Clothespin Spring Star Ornament

One of my favorite blogs, Fireflies and Jellybeans is having an Iron Crafter competition where you have to come up with a craft using a secret ingredient. This particular round of Iron Crafter is featuring crafts made with clothespins. Well, it just so happens that I picked up a big package of closepins the other day at the Dollar Tree because I had an idea in mind to do some kind of Christmas card holder thingy. The Iron Crafter competition is based partly on originality and I have seen closepin card holder thingys (anyone have a more technical term for these?) all around blogland so I started playing around with them to see if I could come up with something more original.

And I think I did!

Well, I hope I did. I've never seen these before and I'll tell you I'm going to be seriously crushed if someone shows me that these have been done before because I'm feeling pretty high on the hog that I came up with these. Are you ready to have your mind blown?

May I present to you, my Clothespin Spring Star Ornament!

Dun, da, da da!

Aren't they cute in a rustic, fun, kitch-y kind of way? They are super easy to do too. All you need are some spring closepins, and some sort of string to hang them with. I chose some Hemp cord for jewelry, partly because I had it on hand and partly because it kind of reminds me of a clothesline and it goes along with the whole clothespin idea but you could use just about anything. I think some silver cord would also look super cute.

To make the star, I used 10 clothespin springs.


They easily pop off the the clothespin (at least they easily pop off the cheap-o Dollar Tree clothespins). Then you simply string the springs together and then shape into your desired shape.

Tie your string on and voila! Your very own clothespin spring ornament!

Coffee Sleeve Teacher Gifts and a teensy weensy giveaway

This year my daughter is involved in preschool, gymnastics and tap dancing which equates to five different teachers to give gifts to this Christmas. I don't have the budget for anything really spectacular but want to give a meaningful, thoughtful gift that the teachers would enjoy and use. This year I came up with Reusable Coffee Sleeves with a $5 coffee gift card tucked inside with a tag saying "Thanks a Latte!". It's not much but I think this gift along with a heartfelt card is a nice gesture. Heck, I'd like someone to give me a $5 coffee card. Gingerbread and Egg Nog Lattes are two of my favorite treats this time of year.

Anyway, these little babies were super easy to make. Here's a down and dirty breakdown on how I made mine:

I used two Christmas themed fat quarters purchased at Joann's. I was able to get 3 coffee sleeve out of one fat quarter. I also used some fusible fleece, some 1/8" elastic, some little red buttons and the typical sewing notions.

First I traced a pattern onto the wrong side of the fabric from a cardboard sleeve from the coffee shop. This particular one is from Caribou Coffee (I splurged and got the Hot Apple Blast which is A-MA-ZING! You must try it!).


Then I cut out my pattern giving myself 1/4 - 1/2" seam allowance. I cut the fabric folded so I got two pieces for each cut. Then I cut out one piece of fusible fleece using my cut out piece of fabric as a pattern.

Following the instructions on the fusible fleece package I fused the fleece onto the wrong side of one piece of the fabric. Then I sewed three sides of the two piece of fabric together wrong sides facing together. I left the side open that I was going to sew in the piece of elastic.

Once the three sides are sewn together, I turned the sleeve right side out and pressed flat with an iron. Then, I slipped in a small piece of elastic into the opened end and top stitched around the entire sleeve.

Finally I just attached a little red button and that's it!

Aren't they cute?
I'm not as impressed with my homemade tag but I'll work on it.

I'm not sure if you noticed but I made six coffee sleeves and I only need five! I decided to give my extra one away to one of my readers if any of you are interested! If you are a follower and would like a chance to receive one leave a comment and let me know! I'll leave the giveaway open until Wednesday, December 8.

Grinch In A Jar

I love the concept of a gift in a jar. It's the epitome of a gift that you would never buy for yourself but would love to receive.

Or would you?

Well I stumbled across this recipe for S'mores in a Jar and thought it would be perfect for Christmas with all the Christmas colored candies out there. I filed it away and pretty much convinced myself that this was what our neighbors would be receiving from our family this year.

That is until I showed the idea to my husband and he commented that while the jar looks cute he questioned what was going to happen with those neon colored Peeps and red and green M&M's when you bake it.

