Handmade Holidays: Using Vinyl

I love handmade gifts - both giving & receiving them. It's one of my 101 Goals at least 5 Handmade Gifts for Christmas. Last year I made several handmade gifts and it looks like I will definitely hit my goal this year! 

I used my Silhouette and vinyl to make some semi-homemade gifts.

Vinyl Gift 1: Personalized Ornaments

Start with clear glass ornaments...

Add some Christmasy metallic basket filler to the inside, some personalized vinyl to the outside, tie a festive ribbon on top and voila! A cute semi-homemade gift. 

This particular ornament is for an ornament exchange so it is generic, however I made a couple with family monograms that turned out equally cute.  

Vinyl Gift 2: Festive Jar Candle

Kmart had these large jar candles marked down to $2.99 and the "Holiday Floral" smelled divine! I bought three with intentions of making them more festive.

Start by removing that awful sticker...

Cut festive vinyl phrases and shapes, then adhere for a fun, useful, and inexpensive Christmas gift. 

Perfect for a neighbor or just something to have out for the holidays.

 

Reindeer Pops

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to make some Reindeer Pops this week for Little Man's preschool class. I was a little worried they wouldn't turn out as cute, but I think they did!

Little Man is in love with these "Flying Deer" (his term for reindeer). I hope they'll be a hit at his class tomorrow!

Meal Plan Monday & a Cute Christmas Treat

Last week our family all came down with a bad cold - some of it still lingering. This resulted in not following our meal plan very well and eating Chick-Fil-A several times. Add another two fast-food stops on the road this weekend and lots of "snacky" foods during a family holiday gathering...I'm feeling YUCKY! I'm ready for some real meals, so here's what's on our menu plan for the week.

Monday: Baked Pork Chops, Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans
Tuesday: Crockpot Chili (need an easy meal because we have Little Man's first Preschool Christmas Program!)
Wednesday: Chicken Pie, Roasted Carrots, Green Beans
Thursday: Hubby's work Christmas Dinner
Friday: Pizza Night!
Saturday: Holiday Family Gathering
Sunday: Potato Soup

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I'm also going to make a batch of these for Little Man's preschool class. What a cute Christmas treat!

Check out more menu plans at OrgJunkie.

Sunday

Recipe Review: Stuffed Pizza Bites

I tried out a new recipe on our menu plan this week, Stuffed Pizza Bites, and they were a HIT! My Little Man can be quite picky if he doesn't like the look of something, especially if it's something he hasn't seen before, so I held little hope for him to actually eat one when I put it on his dinner plate. Much to my surprise and delight, he took a bite and said, "Yummy!". He then proceeded to eat SIX more. This will definitely be on our menu again.

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I filled my version with mozzarella and mini-turkey pepperonis. However, since these were such a hit I'm planning to make several more versions in hopes to get my Little Man to eat a few foods he wouldn't normally eat. I'm thinking chicken, cheese, & broccoli or maybe ham & swiss. There's another version here that looks great too!

Notice of Hibernation

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! It's been SO COLD recently! We've only had highs in the 30s for the past week and even a quick snow, which is extremely unusual for NC. As a native North Carolinian, I'm not liking it one bit! 

I was thinking back to this past week and I've only left the house 2-3 times, for necessary things like MOPS, picking up my child from a night with his grandparents, and Monday morning Preschool activities like the grocery store & coffee with my BFF. Haven't had a need to put on makeup since last Friday. Wow! 

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If it doesn't warm up soon I may become a hermit until spring, which of course is basically hibernation. Sounds good to me!

Sick Day

Today is a sick day for Little Man & me. We've already blown through 1.5 boxes of tissues yesterday and are well on our way to breaking that record today. I keep hearing pitiful cries of "nose running!" which means, "Mommy please come wipe my nose because snot is EVERYWHERE!!" Poor thing. I see lots of time on the couch for the two of us today and hopefully a long nap.

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The one thing (probably the only thing) I really don't like about being a SAHM - no sick days. This isn't really an issue today since we're both sick, but it really stinks when mommy is feeling bad and a toddler is full of his usual energy. Occasionally when I've been on my death bed my husband will stay home, but I can only think of 1, maybe 2 days, in 2.5 years where that has happened. I am fortunate to have in-laws close by that can usually watch him if needed, but the irony is that I've only gotten extremely sick when my MIL has been off on a cross-country adventure.

There's needs to be a better solution for this problem...

Where are your presents going?

Do your presents stay all in one place, never leaving your house? I doubt it. If you're like me, then you have presents to take to both sides of the family, parties, and so on. In a holiday organizing effort, I have wrapped all my presents by location...everything going to my side of the family in silver snowflake, presents to my in-laws in red/green snowman, and so on. There are a few exceptions for this system, like when presents end up in gift bags but otherwise it works! No more looking at every single tag to figure out where each gift goes.

As for that striped package on the far right hand side, that's my birthday present from my hubby - I'm a Christmas Baby! Honestly, I'm shocked that it's already purchased and wrapped. I'm also quite curious about what it is!

Notice my packages have no bows...I learned my lesson last year when a certain toddler removed them all. After that incident the presents no longer resided under my tree but tucked away in the lonely guest room. I think Little Man is old enough to resist the packages this year, but I think the bows would have been too tempting so I just left them off completely. Whatever works!

Meal Plan Monday

It's that time again...time to decide what we're eating this week. Our forecast for the week is COLD with daytime highs only in the 30s. I'm in North Carolina and that is just ridiculous...plus it snowed this weekend, which is pretty much unheard of this early. The cold weather has inspired me to plan warm, hearty meals this week.

Monday: Hamburger Helper & Salad (definitely not my favorite, but my hubby is under the weather and it's one of his favs - plus it's easy!)
Tuesday: Turkey Tetrazini & Salad (using leftover turkey breast from last week's yummy crockpot adventure)
Wednesday: Chili in the crockpot
Thursday: Stuffed Pizza Rolls (a new recipe that looks delicious!)


Check out lots of other meal plans at OrgJunkie.

Sunday