Tissue Paper Pom Poms

We made some New Year's Eve party decorations from a Martha Stewart Kit I bought after Halloween on sale. I thought silver and black would work for the New Year. I love them. But you don't need the kit to make them. They are super easy, you just have to be careful not to rip the tissue paper (at least not too much)

Supplies: You'll need tissue paper and floral wire.

Here are the steps:

Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.

2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time. (Be gentle and patient, the tissue tears easily)

4. Tie a length of string or fishing line to floral wire for hanging.

As you can see you can do any color. I think these would be darling for a birthday party!

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish everyone a very, Merry Christmas! We miss seeing our friends and family far away. We send our love and best wishes for a Christmas full of peace, harmony, and love. And may we all remember the wonderful blessing of the Savior's birth, His life, and His atoning sacrifice. Merry Christmas

All I Want for Christmas . . .

Is a broken arm? That's what Eliza got. Today we spent the morning at the doctor's office, who confirmed that Eliza's arm is indeed broken - both bones as a matter of fact. Fortunately, they were both a "greenstick" break. In other words, not bad and the doctor was able to cast her arm in the doctor's office. It all started this morning. I had a 9:00am Camp meeting at my house. Steve had not left for work yet, and Amy had a great idea. Amy gets lots of great ideas that she likes to try out on her sisters, mainly Eliza. Today it was doing "airplane". Eliza would lay on Amy's feet, who would launch her off and onto the floor. Unfortunately, the last landing was a crash one. I of course was oblivious to what was going on. Apparently, Ruthie tried to tell me that Zsha, Zsha (Eliza) was sad and Amy was sad. But, I was in a meeting and paid no attention. So after Eliza countinued to cry for over a half hour, Steve decided she was really hurt. When I finally realized what was going on, my meeting ended abruptly. Steve and I loaded a sobbing Eliza into the car and left a sobbing Amy at home, and drove off into the very, very, very snowy morning. (So glad Steve was home to drive). So you see, its nothing that a Jamba Juice and a trip to Blockbuster can't make a little better.

Pretzel Turtles

The girls and I made these delicious little treats. They are yummy. Instead of pecans (not everyone in my family is a nut fan) we used Christmas colored MnM's. You can make a lot of these quick.

Preheat your oven to 250

1. Upwrap your Rolos. Place pretzels on baking sheet. Top with a Rolo.

2. Bake in oven for 3-5 minutes, until the chocolate just begins to melt. The Rolo should be soft but not completely melted.

3. Remove from oven, place on cooling rack and immediately squish the chocolate with a nut or MnM.

4. Allow time for them to set by letting them cool for a couple of hours or by putting them in the refrigerator.

Ideas, PLEASE!

I recently got a new calling, Stake Camp Director. Not sure what they were thinking, but that is beside the point. This year we are going to a new camp and doing everything differently. They want the Girls Camp more stake oriented. We are going to be dividing the girls by levels. But they also want to schedule ward time.Has anyone ever done it this way before? Does anyone have any ideas on how to do certification, how to use ward leaders, etc, etc? Suggestions? ideas for a theme? I really am a little lost right now, so ANY thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas

Today I learned that our Christmas cards will be arriving from shutterfly on December 22nd. This means that if I send out Christmas cards, you would receive them after Christmas. Kinda defeats the purpose of a Christmas card, doesn't it? Oh well. So, I decided to post our Christmas picture on my blog and wish you all a Merry Christmas. (Just pretend you received this in the mail.) Thanks - I feel better now.

