Wordless Wednesday-Let me make my own breakfast!

Yogurt, dark chocolate chips and lots of sugar sprinkles.  Hey, it's one day away from December.....let the sugar high begin!

Advent Calendar

I am so excited to share my very simple Advent calendar!!!  With no sewing machine I knew I would likely be using paper products.  And I am very happy with how it turned out! 

This was a very inexpensive project and Hobby Lobby was the store to buy my supplies. 

I used the small envelopes and added a strip of scrapbook paper to the bottom for color. Printed out the numbers 1-25, cut them out and simply glued everything on.  Then I punched a hole in the top and added a ribbon.  That is it!!!

Check them out!

Inside each envelope is a story leading up to Jesus' birth.  We will begin on opening them on Thursday morning.  I searched high and low for ideas of what to put in the envelope.  I know some folks put a special treat for children.  And where I think they is fine, I wanted our Advent calendar to only be about the birth of Jesus.......God's Amazing Gift.

I knew exactly where I could find help!  So I  turned to a wonderful blog where I have found lots of great ideas in the past, Mustard Seeds .  Janna always has amazing tutorials!  You must check out her blog.  Sorry I do not have the direct link.  Go to November 12, Advent Countdown on Janna's blog and find the PDF file to download and print out the Advent activity instructions.  Most days we will just read the print out, but on days we have extra time I plan to do the activity.  I LOVE IT Janna!!!

So my sweet little envelopes were made.......now where do I hang them???  These black shutters have hung in the hallway for years now with nothing on them.  I had a thought and went with it.  I am loving the shutters new use at Christmas time!

Brant nailed tiny nails for the ribbon to hang.  Next I added some garland to the top and after I took this picture I decided to add red berries.  Advent calendar done!!!

These will add such a special time for us this Christmas season.  I am so happy I went ahead and made something simple.  So what do you think? 

Have you made an Advent calendar before?  Please share it with me.  If you have a blog and a post on your Advent calendar I would love to share it with my readers.  Leave me a comment. 

I hope I have inspired you to start an Advent calendar.  Mine is so simple you still have time!!!

Home/Advent starts today!

It is good to be home. Sorry I have been MIA.  Over our Thanksgiving vacation both boys were sick......Matthew got the worse of it, but he always does. We finally had to take them to the doctor after the fever continued for five days.  Ear infections for both, same ear too!  Must be a twin thing.  And their allergies were so bad!! I suppose going from North Texas to South East Texas it had them all messed up.  The cough was just awful!!! Three nights straight Matthew literally coughed ALL night. 
But after an antibiotic and good allergy meds they started feeling better.  Nothing like finding out your child has an allergy to Amoxicillin at six years old.  Matthew had only had three doses and started breaking out in a slight rash and itching all over.  We immediately stopped it and gave him Benadryl per the pharmacist on Thanksgiving day.  Thankful for CVS being opened that day!  This was only the second time the boys had ever had an antibiotic. 
It was a strange trip to say the least, but yesterday as we left to come home both boys were back to their old self.  It was a noisy, loud trip back home.
So that is the low-down on our Thanksgiving trip and why I totally had no desire to blog.

Now on to Advent.  I am excited to share how we will celebrate Advent this year.  I grew up with Advent at church, but this is our family's first time to set aside a special time to learn and celebrate it. 
What is Advent?

Advent itself is simply any time set apart for spiritual preparation.  But most people associate the word Advent with various traditions and customs that have grown up around Christmas in many of the world's cultures.  Early in history these customs took the forms of fasts and feasts.  Today, they most often take the form of candles, wreaths and calendars.
Most churches and families use Advent candles to celebrate the season. One candle is used for each week of Advent and a fifth for Christmas Day. The first, second and fourth candles are violet symbolizing penitence.  The third is pink, symbolizing joy and the Christmas Day candle is white, symbolizing the purity of Christ.
Advent candles are usually part of an Advent wreath. While some traditions hang the wreath, it is most commonly used flat, on a table.  The circle of the wreath represents the hope of eternal life we have in Christ.  The circle itself is made of evergreen branches, symbolizing the abundant life Jesus promised us here and now. The first four candles are positioned along the outside of the ring of the wreath and the fifth is placed in the center.
Advent calendars are popular with children and teach them the Christmas story in an active way. We will be using an Advent calendar I made as well as reading "Jotham's Journey".  Each morning starting on December 1 and counting down to Christmas day, we will open the little envelopes to reveal that day's story of the Advent calendar. I'll share pictures of our calendar tomorrow.
Each night(starting tonight!)we will read a short story of Jotham's Journey.  Although the boys are very familiar of God's amazing gift, I wanted to set aside a special time to read about, talk about and pray about what God did for us. I wanted this special time to be part of this glorious season.

