next time they head out on the road...
Hopefully I will feel like stamping tomorrow.

Snowman Tin

So, I made another DVD tin. Well, a couple actually. I made one for my daughter's teacher for Christmas. They are spending Christmas in Phoenix so I made one that they can use for pictures of their trip. I just made this one because I love the paper. It is inexpensive paper from a pack of xmas paper I bought a couple years back that has sat untouched pretty much since I bought it! I really have to use up some of my supplies! Anyway, I love how it turned out - might just have to keep it for myself!

Mmmmm! Chocolate

Thought I would post another recipe since I just made this yummy treat and the kids are upstairs giggling as they watch "Home Alone". This is an easy and delicious treat I make at Christmas since getting the recipe from my good friend Deanna.

Dad's Oatmeal Bars

18 Dad's Oatmeal cookies

1/4 cup butter/marg

3 square semi sweet chocolate

1/2 cup butter/marg

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup crushed nuts (I use pecans but peanuts also work well)

Melt 1/4 cup butter and add crushed cookies. I find the best way to crush them is to put them in a ziplock bag and bang them with a hammer or a "cooking" hammer...what is that thing called? Press 2/3 of the butter/cookie mixture into a 9x9 pan and bake at 325F for 10 minutes.

Melt the chocolate and allow it to cool. Add icing sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and nuts and beat well. (I use my electric beaters.) Spread chocolate mixture over baked cookies and then sprinkle the remaining crumbs on top.

Refrigerate and then cut into squares.

Picture shows the recipe doubled and cooling on my front porch - one of the advantages of living where it gets cold. I do this will all my Christmas baking!

Enjoy!

DVD Tin

I have a whole pile of these DVD tins so I decided I would make some albums with them and use the for Christmas gifts and to sell. Here is the first one I did. I just used some paper from Costco that I really like. I am pleased with how the cover turned out as I was stumped for a while. I just put in 4 silver brads and then had the idea to put the linen thread around them. I wanted to use some on the front to tie it in with the thread inside.

I *heart* Canada!

To my fellow Canadians:

While I am not one to get too involved in politics, I cannot stand by and watch our country fall apart at the hands of these anti-democratic and anti-Canada opposition parties. Please take the time to visit these websites and let your opinion be heard. Please contact your MP and let them know that the coalition is violating our democratic rights.

http://www.petitiononline.com/CANADIAN/petition.html

http://www.canadians4democracy.ca/index.php?lang=e - You can easily find your MP on this site and contact him or her!

Tin-o-Tags

I used this empty tin (from Epicure) and covered it with last year's awesome "Dashing" DSP from Stampin' Up! Inside I put a dozen handmade Christmas gift tags made using the tag set also from last year. I am not yet sure what I will do with this tin but it sure looks cute!

Weaving!

I had an idea tonight to weave some paper together and then run it through the Big Shot with the top note die. I used the Real Red from the prints pack and just chose 2 different patterns. I think it turned out great! I added the gingham ribbon which actaully runs around the whole front of the card. The snowflake is from the Felt Flurries in the Holiday Mini. They are so fun! And the brad is one of the rhinestone brads. Then to finish it off I scraped the edges with Glorious Green to add some interest and colour.

The other picture is of the "pretzel yummies" that I showed a few weeks ago using the hugs instead of kisses. This is what they should *really* look like. They are addictive so be careful. See my recipes for instructions on how to make this. But be SURE you keep the temp low (I use 200F...most things I cook at about 350) and keep checking them every minute or so after about 3 minutes as the chocolate will dry out quickly after it softens and then they will look cracked and awful!

Quick and Cute!

This may be the quickest card I have ever made. Saw it on Dawn's Stampin' Thoughts blog the other day. A few simple punches, a stamp, and a little colour and viola! A super cute Christmas card. A hint for the scallop edge...punch the 1 3/4" circle out of bashful blue and then line up the scallop punch around the circle. It will make it much easier than trying to punch a circle out of the scallop. To punch the circle out of the card I just moved the punch until it would not go any further and punched there.