Happy-happy-happy....

thanksgiving~

My Nativity~

This nativity set is the one from my childhood. I love it~ My parents never had a creche for the set....This set is very large, and it seemed that every creche we came across was always to small.
I now have two creches... I found one at Walmart, and this one, which I like even better. This one I got at a second hand store for $4 bucks. It even has a little nail that is perfect for hanging the Angel on the back wall.

There is textured stone on the back wall and a few stones on the ground along with moss & something that looks like dirt. Its very detailed and goes well with the set. Here is a close up of the little angel that hangs above the baby Jesus~ she is extra happy these days.

(She was never used when I was younger...always put back into a box because of the lack of a creche)

Here is close up of the baby Jesus...sweet, sweet, sweet~ This set was given to my brother first... he didn't appreciate it. He had it in a box out under his carport. My mother took it from him and gave it to me.

You can never say your not loved... because you have the love of God... always~

Trash to Treasure

Tuesday....

Here are two matching hand painted pictures I picked up this past week at a local thrift store for only $7.50 each. Are they not fabulous? The photo doesn't do it justice, the flash washed some of the color out of the painting--- these are cute, I'm talking super cute!I was needing two larger pictures to go on either side of my $10 dollar antique hutch that I picked up long ago. The two paintings fit perfectly with my shabby chic style! I shop at thrift stores (I call them boutiques lol) allllll the time and I have a house full of treasures that others have discarded as "junk"....hooray for me! Diane over at A picture is worth a 1,000 words is hosting this Trash to Treasure Tuesday~

Button Floozie~

Buttons-buttons- buttons...I just love buttons! I even have a tiny turtle named Button~

Anywho...

Here is a button tree I've recently made to go up on my fireplace mantel. The metal base is something I picked up for .45cents from a thrift store :-) I am wanting to make a total of 3 button trees-- all the same color of button of course...I just love matchy-matchy. That means more sorting! I started to pin each button onto the felt covered styrofoam cone and thought better of it after I realized I could go much faster with my glue gun. I sooooooooo need a holster for that bad boy! lol After thanksgiving, I'll tackle making the other two :-)

Yummy!

I was trying out a new recipe for this upcoming thanksgiving.... Cheese & garlic biscuits! Soooooooo good, I thought I'd share it with the everyone! Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits
2 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix

¾ cup cold whole milk

4 tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese

Brush on Top:

2 tablespoons butter melted

¼ teaspoon dried parsley flakes

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.2. Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. You don't want to mix too thoroughly. There should be small chunks of butter in there that are about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.3. Drop approximately ¼-cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop.4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.5. When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter is a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in ½ teaspoon garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter.

Makes one dozen biscuits.

Angela over at Cottage Magpie has more thanksgiving recipes to share, check it out~

Paper party!

Jen over at Sanctuary Arts at Home is hosting a "I made it with scrapbook paper party." How fun is that?

Here are some things I've recently made using scrapbook paper.

Firstly, my Christmas cards.Now, these are not your typical cards--- I've used 3 scrapbook paper sheets per "card" which I've glued together and folded to create a photo album of sorts. (photos are of my grandson, I'm a proud Nana! lol)Each one holds 10 photos-- next year I'm going to put some on the backside as well. (second grandchild is a'coming!) Instead of using actual photos, I photocopied the photos so everything folds nicely and is less bulky~ I used foam core which I covered with wrapping paper as the front and back covers. I'll just tuck in my Christmas card under the bow and taaaaaaaaa-daaaaaaaaa cute as a button!Paper pinwheels-- These were created with the leftovers from the papers I used to make my Christmas photo albums.

Lastly... A paper covered tray--I picked up this small "table top" for .95cents from a local thrift store... at one time I had it painted white and on top of a stool as a impromtu table. Now its pink with a paper glued onto the center of it... edges sanded of course *love that shabby chic look* I have this next to me on my sectional sofa to use as a table to hold things so nothing slips between the couch cushions lol. It is small, only 14 1/2 inches across-- perfect for the t.v. remote control & a soda! lol

Treasures!

Since I had my grandson this past weekend, I didn't get to go out & about and visit as many yard sales & thrift stores as I would have liked this past weekend. I did go to a few yard sales with him.... and it was a chore! Anywho, my hubby was home today so he chauffeured me (and my grandson, I had him today for a few hours as well!) to two thrift stores. I come across some major cute stuff, you just have no idea!

I spotted this silver 4 tiered number from a distance and squealed with delight all the while thinking it was going to be big-bucks. Hmmmmm $24.95.... eek. (I am so cheap lol) My husband said, "Ah, your worth it.... lets just say Happy Christmas" I chuckled and said, "Sweetie, this isn't Happy Christmas, this is just plain ol' happy Monday." I had visions of this holding ooodles of crafting stuff, my husband had/has visions of this holding candy LOL. Soooooo I hummed/hawed and looked over at the check out girl...hmmmmm I can surely get a discount from her lol. I took up the rest of my loot, did what I like to call my "razzle-dazzle" (seriously, I've got this down to a science) and got it for $20 bucks lol I could have gotten it cheaper, probably around $15, but hey, the money is for veterans and I don't want to take from them--- to much lol

The wicker two tiered number-- $2 bucks (has a tag on it from an antique store reading "Swedish Srensk B. Soljd" serving tray $25) The gold metal house--$1 buck (soon to be pink & glittery)

I got a lot of flowers & Christmas trees for $2 bucks

A lot of other things as well, all put away and forgotten already lol

Lastly, another photo of something that made me squeal~

A mouse outside my house--

in my bird feeder that I made awhile back. Look at how chubby he/she is! I think its getting fat off of the sunflower seeds! The photo is not that clear because I shot it through the sheer curtain & screen door... its cute, but... you know... eeeeeeeek!!