I look forward to sharing more about Advent in the weeks to come.

How are you preparing for the Christmas season?

I'm still here!!!

I am still here!

3 sickies(me and the boys)and traveling for the holidays=no time for my blog!!!

I hope by now you are all ready for the big day on Thursday.  I know I want to be.  And my prayer is both boys are feeling much better by then.

I forgot my camera thingy to download pictures so my blog posts will be pretty plain this week........if I find the time to blog. Or even feel like it.

Anyway just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving a little early in case we are all still ill or just too busy to stop.

If you are still looking for pumpkin recipes don't forget to look in my "Recipe" section for lots of yummy pumpkin goodness!!

Enjoy your week and holiday. 

Add some love on Thanksgiving

Are you preparing yet for your Thanksgiving feast?  I would be, but we are traveling next week so I am leaving the cooking up to a few other amazing women this year. But I will be happy to help ladies!!!!

Are you making pies this Thanksgiving?  I like my slice with a dollop of whipped topping.  And prefer a homemade whipped topping.  It is a little dollop of love.

Do you usually use this?

Or maybe you use this.......

This Thanksgiving add a little love to your pies and for your guest.  Make a homemade whipped topping.

It is SO darn easy and if I can make it I know YOU can!!!!  And let me just say it taste a thousand times better!!!!!!

Homemade Whipped Topping:
1/2 pt. heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Whip the cream with mixer.  Be careful not to overbeat....you do not want butter.  When it begins to thicken, add sugar and vanilla; stir.  Refrigerate. 

Note: I always double this recipe.  And make the night before to save time.

Go ahead add some love to your pies next week!

All the makings.......

I am getting a very late start with my blog today. 

I was up in the wee hours of the day with a sick boy. After that I decided to let everyone sleep in. And we are taking an early break from school for the holiday.

Life is slow today and we all like it.

All the guys finally got up, we all got dressed and made our way to Hobby Lobby.  Have I told you how much I LOVE that store?!?!

We went to get my supplies for our first real Advent calendar.  I am so excited about making one.  I decided I would keep it simple. I have been searching the internet for weeks trying to decide what I would make. How I would make one. So many ideas I saw had to do with sewing.  And where I can sew a little I don't have a sewing machine.  So I went another route on my project.

Here is a sneak peek for now!

All the makings........

I hope to share it by week's end.

Thanksgiving Tradition-From the archives....5 kernels of corn

Are you looking for a Thanksgiving tradition to start this year? 

I am pulling this one from the archives.  We have done it a few times here at our home and last year had Thanksgiving at my parents' home.  They were happy for us to bring the tradition and share at their home on Thanksgiving day.

 To learn more about the 5 kernels of corn go here .
 

Scrumptious Saturdays-Coffee Lovers' Coffee Cake

I am bringing back Scrumptious Saturdays!!  I think...... 

With the cooler weather it has been much more pleasant to be in the kitchen trying out new recipes.  Summer killed my adventure to make new things!!!!

Anyway I am in hopes I will have at least one recipe a week to share with you.  So without further ado check out this yummy snack cake.

Photo courtesy by Oxmoor House

This is from my Southern Living Ultimate Christmas Cookbook.  And let me just tell you it has some scrumptious recipes!!!  I have many pages marked already!

This is one of those make ahead type cakes and an editor's favorite.  It has a buttery coffee crumb mixture that makes a shortbreadlike crust.  An easy snack cake!

I got a wild hair on Thursday night at 7:45 and decided to make it.  I am certain it would be wonderful minutes out of the oven with, of course, a cup of coffee.  I did have a piece yesterday morning and it was amazing!  Check out this easy recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons instant coffee granules

2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine, cut into pieces

1 (8-ounce) container sour cream

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preparation

• Combine flour and coffee granules in a large bowl. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt; stir well. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbly. Press half of crumb mixture into a lightly greased 9" square pan; set aside.
• Combine sour cream and baking soda, stirring well. Add to remaining crumb mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Add egg, stirring gently to combine. Pour sour cream mixture over crumb crust in pan; sprinkle with pecans.
• Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

I hope you get a chance to make it soon!  My favorite part of it is you can taste a little bit of coffee in every bite.  The boys enjoyed it too!  I knew they would.....they have been raised on coffee-milk for breakfast.

What scrumptious recipe are you cooking up this weekend?

