.

Be the reason someone smiles today.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

CANDY CANE BEAR HUG ORNAMENT


I thought this was cute and would be a fun project for
kids to make and hang in their rooms or on the Christmas tree...
it's easy to make and is paper so not hard to come up with the
items you need to make it...
have fun!

Tree Ornament: Candy Cane Bear

here is the link to make it easy to find:

Friday, November 29, 2013

CHAINED WREATH ORNAMENT


How cute....how easy...how fun!
...think how many of these you could make in an evening...
they would be cute hanging up anywhere, or tied onto
Christmas gifts or jars or bags of holiday treats....
I think I will make some with a bow made out of
string for a nice little country look....


here is where I found these:

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

GERMAN CHOCOLATE PIE


This is not a 2 or 3 ingredient recipe...
it actually has a lot of ingredients...
but wow does it look good!
...something tells me that it is worth the work to make....
if you love German Chocolate Cake I'm sure will
love this just as much....

German Chocolate Pie

...wish I had a slice of this right now...
you can get the recipe here:

PRINTABLE NATIVITY SET


Here is a cute little paper Nativity set that you can print and put
together....you can either print it in color or blank ones that you
or your kids can color yourself...this would be perfect for your
child to have on his or her dresser...


...you can find the printable here:


Monday, November 25, 2013

TEDDY ORNAMENTS


These are just so cute I can't wait to make some of them...
they look easy to make too so maybe I will make more than one!

...they would be so cute on a tree or gift package or just
hanging up anywhere....I can picture this becoming a special little
toy for a special little child too....they all would love these...

(of course if making for a really young child you would want to go with
safe eyes for these)



...you can find the pattern for these and more cute crochet things here:
http://www.allaboutami.com/post/13968569776/teddyornamentspattern

Sunday, November 24, 2013

CROCHET SNOW SWIRLS


This is a really nice idea...snow swirls to hang on your
Christmas tree....I have to make some of these and I think
it would be fun to add some pretty little beads to them also..
I know they will be quick and easy to make....I used to
crochet swirly little pretties like this for my daughter's hair
when she was a little girl and these are made the same way
as those...

I think they would also be pretty hung under kitchen
cabinets or under bookcase shelves too...how about from a
curtain rod at the top of doorways...lots of ways these would add
a festive snowy look to your Christmas decorating....

...enjoy!


...here is the easy pattern for these...
think how quickly you could make up a dozen of them!

GRAHAM CRACKER BITES


Oh my!  Graham crackers, coconut and marshmallows all mixed
together in one little treat....how can anyone resist that...
these would be great for filling up a pretty gift container with a big
red bow or to serve on a platter at Christmas gatherings.....
I love graham crackers so I would have a hard time stopping
munching on these....

Graham Cracker Bites

I found this great recipe here:

Saturday, November 23, 2013

JAR OF NOTHING


I ask my husband every year what he would like for Christmas 
and his answer is always "nothing, don't worry about buying for me"
...but of course I always come up with ideas for nice gifts to give him
and he loves each one...but I came across this cute gift idea for
the person who says they want nothing for Christmas....and he is
definitely going to get one of these wrapped up under the tree this year....(along
with his other real gifts of course)...but this is just too appropriate to pass up!

...have fun with this one....I am sure a lot of you know someone who
always says they want nothing ...

A Jar of Nothing Gift

I found this at:
you can print the label here.

Friday, November 22, 2013

PHOTO ORNAMENT


This is really a nice idea...
just cut a 5 x 7 photo into strips, attach with brads at the
ends and tie a ribbon to hang....

...it would be fun to have one of these on the tree for
each age as your child is growing up...

...this is from


and you can get the exact directions there for
making this cute project....

How to Make a Homemade Photo Ornament

Thursday, November 21, 2013

SNOWMAN JAR COZY


What a cute and easy little project...
this crocheted jar cozy would make a great decoration in your own
home or a cute gift....especially for someone like a teacher...
you could fill it up with Christmas candy and it would be perfect...
I like crochet projects that you can get done fast while watching TV...


...here is the easy pattern and it uses Red Heart Super Saver
yarn so it's not expensive and easy to find too...

WORLD HELLO DAY


Today is:

World Hello Day

I read on Wikipedia that the meaning of this day is that
you are supposed to make a point of saying 'hello' to at least
10 people throughout the day...

...so I figure by putting this occasion on my blog that I
am saying hello to many more than the suggested 10 people...
hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello..
there we go, now I have celebrated this holiday appropriately!


PRINGLES FRIED CHICKEN


Well we did get our snow...but not as much as they
said we would...we are happy about that...there was just a 
little on the sides of the street when I looked out the window
first thing this morning....unfortunately they are better at
predicting the temps (sometimes) and it's very cold here today....
when I got up this morning it was 12 degrees with a minus 5 windchill...brrrrr....
I shouldn't complain though because I know it's going to get much
worse before we get back to spring...and I do live here by choice...
as I always say....the freezing cold temps are just temporary !

...now...on with this recipe that I wanted to share with all of you...
I found it at

I have breaded chicken with lots of different things and they were
all great...even with crushed potato chips....
but I have never thought of trying crushed Pringles...
I think it would be fun to try it with different flavors since there are
so many to choose from...

pringleschicken

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

ILLUMINATED PAPER TREES


These are cute...you could add them to any Christmas
display and they would look really nice....
there's also a blank one that you can design yourself
or let your kids color them....
cute idea....

Illuminated Paper Trees 8

I found these here....
she has patterns for several designs of them...

CHOCOLATE GRAHAM CRACKER PEPPERMINT BARK


Here it is bright and early in the morning...
couldn't sleep much last night so I'm up early...
today is supposed to be colder with wind and up to
two inches of snow for us....'blustery' they are saying.....
hoping the forecasters are wrong again....
the later in the fall that we get snow the shorter the winter so
that's what we are hoping for....

...this is a real Christmassy kind of recipe...chocolate and peppermint with
graham crackers added to make it even better!


.....recipe is here:

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

CHRISTMAS


Hello world!
....hope you all are having a nice 'hot cocoa' kind of morning
and will have a great day....


....the temp here in North Dakota this morning is
34 degrees with a predicted high for today at 45 degrees...
and a 50 % chance of snow for tomorrow....

....of course all of this really got me thinking about Christmas and
decided that I am going to go ahead and start posting some great
Christmas things that I want to share with all of you...
it seems a bit early since we haven't had Thanksgiving yet
but if you all are like us this is the time to start decorating and I
know it takes time to make these little crafts and printables so I
thought starting early would give you all time if you want to use them....

I think I have mentioned here on my blog that I love Christmas!
....always have and always will...
I think it brings out the absolutely best in people and it's just a
whole different feeling compared to the rest of the year....
kind of that 'warm and fuzzy' feeling that you hear so much about...
...there is nothing about Christmas that I don't love...
the decorating, baking, shopping, gift wrapping, church, Christmas movies on Tv...
I could go on and on....
...but most of all I believe in the true meaning of Christmas!

BE THANKFUL UTENSIL HOLDERS


I still have a few Thanksgiving things to share yet too...
this is one of them...
...another thing I love to do is dress up the Thanksgiving dinner table with
cute little things....
....these utensil holders are so nice, I have designed my own lots of times...
now you can get so many of them here on the internet...
I thought these were so nice and colorful...

I came across them at
...and you can go there to find the printable for these...
they have some other really nice things too...
enjoy!

Monday, November 18, 2013

NAIL POLISH BOTTLE VASES


This would make a cute gift to put in someone's
Christmas stocking...or how about for a Secret Santa gift
at work....

....these cute little flower vases would be nice to give for any occasion...


...instructions are here:

Saturday, November 16, 2013

PLASTIC BOTTLE STORAGE


I love little craft projects that don't cost bunches of
money to make...this is such a simple and easy idea
for extra storage in the bathroom, or any room...I might
make a few of these to have here alongside of my desk....

....this is made from the bottom of an empty plastic
bottle, a little scrapbook paper if you want to pretty it
up and one of those outlet plugs that most of us who ever
had babies in our house most likely still have on hand in the
'this and that' drawer in our kitchens....

....that's all it takes to make this cute little thing....
...have fun!


...here are the instructions...

Friday, November 15, 2013

PILGRIM CANDY BAR WRAPPER


Now Thanksgiving printables just can't get any
cuter than these....I love them!

