Merry Christmas from Ms Smartie Pants!

Merry Christmas! I hope you feel the joy of the season and are surrounded by those you love!

Quick Super Easy Peanut Clusters...Warning Addictive!

I love chocolate! And when you mix in peanuts, well forget about it, I'm hooked! I shared this recipe last February on another blog but thought I might share with my friends here at Ms Smartie Pants. These are the EASIEST candy you will ever make and best of all, you really can't mess them up. At least I never have so chances are you won't either! Here's the recipe.

Peanut Clusters
16 squares chocolate almond bark chopped into pieces

1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 large can (35oz) roasted peanuts

Mix first three ingredients together in a large bowl in microwave for 5 minutes or until melted. Sir halfway through heating process. If chocolate isn't quite melted after 5 minutes continue to stir until it's melted. Stir in peanuts. Drop by spoonfuls on wax paper. Let them set until they harden. (You can place in refrigerator for faster hardening) They freeze well too. This makes a huge batch! Some to keep and some to share! Don't they sound sooooo good?

Turn a Laughing Cow cheese box to an ornament!

Last week I was hanging out over at CSI sharing a hand made ornament. I thought I would share it with my friends! Check out how I made an ornament out of a Laughing Cow cheese box.

 O' Christmas tree O' Christmas Tree how lovely are your branches...enough of my singing you want to know how I made this? First I started out with some junk!

Yep, that's what I said, some trash. Stay with me and you too can have your very own Christmas Tree ornament!

You are going to need to cut 4 coordinating papers 3, 21/2, 2, 11/2 inches to make your tree.

Fold your papers just like this...
1st fold a triangle then undo and fold the other direction to make another triangle, unfold
2nd fold your square in half then undo and fold it in half the other direction
3rd your piece should be in half now, take your fingers and push the sides in and you should come up with a triangle
4th, take the outside tip of the triangle and fold it toward the center, repeat on other side, Make sure you crease all your edges well. If you are using a card stock, it's a little bit more difficult but don't worry your inking and glitter will cover most of the edges.
Repeat the same process with each square.

You should have something that looks a lot like this.

Next, I inked all of my edges with a stamp pad, added a touch of glue just inside the top of each tree section to glue the next section on and added a button as a star to the top and a tree trunk to the bottom. Are you following me? Set your tree aside and lets move onto the box.











So, this part I think is pretty explanatory.  I traced a circle onto sheet music and aged it with a stamp pad, and glued it into the inside of the box. I also covered the inside of edge of the box (but didn't take a photo of that). Then I traced the lid and found another circle that was about a half an inch smaller, traced it and cut out a circle in the middle of my circle so I would have a frame. I traced the frame on coordinating paper and glued it onto the lid of the box. Then I glued the tree inside the bottom of the box, on top of the sheet music.

  
I cut strips about an inch wide out of glitter paper and inked the edges. This is for the outside edge of the whole box once you have put the lid on. The edge is about 14 inches long so if your paper is 12 inches like mine you will need 2 strips. Glue the strips onto the outside of the box.

Now comes the really fun part!  Embellish your tree and frame however you would like. I put glitter on the edges of the tree and the edges of the frame. I added some ribbon and flowers made out of an old wool coat (another thing I couldn't throw away) and added a ribbon at the top to hang it with. Of course, while making this my mind began to wonder with all kinds of other ideas.

Adding pictures to the tree is really in this year! I simply put a photo on the inside and the tree on the outside. Check out that little present, it's a button!  And that adorable baby is my niece, this was her first Christmas and if I remember correctly those tears are in her eyes because she has just sat in Santa's lap! :)

Here is a side view. Don't forget to embellish it too!













These are really fun, they remind me of the diorama's we used to do in school. I hope you have fun making your own ornaments! Oh, and you can make your tree as big as you want it with as many tiers as you want depending on the project. Just keep increasing each section by 1/2 inch.  Check out the larger frame I made.

This is made with the backside of two 8x10 paint canvases. I'm join a linky party at Savvy Southern Style come and check it out!

More Christmas Decor

Are you ready? I'm still not, but the last couple of days I got lots done, and I am in much better shape, and I gotta say feeling a little jolly( and no it's got nothing to do with the fudge I made)! I don't know what the delay was for me this year but I just couldn't get my mind into it. But it's there now, take a look  at a few more "moments" ugh, the new catch phrase on HGTV now! Really I love you David (Colorsplash) but expand your vocab!

This is a little tray I have on my kitchen table, love the hard piney cones with the soft real cotton and berries.

 Another little spot in the kitchen. I made this little snowman frame last year out of old jewelry and buttons, mounted on burlap with a Goodwill frame.

Isn't he cute, I just love him!

And a little spot in the kitchen window.

And across from the kitchen is our living room.

I added this wreath I made last year to my home made art.

I was so excited to get this wreath back out, I just love it!

I am a traditional red, green and white girl, although the pink, purple and bright green mixed in with the traditional colors this year was really pretty.

I love the rustic look of the angles, I love them so much they are out year around!

