Burke-ology

I didn't think 35 was that old until this weekend.

2011-03-06T20:09:00.001-06:00

I thought 35 was the new 25 or something equally fabulous. When I was 25 I was a lot lighter, newly married and the world was my oyster. Now that I am 35, I am heavier, a DECADE into being married and truth be told, I don't really care for oysters. So there. However, I never really felt my age. Any time anyone asked me how old I was or what year I was born in, I would respond but in this sorta out of body detached kind of way. In my mind, my mom is 35. I am still dewy skinned and rosy cheeked. (Just because it's from exertion doesn't matter!)

So this weekend I did two things that showed me how "not young" I am.

1) I played Kinect with a few family members and a few strangers. Not only was it exhausting but it was a real kick in the pants too. Mainly because I was the only one that exposed herself during the game. Yes, I jumped up with such excitement that my shirt nearly went over my head. Luckily, it stopped just before the bra. And while all of this seems like a micro-second faux pas, what I haven't yet told you is that the Kinect TAKES PICTURES OF YOU WHILE PLAYING. So at the end of the game it flashed the picture on the giant TV screen for everyone to see. One woman laughed so hard I wanted the floor to swallow me whole. I guess that really has more to do with my pride than my not being so young anymore but my shoulder did really hurt this morning.

2) I danced with my daughter and nearly ruptured her spleen and almost broke my arm. Even typing is making my elbow throb. This was a double whammy of old age. No balance and no resilience. I fell over backwards because of the balance issue. I landed on my poor little daughter. And because I am no longer a child whose bones haven't even finished fusing, I will probably feel this injury for DAYS to come. My back hurts, my arm is partially numb and it took me a full minute to get up off the floor.

I feel like I have skipped being my mother and gone straight onto being my grandmother. This sucks to no end and I am going to do something about it. What, exactly, remains to be seen. So wish me luck and send some Ben-Gay my way. Address it to the nursing home. Thanks.

The next chapter...

2011-03-01T20:44:00.001-06:00

Long time no blog Amanda. Geez what gives? Well, I have gone back to work. I cannot say in one blog post how much I love my job. It is part time, meaning I still take my kids to school and pick them up every afternoon. I work for an organization that is very dear to my heart. I work with people that I love and respect. Plus I have a sunny little office that is a slice of organizational heaven. That is the upside.

The downside is that I have little time for my bloggin' and craftin'. I have, however, set up a great new crafting station in my house. I was severely impeding my family's ability to have dinner because our kitchen table was covered with glitter and paper scraps. My motivation for getting a desk just for me was this:

This is the YourStory thermal book binder and laminator. Word. I have laminated everything but the cat since getting this thing. I have not bound any books yet, mainly because I have been trying to get some pages together that are "book worthy". What really grabbed my attention about this gadget was a demo I saw on some PBS craft show. The woman had taken her child's hand written/drawn story and bound it. It was adorable and a true keepsake. Avery and Alden have come up with some real beauties in the story department. I can't wait to start my own library.

Oh and I finally broke down and got a printer. It was a whopping $39 and I have already used almost all the ink that came with it. Uh, did I mention we got it two days ago? I am completely ashamed but I have been saving up printables for 6 months just for this occasion. And since I don't do anything half assed, I started printing everything the minute my husband finished installing it. Now I have more note cards than I know what to do with. I also have a copy of Avery's hand and a pony named Friday. (She waited until I was taking a shower to sneak those in).

I know you will be waiting on pins and needles for my next post. I will try for the sake of your bottom end not to wait so long until the next post!

Valentine’s Day Recap

2011-02-15T13:04:00.001-06:00

Sunday we tried to go out to eat as a family to what I thought was going to be a semi-dressy Italian restaurant. I called ahead of time to see if they took reservations. They did! So I made one for all four of us at 6pm. Since this was turning out to be fancy, we dressed fancy. Alden was in his new shirt and tie, Avery wore a skort (that’s a big deal), I wore my snazzy new red sweater and Josh wore actual slacks. And with much anticipation, we were off to our family Valentine’s dinner.

We arrived to find a brightly lit super casual pizza joint. The woman that greeted us at the door was wearing a disheveled ponytail, untucked polo shirt and jeans. I told her we had a reservation and she looked at my quizzically and said, “We don’t take reservations.” Turns out her dad (the owner) just took my reservation. But they don’t actually TAKE reservations. At this place, you order your food at the cash register and pay for it before they bring it to the table. FINE. WHATEVER. We were there, dressed up in our Sunday best. So we decided to make the best of it. We sat in a booth…by the way did I mention how bright it was in that place? My retinas are still burning. Josh took everyone’s order and went back to the cash register. He promptly returned with our Styrofoam cups and my saran wrapped side salad and we waited for our food.

And let’s just say that things went downhill from there. The food was pricey. The service was awful. Our server brought our appetizers, salads and entrees within minutes of one another. Then made us wait for 15 minutes to deliver our desserts. AND I had to saw through my veal parm with a knife. Oh well…

When we got home that night, I had the kids get everything together for the next day. Backpacks…check. School clothes…check. Valentine’s for the parties…. This is when my son decided to announce that he had ALREADY taken his Valentine’s to school last week and handed them out. WHAT?!?! So there I am at 9 pm trying to wrangle some goodies for the party out of thin air. I will say this. I am a magician. I managed to throw together 18 prizes complete with name tags. Proved to my husband that my box of flotsam IS actually useful. All of this drama and it’s not even Valentine’s day yet.

Monday I awoke to not presents or notes or anything. If you know my husband, you know this is par for the course. He is the most caring, loving, genuine person I have ever known but his gift giving prowess is, well, not his forte. But when I got home that evening, he had gotten me a pot of tulips. And not just any tulips, but some that were the most lovely shade of violet. I have never seen any that color before. Plus he bought me a bag of Dove chocolate. Not wrapped, just the bag. He totally cracks me up. I can never tell anyone what he got me for this past birthday without laughing hysterically. Want to know what it was? A universal remote. A massaging pillow that felt like it was really, really mad at me. Some headphones (which I did need). And a yoga DVD (it’s been around 5 years since I last did yoga).

All that being said about his gift giving, I love him dearly. I don’t need any special day to remind me of that. And after 10 years of being with him, I will take him the way he is, especially since he takes me the way I am!

