It's after 1 in the morning and I'm taking a break from my painting to write my post for the day.(And to eat some cookies while watching an episode of Oddities. Does anyone else watch that show or am I the only creepy person out there? Wait, don't answer that question.)I love Christmas and I love painting but whatever isn't finished by 5:00 tomorrow just isn't going to get done. That is my cut off and from then on it's baking and wrapping and playing with the kids and NO MORE CRAFTING OR ... View the Post
Grandma Ruth’s French Chocolate
(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