Organized Makeup!

I found this makeup bag that came with makeup brushes, on line, through Amazon.  It's from Mary Kay, but I didn't order it from a representative...just on line.  I was able to load all of my make up inside, fold it up, and now I have it tucked in a drawer, ready to use or for travel!

One of my favorite gifts!

4 Faves

I bought some of these same products last year, and this year I asked for them again...for Christmas. Sunshine Farms is a place in Montgomery, Texas - a working farm and herb garden and shop - and I fell in love with the natural products they make there when we visited and toured their location with my family.

Here are a few of the goodies I love...check out their website here!

Table Runners

When is the last time you considered a new table runner?  They're great to switch out for the different seasons/holidays, and I'm about to switch in January to a more winter theme.  Target has great choices!

Black and white classic

Pine cone subtleties

Snowflakes for January

Decorating the Prickly

Every year we do "World Christmas" with our family - where we target people or countries - find out their needs - eat food - snacks - learn about - pray for - all to bless and believe for miracles for those who need it.

This year was "Decorating the Prickly" - a devo actually in A Bundle of THYME in December issue - except we used a real cactus for our "tree" - you can read and download the devo here.  It was so fun to watch the kids as we talked about the broken, the lonely, the fearful, the lost, the embarrassed and the others that are sometimes "prickly" or keep an arm's distance because of their hurts or wounds.

Each child was given the opportunity to pray for that group as he/she hung their ornament and shared with the group.  When santa was hung, the child passed out candy to each family member, and the same with the candy canes.  When the lonely and fearful were prayed for, we all put smiles on faceless cookies we bought from Starbucks.  And our youngest was the final participant as she placed a hopeful tree topper in the center of the cactus.  We then celebrated with poppers as we rejoiced at our prayers that will be answered for those we prayed for.

At the end, we all "wrapped" the potted plant with pretty tissue and a bow.  We took the unlovely and made it lovely with kindness, love, and prayer!

We took this ugly cactus:

and made it into something beautiful!

Kettle Cuteness

Today at a breakfast buffet, there was this:

a black kettle sitting atop a four-stack of bricks, with a sterno can underneath, keeping the syrup warm.

i took a picture because i loved the idea and want to use it at home for queso!  most people have extra bricks laying around, and all you'd need is just a few, to make the stack - and a black iron pot - and a burning can of fire.

isn't this so cute?

Dipped Ritz!

My friend gives me these cookies every year, and this year she left them on our doorstep in an oh-so-cute tin!  Here's how you make them:

Spread peanut butter between 2 Ritz crackers.
Dip in melted, microwaved white or dark chocolate.
Place sprinkles on top.

That's it!  And they are delicious!

Newspaper Wrap

No gift wrap?  Ran out of what you bought?  Can't afford the expensive paper?

No problem.  Just use newspaper.  Find your leftover ribbons and tie them on, and you've got a pretty array under your tree!

Spices, Anyone?

My son and daughter-in-law just hung a new spice rack in their kitchen and it's so very cute.  The painting above it even matches the lids on the spices!  The rack is from Hobby Lobby - it has the shelf for the spices - a bar for your towel beneath!  You'll have to visit the store for this one...

Steak, Biscuits & Veggies

Tonight we needed to cook what we had in the fridge, which included a steak, leftover biscuits, and veggies.

I tossed the veggies (green beans, baby kale, potatoes, onions and carrots) in olive oil and s&p and roasted them at 425 for 15 minutes, stirred, and then 15 more.  In an iron skillet, I toasted the biscuits (cut into small cubes) in olive oil and butter.  In the meantime, I rubbed a nice steak seasoning on the steak (seasoning from World Market) and grilled the steak in the same pan, after the biscuit croutons were done.

Then I let the done steak rest, cut into cubes, and tossed all of the ingredients together!

Delish...

Sweater Cookies!

I found these tonight at Starbucks and bought three boxes for our Christmas with the family - ugly Christmas sweater cookies!  They're on sale right now 40% off and come in a set of seven.  If you've got a bit more money than time...to make homemade cookies...get these!  You can even have tubes of icing on the table and let your guests give the cookies faces!

And I've heard they're tasty, too!

No Sippy Cup

This is not cute nor fancy, but practical and a genius solution to a common dilemma.  Our kids came over and we didn't have a cup for the youngest, so my smart son-in-law put cling wrap on a plastic cup and inserted a straw through a slit. It worked like a charm!  Stayed tight and no spills!

Christmas Supper

We had our kids over all day and enjoyed this easy dinner - that was a snap to make ahead.

This morning in the crockpot went:

1 32 oz package frozen meatballs
1 package frozen peppers and onion
2 28-oz cans of diced tomatoes with italian seasonings
1 6-oz can tomato paste

cook on high 4-6 hours or low 8-10 hours - serve with rolls and grated Parmesan cheese

Last night I sliced four baking potatoes into rounds and buttered both sides and sprinkled with salt - roasted until done - and let them cool.  Placed in the fridge until this evening.  I grated cheese, crumbled cooked bacon, and sliced up green onions.

When ready to eat, I just topped the rounds and heated them up in the oven and served.

Yumm!

No-Bake Fudge

This is a no-bake fudge - super easy - super tasty!

