(source)One of my favorite traditions as a child was Christmas breakfast. It was the one day of the year when we got to drink Grandma Ruth's hot chocolate or "French Chocolate" as we called it. There's absolutely nothing French about it....but I can promise you that it is absolutely delicious.We always had an egg casserole (an egg strata), cinnamon rolls and as much of this hot chocolate as we could drink; stirring it with candy canes and always leaving the table with ginormous chocolate ... View the Post
$5 Christmas—Super Simple Scarves
Evening was upon us and there I was sitting on the floor working on a project that can't be shown (because it is for someone who I know checks in on me here at the blog) and listening to Simon read when I realized: I DIDN'T TAKE ANY PHOTOS FOR THIS POST!!!! So I grabbed the pile of unfinished scarves and headed for the front yard where the sun was setting and I used the last moments of light to snap this photo. And what a photo it is....half a dozen unfinished scarves hanging out in my frozen ... View the Post
A Cabo Christmas
I originally posted this on my family blog two years ago...and recently came across it. It is exactly what I needed to read today.As the weather turns cold and the Christmas preparations begin, I have been thinking back to one that wasn't like any other Christmas I had ever known. It was one that was hot, very hot, windy, dusty and wonderful.I was into the second Christmas of my mission and on a tiny African island in the middle of the sea where the people I served had little to any material ... View the Post
$5 Christmas—An Infinity Scarf
While perusing the local dollar store a couple of weeks ago {please tell me that I am not the only one}, I saw a stack of sweatpants sitting in a bottom bin. And the fabric hoarder voice in me said, "hmmm.....that's a lot of fabric for a dollar." And so I bought a pair of size XXL purple fleece sweatpants and threw them in my "to be sewn pile." Well, then one afternoon, I pulled them out and saw that the inside was a soft fleece and a very pretty purple color and decided to do something with ... View the Post
$5 Christmas—Button Garlands
I've always loved buttons. (Even when I was a kid I'd hide them away in little stashes.) So when Elizabeth and I started talking about all the different Christmas items we could make for less that $5 I knew I'd have to do something with buttons. Here's what I came up with: I kind of love it. I took a bag of white and clear buttons that I had laying around downstairs in a ziplock bag, strung them on some white thread and hung them on my Christmas tree for trim. It was easy and free. (You ... View the Post
$5 Christmas—Felt Bow Jewelry
Hannie wanted to make some gifts for her friends and we needed some gifts for some tween and teen cousins, so we sat down one afternoon and made a couple of presents. Felt bow rings for Hannie's friends and a necklace and ring set for the cousins. I ordered all the supplies off etsy or ebay and they are super reasonable.....and if you don't want to put felt bows on them....you could do anything you want on the front of them. We got 20 ring backs for about $5 (they are even cheaper in larger ... View the Post