Day 17, Sound and Safe...

Day 17, we made it to West Virginia. It is beautiful outside and the snow is lightly falling. We took a southern route and hit New York city around 3 in the morning so there was very little traffic. We are thinking maybe of going into the city on the way home and seeing Macy's. I've always wanted to do that at Christmas time.

The place we are staying at here in W.V. is Oglebay Resort and it is just lovely, with rolling hills and deer everywhere. Here is a view from the house we are staying in.

Here is the great room in the house.
And the fireplace...
I'm taking a quiet break from the family gathering right now to get Mason to sleep, plus after driving all night, I'm wiped out!

More to come tomorrow,

Tiff

Day 16, Ready, I think....

Day 16. We are headed out tonight. I think I'm ready. Bought the maple syrup(for a pancake breakfast on Saturday), finished my scarf(ran out of yarn, so that finished it!).

Bags are packed and ready to be loaded, along with everyone's pillow and a blanket for the car.
Finished up some quick fabric candy canes.
Mason is ready, though he doesn't know it :) Love that fresh from the bath hair.
We have someone staying here to take care of the pets and get the mail, so no worries there. Now we just need to go to my daughter's choir concert tonight and then we are off.

I'll post from W. Virginia tomorrow.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Day 15, Santa Suit, Camera Strap, and Cookie Blunder!

Day 15. Oh what can I say, I think my mind is just overloaded right now :P

I'll start by sharing one wall of my family room. I hung my felt Santa suit on my quilt rack and added some greens above it. It's simple, but that was my theme this year.

The other day I finally made a padded camera strap for my aging camera. It's hard to take a pic of it because it is attached to my camera ;) I used some squirrel printed linen that I ordered years ago from Super Buzzy. It's super simple, but cute and it covers the ugly black nylon strap.
And now if you want a laugh, read on.....My Big cookie blunder...

I decided to make cookies and bring them to everyone we are visiting. Went to the grocery store and bought chocolate chips, butter( I usually buy store brand, but they had Land o Lakes on sale), flour, and eggs(I had everything else I needed at home). I get home and instead of using my normal chocolate chip cookie recipe, I decided to try the one on the bag of Ghiradelli chips I just bought....

I knew I needed a lot of cookies, so I doubled the recipe. Added the butter(4 sticks would be double, so in go 1,2,3,4), added the sugars....hmmm, it's not getting "fluffy" like the recipe says, But I press on, adding ingredients. By the time I get to adding the dry ingredients(with 6 cups of flour), my poor old(and I'm talking 25 yr old) Kitchen Aid mixer is actually moaning and straining, the dough is so thick and dry. But, no, I don't think something is wrong, I just keep on going. Add in the chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Get out my pretty red cookie scoop and make nice round(dry) mounds on the cookie sheets. Bake for the 12 minutes like they say. Check, nope, they haven't even started to spread, they are still mounds. Again, Hmmmmmm? After 25 minutes of baking, they finally appear to be done. Take them out, let them cool. Well, I better try one if they are going to be gifts. Uh, not sure what to think, they aren't bad, but they certainly aren't excellent. And they are a little crunchy, I prefer a soft cookie.

They look nice and are thick, but there taste is just lacking. I kept thinking about the ingredients and couldn't figure out what the problem was. I just kept yelling at myself for Doubling a recipe that I had never tried before. And how could they put such a blah recipe on a bag of chips???.....

Then it hit me! It's not the recipe, it's ME!!! Well, I'm blaming Land O Lakes. The boxes of butter I bought were some new half stick sizes, so you get 8 little sticks of butter in a box instead of 4 regular sticks. I was so caught off guard with those little sticks and wondering why anyone would want them, that while I was putting them in the mixer, I didn't realize that I should have put in all 8 to double the recipe!!!! UGH! So now I have dozens of "OK" cookies, but definitely not gift worthy. Guess the kids are having cookies and milk after school. And I still don't have cookies to bring.
And a quick glimpse from this morning... Why buy toys, kids enjoy boxes so much more :)
Have a great day,

Tiff

Day 14, I'm not sure what....

Day 14. It's just one of those days. Those days when one more piece of bad mail comes, where someone says all the wrong things on the phone, where you take two steps forward and three steps back. You know those days, right? And I'm stressing big time over this trip. I'm really not looking forward to driving 15 hours straight, staying one day, and turning around and driving 15 hours home. Please say a quick prayer that we have safe and easy travel, and Mason handles it well. Thank you.

I did manage to get the moose ornaments packaged and boxed up...

I made out almost all of my Christmas cards, just need some stamps. And I'm halfway done with a scarf I'm working on for myself. And here is my little ray of sunshine while I was wrapping things...
Tomorrow is a busy day packing and finishing things up, hopefully it will be a better day.

Tiff

Day 13, Another Snowman and Finds...

