Another post closer to Christmas!

 

My husband and I are very excited about Christmas this year, what a blessing to get to introduce Christmas to a child! She is only 6 months old, so I think this year the traditions are more for us...but she enjoys "eating" any pretty wraping paper she can get her hands on and looking at the lights. We came up with a few traditions we wanted to do as a family and the first one I am going to share is a coutdown to christmas with books...I did not come up with this idea, it is yet another one from pinterest.

We decided to wrap 24 christmas books, starting December first we will unwrap and read one book each night until Christmas! This is something that Adalyn will enjoy, she is still little but I have read to her since I was pregnant and now she loves it when we read to her! (Side note, studies show that when babies are read to in the womb they actually will recall the book when they are born, GOOGLE IT!) Our collection includes:

  Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer                               
 The Gingerbread Man
  A Charlie Brown Christmas                                         
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
 The Night Before Christmas                                          
The Polar Express
 10 Shiney Snowflakes                                                    
5 Christmas Penquins
 The littlest Elf                                                                
 Mouses first Christmas
 Tonight yoy are my Baby                                              
This is the Stable
 Snowbears 1st Christmas                                               
If you take a mouse to the movies
 Olive, the Other Reindeer                                             
  Little Critter's first Christmas
 The Gingerbread Baby                                                   
Humphreys first Christmas
 The mitten                                                                       
Snowmen at Christmas
 The Gingerbread Girl                                                     
Up on the housetop
 Llama Llama Holiday Drama                                         
Frosty the Snowman

We will read one each night, and on Christmas we will choose a few favorites to read. Each year I will wrap them again and they will be special all over again! Some are classics, some are new twists on old classics, some are ones I just thought were cute, some are board books that will get replaced as the kids get older...I am very excited to start this tradition!!

 

ARE THOSE GLUTEN FREE?? YES.

 

As most of you know, my husband has ciliac disease, so I do my best to cook things that taste like food rather than cardboard or sand. I often leave the kitchen in a huff and claim that I will "never do that again" only to end up in the kitchen with a mound of gluten free products a few days later. I love to bake but I often fight with the flours and such. Yesterday, the gluten free apple pie I made was just a gritty sand like gunk. Today, I made something wonderful. I spent the afternoon banging and clanging...mixing and mashing and emerged with something fabulously simple. When is good my husband husband tasted them he said..."Are sure this is gluten free?" Thats his stamp of approval!!

 

Gluten Free Whoopie Pies (busy mamma version)

COOKIES:
1 box gluten free cake mix (8x8 pan size)  (any flavor can be used)
1/2 tub cool whip
1 egg
1/3 cup veg. oil
splash of vanilla

mix em up, drop onto cookie sheet. bake at 350 for about 10 min.

FROSTING:
1/2 tub marshmallow creme
1 tub vanilla frosting

***The cookie recipie was supposed to be: 1/2 tub cool whip, 1 egg, 1 cake mix..but they were dry. You could use a yellow cake mix and add pumpkin, or any other flavor combinations you like! I make peanut butter cookies this way.

 



The turkey is cold, let the Christmas season...begin!!

I love crafting, scrapbooking and making things so I set out to make a few items for Christmas (I have more crafty things on my to-do list than I am will ever get to I am sure) but I did cross two off this week. The first I did was a "melted snowman ornament" I took a trip to a craft store on my birthday to get some supplies...I got a box of glass ornaments, (set of 6) diamond dust, clay (oarnge and black) and peppercorns.

I poured the diamond dust in first, added a few peppercorns, shaped a top hat and nose, and then I went outside for some small twigs. When they were finished I tied some country ribbon on them to match the rest of the decor on my tree and vola!  ** diamond dust is very sparkly and looks great, but it was pricey so I added table salt as well to fill the ornament as full as I wanted, but once it was mixed together you cant tell.

The second was a super quick project I did is for my dad (I got him a real gift as well) but It does not matter when or how many times I ask him what he wants for Christmas he ALWAYS says, "Nuthin'" so..when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I had to make him one. I dug out a jar from the mound of "junk" I have saved, (just in case I find a craft project) typed and printed what I wanted it to say, cut it down to the right size and modge podged it on! I am gonna stick a bow on top and give it to him. My dad will find this just as clever as I do I am sure. ;)

 

Project: Adalyn's Room!

 

Our little princess is only four months old, but she has lots of books and lots of bows, they began to take over her room..her book basket was over flowing and her bow holder was not big enough so, the pinterest addict that I am figured I could DIY a solution. Project #1: Book Case, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a book case for 15.68, then went to a local fbric store and scored 2 yards of fabric for $2.00! :) I put the book case toegther and covered the cheap cardboard stuff with fabric so it would look cute in her room! I also moved my rocking chair from when I was little and a rug into that corner...now we have a special place to read books!!

 

Project #2: A bigger bow holder! A.C. Moore had poster frames for sale so I grabed one of those, the leftover fabric from the book case..I put the fabric in the frame like a picture so the glass covers it, added ribbon and VOLA! :) A place for all her bows....and room for MORE.

 



 





Mr. Snow Door

 

I LOVE Christmas time, I start bugging my husband to decorate mid October...He gave in this weekend and I am still working to get every nook and cranny of our house looking festive. I found this idea on pinterest and couldnt pass it up! It is just scrapbok paper and some wraping paper scraps, but it adds a lot to our living room. Best of all, it was cheap, and quick!