Christmas Day

Yep. I'm just now getting around to posting our Christmas pictures. Better late than never, right? :)

Santa came by and brought a few presents. The unwrapped ones are from him. Jer wanted the Toy Story scooter so much he asked for it in a letter and in person.

Irish Soda Bread

This bread doesn't require any yeast (my favorite kind) and has a biscuit-like quality.

Beef and Ale Stew

My husband actually made this one and it was amazing! Absolutely the best stew I've ever had. And it wasn't just because I didn't have to cook it. :)

Decoupaged Helmet

This was a project that I did over two months ago and I am just now getting around to posting it because...well...I have no good excuse. Other than I'm a flakey loser. :p

It was a great project too! Because it involved an adorable baby boy...

Iced Dip Bowl

I'm always paranoid about keeping food the right temperature at parties. Not just because the food tastes better but because I would feel awful if anyone got food poisoning. I have a warming tray and mini crock pots for the hot foods but cold food is always a challenge.

For our Christmas party I made this ice bowl for the veggie dip. I thought some of you might be able to use it for a New Year's Eve party or other future event.

Covered Pretzels

A Christmas classic! Covered pretzels are my favorite traditional Christmas treat. This is a little last minute but I'm sure most of you already know how to make these anyway. :)

Christmas Party!

We had our Christmas party on Saturday and I've had requests to post pictures of the party and the food so here you go! :)

I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of our Christmas decor at night so here are a couple of shots of the living room.

Cappuccino Truffles

Any coffee lovers out there? This recipe is for you!

Peppermint Wreath

I made one of these last year inspired by Martha Stewart's Halloween wreath. She didn't have a very detailed tutorial though so this year I made another one and took pictures of each step.

Slice and Bake Sugar Cookies

My husband loves my sugar cookie recipe but rolled cookies are so time consuming that I don't make them very often. I'm not a big fan of store bought slice and bake cookies though so I came up with a way to use this same method but with my own recipe!

Christmas School

For the next couple of weeks we are doing Christmas themed school work! For those of you interested in using these with your kids, below is a list of some of the resources we are using. Most of the websites are geared towards preschoolers but a few have pages for older kids as well.

PreKinders

They have lots of craft ideas, book lists and printables including this Christmas tree with ornaments that can be sorted by color or pattern. Find them all here.

Bacon Wrapped Sausages

These are *always* a big hit at parties. I usually make a double batch and they are still gone within twenty minutes!

Snowball Candleholders

These snowball candle holders were really easy and I love how they turned out!

Eggnog Cheesecake

Yes, it's another cheesecake. I can't help myself! I love cheesecake and can't resist trying the seasonal flavors. I'm going to have to spend weeks at the gym recovering from all of the holiday treats but it is sooo worth it! This one was delicious. I don't remember where I got the recipe but I changed a few things anyway so I'll just claim it as my own now. :)

White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

This is my favorite Christmas treat and it never lasts long around our house!

Sugarplums

No Whoville would be complete without some "sugarplums" so I came up with these:

No Sew Tree Skirt

This tree skirt was super easy and the fabric was on sale so it only cost about $3!

Christmas Decor

All of our Christmas decorations are up! Jeremy has been loving it and it is so much fun to see the magic of Christmas through his eyes.

The tree is pretty much the same as last year. Simple with the star tilted whoville-style. Yes, the tree is fake. I'm allergic to the real thing and I don't want to pick up pine needles anyway.

Christmas Link Party - Over 100 Ideas!

Welcome to the Christmas Link Party! I am so excited about this one and can't wait to see all of your amazing ideas. This party will go all month long (because I am way to scatterbrained to set up a new party each week) so keep checking back in to link up and check out everyone else's links.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Here is another one of my favorite pumpkin recipes. I love pumpkin and cheesecake so you combine the two and it is pure bliss! :)

Pumpkin Bread

It's Thanksgiving week which, in my house, means lots of pumpkin desserts! This is a quick bread recipe which is my favorite kind because I hate working with yeast.

Secret Hollow Book

This secret hollow book would be a great gift for kids, especially if they are into spy stuff. It would also a fun way to wrap a gift. Make one out of a horrible sounding book and watch the person pretend to like the decoy present!

Photo Magnet

I've seen marble magnets all over the place but they are always done with scrapbook paper. I decided to change things up a bit and use a picture instead. I think it would make a fun gift for grandparents!

Recipe Book

Once again this is for myself and won't check a name off of my Christmas list. I have made these as gifts in the past though. It is a book full of my family's favorite recipes. It can be a great gift for people just starting out on their own as well as newlyweds or even people just looking for new meal ideas.

Brown Sugar Body Scrub

After slacking on my gift making the last couple of weeks, I finally finished one!

Okay so technically this is a gift for myself but it still counts right?

CSN Gift Certificate Winner!

First, I want to say thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway for a $20 CSN Stores gift certificate! I meant to announce the winner late last night but sleepiness got the best of me. :) The winner is...

Happy Halloween!

Okay so maybe it's a little late but I wanted to share some pictures from our Halloween Party!

It started with the invites...

$20 Gift Certificate to CSN Stores!

TRICK OR TREAT!

I have a special Halloween treat for you in the form of a $20 Gift Certificate to CSN Stores!

CSN Stores is comprised of over 200 online stores, selling just about everything.

