Sneak Peak from The Sampler!

Well, now that the holiday madness has ended, its time for new madness to commence. January beings a lot of stuff for us. From a fun Disneyland trip to CHA to getting down and dirty working on an auction to raise funds for the boy's elementary school... All good things.... All a lot of work... I think I will keep January's kit from the sampler close by to get 2013's project life album started with some love. Speaking of love, how about a sneak peak?

holiday inspirations...

my love of woodgrain patterned papers made me post this.... super cute! super easy!

Cosmo Cricket Holiday Tins




ok. back to making merry....

brettlet, if your reading this, stop now.

these are so going into brettlet's stocking this year.

super simple valentines cards!

these cards are super simple. a blank card, the hero arts designblock: flourish stamp, clear embossing ink, a clear/glitter embossing powder, a 1x4" strip of contrasting cardstock, and a black pen. simply stamp and emboss your flourish, attach your journaling stril of cardstock, write your message, attach a rhinestone for good measure and VIOLA! you have a super simple valentine for someone special. 

the inside reads "... love slave?". yea i know, i stole it off a papyrus card i saw at target a while back, but it was cute!  

ok, now i have to get these bad boys in the mail. YIKES!

sunshine and bunnies, holly*

beary sweet valentines album

with valentines day taking over our house for the rest of the week, i thought i would post the inside of the bear shaped album i did recently. 

  

 

 

 

tomorrow starts cookie and cupcake baking. will be sure to take photos. are you doing anything for valentines day?

sunshine and bunnies, holly*

skipping some small things...

but sticking out a super cold! hooray. erm. ok. anywho, so stuffy and weak, but not tired. i want to do stuff. i've knitted all day and did some light cleaning, but i know this cold is a direct result of sleeping 2-4hours each night for over two weeks. half insomnia and half just me working on projects. so, i learned my lesson and have been trying to catch up on sleep. i got naps this afternoon, but i've been sleeping in the spare bedroom, which isnt a horrible bed, but its not like sleeping my bed. BUT, i've been avoiding that because i dont want to breath sickness all over husband and child. i think tonight i might just crash out on the couch whilst watching harry potter. my favorite pass time.

anywho, i have super fun stuff coming up. we're having a valentines cookie decorating party with some of the boy's friends. i have a bit of an icing delima. i cant decide what to use. i have a recipe for "sugar cookie" frosting, but it takes a long time to set which might prove to be entirely too much of a mess for 3 toddlers. so, here is a poll. need helps! let me know!!!



i was also planning on making valentines cupcakes to send with husband to work. because thats how i roll. i was seeking a super yum chocolate cupcake with a thick chocolate frosting with candy cane hearts on top!!! i have loads of mini candy canes let, so how could i not?

anywho, i think i will clean off the bar a little. not exactly a high impact chore but will make me feel better. i need to save my energy to do the dishes tomorrow. woots.

sunshine and bunnies,

holly*

hey, 2009.

If I hadn't made me, I would've been made somehow..
If I hadn't assembled myself, Id've fallen apart by now.
If I hadn't made me, I'd be more inclined to bow.
Powers that be, Would have swallowed me up
But that's more than I can allow.
But...

If you let them make you, they'll make you Paper-Mache
At a distance you're strong, until the wind comes
Then you'll crumble and blow away.
If you let him fuck you there will be no foreplay.
Rest assured, They'll screw you complete, Until your ass is blue and grey!

You should make amends with you,
If only for better health.
But if you really want to live,
Why not try, and Make yourself?
Make yourself (Make yourself)

If I hadn't made me, I'd have fallen apart by now.
I won't let them make me..It's more than I can allow.
So when I make me, I won't be paper-Mache..
And if I fuck me...I'll fuck me in my own way.



happy new year everyone!

sunshine and bunnies,
holly*

easing back into reality.

christmas was wonderful. so much good food and good company. now, the house is a disaster and i have no idea where to start. so much christmas to clean up. our poor trash collectors are going to hate me this week. we opened gifts with husband's family at our house this year and we have so much recycling. our FULL bin went out friday. i brought it back in that afternoon and completely filled it again AND i broke down a stack of boxes at least a foot high. ugh. oh wells. 

i have a huge to do list. things like:

~clean up and put away christmas

~finish january class album for Memories Live On

~finish and mail atc swaps for january (i have 6 swaps this month!)

~work on some samples for memories live on

~figure out possible travel to houston

~see who/what's going on for new year's eve (really hoping for a few friends and family coming over for board games, munchies and watching the ball drop. dorky hats and noise makers included)

~clean out toddler from car.

~hang super cool pottery barn shelving so i can organize designated crafting area

~continue shopping for clearance ornaments. (i have big plans for wreaths next year)

~update blog (check)

~update blog with holiday photos

~load photos

~post cookie recipes and inform joe that while husband does not weigh 400lbs, i have added a little to him since we met. 

all of which i fully intend on doing. soon at that. right....

merry belated christmas and happy early new year if i dont get back to you kiddies!

sunshine and bunnies, 

holly*

CHRISTMAS COOKIE MANIA!!!

this is a little of what i did last night. call me crazy... no, really. crazy. 9 hours of straight baking...

i found these super cute boxes at target to pack cookies in for gifts. i bought the 6 that were there. i wish they had MOAR!

