I've got the joy joy joy....

Joy deep down in my heart.
Thats a lyric from a song we sing at church.... but what I mean to say is happy thanksgiving everyone!
(photos are my thanksgiving table setting, this is at my parents house, were we are currently living while our house in under construction)

We had my husbands thanksgiving get together last weekend and my parent went on a trip this week, so my siblings and I decided to have our own thanksgiving and invite friends. We decided this on Friday and invited people for Saturday. We had a pretty good turn out considering the short notice. I think on thanksgiving weekend everyone thinks everyone else is busy with family, so no one makes other plans... which worked out perfect for us!

I made the little turkey with an oreo that i stuck 5 candy corns to with icing. (i cut off the white tip of the candy corn) then I used a white tip of the candy corn for a nose on a chocolate malt ball, stuck on with icing. The red part is a cut up jujube and icing for the eyes. Reeses pieces iced on to the oreo, and the malt ball iced on to the reeses pieces. Kind of cute, eh?

It was so fun... here are a few photos to prove it:

DIY White Stick Tree with Paper Leaves

I decided it was time to take down my winter stick and lights display... Its been crazy warm here for this time of year and I want my house to reflect the spring time refreshment! So I came up with this display for my dining room. I trimmed down my spaypainted trees and hot glued leaves I cut out of an old book. I brought in the old window from outside.

DIY Christmas Balls

I made these little guys for my sister in-law for Christmas. All you need is Styrofoam balls, beads, little fabric snowflakes (from dollaramma... I think sequence would look fun too), and feathers and ribbon for the tops.

A Christmas Dinner

Last weekend we hosted a Christmas dinner for our friends. It was such a good night. I had so much fun decorating my table. So I have two projects that I want to talk about. The first was my little party favor... I did chocolate snowflakes. I was actually looking for a snowflake cookie cutter and could only find this chocolate making kit at the store... so I thought why not. I think they turned out pretty cute.

Second project is my silver table runners... I thought it would be something different then place mats. The flowers are organza fabric cut into circles and then you melt the edges by bring them close to a candle flame.



And here are a few fun pictures from the evening : )

DIY Christmas Balls Tutorial

I made this little guy for my mom. It's a pretty easy craft, it just takes some time.
You need:
-a Styrofoam ball, mine were about a 2 inch diameter
-fabric cut into many little circles, about 1.5 inch diameter. (Also you'll need one long strip for the loop to hang the ornament)
-large beads (Large pearls would look great with white fabric)
-glue gun

First I glued on the large beads, just randomly around the ball. Then I glued the long strip together to form a loop and then glued that on to the ball. Then with fabric circles you put a dab of glue on the middle and fold the fabric around it. On the outer tip of the gathered fabric put another dab of glue and then stick it to the ball, between the large beads. Then you just keep repeating this until the ornament looks full.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

My house is looking very festive this week. I took some branches from a fallen tree on the weekend and gave them a coat of white spray paint. I then put them in these glass vases I bought along time ago, but have yet to really use them. A few blue lights (and my husband gave it under lighting) and they are a great winter statement piece for our living room. This project turned out so good that Icouldn't help but get in the deck-the -halls mood.

Halloween Treats

A few treats me and mom made this year.

Popcorn Owls

My and my mom made these little guys for Halloween.... I love them!

It's Out!

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So, my blending in decorations did not last very long. I had to take the little skeletons down after Halloween, which left my chandelier a little bare. I bought the snowflake garland at dollaramma and the pine cones were my last year's Christmas craft.
On the table I still have my painted gourds... they are still there as a statement of November being a transitioning month (and I love them I can't bare to throw them out). Mixed in with the guards I have snowflakes, my trees (from last year as well), candles and my new purchase, my reindeer. He is only 5$ at Super store, so run out an get one! (They also have a lying down one, which is on my list of must haves.)

It's Plus 11 Here... and I'm Puttin Up Christmas Ornaments!

The temperature is very abnormal for Winnipeg at this time of year. I am in no way complaining, but usually we have full blown snow on the streets by now. But snow or no snow I started putting up Christmas decorations! I know it is a little early, so I have been trying to make them blend in with my other decorations. I am so excited for the season!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween all! Here's some Halloween food ideas we, me and my mom, tried out this year....

Sugar cookies with red icing and an almond for a finger nail
Witch hat cookie


Poop cupcakes... surprisingly we had lots of these left over :)

Double Double Toil and Trouble!

I want to put out all my Halloween ideas before Halloween, so I'm doing a double post today!
This is my "Pick Your Poison" Table. I had so much fun doing it. I painted 5 gourds, three black and two white. Super easy to do, I varnish the black ones. I also made new labels for the drinks... the bottle are empty now... but you can imagine them full. I'll post some of the labels too, if you want to print them off. I have this amazing plan for our punch... I'll post pictures after the party.

Save Me!

Just a few more photos of our Halloween decorations. Because we are renovating the house we had a little fun with the fact that things are going to be changing. We put red paint marks all over our walls, since we are taking down the wallpaper, and I was going to throw out the curtains, but then my husband offered to shread them up instead. The doll is this porcline doll that I have been trying to get rid of forever, but no one wanted it... so now she is one of my favorite decorations!

Witch's Ingrediants

I love Halloween... I think our family has almost the same amount of traditions for Halloween as we do for Christmas. Anyway, this year we are having a Halloween party! I have been having lots of fun decorating for it.My favorite decoration has been my witches ingredients. I collected jars and made labels for them. I used tea to age the labels. I had so much fun with this project. A few of the jars are still empty... I am planning to put canned lychee nuts in the large round container and I have rotten roma tomatoes for my 'rat's heart' container. (New photo's added above!)