Gift Cans

We had our Back to Basic's Night at my house tonight..The project was gift cans...I saw the idea on a few other blogs and loved it..They are so easy to make..Just use a saftey can opener and open the bottom of the can...fill it with goodies and then hot glue the bottom back on...No one the wiser...The gals did an awesome job of decorating their cans..Love them.....

Holiday Cane

I had bought a cane for Peter for his Halloween costume and didn't want it to go to waste....Just a little paint, some ornaments, and hot glue..and voila..a Fabulous Holiday Cane..just don't try and use it to walk anywhere soon..

Homemade "the best" Caramel

Harshma posts on Allrecipes.com the exact recipe that my family has used for years...the only difference is that I add chopped walnuts at the end....I put mine in the freezer after till ready to give out..or more likely snack on...

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine
1 pound light brown sugar
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed
milk
1 cup light corn syrup
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
1.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Cook for 2 minutes at that temperature. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.
2.
Meanwhile, butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. When the caramel is ready, pour into the buttered pan. Allow to cool completely at room temperature. Remove from the pan and cut into squares using scissors. Wrap individual pieces in waxed paper or cellophane.

Wreath of history

What do you do with old ornaments that you don't want to hang on the tree but you can't throw away for sentimental reasons....Glue them to a wreath and everyone is happy...

years in the making

A great way of remembering the years around Christmas.. Just a long ribbon, photos of each year and some stars to shine...

snowman

A project that was finished a few years ago but a great and fun idea...Just three hat boxes of different sizes, some black and white paint, and ribbon...Voila..a Snowman that will never melt...

Christmas Countdown

At our Fab Friday a frien displayed her Christmas Countdown using a cookie sheet..I know it's not an origanl idea but I inspired me to do one too...I found a cookie sheet at a Goodwill and painted it white, then sprayed it with glitter...I took awhile to figure out what color scheme to use.

It doesn't show well against the white wall but it came out great I think..I used vintage pictures for each day..Since there are magnets on the back of the pictures I can store them on the back side of the cookie sheet for each day...I just ran out of red Numbers so I need to go back to Michaels to finish the days....

oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree

I'm having way too much fun getting ready for the holidays. A friend of mine..Nanalee displayed this craft at our Fab Friday and I had to make my own...it is so fun and so easy...

Corky

I love free stuff..I won this cork board at our Fab. Friday event recently...and I couldn't just leave it plain...with a little ribbon and some cute scrap paper voila...A fashionable Cork Board..

Love It..

It's too late now but next year this is on my list of to dos..So cute..I found it here .

Halloween Party Decorations...Part 1

I am in charge of the Ward Halloween Party this year..I wanted to do pumpkins and bats for decorations..Not scary and goes with the Scripture Themed Party...of course there are lots of skeletons in the bible...but I'll just stick to the simple way....I found the idea for the pumpkins here and for the lanterns here. I'll be making the bats next...

I'm a witch...

I love the vintage pictures found at Graphics Fairy . This was fun and so me....

Hanging with the Season

I had fun with this one..I spray painted the branch and (half my hand) black..Then took the seasonal branches sold at Michaels..tore them apart and used their wires to hang the ornaments individually...It came out great...and was quick..Which is what I need these days..

Halloween Garland

I saw this idea on Serendipity and loved it...I put mine in the window because there is no more room on the mantel..The vintage cards are fantastic..I'm getting all kinds of ideas for them...

Fall Leaves

I made this last year..just took a couple of leaf templates found on the internet and some scrap paper and voila..a fall garland....

Fall Out

This blog inspired me PrettyPartridge ...I saw bats hanging and thought I can do something with my hanging lamep..Love the idea of adding a border to the lamp shade..I will remember this for Christmas too...I love decorating the house for Fall and Halloween and even if next week's weather will seem more like summer..I'm ready for Fall...

Babies everywhere...

I did something I haven't done for awhile..Sewn...I have a triple babyshower tonight and wanted to give something homemade..Just me this is as homemade as it gets..It doesn't help that I'm still learning how to use the sewing machine..They turned out cute..a little burping cloth with a bib to match and a binky clip to go..Now onto my new niece's set...

photos taken of Salt Lake Temple

New Cards

Some of the scrapbook paper I found in Utah...I also realized that I'm not missing anything....There are great crafts stores here in the Northwest..I just had to go to Utah to realize that....

lunch boxes

I had a pre-photo but we erased it by accident...This is the after..not much but I wanted to Embellish them a little..They each have the same initals but you can definetely tell who's is who's...

Pasta con Ricotta Salata

This is the easiest pasta salad to throw together....

5 roma tomatoes

1box of pasta

handfull of basil

8 ounces of Ricotta Salata.....it's a semi-hard cheese found in the import deli section

olive oil

cook pasta according to package..We love Barilla in this house.. drain the pasta and mix in a little bit of olive oil...put in frig to cool down..in the mean time grate the cheese and cut up the tomatoes and basil..When the pasta has cooled down, toss everything together adding more olive oil to your taste....Finito!

Spaghetti alla tonno....

Tuna Spaghetti

Since serving my mission in Italy I have loved cooking Italian..Thank goodness the family loves eating it....

2 tbl of olive oil

one small onion..diced

1 can of tuna in olive oil ( makes it moister)

1 28 ounce can of pureed tomatoes..( I do whole tomatos and pure them in the food processor)

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tbls of dried italian herbs

1 package of spaghetti...

boil salted water for the pasta..in the mean time heat up the oil in a sauce pan...When oil is hot throw in the diced onion.. saute till golden brown..then add the pureed tomatoes ,the can of tuna, the salt, and the herbs..let simmer for 15minutes...With the pasta follow the directions on the box..I don't put olive oil in the pot for the spaghetti..Once ready, drain, and mix with tomato sauce...Add grated Parmesan cheese and you are ready...Buena!

hint..I take a couple of onions, peel off their skin and throw toss them in the food processor..I then freeze them in individual ice cube trays..once frozen I place them in a freezer bag and just grab one cube when needed.

re-do re-do

I reupholstered the ottoman then hated it and reupholstered it again after painting it white..much better...

I was going to make a card with this paper but when I put it down I saw Christmas..I know..it's too early to be doing crafts for Christmas but I just couldn't help the imspiration flow....