Earth Wonders - Photographer's Choice

Well, this week's challenge over at Ana's Earth Wonders is Photographer's Choice.






Here's my favorite photo from this Christmas - our daughter Tiffany and granddaughter Kaylee. 

I used the sketch option at PhotoFunia to create this awesome effect from the same photo.

Why not join in?




Take care and God Bless!

Reindeer Food Package Label for you

Hey Everyone!

Thank you for your prayers for my Dad.  He is improving! Thank God!

I've made a little tag for you to use on Christmas Eve with your kiddos.  You can find it on my flicr page.

Add 2 tablespoonsful of Oats/Quick Oats (not instant oatmeal) to a 4" x 4" plastic bag and seal.  You can add a bit of glitter, as much or as little as you want. 

Personally, I didn't add the glitter.  Don't want any animals getting sick!  I'm going to tell our grands that the glitter is magical and only Rudolph can see it.  That will explain why they can't see it!

Score the label on the line between the white and tan colors, fold over the instructions for the kids, and staple wherever you think best.  I've stapled mine on either side.  I also left room at the bottom for you to add your name/names.  I found the instructions somewhere online.  I've tried to find the correct site, but...!  There are so many that are close, but no cigar. 

Sharing with Natasha's I'll be Home for Christmas Linky Party



 
and Jessa Irene's A Holiday Haven Christmas Party.

Enjoy & have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Take care and God Bless!

Homemade Powdered Coffee Creamer, Unflavored

Happy Friday! 

My cousin, Pam, in Louisiana had this posted on her FB page, so I thought I'd pass it along!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled post...   :D

I've been wanting a good recipe for a powdered coffee creamer, like the original Coffee Mate.  I went to Pinterest and searched, but all I found were for liquid coffee creamers.

So, I googled "powdered coffee creamers" Wednesday and didn't really see much.  There was one that caught my eye, though, but I can't find it again.  I've tweaked the recipe a bit, so if you still recognize it (not difficult), let me know and I'll gladly give you all the credit!

Here's my version...

Homemade Powdered Coffee Creamer Recipe, Unflavored

2 cups powdered milk
1/4 cup + 1 heaping Tablespoon powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons melted Coconut oil




Powdered milk, solid coconut oil (melt before using), powdered sugar

 


Mix powdered mik together with the powdered sugar. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup powdered sugar only, but my coffee just didn't taste right.  There was a nasty bitter aftertaste, so I added another heaping tablespoonful of the powdered sugar.

 


This is the size spoon I used, a cereal spoon. Left over oil can be put back into the original container.

 


Blend the 3 ingredients together with a fork, breaking up any oil lumps.

 


I didn't like the consistency of this "powdered" (more like nuggets) coffee creamer, so I put everything into the blender.  Guess you wouldn't need to stir with a fork, if you used this method.

 


This looked more like Coffee Mate, or any of the other creamers.

 


See?

  

I reused the empty coffee creamer container for my new concoction.  I temporarily taped a wide-mouthed canning funnel to the container opening, so I wouldn't spill the powder as I poured it in and snapped this shot. 




Mighty fine for homemade, if I do say so myself!

 I used 2 teaspoons of the mix in my coffee.  My normal coffee mug is not this dainty little white dealie.  I have a HUGE coffee mug that holds maybe 3 of the these!  I don't care if it gets cold, 'cause I like it cold, too! ;D

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think!

I'm sharing this with Jessa's A Holiday Haven Christmas Party.

Take care and God Bless!

Earth Wonders - SNOW

Ana's Earth Wonders Photo Challenge this week is SNOW.  Why not join us?  You can add your photos to her flickr group, too!  The more, the merrier!  Link up below at the bottom of this post, or on Ana's blog by clicking the Earth Wonders button.  So happy to have you!



I managed to find a couple of the photos of our 2004 Christmas Eve Blizzard.  We got something like 38 inches of snow, with unbelievable drifts! 

This first photo was taken of our front porch steps during the storm. 

The second was taken on Christmas morning, after hubby Doug removed the snow.

Please add yours below!



Take care and God Bless!