And this arrangement that I put together a couple of years ago, another thing I can't wait to get out.

And NOEL found a whole new location this year since I moved some furniture around earlier in the  year.
So the decorating is done, almost all the presents are purchased and some wrapped, some baking done, now I have to figure out the Christmas day menu and go shopping. This time next week it will all be behind us!
We play fun family games on Christmas day. Does anyone have any suggestions for fun/funny games to play as a family, all of us are adults, so something for older peeps.

I'm partying at Savvy Southern Style come check me out!

Our Christmas Tree!

Well I am late to the party, but oh well, kinda the theme this year, late, late, late! Ok, I'm not going to say much just share pics.

This year I decided to go back to my kids favorite ornaments instead of a theme tree. It had been a few years, so this was a nice change. At the base, my tree skirt made out of a ballroom dress, no sew, just cut and go!

All of these ornaments have meaning to us. Some were on my tree when I was just a little tot and some we picked up while vacationing and some made by the kids. This little baby Jesus was painted by me over 30 years ago! It's funny all the memories these ornaments have. That's really what it's all about! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! If you want to see some amazing trees,  go over to Thrifty Decor Chick you will be amazed.

Come check me out on The CSI Project!

I am hanging out over at The CSI Project today, sharing a homemade ornament. Come check out what I can do with a Laughing Cow cheese box.

 

Come join the Blog Hop!

Rustic Den Mantel

So all over blogland you can find fabulous mantels! Mine is a little different. It's in our Den, otherwise known as the "mancave". This room is my husbands, after 22 years of marriage I am finally getting a  bit of say in this room. We plan to make some changes after the first of the year. One of them will be to resurface the fireplace. I cannot wait! Anyway here it is...

First I should introduce you to our hairy friends.

This is Jack, he has quite a story as to how my husband acquired him. Let's just say crazy college days and leave it at that!

And this is Lucky. I actually was with my husband when he purchased him from a old run down Antique store. When we bought him we kinda looked at it like we were rescuing him. My husband isn't a hunter but he is a collector. One of these days I will show you the whole room. He has lots of toys!
 But let's get back to the mantel.

Here is a closeup of a few of the things on the mantel. I went to Goodwill because I wanted a small mirror to place up there. I couldn't find one BUT I found this picture and really loved it sooo it came home with me. The deer I bought last year on clearance at an after Christmas sale. He was silver and I thought I needed more red so out came the spray paint.

Here is the whole view.

I love this tree, I cover it with a big trash bag and put it away until next year, sooo easy!

 The star came from Ross last year also. I thought it needed a little detail so I added a little rub-n-buff to show off it's details.

Isn't the rust on this lantern perfect? I have several old lanterns.

These are my husbands old dice. He used to do magic tricks and has all kinds of old stuff like this. Remember I mentioned he has lots of toys! Notice the 2....5, get it 25!

It's a cozy little space and when only the Christmas lights are on it's so pretty!

I'm linking up to Funky Junk Interiors

Joy! Gift Exchange

I decided to give the Homemade Gift Exchange a try this year. When I was a kid I always wanted a pen pal, I thought this was as close as I was gonna get. My gift came from a sweet girl from Kentucky. It came in the mail a few days ago, of course I opened it right away!

April made this adorable ornament. Inside are strips of paper that have a favorite quote of mine which is on my blog. Such a thoughtful gift!
It was really hard to decide what to make for April. I finally decided on a new technique I just learned.

 Joy! That what the season is all about right? I think I need to make one of these for me as well! I had alot of fun making this, I hope she really en JOY's it!
So hop on over to Craftaholics Anonymous
Check out what everyone else gave and received!
I'm linking up to Funky Junk Interiors
Shabby Art Boutique.blogspot 

Traditional Red & Green decorating

If you've beautifully decorated your house and have all your presents purchased raise your hand. Um you can't see me but I don't have my hand up. I am sooo behind! I have managed to do a little decorating since Saturday, but I don't think I have ever been so behind. Here's just a little sneak peak of a few areas I have decorated.

I bought this greenery at Walmart, yeah I know what some of you are thinking, you bought that?  I paid five bucks for this small little bundle. But we don't buy a real tree and I wanted a little fresh greenery in the house so 5.00 didn't seem like too much.

And looking at this sweet little arrangement makes my 5.00 purchase seem totally worth it! It sits next to my kitchen sink and smells so fresh and green.

And this little bargain vignette is on top of a free cabinet in my kitchen, that I will be painting soon. When I saw this stained glass window at Goodwill for only 6.00 a year ago I almost ran over a couple of people getting to it. At night it is beautiful with the light glowing behind it.  I threw some of my dollar store greenery up there and I'm thinking this may just be my favorite spot this year!

This is on top of my kitchen cabinet. Next year these cabinets will be white, I CANNOT wait. I'm gonna love the Christmas decor with white cabinets . I don't usually decorate up here but I lost some of my space with the change in furniture. So are you feeling like me.... the hurried you go the behinder you get? I'm linking to a blog hop, go check it out.

I'm linking to Funky Junk Interiors