Ringing in a little Christmas Cheer

Christmas is coming and you've got a million things to do! We're here to help. We have 101 Easy Ways to Decorate for Christmas. These ideas are all quite simple, but they'll will give you lots of quick, easy, inexpensive ways to add some Christmas cheer to your home.

1. Create a charming display of teddy bears dressed for the season. Gather together three or more teddy bears and arrange them on a table or on the floor in a corner. Dress the bears with touques, scarves and mittens. Place candy canes in their hands or tie bows around their necks. You can even wrap up some small, empty boxes with Christmas wrapping paper to place in the bears' hands.

2. Make simply bows from Christmas print ribbon and pin them to your curtains.

3. Display a collection of nativity scenes from different cultures.

4. Hang a collection of Christmas stocking on your mantle, a shelf or the wall (even if you don't stuff them). The more the merrier.

5. Revisit your childhood. Cut snowflakes from white paper and hang them in all of your windows.

6. Use red and green 3-dimensional fabric paints to trace simple Christmas patterns (like stars, bells, Santas, stockings, etc.) on a white tablecloth. Click here to print out our basic Christmas shapes.

7. Buy a clear plastic shower curtain. Use a hot glue gun to attach Christmas decorations to the outside of the curtain. Don't use breakable ornaments - instead, try small wooden or plastic ornaments (remove any hooks), bows, garland, etc.

8. Dress up your house plants - hang small Christmas ornaments on them.

9. Tie a red ribbon around a tall, slim drinking glass. Fill the glass with candy canes and display on a shelf or side table.

10. Fill a small glass bowl or decorative Christmas bowl with small cones and display on end tables, shelves, buffet tables, etc.

11. Purchase plain green or red place mats and attach Christmas ribbons, bows or small wooden ornaments with a hot glue gun.

12. For quick ornaments, hang Christmas cookie cutters with ribbon. Hang them on your tree or in a window.

13. Decorate plain red, white, green or gold candles with 3-dimensional fabric paint. Draw stars, bells, angels, snowmen, etc. If you make a mistake, let the paint dry and peal it off, then start again.

14. Create a cookie wreath centerpiece for your table. Just arrange Christmas cookies in a wreath shape right on the table cloth. No need to attach them to anything 'cause everyone will want to nibble at them. If you like, place a pillar candle on a small plate in the center of the wreath.

15. Pile a collection of Christmas books on a side table.

16. Purchase an inexpensive mail box. Spray paint it red or green. Use craft paints to add simple Christmas shapes (use our patterns), or attach store-bought ornaments with a hot glue gun (make sure your ornaments will be able to stand up to the elements).

17. If you have a large, bare outside wall, try this simple idea. Cut a Christmas silhouette from a piece of plywood (a silhouette of Santa, a snowman, etc works well). Using screws, attach your silhouette to a short post that you can drive into the ground. You'll want the silhouette to stand right a ground level several feet away from the wall. Position a spot light on the other side of the silhouette so that it will shine on the silhouette and project a large shadow on the wall. We've seen this done with a silhouette of Joseph leading Mary who is sitting on a donkey. It's beautiful.

18. Wrap indoor Christmas lights around a railing or banister. Secure periodically with tape. Be careful to tape down the electrical cord so that no one trips over it.

19. Add color to a room with vases of red and white flowers. Use roses, carnations, mums, daisies, etc. Or, float the flowers in large crystal or glass bowls.

20. Wrap an assortment of medium to large sized boxes with Christmas wrap. Attach ribbons and/or bows. Pile the boxes in a corner from floor to ceiling.

21. Sew scraps of Christmas print fabric into a patchwork tablecloth. Simply cut your fabric into square pieces and stitch together. Hem the entire cloth. Sew ribbon the edges, if you like. Make smaller cloths to cover end tables, night tables, TV trays, shelving, etc.

22. Cover an end table or a shelf with white paper. Arrange cut evergreen boughs on to cover the table top. Place tall tapered candles in glass candleholders here and there on the table top. Before lighting candles, be sure that the greenery is not close enough to catch fire.

23. Use pliers to bend coat hangers into a simple wire-frame tree shape. Wrap a string of outdoor Christmas light around the frame, attaching with electrical tape or duct tape. Stick the decoration in a flower bed or on your front lawn.

24. Hang mistletoe everywhere. Use false or fresh mistletoe.

25. Wrap your doors in Christmas wrapping paper and attach large bows make from fabric or purchased at your local craft store.

