'Tis The Season... To Eat, Party & Decorate

Today I have a heaping pile of things that I 

want to share. Its been so super-busy around

here that I haven’t had much time for 

blogging lately. So, in no particular order, 

here goes…

Almost 2 weeks ago, I went to Christmas Village 

at the BJCC. It really gets me “jump started” 

into the holiday spirit & I look forward to going 

ALL year long.

Last year, I stumbled upon a picture that I just 

adored, and I ended up not getting it, mainly 

because the idea of dragging it around the BJCC 

for 4 hours just did not appeal to me. I have 

thought about that picture ALL year long, so when 

I spotted it this time, I knew I couldn’t pass it up. 

Here it is, in all its preciousness…

I have blogged about this before, but in case you

missed it… in less than 6 months, my baby

brother will be a married man. (tears.) It’s so

hard to believe that he is all grown up now & I

have to admit, its a bitter-sweet moment for me.

However, on a positive note, I will be gaining

one awesome SIL and that makes it much easier.

I completely believe that these two are meant

for each other and I couldn’t be happier for

them as they start this new journey together.

Haley had a seasonal shower last weekend, which

was also her first shower… so a pretty exciting

time for her, and all of us too! We all took wayyy

too many photos, so I just chose a few I wanted

to share…

And just because I told her I would…

(Love you Haley Beth, lol!)

I was finally able to get my tree out this past

weekend, which always brings about TONS

of “projects” and decorating. As I have shared

before… “My name is April and I am addicted

to Pinterest.” No seriously. I really, really am. But

it’s a good addiction that fuels a lot of creativity,

and that is never a bad thing, right?!

The first project I have completed is this ribbon

Christmas lights garland.

I found this idea, obviously, on Pinterest

and when I first saw it, it caught my eye. I have

(or had!) tons of “scrap” ribbon that would be

perfect for this, and I also bought a few spools

of particular ribbon I wanted to use. End result:

a very beautiful & unique garland for my

mantel and NO scrap ribbon left. At all. None.

This project took me a couple of hours to complete.

I cut various ribbon into 7-8 inch pieces and tied

them on to a 50-count strand of white lights. I

found the best way to do this is to lay the strand

of lights out on the floor and having your ribbon

already cut, simply tie them in a basic knot

onto the wire. Doing it this way, you can control

where each ribbon pattern is placed and make sure

that they are evenly spaced from each other.

Easy as pie! And I looove it.

The next project I finished was this felt pennant 

banner to hang from my tree.

I just ordered a ton of bakers twine in a

myriad of colors and I just had to find a way to

use some of it… NOW! I already had the felt, but

Walmart has single sheets in red, white & green

for about $0.25 each. You don’t have to use the

bakers twine either… there are a number of

other options you could come up with.

These are the materials I used, not including

my trusty pink hot glue gun:

So no blog post of mine is complete without a

couple of NEW recipes…

Ryan and I made this Marshmallow Popcorn last

night and it was heavenly!! I love a good

sweet + salty snack… and this is perfect! It was

super easy and fun!

Directions:

3 cups popcorn, unpopped kernels removed

(I used butter lovers!)

2 sticks of REAL butter

(I never, EVER, use margarine for ANY recipe-

I always use Land ‘O Lakes salted BUTTER. To

Me, it’s worth the extra $)

16 oz. marshmallows, miniature

1 cup brown sugar (I used light brown)

1 tsp. vanilla

Pop popcorn and remove unpopped kernels. Melt

butter, brown sugar & marshmallows in microwave

for 2 ½ minutes. Remove and stir. Add vanilla and

return to the microwave for another minute. Stir.

If you still have marshmallow “lumps”, microwave

In 30 second increments until smooth. Pour over

popcorn(slowly) and toss to coat. Yum!!

And what’s for dinner tonight??

This is a super easy throw-it-in-the-crockpot

& forget about it meal. You can serve this over rice

or use to make burritos, etc.

Directions:

4 chicken breast

8 oz. cream cheese (not fat free!)

Can of black beans, rinsed & drained

Can of corn, rinsed & drained

Can of Rotel

Put chicken in crock pot (frozen OR thawed). Throw

In cream cheese, Rotel, black beans and corn. Cover

and cook in your crock pot for 6-8 hours, stirring

every few hours, IF POSSIBLE.

Hope you enjoyed today’s post!! This Is my MOST

FAVORITE time of year, so there will be lots of

fun stuff going on around here for the next

couple of months. :)