Homemade Christmas Part 2

The grandma's got brag books for Christmas!

 I've done a post about accordion albums before, and these ones were just as much fun as the first!

I used Zutter 4.25x4.25" chipboard covers on these accordion albums.

Lots of pictures of my daughter, some cute quotes and, on one of them, even some art work that she did herself!

I used a Crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the front for the jewel brads, then hot-glued the ribbon in place for the fastener These make great purse albums to carry around, ready to show off the grandbabies at the drop of a hat!

Sorry for the Lack of Posts!

This one kept me busy...

Then this one came along on Jan 14th!

Together, they are the Busy Dream Team! I haven't had much time in my craft room lately!

But it's ok, because I get to spend a lot of time with these folks :-)

I'm getting caught up on all of my "homemade Christmas" stuff in liu of anything new right now.

Hoping AJ will start sleeping soon so that I can play more often!

Homemade Christmas Part 1

A friend sent me a link to the Moda Fabric Wreath tutorial about 2 weeks before Christmas. And I decided it was a MUST for those "hard to shop for" people on my list! So I set out on a journey to find the honey buns to make them. I wound up ordering three from Etsy and one I found at Hobby Lobby (it was wider, with less variety than the honey buns, but it worked out!) 

These took an average of about two hours.

I had to do math, though, which I'm not good at. I enlisted my husband to assist me in determining how many knots would go in each section.  I had about 320 strips, so it was a lot of math to do. :-)

I think these turned out really beautifully!  

I loved the way they look all set up on my ottoman (there were more on my couch arm!)  I will warn you, though, the honey buns shed like CRAZY! I'm still finding little strings in odd places in my house :-) But it was well worth it!

Quiet but busy!

Things have been quiet around the blog lately, I apologize for that! The primary reason is that most of the goodies I've been working on are Christmas presents! So hopefully I'll be doing lots of updating after the holidays, once everyone's received their gifts :-)

Gingerbread Minions

Why am I hoarding small (sugar cookie) gingerbread men?

Time will tell..... :-)

Upside Down Apple Pecan Pie

My parents came in from Georgia for Thanksgiving, so I didn't have to cook a thing.
But I still wanted to contribute!

 

I saw this recipe from the TidyMom blog and knew I HAD to try it!  Mine turned out fabulously - eventually.  I think I had an extra cast iron skillet in the bottom of the oven which messed with the cooking time. The FIRST time I took it out, I had flipped it out onto the pan and realized the apples in the bottom weren't fully cooked yet! So I RE-flipped it, put it back in the oven (without the skillet!) and baked a little while longer.

It was fabulous! Not for the faint of heart, the pecan mixture adds a LOT of sweetness to a normally-tart apple pie.

Thanks to my hubby for the beautiful pictures!

 And my little turkey is officially bigger than the one we cook!  (Last time we did this, she wasn't!)

Upside-Down Apple Pecan Pie 

From TidyMom

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter
1 box of Pillsbury All Ready Pie Crust
1 tsp flour
6 cups (6 medium) sliced & peeled apples
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Heat oven to 375°F.

1. In 9" pie plate, combine pecans, brown sugar and margarine; spread evenly over bottom of pan.

2. Prepare pie crust according to package direction for two-crust pie (flouring each side of crust).
Place bottom crust over pecan mixture in pan.

3. press crust down around sides of pan.

4. In large bowl, combine apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. mix lightly.

5. Spoon into pie crust-lined plate.

6. Top with second pie crust, and flute.

7. Cut slits in several places.

8. Place pie plate on cookie sheet and bake at 376° for 40-50 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool pie upright in pan for 5 minutes

9. Place serving plate over pie (after cooling for 5 mins)

10. Invert pie, Carefully remove pan. Some nuts may remain in pan, replace on pie with a knife

Cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Spread Sunshine!

This card went to a sweet, deserving friend of mine! She's pregnant with a toddler at home, and deserves a nice break!

I used my new Texture Boutique and some Core'dinations cardstock for the yellow sunshine. I couldn't figure out what accent colors I wanted for the LIFE of me! I settled on red because it was a bright, happy color!

I also decided to put small coffee beans on my envelops for RAK. They are adorable!