The Thankful Acorn

I shared this over at Blissful and Domestic last Friday, but in case you missed it I wanted to make sure to share it here.  It is a wonderful family project that we look forward to every year.

November brings on the holidays for most folks. And I am no different.  I am already thinking about the feast of course, spending time with family, preparing for Christmas(OH the crafts!!), but most of all being thankful. Although we should be thankful every single day, I like to take this month and really spend time on being aware of what we are thankful for. The most important thing I am thankful for is my faith and trust in God. Without His amazing Gift, His son Jesus Christ, I would be lost, but by grace I have been found(saved!). Thank God!

Today I am happy to share a fairly new family tradition.  It is called, The Thankful Acorn(that is just a name I came up with....you can pick your own). We started this just two years ago, thanks to my SIL, and absolutely love it.   

Many families like to take the time on Thanksgiving day to stop and be thankful.  And where I think that is a good practice to get into, I wanted it to be more than just one day.  Although we Praise God daily for the many blessings He gives us, I wanted a whole month for my boys to really think about all they have to be thankful for.
We started with just a few nights a week two years ago.  But now we do it almost every night of the week.  I prefer to spend the time right after supper while we are still at the table and write out our thankful notes.

Now here is where you can make it super simple(that's me!)or go all out on this.  I just do things simple so I used construction paper and stickers the first two years.  This year I bought cute scrapbook paper to write out our notes.  We'll be using a black pen or Sharpie so it will show up just fine.

The first couple of years I simply cut different colors of construction paper into small squares.  Then added some fall or Thanksgiving stickers and had them ready for each night.  Determine how many days you will do this in November and have them ready for each day. 
Next, find something you will put them in each day as you and your family write out the thankful note.  I had the cute little acorn basket for years.  I would always put it out for fall, but now it serves a true purpose. You could use a regular basket or a pretty fall tin.  The container really does not matter.  It is the actual sitting down and writing what you are thankful for.

If you have small children that can not write yet, do the work for them.  But encourage them to think of all the little things they are thankful for.  If they do know how to write let them do it......you may have to help with spelling, but allow them to do it on their own.  Sometimes that is hard for me.   And don't discourage what they are thankful for.  The boys the other night were both thankful for the TV.  I didn't really like that as something to be thankful for. After thinking about it we do not watch much TV so I can see why they might be thankful for it.

The fun part of this for us is going back each year and looking through our little notes.  We love seeing what each other was thankful for the year before. 

This last part is optional, but worth the little bit of extra work.  After Thanksgiving I take all the notes and put them in a "scrapbook".  The books from the past two years I found in the Target dollar section.  I wish I would have picked up more!  Not sure what I will use this year.  Again it does not matter what I put the notes in, just as long as I keep them as a memory to go back and look at later.  To save space you could simply put them in a baggie and pack away with all your fall decorations.  I have the two scrapbooks sitting out during the fall season and put them away with all my fall stuff at the end of November.

So that is The Thankful Acorn. 

I hope I have inspired you to make this part of your November/Thanksgiving tradition.  I am thankful for my sister-in-law that shared it with us a few years ago!  It is a fun part of November for our family. I am also thankful for the "friendships" through my blog.

Decorating with Acorns-Part 2

Today I am sharing my last idea of decorating with acorns.  It is actually using just the tops this time.  In case you missed part 1 you can go here and then go here to see the painted acorns.  All those ideas are in the pictures below.

Now let's move on to the master piece.  I absolutely love this one!!!!  It really turned out pretty and adds just a little bit of the great outdoors in our home.

There are very few supplies for this and you may just have everything in your stash. 

First I gathered up some acorn tops and a pretty leaf that was turning a brilliant red.  I used a piece of "scrap" scrapbook paper I had left over from my Mod Podge Pumpkin, a piece of card board(can't remember where this came from, but I knew it would come in handy!), hot glue, basic glue and glue dots.

I simply used the glue dots to attach the scrapbook paper to the cardboard.  Then I positioned my leaf where I wanted it and used a glue dot to attach the leaf.  I then started gluing the acorn tops around the leaf like a picture frame.  Allow to dry and you have a pretty leaf framed by acorn tops.

There you have it!  Now don't tell me you can't afford to decorate for fall.  All these crafts/projects were very inexpensive and add a little bit of the season to our home.  And this was perfect to add some fallness to my desk.

I hope I have inspired you to get outside and see what nature has to offer you.  Use your imagination.  A garland of acorns would be so sweet, but I never got around to it.  But I do have a big bag of pine cones. 

If you make something I would love to see your craft.  Leave me a comment!

