Favorite Friday

Happy Friday!! I am loving this holiday season...cranking the Christmas music, decorating, knitting, being crafting...and soon to be baking! Next week I'll be busting out the cookie recipes and Minnie, my pink Kitchen Aid mixer. I'm excited! Well...I decided to treat myself to a cookie jar to keep them in. This season I've added a few more Santa's to my Christmas...this may be Cubby's last year believing and I'm becoming very sentimental. When I came across this SUPER CUTE Santa cookie jar on Ebay, I HAD to have it!!



Well, I kinda forgot I got a little cookie jar on clearance at my Hallmark store last year the day after Christmas. It's the one on the left.... And when I went to Buffalo last weekend, my Dad's girlfriend treated me to the really adorable one pictured on the left...also from Hallmark. Don't they look perfect together??? I LOVE them all!!!!



Here's where my Santa is sitting on my kitchen counter....and yes, that Santa plate is a new favorite too :)



And these two are perfect together...No worries.....I am sure they will all be filled with yummy cookies soon. The Treatgirl can't have too many places to stash her treats...the more the merrier!!

Sister!

My sister was able to make it to our bi-annual Thanksgiving shindig this year...she travelled for over 24 hours to make it in from Dubai. I only get to see her a few times a year...and this time I had Cindylou take a few photos of us. This is how the photo shoot started out....



But we did end up getting a cute one :) We call each other "Sister" and more often than not, she barks it at me...SIS-TER!! But she is always wonderful, amazing and generous....I wouldn't trade her for the world!

Hillbilly Wine Glasses

OK...For the record...these people are truly not Hillbillies! They are, however...from LA...that's Lower Alabama :) They're my Aunt and Uncle and they arrived to our destination Thanksgiving weekend (a.k.a FEED FEST 2011!!) in Deep Creek, Maryland with their own stemware! How super cute!!!!!!!! We all went crazy for them...but as soon as I heard $16.50 EACH the Treatgirl went into, "I can soooooo make that for waaaay less" mode. Especially when my sister went online and was going to order 8 of them AND pay for shipping!



These are sooooooooo super easy to make!! If you haven't figured it out, it's merely a Mason jar that I got at Michael's for $1.29 and a Dollar Tree candle stick...for, you got it.... a dollar :)



There were a bunch of glues to pick from at Michael's...but this one seemed like it would do the job. I just put a ribbon of glue around the bottom of the Mason jar and literally stuck the candlestick to it. I made 8 of them for my sister...I kept them all upside and stacked a bunch of books on them for extra weight and let them dry for 24 hours.




VOILA! Stinkin' EASY! You can even use littler, tiny jelly jars and make martini glasses. I'm going to link up to my real life friend Jennifer Juniper's Tuesday Tutorial post...hop over there and check it out.

Favorite Friday

Happy DECEMBER!!!!!! I'm loving the holidays! It is officially the "Christmas Season" When I hear Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"...where ever it may be....most always in a store like TJMaxx :) I am guilty of being Christmas-y before Thanksgiving....shopping, crafting and doing my cards. But there are certain things I cannot do until December 1st. Putting up my trees (yes, TREES....the treatgirl puts up FOUR!!! I am CRAZY!), the wreath on my door, playing Christmas music, wrapping, and putting Peppermint Mocha creamer in my coffee :) I switch over from Pumpkin Spice to Peppermint Mocha on December 1st. I am a complete nut case.....but that's my own sweet little tradition. It is sooooo yummy. I'm sipping my coffee working on my decorating right now. It's a little frosty here and I am loving the quiet morning of seeing all of my favorite holiday decorations. Do you have a favorite little tradition that's all your own?

Favorite Friday

Happy Black Friday!!! Can you believe the Treatgirl doesn't do it?? For starters, I'm usually out of town, and I generally have a majority of my shopping done by now... I know so much of it is online these days....but the Treatgirl just http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifisn't into it?? But what I AM into are these pumpkin cookies!!!! They are THE.BEST!!!! And to think I almost didn't make them! I have made several things to take along the past few weeks and put in the freezer...The day before we were to leave for our Thanksgiving holiday was of course crazy...and I didn't start making my last minute things in the chicken until almost 7pm....well, at 10:30pm I was exhausted and hadn't started the cookies :( I considered calling it quits and saving them until next year. Well, I took a deep breath and got going...and I'm so glad I DID! They are perfect. The cream cheese frosting is scrumptious! I found the recipe on Pinterest....scroll down to see the original post which includes the recipe. I have to warn you, they are THAT good....one last hur-rah for pumpkin this fall season. Many blessings to all of you!!!!

*****Warning!!! This recipe makes a TON of cookies!!!! I lost count, but I think well over 4 dozen******



Pumpkin Cookies:

Combine:
1 Cup Shortening (I used butter)
3 Cups Sugar
Add:
2 eggs
Mix in:
1 large can pumpkin (30 ounces)
Now add:
1 tsp. vanilla
5 cups flour
And then add:
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Now, bake @ 350 for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool & then ice using the following Cream Cheese icing.

Cream Cheese Icing:

Combine:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
Gradually mix in: 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Happy Thanksgiving

I am so blessed in so many ways....family, friends, and health....Best wishes to you for a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Nemacolin

Did you know the Treatgirl slipped away with Chip for a few days last week? It was wonderful!!!! Now that a few of the kiddos are teenagers it is SO hard to spend any time with just EACH OTHER. Chip had a work related thingy at an AMAZING resort about an hour and a half from where we live, and invited me to tag along. I promptly lined up my Dad to come and keep the troops in line over here and away we went!



Nemacolin is truly wonderful....every detail is accounted for and you truly feel like you are being pampered and "away"! Here is the view of the Chateau when we pulled up....This is the main part of the resort. We've been here several times before....and I still feel so special when I get here :)



Right away I spotted a little sun room off the main lobby where I camped out with my knitting while Chip checked in and got situated.



Oh, and here's Chip taking care of business :)



They've been busy over at Nemacolin getting ready for the holidays...here is a view of the lobby all decked out with a tree and other pretty things.



After an afternoon of relaxing while Chip was busy doing stuff....we had a few cocktails and got ready for an evening out. I got a new camera a few months ago and I figured out the self-timer :)



The next morning before we headed back to reality we walked around and checked out all of the animals they have...



...bears....



...A white lion, and ....



...a white buffalo too! It was so great to get away for a little bit before the rush of the holidays is here....but I'm already looking forward to next time!! :)