DIY Ornaments

I decided I wanted to make a few ornaments to add to our tree this year and I was searching for ideas.  I saw several pins for Glitter Ornaments on Pinterest, so I decided to try those.  They are definitely popular and everywhere.  The lady who checked me out at Michaels told me that everyone is making them.  It made me hesitate a little, but I pressed on anyway.

I followed this tutorial (although I found a lot of tutorials and they were all very similar)

 I bought this 12 pack of glitter at Michaels with a 40% off coupon, so I had lots of color choices.  I used glass ornaments for mine, so I picked up the mop & glo to coat them

 I followed the directions pretty closely to swirl the mop & glo around each ornament to coat it (being careful not to shake the solution and cause bubbles).  

For the first few ornaments I applied glitter in that same way--swirling it around the edges until it was all covered--but I was having a difficult time covering the whole thing.  So then I started pouring glitter in and covering the top with my thumb and then shaking until it was all covered and that method worked much better for getting the glitter coating.

I made mine over our sink so if I spilled a little, it would just wash down the drain

I added a little writing with a paint pen and ribbons to finish mine.  Since we are both fans of our college teams I made some of these for our tree:

And then one with our name on it (year is on the back)

The other ornament is one that I saw on Pinterest when I first got engaged--we brought back some sand from the beach in Jamaica where we went on our honeymoon--and I put a little in a glass ornament for us to have on our tree.

Christmas Decorating

 Welcome to Christmas at our place!

Our Living Room--David loves all the lights and he did a great job putting them up on our entertainment center, I think they add a lot!

 Our little tree 

With some fun special ornaments :)

 Stockings hung up by the closest thing we have to a mantel

 Love the Willow Tree Nativity

 And this Print of Isaiah 9:6

Moving into the kitchen... 

 I decorate with a lot of snowmen, so then I feel like they can stay out past Christmas :)

 I added a new bow to my burlap wreath, along with a winter sign and centerpiece

And this guy found a home in our bathroom

That's the basic tour of our place at Christmas time--- there are sure to be lots of Christmas movies watched, Christmas scented candles lit, and Christmas treats eaten over the next month as we enjoy our first married Christmas!

A week of Photos

When I was thinking about all the prompts for last week, I realized that my work looks a lot like play

I took most of Friday off and spent time getting my home clean and ready for decorating

Saturday I went to Sarah's shower.  I got to enjoy time with friends and some yummy treats.

The words Winter Storm Warning sure caused a frenzy around Dallas.  Too bad it was for nothing and it was just rain

Right now I'm reading some books on my Kindle app.  I read through the Divergent series and after I saw Catching Fire last week, I wanted to reread the book, so I have been.

Tuesday at work we went for an afternoon treat... S is for Sweet Tea on days like that

Today I spent the day baking with my mom to get ready for Thanksgiving.  We made apple and pumpkin pies.  And I definitely love the texture of my favorite thanksgiving dessert, chocolate eclair!

Now onto Thanksgiving and the last few days of November!

My Favorite Thanksgiving Dessert

We were having a conversation the other day where someone asked what our favorite thanksgiving food is. I love sweet potatoes and cornbread dressing and lots of thanksgiving foods. But when asked what my favorite dessert on thanksgiving is, it's not a typical food. 

I love pumpkin and spice cakes and even pies but every Thanksgiving the dessert I look forward to most is Chocolate Eclair Pie. 

My mom has made this dessert for Thanksgiving (and other times of year) for as long as I can remember.  When my cousins were little they used to ask if Aunt Barbara was bringing "that chocolate stuff"

So when my mom asked today if I thought we should make chocolate eclair to take tomorrow I said of course. 

And I set to work making it. So here's the recipe if you want to check it out. (I do realize it doesn't look amazing, but it tastes wonderful to me!) 

Ingredients:

*Graham Crackers- halved (we use about 2:3 of a box)

*2 pckgs instant French vanilla pudding

*3.5 Cups milk

*1- 8 oz container Cool Whip

- Mix pudding and milk and beat until thickened. Fold in cool whip

-Line a 9x13 pan with graham crackers. Pour half the pudding mixture over the crackers. Add another layer of graham crackers and top with remaining pudding mixture. 

**Chocolate Topping**

Ingredients:

*3 squares of chocolate

*4 tablespoons butter

*3 tablespoons white Karo syrup

*5 tablespoons of milk

*1.5 teaspoons of vanilla 

*2.25 cups of powdered sugar

-Melt chocolate and butter on stove top

-Stir in Karo syrup, milk, vanilla and powdered sugar

-spread over top of "pie"

-refrigerate for several hours (best if refrigerated overnight)

To me the mix of flavors is perfect, although some say it's too sweet :)

The recipe originally came to our family from a church cookbook. As you can see it's been referred to many times over the years!

