mantra

sue

63 peeps pops later....

Last night I made up 63 Peeps snowman pops.  Each back dipped in chocolate and then crushed candy canes.  Wrapped and tied and ribbons curled.  Labors of love I tell you!

what's your labour today?

sue

Snowman Ka-bobs!

Late this evening...(well, really most of the day) I worked and worked on my Christmas TO DO list.  My list isn't about gifts, it's about things I have to make.  Little things..like cupcakes, and peeps pops and simple bags.  Homemade things because that's what it's all about.  Gifts from the heart, not from the store!

Since Emma has her Daisy Scout troop meeting tomorrow, I wanted to make something special for the girls.  Now, before I lived in Georgia, I lived in Bethlehem, PA... Home of Peeps.  We had a funny little Peep car that drove around town with a giant yellow marshmallow duck on the top.  I was devastated to find that Peeps are not popular here (say that three times fast!) because I like to skewer them and dip them in chocolate to convert them to lollipops.  I was able to find snowman Peeps so they became my unsuspecting ka-bobs!

Now, I'm frugal and Bi-Lo wanted like $2.50 for a little tiny thing of sprinkles (hey it was where I was at and I was toting four kids, so I wasn't going bargain hunting elsewhere!).  So I made my own.  One plastic baggie, four candy canes and a metal spoon.  Voila!  Peppermint sprinkles!

Hello Mr. Peepy Snowman!

Minty and chocolate..yum!

Now I didn't take apic of it, but I wrapped them up in a clear bag and tied them with festive curling ribbon and popped them into a Christmas cookie box that I found (Must have bought them last year on clearance!  Ha!  cool!)

So there you have it.  Instant pops that the kids love.  Very easy.  Just pop them on a stick.  Dip their backs in chocolate and then in crushed peppermint.

It's love on a stick.

Happy Day to you!

Sue

Off to visit Santa....

This was no easy feat.  Four kids.  Dressed to visit Santa on Sunday morning.  Here goes!

Aren't they just darling? 

Sam looks like a waiter!

Jacob is still getting dressed...that's why he's missing.

Ok, so NOW Sam has some Latino stance going on there?

Jacob is looking for serious Brownie points with Santa.

What a shit eating grin!

She's so pretty.

Dear Lord.

You know, secretly he wants to put her in a choke hold...ha ha!

Look at that hair.

bunch of clowns...

Ok, so Emma is posing, Jacob is doing some crazy smile thing, Sam is playing the drums and Madi

is like "can we go now???"

"Umm, where exactly is Santa???"

Jacob is inspecting the blowups.

Sam took a spin on the mo-mo

Uh-oh here he comes!!

Santa Claus!!!

Ok, so Sam did so NOT want to sit on Santa's lap, Madi tried to escape which led to me

and Danny also being in the pic.  Sigh.

Lunch at IHOP.

Madi spent the whole time throwing things OFF the table...crayons, forks, napkins, menu's.

And to think I asked to sit by her!

C YA!

Sue

Homemade gift totes

Oh, now these are fun and so easy.  I saw them on another blog recently done with magazine pages, but since I have like a bazillion pieces of scrapbooking paper laying about, I decided to use that.  Now, the bags are for my kids teachers at Brooklet Elementary (which is the greatest school...EVER!)  So, here's what I did...

Gather 4 pieces of paper. 

I sewed a tree on one piece only.  ( This will be the front panel piece)

Sew two of them together only at the top (wrong sides together)  This is your front panel.  Sew the other two together at the top the same way.  This is your back panel.  Using the two sheets per panel makes it sturdier.

Align them up and sew a zig zag stitch up the other three sides.

Punch holes to place ribbon handles in.

Add a pretty gift tag.

Done!

Here's how mine turned out...

Aren't they cute??? 

Think of how you could personalize this!!!!

this one has a little twist...the sides are accordian folded magazine pages..

Loving this one...pretty colors...

Did I mention I love, love, love polka dots?

Can you guess who this one is for?  Ha!

We love our bus driver!

*******************

Wanna see what's going into the bags?

I know you do

and

I

want

to show you!

Christmas bunting!

I so love bunting!

Especially when it's done in simple fabrics. 

These were super easy.  The panels are a drop cloth

sewn with a zig zag stitch.  I topped it with binding and added cotton

twine on the ends to hang it.   I added little jingle bells to them as well.

I made four different one's and the kids got to choose which one's they wanted to give.

So they are happily wrapped up in tissue paper inside the goodie bags.

All in all, a fun crafting night.

And I checked alot off my to do list!

Hope you are getting stuff done too!

Sue

Linking this up at Tatertots and Jello Holly Blogging Linky Party!

Easy Peanut Brittle

It's that time...time to make some homemade goodies for the holidays...number one item on my goodie list is Microwave Peanut Brittle!
This stuff flies out of my kitchen like hot cakes and it's super easy to make! I'll be packaging it in mason jars and attaching a pretty tag as gifts to friends, teachers, scout-mates...who knows else!

I found the recipe at All-Recipes...

Mix 1/2 cup light corn syrup and 1 cup of sugar in microwave safe bowl.
Microwave on high for 4 minutes.
Add 1 cup of salted peanuts.
Microwave for 3/5 minutes.
Add one teaspoon of vanilla and one teaspoon of baking soda.
(Watch out! It's hot and it foams up)
Pour onto buttered cookie sheet.
Chill and break into pieces.

A sweet treat for the holidays...and easy too!

Happy day to you!

Sue

Linking this up at...

Tatertots and Jello for the Holly Bloggy Christmas Linky Party!

Join us!

Join Gina for a week long party....lots of giveaways and inspiration!

Only 12 days till Christmas Eve!

Sue