Christmas Gift #3

Yikes! So last week I had finals and I didn't post a single thing :P. So I will have to do two this week in order to make up for it.

I realized I might be gearing my suggestions to those who knit (or crochet) and I don't want that to be the case. I also realized I may be gearing my gifts to those who artistically incline (which doesn't have to be the case).

So this week I have a super fun, beautiful and cleaver idea of those who aren't super crafty but still want to give a personal gift.
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you paint by number! If you go to any of your local craft stores you can find these nifty kits that have everything you need to paint by number. The picture on this blog is brought to you by A.C. More's website.

My suggestion is to pick something that you know the receiver loves. This year my brother is doing this for our younger sister so he picked out a beautiful painting of horses by a lake. If your grandmother loves to garden, find her favorite flower or garden scene. If you want to get really frisky you could take your own photo and turn it into a coloring page. Of course that would require to do your own blending and what not, but still it could be fun!

Then to finish off the gift go and get it framed. This step can be pricey but it also can be inexpensive depending on what you want to do with it. I suggest a pretty neutral type frame if you aren't sure what will go with the decor of the receiver. If it's a kid though, you could really go all out.

Happy Painting everyone!

Christmas Gift # 2

For this week's suggestion, if you can't stand the heat, you better get out of the kitchen! Every year since I can remember I've given my grandparents something from the kitchen. In our home it has been a custom (and something I continue to do to this day when I can) to make cookies for the grandparents. My grandparents have always lived far away and we only spent holidays with them on occasion. So we sent our love in form of wonderful buttery goodness :)

Usually it's our custom to send the grandparents the latest picture of the kiddos (the first year I was married we sent our grandparents the pictures from our wedding that we took with them). If your grandparents (or any loved one) can't take the sugar I suggest substituting with Splenda or some other sweetener. What a wonderful way to send you love? Plus if you have kids that are the right age they can help make and decorate the cookies. We generally send sugar cookies since the ship the best but you can make any confection you desire! So I am providing for you a sugar cookie recipe!


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In a clean 1 liter sized glass jar with a wide mouth layer the white sugar followed by the flour mixture. Press firmly in place and seal. Attach a card with the following instructions:
2. In a large bowl: beat 1 egg with 1 cup softened butter or margarine until light and fluffy. At low speed of an electric mixer add 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and contents of Jar. Mix until combined. Using hands if necessary. Cover dough and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove dough from the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Roll chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough into desired shapes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes.

So grab the kids, make some cookies and hey even take some pictures of the event. Enjoy making memories and giving a gift from the heart!

Christmas Homemade gift # 1

So as I promised here is my first official gift idea for the homemade gift kick :) If you are a new knitter or even advanced scarves are the easiest gift to make and they are useful! So I've looked up a very, very basic simple pattern for those of you who are interested in using it.

Materials:

• One skein super-bulky yarn, around 100 yards (I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick in Denim)
• Size 13 needles, straight
• Crochet hook

This makes a scarf about five inches wide and 60 inches long, depending on the yardage of your chosen yarn.

Instructions:

1. Cast on 12 stitches.
2. Knit every row until you have about a yard of yarn left.
3. Bind off.
4. Use your crochet hook to weave in the ends at the top and bottom.

It's super easy and cheap and think how many of these babies you could crank out? If you want to add a little variety try adding a purl row or two purls an knit and do it again.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week!

Gifting, knitting and things like Holidays...

Okay, so I said this was going to be a craft only blog so I will attempt to try to keep my mind on that one track. We'll see if I can do it :-P.

I am so proud of myself because I have actually been working on my nephew's Christmas gift for three days in a row *GASP*. It's unbelievable! It's amazing how much can get done when you actually work on something! I can't give away to many details because I want to surprise my SIL as well...let's just say it's going well :-).

Speaking of Christmas...this Christmas (which not to alarm too many people is 6 weeks from today) I will be giving home made/ hand made gifts! I'm very excited about this because I think it will refocus what this time of year is really about and hopefully be stuff that my family will actually use. My husband was NOT happy about this at first (his first response was "What are we suppose to give my Dad and Nathan?!?!"). I have even worked plans around those two, I believe, since they are our electronic gifts guys typically. Anyway I think I am going to try to do a 5 week challenge (starting today) to give you all gift ideas for home made/ hand made gifts to give this year!

So for this week I'll go easy. My first suggestion for a 'home made/ hand made' gift isn't so much home made or hand made but it's still a good idea. Oh and it's still on the crafty side. If your family is really into pictures (like mine is) or if they aren't you can start a little bit of a picture bug by surfing on over to Wal Mart's website. If you go onto the photo section of the website there you can load tons of pictures and do some amazing things with these photos including but not limited to : making photo mugs, calendars, puzzles, coasters, ties and many many more cool items. There is nothing that a grandparent will cherish more than photos of the grand kids throughout the year! What's more is you can have it shipped to the store and pick it up the next time you go shopping! How amazing is that? Okay well that is all for my free Wal Mart plug. You'd think they'd pay me more...I won't hold my breath.

Oh and to end this entry I have to "show off" that I have some new bamboo knitting needles on there way to me right now :-). I ordered them from ThinkBamboo.com via Amazon. The set is 13 needles for just under $20. Not bad from what I hear. They come with a 30 day money back guarantee and a 3 year breakage replacement plan. I just pay shipping. I will have to review them after I get them. I have high hopes for these little guys!

Okay friends! I hope you all are well and here's to any crafter's busiest season, Christmas!

Times they are a changin'...

So after much thought I have decided to dedicate this blog to all things thrifty, nifty, crafty and yummy :). It will generally be a crafts/cooking blog. I think I will work on redesigning the page and working the name of the blog into something that is specifically craft like. I hopefully will have time over the holiday season to seriously sit down and commit to this blog. I don't even have many readers anymore, but I want somewhere to be able to catalog my off the cuff recipes and such.

Anyway, until later, have a Happy Halloween Friends!

Timmy Fell in the Well!!!!

.....But I haven't. Exactly. Haha. Wow. I never write here anymore and it makes me sad. I have to say I'd like to change this blog over into my crafty/cook blog except that I'm in school 100,000,000,000,000 hours a week and have no time to do anything! My special project that I've been knitting on awhile probably won't even be done by it's deadline (boo--hiss).
I do think though, that I'd like to turn this blog into that kind of thing. What do you readers (or non readers) think about it? I am thinking it would be a fun idea. I love to cook and make random recipes that come out of my head so it may be fun. Oh and every once in awhile I come up with a good idea for a crafty thing as well (I swear I'm not lying). Well let's see what have I made lately that is cool? Ummmmm......okay. Nothing. School has taken over my life pretty much. I made a couple of cakes for my Mom's work but those hardly count. Lame. Oh well. For now this is it kids! I will, will, will see you soon. I swear!


<3
Korey

Thoughts and such...

So, I haven't been the best blogger in the world, and frankly I believe it is going to get much worse since school starts tomorrow. I have been thinking of getting rid of this blog lately. I hate knowing it's sitting not being read, and not getting any attention. At the same time I feel so attached to it, removing it seems impossible to me.

I have one idea which is to make this a cooking blog or a cooking and craft blog. That way there would be more entries and I wouldn't feel like I'm neglecting the blog. I don't know, I know I hardly have any readers, so it seems kinda silly. If I do decided to do that I'd probably delete most of my old posts except the ones on food. Anyway check out my other blog for updates about me. I'm not sure when I'll be updating here. Hope you guys are well!