....and even better yet the printable is free...
simply print, cut out, wrap around a Hershey bar and add a little bow...
wouldn't they look great on each plate at the
Thanksgiving dinner table....


.....click here for the printable...

PISTACHIO FUDGE




Wow! This is about the prettiest fudge I have ever seen...
how great this would look alongside of other goodies on
a Thanksgiving or Christmas treats table...

....I look at this and I can just about taste Pistachio Salad
in fudge form....it has to be delicious!


...here is the recipe for this beautiful fudge...

Thursday, November 14, 2013

FRESH APPLE CAKE


Doesn't this look good...
and you can't get an easier recipe than 3 simple ingredients...
love these great recipes that are so quick to make...



...all you need for this one is fruit, cake mix (I will try sugar free) and one stick of butter....
can't wait to try this one....
...here is the recipe...


HIDDEN OBJECT COLORING PAGES


Here are more hidden object pictures...
I really like the idea that after you find all of the
objects you can also color the picture...
I have fun with these myself...

Picture Puzzle Worksheets

...there are lots of great pictures to print here...
....have fun!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

THANKSGIVING FORTUNE COOKIES


These are so cute...
another fun thing to have on the Thanksgiving dinner table...
love these!

Kind Over Matter Printable Fortune Cookies

...you can get the printables at this link...

CINNAMON ROLL BREAKFAST CAKE


I think this would be great for breakfast on
Christmas morning...

...or how about for breakfast on 
Thanksgiving morning to hold you over until
the big dinner....

....sounds great for both...

cinnamon+cake

...here is the recipe....enjoy!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

BUBBLE UP BREAKFAST BAKE


This recipe is great...the only work to it is frying the
sausage...everything else goes together so quick and then
you just toss it in the oven and in 30 minutes you have a delicious
breakfast (dinner for us)!

....the cheese and eggs just fluff up and bubble up so nicely
together...it's very pretty to look at too...

...it would also be good with ham or bacon instead of the
sausage...



...we didn't even add anything along with it and it was a 
filling meal by itself...you could probably have a side of
hash browns or something though...

...here is where I got this recipe....
she has great step by step pictures in her directions too...

FOOD FLAGS


Does anyone remember the confusion on the weekly Beverly Hillbillies show when they first discovered the pool table and thought it was a dining table?  They thought the pool cues were 'pot passers', meaning that they could pass food to people with them....I remember my family having a good laugh over that back when I was a kid...
 
          Well, this introduction is all about my

 'Food Flags'

I was thinking it would be fun to make and share something that people could have fun with at the dinner                                                                                   table...

...you could print a set of these and place them in a glass or a vase alongside of each place setting, or you could just put them at each end of the table for all to share...
 
....remember also when you were a kid and you wanted to say 'please pass the potatoes'and it seemed like someone one was always talking, so you didn't feel you should say anything and interrupt since we were all taught not to do that....well...
 
enter Food Flags !!
 
just grab the appropriate flag for what you want and wave it in the air and you won't have to say anything...someone will just pass the bowl to you !
 
..of course this is all in fun...not to keep kids or anyone else from talking at the table...but wouldn't this be a fun way to get all guests to relax and have fun while dinner is going on....I guarantee these Food Flags will bring on some good laughs...
 
 ...have fun with these !


....the printable links are below,
just print, cut out and glue or tape a popsicle stick
to the back, put in jar and add to your dinner table...that's it!


Sunday, November 10, 2013

PRINTABLE THANKSGIVING TURKEY


Love this cute printable turkey....
you can choose which feathers you want to use or you 
can color your own...


....you can get the printable here...

CHRISTMAS BOWLING CANS


Here I am back again...typing is a bit difficult so I might
have to keep these post comments short for a while, but I
have some fun items to share for Thanksgiving too and wanted
to get back on here to do that before it gets here...

...but first of all I have to share this cute Christmas bowling
game too...it is made up of empty tin cans...I think kids will have
so much fun with this...

Christmas bowling cans (8)

...instructions here:

PLASTIC CANVAS FACE MASK CLIPS

PLASTIC CANVAS FACE MASK CLIPS I have been sitting back wondering how I could help with this pandemic... I wanted to do...