Cupcake Flags: New Years 2012

To be honest, I struggle with new years. Time goes by so fast that each year seems like a blink of an eye. I find myself reflecting on the year gone by and sad that it is all over...already. This year, I'm hoping to have a little more fun with new years. And what is more fun than cute cupcakes?! Hmm..not much!

My sister and her family are coming for a visit and I'm going to bake red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Yum! I just adore cute cupcake toppers and flags. I thought I would give it a go creating my own (side note: I'm not a graphics designer, that's my sister) but I think these came out pretty cute. What do you think?

You can download them HERE. I left several flags blank so you can add your own personal touch.

Three basic materials are needed: toothpicks, glue dots and scissors (and the printed flags, of course!)


Roll the tip of each toothpick over one glue dot.


After cutting out the flags, fold closed on the tip of toothpick covered in glue dot. Simple!


I hope you have a wonderful New Year filled with God's glorious Peace and Joy!

Homemade Herb Dip

The dip:

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
Garlic powder and pepper taste

Mix all together and refrigerate until ready to use. The longer it sits, the better it will taste.

The bread bowl:

You can purchase a round loaf of bread at the store. Cut out the center, pour the dip in the wall. Cut the center piece into cubes for dipping. You can also make the bread from scratch using your favorite bread recipe. Instead of placing the bread dough in a loaf pan, form into a round loaf and bake on a cookie sheet.

Enjoy!! ;-)

For fun...

Our Christmas Season...a collage...

Merry Christmas

Simple and easy monogrammed blanket

For Christmas this year I made my two nephrews monogrammed blankets. These are super easy to make and fast too!

I cut a large piece of blue fleece, approximately 1.5 yards.

Next I took two strips of red felt to create my "T" monogram. For another a more difficult letter print out a letter in Word at about 300% to use as a pattern.

Wonder Under is AWESOME! And makes projects like this SO much easier! Follow the directions on the packaging to iron your letter to the fleece. Surprisingly felt and fleece can hold up to an iron, just don't keep the heat on their too long.

I cut out a train from some fabric I had on hand to make my embellishment and also used Wonder Under to adhere it to the fleece.

Once the monogram and train were ironed on I machine stitched around the edges.

Ta Da! That is all! Fleece doesn't fray so you don't have to hem it unless you would like to.

Linking up to...

Our visit with Santa and the girls Christmas skirts

Last weekend we went to our favorite Christmas shop to visit Santa Claus, Sleighbells. It is such a wonderful place to visit with Santa. You might wait a total of 5 minutes to see him and get to take as much time as you like visiting with him. We've been going there since Grace was four and each year it is the "same" Santa Claus so now we get to see the the girls growing up in each picture.



I've shared before that each year I make the girls a matching Christmas outfit. I started with Grace's first Christmas with a dress. Then Jilian came along and I made matching Christmas dresses. It was fun but a lot of work! So last year I switched to Christmas skirts! Match faster! Here's this year's, red and white velvet with a red velvet flower accent and matching red velvet flower hair accessory.



For fun I'm sharing at...

Mini Banner "Let It Snow"

I've been involved with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) for several years. It has been such a blessing in my life! Some of my closest friends I have met because of MOPS....I'll get to the banner....at MOPS we have Mystery Moms, kind of like secret sisters, we bring surprise treats each month to our meeting. This month it was to be an ornament or holiday inspired treat of some kind. I made my Mystery Mom (who just so happens to be my good friend Heidi) this mini banner that reads "Let It Snow". She's a fan of snowmen so I thought it was fitting. :-) I had SO much fun making it!!

I'm sharing it for the Holly Bloggy Christmas party. Just Sew Sassy is hosting a linky party for Christmas Crafts. Be sure to visit for some festive ideas!




To give Heidi her banner I tucked it inside this tinsel filled green trimmed pail.

Handmade Gifts

I love blog land and all it's inspiration, especially this time of year! There is SO much talent and creativity out there it is mind blowing sometimes! One of the fun things of blog land this time of year is the annual Holly Bloggy Party hosted by Simply Sweet Home. Each day this week there will be a different holiday topic. Monday's is handmade gifts. You can head on over to Tater Tots and Jello for some great gift ideas!

Today I'm sharing one of the felt dolls I created for my girls this Christmas. I can't wait for them to each find one of these dolls tucked inside their Christmas stockings! I was inspired by the Russian Matryoshka Dolls, the sweet little wooden nesting dolls. I had a set as a little girl (which we recently found & now Jilian plays with it) and I thought I would utilize my love of felt and fabric to create a soft version. I hope they love them as much as I do! :-)

It's a little frosty outside!

The last couple weeks it has been such a treat to have clear blue skies and the SUN! But with that comes frost. This morning it is a warm 24 outside! I know for some that really is warm but for us here in Oregon, it's cold! Wanted to share a few pictures of the frostness (yes, that is a word!) around my house. The bright circle in the sky is the sun peeking through the fog... :-)



It's been a l-o-n-g week around here so for a treat I'm doing some blog hopping, you should join in the fun! Happy Friday!

Our Thanksgiving

This year we went up to Renton Washington to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. We had a very relaxing day and ate some yummy food, of course!


While waiting for the turkey I got an idea to make a family of hand turkeys. The girls have made them over the years but Jeremy and I never had. It was fun to see all our hands together. Much to my surprise Jeremy really got in to it and even colored his own turkey!


Grace also drew a great turkey and wiped out this poem in a matter of minutes! I was impressed, creative writing has never been my strength!


November 24, 1621

Oh the Mayflower looking so great,
Ready to float with us like a freight.

As the Indians cover their mouths for a noise,
'Cause we're getting to rejoice!

What are we going to rejoice?
What are we going to rejoice?

This great Thanksgiving Day,
To the Lord that we pray!
(for)

Mashed potatoes with gravy,
Buttered corn so nice and glazy!

Warm apple and pumpkin pie fresh from the oven,
Then you push yourself back from the table and say
I can't take nothin'!

Nice warm delicious stuffing,
AND A BIG TURKEY SO GOOD AND FLUFFY!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving