The Nemo Tree

A friend Nemo painted these little paintings. I bought them over the summer and decided to use them for the office Christmas tree. I think it is so fun. Go over and say hi to Nemo at The Soon-To-Be-More-Famous Artist Named Nemo. I really love the idea of taking non holiday items and making them festive.

Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange 2008

Thanks so much to Tracey for hosting the Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange.
Let's go over and get some yummy recipes.

Whew! I Am Busy This Week

My holiday time in Virginia is winding down and I will be spending the remaining season in Texas with my family! I am so excited and will be posting from the road.

Today and Wed will be so crazy with a huge project at the office and the fact that I still have not packed (or washed) a thing. I am finding myself in a semi self induced panic state.

So... even with all the craziness I will take a few minutes tonight and sit in the dark watching the Christmas lights. I will take a chance to remember that the Holiday Season is meant to be about peace and joy and the hustle and bustle is a huge contradiction to the whole thing. I hope that you are taking the time to do the same for not only yourself but for all the ones that you love.

I Like To Stir The Pot

Not the bad dance move where you rotate your arms in front of you clockwise, as if holding a big spoon with both hands and stirring a pot. Nope... not that stirring.

I mean this stirring I find it relaxing as anything. I have all these questions about why.

What is it? Is it some genetic throw back to the days when my ancestors spent most of the day cooking and stirring? Is it only a female thing? I want to know what you think. Tell me all about it. Anyone out there feel the same way?

Holiday Treat

Growing up this treat was a must for the holidays. It has a light fudge taste and then the texture of the oatmeal is great. If you have never had this cookie you must give it try, you family and friends will be impressed.

CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES (No Bake)

1 stick butter
1/2 c. evaporated milk
2 c. sugar
3 tbsp. cocoa
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. oats (uncooked)
Melt butter. Add to evaporated milk. Pour over sugar mixed with cocoa. Stir. Boil over low heat for 1 minute. Add peanut butter and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Pour uncooked oats in the pot and stir until Incorporated fully. Drop by tablespoon on wax paper.

We also had something called potato candy. If you have ever had it you know that is it just about the sweetest thing under the sun, the thought of it makes my head hurt a little. Potato candy is my sister's specialty since it is tricky to make and I am not willing to fool with it. Maybe she will do a demo for us when I get home :)

Holiday Home Tour 2008

Tracey at Notes From A Cottage Industry is hosting a Virtual Holiday Home Tour. Come along and let's have some fun seeing what everyone has done to make the season special.

My 2008 Holiday Theme is...

Do It Yourself Darnit!

Yesterday was design your own cupcake and today is make your own snowman.

Next thing you know it will be wrap your own present.

I came up with idea for these little snowman cuties for the company Christmas party.

"Hello"

"Hello" (x2)

"Hello" (x3)

They are super easy to put together. Here are the materials.

White card stock

Multi-color card stock for hats (patterns are fun)

Crayons

Glue

Embroidery floss for the scarves

Pom-poms, buttons and felt

I think sticks for arms would be super fun if you have kids or the time to search out perfect tiny snowman arms.

They make great cards if you make them small enough to fit into envelopes.

Cupcake Bar

We had our company Christmas party on Saturday and I planned to make cupcakes. After reading the latest issue of Southern Living I stole the idea for a design your own cupcake bar. I made four types of cupcakes, vanilla, spice, dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Three types of frosting, vanilla, chocolate and peanut butter. I put sprinkles in small mason jars and decorated them with ribbon. It was a fun activity and I did not have to frost 70 cupcakes!

2008 Holiday Home Tour

I reused all of the decorations from 2007 but changed them up just a bit. I spent $6 for new lights for the trees , $12 for fresh greenery and $12 for 6 new mercury glass ornaments.

I bought these birdies last year but they all had red eyes and beaks. They looked like Satan's little evil pets. I thought about buying a few more for Halloween, they were really scary looking. I replaced the eyes with black beads from an old necklace and painted the beaks black, all better.

I had a bunch of fringe left over from a project a few years ago so I decided to hang it up around the house, not traditional but if you know me at all it is not surprising

I took wire baskets and piled a ton of lights in them, It is the lazy girl's way to decorate with lights. You never need to untangle them and they give an artsy look to any surface.

I took LED lights and put them in this container.. make sure you do not use lights that put off heat in a enclosed container, can you say fire?

Merry Christmas Everyone!!