Oh and just as a PS to this whole Valentine’s drama, I asked Alden if his friends liked the goody bags I made. He said that he had the best ones in his class. Then told me that he shouted at the top of his voice in class, “ALDEN BURKE STRIKES AGAIN!”

2011-02-15T12:26:00.000-06:00

Uninspired winter blah’s

2011-01-17T13:47:00.001-06:00

I am feeling so uninspired these days. I sat down last night to whip up some Valentine cards and most of them are still sitting on my table unfinished. I just couldn’t seem to get the juices flowing. So I’ve resorted to stealing other people’s ideas and doing them myself. Here are a few I’ve stolen:

1) Scrapbook paper covered manila folders. I made some of these and they are GORGEOUS. I cannot, however, show the pictures because they are gifts for people that may very well read this post. So I will show you the ones from the Spotted Canary (ahem, the place I stole the idea from).

2) On the same episode that showed the file folders, they also made some paper covered binder clips. But the twist was they used them as photo holders! She took a huge binder clip, covered it in coordinating paper, made a little photo mat with coordinating paper and voila…unique handmade photo “frame”.

3) This has nothing to do with awesome office supplies. This has to do with Valentine’s day. I need to make some great Valentine’s for my kids to give to their friends. I wanted it to be easy, kid friendly (they are free labor after all) and cheap. So I found cupcake liner/lollipop flowers. This is from Skip to My Lou.

4) I also found an idea for candy cane heart lollipops from Cindy at Skip to My Lou. But they involved melting in the oven and that sounded complicated for my poor brain. I seriously envisioned candy cane goo running all over my oven. So I found candy cane hearts from Pleasant Home that only involved melting white chocolate. Possibly as challenging but hopefully I’ve learned my lessons about melting chocolate. And since I bought some fruity, colorful mini candy canes on clearance the week after Christmas, this will be a great way to use them.

melting candy canes…

or melting chocolate… your choice.

I hope that you find inspiration in these ideas. I hope to post pictures of my versions of these soon. And I also hope to have some great ideas of my own soon. The internet is such a dangerous crafting crutch. LOL!

The most adorable printable playsets

2011-01-14T09:37:00.000-06:00

I found the cutest playsets that you can print out for your budding baker, pizza maker or breakfast in bed chef! They are from the illustrator Tricia-Rennea and could not be more adorable. You can head on over to her blog, Trillistrations and see all her amazing work. You will need to email her for the pdf files and I am sure she is getting tons of emails for these, so be patient!

Since my daughter is young enough to enjoy a playset I think I will be using them for just that purpose. I saw a suggestion though to use them as gift cards. Wouldn't that be great? Give a neighbor or new parents a make-your-own pizza basket with that pizza as the card! You would be such a hit.

Birthday Business

2011-01-11T14:05:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I just posted about not spending money and here I am posting about my son’s birthday party. Which will surely involve spending scads of money on supplies, decor and cake. Right? Well, I think I have this one beat. I am after all very thrifty and I can make fondant from scratch. Here is the proof:

Well, I didn’t make the colored fondant but I did make the white from scratch. That was a mess. Have you ever done that before? If so, why didn’t you tell me that kneading molten lava melted marshmallows and 18 tons of powdered sugar together “until smooth” would be such a farkin’ mess? Anyway, that was soooo last year.

Actually, this year we are forgoing the traditional party. Instead we are taking a friend or two to the McWane center. I think that will involve a lunch out and a hot fudge sundae. And since we have a McWane membership this year, the cost will be low. AND…omg…AND this membership lets us get into other museums around the country for free so we are also going to the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. I think Alden about died when I told him that. He is already saving money for space camp (though he has a few years until he can go). He hasn’t even seen the rockin’ 80’s movie, Space Camp. I cannot wait until he’s old enough for that. It will be a bonding moment for us, I just know. So that is TWO adventures for the price of none. Besides gas. And food. Well, whatever, it’ll be really, really cheap.

But since I am a bargain hunter and I always want to get something for nothing, I found a few places that will give me just that, all in the name of Birthdays.

* Kmart has a birthday club. The closest Kmart to me is not very close but for a $5 gift card, I can drive the extra miles. Yes, that is right. Sign your kid up for the Kmart Birthday Club and your child gets a $5 gift card plus some kind of fun pack. I have no idea how good any of this is but I signed my kids up anyway.

* Firehouse Subs will give you a free sub on your birthday. You don’t even have to sign up for anything. Just show up on the day with your ID. Obviously, this will be a pain for kids but Mom’s and Dad’s need some love too. I wish I would have known on my birthday :(

* Jason’s Deli will give you a $5 gift card on your birthday. Just subscribe to their newsletter. That means you could get a Mediterranean wrap for $0.99. Or their salad bar for $1.99. And since they have free ice cream and bread and stuff like that, you could really make that $5 into a meal. I love that place.

* Burger King has Club BK for online play and they will send you a coupon for a free kids meal when a parent creates an account. They classified my soon to be 8 year old as a tween and this upsets me. He is still a child Burger King, let’s just get that straight. Anyway, a free kids meal is a free kids meal.

If you need a little inspiration for your kid’s birthday party, I really have to suggest the blog from Hostess with the Mostess. She is beyond amazing. She does celebrity parties, for Pete's sake. But a lot of the things she does are not very costly. Honestly, if you took her ideas to the dollar store, you could probably pull off a lot of it. AND she has tons of free printables. Same with The TomKat Studio. Or for the low, low price of $10 you could get an entire printable birthday party collection from Parties by Hardie. She will even customize it for an extra charge. You just need some cardstock, a printer and scissors. How cute is this?

or this?

As far as cake goes, this is a very personal choice to me. If it’s my birthday cake, it needs to be ~~good~~ great. So that means spending $30 or so. For my kids, this means baking a cake in the color they have chosen and decorating it in the theme. That cake up there that I made for Alden was lemon cake on the top and chocolate on the bottom. Seriously. This cake (below) that I made for Avery was pink on the inside. She didn’t even request strawberry, it just had to be pink inside. With blue frosting and yellow polka dots. I think the cost for each of the cakes I made was $10. Granted I could have bought a dozen cupcakes from Wal-Mart for that but then I would not have gotten all the glory!

