SUPER!!!

I didn't blog yesterday because I spent all day working on these. So I deeply apologize. In my family we have a tradition of drawing names instead of giving to every person every year. Now that we are all grown and have families we draw families. This year I have my sister Stacy. She has three boys. The first two are twins. To be honest I don't know them really really well. I live in Texas and they live in Utah. I adore them and we always have a lot of fun when we do see them. Not to mention they are great with Miss. S. I had a hard time figuring out what to do for them though. So I decided to tap into their love of video games and make them Mario Brothers T-Shirts. Mario and Luigi for the twins (naturally) and Toadie for the youngest (of coarse). I used the tutorial on MADE for Freezer Paper Stencils. It was really fun to make and pretty easy. You can kinda tell that Toadie was my first one though and Luigi was the last, but all in all I love how they turned out. Don't be surprised if I do more with this technique later on. I think this baby in my belly needs some cute onsies or something.

Gift Giving 101: Get Personal

Image found on CocoShack

The last tip was to be thoughtful. What's more thoughtful than a personalized gift (such as the silhouette)? Either handmade or purchased it's always special to get something with your name, initials, or another special element on it. It only takes a few minutes browsing through Etsy to see how many fun options are out there. You could do art work like the picture above. A keepsake ornament like this one from Lisa Leonard. For kids you could do plates or cups like the adorable ones from Sarah & Abraham. You can do a DIY project such as this really cute custom banner, initial pillows, or wall letters. The possibilities are really endless. I'm pretty sure anything can be personalized these days. Giving your gifts a personal touch elevates them into something the receiver can have as a keepsake. Your gifts will be the stars under any tree. So get personal and the people on your list will love it!

Working Hard

Sorry it's a slow day around here. I'm busy working on snowflakes for our Christmas Stockings. I'm not going to lie I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this one. They may not get done before Christmas. Good thing we have stockings at both Grandparents houses right? I'm going to try really hard, but I don't know. I can see how I want them to look in my mind & knowing me I won't settle for anything else. So we'll see how it works out.

Go Treat Yourself

I thought the last post was maybe a little bit of a downer. I definitely got on my soap box a little. So I thought I needed to follow up with something fun. Since I'm on the topic of soap boxes I thought this would be appropriate. I've blogged about my love for Mrs. Meyer's before but it was a couple years ago. So I don't feel bad bringing it up again. For those of you who saw this last time I apologize. Around this time of year one thing I get really excited about is getting to use my favorite hand soap and lotion. Mrs. Meyer's Holiday Peppermint Duo. It is a little bit of Heaven. I don't even know if they carry it any more but if you see it sitting on a shelf at your grocery store you should definitely treat yourself. It's worth it!

Gift Giving 101: It's the Thought that Counts

This may be obvious but I feel like it's an important rule. I've heard a couple stories through friends recently that goes to show not everyone thinks this way. I think this is important as a gift giver and a receiver. I don't care if a gift cost $5 or $50 the best gifts are the ones you could tell a lot of thought went into it. Some years I'm better at this than others. I think this year I really thought about each gift a lot. This was my gift from my sister Aubrey last year...

So cute right? And something that spoke right to my heart. My sister-in-law Jody gives really thoughtful gifts every year single year also. I'd much rather get a hand made silhouette of my daughter than a DVD player or jewelry. And most likely it will save you some money. In this economy that is really important right? As a receiver if someone gives you something that obviously didn't cost an arm and a leg but you can tell a lot of time and thought went into it then appreciate it! I once heard someone say "If your not going to spend at least $20 on me then don't get me anything at all." All I have to say to that is rude! Now I understand some people are harder than others. My Father-in-Law is tough, but I know he is a sucker for his Grand Children so I think anything that involves them he will love. I just encourage people to really think about each person on your list and thoughtfully pick something out for them. Don't just throw something in a box at the last minute and call it good. It's the thought that counts in the end, and everyone loves to feel thought of.

The Cookies of My Dreams

Yes they are really that fantastic. I found a cookie recipe some time ago that was good NOT great. I've done a lot of tweaking to this recipe to make them just right. After much deliberation as to whether or not to keep this recipe a guarded secret I've decided that it is much nicer to pass it along. So with no further delays here you are. Happy Holidays!

Glorified White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter softened

2/3 cup Firmly packed light brown sugar

1 Large egg

1 3/4 cup All-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon Baking soda

1/4 teaspoon Salt

3/4 cup Coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup Shredded coconut divided

3/4 of a bag of White chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy

3. Beat in egg and vanilla

4. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Blend into creamed mixture.

5. Blend in nuts and 1/2 cup coconut.

6. Stir in white chocolate chips.

7. Take heaping spoonfuls and roll into balls. Slightly flatten out like a pancake. Take rest of coconut and put on a small plate. Roll the top of you cookie in coconut. This part is essential as it gets toasted and crispy while baking.

8. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 min or until set. They should be slightly brown with coconut toasted.

9. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets then cool completely on wire racks.

10. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk.

*Disclaimer* These cookies are very sweet and very rich. A glass of milk may be necessary.

I am not a huge fan of white chocolate, and I'm very picky about coconut. I assure you that these cookies will not disappoint. If you make them please let me know what you think!

*Update* Last night Denny told me that this last batch may have been TOO sweet. If this is the case you can use 3/4 of a bag of white chocolate chips. They will taste just as wonderful.

My DIY Christmas

It seems like every year around this time my Husband says to me "We're on a really tight budget. Don't spend too much". So I buy my Christmas presents, send Christmas Cards and maybe get 1 or 2 things to decorate around the house and that's it. This year I was looking at my stash of Christmas Decorations and thinking how sparse it looked. However we're on that tight budget again so I can't go out and spend like crazy. So I've turned to the internet and my craft closet to see if I can spruce up the place. My first project was this paper garland. The tutorial says to use a 2 inch punch, paper glue, 2 yards of string, and coordinating paper. I had on hand a 1.5 inch punch, double stick tape and yarn. The only thing I really had to buy was coordinating paper. I found a winter/snowflake themed mat pack at Joann's on sale for $5. We have a lot of snowflake decorations in blues, whites and silver so I immediately thought it would be perfect.

I really like the way it turned out. I will admit that it would have looked a little better (a little fuller) with a two inch punch and obviously it would have been more sturdy with glue and not tape. What can I say I had to make it work. Despite these things it still turned out pretty good! It is a really easy project too. This week I'm mostly working on our stockings and maybe some ornaments. Hopefully I'll have something to show soon!

Here's another paper garland that is super cute and would be really easy.