Guest Post-Blissful and Domestic

I am happy to tell you I have a guest post today!  I had mentioned a week ago I was hoping Danielle would be sharing something soon.  And today is the day!  If you have never visited her blog you need to check it out.  Friends, meet Danielle.


 Hello Lovelies! I am so excited to be here at One Day at a Time! I am a follower of all of Tasha's cuteness! Isn't she just wonderful? She is one of my Blogging Besties and I am excited to be here today!

Before I get started...let me introduce myself. I am Danielle and my home is over at Blissful and Domestic. I love to blog about sewing, crafts, recipes,home-school, etc. Basically anything that allows me to use my creative gene. I love thrift stores and re-purposing, which is mainly what you will see from me. I love taking some one's cast offs and make them into something fantastic. So in a nutshell I am a crafting Mom, who loves to blog and share with all my blogging friends.

Today I am taking a break from sewing and I am going into the kitchen.

I found a recipe for Pumpkin chili in the Smith's add.
Well I decided to build upon that recipe and make it my own.
So let's get our crockpots out and lets make some Pumpkin Turkey Chili.

===================================

Here is what you will need:



 2 cans kidney beans (undrained)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
minced garlic (I used the jar ones)
2 cups of pumpkin
1 lb. ground beef
1 green pepper
salt & pepper
chili powder

Here is What you do:

Begin browning your turkey in a pan.
I like to add Lawry's and minced onions to my meat.



Once your meat is cooked, add all ingredients to the crock pot.

Don't forget to dice up your green peppers.



and sprinkle generously with chili powder, pepper, and salt.
We like our chili spicy!



Let sit and "Get Happy" as my dad would put it for about 4 hours.



Serve with some corn bread and top it with cheese and sour cream.
It is DELISH!

I hope you all get a chance to try out this recipe.
Stop by and tell me how you and your family liked it.

Blissful and Domestic

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Pine Cone Owl

I know I have been going crazy lately with the crafts, but it sure is fun to create!! And I have a son who loves to help me with any craft!! I get pleasure out of both. Creating and having Matthew help me out. And it sure makes him happy too.....he lives to create.

Plus nature is full of things we can use for crafts!!!

I put the word out on Facebook I was looking for pine cones. I had a friend gracious enough to bring me a BIG bag. I wanted them to use during the holidays, but came across this cute owl craft. Once the boys saw it they insisted we make one.

Some many crafts I see online end up going straight into the trash! Thankfully I never try my hand at anything that costs much.

And this little owl cost me very little money.

Supplies and cost:
pine cones-FREE from a friend's yard
felt-4 for $1 at Hobby Lobby
wiggle eyes-99cents at Hobby Lobby
feathers-already had in my stash

Easy for children to make and the boys LOVE owls. Especially since we learned more about the Great Horned Owl back in the spring on a nature walk .

Crafting with nature is fun and perfect for this frugal gal! Now get outside and find something to do a craft with! And have some FUN while your at it!

Decorating with Acorns-Part 1

I told you I would share ways I like to decorate with acorns.  At this time of year as nature changes I like to use what God gives us to decorate our home.  It makes it look warm and inviting plus you get to see that beauty of the outdoors, indoors.


WARNING: Make sure to inspect all acorns for holes.  Throw any with holes back in the yard for the squirrels. Or bake them to get rid of insects.  I did not take the time to bake any of these acorns and am finding little worms coming out to see what our house is all about. If you are short on acorns you can hope to kill the worms by baking them out.  I will probably go back and bake mine regardless.
Use an old cookie sheet to dry acorns in a warm oven and destroy any remaining insects. Layer the cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spread the acorns out in a single layer. Heat in warm oven, no more than 175 degrees, for several hours. Be sure to check them often and turn the acorns to prevent them from burning.

Now here are a few ways I am decorating with acorns this year.

One of my favorite ideas is so simple your child can do it for you.  Simply walk outside, grab some acorns and place them in a basket.  These are the big acorns from our Burr Oak tree. This basket sits by our backdoor.  Nothing special, but I love the simple look of the acorns in the basket.  I added a piece of scrap material to the basket and tossed in the acorns.  No money spent!

This arrangement I used both sizes of acorns.  They are from the Burr Oak and the Red Oak.  I used a big vase and placed a votive down inside.  Then placed all the acorns around the votive candle.  I love this simple look and it only cost me 26cents.  The votive was on sale at Hobby Lobby.  I had everything else.

And my last acorn decorating idea is so stinking easy I could laugh!!!! And it makes me smile because I love Mason jars.  These would be perfect for those nights sitting out on the patio after dark. 

