Reindeer Gift Bags

I had so many ideas as to what I would do for my son's "Holiday" party for school.  There are 23 kids in his classroom so I needed time to gather the materials and candy on my budget. Still more time to do the cut outs.  In the beginning of December I was gung-ho to be super crafty especially seeing all the cute gift ideas on Pinterest.  But as each day quickly passed and the last day of school loomed ahead my ideas for the treat bags became easier and easier.

Here is the progression of the treat bags from original thoughts to what I actually did.

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What I actually did.  Ha ha!

I'm a little disappointed that I didn't do a reindeer treat bag but I can still try to make it for my nephews and nieces this Christmas.  So I better stop blogging and start crafting.

Merry Christmas!

Alice in Wonderland Teacup Card

It's December and every weekend in my calendar has already been filled with plans. After being sick for a month I've just started feeling slightly "normal" again. Unfortunately, now that I feel better I have become aware of the state of my house and closet which made me feel bad all over again. You know when you're sick you really don't care about the state of the house. So when you feel better you're like "Ugh! My blinders are gone!!" It's Christmas time and it's a season of having fun so I decided to ignore the dust and make my sister a birthday card instead. 

Since I couldn't find any teacups in my Cricut cartridges I googled "teacup templates" and found many images.  After going through several sites I found this pretty teacup template through a blog hop.  The creator is Melisa Waldorf. I am always so grateful when people share their cool stuff for free.

 I printed this out and enlarged it on my printer to 180%. 

 I traced the template onto a pretty piece of paper and cut it out using both scissors and an exacto knife.

 Shade the edges.

 My first screw up is choosing thin paper instead of cardstock.  I had to add another layer of paper inside so the paper would not curl. 

I also used Stickles Platinum on the edges.

 I used foam dots so Alice would be more prominent.

Alice is from Disney Classics Cricut cartridge.  The flowers are buttons I got on sale at Aaron Bros.

My sister is 46 years old but people always tell her that she looks like she's in her late 20s or early 30s so I decided to make her youth be the subject of the card.  I used regular glue for the vellum on the bottle which I found out was a big mistake. There's a special vellum glue I'm supposed to use.  Oh, the trials and errors of scrapbooking.  I covered my mistake with glitter which turned out better.

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backside

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This card was shared at:

Happy Hour Projects

A Nest for All Seasons

Thanksgiving with Charlie Brown 2011

Whew! I've been absent from my blog for a while. I had an ear infection that slowly turned into a sinus infection. The process was so slow I didn't realize that I was really sick. I should have known something was wrong when just trying to think took a lot of effort.  I didn't have time to go to the doctor before Thanksgiving so I took a couple of my dad's leftover antibiotic medication. Yes, I know taking other people's medication is not responsible but I had over 30 guests coming and besides, it got me through Thanksgiving.  I just couldn't let something like an ear infection get in my way on Thanksgiving. To top the craziness my dad wanted family pictures which made the day a more stressful but we got through it. I give so much thanks to my husband and oldest son who really helped me in cleaning and getting ready for this day.

Now it seems Thanksgiving has come and gone in a flash and it's time to get ready for Christmas. But before I welcome in the season I want to post some Thanksgiving pics.

Here's a "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" cake that I made. The inspiration came from justjennrecipes.com's Snoopy cupcakes.  I really had fun making this cake.  The Charlie Brown theme seemed to strike a chord within the older generation as opposed to the younger ones at the party. It brought back so many memories for us.  When I was a kid we didn't have the luxury of having 24-hour cartoon networks. Cartoons were reserved for Saturday mornings and holidays specials like Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  And if you missed the show it was too bad - you had to wait until the next year to see it again. We would talk about it at school reminding each other to not forget to watch the show.  I think that's the reason why shows like Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer hold a special place in our hearts rather than this younger generation who can watch whatever they want whenever they want.

For the cake:  I used Petit Toasts (usually found in the deli section) and mini Jelly Bellys because they are the perfect size.  The Charlie Brown images are from various sites which I re-sized on Word.  I glued the images onto cardboard, cut them out and taped them to BBQ skewers.  This helps keep the images standing erect and  the more importantly the cardboard does not actually touch the cake.

Our Dessert Table

My sister made the pumpkin cake balls.

My husband got up at 3am to start smoking 2 briskets.

This is my "I Saw, I Pinned, I Actually Did It" section.  

My gorgeous niece helped me decorate the turkey cookies.

If someone told me how tedious and time consuming making these Gobble Gobble Oreo Turkey Cookies I would have never made them.  They are cute, but not worth the trouble.  I suggest making them a day ahead or enlisting as much help as you can.  I'm so glad my niece helped me because I was about to have a conniption fit.  The idea is from Cookies and Cups blog. She used chocolate Oreos and I used vanilla Oreos because my youngest son doesn't like chocolate.