Pet Parada - Bailey

Bailey is the oldest of our current zoo.  She came with the house almost 11 years ago. Yes, REALLY!  I don't want to go into the whole story right now. She knows she's loved, and is a real sweetie, in spite of the way she looks in this photo! :)  Guess she takes after me, and doesn't like to have her picture taken.

She does have her cantankerous moments, especially when the boy kitties start to tease her.  Yes, it's like dealing with little kids.

"Mom, he's looking at me!"

"Mom, he touched me!" 

If they aren't around, Bailey is a doll baby.  She's doing pretty good for her age, 11 1/2 years old.  In cat years, I think she and I are about the same age! I, too, have my moments! REALLY! :)

I'm sharing this with Bunny Jean's Pet Parade. Head on over and check out some more of our beloved friends, both past and present.




Take care and God Bless!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

We had our first snow last week!  It came down so fast during the first hour, it seemed like we would get the 1-3 inches predicted by the local weathermen.  My sister lives about 150 miles north of us and they were supposed to get 3-5 inches.  They ended up with over 10 inches!!!  The snow was so wet and heavy, it snapped the power lines, leaving 9000 without power for many long, cold hours.  Kathy and her family finally had the power restored 26 hours after it first went out!

We, on the other hand, were much luckier.  The snow tapered off after that first couple of hours, leaving us with about 1 1/2 - 2 inches of the wet stuff.  It was beautiful, though, like a Christmas snow.  The flakes were about the size of a quarter! 

The first 3 photos are taken from our porch, looking across to the old high school gymnasium.  See how fast and heavy the snow was coming down?!  In the last one, I'm trying to capture the size of the flakes.

Here are some pins I found on Pinterest, featuring...SNOW!

Source: tumblr.com via Cassie on Pinterest

Source:

Source: imgfave.com via Ally on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Susan on Pinterest

Source: bing.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Belle on Pinterest

Here's Vaughn Monroe singing "Let It Snow." You might remember a slightly different version of this song on the first DIE HARD with Bruce Willis.  Don't forget to pause my music listed at the bottom, before listening to this!



Sharing this with Bunny Jean's Bunny Hop Wednesday






and Natasha's Pinning and Singing Linky Party






Take care and God Bless!

Sundays with Santa - Felt Santa Pillow

I found this felt Santa pillow on Pinterest tonight.  There's a pattern provided, and directions on the website.  I may try to make this a bit smaller, for an ornament.  Santa's face is sooo cute, don't you think!

Source: bhg.com via Joy on Pinterest

Sharing this with Maureen's Sundays with Santa at Yuletide Seasonings!  Why not go on over and share your own Santa favorites?


Take care and God Bless!

Deck the Halls Friday & Pinning and Singing Weekend Party

This is my first time linking to Tinsel & Co.'s Deck the Halls Friday.  Thanks for having me!

Click HERE

I found this sweet little felt ornament on Pinterest the other night. 

It has "Christmastime" written all over it!

Source: beautyineverything.com via Joy on Pinterest

 

I think I might try my hand at making some of these for our tree this year.  There are a few other ornaments that I want make that I found there.  That's what's so great about Pinterest - so many wonderful ideas available!

I'm also linking with Natasha's Pinning and Singing Weekend Party.


Click HERE

For my song, here's one I grew up with...
There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays by Perry Como. 
It brings back lots of great memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas!



Take care and God Bless!

Christmas Banner SewAlong

Hi there!

I just wanted to show you how far I'd gotten on my Christmas Banner SewAlong blocks from Sew Happy.Me.

I have 3 of the 4 patterns printed off and ready to go.  I printed the pattern, cut the fabric to size specified, taped the fabric over the pattern - centering it, then taped the pattern/fabric to my window.  I used a mechanical pencil to trace the pattern onto my fabric to being with, and finished off with a wash-out marker. 

Block 1 is almost finished - just the HO HO HO left to go.  It's been ages since I've done any embroidery like this.  It's sew much fun and relaxing!  Not totally satisified with a few of the snowflakes, so I'll probably pick those out and redo them.

Block 5 will be available this Friday, so I'd better get busy, huh!?!  There will only be 2 more blocks after Friday, the we'll get the instructions to put it all together into a banner.

Sharing this with Bunny Jean's Bunny Hop Party.  There are lots of wonderful posts linked up, so why not hop on over and join in, too!

Take care and God Bless!