Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Unemployed Christmas Part 1

So I have had to be a bit creative with my decor and gift giving this year. Last night, I got bored, or in other words: I didn't want to do the massive mountain of dishes in my sink, so I decided to make a Christmas display out of stuff I had laying around. Here it is:



Do I love it? A little bit. And if you know me well, you know that if I love it a little bit, that means I will decide I hate it next week and turn it into something else, but for this week I kind of love it. Maybe I don't love the bow... I should have learned to tie bows.

The nitty gritty:
  •  I used a free background from shabbyprincess.com and just put a white window with the words on top of it in gimp (that's photoshop for those of you with money to buy the real program,) and printed these pics straight to regular paper. 
  •  Then I used a piece of wood I dumpster dived last week and cut it to size for the different pieces of paper. 
  • I sanded and painted them, and mod podged on my papers. 
  • I displayed them with fake snow I got from a garage sale last year and I am pretty sure my 3 year old is eating it right now. "I love to eat snow, mommy." Wonderful

This project is SO easy (as long as you have stolen your father-in-law's saw.) Now if only these blocks would do my dishes...

Friday, September 11, 2009

I have consumed at least three sticks of butter this week...


Completely due to these cookies. I cannot stop myself. And I still feel cheated now that they are all gone. (The second batch too.)

Soft Pumpkin Spice Cookies
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ginger
  • ½ tsp fresh nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. cloves
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 1/2 tsp salt


Cream both sugars and butter. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, followed by remaining ingredients. Drop spoonfuls onto non-greased cookie sheet. They should be about TBSP sized mounds. Cook at 350 for 9-10 minutes. The real trick is to get them out when they aren't doughy anymore, but aren't dry. The MOMENT you see an edge or top turning golden, yank 'em.


Frosting:


3 TBSP Butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 C. Confectioner's Sugar


Heat butter and brown sugar on stove or in microwave until nicely melted together. Add milk and stir stir stir. If any crystals of brown sugar remain, I run it through a mesh strainer. Add all other ingredients and mix to desired consistency. You may need a little more or less powdered sugar.