Clapping my hands in excitement!

Ok. Everyone who knows me knows that I love Christmas. LOVE IT! Love to shop for it. Love to bake for it. Love to hang out with the family. Love to decorate for it! In anticipation for that great day of decorating, who everyone knows IS really as soon as the turkey is off the table, I may even let the family finish eating it. I've been working on a few little things to decorate the house with this holiday season and I thought that I would share a few with you to get you in the holiday mood too!
This is soo easy! I already had the candles and the ribbon was 50% off at Michaels so it wasn't much at all. Look how cute the candles are now with just a little ribbon to jazz them up with. This is going to be a present for my daughters teacher. Mrs. Baillie if your looking, keep your eyes closed for this part!

This one is supposed to be finished but hubby's promise of the wood scrap I need to put the "days til Christmas" on is still missing. I'll bug him again today to get on that! I'd just do it myself but if you've seen his mans land, it's just not pretty.

THESE! Soooo stinking simple I'm kicking myself for not doing these before now. Someone said you could pick up the glass stones at the Dollar Store but I couldn't find any clear enough at mine so I got mine at Joanns. They were around 3 dollar for like 25 stones. I got a pack of 50 magnets at Walmart for 3 dollars too and of course had the scrapbook paper. Not bad if I do say so myself. Look how pretty they are. They will make someone fridge very elegant!

I picked up this sled at a flea market back in May, with the thought of turning it into, of course, a Christmas decoration . I'm not sure I like the bow though. I may change that. I just shopped around in my Christmas stuff till I found some things that worked.

Dollar asle at Walmart! Had the Christmas ribbon. I'm going to fill it up with some goodies for friends. It's so easy your kids can make this.

These books are where I've been finding some really great recipes. YUM!

So aren't you all excited for Christmas now? We'll be taking next week off for Thanksgiving but we'll be back on the 30th and we'll be having lot's of fun ideas and tips for the Christmas season!

Believe

I guess you probably noticed that there was no post yesterday. Oops! It was me. I'm sorry. I really have no excuse other than, well...I don't have one! I've just been busy with finishing up our remodel, basketball, scouts, YW and all the other fun things that come with having a family. I also took on this craft project with my mil that we are doing at church, that has kept me sanding and sanding, and sanding till I felt like my arms were going to fall off.

I've confessed before that I am a blog stalker. I admit it. I am! I can't help it though. There are so many great ideas and talented ladies out there. That is how I found my latest project. I found this while surfing Tip Junkie If you've never looked at her site you should! Lot's of awesome tips and ideas.

Isn't this a terrific project? And it would make a great gift for someone too. You can find the originally idea here. I love the idea of using the candle for the letter L. It gives the project that little extra something special don't you think? I used the word Welcome for my daughters teacher's Christmas gift and put the word home on the candle. Like I said, the ideas can be unlimited. It's also fairly simple. We just cut a 2x4 into the size blocks we wanted. We cut 7 1/2 6 1/2 and 5 1/2 sized blocks but, you can make them any size that you want. We'll paint them (any color I think would look great too but, we picked black. It goes with everything!) and add the letters and your done. No more than an hour for sure!

Don't forget to check back wednesday for Alycia's terrific post and on friday we have another guest poster who is going to share some awesome tips on how to get the most out of your money this holiday season.

We also have some really fun give aways starting after Thanksgiving so be ready!

Less than 3 months till Christmas people!

Are you looking for a simple, easy, cute Christmas gift? Well have I got an idea for you! Turning tumbled tiles into coasters. They are so cute, you could use them just the way they are. You can find them at any hardware store. You know the usual, Lowe's, Home Depot. You can't beat the price either. I picked up mine for .38 per tile. Every time I go there now, I pick up 4 or 5. Now I have all these little tile towers all over. I'd take a picture but then you'd also have to see all the other stuff packed (stuffed, thrown, piled) all over from our kitchen remodel. Trust me, it's not pretty.

So here's what you'll need for this project. Yes, once again I've forgotten to take pictures of the actual process but I think that you gal's can figure it out. It really is easy. I chose to use stamps on mine.

4 or 5 tiles of your choice.
Stayz on ink (this really does work best. You can get it at most craft stores)
Stamps
Polycrylic protective finish
Felt pads for the bottoms

*So first you wipe any dust off the tiles. Then start stamping! If you make a mistake just use a little wet paper towel and wipe away. I think you have a few seconds at least to do this. NOT that I would know anything about having to re do any of mine. (only about 10 times!)

*And of course since it's about Christmas gifts I made mine with some Christmas stamps but I think any kind would look really nice. I made some nice florishy (lol I love to make up new words) ones for my mom and mil.

*After I finished stamping and the ink was dry, I'm impatient and didn't wait too long, put a few coats of sealer on. I think I waited maybe 20-30 min in between coats. I told you I was impatient! After everything is all dry then add the felt pieces to the bottom to protect.

Then to finish off the gift don't forget to wrap it in some pretty Christmas ribbon and add a cute little tag. I love ribbon! Hi, I'm Valerie and I have a ribbon obsession. :)

Okay dokey! That's it. This one is so easy that you can chill out with your favorite movie on and create these cute little gifts for friends and neighbors. They are going to love these!