Candy Cane Cats~

For the past 20 years or so I've been making candy cane mice to pass out at Christmas time... this year I came across a pattern for candy cane cats. Of course I had to give them a try.... very cute indeed! I glued on the wiggley eyes, a felt triangle nose, the red ribbon/bow and the bell. The mouth and wiskers I used two strands of embroidery floss and just winged it as I went along.Here is the pattern I used if your wanting to give it a try. The two slits are for feeding the ears through which will hold the end of the candy cane. Don't cut them to big-- smaller/tighter is better (in my opinion)I used a sticky backed mailing label which I printed "Merry Christmas" on to help hold the candy cane in place so the cats tail wouldn't move. Super easy-peasy project~

Mixed Media Monday~

This weeks theme is: Hanging out... Here is Pete hanging out on the Christmas tree~I've used an old-old box that I picked up for .45cents as the base for my piece. The "snowballs" that were packaged inside the box were just small styrofoam balls-- funny huh? I carefully opened up the flimsy box at the seam and reinforced the whole box with some thin chipboard then I reglued it back together. In keeping with the snowball theme of the box I used a little larger styrofoam balls then what came in the box originally and covered them with textured paint and glitter. I used my favorite little cutie-pie whom I named "Pete" to "hang-out"--- literally! What a face that little cherub has huh?
You can view more art pieces by checking out the weekly challenge site for mixed media art here---> Mixed Media Blog. If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more you can click on this link right ---> here.

Thrifted treasures~

Slim pickings these days... I picked up this stack of vintage fabric for $2 Included in the bag were large pieces of leather in different colors. Who knows what I'll do with those, but I'm sure something will pop into my head one day. (there was a lot more fabric, but this is all I'm keeping) The three pumpkins were $1 each. The tall thingie thats painted white (its brass) was $1. The small silver thingie was $1.50. I've already got that in my bathroom holding some perfume. This fabulous little jewelry box for only $1.20 cents. Who prices these things? Caute huh? The outside is dirty but the inside is clean/brand new. It has green felt with a removeable tray for larger items on the bottom. The mirror still has the tape across it from when it was shipped. I am soooooooo going to paint this white and distress it~Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh and I got boxes & boxes of craft books, recipe books, paper craft books & magazines, scrapbook & card-making magazines & books, crochet books & magazines, knitting books etc-etc-etc... all for $20. Here is a photo of just some of them~She started off at $50 bucks-- gasp. Then I played the pitty card. Whoa is me-- to much for my budget--- so close to Christmas. I tell ya' I was in rare form! I'm thinking had I continued she would have given them to me for free. I've been neglecting my blog to read through them allllllllllllllllllllll~ I don't have much more to go through, I've got a several small stacks I'm going to keep, the rest is going up for sale on craigslist!

Christmas Cards~

Busy, busy, busy... Here are this years Christmas card photos that I whipped up to be shipped out along with my Christmas cards. Next year I'm going to be doing something easier as this takes forever to finish.

Here is the outside....Lets untie the bow and peek inside shall we?

Here is the inside....a close-up of Chloe with Santa...Flip the photo of Chloe and Santa up to reveal another shot of Chloe and Santa crying~ The caption reads, "What?" "Your out of CANDY CANES?"Here is the backside of the card with even more photos.Here it is all tied up again and ready to be mailed.I've got a few more that I'm needing to make and then I've just got to wrap them up and ship them out. I'm shooting for tomorrow... wish me luck!

Showin' and a tellin'~

Well, I didn't get toooooooo far on my Christmas decorating this year. I always have these huge plans..... and well.... I get busy. I did manage to put up the tree and hang the stockings I recently made, so I'm thinking this will have to do. Next year, seriously, I'm starting earlier. Soooooooooo here is my tree, it is white although it looks pink in the photos. Glittered balls, butterflys, stars, hearts, birds-- you name it, its on there. My husband asked me if I had enough tree to hold all of what I wanted to put on it. The answer? "No" I need more tree!The Christmas stockings I made~The fireplace mantel with white netting & lights and various flowers placed randomly here and there~Our magic elf that moves around the house when no one is paying attention. This elf has been in our family since our daughters first Christmas 24 years ago.I think the elf is feeding our cat Charlie on the sly as the two have a special bond. The hutch beside our kitchen table, nothing fancy-- greenery, lights and pinecone ornaments.The little mirror & shelf behind our table with pine boughs and glittered balls & red pinecones~No more room on the tree for any more glittered balls, so I've had to resort to placing them in containers.....more containers of balls, I made the tiny stockings using the scraps of fabric from the large Christmas stockings I made. I've got them stuffed with candy....Ohhhhhhhhhhhh and Santa's hat. He always leaves a spare at our house incase his gets lost while he is flying around droping off presents 'cause we're tight like that.The nativity set that was my parents when I was a child.Look at the beauty of this... amazing huh?A seashell wreath I made recently~My front door-- I made this last year~I had to resort to stacking some of the bazillion presents on the back of our sectional couch in our grandkids playroom as there is no room anywhere in our house for this huge mess of presents,presents, presents,and more presents... and even more that are needing to be wrapped. I'm getting tired of wrapping presents... I'm thinking of putting all the rest into gift bags!

You can see more Show & Tells over at Cindy's blog "My Romantic Home" Denise over at "Bella Dreams" is hosting her first blog party with the theme of everyone showing off their Christmas decorations and or craft ideas. The Nester is having a Christmas open house linky party as well. Lastly, "Hooked on Houses" is hosting a Christmas party as well. Go check out the linky fun~ If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more, just click right here!

Cookie exchange!!!

There is a cookie exchange party being hosted by Scrappy Jessi... if your wanting/needing some new cookie recipes go check out everyones recipes that they are sharing. I am reposting a FABULOUS recipe that I am over the moon for. Here is a wonderful sugar cookie recipe. It is absolutely fabulous, no lie. When you make these cookies you also need to make a bowl of air popped pop corn-- (for YOU to eat) and invite your super-skinny friends over because these suckers are loaded with calories! The cookies plus the frosting take a total of 5 sticks of butter!

Sugar cookies~

3 cups powdered sugar

2 cups butter or margarine, softened (thats 4 sticks!)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 eggs

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1. In a large bowl, beat together the 3 cups powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, 1 teaspoon almond extract and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
2. Heat oven to 375°F. Divide dough into fourths. On lightly floured surface, roll each half 1/8 inch thick. I always add more flour to the dough as it is super sticky. I would say I add about 1/2 a cup to each dough (fourth....) so it doesn't stick to the rolling pin/cookie cutter and plastic cutting mat. Then cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. I put 8 on each cookie sheet~
3. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Did you know that a dark cookie sheet cooks things faster and darker? Anywho, once cooked, cool completely, about 30 minutes. Then frost away! Here is a wonderful frosting recipe that sets up nicely so you can stack the cookies...and it stays semi-soft.
Frosting:
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
food coloring of your choice & sprinkles if you desire~

Puttering~

I've been puttering.... I changed this to look like this~

This...now looks like this~ These bird cages..... look so much better all matchy-matchy~ This little gold/plastic frame...looks soooooooooo much cuter painted white~I'm off to go play with some fabric scraps... I'm still in putter mode. Wait one second... December the 1rst already? What the heck??.... when did that happen??? nuts~