Advent Box

About 5 years ago, I bought this Advent Box Kit (made by Making Memories Inc.) at a clearance sale in a discount store. I wish had I had found many more of them to make! I made this early in the Fall, and it was so simple and fun, I'd make more for friends' families if I had the kits. If anyone knows where I might find them, please contact me! (The only things I added to this one are the Mistletoe Flowers from Close To My Heart.) Meanwhile, I'm going to be scouring the discount stores with my eyes wide open.

Close To My Heart has an Advent Calendar Box available (Autumn/Winter Idea Book, page 67) and I'm going to try that project soon.

If you've made one of those, I'd love to hear your comments about CTMH's kit!

Meanwhile, I'm deciding what surprise treats to put into each of these little boxes for special children!

Happy weekend--and keep your fingers sticky and inky!

Christmas Candy Countdown

I made these Christmas Candy Countdowns for this weekend's vendor fair -- and I was so happy to find the "gluten free" candy ball packets at Big Lots! A few years ago I saw this idea, and adapted the size and the verse for this project. I made a bunch using small candy canes too, and called it "Candy Cane Countdown." I used the Jingle candy cane striped papers for those.

Jingle papers are so cheerful with the non-traditional Christmas colors in Juniper and Tulip. Oh, I do love all the greens and reds too ... and I'm using every single piece and not wasting a scrap. Frugal, just like momma taught me to be.

These 10 candy packets will help young children count down the last, very slow 10 days until Christmas Day.

Glad you stopped by -- and I appreciate your comments too!

Merry Christmas to You!

Here's a little peek into our merry little Christmas at home and some favorite tree ornaments and decor. The Christmas CDs are constantly playing day and night.

We worship on Christmas Eve at a candlelight service, then have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Day followed by a family luncheon and gift giving. It will be especially fun this year with TWO little granddaughters!

Our Christmas wish for you:

That your eyes are focused on God's Son, Jesus our Savior,

and that your hearts are filled with His love!

Happy birthday, dear Jesus!

Heart-Filled Evensong Card

Hearts ... Love ... Valentine's Day?

Christmas!

The story of Christmas is filled with God's love.

It's the best Valentine's Day of all.

I just keep going back to this beautiful Evensong paper packet!

All card materials are Close To My Heart:

papers, sheer ribbon, dimensional hearts,

sparkle, liquid glass, inks & stamps

Happy new week to all my blog visitors!

Pecan Praline Crunch

This is one of our family's favorite holiday season snacks--

Pecan Praline Crunch

Stir together 8 cups Chex cereal (I use corn, wheat, and rice)

and 2 cups halved pecans in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

(Sometimes I also add small pretzels, peanuts, and almonds to the mix.)

Melt 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar,

1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and

1/2 cup Southern Praline Mix.

Heat until boiling; gently cook for 2 minutes.

Pour over cereal and nuts.

Stir to coat well.

Bake at 250 degrees for one hour.

Stir mixture once during baking.

Spread onto cookie sheet to cool.

 Southern Praline Mix is a flavorful liquid from the Old South,

made and distributed by

The Savannah Cinnamon Company

of Savannah, Georgia.

One of our nearby speciality stores

has carried the various bottles of flavoring

for quite a few years--

raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and so many more.

But the Southern Praline flavoring is our favorite!

It goes GREAT with the Missouri pecans.

The fragrance in your home is just plain yummy

when this is baking!

Watch for these delicious flavorings

in a speciality store near you!

With each bottle, the company includes

a really great little recipe book

to make speciality drinks, snacks, desserts,

sauces, and so much more.

An update since Leslie left her comment:

Check out their website and click the"Where to Buy" tab --

http://www.savannahcinnamon.com/category/Savannah_Mixes

You'll notice that they've updated their labels

since I bought some bottles last year.

Same great flavors though!

Wishing you a sweet & yummy Christmas season!

Christmas Cactus Card

The Close To My Heart "Perfect Day" papers are perfect

to complement my photos of the Christmas cactus

that bloomed its little heart out at Thanksgiving.

So I decided to use my photos for some of our Christmas cards.

The inside sentiments are stamped in Juniper and Sorbet.

Lucious colors--just love 'em!

Glad you stopped by to visit!

Christmas Sunset

Our Missouri winter skies have been so gorgeous! These are views from our deck.

It was an awesome sight and I thought of the glory of the angels that the shepherds saw and heard when they saw the sky bright with the singing messengers on the night Jesus was born.

I took these fotos of the Christmas sunset with my new Canon Rebel xsi camera--just love it!

Now I'm working hard to catch up on Christmas layouts--"stuck on Christmas" is a good thing! While at the Sauder Village Saturday crop, I accomplished 20 pages of our family Christmas memories all on Evensong papers. The Aspen papers will have to stay "on top" so I can document our snow and ice storms next. Maybe then winter will stay away? We loved the 70 degrees these past few days (thank you, Coloradoans, for pushing the warm front our way)!

CTMH products used:

Aspen Level 1 papers and Stickease

Cranberry waxy flax (to accent the cranberry hues in the sky)

Big brads

Twilight marker

Reflections template "Sidebar Photo Focus"

Sights & Sounds of Christmas

Christmas Eve sky & sunset from our hilltop home

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and ev'rywhere;
Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!

While shepherds kept their watching o'er silent flocks by night,
Behold, throughout the heavens there shone a holy light.

The shepherds feared and trembled when lo, above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior's birth.

Down in a lonely manger the humble Christ was born;
And God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.

(Isaiah 40:9-11; Luke 2:7-20)

Happy birthday, Jesus!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Ella's Talking Tree Ornament

How did Gramma get inside that little box?

Yesterday when Emily & Ella visited and had lunch with me, I gave Ella her tree ornament I had made using the My Pages Talk voice recorder and the Evensong papers from Close To My Heart.

You can tell by her face that she wonders about this! The first two times it played my message, Ella looked fearful. Grammas shouldn't scare their little ones! By the time she left to go home, the ornament was not as scary. I know Ella likes the Baby Jesus picture the best.

Here's the little box I made to store the ornament when it isn't hanging on their tree. The base is a Stride-Rite shoe box. I used papers and dimensional embellishments from MM, and stamps/ink from CTMH. Talking Gramma will be safely stored in it during off-season.