26. String a ribbon from one end of a wall to another. Attach the ribbon to the wall (at each corner) with thumbtacks. Clip Christmas cards to the ribbon with clothespins. If the ribbon is too long, the weight of the cards will pull it off the wall, so tack it here and there with more thumbtacks.

37. Purchase a large glass plate. Paint the underside of the plate with gold craft paint. Dry. Place the plate on a table and fill with several white or off-white pillar candles of varying sizes.

28. Make basic sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies. Before baking, make a hole toward the top of each cookie using a straw. Bake and cool. String a ribbon through each cookie and hang them on your Christmas tree.

29. String popcorn, cranberries, cereal, beads, etc. and hang the garlands everywhere.

30. Make some old-fashioned tree decorations. Wrap nuts with aluminum foil; use a needle and thread to stitch a thread through the foil for hanging. Glue ribbon to pine cones for hanging. String popcorn streamers. Make paper chains. Cut snowflakes from white paper.

46. Add a few drops of food coloring to white glue. Put the glue into a squeeze bottle or icing piping bag. Draw simple Christmas star outlines on waxed paper. Pipe glue onto the paper, following your drawn outlines. Dry. Peel glue ornaments off of the waxed paper and hang in windows with thread or ribbon.

32. Cut pictures out of old Christmas cards and create a collage by gluing them onto a piece of poster board. You can frame the poster board if you like or simply hang it on the wall.

33. Wrap a lampshade with translucent Christmas tissue paper. Put the paper on the outside of the lamp shape, overlapping the edges just a little and tape the edges down on the inside. Be careful that the tissue paper doesn't come too close to the light bulb or it may catch fire.

34. Replace your fish tank background mural with a piece of Christmas wrapping paper or a collage made out of pictures cut from Christmas cards.

35. Twist garland or popcorn strings around railings or banisters and secure here and there with tape.

36. Using a glue gun, glue candy canes, side-by-side (standing on end with their hooks at the top) to the outside of a terra cotta pot. Tie a red ribbon around the pot. Place a small poinsettia inside the pot or fill the pot with wrapped candy.

37. Tape a doily to the outside of a glass canister or clean glass mayonnaise jar. Spray the outside of the container with artificial snow. Dry. Remove the doily. Fill the container with cookies, candy, ornaments, etc.

38. Remove your favorite pictures from their frames. Wrap the frames with Christmas wrap and replace the pictures.

39. Make a gingerbread house. They make wonderful centerpieces or decorations for any table top.

40. Use scraps of Christmas print fabric to create quick sachets. Place two pieces of fabric right sides together. Pin a paper pattern of a Christmas shape to the fabric (use our basic patterns). Cut the shape out of both layers of fabric. Stitch the fabric layers together all along the edge, leaving a one inch gap. Turn the sachet right side out. Fill the sachet with potpourri. Hand stitch the gap closed. Place your sachets in a basket by the front door so you can hand them to departing guests (meanwhile, they'll fill your entryway with wonderful scent).

41. Use a child's Christmas pop-up book as a centerpiece. Just open the book up to a desirable picture and place the open book in the center of your table.

42. Hang a large December wall calendar on your wall. Count down the days to Christmas by gluing a brightly-colored bow on each passing day.

43. Tie five or six cinnamon sticks into a bundle using red ribbon. Create a bunch of these bundles and display them in a bowl or on a plate. Or, tuck bundles into nooks and crannies on shelves and table. They add a nice scent to your room.

44. Pull out your old toy trains. Run the track around the perimeter of the Christmas tree.

45. Paint the inside of a glass white to simulate milk. Display the glass along with a plate full of cookies and a hand-written Santa's wish list. It looks great if you take a bite or two out of one cookies.

46. For easy Christmas tableware, tie red, green, or gold ribbons to the stems of wine glasses or the handles of cutlery.

47. To make a decorative cookie plate, glue cinnamon sticks and whole cloves to the edges of a large plate.

48. Cut pictures from Christmas cards and Christmas wrap. Decoupage the pictures to the inside of a serving tray. Be sure to cover the entire surface of the tray. Once all the pictures are in place, cover the entire inside surface of the tray with one or two more layers of decoupage medium.

49. Screw small hooks into the ceiling and hang indoor Christmas lights from them.

50. Print your favorite cookie recipe on Christmas stationary (or print it on a white piece of paper and have it photo copied onto Christmas stationary). Roll each recipe up like a scroll. Tie the scroll with ribbon. Place the scrolls in a basked by your front door so you can give them to departing guests. You could also bake up a batch of cookies. Wrap each cookie separately in plastic wrap and attach one cookie to each scroll with ribbon (string the ribbon through a hole in the plastic wrap).