Hmm....good point. And thus this post was born. I decided to make the S'mores in a Jar myself to see what the end result would be because I would be really embarrassed to give one as a gift only to have the recipient be grossed out by neon green sugar goo.

And it's a good thing I did. Just look at what happens!

All Mixed Up

Ready to Bake
Green and Gooey

Even though the recipe contains all good things (brown sugar = good; butter = good; M&M's = really good; Peeps = good) when mixed together and baked it doesn't turn out to be a treat that I would be proud to serve to guests. In fact, it looks like I baked the Grinch that stole Christmas.

Granted maybe if I had used the white snowman peeps instead of the neon green Christmas tree ones it wouldn't look so.........interesting but it just didn't turn out that great. Even taste-wise it was kind of.......overwhelming. And I have a huge sweettooth and love S'mores.

So I'm back on the hunt for the perfect homemade-ish gift for my neighbors. Good thing Someday Crafts has a whole slew of neighbor gifts to choose from. I most certainly will not be submitting my Grinch in a Jar creation.

So consider this my holiday public service announcement for all my readers. Beware of S'Mores in a Jar! You can thank me later!

Our version of Elf on the Shelf

I love Christmas traditions. My Christmases growing up were sometimes less than ideal but I have tried to hold on to what traditions we did have and incorporate them into my family. For instance it was sort of a tradition that I would wake up at 4 in the morning (well before the sun even thought about coming up) and wake up my mom to see if Santa had come and I still do that although now I'm waking up my husband and daughter. And we did the typical Santa cookies growing up although back then they were usually Oreos or Chips Ahoy and now I try to bake Christmas cut out cookies or some new fangled cookie I have seen in a magazine.

This year I decided to throw in a new traditon to our family with our version of "Elf on the Shelf". I have heard about this for a couple of Christmases and thought it was a neat idea but frankly the elf the story came with freaks me out. He just looks kind of creepy and it gives me the heebie jeebies to even pretend that that little dude is scampering around my house at night. (I wonder how many sales the Elf on the Shelf people have lost because their elf looks like it belongs in a horror movie - and please if you are in love with the Elf on the Shelf do not take offense to my distaste for the little guy. I have a "unique" view on the world sometimes as my husband would say.)

Anyway, I started reading blogs where other people started using their own little elf creations and creating their own little story and I thought this was perfect. A while back I was perusing Hobby Lobby and I saw a little stuffed elf sitting on a shelf next to the snowmen and Santas and thought he would be ideal for our knock off elf on a shelf since he didn't creep me out in the least. So I brought him home, shoved him in a drawer and began planning how he would be revealed.

Well this morning ended up being the big reveal. My hubby and I decided to bring out Bosco (what we decided to call him for really no other reason than we were sort of watching that Seinfeld episode while we were discussing what to name the guy). The idea was that Santa sent this elf to fill the advent calendar and he was going to stick around to observe our daughter's behavior and then report back to Santa when he came on Christmas Eve. My husband and I filled our advent calendar up with little goodies and left Bosco out in front along with this little poem that we adapted from ones we have seen on the internet. Here's what it said:

Christmas is approaching and this is the day I have sent Bosco to your house to stay. Bosco has a purpose. His purpose will be, to whisper to me all the good that he sees. Soon after he gets here, he moves only at night. To high places, low places, he stays in plain sight. In the kitchen, for instance, he sits high on a shelf. Bosco can sit anywhere, for he is an elf. He holds very still when he thinks you are watching. His magic is precious, it fades with on touching. He sits on the tree on Christmas Eve day. He knows that I am soon on my way. He waits and he waits without making a noise. He waits until I arrive with the toys. So you better be nice and mind what you say because Bosco will tell me when I come on my sleigh. Once Christmas is here and I have gone, Bosco must leave, for his job is well done. But he will return next year on the very same day, To watch your behavior as you work and play. Sincerely, Santa Claus

