Christmas Memories

I have had this red leather photo album for several years...my mom gave it to me and it's been sitting on a shelf. After Christmas I came across it and had the idea to make it into a Christmas memory book.



It seemed that it had plenty of pages to hold 5 or 6 pictures from every Christmas since Cindylou was born in 1995...well...I filled all of the pages and I had a bunch of pictures still left. I began to see this was a much bigger project than I initally though....but I was too far into it to back out....I had to get into ordering pictures from snapfish and dig through that big box of negatives that I have saved all these years. I didn't even know if they could still make prints from those negative strips.



Well, then I had waaaaay to many pictures after I was done ordering more pictures...so I made the decision to get a bigger album. Which was KILLING me because the whole reason behind this project was to use the red album I had! But to whittle down the pictures, and then to have room for additional years made the decision for me. I found this album at Walmart. It holds 300 pictures and now I have room for several more years.



Of course the Treatgirl had to jazz it up a little bit....that opening in the front needed some bling. And no, those people in the picture aren't mine...I haven't switched it out yet.



Here's a little peek inside....Cindylou's first visit to Santa....my mom came from Buffalo for the day to take her with me. And that's Chip's mum standing by our tree.




These pictures were from 2007...my dad and I took Cubby on a train ride to the "North Pole" to visit Santa. This was the year we watched Polar Express 3-4 times a day and he was TO.TALLY into Thomas....see his boots?



A perk to choosing this album was the little lined area along the edge so I can do a little journaling about the pictures....I just haven't gotten to that yet...



But I did make a little title for that front window. It is so nice to have all of the kids visits to Santa and several favorite holiday pictures all together in one place....but now what to do with that red leather album I still have??! I'm happy I took the time to do it. A treat for me!

Steeler Nation Wave Your Towels!

Bloggy Friends...this is HUGE!!! Chip wrote a song for the Steelers going to the 45th Superbowl!!! I TO.TAL.LY thought he was kidding....but he WASN'T!!! He's been dabbling in songwriting for years...country and Nashville are his passion...but he switched it up a bit and wrote this for our Steelers in just a few days..... His sister and I always dance to "All The Steeler Ladies" during the games....so now we have to make up a little thing to this.......click HERE and check it out. You can download it for FREE...but we'd love it if you made a small donation to ovarian cancer in honor of his mum. BE SURE to pass it along to EVERYONE you know.....when you go to the link he has set up right click and save it to your desktop so you can send it to everyone....we want it to go VIRAL :)....Here we go STEELERS!!! WE want a win!!!!!

PS....if my SIL and get some practice in...you might be lucky and see our choreographed dance to it on youtube :)

Favorite Friday

I'm totally addicted to Vaseline!!!!!! Up until this point in my life, I'm not even sure I've ever even finished a whole tub of it....now I can't get enough! Check out the new look....it has a cool flip lid! I am working it into my hands and cuticles all day long, rubbing it on my legs after shaving in the shower and putting it on my lips to keep them from getting chapped in the bitter cold and wind we've had around here. There's even cute little trial size one... The treatgirl looooooves anything that comes in a trial size :)

It's been around forever....but has just recently found a permanent place in my heart! Try some! For $3 for a big huge tub of it, you won't be dissappointed.

More Snowflakes.......

Look what I scored on at my Joannes.....the cutest little plates with snowflakes on them....39 cents each! They fit perfectly in the rack that I use for my little cupcake plates. Don't they look super cute with my adorable snowmen????



They are just right for a little blueberry muffin in the morning too.

JOY!!

....is what I felt when I treated myself to this A.DOR.ABLE mug after Christmas on clearance. Isn't it the cutest????! Think of me keeping cozy and warm over here sipping coffee and hot cocoa out of my cute mug...

Buffalo Chicken and Potatoes

Okay.....I'm putting it out there right away. This is NOT gourmet people. Truly, it's not....but my whole family loooooved it! I came across it on the internet...and thought I'd try it because my family loves anything "Buffalo Chicken".

The ranch dressing and cream of celery soup in it offsets the spice from the buffalo wing sauce in a satisfying meat and potatoes casserole. So here we go......

Ingredients:

1 1/2- 2lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch strips
1/3 cup Franks Buffalo wing sauce
6 cups frozen (thawed) southern-style hash brown potaotes
1 cup ranch or blue cheese dressing....I used blue cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can (10 oz.) cream of celery soup
1 cup corn flake crumbs
3-4 Tbsp. melted butter
4-5 chopped green onions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together chicken strips and wing sauce.

3. In a large bowl, stir together potatoes, dressing, cheese and soup. Spoon into baking dish. Place chicken strips in a single layer over potatoe mixture.

4. In a small bowl, stir together the crumbs and the butter. Sprinkle over the top.

5. Cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20-25 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender and chicken is fully cooked. Sprinkle with green onions.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 1:05 hr. mins.
Makes 6 servings.

I served it with a tossed salad.....Yummy!!

Scrappin' Away.......

I went away for a scrapbook weekend...officially called a "crop" in the scrapbooking world. I had mixed feelings about going actually...I can't believe I haven't scrapbooked in MONTHS....I thought I had almost forgotten how....and there is just so much you have to pack up and take with you. Well, at least I do....I always think I need EVERYTHING....I have to get better at this ...as you can see from this picture.



There were 17 of us who met Friday night at a retreat center......I actually only knew the girl who organized it...which was fine...I didn't waste much time socializing. I unpacked my stuff and got busy.



I have to confess, I'm not the most organized or neat person when it comes to scrapbooking. I kinda get my stuff all over the place.....which is soooooooo not like the treatgirl. But that's the way I do it....then every now and then I clean up a bit. It works for me.



Look how happy I am!



I actually didn't get as many pages done as I had hoped for...shocker! I never do....but I did learn a lot which was really important too....



I feel much more confident about the Cricuit I got last year. I actually didn't bring mine because I knew several girls were bringing theirs. And seeing as though I only have two cartridges for it....I figured I would just borrow everyone else's. Scrappers loooooooove to share their stuff!! Now I'm seeing I am more of a "font" girl....I want to use my Cricuit more for making the titles for my pages....not so much all of the little shapes....characters etc....girls were spending HOURS making Santas and Winnie the Poohs.....at some point I would just have to be happy getting stickers for these kinds of things. But I also realized I truly need a Xyron too...the glue stick wasnt' cutting it anymore to put my letters together I was making from the Cricuit.

A girl across from me got me into stickling too.....I can't wait to get my hands on some of that glitter stuff. I also learned this is so much easier than using stamps, a glue pad and Martha Stewarts whole glitter collection.....of course they are beautiful, but the stickling is waaaaay easier and neater!

I also busted out an edge and corner punch I got forever ago and played with it...got the hang of that too...

But most importantly, the crop weekend got me on a roll again......a much needed jumpstart. I'm rearing to go over here.....right after I cheer the Steelers on to a big win over the Jets!!!! Let's go STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!