51. To add a lot of color to a room quickly, use red or green towels, blankets or even scraps of fabric as throws for your chairs, couch, tables, etc. Large pieces of polar fleece make great, cuddly throws.

52. Display colored glass ball ornaments or even beads in bowls instead of hanging them on your tree.

53. Wash and dry half a dozen small jars (it's better if they're all different sizes and shapes). Fill each jar 2/3 full of water and add a couple of drops of red or green food coloring to each jar. Stir. Place one sprig of evergreen in each jar and display the jars in a group on a table or line them up in a row on a shelf or window sill.

54. Use children's bath crayons (for coloring in the bathtub) to draw Christmas decorations on your mirrors and windows.

55. Spray paint the outside of large, clean coffee cans with gold, red or green paint and use them as cookie canisters. Once painted, you can decorate further by using decoupage medium to glue Christmas card cutouts to the cans, or use a hot glue gun to attach small plastic or wooden ornaments, tinsel, garland, whole spices etc.

56. Using a small brush, paint the tips of pine cones with gold craft paint. Place on a rack or piece of waxed paper to dry. Display cones in bowls or vases or attach a ribbon and hang them on your tree.

57. Spruce up plain red or green bath towels with Christmas ribbon attached using a hot glue gun or ironed on with fusible web.

58. Create an easy wall hanging using a piece of sheet music for a Christmas carol. Cut a piece of red poster board a few inches larger than the sheet music and glue the music to the center of the poster board. Use a hot glue gun to glue a small sprig of artificial holly to the top right-hand corner of the sheet music.

59. Create an inexpensive set of Christmas glassware. Purchase a set of glasses or mugs and paint holly leaves and berries on the outside of each glass or mug using red and green glass paint.

60. Dress up your dinner table: cover the table with a plain red, green or white tablecloth and sprinkle with red, green or gold cut-outs from your party decorations store. Or, make your own cuts out with specially shaped hole punches and solid colored wrapping paper.

61. Turn an old blanket chest into a treasure chest. Place the chest on the floor against a wall and open the lid (prop the lid up securely if it's prone to closing by itself). Line the inside of the chest with fiber fill to create the illusion of snow. Drape strings of beads and white indoor Christmas lights over the chest. Fill the chest with wrapped presents or wrapped empty boxes. Sprinkle with gold-wrapped chocolate coins.

62. Create personalized gingerbread men as place cards for your dining table. Use colored icing to decorate each gingerbread man with a guest's hair color and usual clothing. Using icing to print each person's name across the chest of the gingerbread man.

63. Paint a terra cotta flower pot gold using craft paint. Let paint dry. Glue on plastic or glass "gems". Let glue dry. Pipe white glue in a circle around the perimeter of each "gem". While the glue is still wet, sprinkle on gold sparkles. Let glue dry. Fill pots with flowers, nuts or candy.

64. Create an eclectic centerpiece using a large glass plate. Place a collection of containers on the plate. Use small bowls, vases, candle holders, flower pots, clean ash trays, etc. Fill each container with a different type of nut or candy.

65. Purchase inexpensive plain lampshades for your lamps. Use a hot glue gun to attach fabric bows (in Christmas prints) to the shades.

66. Trim door frames, window frames and the edges of mirrors with Christmas garland (secure with tape).

67. Place 1/2 cup of whole cloves on a plate. Apply white glue to the outside of a small terra cotta flower pot. Roll the pot in the cloves so that the outside of the pot is completely covered with cloves. You may have to press more cloves onto the pot in places. Let the glue dry. Tie a red ribbon around the outside of the pot - knot the ribbon. Tie three cinnamon sticks into the ribbon (knot the ribbon around the sticks). Tie the ends of the ribbon into a bow. Use the pot as a flower pot or fill it with potpourri.

68. Decorate with mittens, gloves, touques and scarves. String jute cord from one end of a room to another and clip knit items to the cord with clothespins.

69. Purchase small bells from your craft store. Tie each bell to a piece of ribbon between 6" and 18" in length. Gather all of the ribbons together and knot together at the top. Drape the bells over a door knob so that they ring when someone enters or exits.

70. Poinsettias are a beautiful way to add Christmas color to a room. But don't just stop at one. Create a stunning display using at least six plants - all different sizes. Group them together, larger plants in the back. Tie a large gold fabric ribbon around the whole group of pots. Sprinkle the plants with gold glitter.