Now that I am looking back over all this fun stuff, I am kind of sad Alden has chosen a non traditional celebration. Oh well. Avery’s birthday is in May and she has already decided what kind of party she would like. Strawberry Shortcake. Honestly, the 7 year old inside me is ecstatic!

Penny wise, pound foolish?

2011-01-11T11:02:00.001-06:00

THE PLAN. The plan not to spend any money this month is really showing me how good I am at getting around rules. And not really doing much in the way of teaching me self control. I didn’t realize this whole idea was going to REVEAL things about ME. Lord have mercy on me. Please.

So I did spend money this last week. And just in an effort to be accountable and learn something from this whole process, I’ll break it down for you.

1) I bought a $5 Starbuck’s card for $1. I have not printed it out yet and since it was only a buck AND for food type things, I won’t be too hard on myself. I mean, I do have to drink delicious whipped cream topped coffee beverages. I’m not a savage.

2) I also ate breakfast out. This was in the $5 range. I convinced myself that since I was going to a job interview and was terribly nervous, I had to eat. And since I had forgotten to eat at home in my rush to get the kids to school, I had to stop somewhere. They also had free WiFi and I got to ease my nerves by Facebooking. I swear, I can really talk myself into some nonsense. BTW, I got the job. So could I call it a pre-emptive celebratory breakfast? Sure, why not.

3) I bought my daughter some long johns. This was a $5 purchase at the good ole Wal-Mart. And it actually was a necessity. Those of you who live in the southeast US know we were expecting THUNDERSNOW 2011. She had no long johns or anything that would suffice and I knew there would be lots of playing outside if the snow came. So I got them but I was supremely proud of myself for not going down the clearance aisle. I started that way but told myself not to cave. And I didn’t. Score 1 for me.

4) I took my son to a painting class. Now technically this was free because we had a gift certificate. The lunch at Burger King afterward was not. This was $9 and some change. Can you believe that? Highway robbery. He was hungry, I had not packed a lunch. I caved to the pressure of a 7 year old. Granted, again, it was food stuff. But handing over the dough really made me flinch.

This also made me realize that I was cheating and had been all week. Because I could basically justify any purchase I made. It also made me aware of the fact that I do this kind of thing in a lot of areas. Just a dollar or two here. Just another bite. Just another minute of ignoring my kids. Whew! I didn’t intend for any of this to be deep and soulful. I really just thought it would be fun to try.

So with a new week at hand, I am looking ahead with high hopes for myself. My new job starts tomorrow and I feel a surge of self discipline coming on. Plus I have some coupons for free stuff like coffee and movie rentals in my purse for any retail therapy related emergencies. I think I’ll make it!!!

What have I done?!!!!!?

2011-01-05T12:36:00.001-06:00

I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this whole new year attitude of mine. For those of you that don’t know, at the strike of midnight of the last day of 2010, I became violently ill. We’re talking Alien type of illness here. Actually, that might have been welcome to what I was going through. It was horrendous and God awful and I never, ever want to be that sick again. And just in case you’re wondering, it wasn’t alcohol induced. I was legitimately sick. A bacterial infection. I don’t know what kind of bacteria would want to do that to me or why it thought it needed to make it’s presence known, but it sure as hell is off my Christmas list for this year.

Anyway, once I was able to form coherent thoughts and hold my head up unassisted again, I set off on taking charge of my life, resolution style. I already had a considerable head start on my weight loss for the year and 5 days into this new year am still verging on the queasy side of things. So I just let that resolution lie.

My next task was to clean and de-clutter. I had literally walked in my house Christmas day after time with family and promptly removed the tree and most of the decorations. The fact that I wanted to stomp them down into the box has nothing to do with Christmas, so moving on. A lot of de-cluttering was already done. We assigned new household chores, made up a fresh batch of weekly rewards and everyone set out on their cleaning without a complaint. Except me, my head was beginning to spin again. But I forged ahead with a smile and we all accomplished our goals for that day. I thought about hoisting my kids on my shoulders and running around the living room for a victory lap, but again, my head.

So on to the next idea. This one was a moment of absolute inspiration from my cousin. She and her children will go a month at a time without buying anything. WHAT? That’s right. They buy gas, food, TP…we’re talking necessity only type stuff and NOTHING else. They won’t even cheat and eat out (it is food and you do need it, right?). Unless someone has invited them, they eat at home. Unheard of. I know. I decided our family should give this a try. Don’t get me wrong. We don’t spend all of our disposable income on crap. We live without cable and internet. We have a Netflix account, one cheap cell phone and that’s it. Nothing superfluous. But we do go out to eat more than we should, we do buy meaningless junk at the dollar store and I, yes I, buy stuff I don’t even need. I will drive to a store just for the sole purpose of buying something I don’t need. WHO DOES THAT? IT’S CRAZY!

So my husband and I agreed. No buying anything this month. We laid the ground rules. Netflix and the McWane Center are in, because we already have a membership. No extraneous Wal-Mart trips, no cruising the clearance aisle at Target and absolutely no driving to Michael’s just because. We would also not be ordering out any pizza or catching a Happy Meal while we are out. I thought this was going to be a cinch and really more of a lesson to the kids about what is a need and what is a want. (I’m sure you can see my patting myself on the back and fixing my hair just about now…can’t you?)

Well, guess what? I was wrong.

First thing this morning while buying gas, I think to myself, “I’m so thirsty. I should just grab a soda.” Then I reminded myself of ‘the plan’. Fine. No soda. And no quick bite on the way to my mom’s. Instead, my stepdad fixed me a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. Hey, less calories than the biscuit I would have eaten…two resolutions for one! And it didn’t cost me anything.

But I failed shortly thereafter. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you saw me post that Starbuck’s deal. I am here to admit, I bought it. I did not even give it a second thought. It wasn’t until I went to print it that I realized I had broken ‘the plan’. ALREADY!!!!

This is going to be soooo much harder than I thought. I would really like to give my cousin a big “Atta girl!” for having done this so many times before. You are a giant among women. Even though you are tiny. And so pretty.

