On the 8th Day of Christmas...

Joining Caitlin for the 8th day of the 12 Days of Christmas.

All I Want For Christmas is...

Here's a few things on my list:

1. Twilight blu-ray (yes I'm a Twilight fan!)

2. Twilight-Eclipse blu-ray

3. A new cell phone - mine keeps freezing and the trackball rolls right only 20% of the time.

4. Shoes that keep my feet warm in the winter, that look cute (especially with being short & not stick thin) and won't set me back $100+.  Unfortunately, I haven't found these shoes! 


5.  Books/classes on how to sew (I did have a machine on my list but Brett's grandpa gave us theirs that wasn't being used!)


6.  A Silhouette cutting machine

It hooks up to your computer so (no cartridges) you can use any font or image, prints vinyl & cardstock (among others) and can even stencil images on paper.  How cool is that?

Like Caitlin posted, these are the items that are really at the top of my list, but are not practical at the moment or at all.
1. A house!!!  I've about had it with <900 square feet!  (Not practical since we have to leave Louisville for 6 months-1 year next summer.


2. A car!  Mine is turning into a money pit with all the repairs it needs.


3. To have all the answers.  What career does the Lord have for me (besides a mommy, if that's even in His will & not just mine), when will we have a baby, why doesn't every one know the Lord, why do people get cancer?


Brad Paisley tickets were on my list, but Hubby bought them for us!  I am so excited!!  He's my favorite country artist, but I've never been to see him!  

On the 7th Day of Christmas...

Linking up with Caitlin today.  I do love todays topic.  Christmas movies & music!!!  

Every year after Thanksgiving I go on a Christmas movie frenzy.  I watch all the ones I have that have anything Christmas in them.   I load up my Netflix queue with Christmas movies.  It makes me a happy girl watching all of them!  Still have more to go!  I wish we had cable so I could partake in the 25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family.  But then again, I don't have time to watch a movie every day.

This year I started listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  I used to wait til the day after Thanksgiving, but I just can't anymore!!  It puts me in such a good mood!  I did only listen to it at work on my ipod, so it wan't too bad.  Plus most of my Christmas songs are by Christian artists.  So it's not 'Rockin Around the Christmas Tree' five different ways.  

Here are my top 5 Christmas Movies and top 3 Christmas Albums.

5. A Christmas Story

A Classic.  "You'll shoot your eye out", the leg lamp, the frozen pole and the list goes on!

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

How can you not enjoy Clark Griswold?  I think everyone has a family member like someone in this movie.

3. It's A Wonderful Life

A classic with a great lesson

2. Elf

Will Ferrel thinking he's an elf, in a non-inappropriate movie?  Yes please!

1. The Polar Express

A wonderful book made into a magical movie!  Makes me feel like a kid on Christmas again.

So I googled top Christmas movies.  At moviefone, they had DieHard and Gremlins in their list over Polar Express.  WHAT?  There's nothing Christmas about Die Hard except that it all goes down at a Christmas party.

I can't pick just songs, I love every Christmas song I hear!  And with different artists, its like its a new song.  So here are my fave albums this year.

3. NSync - Home For Christmas
I'm not afraid to admit I was huge NSync fan in my day (not as crazy as some though) and that I still enjoy their Christmas CD!

2. Barlow Girl - Home For Christmas
Their voices are so beautiful singing those wonderful Christmas tunes.  My favorite song: Hallelujah (Light Has Come)

1. Casting Crowns - Peace On Earth

God Is With Us is amazing! 

I haven't watched too many black and white movies (except It's A Wonderful Life of course) but I'm watching Holiday Inn right now.  It has Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire in it.  I highly recommend it!  

Have a blessed day!

On the 6th Day of Christmas....

Linking up with Caitlin again for some Christmas DIY crafts.

I really should title this one the "What Was I Thinking" Craft.  Because I asked myself that several times!!!