71. Wrap a large empty coffee can in Christmas wrapping paper (leave the top open). Place and the floor, add some water and fill with evergreen branches. This looks wonderful on its own, or you can hang ornaments from the branches.

72. Replace your usual curtain valence with a large piece of Christmas print fabric, draped over your curtain rod.

73. Tie bows around door knobs.

74. Create an easy wreath. Tear Christmas print fabric into strips (or use ribbon, instead). Wrap a styrofoam wreath with the fabric or ribbon. Hang the wreath as is, or hot glue Christmas picks, ornaments, nuts, candies, etc. to it.

75. Wrap a table in Christmas wrapping paper.

76. Purchase cork place mats or coasters, Christmas print stamps and red/green/gold stamp pads. Then, stamp shapes onto your coasters and place mats. You can even stamp shapes onto your table cloths and napkins.

77. Cut pictures of people and objects from Christmas cards. Glue each object to a magnet sheet. Cut the pictures out of the magnet sheet. Stick the magnets to your fridge. Visitors can arrange your magnets into scenes.

78. Put some color into your bathroom. Display red and green glycerin soaps, bath gels and oils.

79. Use florist wire to wire Christmas picks to railings, banisters and door knobs.

80. Make a snowman. Better yet, make a whole snow family or even a whole snow village!

81. Wrap your front door in plain white paper and decorate with a large bow. Place red and green pens by the front door and have guest sign the door as they leave your home.

82. Cut pictures from Christmas cards and pin them to your curtains or bedspread.

83. Purchase inexpensive white bathroom accessories (soap dish, toothbrush holder, garbage can, etc.). Paint holly leaves and red berries on the accessories using craft paints. Or, use a hot glue gun to attach bows, sequins, beads, buttons, etc.

84. Create an red and green display in your kitchen using a collection standard food items. Jars of olives, sun dried tomatoes, pickles, red peppers, cans with red or green labels.

85. Quick wreath: Use a glue gun to attach nuts or wrapped candies to a styrofoam wreath. Attach a large red ribbon.

86. Paint nuts gold with craft paint (use a variety of nuts of different shape). Line a large bowl or basket with Christmas greenery (artificial or real), fill the bowl wit oranges, apples and the gold nuts. Add a large red bow.

87. Display a large collection of photos from Christmases past. This makes a sensational conversation piece. Use a collection of odd frames or create frames using colored cardboard or craft foam. Instead of displaying each picture individually, you can create a collage. Use a large piece of red craft foam. Cut photos into interesting shapes (just cut around what's important in the photos). Glue the photos to the foam, overlapping them and leaving a 1" - 2" border of red foam showing. Cut holly leaves from green craft foam. Glue three leaves to each corner of the red foam frame. Cut small circles from left-over red foam (these are the holly berries). Glue them next to the holly leaves.

88. Make a Christmas bedspread. Trim the edges of a large piece of red polar fleece with pinking shears. Stitch a collection of mittens to one side of the fleece.

89. Put a Christmas screen saver on your computer.

90. Paint Christmas stars or bells on the outside of your bathtub or on your shower curtain using washable children's soap crayons.

91. Place a plate full of wrapped Christmas baking by the front door as parting gifts for guests.

92. Remove your mugs from their cup hooks and hang Christmas ornaments in their place. You can do the same thing with spoon racks or key racks.

93. Shred colored paper and use it to line a basket. Fill the basket with red and green scented votive candles.

94. Make a fresh flower garland using red carnations. You'll need a few dozen carnations. Cut the stems off just below the bud. String a length of double thread on a needle (make the thread as long as the garland you want to make). String the buds together by pushing the needle through the bud and out the top of the flower. Tie the ends of the garland together, if you wish. This garland should be stored in the fridge.

95. Decorate with giant cookies. Mix up your favorite sugar cookie or gingerbread cookie recipe. Roll out the dough. Instead of cutting into small cookies, cut out one tree shaped cookie using a knife. Don't bother using a pattern. A hand-cut shape has more charm. Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake. Cool. Cover with icing made of confectioner's sugar, green food coloring and water (no butter). While the icing is still wet, decorate your tree with peppermint candies, M & M's, jujubes, etc. Let the icing set. Your giant cookie can be displayed on a plate or you can wrap up a box in colored foil wrap and glue your cookie to the front of the box with dollops of icing. The box can be displayed lying down or standing on end.