1 12oz pkg semisweet chocolate cips
1/4 c butter
2 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 c chopped almonds or pecans
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

melt chips and butter together til smooth.  in a bowl, combine crumbs and nuts.  stir in the condensed milk and vanilla until crumbs are moistened, then stir in chocolate mixture.  pat evenly in a 12X8 inch greased pan.  Let stand at room temp about 2 hours before cutting.

That's it!

Peanut Bread

Tried this new recipe today - peanut bread - i love it!

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 T sugar
4 cups buttermilk baking mix
1 can cocktail peanuts chopped (1 1/2 cups)
shortening

in a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  add sugar and 2 cups of the baking mix.  beat on med speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl frequently, stir in remaining baking mix and peanuts . scrape batter from sides of bowl, cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 30 min.

stir down batter by beating 25 strokes, spread evenly in greased loaf pan, smooth top.  cover and let rise again, 35 minutes.

heat oven to 325.  bake about 55 min til brown.  remove and brush top with shortening and cool on a rack one hour.

served with whipped honey butter:  1/4 cup honey, 1/4 soft butter and 1/2 t grated orange peel beaten til fluffy.

Flavored Butters

Flavored butters are easy to make and store for Christmas morning...and biscuits!

I made four different flavors, using 1/2 stick unsalted butter for each and then mixing in:

chopped pecans and honey
cranberries and peanuts and a bit of sugar
orange juice and zest, and almonds
pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar

You can mix in any flavors that sound appealing to you.

Make sure the butter is at room temperature, then mix in the flavored ingredients.  Wrap in wax paper, into a small log, and twist the ends shut - label - and refrigerate!

Minty Lemon

Have you enjoyed this old-timey treat?  You have to get the old-fashioned peppermint sticks, the soft kind.  I found them today at Walmart.  Next, you cut off the two ends at an angle, and cut an X slit in a lemon.  Insert the stick and use it as a straw!

The peppermint mixes with the lemon juice and it's so good!

My Favorite Supper

One of my favorite meals is roasted veggies.  But tonight I added a couple of extras - sauteed sausage rounds cooked to almost a crisp - and I added in skinny green beans in my roasted veggies - and they too turned out tasty and crisp.

Slice sausage into rounds.  Cook in a skillet, turning once, until crispy brown. Serve skewered on toothpicks.

Slice tomatoes - salt and pepper them.

Cut up your favorite veggies, toss in olive oil, S&P and italian seasonings - roast at 425 turning once, for about 15 minutes each side...until tender.

Enjoy...it's very satisfying!

Tote for Wrapping!

This totebag doesn't look exciting, but I have so enjoyed its use this holiday season!  It's a large, natural tote bag from Hobby Lobby - super inexpensive.  It's very roomy and has outside pockets.  I use it house my wrapping supplies - shirt boxes, sheets of name tags, and tissue paper go inside, and flat bags, tape, scissors, and a pen go in the pockets.  I then carry it the room where I set up to wrap, grab the rolls of paper and I've got it all right there - contained and easy to put away!

Christmas PJ's

Christmas pajamas are so fun for the kids, and in case you haven't gotten them yet, Old Navy has a big selection of comfy cute ones!

Click here to see more!'

Fun Tea Towels

Visited a festival today and saw these oh-so-cute tea towels that are handmade and unique and have awesome graphics of all kinds of food!  Check out their site at Fisk and Fern

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For the Family

Have you and your family seen this movie?  I have not...yet.  But I have heard from several this season that it is their favorite Christmas movie.  They say the story is awesome.  So we hope to all watch it over the holiday season!  Coat of Many Colors.

Traveling?

i LOVE packing cubes and bags - and these from eddie bauer are 40% off right now - they are so fun to have for road trips and vacations!

packing squares

packing squares

travel bag

Handmade Notepad

Handmade gifts are the best...

I have a group of friends I meet for lunch, and one of them brought each of us a notepad she made from scraps of stock.  She had notepaper cut, affixed the pad to a book cover she made, and wrapped a pen in netted ribbon around it.  And the one I got matches my kitchen perfectly.

I absolutely love gifts like this.  And even though they take time and effort, these are great for gift giving this year...if you've got the know-how and the heart.

Thank, you Amy!

Stocking Bags

Do you stuff stockings?  Do you wrap the stocking gifts?  I wrap most of them, but I don't want to fold and tape paper on all of them, so I look for cute small bags where I can insert the gift quickly and easily and drop it in the stocking.

I found these today at Dollar General - a whole pack for $1!  Super cute and useful and adorable! They're square bags with a draw string - perfect!

For Him

Cool gift for him...great price :) Click here!

Trio of Scents

I couldn't find these on line, probably because they are a holiday promotion.  They are three perfumes that come in a sample pack, and they're found in the checkout line at Old Navy.  I had thought of divvying them up for stocking presents, but I loved the scents of all three so much that I'm keeping them for myself!

For the Boys

Toys for the boys...

Hungry bear target - (I found it cheaper at TJ Maxx) but you can order on line from Toys R Us.

Star Wars pajamas (I found at a discount at Ross but you can order from Kohls)

Flip a Zoo pets - these are so cute! from Walmart...the animal flips from one to the other!