After this one, I’m going to start counting down

2010-12-30T13:19:00.003-06:00

My birthday is tomorrow. I am turning THIRTY FIVE. I spelled it out because just looking at those numbers together scares me a little. That is a hard number to swallow. I think that somewhere, long ago, I thought I would be Melanie Griffith in “Working Girl” by thirty five. Minus the scary makeup. And the shoulder pads. But honestly, I couldn’t tell you what gets merged and what gets acquired if you put a gun to my head. I can type like a mother though.

And since it’s my birthday AND New Year’s Eve, I just had to break out the year end introspection and make some resolutions. And here they are *in no particular order*:

1) I’m fat. Not really news to anyone, me included. I had planned on making some drastic change like going raw or slow food. But honestly, we are too poor to afford it. And I am too intolerant of the BS that comes with most people involved in farmer’s markets. Seriously. I am sure that your heirloom, organic tomatoes kick some BLT booty but I am not paying $5 for 4 of them. Oh you don’t eat bacon because of the salt and nitrates? Well, now I really wouldn’t buy your tomatoes, because you are communist. So I guess I will just have to do this weight reduction the old fashioned way, deprivation and self humiliation. I might even try to squeeze in some lessons about portion control and loving myself. We’ll see.

2) I could be a better mom. This one has really peeved me. I mean, I thought I was doing everything I could, only to find out there is room for improvement. Geez, what do these kids want? I mean I did grow them from scratch. I’m not Annie Sullivan here. I suppose I could cut down on the yelling and amp up the snuggling a bit more. They deserve it. I hope they know it. Hang on, I’m going to go tell them right now. Plus I need a tissue. Thinking of how sweet they are and what a tyrant I am, has started the water works…stupid self awareness.

Ok, I’m back…

3) Ignoring things really does make them go away. Sometimes. I have my husband to thank for this little nugget. While he tries to apply this philosophy to things like the trash or ME asking for his help rearranging the bedroom, I have learned to apply it to things like grudges, petty differences and sometimes even people that annoy me. It doesn’t work on big things or bills but surely by 2012, I will have figured those out too. I can honestly say I have had a lot less fights with my husband because of it. And I am looking forward to more things to ignore in 2011.

4) Enough is as good as a feast. Josh and I have lived on a financial rollercoaster for years now. Some of it by choice but lots of it by circumstance. And that has caused a lot of conflict for me. I really let what I didn’t have bog me down in the past. This year things have leveled out almost completely. And the peace of having “enough” has made me grateful.

5) Is it wrong that I cannot think of a #5? I feel certain I should have a long list of do’s and don’ts for 2011. But since 2010 was more or less a stellar year for me, I sorta think I am coming out ahead of the game. I mean, I did not wreck a car, have surgery, or lose anything of value. Honestly, aside from moving, I haven’t had any kind of big event this year. And that is a good thing.

So tomorrow night when you ring in the new year, think of me. Wish me an uneventful year of filled with a shrinking waistline, more bedtime stories, ignoring what doesn’t matter, and enough.

Have a safe and happy new year. I’m going to the store to buy cupcakes and champagne. That healthier me doesn’t start until Saturday y’all (but I will start on the rest of it right now).

PS She finally stopped crying

2010-12-26T00:11:00.000-06:00

This very moment I am listening to my daughter cry herself to sleep. It is late. It is the night after Christmas morning. It is the end of a week filled with chaos, too much sugar, letdowns and surprises. So needless to say we are all a little weary. And if she doesn't stop soon, I am going to cry myself to sleep.

Thursday night, I made the kids a big bed in front of the TV and they fell asleep watching a Christmas movie about a dog and Santa. It was all very cute and the house was a warm, fuzzy picture of togetherness. Upon waking the next morning, I expected the same cozy feeling. But instead, I was greeted by a chilly bite to the air. Josh was awake on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, wearing a toboggan. (side note here: a toboggan in Alabama is a knitted cap, not a sled) Anyway, I noticed that the heaters were off. Then my stomach dropped to my knees. I suddenly realized we were out of propane.

(Have any of y'all ever had to heat your home with propane? It is a pain right in the ole derriere. It's expensive and a little scary--rectangles of fire mounted to your wall, just waiting for a kid to get burned. But when you live in a rented house, you deal with what you have.)

I had asked my husband several times to check the gauge outside. Alas, those requests had fallen on selectively deaf ears. And while I claim to know some things about some things, understanding the crusty meter on our creepy propane tank way off in the yard, is not one of the things I have mastered. Whatever. The deed was done.

For the next 2 hours, we tried to reach someone on the "emergency" line at our propane provider. It was to no avail. I guess SOME people think Christmas Eve is a holiday or something. Psssh. The nerve. So we came up with plan B. Which was to see which of my family members felt like putting us up for the weekend. Oh and did I mention that it was supposed to snow in Alabama? A white Christmas, woohoo

My dad let us stay with him. And while it put a kink in our Christmas morning Santa plans for the kids, it has been a really a fun weekend. But it's all been a little too much for this girl to handle. I am going to say the thing I never thought I'd say and that is, I am glad Christmas is over. I cannot wait to get home and pack up all the decorations and put this whole week behind me.

After all the drama of this week, I've realized I have more important things to worry about anyway...like turning 35 in six days. The terrifying downhill run to 40 is almost here. Yippee!!!

It's not a party until someone gets hurt.

2010-12-24T17:50:00.000-06:00

This past Tuesday marks an event in my life I will never forget.

Our family was gathered together at my mother's house. We had all eaten and the presents had been passed out to everyone. I was sitting at the dining room table with my brother, chatting. Actually he may have been eating. I cannot remember. Some of the details before the life changing event are a little fuzzy now. One of the younger cousins needed help loading his Nerf gun. It was one of these wheel gun meets shotgun numbers. Maybe you've seen it?

Alden already owns one of these things, so I asked him to help the cousin in the loading. Alden was glad to help (my dutiful, wonderful son) and then tragedy struck.

I heard the THWACK and hum of the gun being shot. And I screamed (it was a mini horror movie type scream) as the bullet hit my brother RIGHT IN THE EYE!!!! If it hurt as badly as it sounded, then I am going straight to hell. Because my first reaction was to laugh hysterically. That is my reaction no matter who is hurt or how badly...total knee jerk reaction (plus it's usually pretty funny). Anyway, for those of you that don't know my brother I'll break it down like this:

Richard BEFORE

Richard AFTER

Except in that AFTER picture, he was holding his eye and wondering if he still had sight in it. Alden was immensely sorry and asked if my brother was OK. That is a cardinal sin in my family...wait until the carnage can be surveyed before asking stupid questions like "Are you OK?" or "Can I do anything?"