96. Make simple Christmas puppets. Cut Santas, angels, snowmen, etc. from old Christmas cards. Paint craft stick red or green. Attach one cut-out to each stick using tape. The kids can play with these or, you can display them in a vase or a bowl. Just fill the vase or bowl with beads, nuts, candies, etc. and stick the puppets' sticks into the bowl.

97. Wrap your plant pots in red or green foil wrap. You don't even have to remove the plants first.

98. Create a display by your front door with unused boots. Assemble a group of boots and fill them with wrapped gifts or empty boxes.

99. Purchase an inexpensive glass vase (or better yet, three or four vases). "Paint" the vase with white glue and roll in red or green sparkles. Use the vase to display a large collection of white or red carnations.

100. To create an easy Christmas card display, purchase a large red bow that has a vertical ribbon attached. Hang the bow and ribbon and pin Christmas cards to the ribbon, starting near the top.

101. Paint fruit such as apples and pears with egg white and roll in gold sparkles. Air dry on a rack and display in a basket along with nuts.

Thanks Julieann for passing this great list on!!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate, a family favorite

This is a repost from a blog I wrote in 2005. Enjoy!!
If you haven't tried this, you're missing out! Since this is dh's only weekend off we are celebrating all weekend. This recipe came from a Big Y supermarket magazine they give out free. It didn't sound all that great, until we TRIED it. YUUUUMM! See the picture for the finished result.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
8 oz. white chocolate morsels
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
-red food coloring (optional)
-prepared whipped topping
4-6 peppermint sticks or candy canes

In a medium saucepan over med-low heat, heat milk and
cream to a simmer, stirring often. Mix in Chocolate.
Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Add
peppermint extract and stir. Slowly add food
coloring, a couple of drops at a time, stirring
between additions until desired color is reached.

Pour into mugs and top with whipped topping; garnish
with whole peppermint stick or candy cane.
4-6 servings yielded

Our Summer Thus far and the Fourth Of July!

At the end of June my daughter, Autumn came up to visit with her boyfriend and my mother. It was a GREAT week, just like old times and it was sad to say goodbye. In a few short weeks she and her boyfriend will be parting as well to go to colleges in a state apart from each other. While they were here we played in Lake Erie, and checked out Niagara Falls, attended my youngest daughter, Felicia's moving up ceremony which was a graduation from middle school, and had many a cookout.

Around the end of that week, my dad came up and stayed until July 10th I believe. He had a good time looking at the architecture in Buffalo and bought a wide angle lens as well as a telephoto lens for his camera which he had fun playing with.

Mike's brother and nephew came up for a few days during this time. Justin's long time 29 year old girlfriend, and mom of our 7 year old nephew, died suddenly and unexpectedly during an illness. From what I've been told, she had a flu-like illness and choked/aspirated on her vomit and never came conscious again. She was in ICU with a cooling blanket trying to minimize damage, to no avail....ended up with a major heart attack. Mike had gone down for the service, and Justin and Tyler came back home with him. We sent them home on a train on the 3rd, since they had plans for the fourth they did not want to miss. They had a good time and that made me glad. We hadn't seen them for 6 months. We went to a few Lake beaches, explored the cool rocks and shells, and went back to Niagara Falls so they could experience that, made S'mores, and rocked the grill for some more cookouts!

On the fourth, we went to our FIRST Fourth of July parade ever in Lancaster, NY with my dad!!! It was fun, and I had a feeling of nostalgia with the whole thing. We had a cookout at home, played outdoor checkers on a cool mat checkerboard, and later attended fireworks in Orchard Park. It was nowhere NEAR as crazy as fireworks back home in MA. Yes, it was crowded but it was much easier to get in and out so we were very very happy with the whole experience.

Here are some pictures from our day:



The band of the high school Felicia is to start in September











Some other pictures from our time with family:



~My girls, before Felicia's moving up ceremony, June 23rd 2010

shucking corn for a cookout!
First time at Niagara falls, American side:



Second time to Niagara Falls, S'mores and other random fun:






The American Flag:

You’re the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
~George M. Cohan

Mommy's Day 2010

Mom's day was a sweet day. We had ordered pizza the night before for Mike's birthday dinner, so breakfast in bed consisted of Mike handing me 2 slices that were leftover. haha Which actually worked out GREAT because I am an early riser and love to putt around and make my coffee etc,.. and normally when they try to cook me breakfast I feel tortured, banished to my room and waiting, waiting waiting bored. Sorry! That is just how I am. This was great..haha

Then all the children had printed me out cards and coupons for various chores as gifts. Mike gave me a huge hanging pot of flowers, which is on our front porch. It was all very sweet. We went to church and enjoyed the service, came home and relaxed. I watched the Bridges of Madison County while the kids played together. The movie, not what I normally watch, was a good movie and it broke my heart on SO many levels. :( Then my man and I enjoyed a couple glasses of Adesso wine with a few bites of dark chocolate. It's red and very sweet, dessert like. It was a tame day, and nice.

