Holy Present Wrapping!

Today I finally finished wrapping gifts for our sponsor family. We decided to shop for a needy family instead of for ourselves this year. Erik's and my family all chipped in and created a huge mound of gifts for the family of 5.

There are two boys, 2 &6 years old, and two girls, 4 &8 years old and they are cared for by their grandmother. Total we got them each a new winter coat, pants, shirts, sweaters, PJs, socks, toys, drawing materials, hygiene gifts, and even a huge tub of food for Christmas Dinner. I really wish I could be a fly on the wall come Christmas morning at their house. This was one of the most fulfilling shopping season ever.

Along with the gifts we bought, I also made a stocking for each of the kids and grandmother. I sewed a felt initial for each kid and used a pretty paisley for grandmother's. I put their toothbrushes, shower gel, and other treats inside. I hope they enjoy them.

Thanks again to everyone that helped out, and to Lesley and her family to pitching in and helping another family at school! I hope you all are able to do something selfless and great for someone this Christmas!!

Christmas Sewing

I am striving to have an all-Handmade Christmas this year. Erik and I are actually not buying Christmas presents this year. We decided, along with our wonderful families' help, to sponsor a family at my school. The family has hit hard times and were not going to be able to have a Christmas on their own. So we shopped for them. But I also wanted to give something special to those who I love and appreciate. Some will get yummy treats and some will get a handmade gift.

I have been busy sewing up a storm and have realized that I need some gear to make things easier. I would love to have a space to lay out and cut my fabric- other than my bedroom floor. This would do nicely:

Straight lines are difficult to manage on said bedroom floor, so if I had one of these to use on the table above, I'm sure to get even lines:

Don't want to scratch that new table, must have a mat:

{ All products from Joanns.com }

Now that I have some new tools, these would be the first fabrics that I would like to create with:

{ Fabrics from Fabricworm.com }

Do you have any special gifts that you're making this year?

Saving Pennies, Ch. 1

Erik and I are simple people. We like things to be as easy and stress, worry, drama, anything 'free'. So when we were constantly clicking the buttons on our thermostat up and down every morning and night to get the most efficient use of our heating and cooling system, I knew we needed a better solution.

We picked up this little guy from Hunter. It is their 7-day Energy Star Programmable Thermostat. It was a chore to install- I highly recommend keeping the help line number at arm's distance- although to be fair, I have zero experience with electrical stuff, but the guy I spoke to was super nice and knowledgeable. Once it was installed it had to be programmed. I chose the energy star settings that turn the heat low during the night and while we are at work, and then the house gets warmed up in the morning when we are getting ready for work and it is toasty by the time we arrive home and until we go to bed. It has eliminated our need to manually lower the temp. and it gives us the flexibility to change the settings as we need them. Plus it has the awesome ambient red light for the heat and a cool blue for the AC.

I must say, it is working like a charm. Our gas, heat pump system is working great and the gas bill is staying in the low $20 range! This is just another way for us to make the most of our hard earned money to keep our house a cozy home!

What types of money saving upgrades have you made lately?

Artwork a-moving...

Since I added a new mirror to our living room, the artwork that was there needed a new home. First I removed a large metal star that hung above our kitchen table and moved it to our back porch that we worked on this summer for an added punch of color to go with my nature inspired chandelier.

Then I put my painting from above the couch into the star's old home:

We still have many more works that need a home but they are not ready for their debut just yet, stay tuned...

Have you added any new pieces to your home?

Thankful for Cookies

Our Thanksgiving was spent with family in Nashville, TN this year. My aunt and uncle and 2 cousins live there and it had been way too long since we all got together. Isn't it funny how the ones that you are close to- distance-wise- are the ones that you never see? Well we thought it was high time we made the short and easy drive up there.

My lovely aunt, who is a breast cancer survivor ( Yay Aunt Sue !!!) took care of the dinner and my family was in charge of the sweets. So per Erik's request I went with my now famous peanut butter sandwich cookies. They are my take on a recipe I found in a magazine. They go something like this:

.1.

Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

.2.

Mix filling

( cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar, mini chocolate chips )

.3.

Combine and then destroy :)

It really doesn't get easier or yummier than that.

Do you have any go-to recipes that are sure to please?

The Artwork Switcheroo, Part 354

As my profile states, I am fickle. I change my mind constantly when it comes to accessorizing my home. My Art Wall above the living room couch is the main victim. I think it is because we spend so much time in that room that I am constantly looking at it, and I get bored. So once again I have taken down all the pictures, patched the holes and came up with a new plan- No More Art- over the couch that is. I am never happy with what goes up there, so I am ditching the idea entirely. Our ceilings are high, and the couch is long, making it difficult to come up with a good layout and properly proportioned Art.

I popped by Ikea the other day and found this great mirror. I originally was going to go with using 3 frame-less ones that would be cheaper, but after all is said and done this one at $69 was the best option.

It is 27"x67" long and brings a ton of reflective light into the room from the only window in the room. My grand plan would be to put either mounted lights on either side or arc floor lamps like these to add height to the room. I believe I am finally down with this area, but who knows what I'll have up my sleeve in a few months. As for the Art, it definitely has not left the living room, stay tuned to see how I bring it back into the space, and where the old stuff found a new home.

My Apologies...

It seems as though when life gets busy my blog, and my readers get neglected. For that I am sorry :) The past month has been busy and stressful. There were ups: I earned my Master's Degree!!, had some quality "porch time" with neighbors, and then there were downs: Erik's continued struggle to find a new car, busy-body parents at school. So I am writing to apologize for neglecting SD and I hope to be back posting as usual. After all, I am always doing something!

Thanks for still following me and my itchy, home decorating fingers!