Day 13 was another rainy day here, but at least the winds died down. The wind was awful last night, at times I thought the windows were going to blow in. And of course I was up all night listening to it because I was suffering from acid reflux. But enough of that. I want to share with you this little snowman that I created out of the same technique as the mushrooms. I think he came out pretty cute and he is going to be a birthday present for a neighbor. He was supposed to be delivered today, but he wasn't quite dry yet. He's glued to the little red box(which is no longer functional) and is just a little decorative guy. The recipient collects snowmen, so I hope she likes him.

And then there is this wood snowman, found this evening at Goodwill for a mere 99 cents! I just took off the ugly plaid ribbon he was wearing and didn't have to do another thing to him.
I put him on top my pie safe in my front foyer.
And I also found these little Annalee figures. They are in mint condition and were $2.99 and $1.99. I wouldn't pay retail for these guys, but I will pay goodwill prices and they will now live up in my laundry room for Christmas.
Oh, and look who discovered that he can climb onto chairs all by himself!!! He was so proud of himself and kept giggling.
Until tomorrow my friends,

Tiff

Day 12, Snowman...

Day 12. It's a cold and rainy outside and we all would rather have snow falling than the rain, but I'm sure everyone in the midwest would disagree. Anyway, I thought I would share the snowman I made for my mom. She wanted a not so prim guy to hang in her front foyer. I made him out of thick white quilt batting and it worked out quite well for a snowman effect. I then made him a wool top hat, wool coat and scarf, and blue ticking pants.

I'm still working on the mushrooms and they are coming out cute, it's just the drying time that is taking so long.

Have a lovely night,

Tiff

Day 11, My Bedroom and Martha's Mushrooms...

Day 11, and while this is not Christmas related, it is what I did today. I spent all morning here, in my bedroom, putting away laundry, cleaning my closet, cleaning my bathroom, dusting, vacuuming, and going through my jewelry stand(which my daughters benefited from). So, I thought I would share it with you all. I know I have shown pics of it before, and nothing has really changed much, but it's a post right?

Here is the view from the hallway looking into my bedroom. It's not a huge room by any means. But I don't need a big bedroom, we are only in it at night time to go to bed, so it would just be a waste of space if it were any larger. It does have a big walk in closet and a large ensuite bathroom and a big triple window which lets in tons of light. We bought the furniture down in Texas where our bedroom was Massive, so it doesn't even all fit in this room, but I still love it and it is so heavy that it keeps me from rearranging the room(which is a good thing in this case).

The window looks over our backyard, which is mostly trees.


All my vintage baby gowns are in this room.


This room is a big departure from the rest of the house with the bright white and red bedding and curtains. But I like it and with the furniture being so dark, it makes a nice contrast.
The only Christmas decor in here are these three vintage angles that were my grandmothers.
Some of my white enamelware on top the armoire.
And now for Martha's Mushrooms. Did anyone see Martha Stewart the other day? She had one of her craft people showing how to make vintage inspired mushrooms. They looked pretty easy to make so I thought this evening while I was making dinner, I would give them a try. Here is one after I wrapped it in the quilt batting.
Then here is is after a coat of white paint. I realized that you shouldn't let it dry standing upright because the under part of the mushroom starts to sag.
So you have to let it dry upside down. Here is one drying on wax paper. I have three made and drying right now, hopefully they will be dry by morning and I can finish them. So far, they are pretty east make and require minimal supplies.
I got all the moose packed up, now I'm just waiting on the tags from Shutterfly to arrive and those are FINI!!

Have a great weekend,

Tiff

Day 10, Cookies and Moose are Finished...

I know I'm cutting it close today, but I haven't had the best of days and I'm a bit cranky. But I am keeping with my goal and here we are at Day 10.

My 4 yr old and I made sugar cookies this afternoon. He cut the majority of them out and did a great job.

I was planning on frosting all of them tonight, until I realized that I bought the wrong stuff for the royal icing.
I changed the moose up a bit and used the crushed velvet ribbon I picked up at goodwill and added a bell.
They are done! Yay, so one more thing checked off my list. Tomorrow I will package them up.
I'm off to bed and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Tiff

Day 9, Christmas Jammies, Dried Oranges, Table Runner, and Pets...

Long title, I know :) I've been working on gifts today, sorry I can't share them, they are surprises, but I can share the following for Day 9 of the countdown....

We have many Christmas Eve and Day traditions, and one of them is that every year the kids get matching jammies. This is not an easy task, considering the age range(baby to 17 yrs old) and that there are 5 boys and 2 girls. Plus, I don't want to spend a fortune(Hanna Anderson would be an easy out, but I would go broke!). Last year I got creative and did Target fleece bottoms with Hanes tshirts from Joanns(super cheap year). This year was more difficult, no one had anything that I particularly liked, and it was hard to find all the sizes I needed available. And the girls decided they didn't want jammies, they wanted nightgowns! I don't always do Christmas colors, I just mainly want them to coordinate. So finally I found these blue and white striped jammies for the boys(on sale!) and comfy solid blue nightgowns for the girls. The blues aren't exactly the same, but I think it will work and it is one more thing marked off my list, YAY!!!