I wanted to get a picture with myself and each of the children alone. I thought they may appreciate that some day when they are grown, yet I only succeeded to get two taken that way. We can only take pics outside until I buy my external flash and it was SO COLD that day!!

Sometime in April we learned of a Mother's Day contest on WGRZ, thru Westermeier Martin Dental. The grand prize was really far out: pick up in limo, free dental work, limo for the appointments and back, spa, total makeover, night out etc,... etc,... followed by a big reveal.

Well, I found out that everyone who was entered, won the "second prize" which was a free tooth polishing, free bleaching (to be done at home) and a goodie bag, prize worth $450+ How fun!! It's a half hour drive from home, but I have to drop the kids off at Mike's work in order to go anyway, so it's half hour to Mike's work, then it's half hour from there.

The dentist office was the NICEST one I had ever set foot in, no joking! Everyone was uber friendly, leather chairs, smile photo albums with before and afters, the whole 9. I had my cleaning with a super friendly hygienist. After that she made molds to my teeth. What a fast yet WEIRD procedure, and this stuff feels very strange coming off your teeth as it hardens relatively quickly. Then it turns into stone and they chisel and fix 'em up, eventually making bleach trays by using the molds. What turns out is a perfectly fitted silicone-like tray which you put the bleach solution in, and then put on your teeth. This way you can leave the bleach on for 30-60 minutes and still talk, and have a pretty normal routine. I have done two treatments so far at home. SO COOL! I didn't think I was going to even do this at first, because for the most part I am into natural ways, and there is nothing less natural than whitening your teeth with a whitening solution. However, I threw caution to the wind and say hey let's try it! It's mom's day and this is a WICKED COOL free gift. Yes, I am from New England, hence the "wicked cool". ;-)
Here is a picture after two "bleach" treatments:

Menu Plan Monday~and Easter Sunday Menu

Mon-Yankee pot roast, mashed garlic potatoes, carrots, biscuits and salad

Tues- Marvelous meatloaf, potatoes and corn
dessert-sunshine cake made with lemon cake mix, orange jello and cool whip from Mom's favorite recipes by Gooseberry Patch.

Wed-Orange chicken with rice and broccoli

Thur-cheeseburgers on grill with tossed salad

Fri-pizza

Sat-stroganoff and egg noodles with italian bread and salad on side

Easter-I finally decided it was time to come up with an Easter plan. A nice main meal with simple sides. It is just us and my dad. This is what will grace our table:

Baked 1/2 smoked ham

Mashed potatoes with cream cheese and granulated garlic (instead of the chives)

buttered corn (kids love it)

Birds Eye tuscan veggiesYUM!!

flaky biscuits

simple veggie salad

Giada's lemon basil smoothie

Strawberry shortcake

Resurrection Sunday Cookies~
We will be making these on Saturday
You will need:
1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch salt
1 cup sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible

Instructions: These are to be made the evening before Easter. Preheat oven to 300F. *** (this is very important --- don't wait until you are half done with the recipe).

Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested. He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.Read: John 19:1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read: John 19:28-30

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read: John 10:10&11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read: Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read: Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read: Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read: Matthew 27:65-66

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read: John 16:20&22

On Resurrection Sunday (Easter) morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read: Matthew 28:1-9

~He is risen!~

Time of Thanksgiving

I always love Thanksgiving, as it's my favorite holiday, but this year we enjoyed a very special Thanksgiving. Autumn slept over the day before and helped with the cooking, and we took tons of pictures. We also had Mike's brother's family here as they are staying with us for awhile.
It's eerie knowing that life is about to change dramatically, so eventhough this time is always a very special time, being my FAVORITE holiday, this year it is bittersweet and monumental for me, us.

I have not been online that much in the last several months, so I may not have previously shared that our family is moving to Georgia for Mike's work shortly after my eldest daughter, Autumn's 18th birthday. <3 She will be staying here with her father to finish school. Here are some pictures of our day: