Same Look for Less: Cranberries

I've noticed so many cute Christmas crafts this year that seem to (or in fact DO) include CRANBERRIES.  I couldn't help but wonder how on earth the cranberries stayed "good" long enough to enjoy them in a candle arrangement, for example.  OR, better yet, where could you find artificial cranberries?????

I found some.  Well, I think they make a pretty good stand-in.  My daughter and I were at the Dollar Tree the other day, and lo and behold, I found: Decorative Container Filler.  Did you know they made this?  And, if you knew, why did you not tell me?  (wink - Truth be told, I was never really looking until now...)

At first, I thought they were tiny wooden balls, but no -- they are actually some kind of foamy product.  They are indeed cranberry in color, they vary in size, and have imperfections that make it look as if they have a spot where the stem was.

Thank you, I'll take two bags.

Dollar Tree, people!

** Word to the wise: when I blew the candle out, these little things FLEW!  Be careful!

And Can I Just Say...

... that I love my son's sense of humor?  Well, I do.

I saw this sign in a window when we were out shopping over the weekend, and it just struck me funny.  I said, "ooh, ooh, come stand here!!!"  And (wonder of wonders) he accommodated his crazy mama.

It's a classic, wouldn't you say?  Can you say new facebook profile?

(Since he okayed me sending it to him publicly on facebook,

I didn't think he would mind me sharing it with all of you.  Ya think?)

Let There Be Peace on Earth

I'm not saying that I always feel this way
...all the time.
...no matter what.

But what if we ALL DID?
...all the time.
...no matter what.
Think of the possibilities!

Weekend In Review...

We had a full weekend filled with family time and an adventure.

Friday night was my nephew's birthday.  He's 13.  How is that possible?  Because that means my girl turns 14 in February -- which will be here before we know it.

The kids checking out Sam's new baseball cards...

Saturday started with reading an article in our local paper about the USMC and Toys for Tots using our local blimp hangar for a drop-off point.  You could drive through the decorated blimp hangar, wave to Santa, and drop off your toy.  Well, we've donated to Toys for Tots before, and we are all about the blimp around here. (It flies over us all. the. time.). So, we decided to make it an adventure.

We stopped at the store, and bought some toys to contribute, and were on our way.

There was a long line!

And then...

And then...

And then...

There it was!  And there was Santa Claus too, sitting in the gondola.  (You can barely see him in my photo.  I think he was giving his waving arm a break!)  And where were the Marines, you ask?  Oh yes, I took pictures of them for sure!  The only thing is that they were so busy accepting gifts from all of the cars that every single picture I took of them was a complete blur.  No joke!

Saturday night we were honored to be invited to a Christmas Concert at a friend's church.

And Sunday was 2nd Sunday, and you know what that means.  Not only did we enjoy lunch with our extended family, but the kids got to help Grandma frost and decorate Christmas cookies -- a fun project for the 5 grandchildren (17, 13, 13, 12, & 11).

 Notice that even the Pillsbury Dough Boy showed up! 

As you can see, it was an "anything goes" project, and they were a little heavy-handed with the sprinkles.  No complaints here!  

(This one's mine on Christmas Day!)

But my very favorite might be this one (below).  My sweet nephew's cookie broke while he was frosting it.  He kept right on going, added sprinkles, and then added the broken piece on top for good measure.  I love that he didn't waste the broken piece.  (Too cute!)

Phew!  And now it's time for a nap.  Wouldn't you say?  We finally got the Christmas Tree all decorated, so after my nap, yeah, right, a nap! I'll vacuum up the pieces of tree and garlanding that got left behind, and try to get all the shopping bags in order.  My girl is ready to wrap some gifts for me tomorrow.  I'm not going to miss taking her up on that!

Project Pinterest: Crescent Pepperoni Roll-Ups

Original pin on Pinterest
Original source: Plain Chicken

While surfing on Pinterest, this photo caught my eye.  I knew my kids would love this recipe because it's another version of pizza!  These are so easy to make.  All you need are crescent rolls, pepperoni, cheese, and your favorite marinara sauce for dipping.  You can find more specific instructions at Plain Jane.

Though Plain Jane recommended turkey pepperoni, I used regular pepperoni -- because that's what I had on hand.  I also used a brick of mozzarella cheese cut into strips rather than string cheese.  This was a cheaper option for me.

The result?  Success.  I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the buttery-ness of crescent rolls along with the traditional pizza ingredients.  But, um, yes I did.  Delicious.  And oh, by the way, YES.  The kids liked them too!

Another easy dinner added to the recipe files!

Join Project Pinterest!

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1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.
2. Create it!
3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.
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5. Link up and check out other bloggers’ posts!