Thankfully, he was OK. He accepted Alden's apology and did not disown me for my involuntary laughter. And little did I know that this incident was just the beginning of my Christmas week.

PS I hope all of y'all are having a Merry Christmas! If I drank eggnog, I'd drink a toast to you!

Passengers, beware!

2010-12-15T10:31:00.001-06:00

Did you know that having the luck of the Irish is a bad thing? I only found out myself a few months ago. What do I know? I’m not Irish. Though I am considering coining my own “luck of the German” phrase because I have notoriously bad luck. My mother had uttered the words, “Only you.” more times than I can count.

My bad luck spans all categories of life but especially cars. ESPECIALLY. I don’t know if God is trying to persuade me to become Amish or what. I have had someone in a stolen car plow into me, someone actually run me down in a parking lot, a deer hit me (that happened TWICE) and then last year I flipped a car. I have walked away from all of these incidents with only bumps, bruises and minor cuts. But my cars…they have suffered dearly.

So needless to say, I drive a used car. It is a good car. It was cheap and drives well. And until about 3 weeks ago, it had never given me a problem. But if you have the luck of the German, like I do…when it rains it pours.

First, the van overheated. It was freezing cold and my mother in law was with me. My dad helped me decide it was the thermostat and not the radiator. Whew! Then the power steering went out. Have you ever tried driving a car with no power steering? I think I pulled my trapezius. My husband dutifully went out to put on the thermostat and see about the power steering only to find the serpentine belt was missing. Do you know what the serpentine belt is? I did. And it’s a freakin miracle that my car did not die before making it home. Ok, so anyway. Everything gets replaced and I am certain that my car troubles are over for a while. Right?!?

Wrong! On this antique van that I drive, there are second row windows that pop open. The one on the driver’s side had a broken latch. No biggie. Or at least I thought so. On Monday, I pulled over on the side of the road to check our mail. I have done this a million times. This time an 18 wheeler went by and RIPPED THE WINDOW OFF MY VAN! I heard a big whoosh and looked up to see the window fly past my window. For half a second I thought about catching it…as if I could have…why does your brain think crazy thoughts in a crisis? Of course, the thing shattered into a million pieces when it hit the ground.

Now I have a black garbage bag for a window. It’s very festive.

Seize the…chocolate

2010-12-14T14:08:00.001-06:00

So the other day I posted on Facebook about my white chocolate seizing. I looked online to see what to do and discovered that white chocolate is very fussy about temperature (another reason I really don’t like white chocolate). I already knew that a little vegetable oil or shortening melted with it could possibly save it and I tried that. Well it did not melt back to a silky smooth pourable consistency but it did become spreadable and I was able to save my Oreo bark. It was pretty and tasty. Having triumphed, I moved on to other chocolate melting projects.

I had approximately 6 bags of various chips on hand. Why? That seems like an awful lot of chips even for a sugar hound like me. Blame Publix. They had buy one, get one free Tollhouse chips so I bought ALOT.

Up first was some peppermint patty type candy. This seemed simple enough. It only had 4 ingredients…cream cheese, powdered sugar, peppermint extract and dark chocolate for dipping. Well, lemme tell you something…any kind of cream cheese concoction will begin to melt the minute the temperature goes down 1 degree. I rolled the cream cheese “dough” into balls and started dipping them. They started disintegrating the minute they hit the warm chocolate. So there I am in my kitchen, flinging chocolate everywhere, trying to get these little balls of goo onto the sheet tray before they slide off the skewer. I even resorted to taking the balls out of the freezer, dipping them in the chocolate and immediately putting them back in the freezer. It was a sight and I was cussing up a blue streak. Needless to say, I still have leftover dough and only made about 24 candies. They were absolutely delicious but there is no way in Hades I am ever doing that again. I guess on the upside, the chocolate did not seize at any point….

Yesterday, I made some chocolate dipped pretzel rods. I melted milk chocolate for this one. I found some peppermint flavored sprinkles that I used on half. They looked so festive! I even drizzled some white chocolate over others and didn’t seize the chocolate one time. I was on a roll and decided to move onto some butterscotch dipped pretzels and sprinkled with nut topping. And blam-O! The butterscotch died. It never even really melted. It went from chip state to an unstirrable mess. I think Tollhouse may just be conspiring against me. I decided to make due and turn the butterscotch concrete into bark.

I spread it out, sprinkled on the nuts and added crunched up pretzels. Considering how irritated I was and how much I hate pretzels, this was the highlight of the project. I took sheer delight in crushing those pretzels. By the way, this nut topping is a little salty which was a good contrast to the richness of the butterscotch. And it’s a lot cheaper than buying nuts and chopping them yourself. I put the pan in the freezer and waited about 15 minutes. It had hardened wonderfully and I broke off a little piece to taste. It was at that point that I realized I AM A GENIUS! This was some of the best candy I had ever tasted (not to mention made). Plus the butterscotch was a welcome change from all the chocolate I had been making.

I wish I would have taken pictures of all my goodies. I wrapped them up in little cellophane bags and packed them into all the cute containers I had been saving. But I could not take pictures because I found my memory card for my camera outside in the mud…which is such another story.

The Sound of Music

2010-12-07T10:08:00.001-06:00

*All the links in this post go to a song/video that I love. So turn the speakers down if you are at work ;)

Music is the fabric of my life. Not cotton. Cotton is for punks. (whatever, everything I own is cotton). But music is what thrills my soul. I think only my husband is truly aware of how dearly I love music. He knows that I cry at songs, get down and boogie (yes I do) and belt out the lyrics to the songs that truly inspire me.

And I love LOVE LOOOOVEEEEE all kinds of music. Funk…check. Man, a good bass line is the thing. Pop…check. And I don’t mean Justin Bieber. God have mercy on that poor child. Bluegrass…check. There is a song that I am mad about and I cannot find it on the interwebs anywhere. (Detour Bluegrass is the band and Sixteen Tons is the song just in case you want to help me with my search.) Hip hop, musicals, folk, hymns and of course, Christmas music. I add mental soundtracks to things I’m doing. My kids have actually asked me to stop singing them awake in the morning. My son said that my singing wasn’t bad it was just an annoying way to wake up. God love that little rascal.

