Christmas Centerpiece

I was given this beautiful fresh floral centerpiece for Christmas by a friend who knows how much I appreciate flowers and greenery in the house. The reason I'm posting it today is because it stayed fresh for over a month and I just dismantled it this morning. I think this arrangement was the reason I had more company over the holiday season so we could sit around the table and enjoy.
You can't really see the details but the bows are burlap and there is a lovely willow nest with a candle that can be used again. I guess this scrapbooking trend to use burlap has also made its way over to the florist world or vice versa.

Pawprint Card

These cards are all over the internet, but I finally got the appropriate shape of dies for the heart and the ovals so I decided to make a few myself. Inside I stamped this sentiment....

This would make a nice card for someone who lost a beloved pet or for someone who was adopting a senior pet. I have been making a bunch of "doggie" themed cards to donate to my favourite Rescue.

Sick Chick

Happy New Year! Don't you love the Christmas holidays? Lots of time to get caught up (and cleaned up) and to enjoy leisurely mornings with delicious breakfasts like this...

I was on the run for most of the Break but I enjoyed a lot of good food and visiting with family and friends. I will be a little more housebound for the next little while because a certain furry friend has injured her leg.

I plan on working on cards and scrapping more if that is possible.

In the meantime, here's a card that I completed using my new favourite images, the Birdbrains from Delightful Inspiration. I like sending a cheery Get Well note when I know people are feeling under the weather. This guy is pretty cute and not too sombre.

And the inside....

Get Well Soon, Maya!

Merry Christmas

Peanut Butter Balls

Need a last minute Christmas treat? These are a sure hit, very popular and no-bake. I always used to dread making them because they were so time consuming to dip in chocolate and tap off each ball to remove the excess chocolate. Now I just hold them and dip and let the chocolate run down the sides once they are on the waxed paper trays. They don't need to be perfect. Most people just pop them in their mouths, they don't stop to examine them. They are especially useful if you re-organize your kitchen cupboards and realize you have 11 sweetened condensed milks on hand. I usually double this recipe.

Peanut Butter Chip Balls
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together, shape into balls. Place on waxed paper. Chill to set.
Melt chocolate chips and 1 tsp. shortening either in small saucepan over low heat or in microwave.
Dip balls in chocolate and chill to set.

Grinch Pills

I saw the idea for Grinch pills floating around for a couple years now and I could never find the green TicTacs and they end up making the item too expensive to sell for a fundraiser so I came up with my own idea. I saw the Mike and Ikes in their green package and I knew they would be perfect. It took me a couple tries but I ended up with a match box design and typed out my own poem, found the Grinch heads on the Net and voila..... Grinch pills. They were very popular. I made a HUNDRED and I don't have any left so it went well.
Here's a peek..

And the poem inside..

Christmas Cutlery Holders

It's been a very busy season. I went through 10 kg of flour doing my Christmas baking and worked on a couple new ideas for my little fundraising sale that I hold every year at work. I think I could have saved myself some time and only made shortbread but that would get a little boring.

Saw this cute idea on Pinterest. I happen to have the Tim Holtz Pill Box die and like to get my money's worth so this was another good way to use it and they work up really quickly.

You just cut off the notched edges, make a black band and a square of gold glitter paper and a smaller square of black, add a couple of black Dewdrops and you're ready for Christmas dinner.