Handmade Christmas: Christmas Art Journal

I started keeping a Christmas Art Journal in 2008 and get super excited to put mine together each year. The amazingly talented and inspiring Ali Edwards first introduced the idea of December Daily several years ago and has inspired many to document the holiday season in December.

"December Daily is an album project that documents the 25 days leading up to Christmas. Many people start their documentation earlier and many people go longer. I have found that 25 days is just right for me.

One of the keys to success in this project is getting an album structure set-up in advance of December so that during December you can enjoy the season & enjoy the process of documenting your days without having to be putting the entire thing together at the same time. It is not meant to be stressful. It is meant to be a way to creatively celebrate the season and document you special holiday memories in one album." - from aliedwards.com. Go here to see her current posts on December Daily 2010.

+ Interested in keeping your own journal for December? I have kits available in the shop here - complete with all sorts of fun papers (new and vintage) as well as super cute embellishments and tags.

A closer look at some of the pages as well as the kit contents:

I am still in the process of putting my personal journal together, and have decided to make it a little bigger this year - 6"x8". I added in a few extras I've been collecting, such as a baseball card holder (cut to size - 6"x8" - 4 pockets), some glittery paper, and some designed and printed day sheets - these sheets will be a lot like what Ali has in hers this year-- mostly blank sheets, where each have the day printed at the bottom (December 1, December 2, etc.). These will be perfect for journaling on or adding a picture and then printing the sheet at the end of the day. I plan to attach extra pictures and labels and some of the journaling tags I designed (also in the kit) on the patterned paper, so each day will have 2 (maybe even 3) pages.

++ I posted last year on making your own journal at home, with supplies you might already have on hand or can purchase inexpensively. The idea is to keep it simple - your journaling and pictures are what is important!

An excerpt from last year's post and a link to the entire post: ...Want to make your own December Art Journal? Rummage around your home for scrap paper and envelopes. A few ideas of papers you probably have around:
- Envelopes for mailing
- Envelopes that come in bills to return the bill (you could use these if you pay your bills online)
- Calendar Planner pages
- Pages from Christmas catalogs (!! These are fabulous backgrounds for pasting on mementos)
- Construction paper
- Christmas cards/envelopes (snag one from your stack of cards you'll be sending out to friends and family)
- Security envelopes from junk mail (cut these up and use these as pages- you'd be amazed at how many different patterns and colors there are for security envelopes once you start paying attention!)
- Find a pattern here to make fun handmade envelopes and inserts

A couple ideas of things you could purchase very inexpensively:
- $1 bin Christmas cards/envelopes at Target or Michael's
- $1 bin Christmas paper/lists/Christmas stickers/embellishments at Target or Michael's
- Items from a dollar store - envelopes, paper, graph paper, any sort of fun paper you can find! Spools of ribbon, wrapping paper, writing paper, stationery

You can purchase binder rings at Staples, Michael's, or AC Moore for less than $2 for 6 rings. Use a 40% off coupon at the craft stores and save even more (these usually come in the newspaper or you can sign up online to receive their emails and receive the coupon in your inbox) Or, use ribbon to bind your book.

Decide what size you would like your journal to be - I find that 5"x7" is a nice size and holds items and 4"x6" photos very well. Cut your papers to approximately that size (or smaller if your found papers are smaller than that - it's fun to have all different sizes!) For sturdy covers, cut the chipboard from the back of the construction paper pad, or a large legal pad into two 5"x7" pieces (yay for recycling!).

++Go here to see the entire post.

Excited to get your journal going? Me too! Now is the time- Have fun! :)

Monday Faves: Early Start on Holiday Gift Ideas

1. Hearts and Gifts: Christmas Tree Decorations by Little TinCar
2. Prawda. Set of 3 Ornaments by rennadesign
3. The Mathematician Mini Notebooks by relove
4. Colorburst Paper Star Urchin Magnets by kissadesign
5. Farm Fresh Baker's Twine by OhForCute
6. Magazine Bag: Linen Patchwork by oktak
7. Teapots Print by lauraamiss
8. Soft Mustard Handknit Scarf by zuzusworld
9. Pencil Mix Up- Choose Your Own Set by earmark

Catching Up.

Been super busy around here this week - getting orders ready from the shop, meal planning, keeping up with the blog (although I've fallen behind on the plan for this week - my apologies ;)), donuts (hehe :)) hubby having a ton of work due, business work, and is now out of town on a retreat and then business until Monday. Phew!

Still planning to post on:
+ A look at the new 2010 Christmas Art Journals - and a little background on these art journals in case you're new to keeping a Christmas Art Journal (December Daily).
+ Menus. Groceries. Budget. Ideas: A Mini Series: Part 2
+ A review on some amazing kitchenware products from CSN Stores.

Getting Holiday Art Journals ready to ship :: Preparing some more art journals :)

Jimmy loves taking pictures with my camera - love this fun shot he got of me finishing up some emails at the computers :)

Finalizing meal plans.

Ok. I must confess I love donuts. I know they are so super not good for you. But in moderation, right? :) My friend taught me how to make some using biscuit dough. They are a-ma-zing. :)

Have a fabulous weekend :)

Pumpkins 101.

So it's probably obvious that one of my favorite things about the Fall season are the pumpkins. I L.O.V.E. pumpkins. Lol :) I love the look of them, the smell of them when you carve them, the seeds, the puree, the recipes you can make with puree. The list goes on and on. Maybe it's because we went to the pumpkin patch every year growing up and got pumpkins - complete with a hayride, an actual pumpkin patch where you pick your pumpkin off the vine and a hay barn that had ropes to swing on, the corn (maize) maze, all of those fun things. We would carve pumpkins as a family, my sisters and I scooping out all of the goop and seeds, my mama roasting the seeds, and my dad letting us pull out the pieces of the jack o' lantern face as he carved it. :)

Now that I have my own little family (and even before we had Jimmy), we have gone to the pumpkin patch every year and gotten a pumpkin or two (or 15 like this year). We carve a few and I get the seeds out and puree the rest :)

So today, Pumpkins 101. How to roast seeds, how to roast the pumpkin and prepare the flesh for pureeing and freezing. And of course, some fun recipes links. Have a pumpkin you're ready to fix? If not, many grocery stores and farmer's market stands have pumpkins for sale for reduced prices now that Halloween is over (I was just at the grocery today and they had nice large carving pumpkins for $.99 - last week they were $5.99).

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds from one medium-large carving pumpkin
1 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. salt (or more if you like super salty)
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Dash chili powder (I use about 1/4 tsp.)

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Begin by cutting the top off of the pumpkin (or cutting the entire pumpkin in half) and scooping out all of the seeds and placing them in a strainer. Run the seeds (in the strainer :)) under warm water and wash them off, pulling out any pieces of stringy or goopy stuff. Set aside.

In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter and add the salt, chili powder and Worcestershire sauce. Add the seeds and stir to coat.

Pour seed mixture onto a large baking sheet (that has a rim), and spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven for 2 hours, or until seeds have dried out and are somewhat crunchy. Every 1/2 hour or so while baking, mix seeds around using a spatula. Store in an airtight container or zip-loc bag. Enjoy! :)

Pumpkin Pureeing
*Note: I got about 6 cups of pumpkin puree from one medium sized carving pumpkin.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Cut the pumpkin in half. Pull all of the seeds out, and then use a spoon and scrape out the rest of the stringy goopy stuff. Place the two halves open side down on a large roasting pan and fill with 1½ cups water. Cover each half with foil and bake for 1 hour or until the pumpkin meat is easily pierced with a fork.

Once the pumpkin is done baking, turn the halves over and scoop out the meat with a spoon and place in a large bowl. Be careful! The pumpkin is super hot. Be careful not to tip the water out of the roasting pan as you are taking it out of the oven.

You can now either use a hand mixer or place the meat in a food processor. Mix (or pulse on the food processor) the meat (pulp? pumpkin pulp? :)) well until it looks pretty much like baby food (I put mine in the food processor and left it on for about 1-2 minutes).

Divide into 1 cup (8 oz.) portions and pour into a freezer-ready zip-loc sandwich baggie. I put a little bit of the pumpkin chunks in the processor at a time and would measure out a cup and then pour into a baggie as I went. After all the pumpkin was pureed and packaged, I put the baggies in the refrigerator to cool the pumpkin down before putting it in the freezer.

Now you have fresh pumpkin puree to use throughout the winter! :) See some yummy recipe links below.

Recipes Using Pumpkin Puree
+ Pumpkin Bars with Icing
+ Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
+ Pumpkin Butter
+ Harvest Pumpkin Brownies
+ Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
+ Pumpkin Spice Scones
+ Cindy's Pumpkin Pie
+ Brown Family's Favorite Pumpkin Pie
+ Pumpkin Cheesecake
+ Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread
+ Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

And another recipe a friend gave me that I will be trying soon. Like, maybe today- yummy! :)

Pumpkin Crisp

1 (15oz) can pumpkin (or 2 cups pumpkin puree)

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 (18.25 oz.) package butter flavored cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup butter, melted

Stir together first five ingredients. Pour into lightly greased 13x9 dish. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle evenly with pecans and drizzle butter over the pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temp. with whipped cream and nutmeg.

Nativity Set Giveaway :: For an Amazing Cause

Yesterday, Sheena, of The Best of Momma Chef blog contacted me about posting a link to a giveaway she is hosting. She told me all about what the giveaway is for and I definitely want to share it with you. Please take a minute to read and head over to her blog to support this wonderful cause.

Sheena and her husband (a police officer) are making beautiful handmade Nativity sets this holiday season and are selling them with all profits going to Comfort Quilts - a beautiful charity that makes quilts out of fallen police officer and firefighter's uniforms for their families. This really struck a chord in me, as my older sister's husband is a firefighter and we also know several police officers.

Sheena is hosting a giveaway for one of these beautiful sets right now - until Friday night (November 5, 2010). Go here to enter the giveaway and to also read more. You can also purchase a set for $15 with all profits going straight to fund the quilts. As the holiday season is upon us, this can be an especially difficult time for families and friends who have lost loved ones in the line of duty. What a great way to help out an amazing ministry as well as have a beautiful Nativity set- for yourself or as a gift this holiday season.

From Sheena's blog: If you would like to purchase a set, please email Sheena at wsbjensen(at)gmail(dot)com. They come in black or brown and are $15 per set. Each set is made from solid pine and is packaged up in a cute paper sack with ribbon and a tag detailing the cause.

Tuesday Tutorial: Simple Fabric Headbands

I used to make these super cute, super easy-to-make headbands and decided to make a few more recently :) They take less than 20 minutes to make, a tiny amount of fabric, and are a great way to coordinate with an outfit :) These make great gifts and would be great little gifts for Christmas! :)

Supplies:
+ 2.5" x 18" piece of fabric
+ 3" piece of elastic (you can purchase elastic in different colors, be sure to purchase a color that will coordinate with your fabric. I usually keep white, black and brown on hand- these will usually coordinate nicely with different colors of fabric)
+ 2 safety pins
+ pins
+ scissors
+ sewing machine and coordinating thread
+ needle and coordinating thread

