Thanksgiving DIY Projects

I won't be around this Thanksgiving (VEGAS!), but if I was, here are few adorable projects (that are fairly affordable) that I would consider:

some cute little place settings-






cute little mod pumpkins for either a centerpiece or a hallway or fireplace mantle decoration:



this cute "this year i am thankful for: _____" turkey would be great for a family with younger children - they could each decorate their own leaf!



and this is my all-time favorite little doo-dad, you could really use him anywhere! and he looks so simple to make!




Happy Turkey Day! See you next Wednesday!

no blogging for a week, i might go crazy!

ps - these photos aren't mine, but i can't remember where i got them. oops.

Lovely little Sunday

Sunday consisted of raking leaves....for 4 or 5 hours straight...

how it began? Charlie (our very old, very helpful neighbor) knocked at our door - woke me up. IMMEDIATELY forced me to go to his house to get the leaf blower (in my pjs...awkward) and rakes to clean up our yard. He insisted that he show me how to use the leaf blower and made me start clearing the yard right away. THEN, he left and came back with a saw to cut up a fallen tree in our backyard. this old man must.be.bored.



sore back, arms and chest. extreme allergies.
worth it. I need to take a picture of the pile on our curb. HUGE. I truly believe our house has the most trees in the entire neighborhood! we got lucky that it was such a beautiful day yesterday

Just like a *snowflake*, no two are alike

As i mentioned earlier this week, we were going to be doing some fun crafting last night!
and it.was.amazing.

probably the most fun i've ever had doing crafts!
it took about 5 hrs total, but it was so worth the outcome

here are some pictures:

in the process of placing each square....



...disaster area...









cute little gingerbread girl!



yay 1 is done! (mine!)



yay 2! (Andrea's)



yay 3!! (Michelle's)




all three together!

so happy! I hope you take the time to make these, it's so worth it!

One Week 'til Thanksgiving!!

Countdown to Vegas: 6 days! Can't wait!

Oddly Enough...

I sent Michelle's adorable Thanksgiving Desktop background to the girls at my work. They all loved it except for one girl, who requested a Christmas one immediately, and that it is full of mostly naked men. Oddly Enough, she is in HR. But that's neither here nor there. I whipped this up in 5 minutes using picnik for her. tacky but funny at the same time!

Enjoy, ladies.

pics of the day

she looooves sleeping in the car...especially with her body in the backseat and her head on the center console.


i love her

Tuesday Potluck

the girls and i have tried to keep up with a potluck every other week. we had been seriously slacking with everyone's crazy fall schedules - but last night we got back on our game! and it was awesome!

my contribution:
My Aunt Vals to-die-for spinach sausage stuffing
Hungry-girl Monkey Bread
other contributions:
mint chocolate chip cookies - tasted like thin mints. ohmygah.
gingerbread cookies - from scratch
mashed potatoes - lots of garlic...mmm
tortellini salad with salmon - yumm
shrimp appetizer with a yummy spicy dip!

recipes:

Spinach Sausage Stuffing - this recipe has been featured at quite a lot of family functions. it's passed down to my aunt val from her grandfather, which makes it quite special :)
From Aunt Val: "This recipe is originally my grandfather’s recipe – Jack McAuliffe (Mom’s Dad) and many, many years ago, my Dad (Grampi Crocetta) started making it each Thanksgiving. The flavors get better as they sit, so you may want to make a day in advance."
Here goes…
1 package Pepperidge farm stuffing (NOT CUBES)

1 lb mild sausage – like Jimmy Dean (not links – the tube thing not links – do you know what I mean???)

4 medium size onions chopped

1 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach

Butter – about ½ stick

Hot water (not quantity specified)

Cook sausage, drain fat, add chopped onions and brown – drain. Cook & drain spinach (spinach carries a lot of water). Add spinach to sausage/onion mixture. Add butter to mixtureIn separate bowl, mix stuffing and HOT water to desired consistency. Mix everything together. Place in glass dish (I used a huge tupperware container). Cook to heat – maybe 350 for 30 minutes (I added a little more water at J&A's house and put it in the microwave for 4 mins). Everything is already cooked, just needs to be heated.You can also refrigerate the stuffing and cook when you are ready to do so. Add butter, salt/pepper as needed. (I forgot the butter, and it still tasted amazinnggg)

*I also made a vegetarian version for kel - and it included everything except sausage. super yum!

Hungry-Girl Monkey Bread!!

mmm mmmm - no cool background behind this one besides me being a fatty who follows hungry girl recipes religiously.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp Splenda, divided
2 tsp. cinnamon, divided
2 tbsp. light whipped butter or light buttery spread
2 tbsp. sugar-free pancake syrup
2 tbsp. brown sugar (not packed)
1 package Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheet
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix 1 tbsp. Splenda and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a large bowl or container. Set aside. Spray six cups of a muffin pan with nonstick spray, and set pan aside as well.

Place a small pot on the stove, but do not heat it. Add butter, syrup, brown sugar, 2 tbsp. Splenda, and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Leave this on the unheated stove, to be melted and mixed later on.

Roll out the dough on a clean dry surface, and sprinkle evenly with baking powder. Gently smooth baking powder into the sheet with your fingers.

Cut dough sheet widthwise into six strips equal in size. Cut each strip into four squares. Roll each square into a ball, for a total of 24 dough balls.

Place 12 dough balls in the bowl with the Splenda-cinnamon mixture. Lightly toss to coat, and then place them gently in the muffin pan, with four dough balls in each of three cups. No need to press the dough balls into the pan -- just let them fall naturally. Repeat with remaining dough balls, so that each of the six muffin cups contains four coated dough balls. Set aside.

Bring the small pot on the stove to medium heat. Stirring frequently, heat just until butter has melted and contents are mixed well. Evenly spoon the butter mixture over the dough balls.

Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes, or until puffy and firm. Allow to cool slightly, and then plate and enjoy!

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 4 pieces (1/6th of recipe)
Calories: 154
Fat: 7.5g
Sodium: 369mg
Carbs: 21g
Fiber: 0.5g
Sugars: 6.5g
Protein: 2g

i doubled this recipe and it was deeeeelish! got lots of compliments! yay for being a hungry girl!

TO-DO this week! DIY!

do-it-yourself is the new black. in my world.

i have been on a DIY/creative spree and i can't help myself with these two next projects!
once again, inspired by etsy (here and here), michelle and i can hardly contain ourselves! like two extremely crafty kids in a candy store.

This is the most perfect (and also re-usuable) advent calendar i have ever seen!



isn't it precious?



don't you want to make one yourself?


if your jewish, doesn't it make you want to celebrate christmas? or just make a Hanukkah one...


...and next...this is a cute little countdown too...not quite sure if i'm going to take on two big projects in one day though...


so crafty!! this one requires a bit more work - but i think its possible :)



we are making these little babes Thursday night - will post results Friday :)

Alphabetical List of things I am *thankful* for....

I saw my sorority sister posted one of these recently, and seeing as its the Thanksgiving season, I thought it would be appropriate :)


A - arugula lettuce (i l-o-v-e the peppery flavor)
B - blogs. and boyfriends!!
C - casual stalking (cupcakes are a close second, Claire too.)
D - diamonds (haha)
E - emo kids to make fun of
F - fusters. fingers (they are valuable, ask kate, she broke hers). fast food. food in general. fallettis.
G - glasses - seeing, wine, tables, etc. ginormous bottles of wine.
H - hilariousity (it's a word). heels. happiness. hippos.
I - intelligence
J - jokes. on you.
K - kisses *muah*
L - laughing. love. lame things
M - Me, myself and I. magical adventures. memories.
N - new clothes. neveu. namecalling.
O - olive oil.
P - pigs. i want one. POTLUCK DINNERS!
Q - quality programming - such as Bravo TV, E! network, and various other reality stations
R - restaurants. reading. raging alcoholics (5501)
S - stalking. wait, did i already say that? - Fine. SIENNA! or Sigma Kappa Sisters
T - twitter - so i can stalk. tom!
U - underpants.
V - vinegar. balsamic specifically. i put it on everything.
W - wedding blogs. cant.get.enough. (and no, i'm not engaged)
X - Xtreme roof jumping - meeeesh!
Y - yuppy puppies
Z - ZINGER! <-- saying that after i make a dumb joke.

ps - VEGAS update!

note: madeleine is an idiot.

just checked the itinerary. booked the wrong flight to vegas - leaving 9 hrs earlier than i thought. have to take the entire day off work. (instead of a few hrs off in the afternoon)
PTO = going into the negativeeeee numbers...woopsies.


pass the dunce hat.

sometimes, i seriously wonder about what really is happening in my head...

VEGAS COUNTDOWN: 9 days!!

holy moly! Time flies!

Next weds i'm flying out to VEGAS with the boyf for a week long extravaganza! We are celebrating with his family and then frolicking around Sin City :) His brother is a pilot for The Venetian so he lives right off the strip and we are staying at his house- EXCITEDDDD!!

you know that every morning when i wake up i'll say either:
"that's what you get for waking up in vegas!"
or
"get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now!"



I'm going to be the most annoying vegas visitor his brother has ever seen. and it's going to be epic.

time to start:
-tanning (ew! i know, it's really, really bad for me, but it makes me appear thinner),
-packing adorable outfits (taken care of while shopping this past weekend!),
-need to take clothes to the tailor either today or tomorrow/dry cleaning,
-gym (last minute attempt to be hot. FAIL. at least i'll be tan and dressed well)

Christmas wishlist?! already...

i want these little gems to keep my hands warm this winter :)



and this to keep my stuff in:


and these to put on my feet:



and this adorable jacket to keep me warm:



and these cute slippers for lounging:



oooh and so many more things....

is it greedy? maybe.
is it wrong? no way jose.
do i want all of this NOW? yes.

photos:
here, here, here, here, and here

Happy Anniversary!

happy one year anniversary to my amazing boyfriend :)



we are off to the beach to celebrate for the weekend...can't wait

ps - GO HOKIES!!!!! beat UMD

Thanksgiving Collage

Michelle made the cutest Thanksgiving Desktop background! YAY !

11.12.07

on a sad note, one of my best friends (and close family friend since 6th grade) passed away two years ago today. one of the worst days/weeks of my life.

When Marc entered a room, EVERYONE knew it. He was hilarious!





He went to Clemson (T-I-G-E-RRRR-S!) and loved that school more than most, so naturally, I am rocking purple and orange today for him.
The picture above is at Clemson when Michelle and I visited in the spring of '07.

i miss him.

THANK YOU

a huge thank you to all the veteran's of the past, present, and future.

Happy Veteran's Day

I love this pup!

haha Sienna's new bark collar is waterproof (result of going in the pool in the last one) - and it's ORANGE.

bright, neon, hunting dog orange.

if only she wasn't sooooo cute....

Because the boy doesn't read my blog :)

Just got the cutest idea for our anniversary gift! I have been dating Tom for a year now - so exciting!

with my recent crafty activities, i have decided to make something inspired by this:


is it not precious!?



However, I'll be using cards he has given me, tickets of sports game we've been to, Harry Potter reference of sorts (first "date", we're so cool), and various other little trinkets in picture form that remind me of us! and i plan on doing 12, representing the 12 months we've been together. and behind it all as the background will be the note i wrote to my amazing friend Meesh (check out her blog!) about how it all got started between the two of us...

crafty, eh?

idea found here.