From Children's Backpacks:

Dry Ice Effects

When I showed you my Bloody Drink Labels and Sign I mentioned that we were going to have a punch bowl with dry ice. Yesterday we picked some up so that we could experiment with it before the party!

Large Spiderweb

This awesome spiderweb by Sew Woodsy inspired me to make a similar one myself:

Reader Inspired

I thought I would do this Halloween Link Party feature a little differently and share a few links that inspired me to try them for myself!

Muse Lodge shared this awesome bloody window:

Vampire Teeth Placecard Holders

I got the idea for these here at Creepy Cupcakes. If you haven't visited her blog - go now! Carrie Mae always has amazing and inspiring creepy projects to share.

Creepy Mice with Glowing Eyes

I saw an idea for something like this in BHG's Halloween issue and tweaked it a little. All you need is a piece of cardboard cut into the shape of a mouse with a hole for the eye and a battery operated tea light candle with the flame removed (use needle nose pliers).

Bits and Pieces

I added a few quick, little things to our Halloween decor today. I saw this eyeball wreath from A Girl and a Glue Gun a couple of weeks ago. I had all of the stuff on hand and decided to make one to fill a blank wall in the kitchen. I just took a twig wreath that I had picked up at Goodwill for $.75 and jammed the sticks through some leftover squishy eyeballs that I picked up at Target last year, then I just added a Dollar Tree raven.

Forgotten Cemetery

While visiting my in-laws in the country, we discovered an old graveyard surrounded by corn fields. Most of the stones were about 150 years old and many were broken or illegible. I was able to get some pretty cool shots and I thought this would be a good time to share. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Toy Story Woody Costume

Jeremy decided that he wanted to be Woody from Toy Story for Halloween this year. Everything we had for the costume was black though so it turned out more like Woody's dark side but if you knew my arnory little boy you might say that it is rather fitting. ;)

Embroidery Hoop Art

After making my Embroidery Hoop Birdcage I still had several $.10 Goodwill embroidery hoops leftover. I knew this project from The Graphics Fairy would be the perfect way to use some more of the hoops and fill up a small patch of wall space in the living room.

Potion Jars

I added some more potion bottles to the brewing area! All of the labels are from Love Manor and can be found here.

Embroidery Hoop Birdcage

I decided that our Halloween decor needed a creepy birdcage to house a couple of our crows. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on one so I decided to make this one out of things we already had around the house!

Spare Parts

We have a box full of old costumes for people who come to our party costume-less. When I saw this picture from The Graphics Fairy I knew it would be a perfect sign for the costume box. So I used photoshop to remove the center image and added the 'Spare Parts' text. I thought it was kind of funny but maybe I just have an odd sense of humor. :)

Here is the printable version in case you share my weird sense of humor:

Abby Sciuto Costume

Since my husband is going to be Gibbs for Halloween, he convinced me to be Abby. I think this may have been his main motivation for choosing his costume. ;)

Leroy Jethro Gibbs Costume

Were you able to guess my husband's Halloween costume from the clue in this post? Well...he is going to be Leroy Jethro Gibbs from NCIS! He will start out the evening in office attire:

Then later in the evening switch to the Gibbs working on his boat in the basement costume:

Bloody Drink Labels

I'm not a big Twilight fan but I loved the bloody labels from Hostess Blog's Twilight Party and I just had to make some for Halloween.

Let The Halloween Decorating Begin!

It's not a whole lot different from our everyday decorating but...I finally started our Halloween decorating!

Freezer Paper Stencil

I have been seeing freezer paper stencil shirts all over the place lately and I decided to try it for our Halloween costumes!

Spooky Photo Effects

I've told you before how much I love Picnik. Well, it just got even better. They now have fun Halloween effects to play around with!

BEFORE:

Turned black and white, added some vampire eyes and a little ghost effect...

200+ Halloween Ideas

Welcome to our month-long Halloween Link Party! I can't wait to see all of your amazing projects. :) You are welcome to link up as many Halloween themed projects as you want, so keep stopping back here to link up your ideas and to find inspiration from others.

Apple Crunch Pie

It has been rainy and overcast lately which means it's time for baking!

Mmmm....smells like fall. :) I have been using this amazing apple pie recipe for over ten years and it never disappoints. In case you are wondering, I am 27. Do the math and you will discover that I was one of those nerdy teenagers who would sit at home on a Friday night baking apple pie and reading Pride and Prejudice. And I am proud of it! :p Writing that makes me think of Taylor Swift's "Thug Story". If you haven't seen it, go check it out now. It is hilarious!

Skeleton Key Necklace

I love skeleton keys and instead of just using them in my decor, I decided to make one into a necklace! This particular one unlocks the hope chest that my parents gave me when I was younger so it is extra special. Check out my tutorial below to find out how to make your own!

First, take about 12" of thin wire and wrap it around the top of the key twice:

$1 Spooky Picture Frame

For the most part, I like my Halloween decor to be sophisticated with a touch of spooky rather than having goofy pumpkins or gruesome corpses. I also like creating things that can be used in my slightly spooky decorating year-round. Which is why I really like this project. Well, that and it was really easy!

Beer Bread

I got this amazing recipe from my amazing husband! It is a moist and heavy bread so it is perfect for fall baking and it goes great with any meal. You can use any beer that you want but my favorite is George Killian's Irish Red because it adds a lot of flavor.