Over at eighteen25 I really liked the glitter trees they blogged about.  So I got some supplies and got to work Saturday while hubby worked on school projects & studying all day.

My supplies:
2 styrofoam cones
2 colors of glitter
spray adhesive
2 Dollar Tree candlesticks
hot glue gun


1. Spray the top section of your first cone with the spray adhesive.  Cover with glitter.  (I recommend using two pans, one for each cone and using one sheet of aluminum foil to cover the bottom when you spray and one for the glitter.  So 2 pans, 4 pieces of aluminum foil)

2.  Let that section dry about 10-15 minutes.  Spray that section again and cover with more glitter to get every spot.  Let dry for a about 5-10 minutes.  

3.  Work on the second half of the cone, again in layers.  Let the cone dry for about 15-30 minutes.  Lightly spray the entire cone with spray adhesive so that the glitter will stay on.  Next, spray and glitter the bottom.  (Tip: When I started on the 2nd half, I inserted 2 toothpicks in the bottom so I could hold the cone and not mess anything up.  You can leave them on while you spray the bottom, the bottom doesn't have to be perfect.

4.  After several hours (or overnight) glue the finished cone to the candlestick.  The girls at eighteen25 spray painted their candlesticks white.  I wanted to (and tried with another one) but it's definitely too cold here!  I still love it with the clear candlestick.  You can use hot glue or a glue for glass (like E6000) but make sure that it stays level, both glues eat away at styrofoam.  

Voila!

(Yes, the green one is leaning, too much hot glue I guess.  Oh well!)

Now I know the whole process sounds really easy.  And it pretty much is, but it is SO messy! I have glitter all over the floor (still after vacuuming & mopping).  It's all over the place and I even spent a long time cleaning.  You'll spend more time de-glittering your home than actually glittering.  If you can, do this project in a garage or outside.

Then again it could be my OCD/neat freak tendencies coming out.

And I didn't have pictures of the process because my camera is one item I wanted to stay glitter free!  Come back on day 10 to see the trees with the rest of my Christmas decor!

Also, I made several other small Christmas crafts on Saturday so come back after the 12 Days of Christmas link up to see them all!

Glitter Tree Cost:

Large cone: $2.40 @ JoAnn's (originally $3.99, used a 40% coupon)

Small cone: $1 @ Dollar Tree

Red & Green glitter: $2.39 each @ JoAnn's (originally $2.99 each, had a 20% off purchase coupon)

Spray adhesive: $5.99 @ JoAnn's (originally $11.99, 50% off coupon)

2 Candlesticks from Dollar Tree: $2

Total: $13.78 and I still have a lot of glitter and spray adhesive!

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

Linking up with Caitlin for some Holiday Recipes!

I love cooking and I love spending time with friends and family.  So when the holidays come it makes me really happy to mix the two!  If I had the time I would post all of my favorite holiday recipes (most are desserts), but I don't think my fingers could handle that!  So here's two.


Spinach & Artichoke Dip
2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (divided)
1/4 tsp black peppper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
2 blocks (16 oz total) cream cheese
1/2 of a 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry


Preheat oven to 350*.


Mix 2 T parmesan in with spinach.
In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 T parmesan, pepper, garlic, artichokes, cream cheese, and spinach.
Stir until well blended.  
Put mixture in 1 1/2-2 qt baking dish.
Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella (1/2 c) and Parmesan (2 T).
Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown.  
Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips or whatever you desire!!




Chess Cake
Preheat oven to 350*.
Mix together the following ingredients with a fork and then knead with your hands for 2 minutes:
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 stick melted margarine
1 egg
Once mixed, spread into an ungreased 9x13 pan.


In another bowl mix:
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
2 eggs
3 3/4 c powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
Blend by hand ingredients until moistened.  Then cream by mixers til smooth (about 2-3 minutes). Pour over cake mixture.
Bake 35 minutes til golden brown on top.  Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar while still hot.


Yum Yum!