Hot Cocoa Scrapbook Layout

Happy Friday Everyone!

I started this layout back in February and put it aside to make that baby mini album. I usually never let a scrapbook project sit this long since I always finish them up right away. But I got a little burned out on scrapbooking after that mini album and needed a break for awhile. I wanted to get this finished up since I'm moving on to scrapbooking some family heritage photos for my mother-in-law. I just got them the other day and spent a couple hours scanning, editing, enlarging, and printing them out this morning. Now I'm ready to go. I also picked up the Tattered Time DCWV stack today at JoAnn's. I just discovered it the other day when I was there and decided to go back and get it. I love this stack and it will be perfect for scrapbooking heritage photos with. It has a lot clock gears, typewriters, tickets, vintage radios, etc. etc. in it. I just love it....

A lot of other people must be lovin' it too since I snagged the very last one of these  stacks that they had left. So between this one, DCWV Mainstreet and the Bo Bunny Timepiece collection, I have plenty of patterned papers to work from. Hey, I like to have choices. lol!

Without further ado, here's my recent scrapbook layout finish...

I used a sketch from the most recent sketch book (#7) from Scrapbook Generation that I got back in January. Patterned papers are by Imaginisce. Papers and photos were inked with Fired Brick Distress Ink from Tim Holtz. Border punches used were by Fiskars - apron lace and scallop sentiment. Snowflakes were made with the Arctic Snowflake Martha Stewart punch. I used both the positive and negative punched images. The title was made with my Cricut using the Winter Woodland cartridge. And the mug and snowman are from Christmas Cheer. The journaling block was made using a new Ali Edwards journaling stamp and Jenni Bowlin brown dye ink. I wrapped some cotton baker's twine around my journaling block that I just got in the mail yesterday from The Twinery. I decided to jump on the baker's twine bandwagon and give it a try since I love the look of it. I love this stuff. It is soooo pretty. It adds just the perfect touch to a layout or card. And I love that you can also stitch with it using a large-eyed needle. I got the big sampler pack so I could have 15 yards of each of the 11 colors of cotton baker's twine that The Twinery offers. They also sell each of these colors in large 240 yard spools. I thought 15 yards of each was all I "needed" and it gives me plenty to  play work with for awhile...

Well that's all for now. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It's supposed to rain here tomorrow (100% chance) so I hope to get started on scrapbooking those heritage photos....

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Sharing Some Recipes, Etc.

 Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I tried a new recipe today that I found on the internet awhile ago. I changed it up just a bit, and it turned out delicious. This is another "keeper" for sure...

CROCKPOT CHICKEN BREASTS

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 packet Italian dressing mix (dry)

Place chicken in 3-quart crockpot; brush chicken with melted butter and sprinkle with Italian seasoning mix.  Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 6-7 hours. Add sauce ingredients during last hour of cooking time....

Sauce:

1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (1/2 tsp. minced garlic from jar)

Mix together and pour over chicken during the last hour of cooking; turning the crockpot back up to high during that last hour. Shred chicken, stir sauce and chicken together and serve over cooked egg noodles.

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I finally figured out what my daughter will be giving her teacher this year for Christmas... a gift jar filled to the brim with these yummy, addictive Holiday Pretzel Treats. I found the recipe last December on www.familyfun.com and my daughter loves helping me make them. I found these 30 oz. food-safe plastic jars at JoAnn Fabrics 50% off. They're perfect for gifts-in-a-jar. It  takes a pound of the candy cane kisses to make enough pretzel treats to fill up a jar of this size. The cute tag was made with the help of my Cricut and the Christmas Cheer cartridge. Of course, I had to add a little red bling for the nose. :) I'll be making more of these to give out as gifts this year...

HOLIDAY PRETZEL TREATS

Bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels
Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
Holiday M&M's candy (red & green)

Heat oven to 170 degrees. Set a number of the pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on baking sheet. Place an unwrapped Hershey's Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each pretzel. Bake for 4-6 minutes until chocolates soften. Remove from oven and quickly press an M&M into the center of each Kiss. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then place the baking sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes 'til the Kisses set. Tastes best at room temperature. These are REALLY addictive!! Looks pretty on a cookie tray or you could put them in clear bags tied with colorful ribbon to give out as gifts during the holidays. Or, make a gift jar like I did. :)

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I found these huge 1+ lb. bags of the Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses at Kroger. Everywhere else sells the small bags. So I went there this afternoon to get a couple more (I say more because this is the 2nd batch of the pretzel treats that my daughter and I have made this week. :). Anyway, we got a couple more of these big bags of the candy cane kisses and the rest of the ingredients for the pretzel treats. As I was walking past the magazine area on my way to the registers, I glanced over real quick not really expecting to find anything interesting, when I was completely surprised to find they had this year's Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue on the shelf. I've always had to order mine online or from a cross stitch shop somewhere. So what a pleasant surprise it was to find it in a local grocery store for once. I look forward to the JCS Ornament issue each year because it always has alot of cross stitch ornament patterns by some of my favorite cross stitch designers, plus some yummy-looking recipes that they share.

Needless to say, no stitching has gotten done today. Maybe tomorrow I'll get back to my gingerbread man....

Thanks for stopping by,