Red Oak acorns in a Mason jar with a candle in the middle.  Simple and sweet.  And I did not spend a dime!!!  Had everything in my stash!

Decorating for the changing seasons is a great time to look outdoors.  And can be done without spending much money at all.  Look around outside and see what changes are going on with nature.  Then look around your home and discover how you can put the two together. 

I'll be back again this week with another idea for decorating with acorns.

Happy Monday!!!!

Pilgrims and Indian-A craft for children

Happy Friday!!!!  It is a cool 38 degrees this morning and I LOVE it!!!  I am sharing a Thanksgiving craft that would be fun to do with young children.

A very simple craft for children. 

When it comes to crafts I do most things very simple.  I just don't have the patience with the boys to do really labor intensive crafts.  OK wait a second....let me back up....not the boys, just Matthew.
Ryan has NO interest in crafts.  It is usual me and Matthew.  And this one was no different.  Ryan was out working with Daddy in the garage while me and my crafty son made pilgrims and an indian.

This is not a special craft that we will have next year, but it was fun making it with Matthew.  He had seen me looking for crafts on the computer last week.  When I came to this one he immediately stopped me and ask if we could do this one.  I said sure!
So we quickly used up three toilet paper rolls and got started!

Here is what you will need:
-toilet paper rolls
-construction paper
-glue
-scissors and or tape
-markers

I don't have detailed instructions to give, but felt like you could look at what we did to get an idea and go from there.  Feel free to ask specific questions if you have any.

Matthew did the indian. NO help from me! I thought they turned out cute and the boys both loved them. 

I then made the pilgrim woman while Matthew added a background scene with grass and the teepee.  Go back up and see it in the first picture.  He is so creative!
After we were all done they played with their new friends all afternoon.  They will be trashed by Thanksgiving I am sure, but it was fun spending the time with just Matthew making them.  Ryan did come back and forth to check things out as we made them.

Do you have any Thanksgiving crafts you are posting on your blog?  I would love to share them!    Leave me a comment.

I hope you all have a great weekend!  Bundle up, get outside and do something FUN!!!!

Painted Acorns

Oh blue, you make my heart HAPPY!

A few weeks back I mentioned sharing how I use acorns around the house to decorate during the fall months.  This is a completely new idea, but I will share my others next week. I am excited about these because they will stick around for years!

I think I lost my mind on this one, but they turned out SO sweet!!!!  Loving the blue!

Here is what you will need:
acorns
paint
paint brush
glue

I first gathered up a bunch of acorns. You want to make sure you get the tops too. Find a top on the ground if you have to. It will fit. And you will glue it on anyway.

You'll notice I have big and little acorns.  I so wanted to paint the big ones from our Burr Oak tree, but see how the top has that furry looking stuff around it...near the acorn itself?  Well it makes painting really a big mess.  So I decided to go with the little acorns from our Red Oak.  Much easier to work with the top although they are much smaller.

After I have the desired amount of acorns I then start gluing the tops on. Even if they are intact I take them off and glue. I used my hot glue gun. But not a full pump of glue. Just a tad in the top and attach the acorn back in. These little acorn tops fall off so easily so I knew I would have to glue them.

Then I start painting. I used Folk Art craft paint.  I found it in the craft section in Walmart.  This color, which I AM CRAZY about, is Calypso Sky.
Use a color you love!  
After I painted the acorns I then went back and lightly painted on Mod Podge just to give it a top coat.

Allow to dry overnight and then find a pretty glass vase or jar to show off your acorns.  I went back and forth with a dressier short neck vase and ended up with the jar at the top.  It just goes more with our shabby/french country decor.  Plus it matched all my other blues in the living room.

Now get outside, gather some ACORNS and get to painting. 

Oh wait before you get busy with this craft go check out my Guest Post today over at Blissful and Domestic . It has something to do with a certain acorn.

Children's books for Thanksgiving

Happy November!!!!  I can not believe this month is here!  Just a few short weeks and it will be that big day. 

The BIG feast day! 

Each year we get out our Thanksgiving books to get ready for the big day.  I thought I would share what we read.  I try each year to buy a new one, but have yet to find one so far.

If you have a favorite I don't show here please leave me a comment telling me the name.  I would love some ideas.

Here are the books we read leading up to the big day.

 And last, but certainly not least, Curious George.  I don't care how old you are that monkey is just funny!  And this book has some cute crafts for Thanksgiving day!  Just ask Matthew or my Mom.....he decorated her dining room last year on Thanksgiving.