Mixed Media Monday~

This weeks theme is: Ornamental Christmas. I've made 6 of these cones~ They were made using discolored pages from a 1920's newspaper. (don't you just love the color?) I cut the cone shape from a heavy cardstock and glued the newspaper on the inside as well as the outside. I didn't have to do the inside, but it was so white-- it just screamed "cover me!" Once they were dry, I shaped each one into a cone, you should always do this before glueing, just so you know it is going to work! I then used my hot glue and attached it quickly to hold the shape :-) *hugging glue-gun* I lovvvvvvvvve my glue gun! I then added vintage gold tinsel garland around the top and stuffed it with odds & ends. Nothing is glued in place, just stuffed-- just like the holidays! I also added a metal hole thingy on each side, what do you call those? Anywho, I just punched them into place and added a ribbon hanger. Soooooooooo easy-peasy! I'm going to hang these in my living room for some added Christmas decor~

Here is a neat "cone holder" that I picked up for $2 bucks at a thrift store--- it makes it so easy to stuff a cone with this little cutie holding it~

Front door~

Here is a little something that I whipped up for my front door for this winter/holiday season... I had seen something similar in a magazine and thought "I can make that!"I used a pair of small ice skates (originally black) I picked up for$5 bucks (which I painted pink) I added some textured paint to the blades for the appearance of snow then while still wet I sprinkled on some diamond glitter (Michaels $5 bucks) The snowballs were made using styrofoam balls (a box full for free!) and some joint compound which I had on hand in the garage. I poked a wooden skewer into each ball to use as a handle while I covered each ball with the joint compound-- this also made it easier to let each styrofoam ball dry completely because you can insert them into cups/vases etc to let them dry. After the snowballs were dry I put some glitter randomly onto each ball. I picked up this huge baby blue syrup bucket for $1 buck this past Saturday at a yard sale :-) The greenery was a wreath I had that I just smooshed together into a greenery blob. I then just stuffed it into the bucket, tied on the skates.... poked the skewers into the greenery...and added two white glittered bows. Taaaaaaa daaaaaaaaaa instant cute!Just a girl is hosting a craft party, be sure to go over and check it out! Also, The Inspired Room is hosting a "Holiday Linky Love" event... check it out as well!!

Theme Thursday~

This weeks theme is birds~

I created a nest for a glittered silver bird which I gave baby blue rhinestone eyes to.... the nest was created using two pages from a diary written with blue ink-dated in the 1900's. The egg itself is an ostrich egg that I got at an estate sale for .10cents. (photo at the bottom shows what it looked like before) It was cracked, so I just broke off the top bit and worked with the bottom part of the shell~

The shell was painted white (to hide the previous decoupage) and then completely covered with glitter inside & out! I created the party hat added a baby blue feather and taaaaaaa~daaaaaaa "instant cute"

(before photo) You can see more Theme Thursday art here.

Veterans day~

Big shout out to the veterans *woot-woot*~

Pinwheels~

I had a lot of scaps of paper left over from the Christmas cards I'm making sooooo....I've been mindlessly folding these paper pinwheels while making small talk with my 18 month grandson while he played. You can't really do to much with a quick little boy darting around you lol. While he napped I hot glued them together to make pinwheels. I used a button as the center on the front side of each~ Now...what to do with them all? lol I especially like the pinwheels made out of sheet music :-) I clipped the edges to give them a more vintage look~

Button wreath~

Nothing like a button wreath to get you in the mood for the upcoming holiday season!I used a styrofoam wreath form which I covered in white felt and then some cheese cloth to give it a little more body. I hot glued all those buttons on one at a time....overlapping them to cover any signs of fabric. It took me five hours and 6 long glue sticks. I still have two jars left of that color of button :-P *girls got the buttons!!* I've got the wreath hanging from the knobs of an old handmade hutch that I picked up for a whopping $10 bucks from one of our local thrift stores-- the milk glass is also from various thrift stores & yard sales :-)

Mixed Media Monday~

This weeks theme is: Autumn colors~My yard is full of leaves this time of the year.... so its only fitting that I showcase some of the fall fairies that love to toss leaves all about. These little cherubs are going to be part of my Thanksgiving decor~ I've created an assembleged piece... nothing like sticking stuff together to make this chick happy :-P These fairies are two sided and are housed in a glass jar with a silver lid that is adorned with vintage pearl necklaces, velvet leaves, fall leaves and bits of old chain & odds and ends of jewelry~I am trying to do more "user friendly" art so I can display it around my house instead of shoving it all in boxes lol--
You can find more Mixed media pieces here~