My daughter was SO excited this morning about the filled advent calendar and the letter from Santa. And at the moment she seems skeptical about the whole elf thing but I think it'll be fun even if she doesn't really believe it. I might have waited a year too long before beginning this tradition. Oh well, at least she doesn't seemed freaked out by the idea of an elf running around the house at night!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Today I am taking a break from all the Christmas crafts and sharing the results of a trip taken out of boredom to Meijer today while I was waiting to pick up my daughter at preschool. I was blindly trolling the aisles picking up such treasures as Christmas themed Peeps and red and green M & M's when I stumbled down the laundry aisle. I have seen different recipes for homemade laundry detergent floating around blogland for a while and have been curious to try it but have never really gotten around to it. Well when I saw the ingredients in the laundry aisle and thought, what the heck, let's give it a whirl. If I hate it the most I would be out was the cost of supplies which incidentally were only $7.30 plus tax for the 3 ingredients. And it's not more unnecessary than the Peeps and M & M's that I am already buying. So I took the plunge.

The recipe I ended up using called for the following:

1 cup grated Fels Naptha soap
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

I used my food processor to grind and mix everything up and then threw it in a Lock & Lock container. You are supposed to use 1 - 2 tablespoons per load. I have yet to use it since I already did all my laundry this weekend in a rare episode of productivity so as soon as I have a full load I will give it a try and report back and let you know how it goes. So far though I am encouraged about how quickly it went together and the pleasant, unassuming scent of the soap.

Now, I just have to figure out what to do with those Peeps.

And the secret ingredient is....

Today I wanted to share "my" recipe for chili. And when I say "my" recipe, I really mean my mom's recipe and when I say my mom's recipe I really mean the recipe on the back of the McCormicks Mild Chili Seasoning Mix with a special secret ingredient.

This secret ingredient has the power to turn an ordinary, not so special pot of chili into a culinary masterpiece. Well that might be a little over dramatic and inaccurate but it does make the chili darn good.

Are you ready to hear the ingredient that will change your chili's life? Are you?

Wait for it...

Wait for it...


Brown Sugar.

Aw, snap! (Bonus points if you know where that bit of blathering comes from!) Brown sugar is the key. You follow the directions on the back and then add up to 1/4 cup of brown sugar when you add in the tomatoes and beans. I would start out with a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar first and see how you like it (my husband only likes a hint of sweetness in his chili) before you throw in the full 1/4 cup.

It is so yummy and the perfect way to warm up on a cold day. I usually serve "my" chili with chopped up onions, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream (not original ideas, these too are listed on the back of the package). Add a wedge of Jiffy cornbread and you have a glimpse into what I served for dinner last night! I do not have pictures of said meal because at this stage of my life I am not a food photographer and for the life of me couldn't take a picture of the chili that didn't make it look like Alpo. Sorry. And to clarify the chili in real life doesn't look like Alpo. Only my mediocre photography skills make it look like Alpo.

Bon Appetit!

Burlap Christmas Wreath

A few days ago, Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous made this awesome Holly Berry Burlap Wreath. I loved the rustic nature of it and decided to make my own version and this is what I came up with.

I ended up using a yard of red burlap that I bought with a Joann's 40% off coupon, some wired Christmas ribbon that was half off and a wire hanger from the dry cleaners making the total cost of this craft less than $3! (As a side note, I couldn't help but hear Joan Crawford scream "NO WIRE HANGERS" over and over in my head while I made this.)

First I fashioned my wire hanger into a rough circle shape. Then I cut three inch strips out of the burlap. I wasn't worried about the strips being perfectly straight since I was going for a rustic look. I mostly just followed the threads in the burlap to achieve a more or less straight strip. Then I just started threading the strips onto the hanger accordion style.


Once I had the fullness I wanted I secured the the two pieces of wire hanger with the ever useful duct tape. Then I adjusted the folds as necessary to achieve the look I wanted.
I took my Christmas ribbon and made a simple loop bow and the attached that to another simple loop that I wrapped around the wreath.
And Ta Da! My very own burlap wreath. I love how it turned out and while it is currently gracing my front door I think I'm going to make it's permanent home (permanent at least until Christmas) above my fireplace. I also see this being refashioned after the holidays into a Valentine's Day wreath. A change of ribbon and some reshaping of the wire should make that an easy makeover.


Thanks again to Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous for the inspiration!