TMOC Part 3: Cookbook

My husband and I started dating when I was 17 (he was 22...and given the whole situation, it's a miracle my parents agreed to let us go out, but that's another story all together). He is the oldest of 6 and happens to have a sister just my age (really, our birthdays are just one month apart). In my family growing up, once you turned 10 you had to learn how to do grown-up chores, like mow the lawn and cook and clean. So I had a good 7 years of cooking under my belt when I met his family. Needless to say, I was a little shocked that his sister didn't really know how to cook much. So for Christmas two years ago, since she was no longer living at home, I made her a cookbook. It was compiled of recipes that were all either fast, easy or super cheap (or all of the above). To top it all off, I tried each recipe out first to make sure it wasn't disgusting and took pictures of each one to put in the cookbook. One of the things I hate about cookbooks is that they get professional food stagers and photographers to make the food look perfect. Mine rarely looks like the pictures!

Anyway, she liked it so much that this past October she asked if I was going to be making her another cookbook for Christmas. Hmm...I hadn't really thought of that and it was WAY too late in the year to be taking on something like that (at least for the way I like to do it). After that comment I decided I would make her another cookbook for this Christmas. And I already have an idea (or two) for next year's installment in her series of cookbooks.

So this month I have been compiling and testing and photographing recipes for a cookbook. Since I haven't done any of the computer work on this yet, I don't have anything to show for it. So here are a few pictures of things I included in the last cookbook I made for her.

Grilled Cheese BLT

BBQ Chicken Potatoes

Baked Steak Burritos 

This will probably take up two or three months in my TMOC. Maybe next time I'll share a few of the new recipes.
p.s. Sorry for all the background info...sometimes I ramble.

TMOC Part 2: Knotty Scarf

This scarf was my inspiration:

and this is my end result:

Sorry, the picture is kind of blurry. Here is an up close so you can see the detail better

It looks much better on than just sitting on the floor. I'm fairly pleased with it, but I don't super love it (and I have a hard time giving gifts that I don't super love). I might try this again using a different material. If I do, I'll post pics and you all can help me decided whether or not to re-do this one.

TMOC Part 1: Gingerbread Man Yard Stake

Twelve Months of Christmas Part 1 is complete! I saw this idea on the Michaels website last year and loved it so I bookmarked it (I had planned on giving it away last Christmas but didn't). I went to pull it up the other day to look at the picture so I could see how they did the face of the gingerbread man and it was no longer there. I got a page that said "project not found". I guess just bookmarking isn't always a safe bet! Luckily, I remembered the picture well enough that I could still construct it and I think it turned out pretty cute! What do you think?

I used one 6.5" circle and two 2" circles that I painted brown (spice brown to be exact...which I thought was very fitting) for the head and hands. Then I painted white wavy lines to mimic icing and added a face to the larger circle. Like I said before, I couldn't find the instructions any longer so I just kind of made it up as I went. I did trace the eyes first so that they would be even...I should have done the same for the cheeks (which are pink, despite how they may look in the picture). Too late now! I painted the sign part of it all white and then added the green border. I did NOT paint the words, however. My painting skills are very limited, but I'm pretty good with a Sharpie so I just wrote out "welcome". I also cheated a little bit on the stripes for the stake...I drew lines (again, with a Sharpie) so that I knew where to fill in the red and to make sure they were straight. I glued it together, added a coat of sealer, tied some raffia in a bow and tada! One less thing to stress about come Christmastime. I can't wait for February's project! :)

12 Months of Christmas

Yes, you read that correctly. This year I'm planning on doing "12 MONTHS of Christmas"! What does this mean? I am going to make *at least* one Christmas gift each month throughout the year. Yes I am crazy and have already come up with several of the gifts that I plan on making. And that is on top of all of the gifts/cards for birthdays, mother's day, father's day, baby showers, etc. I have not, however, actually started making anything just yet. Tonight I plan on making a list of what to make each month.
WHY???
Two reasons. One - to not be so stressed out the week before Christmas trying to finish everything & Two - to hopefully have it feel more like Christmas all year long (the joy of doing things for others part of Christmas, not the so stressed I want to pull my hair out).

Hopefully this works as well in real life as I am hoping it will!