Hot Chocolate Cones

We have made these for the past three years. They are really easy and turn out really cute. They make great little gifts. I often get asked how to make these, so I thought I would post the steps. Here you go:
Supplies: (for one hot chocolate cone)
1/2 C hot chocolate - any kind you like

2 T mini chocolate chips
1/2 C mini marshmallows (aprx)
1 red Hot Shot candy (this is a generic brand candy at our grocery store, its like a giant red hot. If you can't find it a regular red hot will do)
2 cone shaped cellophane bags (I buy mine online)
2 clear hair rubber bands (you buy these on the same aisle in grocery store where hair clips, hair bands, etc. are. They work well because they are smaller than regular rubber bands and easier to conceal. )

Steps:

Fill cellophane bag with the 1/2 C of hot chocolate and tie off with one rubber band. Next, cut off the top of the cellophane bag just above the rubber band Next place the cellophane bag filled with the hot chocolate into the other cellophane bag Then fill with the 2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips Top off with the marshmallows and the red hot Finish by securing with another clear rubber band, then add ribbon and/or tag, etc. Each cone serves at least two. You can make these super fast if you enlist the help of others and do it like an assembly line.

The Flu and a Really Lame Toothfairy

We have the flu going around at our house. It started with Lydia and now Ruthie has it. I started feeling achy Sunday night and have been fighting aches and coughing for a couple of days now. Fortunately, I don't have it as bad as Lydia or Ruthie. Now Steve is starting to cough too. Poor little Ruthie is kinda miserable, I don't get much done, but I get a lot of cuddling time with her since she just wants to be held. And Thursday night Eliza lost her front tooth. She was very excited and left her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy. Unfortunately, the tooth fairy was really tired that night, forgot about the tooth and fell asleep. So, the next morning I explained to Eliza that sometimes the tooth fairy gets pretty busy and needs an extra night. By that time the tooth was lost, but I reassurred Eliza that she could leave a note and the tooth fairy could find the tooth. So, she left a note Friday night, and the tooth fairy didn't come again! Well while we were at a 6:00am tithing settlement (no, that is not a typo - it was 6:00AM on a Saturday) The tooth fairy realized she had neglected to pick up Eliza's tooth again! So, the tooth fairy quickly went to her bank (aka Steve) got some cash and then enlisted the help of other fairies (aka Abigail). So, upon arrival home Abigail quickly darted out of the car and up to Eliza's room. When we got home I asked Eliza if the tooth fairy had come yet, to which she replied "No." (I was really hoping she hadn't checked yet.) So, I told her I thought she should check again, because sometimes things get lost in your covers. She did and the tooth fairy had finally come! We have a really lame tooth fairy. PS The Beehive Bazaar went great! And the girls are assurred a lot of spending money.

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of all the goodies the girls are selling. We set up our display at home to make sure it looked OK and we had everything we needed. Here is a list of what was made: Hot Chocolate Cones (Amy)$3.00 Hairbands(Abigail/Lydia) $3.00 Ornaments(Eliza)$3.50 Pocket Mirrors (Abigail/Lydia)$3.00 Magnets (set of four) (Abigail/Lydia)$2.50 Earrings (Abigail/Lydia)$3.00 Although the girls had their own items to sell, it really was a collective effort. And yes, I did end up helping A LOT! Tomorrow night the Bazaar starts. I will post some "how to's" in the next day or so, plus some other ideas I had, but just never got around to.

Quick Update

I figured I better post something so people would know we were still alive. We made it home safe from AZ, sans no wrong turns landing us in Wickenberg and no car problems. (Both which happened on the way down.) However, Lydia is still sick. We are going on four days of no school. Not good. But I do believe she is on the mend and I am hoping she will be able to make it tomorrow. She tried to go this morning, but taking a shower wiped out all of her energy. So, this means that I am taking her spot making all of their "stuff" for the Beehive Bazaar. I have been so busy "helping" that everything else has been neglected. I told the girls that they need to give me a large cut of the money they make. Let's just hope things sell or I will be sending you all earrings, pocket mirrors, magnets, rings, and hot chocolate cones for Christmas. My goal is to have enough finished today that I can clear off the dining room table, so we can acually eat dinner there tonight. Wish me luck. I promise to post pictures soon. Although my camera is still gone. . .starting to get worried. . .I will use my old one which means the pics won't be so great.