*Please note that as head sizes of course will vary, you might need to do a little trial-and-error with the measurements of your fabric! I measured my head with a sewing measuring tape where the headband would sit and it was 22" when pulled very snugly- about 4" bigger than the piece of fabric I used. So for example, if your head circumference (where the headband will sit) is about 16", try using a 12" piece of fabric, etc. I would definitely do a trial run with a fabric remnant before using your desired piece of fabric (and hopefully then you have 2 fun headbands to wear!). :)
Start by folding the fabric in half, lengthwise, so that the wrong side is out. Pin every couple inches.
Begin to sew a straight stitch down the open, pinned side with a 1/4" seam allowance.
About 3" from one edge, leave a 1.5" opening (see picture below). This will allow you to turn it right side out later on. Be sure to back stitch a couple times on each side of the opening so it doesn't come undone.
Pin one of the safety pins to one edge of the elastic piece.
Begin to push the safety pin into one of the open sides of the headband.
Using the other safety pin, pin the other edge of the elastic (that doesn't already have a pin in it) to the edge of the opening you just went in (see picture below).
As a visual, below is what is happening at this point. Don't pull safety pin #1 out the opening you left, I just wanted to show where it is :)
Now, begin scrunching down the fabric over the safety pin and elastic as you push the safety pin to the other opening.
The safety pin eventually comes out the other side. Pin to the opening you just came out of- you can use a quilting pin to hold it in place while you adjust the safety pin. Now both sides are pinned with a safety pin.
Now, using approximately a 1/4" seam allowance, sew up the openings on each side- this will sew the elastic in place as well as close up the openings. I switched out the safety pins for the straight quilting pins, but found it easier to leave the safety pins in and sew up the edges. This step takes a lot of finagling, and I stuck myself a bunch of times with the quilting pin while trying to hold the elastic and fabric in place for sewing (Yet another reason to leave the safety pins in while sewing). Sew back and forth a couple of times to reinforce. Close up of the sewn edge.
Both edges sewn. It's all scrunched up because the elastic is stretched inside :)
Now it's time to flip it! Find the 1.5" opening and begin gently pulling the elastic through, followed by the fabric.
Now, iron it all nice and flat, sew a blind stitch on the 1.5" opening and voilà! A simple fabric headband :)

Goodbye, October ::: Hello, November

Welcome, November. I hope you had a fabulous weekend :) We had a super busy, but super fabulous weekend, complete with a trip to a pumpkin patch, a fall get-together, a baby shower, trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, pumpkin seed roasting, and pizza eating (and candy eating ;)). Jimmy dressed up like a football player in his daddy's old jersey (we tried to put toilet paper rolls on his shoulders under the jersey... he didn't really go for it ;)) - it was so much fun going door-to-door - he could actually understand that he was trick-or-treating, and getting (tons) of candy. Last year he was kind of like "Oh, candy! Thanks!" :)

We went to a new-to-us pumpkin patch and were lucky to get to go to the patch on a 4-wheeler and pick out a bunch of super-inexpensive pumpkins of all sorts of varieties (that I've never heard of). The owner told us all about the different pumpkins and which ones were great for making pumpkin pies and such. Needless to say, I will be cooking, pureeing and making freezer-ready lots of pumpkin :) So, if you still have some pumpkins left that haven't been carved, be sure to save the pumpkin flesh and the seeds - this week I'll be sharing a recipe for amazing pumpkin seeds and also how to get your pumpkin ready to store in the freezer so you can have fresh pumpkin puree available on into the Christmas season :)

+++
So, a winner for the giveaway! The Random Number Generator picked #3- Sheena!
Sheena said...Long time follower here, in fact I was worried a while back when we didn't hear from you for quite a while. So glad you're back. I would love the Knitter!

Congratulations, Sheena! I will be emailing you today for your shipping info and get your new Knifty Knitter ready to ship :) Thank you so much for everyone who played along :)

+++
Sneak Peek at This Week:
+ A fun new tutorial
+ A yummy Pumpkin seed recipe and how-to
+ A look at the new 2010 Christmas Art Journals (which are now available in the shop!) - and a little background on these art journals in case you're new to keeping a Christmas Art Journal (December Daily).
+ Menus. Groceries. Budget. Ideas: A Mini Series: Part 2
+ A review on some amazing kitchenware products from CSN Stores.