I even let music suck me into crappy TV shows. I would have never watched Dawson’s Creek or Grey’s Anatomy if it weren’t for deliciously irresistible songs playing in the background. And now, I have wonderful people like Ingrid Michaelson in my life because of it. Have you heard “Winter Song” by her and Sara Bareilles? Heavenly. And although I do not own anything Mac (shutty, I’m a PC), I now have a soft, feathery voice floating in my head that belongs to Feist. Likewise, I own not a single Hyundai but now (quite literally right now) am rocking out to some sweet Pomplamoose. Their YouTube videos are highly entertaining.

But the song that really struck a chord with me is the one below. Thankfully, it is a flash mob video which makes it EVEN BETTER. Dancing like an idiot in public while the song I love is playing? Sounds like Nirvana. As silly as it is, this video actually brought me to tears. That is how deeply ingrained in my soul music has become. I can only imagine the state I will be in when I arrive in heaven and hear the heavenly host of angels giving God all their musical glory!

PS My husband and both cried like babies when the Von Trapp Singers appeared on Oprah Winfrey. We’re pathetic….

Forecast: Stormy, with a chance of cold shoulder

2010-12-06T15:20:00.001-06:00

I got a phone call the other night. Someone I love dearly called me and said right out of the gate that they needed to vent. This is the kind of relationship I have with this person. I call them for social reasons or random chit chat and they never, ever answer the phone or call me back. But they call me up whenever they have a crisis or a bad day. And 99% of the time I listen to them sympathetically and with all the devotion a good friend can have.

It sounds so one sided, doesn’t it? I have had several of these friendships. I call them “stormy weather friends”. Which completely blows for me. I would give anything to have a “fair weather friend” that only called when they were having a good day. (For the record, I have a handful of “all weather friends”. Those are my favorite people on the planet.)

Anyhoo, this person started in on their rant and I did something unheard of. I did not agree with them. I told them calmly that what they had done was wrong and the consequences they were suffering were their own fault. It was a moment of tough love. I felt triumphant. They on the other hand, hung up on me.

Which brings me to this question: Should I have kept my mouth shut and just let them vent? Or did I do the right thing by speaking up? I know that if the tables were turned, I would have been upset if I could not have just gotten things off my chest. But then again, sometimes we need to hear the awful truth. RIght?

What do you think? I have already left them a message apologizing for upsetting them. And I am sure the next time they have a horrible day, all will be forgotten and they will call me up to cry on my shoulder. It’s ok. That is what friends are for. Though, maybe I should ask them for an umbrella and rain boots for Christmas. That way I can weather the next storm a little better.

What was that?!?

2010-12-06T15:01:00.001-06:00

When I lived in Idaho for a very brief summer, we didn’t have central air conditioner. It’s a weird thing they do out there. An unholy thing. Anyway, that meant lots of nights sleeping with the windows open. One particular night, I was lying in bed by myself. Josh had fallen asleep in the kids’ room and since he is of the “let sleeping dogs lie” variety, I went to bed alone. Our bedroom window faced a rather busy street and it wasn’t uncommon to hear lots of cars go by in the night.

However, this night, it wasn’t a car I heard. It was a screaming woman. I was immediately panic stricken. I edged up to the window sill to look out and saw a woman running from a man. The man was standing beside a car and the woman was screaming, “HELP!” I called out to her, “Do you need help?” Dumb I know, but it was what came out. She screamed back, “YES!” So I yelled that I was calling the police. It didn’t dawn on me immediately that the man could not only hear me but also could see where I was. I called 911 and watched as the woman ran out of sight and the man got in his car. I ran to get Josh and prayed that the man wasn’t coming to my house.

I found out some time later that the woman was being attacked by the man but that she got away safely and was never bothered by him again. And he never darkened my door step either. I left Idaho behind but have always remembered how scary the whole thing was.

So the other night, I am lying in bed alone again. Josh, bless his heart, falls asleep where ever he is, at approximately 10pm every night. That night he was on the couch. And as I settled in for sleep, I heard a muffled scream outside. I sat up like I had been shot out of a cannon. I held my breath and waited. There it was again! I ran to Josh and said, “I heard someone scream outside.” He sat up and listened. Nothing. I said, “We need to look outside.” So we crept to the door and opened it. There. Yes, there was the scream. It was…

A rooster crowing.

In the middle of the night, a rooster nearby was crowing it’s muffled, strangled crow. I felt like such an idiot and apologized to Josh for waking him. My heart rate returned to normal and I peacefully went to sleep.

We had fried chicken the next night for dinner. (well not really but it would have been a fitting end to the story, don’t you think?)

She means business

2010-12-02T14:06:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I had one of those moments where I felt it necessary to talk to my children about the world we live in. The day before I had been followed out of Wal-Mart by a totally creepy guy and well, I just wanted to make sure my kids knew what to do if approached by someone unsavory.

I went through all the “I hope this never ever happens but” and “I’m just making sure you know what to do in case” speeches. And I began.

Me: You know someone could come up to you and try to kidnap you. If they do--

Alden (interrupting me): I’ll find a weapon and I’ll shoot them.

Me: Well, you might not be able to do that. So you should scream really loud for help and try to--

Alden (interrupting again): I’ll run to the car and lock all the doors. Or I’ll hit them and run away.

Me: Good. You should do whatever you can to get away.

*It was at this point I realized that Avery hadn’t said much. I was afraid I was scaring her or she wasn’t even listening. She does that. Already at 6, she tunes me out like a pro.

Me: Avery, did you hear what I said?

Avery: Yes.

Me: Well, if someone tries to kidnap you--

Avery (interrupting me): I’ll kick him in the nuts.

I guess I should worry less about teaching them how to thwart a kidnapper and concentrate on teaching them not to interrupt. Kids 1 Mom 0.

Painful Consequences

2010-11-22T08:14:00.001-06:00

I think I broke my foot yesterday. Or at least my big toe. Maybe it’s not broken but it’s definitely a terrible sprain. Just sitting here typing, I can feel it throbbing. Seriously. Oh what happened to it? How nice of you to ask.

