Christmas Planner

Christmas is right around the corner so I thought it was time for me to get organized.  I am one of those people who likes to have lists so that I remember everything otherwise I end up buying the same things over and over again.  Usually I just use a notebook dedicated to Christmas but this year I found these awesome printables over at Bella Caiden and Life Your Way.

 

What you will need for this project:

 

3-ring binder

Dividers

Hole Punch

Printer/Paper/Ink

 

I bought a red binder and left it plain.  I didn't want to advertise to my kids that this was my Christmas binder because I knew that they would be peeking otherwise.

 

 

 

On the inside these are my categories.  You could use different ones but this is what is easiest for me.

 

1.  Baking- A list of recipes and who I am baking for.

2.  Made with Love- Handmade gifts that I want to to make, who they are for and when I want them completed by.

3.  Ideas- I have a page for every person with ideas for gifts and stocking stuffers.

4.  Internet- This is to keep track of all of my internet purchases.  I buy alot on Amazon every year with my Swagbucks and other sites so this will help me make sure I get all of my shipments.

5.  Stockings- This is where I write down all the stocking stuffers that I have purchased for each person.

6.  Gifts-  I have one page for every person that I am buying for this year.  I write down the gifts that I have already purchased, where I bought it from, how much it cost, if  I need to purchase anything else to go with that gift and if I have wrapped it yet.

7.  Receipts- In the back of my binder I have an envelope to put all my receipts in for the gift that I have purchased in case I need to return or exchange something.

I still need to add a section for Christmas Cards that I will be sending out.

 

 

This really has already made a HUGE difference as far as being organized goes.  Hopefully this season won't be quite as stressful because I have it all right here in my handy dandy binder.

 

 

Cost of this project:

$1 for the 3-ring binder from Dollar Tree

$1 for the dividers from the Dollar Tree

 

Printer, paper and ink I already had.

Don't forget to include your mailman/mailwoman, newspaper delivery person, bus driver, teacher, coaches, neighbors, ect.  I seem to always forget at least one of them every year no matter how hard I try not to.





Ham and Potato Soup

Don't you just love this weather?

It's been nice and cool here which means it's time to make my favorite fall and winter recipes.

 

 

Ham and Potato Soup:

 

3 1/2 cups peeled & diced potatoes

2 celery stalks diced

1/3 cup onion

2 to 3 carrots chopped

1 clove garlic minced

3/4 cup diced ham

 4 1/2 cups chicken broth

4 TBS. flour

2 cups milk

1/8 to 1/4 cup instant mashed potatoes

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1. Combine potatoes, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, ham and broth in a stock pot.  Boil until tender

2.  In a seperate bowl wisk together milk and flour until well combined and lumps are gone.

3.  Add milk and flour mixture to stock pot and stir until combined. 

4.  Add in instant mashed potatoes. 

5.  Cook until thickened.  (if you like it thicker, just add more instant mashed potatoes or more flour)

 

This is a very hearty meal and it feeds my family of 4 with leftovers.  I personally like to serve it with a sourdough bread or breadsticks.

 





Halloween Bathroom Decorations

I have decided to go with a "blood bath" theme in my bathroom this year.  I don't usually decorate the bathroom but I thought it would be fun to try. 

 

What you will need for this project:

 

A Shower Curtain Liner (or two if you have a rod like mine)

White Towels

Red Acrylic Paint

Paint Brushes

Blood Spater Gel Window Clings (optional)

 

This is a pretty straightforward DIY halloween project.  What we did was paint our hands and then kind of smear them downwards on the towel and the shower curtain liners (on the outside).  Then we went in with a paint brush and made smear marks and such all over. 

 

I found gel blood splatter window clings at the Dollar Tree and I put those on the mirror above the sink. 

 

 

My youngest had fun adding in her little touches.

 



 



 



 



It was harder than I thought it would be to get pictures of my bathroom.

 

Cost of this project:

 

2 Shower Curtain Liners $2 from Dollar Tree

White Towel $3 from Dollar General

Gel Window Clings $1 from Dollar Tree

 

The red acrylic paint I already had on hand.

  You could save even more if you had some old white towels you could use instead of having to buy some.





 



Halloween Handprint and Footprint Art

 

I saw this adorable idea on Pinterest a few weeks ago and I just had to recreate it before my children were way too big to do this project.

The original project came from over here at Southern Fried Gal but I did mine a little differently since my children are older.

 

What you will need:

 

2 canvases

Black Acrylic paint

White Acrylic paint

Orange Acrylic paint

paint brushs

 

 

These canvases are 10 x 8 but you can use whatever size you like.  These came in a package of 10 from Micheals and were on sale for $14.99 (reg. $19.99).  My sister had purchased them for a project and left the extras here so I used a couple.

 

 

Paint one orange and one black with your acrylic paints.

Let dry completely. 

My orange took 2 coats to fully cover it.

 

Now it's time for the fun part. 

My son opted to have his hand painted and my daughter her foot.  I would have bet money and lost that they would have wanted to do the same one.  Hooray for one less fight!

Firmly press their little hand or foot to the canvas and make sure you press down all the little piggies and fingers too.

 

 

Let these dry completely.

Once dry, you can start adding in decorations and painting faces.  I used a pencil and pressed lightly to outline the spider web designs and words then went over it in paint.
Let dry.

And there you have it.  A fun and festive halloween craft to do with the kids. 

 



 

Cost of this project:

 

Practically nothing.  I had everything on hand already.

 

The canvases will be the most expensive part of this craft.  However Micheals sells them in packages of 10 and alot of times you can find a coupon in the newspaper or online to offset the cost a bit.  If you don't think that you will ever use up 10 of them, you can always buy them seperately or even make your own.

 

 



The Ladybug Landing

There are a few more new additions to The Ladybug Landing this week.

Please feel free to have a look around.

 

 

 



Apple Fritters

Who doesn't love warm, yummy apple fritters on a cool Fall day? 

 

 

They are one of my all time favorites besides pumpkin pie so I went on a mission to find the best recipe I could.  I came across this one from Pioneer Woman.  I didn't use the glaze that her recipe calls for, I just sprinkled mine with powdered sugar.  Man are they to die for good!

They turned out perfect and were super easy to make.

This recipe makes quite a few but they were even better the next day when heated up in the oven.

 

Leave me comment and let me know what your favorite Fall recipes are!

 

 



Halloween Framed Subway Art

Here is another super easy and cheap Halloween project. 

 

What you will need:

 

Picture Frames (I used 8x10s)

Printer and Printer Paper

 

 

 

These frames came from the Dollar Tree but you could use any old frame.  If it's not the color you want it to be, you can always spray paint it.

I googled Halloween subway art and found this one from Bunch of Craft and this one from Craft-O-Maniac.

There are tons of different images out there if you prefer something different.

Just print out your image and put it in your frame. 

 

I also made this one to finish off my shelf in the living room.  This one is a 5x7 and I got the frame for this from the Dollar Tree too.  You can find the printable here at Andersruff.

 

 

Cost of these projects:

$3 for 3 picture frames from the Dollar Tree

 

Paper and printer ink I already had on hand.