Photo a Day: Landscape

So I didn't take a single picture yesterday.  

It's the first day of November that I missed.

I had big plans to come home from work and take my dog for a walk and take pictures of our landscape at the park.  But I didn't get off work until it was dark outside.

But I decided to do that this afternoon instead--and since I didn't eat breakfast (today's topic) I am using these for today pictures.

And somehow, Fall came to Texas this year, so It was a beautiful walk!

Lily enjoyed it too :)

Recipe Favorite: Biscuit and Gravy Casserole

This weekend I tried out a new breakfast recipe and I'm glad I did.  

David will eat pretty much anything that I make, which I'm very grateful for, but one of his favorite things in the world is gravy.  So when I saw this recipe for Biscuit and Sausage Gravy Casserole  on Pinterest a few months back, I knew I needed to tuck it away.

We followed the recipe fairly closely--I already had some cooked sausage, so I didn't put in the onion to cook the sausage, I just made the gravy with flour and milk and then added the cooked sausage at the end.  And we didn't have canned biscuits, so we used Bisquick for drop biscuits--it probably would have been prettier with Grands or other refrigerated biscuits, but it tasted good either way.

I knew it was a winner when 2 bites in David said "we should make this again sometime"

And more than likely we will :)

The Weekend in Pictures

What a great weekend!  

Saturday started off with a text from my mom asking if I wanted to join her for a manicure and pedicure.  We had a good time catching up.  I usually go for no color on my nails, but decided to sport some gold this time!  

Then David and I headed to Arlington to meet up with friends and watch Baylor play Texas Tech

A couple of weeks ago, Nicki called me to see if we might be interested in going to a game during the rest of Baylor's season.  They have been playing so well this season and it has been really fun to follow it all and watch them play.  So we wanted to get to be a little part of it.  We met up with she and Mathis for dinner and the game

The first quarter started off a little rocky, but Baylor came back big and showed how good their offense is (even with several players out with injuries)

 The screen at the stadium is huge... and it was fun to see this message broadcast across it (several times)!

And we got a surprise reunion with an old friend!  So fun to catch up and enjoy the game 

Today has been a good Sunday.  After church, we met up with Erin and Mike for lunch.  It was fun catching up. 

Then we did a little grocery shopping--I wanted to get some of the deals from Kroger I had seen and stock up on a few items.  I always love at the bottom of my receipt where it tells me what percentage I saved!

The rest of the afternoon has been laid back.  While David has been watching football, I've been catching up on some crafting!

7 days of Pictures

We spent Saturday evening with my family for my brothers birthday dinner. Since we were at his house, and being 2 is just really hard, I heard "no that's mine!" a lot that night 

And my brother had lots of help opening his gifts!

Sunday we went to the wedding for our friends Chris and Amy. I did not take a single picture so I borrowed this one... While it was bouquet and garter toss inside... It was car decorating time outside

Monday night we stopped before our UTD discussion group for my first red cup of the season. And there was lots of movement as they were bringing in all the Christmas merchandise

Tuesday the cold front came through, but without a cloud in the sky looks can be deceiving! 

I already posted about our Wednesday, but I did happen to take this pic of a part of me in my fuzzy socks and pjs 

Last night we went and bought something new to replace our wireless router. So I once again can use wifi in our entire apartment (it had been out about a week and I was sadly going crazy)

And this morning I brought my car in for its first oil change. Luckily I had my current knitting project in my purse to keep me occupied while I wait!  

At Home Date Night

Last night was one of our first free nights this month, so I wanted to do something fun just us.  Since it coincided with the first cold day this season I decided to take some ideas from this date idea from the Dating Divas and plan an at home date night!

I left a note for David before I left for work about our date night and then came home yesterday afternoon to get things ready.

I had David text me when he was leaving work so I could get dinner ready.  I ended up picking up the ultimate comfort food from Black Eyed Pea because that seemed perfect for a cold night.

I left some snowflake notes for David when he got home.

Then I got home and we settled in for dinner.  We spent dinner time making a list of all the things we want to do in December.  I know the Holidays will be busy this year, so I want to make sure we plan well to get in the things we really want to do.  It was fun to look ahead a little.

Then we settled in for a movie.  I had hung up a few lights around our TV to add snowflake lights and some fun.  I also lit candles--the lights and candles kinda made up for no fireplace.

Then we snuggled on the floor with hot apple cider and watched the movie.  I love my pajamas more than anything, so it was fun to have a cozy night at home in our warm pajamas with the heat on.  

And yes, we watched a Christmas movie.  The Holiday is one of my favorite movies--and it's actually the movie we watched on our first date, so it was fun to watch it together again.  Today the lights and Christmas movies are put back away for a couple weeks, but it was a fun way to celebrate the first cold night!