I was being an ass. That’s what happened. I was pitching a terrible two’s type of hissy fit and slammed the front door of my house. Only I didn’t realize my foot was still halfway in the door. And I guess I got what I deserved. Only it really, really hurts!

I hate living with consequences. That by far, is one of the worst things being grown up means. Having to face what is coming. And knowing that it is coming because of a choice I made? Downright unbearable.

So while I contemplate a trip to the doctor and how pain is only in the mind, I will also try to act my age. I will realize that sometimes I don’t get my way, things get completely screwed up and as a Southern lady, I shouldn’t let any of it get under my skin. And I will also remember to check for limbs in the doorway the next time I make a dramatic exit.

Maybe it’s something in the air

2010-11-19T09:03:00.001-06:00

I just read a blog entry about what the mother referred to as “The Publix Incident”. For those of you not blessed with these great stores, Publix is a grocery store chain. Anyway, this mom had the same problem that we all have at some point…maybe even every time we go to the store. Her little girl acted up in the check out line. This poor mom was sitting there, cart full of groceries, and her daughter is pitching a holy fit over some candy. The mom finally had to spank her child to get her to end the screaming and crying. She said she felt like everyone in the store was staring and judging. What an awful place to be in.

I, too, have a Publix incident. (Is this a common occurrence?) My kids and I walked into the store. I put them into the cart and around that time, the fit began. I cannot even remember what it was over. I just know that they were feeding off of each other to the point of mass hysteria. I walked a few steps into the store, attempting to diffuse the situation. But their shenanigans were beginning to draw attention. So I said “FORGET IT” and swung that cart around so hard, it almost went up on two wheels. I wheeled my kids to the car and started to put them in. Then the waterworks started…theirs not mine. They begged me to give them one more chance. So I laid down the law and extracted promises of good behavior.

They dried up the tears, we got back into the cart and re-entered the store. I was met with the most surprising thing. Two women that worked in the floral department started clapping for me. They said, “Way to go! You did the right thing.” I kid you not. It was a very triumphant moment for me and the fact that I remember it in slow motion with the “Chariots of Fire” theme playing might be a slight embellishment. I stood firm as a parent and did not give in to the misbehavior of my kids. And someone actually congratulated me on it? Glorious!

So to the parents that carry on being a parent despite judging eyes, I give you a round of applause. Heck, I think you should take a victory lap around the produce department!

Well, I won't let anyone punch me in the face.

2010-11-18T14:03:00.000-06:00

I live by my own variation of the golden rule. And it goes like this, "If you are getting on my nerves this much, then I must really be getting on your nerves." I never know if it's factual though because most people are not biting at the bit to tell you how much you annoy them.

But with Christmas around the corner, it seems necessary to think up a game plan. Because not only will I be bombarded in traffic, the grocery store and McDonald's by loads of people that don't know their good manners from their elbow, it will also happen in the fold of my family and friends too. Not intentionally of course. This time of year and all the planning that goes into it just seem to put people on edge and nerves get frayed to the point of breaking.

So basically, I plan to smile more, say "please" and "thank you" in the sweetest tone I can muster and forgive, forgive, forgive. When I see someone cut in line in front of me or push me out of the way for something at the store, I will say "Go right ahead". I might be cursing them internally but it is part of my nature to grumble. A fault, I know. But to their face, they will see my best attempt at a humble attitude. (I'm hoping I might fake it, til I make...) Because I've realized recently that I am suffering over my limited tolerance to being annoyed. And frankly, my family suffers because of it too.

How many times have I been harried, hassled or in a huff and snapped at my kids? Too many. How many times have I felt that way and had a stranger give me an encouraging smile? Not enough. But those times it did happen, it felt like a soothing balm to my flustered skin.

Of course, my inherent negativity is telling me that none of those strangers will even take note of my demeanor. That they will just carry on in their rudeness and "it's all about me" attitude. But hopefully, it will make me a better example for my kids and show them how to be in the world and not of it. Cheesy or not, it's what I wish for them.

So here's to smiling til my teeth hurt (because I might be gritting them) and shopping on Black Friday!

Can’t keep a crafter down.

2010-11-16T08:54:00.001-06:00

As most of you know I have been sick for the last week. And you would know this by my copious amounts of whining on my Facebook status. And so during a marginal improvement in my condition, I went to Michael’s. (It was right across the street from the doctor’s office) And I found something that I could not live without. It was not only gorgeous, but also on sale and the cashier gave me a 20% off coupon. It was serendipity.

This is the K & Company Yuletide Paper Ornaments pack. It contains 152 pieces of the most old timey, warm your heart paper ornaments I have ever seen.

There are four or five ornaments per page. And the cardstock is double sided! All the folds are scored and each ornament is perforated for easy removal.

The pages even include a picture of the finished product so you can get an idea of what you should end up with. I also got some finishing ideas from these pictures.

So I took my coughing, sneezing self home, camped in the recliner and proceeded to make some ornaments of my own. Here are a few that I came up with. It’s amazing what you can do with a glue stick and scrap ribbon.

Did you know that paper cones are the new old-thing-is-cool-again”? Apparently, they are. And I plan to fill the ones I made with some candies and give them to people. Homemade candy*.

*That I have never made before, so the real gift might just be the dang paper cone it came in*

I really like these two on the right. You can close the lid completely. So none of that good candy falls out. And you could use the pointed end to fend off anyone trying to steal said candy. Seriously, don’t let your kids play with these. They will put their eye out.

These boxes I plan to pack with little presents for family. The are miniscule. I wish I would have put something in the picture for reference. My relatives will think they have turned into giants when they see these. Or wonder what I could have gotten them that is so tiny (and wonder if it’s worth having).

And here are the two ornaments I put together. The tucked box was hard to keep together so I had to use real glue instead of the glue stick. The same goes for the stacked boxes. All in all not bad for a weekend where I could barely breathe or make coherent sentences. I did have ribbon and little paper pieces strewn all over everywhere but the hub didn’t complain. As long as I wasn’t begging him for more lemonade, I could do whatever I wanted.

I need to take a breath and buy a printer

2010-11-11T17:45:00.001-06:00

I am overwhelming myself with all the holiday gobbledy gook. And I don’t mean all the over priced, commercialized crap either. I mean all the cute homemade stuff I am seeing online. Which brings me to my other dilemma. I don’t own a printer. And I need one stat.

