Vail!!

 

Chip's company had a meeting in Vail last month and of course I had to tag along :)  I haven't been out to visit my sister in FOR.EVER....so it was the perfect get away. My mom came up from Florida to stay with the kids. The temperatures were frigid the whole time she was here....She didn't appreciate them at all.

Sister has been living in Vail for over 20 years and I wish I could get out there more often. It is sooooo beautiful in the mountains! We took a few hikes and the skies couldn't have been bluer.

Chip got to hang out with us for a few days before his meetings started.

 

I have two cousins who live in Colorado now....and they both had babies this past year. It was great to spend a day with them and visit!!!

Here I am with Sister the day we went skiing. If I lived out here I would definitely get heated mittens and boots like hers :)  The day couldn't have been more perfect!!!

And NO. This isn't a postcard....It's a real picture I took. Gorgeous, huh?

Here is the covered bridge in the village. The snow was really coming down....They got 4 ' the day/night before we were supposed to leave. Yep....you read it right. Four feet. Of snow. For real. We got stuck for 2 extra days. But I loooooooooved it. You know the Treatgirl loves a good storm. I spent the time doing a little more knitting and organizing Sister's kitchen. May sound boring to you....but not to me. Can't wait to go back. 

One More Little Treat for Me!

In case you haven't noticed....I love Santa! I got busy on this darling little Mr. & Mrs. Claus last week at my ceramics class....and finished them just in time as a special treat to me :) I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!!

A Peek at Some New Things I Have For the Holidays This Year.....

It seems like I've been getting ready for Christmas for months...and I guess in a way, I'm getting ready all year long!! I've really gotten into ceramics this year.....and several of the projects I've worked on have been Christmasy things just for me :) 

My favorite movie of all time is It's a Wonderful Life...This summer I won the lighted village of  Bedford Falls on Ebay.  It makes me so happy to see it glowing by my tree.

I have added some trees and people from the Dollar Tree to make it even better!

My mom had a tree like this when we were growing up....I called to ask her about it last year to see if she still had it, but she got rid of it when she moved to Florida....And this is how my ceramics passion started, I needed to make one for me. 

A few Santas....

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And a pretty candle centerpiece for my table....

Of course a couple of new ornaments too....Here is one that will always be special.

I love the original Grinch, and watch it every year.....with, or without kids. I got this Grinchy green glitter frame at Michaels and made cute little sign for myself. 

I hope you've had some crafting fun this holiday season too :)

Soul Sisters Annual Ornament Exchange.....2013 edition

Hello! Happy December!! Happy almost Christmas! Trust me....I have had the best intentions of posting some wonderful things on this blog for weeks now....but as you can see, the days have been flying by and I'm only just now showing you our annual Soul Sisters ornament exchange. I was really looking forward to spending the evening with my sisters....We met at the restaurant where we celebrate every year and got a private room!! It was soooooooo nice! We were all tucked in for the night and didn't even realize we shut the place down :) Well.....on to the the super cute ornaments we created for each other this year....I am really still amazed at our talents! They all look soooo special on my Soul Sister tree.

Marzipanmom created this little, delicate tree from wire and beads. Very lovely!

 

Jennifer Juniper got the inspiration for this melted snowman from a cookie she saw on Pinterest. You can check out her really famous blog Hopestudios for step by step instructions. Love him. I can't wait to make a bunch for my nieces and nephews next year.

I handpainted these adorable Mr. and Mrs. Claus ornaments at the ceramics class I've been going to almost weekly. And I love it that I actually painted them back in January so I wouldn't have to stress about doing them in these crazy weeks before Christmas :)

And look how I wrapped them up....In these cookie jars from Hallmark from the Goodwill that I collected randomly throughout the year. Crazy! 

Megan collected these exquisite feathers from her hens all summer and placed them in a clear ball. I didn't realize how beautiful hen feathers could be???

And Joy used real tools and lots of hot glue to make us these fantastic stars. She was inspired by a page from a design magazine. That girl is so inspirational!

We had a lot of laughs and the evening flew by waaaay to fast! I'm looking forward to January so we can get together again! 

I Spray Painted Bunk Beds!

Cubby has been wanting bunk beds FOR.EVER. He sleeps with about a zillion stuffed animals in his twin bed every night....there is hardly any room for him at all. He has said bunk beds wold solve the problem. I have been kind of been looking around on Craigslist but didn't want to spend a lot because I figured the novelty would wear off  soon and I didn't want to invest a lot.

Well, my friend was getting rid of this set of  bunk beds and gave them to us for free. Cub was THRILLLED! They were very sturdy and in pretty good shape....just needed a little bit of TLC. 

And I wasn't too thrilled with the oak color.....Cub has cherry dressers....I thought black would look better. So like every good girl I started looking around Pinterest to see how to spray paint furniture!

I was nervous to get started....but the more I read, the technique seemed pretty easy. And when I went to Walmart to check out their selection of spray paint there was a girl there who doing the same thing and had already painted a bunch of stuff. I picked her brain with a few questions I had and thought I can really do this. I settled on the Krylon brand of spray paint called Fusion in a satin black finish. It says on the can it adheres to plastic, wood, metal and wicker. It also said I didn't need to sand or prime. Well, almost everywhere I read suggested to lightly sand.....so I did. It only took about a half hour. I did skip the priming part. And I don't think it made a difference.

It was super windy the day I wanted to get started....so I laid plastic drop cloths in my garage and got started. I couldn't believe how fast it went!!!! I love the satin finish too. You need to work quickly and evenly. It didn't take me long to get the hang of it.

Look!!!!!!! They turned out GREAT!!! Cubby loves them and so do all of his stuffed friends. The first night he slept on the top bunk with all of them.....he said it was like a kingdom of fluffiness :)  The project used a lot less cans than I thought.....only 7. I was planning on 10 or 12. A suggestion I would make would be not to bring them inside for 5-7 days until they are REALLY dry. They will feel dry enough in a day....but we had a few scratches that I had to touch up because I was impatient (and Cub was hounding me) to get them set up. They aren't going to be family heirlooms....but for the $40 I spent they will keep Cub happy for a long time. 

Tomato Corn Soup

This is so super easy you're not even going to believe it! I kind of invented it myself so I don't have real measurements....but you can't mess it up.

Saute chopped garlic and onion in olive oil in a saucepan. Add 2 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes and 1 15oz can chicken stock.  Add the kernels of 5-6 ears of corn and several sprigs of chopped basil, salt & pepper to taste. You could add shredded chicken, italian sausage, bow tie pasta....use your imagination :)

Pam's Jam

It was a busy weekend...but I found some time to make jam. Blueberry and peach....something about making jam just feels good. And the taste is soooooo yummy! Aren't they pretty???? On to making pies this week.