Christmas Craft Day 2010!

First, I must apologize for the lack of posts this December.  I plan to make up for this blogging drought the next few weeks during Christmas vacation!

Earlier this December, Courtney and I planned a super fun Christmas Craft Day!  We invited all of our friends over to enjoy hot chocolate, snacks, Christmas cookies, and fun crafts!  Craft Day was a huge success! Our friends stayed over at our house for almost 12 hours!

We made these ear warmers and scarves out of 100% acrylic sweaters found at Goodwill!

Petite Lasagna

When I saw this recipe, I predicted that it would become a new favorite! And... I was right!

Check out this recipe: canyoustayfordinner.com/2010/11/04/petite-lasagnas/

Super easy and very affordable! (adapted from canyoustayfordinner.com recipe to make more affordable: leave out ricotta cheese)

At the grocery store, pick up:

- Wonton wrappers (the pack I found came in 48) and it was in the "organic" section by the tofu

- a jar of your favorite marinara

- 20 oz. or so of ground beef

- 2 cups mozzarella

Already at the house:

- parmesan

- oregano

- basil

- white onion

- garlic

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spray 24 muffin tins with cooking spray.

3. Place Wonton Wrappers in the muffin cups, press down firmly on the bottom and the sides.

4. Brown ground beef, add onions and garlic.

5. Empty jar of marinara into skillet with beef, onions, and garlic.

6. Let the skillet simmer for about 10 minutes.

7. While beef is browning, add a pinch of mozzarella and oregano and basil into every muffin cup.

8. Take a spoonful of marinara mixture and place in each muffin cup.

9. Place another Wonton Wrapper on top of the marinara mix to make another layer.

10. Repeat process by placing a pinch of mozzarella, and other spices onto Wrapper and then a spoonful of marinara mix. 

11. On top of the last layer of marinara mix, sprinkle parmesan cheese.

12. Bake for 10 minutes.

13. Enjoy!

fabric rosette necklace

SPOILER ALERT: you may end up receiving this craft for a Christmas gift!

Like most of my crafts, this necklace was inspired by another favorite blogger: Little Birdie Secrets.

littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2010/09/fabric-rosette-tutorial-extravaganza.html

This craft was very fun to do and takes no time at all!  I sat on the couch and constructed several rosettes with all different types of fabric, including old t-shirts!

After I had quite a few rosettes, I chose a few and hot glued them to an old necklace that I have never worn.  The necklace that I chose was too long because the rosettes ended up hitting my belly-button.  So I cut the necklace and tied a ribbon to the ends so that it can be easily adjusted with a bow!

Enjoy! (and ... you might even get one of these for Christmas from me!)

Happy Halloween!

Chelsea and I painted these Jack-O-Lanterns a few weeks ago to celebrate the start to the Fall Season (our favorite)!  We grabbed this idea from one of my favorite crafters, http://www.craftsbyamanda.com/2009/10/halloween-painted-jar-luminaries.html.

First, we spent around $5.00 at Goodwill buying glass jars, candle holders, etc.

Second, spray painted all of those jars, and anything else would could get our hands on. Super fun!

Third, painted the funny faces with black paint.

Fourth, put some good ol' modge podge over the whole jar to make it shiny.

Five, Enjoy!  These were really fun to just drop on the neighbors porch to spread the joy of fall!