Jingle all the way

"Over the fields we go on a one horse open sleigh.  "NO! we have four horses. Over the fields we go on a four horse open sleigh".

House Tour

Welcome to our home~

This is my tree in the front room. We wanted one you could see from the street. Eventually I will hang photos off of it also. I didn't get to that this year with all the computer issues we have been having.

On the wall walking into the kitchen.

My snowman collection on top of my pantry cabinet.

Dining room hutch display.

Swags in the dining room.

Table centerpiece in the dining room.

Breakfast area.

Kitchen counter display.

Mantle in family room.

Jute trees in family room that sit on the side table under a lamp that doesn't work.

Sofa table display.

Our tree!

Coffee table display.

Our nativity, which sits in the hall and is the first thing you see when you enter our home.

 I hope you enjoyed your visit.

O come, O come, Emmanuel!

Hard Candy Christmas

I love this song sung by Dolly Parton. It is my inspriation for my kitchen Christmas theme. Just the title, the song itself is rather depressing, but I like a good depressing song every now and then. The title Hard Cand Christmas got me thinking and that can be a very dangerous thing.(hehe)

Three years ago I strung gumdrops on string to put on top of my cabinets.  I wanted to have something that was cheap and easy to do. Well it was cheap but not easy!  I had blisters from pulling sticky string through each gumdrop, I knew I didn't want to have to redo them every year so I have been storing them in the freezer and it works great! This year I added the little tree inside the pickle jar. The old glass distorts is a bit but you can still tell its a tree. It's sitting on a base of sugar.

Jars with candy on the counter.

I have these two windows hung in my breakfast area and wanted to hang wreaths on them. When I saw the idea for the gumdrop wreaths I just had to make some!( I can't remember whos blog I saw them on so let me know so I can give them credit) They work perfectly to tie the kitchen together with this area and were so easy to make! I hung them from canvas strips I sewed together after wrapping it around the wreath and the belt buckle.

This is my cheap and easy idea for a decorative picture hanger. My screw was big enough to hot glue a button on and then the wreath is hung on the belt loop. It looks like I spent a lot of money on the hanger but I have had the buttons in my stash for over 10 years!

I just love looking at these every morning! So colorful and fun!

Shiny Trees-Tutorial

Here is project my friend and I came up with for our dining room centerpiece. She did hers with gold beads and mine is with silver to match the decor. You could really use any color or mix it all up. It was lots of fun to do but oh so messy. I am still finding glitter in my hair and around the house!

First select the types of beads you would like to use. I have 4 different kinds, from silver to iredescent round and long for texture and dimension.

For the cones we picked up doll forms which are clear plastic and come in various sizes. Where we live the stores are limited on what they carry but online we found 6 different sizes. They are also not expensive, the large size I used is 1.79.

Pour you beads out on a tray to mix them together good.

Put a generous layer of modge podge on your cone.

Then cover with beads. This is the first layer. We let that dry and then added a second layer. We started out rolling the cones in the beads but it seemed to work better to pour them over the cone to get more dimension and a thicker layer. On the second layer we sprinkled generously with glitter. When that dried we covered them in modge podge again to seal it so the beads and glitter wouldn't fall off.

Here they are all dry.

We then placed them on a door mirror. The cheap 5.00 ones from Target. It works well because you can pick up the whole centerpiece if you need to change the tablecloth. I added two mirrored cones I found at the dollar store and some greens and ornament balls I had leftover.

We added battery tea lights under the cones so they shimmer at night.

Hugs

when you are three it doesn't matter how much a person you get,
as long as it's something...

O Christmas Tree

Yesterday we put the tree up, the children decorated it and then stood back to admire thier work.

Two hours later

Thankfully the angel bounced and only two ornaments broke, neither one with much sentimental value. We cleaned up the mess stood her back up and redecorated this morning. The carpet is still damp so I am waiting to put anything underneath it, but everything is wrapped and piled in the corner waiting. I don't think this Christmas will be forgotten!

Spicy green beans with pork

Now that my new computer is all set up and working. I can start posting again! Here is a favorite dinner of ours that I wanted to share. It's quick and easy to make even if you don't slice your pork ahead of time.

You will need:

1 pound pork tenderloin
3T soy sauce
2T rice wine
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 cup chicken stock
1T spicy bean sauce
1T hoisin sauce
1 1/2 t chili garlic sauce
1 t sugar
1 t sesame oil
2 t cornstarch
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil (I use less)
1 pound green beans
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 inch piece fresh ginger peeled and minced
4 green onions, chopped

To make:
Shave pork into thin strips. Toss with 2 T soy sauce, 1 T rice wine and pepper. Marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

In another bowl, combine remaining T of soy sauce, rice wine, stock, bean sauce, hoisin sauce, chili garlic sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch, and set aside.

Heat wok with oil. Add green beans when oil is hot and stir-fry them until they blister and are brown.
Remove beans from wok, leaving the remaining oil.

Return wok to the heat and add the pork, garlic, and ginger. Stir-fry the mixture until the pork is no longer pink, then add green onions and cook for a minute more.

Add the sauce and green beans, mix well and cook until thickened.
Serve over rice.

Enjoy! I know we will be having it for dinnner tomorrow night.