Spritz cookies. these were super fun to make. and yummy. must make more!

cocoa cookies with powder sugar on top. they're bitter but the powder sugar is just right. 

box for husband's coworkers.

another box i packed for husband to take to work.

o christmas tree

our tree is freakin huge this year. i thought we had like a 7 foot tree last year. i was wrong. it had to have been closer to 6. i say this because this year's tree is somewhere around 8ft and it dwarfs last year's tree. anywho, its in the house and decorated. i think my tree has developed a theme finally. i'm going to call it a "handmade toy wonderland" erm... well yea. i have a few hand pieced sequin ornaments that my grandma sent me and some felt ornaments that are adorable. other than my "keepsake" ornaments, most of the stuff on the tree came from kmart of all places. martha has a line of candy/cookie/toy themed stuff that i adore. i got a wooden bell and russian doll that are so cute along with some tin cars and wagons. and the painted jingle ball is so cool. all those glittery balls come from kmart too, like a dozen for $5 or so. i bought most of it last year, but they have the same stuff this year again so i think i will be making a december 26th trip there. i normally wouldnt shop at kmart, but its the only store in our town that i could buy christmas lights and staples for my staple gun in the same swoop. actually, they didnt even have the staples. anywho, i hope your trees are just as fabulous as i think mine is.

fancy glass bird i got last year at a little boutique while shopping with my mom. she has the same one on her tree. this is also the only glass ornament i would allow on my tree. all the other balls are shatterproof which i HIGHLY recomend for anyone with a small child.

i really like these polka dot balls. i have all the colors from the martha collection, but i want more. i saw that michael's had some glittery balls that had dots too. might need to see if they have any of those left after christmas.

giant painted jingle ball. it really jingles. the boy has proven so time and time again.

love the russian dolls. i'm not calling them by their real name because i will more than likely misspell it, but what else it new?

love this little wooden bird!

husband's grandma made this ornament when my MIL and FIL were married still. on the back its dated 1978 on the back. happy 30th bday ornament!

one of the sequin ornaments i got out of my grandma. its so cute!

the whole tree. not a great photo at all, but i will get more. soon. maybe even better ones. notice the wooden bead garland towards the bottom. its perfect! its only one strand. no others exists. i'm sad. 

best snickerdoodle recipe EVAR!

the fabulous woman who is the heart and sole (and baker) over at how to eat a cupcake has posted her holiday cookie extravagaza! one of the cookies she made was a snickerdoodle which i have been craving for weeks, but never saw one that actually looked good. when i saw her post and recognized that i had all the ingredients, i had to make them. they were super easy, super quick and beyond yummy. i will never buy another snickerdoodle as long as i have this recipe.


**photo borrowed from howtoeatacupcake.net**

hello blog. how are you?

i'm doing good. busy. but busy is good. i totally got the christmas decorations up. one day this week we're planning on going to pick out a tree and i will decorate it accordingly. then, this weekend, i'm planning on stapling lights to the house. griswald style. gifting is working out well. i still have loads to make for people, but i have lists completed. the small child has come down with a cold. he's a bit pathetic. all snotty and scratchy sounding. he's holding up the christmas cards though. i was planning on slipping in a picture with santa into them, but there is no way i'm taking him for another round with santa in his condition. round one with santa was quite interesting. we had been talking about going to see santa and he was cool with that, but, as soon as i asked him to sit on santa's lap, he was clingier than one of those koala bear's that holds onto things. you know the ones. so yea, no picture with santa.

anywho, i should finish packaging up the cards and tags that will be for sale at Memories Live On shortly. woots. (easier than etsy for this round.)

until next time...

sunshine and bunnies,
holly*

you're always on my mind.

ok, so, there has been a lot of claims that i have been on some sort of drug lately. apparently its the only way to explain why i would have offered to host thanksgiving this yea. whatever.

none the less, i've been thinking about it a lot. i mean, it is only a couple weeks away. i want to make sure its a nice day. it is, in fact, husband's favorite holiday. i think it has something to do with the yummy foods and lack of gift giving. anywho, so i have seating figured out, i'm working on a meal plan (because turkey and dressing need more explaining), the house is covered in pumpkins, and i have a stash of wine that shouldnt be allowed within 10miles of the local AA meeting. the only thing left is to order one of these pans.


cute! now i just need to figure out a cakelet recipe for it. i was thinking something not too sweet. maybe even cornbread. cornbread with maple pumpkin butter. eh? no? leave a comment then with your bright ideas, mister smartie pants!

anywho, its back to the papercutting salt mines for me. ACK! paper cuts in a salt mine? no thanks!

ok, i'm bored with halloween.

not really, but its been non-stop halloween all week. so i stuff treat bags for our party on friday i ask myself: was making 8 stuffed owls really a good idea? i seriously have blisters on my right middle finger knuckle from cutting all this crap. now i MUST sew them. MUST. most of the party is prep'd. we have "owl dropping: dip, curddled goats milk" spread, "OWLoween" pizza for the kiddies and so on and so forth. crafts for the kids are good to go. all i have left are those effing owls and the pumpkins husband and i are carving tonight.

ok, how about a break from halloween and onto christmas. nevermind thanks giving.



STAR TREK NUTCRACKERS?!?!?! how flippin cool are these?!?!? i want. i need. i must have.

ok. back to halloween for a bit.

boogerbear costume sneak peak.

a while ago i mentioned the boogerbear was going to be a treatosaurus, but, upon closer inspection, i decided against it and moved on. since this year we're having an "OWLoween" party, i thought he should be an owl. i made the top today.




there are basic brown sweat pants to match. i'm thinking of making a "nest" for a "treat bucket" or might make something that looks a little like a tootsie roll pop. who knows. i might not do anything.

i made a punkin pie.

you, little punkin, will be PIE!


NO HOLLY*! thats NOT PIE!

not cooked punkins.

cooked punkins. 

mushed punkin.

mmm... sugar.

yup. i made my own crust.

almost punkin pie. 

mmmn. . . PIE! (yes, i even made that whipped cream. whipped buttermilk cream actually. doesnt sound good, but compliments the punkin pie very well)