So for my first problem. I need to find my top five faves and stop there. Five crafts/homemade gifts will be manageable. Right? I already know that I will be making some treats for the teachers. Think, oreo bark and chocolate dipped pretzels. And I have a few containers on hand (thanks Michael’s clearance section). But I found these adorable “Paper Clips” to put around the cello bags. They are just paper, staples and ribbon. So does that count as 1 or 2?

I bought stampable wrapping paper and already have the kids painting, stamping and doodling to their hearts’ content. That was the best $4.99 I ever spent.

And how about some homemade bath salts? I found a recipe for some that involve a plastic globe mold. Like this ornament from Michael’s. It definitely needs to be a two part mold. But all you do is mix 1 cup of Epsom salt, 1 Tablespoon (or so) of water (the directions say to have a wet sand consistency), add a few drops of essential oil and mold. Once you’ve packed the salt into the mold let it sit a minute, then transfer to a baking sheet (parchment lining would be a plus here) and bake at 200 degrees F for a few hours. Or they can air dry for a few days. How easy! And a very thoughtful gift. You could even wrap it up in a cello bag and a paper clip. Dang I’m clever.

That’s only 3 or 4 things. What is NUMBER 5 going to be? I saw an Advent envelope garland that was gorgeous and would take me til next Christmas to make. Maybe I should just put that in the “dreamy idea” file and move on.

I need to stop talking about crafts *deep breath* and move on to my more pressing problem. I am unable to print out all my wonderful free printables I have downloaded AND I cannot partake in amazing coupon deals because I do not have a printer. This is tragic! I attempted to borrow a printer but my tiny mini notebook is contrary and would not allow the printer drivers to download. I swear to Pete. So for Christmas I have asked my dear husband for a cheap but compatible printer. Then I will need some major $$ for all the printer ink I will need. (For said darling printables, check out TomKat Studios or Parties by Hardie and search for “free printable”)

So I hope that I have not added to your crafty holiday stress. I hope that I have given you a couple of ideas to downsize the chaos. And if you want a bath bomb from me, send me your address. I’d love to send you one!

Thankfully these are easy…

2010-11-04T08:32:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is only 3 weeks away. And that may seem like a long time to some people but to me it might as well be tomorrow. I have to plan things out ahead of time and buy ingredients along the way because I cannot afford to buy everything at once. I’d have to carry it all home on my back because I couldn’t afford any gas for my car.

So I am already planning on what I will make. And what are the holidays about if not sharing with friends and family? Here are a few recipes that are relatively easy, definitely delicious and will be a big hit with everyone:

1) This pie is fudgy. It has pecans. You will probably have to make 2 because you will eat the first one the night before!

Gina's Memphis Mud Pie - Recipe courtesy The Neelys

Ingredients

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, plus shaved chocolate, for garnish
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans, plus finely chopped pecans, for garnish
1 deep-dish, store-bought, chocolate cookie wafer crust
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the chocolate and the butter in a double boiler. Stir continuously until combined and smooth.

Using a stand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, corn syrup and salt on medium-high speed until it lightens and doubles in volume, about 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the melted chocolate mixture and fold in the pecans. Pour into the chocolate wafer crust and bake until the filling is just set, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool. The pie will fall slightly. Once cool refrigerate until well chilled, roughly 1 1/2 hours.

In a medium bowl add the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla extract and beat until soft peaks form. Top the chilled pie with the whipped cream, makng a nice mound on top of the pie. Garnish the top with shaved chocolate and finely chopped pecans. Serve immediately.

2) This one is a great idea for leftover turkey or a great casserole to take for a party.

Hot turkey salad with sage biscuits

Ingredients:

¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Original Bisquick
2 cups cut-up cooked turkey
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 medium celery ribs, sliced
2 medium green onions, sliced
2 ¼ cups Original Bisquick
¾ cup milk
½ teaspoon dried sage leaves

Directions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix mayonnaise and two tablespoons Bisquick in medium bowl until well-blended. Stir in turkey, cheese, celery and onions. Set aside.

Mix remaining ingredients just until soft dough forms. Place on surface sprinkled with Bisquick; roll in Bisquick to coat. Shape into a ball; knead 10 times. Roll dough one-half inch thick. Cut with 1 ½-inch round cutter dipped in Bisquick. Place close together around edge of ungreased two-quart casserole.

Spoon turkey mixture into mound in center of biscuits. Bake uncovered for 18 to 20 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown and turkey mixture is hot.

3) To me, this is a good ole Southern side dish. Paula Deen makes everything better.

Cheesy Squash Casserole

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 medium yellow summer squash, thinly sliced
1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 sleeve crackers, crushed medium to fine (recommended: Ritz)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the squash, onion, and butter until soft. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan, Cheddar, and sour cream. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Place in the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle the cracker crumbs evenly over the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly.

I hope that you all enjoy these dishes. I also hope that you will share with me some of your tried and true holiday favorites. I’m always open for new recipes and well, eating!

Copy cat

2010-10-30T12:06:00.001-05:00

Recently, I went to a bridal shower. My mom, my sister and I bought kitchen stuff and put it into a huge beverage tub from Target. I ran home to make a card for it. I decided to copy the artwork on the bucket and it was a huge hit. Everyone asked where we had found a bucket with matching card. I failed to take a picture of it (boo me) but have since tried my hand at making other cards to compliment some gift containers I bought.

Here’s what I did:

I got this container at Michael’s for $0.89! They have a ribbon handle and the lid has a cut out so you can see what goodies are inside.

The branch and flowers are flocked. The bird and wing are cut out from some paper I had on hand. Granted this card is almost as big as the container but that just leaves more room for a sweet note.

Again, this container was a steal and has the same cut out lid.

It took forever to cut out the blue swirly part but I think it was well worth it. This card is also big compared to the container but any smaller and I wouldn’t have been able to stamp the words on it.

This container was on sale for $1.50. The front of it is a clear panel for goodie viewing but I took a picture of the side to see where I got my idea for the card.

I lightly stamped the cherries on the white background. Then I glued the little cherries appliqué on it. The red of the card is slightly washed out but in person looks nearly identical to the container.