Merry Christmas Eve! (Last minute Ideas)

It's snowing! IT'S SNOWING!

Not in Greenville, but in Ohio where I am right now with family. I can smell the delicious dishes being prepared in the kitchen while Gram's big dog snores in front of me comfortably on the carpet. I'm still rocking pjs and slippers. In short, it's the perfect way to start Christmas Eve day. But I realized there are so many projects I'd been working on that never got posted in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. If you're looking for a few last minute details, one of these ideas might be just the trick. Most take very little time and use things that are probably around your house anyway.

1. Christmas Cookies



Here's a few of my favorite recipes:
Molasses Spice Cookies
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2. Handmade Ornaments



Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments (I used the extras of these to make a garland)
Salt Dough Ornaments (these would be cute as gift tags too)

3. Felt Table Runner



You will Need:
Felt long enough to hang over the edge of your table and about 12" wide
Puffy paint
Ribbon
glitter (optional)

Tie the ends of the felt on each side of the table and use your puffy to draw on details like snowflakes. I accidentally got glitter all over it since I used glitter ribbon and ended up liking it better. Also, since I used remnants my felt wasn't quite long enough to hang over the edges so I sewed an extra 18" on either end. That means there's a seam at the edge of the table which at first I didn't like but that's grown on me as well. Basically, it's impossible to mess this up.

Whatever you've made, or not made, bought or not bought, eaten or not eaten, I hope it's all part of the magic that make your Christmas a happy and bright one filled with love and happiness :) More important than any of it is enjoying the time with family and friends. I'm off to go help Gram make corn flake cookies!

Sheila

Simple Glass Ornaments

WHAT. HAPPENED. TO. DECEMBER. 

Seriously, how is it already the 11th? I feel like Thanksgiving tricked me this year by being so late. Oops. If you're like me and feeling desperately behind, I have an easy project suggestion that would be great as a stocking stuffer or simple, elegant gift.



It's pretty simple, especially if you're comfortable with free-handed drawing. All it takes is plain glass ornaments, puffy paint, ribbons, candy and a dry erase marker if you want to sketch out your drawings before using the puffy paint.

 We wanted each one to be unique so we used about 16 different Christmas images: star, a strand of lights, a fire place, stockings, Santa hat, silver bells, candy cane, gingerbread man, ornaments, Christmas tree,  wreath, snow man, snowflakes, holly, and then a few logos of the organizations receiving gifts.

After the paint dried overnight, we filled them with M&Ms and put a ribbon on top to finish them. We then realized the candy made them VERY heavy and also easier to break. Instead, we used the candy as a layer of protection around the ornaments when we put them in the gift bags. Functional and tasty, 2 things I love. 

The dry erase marker is particularly helpful for detailed projects, like this Pensacola Beach sign. If you use the dry erase maker then just use a dry paint brush to wipe off any extra after the paint dries. It's kind of fun to do. I would find myself using the marker even when I didn't need an outline just because I enjoyed brushing it off later... Is that weird? Don't judge me.

Pretty simple, but fun to make and seemed to be very well received by the people they were given to (it was actually a work project, I wish I had this many gifts finished for friends!).

So you have any handmade ornaments on your tree? Have you spent a lot of time mastering the beast that is puffy paint? I'd love to know!

Sheila

Weekend Inspiration: Thanksgiving Leftovers

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? I had 2 Thanksgiving dinners so I could pretty much roll back to SC. That said, both were amazing. I think everyone can agree that one of the best parts of the holiday, aside from the time with family and the general happiness, is the leftovers for days if not weeks to come! This weekend inspiration is meant to help you find some fun new ideas to use those leftovers.

Use a bunch of your leftovers to make these delicious sliders to enjoy during the next big game.

Turkey lasagna: finally something that's a healthier alternative than the norm as opposed to everything else made at Thanksgiving. I'm looking at you, green bean casserole. There's actually a few recipes on this cite for leftovers I'm curious to try.



In the spirit of Thanksgivukkah, how about some mashed potato latkes?

Used some leftover cranberry sauce to make yourself a celebratory margarita. You earned it ;)

I'm curious to try these empanadas made with leftovers. The idea of making them with pastry dough sounds ah-maz-ing.

And from our own kitchen so far we've made:
1. Turkey noodle soup
2. Turkey wrap with spinach
3. Turkey tetrazzini

The soup and tetrazzini are staples of the Mettetal kitchen. It just wouldn't be thanksgiving time without them!

Already made plans for your leftovers? Or (like me) are you still too full to even think about eating again in the near future? I'd love to know!

Sheila

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a wonderful day, full of love and time for thankfulness. If you're traveling, be safe! And if you're staying put, be happy!

Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions you're looking forward to? Any special plans for this year? I'd love to know!

Sheila

When do you put up your (real or fake) tree?

Happy 2 days before Thanksgiving! Too early? Okay...

As I write this, I'm back in Sunny Florida where the weather is about 80 with a slight wind. It cracks me up that my entire family thought it was cold here this weekend. Do you know what the temperature was? 68 degrees. 6.8. That was a moment of realization for me that it wasn't changing my address, or moving a million times, or changing my drivers license to a new state that makes me no longer a Floridian. It's the fact that I'm no longer freezing when it's in the 60's outside. OH THE HUMANITY.

But all that aside, I have a serious question for y'all: When do you put up your Christmas tree? It's a tradition for our family to have the tree up the week of Thanksgiving, preferably before the holiday meal so we can enjoy it with any guests. My parents always use a fake tree. For about 20 years we had used a tree that had belonged to my Grandparents before it found it's way here. By the end, that little tree was sad, almost bare and leaning heavily but we loved it still! It wasn't until the tree started to look dangerously imbalanced that we bought a new tree.

I've been thinking long and hard about whether I want to buy a real tree this Christmas or a fake one to have for years to come. There's something so festive in the smell of a live tree, but there's also something to be said for having the same tree for many, many years. It's like having another member of the family just for the holidays. And then there's the maintenance of a real true vs. storage of a fake tree. I just don't know!

When do you set up your tree? Do you prefer real or fake trees? I'd love to know!

Sheila


P.S. My Mom uses beads as garland instead of tinsel around the tree. I love the simple look and it doesn't leave little pieces all over like tinsel does. Just a thought.