I know you all are waiting to see more house pics, but I'm really just stalling with the family room because the main tree isn't how I want it yet. I didn't do my huge glass ornament collection this year because of Mason(didn't want to have to worry about broken glass or the glitter with him), so I did the tree totally different and its a work in progress. Though it is looking better since I found these dried oranges this morning on top my kitchen hutch. I had totally forgotten about them because the jar was behind other things(as you can see by the dust on it!). I think I made them a couple years ago and just threw them in with the other potpouri. Anyway, I put hooks on them and hung them on the tree and they smell nice too.
I washed the table runner from yesterday. I don't care for the cardinals in the middle of it, but they are covered by my bowl.
It adds a nice Christmas touch to the table.
And here is Sally after her grooming yesterday. I forgot to take a before pic, but let's just say that she looks MUCH better now.
And while I was taking her picture, Phoebe(who has the personality of a dog) had to come over and get her picture taken too.
Have a beautiful evening,

Tiff

Day 8, Candy Canes, Goodwill, and a Search....

Today was a half day in school for the kids, so the big ones were home by 11:30, I don't even know why they bother, just give the kids the day off. But anyway, I took the dog to the groomers(I can't wait to see her, she is still there), went to the grocery store, and my youngest daughter needed to sing at a middle school basketball game. After dropping the dog off we decided to stop at a local candy store(they make their own). I've been on the search for candy canes that aren't made in Mexico, I want some good old American made ones. The grocery store and Rite Aid both had different brands, both made in Mexico, and one even made in China(I'm sorry, I just feel like there is no way I could trust that).p>

We bought 8 candy canes, they are very thick and big, and for the price, the kids are going to have to savor them ;) All I really wanted was a bunch of small ones, but at least these ones are locally made. We bought traditional peppermint, watermelon, strawberry, bubblegum, and sugarplum(I have no idea what that is going to taste like).

I also bought a box of my favorites, Bangor taffy.
I made a quick run to Goodwill and found some goodies. For the family reunion, we have to find some ugly Christmas sweaters. I found one for my 4yr old, though it isn't really ugly, at least it's a sweater. And then there is this homemade knit sweater set for Mason, it looks a lot worse in person, which is a good thing! I think I may add some ugly trees or snowmen to it.
Also bought a bag of velvet ribbon, two vintage(or at least they look it) Santa bells, and a 6' long cotton and felt table runner(it's from Debbie Mumm). It needs to be washed, but will fit nicely on my long kitchen table and for $2.99 I couldn't have made it for that.
I then found this twin size coverlet, they had it marked as a tablecloth, but it clearly isn't. And if they had realized it was for a bed, it would have been a lot more than $4.99.
And last, I picked up this Santa outfit for Mason. I really just wanted the jacket, but it was a set for $1.99. I already ordered him a 1st Christmas shirt and matching candy cane striped pants, so thought the jacket would complete the outfit.Now for the Search part of the post. I'm looking for the old fashioned plastic squeeze bottles that were used for catsup or mustard. I can order them online, but I want them for this weekend. I have looked at the grocery store, the hardware store, and rite aid. I dread having to go to walmart, do they even have them? Does anyone know a store that carries them? I need them for decorating sugar cookies. Thanks for your help.

Have a delightful day,

Tiff

Day 7, Gnomes and Flowers...

Does anyone else feel like the days are set on Fast Forward? I haven't even had time to spend reading all of your blogs, I feel so behind. Here we are at Dec. 7th already! Today is the day hubby got out of the Navy 12 years ago. It is also our mini schnauzer's, Sally, 10th birthday. Not that she knows one day from the next, but she will be going to the beauty parlor tomorrow as her present :) Ok, that is really a present for us, she needs a shave and a better grooming than I can give her at home.

Today, after working in my closet, which still isn't done, I decided to take a break and make Mason a Christmas present. I had ordered this Santa Gnome panel from Super Buzzy a few weeks ago after I had seen it on Happy Zombie. When it arrived, I was a little disappointed, the colors weren't as vibrant as I hoped(they seemed a bit faded) and the quality of the fabric was not the best(kind of thin), but I had bought it and I didn't want to waste it. I wasn't sure what I was going to make with it.

I decided that Mason needs a little set of gnome friends to play with :)

I added a strip of fabric to the sides and an oval to the bottom so that they could stand. The little one has bells inside to make noise and this one has ribbons for textured grabbing.
I added a rattle to this one.
I still need to make the largest one, but I ran out of stuffing. I'm happy with how they came out and glad I actually made use of the fabric.
I have 7 Christmas cacti in my home and they all are in their blooming stage right now, but this one in my kitchen is putting on the Best show in the house.
Have a fantastic day,

Tiff