{This Chistmas} Let me tell you where to go

Since we confirmed that HOTGI and I would be hosting my family Christmas dinner this year, I've had it in my head that I wanted to have place markers at everyone's spot. We are only going to be a small group, but I like the presentation of a well laid table and for me part of that look this year is personalized place markers. I knew I needed to made something fun :)

There are a lot of inspirations out there on the interwebz, and I like everything so I knew I needed a starting point. So when I went to Michaels this morning, I found these super cute place card holders! They were 2 for $1.50 and I knew they'd be perfect.

Using my Cricut and a borrowed cartridge (thanks Andrea!) I cut out a 3" tag using the "shadow" feature with brown cardstock and a 3" tag using the regular feature in a sheet of holiday scrapbook paper (again, thanks Andrea!) and glued them together.

Then, in an excercise of patience and dexterity I applied glue (via glue-stick) to the back of each letter of each person's name and placed them on the prepared cards with a set of precision tweezers.

I cut a length of pretty green satin ribbon, tied it through the hole of each card and trimmed the ends.

Adorable right?

There are six of us confirmed for Christmas dinner at our house this year and I am incredibly pleased with how these place cards turned out. They might not be appreciated by anyone but me, but I cannot wait to see how they look on my table, and sometimes it's the little things that make me happy!

Now that this project (that admittedly took a bunch of time) is over, I have a mountain of other things to get done... asap!

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Flexing my Creative Muscle {making Christmas gifts}

I am fortunate to have a great group of friends who - though we are spread across the country - are closer than some who see each other all the time. We decided a number of years ago to do some fun exchanges a couple times a year (usually Christmas and in the spring) and have names drawn and kept secret until the gifts were recieved. This year for Christmas, we decided on a more modest budget for each other so I expect there will be some creative ladies sending some lovely packages.

As for the friend whose name I drew... she will be getting some awesome (in my opinion) handmade/heartmade things along with some baking. I hope she loves what I send her! I had the Cricut set up last night, cutting out some paper with a cartridge borrowed from a mega-crafty friend and flexing my creative muscle for part of her present!

Oooooh what's it gonna be??! :)

Now I need to decide what to bake and send...

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Take time to Remember...

Every day, brave men and women in our military risk their lives in the name of freedom as so many have done before. In time of war, lives are lost. Too many lives lost. The honour and bravery displayed by members of our Canadian Armed Forces is applauded and remembered today.

Whether going to a Remembrance Day service at a cenotaph or watching a service on television, I always take time on November 11th to pay my respects and say a prayer of gratitude. I always cry too. The music never fails to get to me. The ceremonial gathering of aging veterans in uniform with expressions of both sadness and pride makes my heart ache. I figure making time to express my thanks for their servitude is the least I can do.

One of my favourite bands (The Trews) came out with a song called Highway of Heroes that gets me every time. Take a listen, and take a moment to be grateful for our freedom.

And in the words of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

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I've been shot!

Okay, so it was the flu shot and I'm being dramatic. But I have a bandaid over the injection site and my right arm feels like it weighs 50lbs.

Are you planning on getting a flu shot this season? Some folks are really passionate about getting the vaccine, or not (as it were).

I used to think it was all hooey but the last 2 years I've had the flu shot and not been sick with the flu, but I used to always get knocked out for at least a week in the winter with a nasty plague-esque flu before I started getting the inoculation.

I also work closely with a guy who has a compromised immune system (thanks to necessary but immunosuppressant meds), so if me getting a flu shot helps keep the nastyness that can really hurt him at bay, it is worth it. And with me having surgery in February, I figure I am only doing good for myself by getting a flu shot.

Besides, my company has a nurse come into our office to administer the injections, so it really couldn't be easier. If we didn't have someone come in, who knows if I'd have even started getting the flu shot!

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So, do you think you know Movember?

I've been seeing and hearing lots lately about Movember. I have no co-workers participating (that I know of) however I see people all over Facebook taking up the cause, and growing shadows on their upper lips. Some will become flourishing lip ticklers, some will sadly remain in the "crustache" stage. I give props to all those men who take part, and fundraise for a wonderful cause. Some of these men look dashing with newly mustachioed faces, others... well I look forward to December 1st.

Want to learn more about Movember and be entertained by local musician (not singing in the video) and HOTGI's schoolmate Charlie A'Court?

PERSONAL NOTE:
Read up on the risks of prostate cancer and how you can help all men in your life make sure they aren't made a statistic. Getting checked might not be a brilliant good time, but it could mean the difference between a long life with loved ones, or an unfortunately premature demise. Be educated, do youself and the people in your life a favor. Thank you.


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Upcycle a book into a decorative pumpkin!

I've been seeing books turned into creative decor items all over the internet recently so I decided to try my own. In the spirit of Halloween, a pumpkin seemed to be a good choice.



Adorable!

You should try it too! Here's how I did it...

First thing was finding a paperback book I didn't mind destroying. I am pretty particular about my books, so selecting one that was going to be ruined was a serious internal debate. I chose a book that came in a box of random books I bought at an auction that I had zero interest in reading.

Ripping the front and back pages off made my heart beat quickly. Ruining a book goes against everything I believe in.

I drew the shape of half a pumpkin on the front page.

Time to start cutting away the excess paper outside the pumpkin shape.

I started with scissors.

After the first few pages, the scissors became too awkward to use, so I switched to a knife with a fresh blade. The new blade was necessary since I tore a bunch of pages with the dull blade that was in it.

There were a LOT of teeny tiny paper pieces while I was cutting, it was a handy idea to keep the vacuum nearby!

Now... when you do yours, try and keep your edge straight. Unlike mine. I was so frustrated  by the time I got to the end that I trimmed up the pages as best I could and hoped nobody would notice. Thank heavens it turned out well.

I opened the used-to-be-a-book and bent the front and back around to meet each other and use hot glue to keep it together. I kept the glue close to the spine to make it more stable. It look some fussing and fidgeting to get the pages spaced the way I wanted, and I used some more glue to keep them where I wanted.

Then there was the whole issue of how to colour the pumpkin. I thought about watered down acrylic paint but then I worried about the pages sticking together. Then I thought about an orange ink pad, but I didn't find any I liked. So I used some orange spray paint. When I spray paint a project, I use the low part of the rock retaining wall in my backyard.

I let it dry inside while I went foraging for something to use as a stem

I ended up grabbing a twig the maple tree in my front yard left behind. I trimmed it to a reasonable pumpkin stem length and hot glued it in the middle of the hole made by the spine of the book

I rummaged through my ribbon basket and found a pretty green ribbon to tie around the stem for an extra punch of colour. Displayed next to a large decorative spider, it makes the bookcase at the top of my stairs look fun and festive!

Go ahead! Give it a try! Let me know how it works out for you!

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It's Apple Crisp Season Y'all!

I love this time of year. The leaves are turning, the temperatures are shifting to cozy sweater necessary and the apples are ripe on their trees. Over the past short while, I have come to be in posession of 30 lbs of apples.

20 lbs of Gravenstein - 10 lbs MacIntosh

What better thing to use up some apples than the favourite dessert of He-of-the-good-ideas... apple crisp?!!

So I grabbed my favourite casserole dish (1.8L French White) out of the cupboard of my newly completed kitchen (squee!) and peeled a mix of as many peeled apples filled my dish (my version of fancy measuring!)

Naked apples in a dish

I core and cut mine into segments with my Pampered Chef apple slicer which I love because it cuts the apples into 10 segments. For the segments with a bit of the core still on it, I use a paring knife to tidy them. Toss the segments into a large bowl for doctoring.

I grease my casserole dish with soft margerine and sprinkle it with a tablespoon of flour.

Take your bowl of apple segments and pour in 1 tbsp flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup white sugar and a "shake" of nutmeg. Honestly, I don't measure this. I use this kind of nutmeg and use the wee shaker side.

Mix it all up and pour into your greased casserole dish. I assemble the apple pieces to make sure there aren't too many big bits sticking up. Take a piece of sweet, cinnamonney (it's a word!) apple and eat it. Okay? Eat another. I ate about 5. Okay, 6.

Now, for the topping!

I use a half-cup of block margerine that I cut up small and microwave in a glass measuring cup.

In another large bowl I mixed together 3/4 cup quick rolled oats, 3/4 brown sugar and 3/4 cup of flour.

Add in 1/4 tsp each of baking soda and baking powder

(I didn't take a picture of it, but I put in about 1 tbsp of cinnamon and a few shakes of nutmeg)

Add in the melted margerine

Mix together until crumbly

Mmmm I ate a piece of the topping too

Bake at 350 for half an hour. Sometimes I turn the broiler on for about 5 minutes at the end, sometime I don't.

I set it on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes, then dug into it with a nice big serving spoon!

A nice big bowl for me and an even bigger one for HOTGI!

Oh my... so good!! There is totally a 2nd serving in the kitchen just calling my name!

If you make apple crisp, I'd love to know what you do that makes yours a family favourite!

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