Christmas Tree Napkin Folding

"Much of the charm of origami lies in its simplicity:  There is the square, there are the folds." -- Robert Lang

When I was a young girl, I loved doing origami.  I remember my parents taking me to the Metropolitan Museum of art in NYC and there was a huge Christmas tree with all these origami cranes and other things on it.  In fact, one year, I created a Christmas tree with only origami shapes on it.  I contributed it to the local Art Museum where it got auctioned off.  

So it didn't surprise me that when I saw a tutorial on how to fold a napkin into a Christmas tree, I was going to be all over that.  The problem was, I didn't have any green napkins.  As I was racing around town getting last minute Chrismtas shopping done, I was looking for napkins.  Every place was basically sold out, but I did manage to find some at Kohl's at the last minute.  I knew they weren't a perfect match, but I figured they would do the job in a pinch.  

DIY tag had simple, easy to follow directions with a video too.

Very easy and now I can do it for memory.

I would definitely look for some thicker and/or stiffer napkins.  Or launder these and iron them with a little starch.  I can't wait for the boys to see it.  I think they're going to be impressed.

From my board "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas"

I Work Night Shift

A coworker recently commented that  working night shift is the perfect excuse for everything. 

"Why are you always so tired?"

"Night shift."

"Why do you eat so much?"

"Night shift."

"Why do you always look like that?"

"Night shift."

So in honor of this, I made the perfect meme for it!

From my board "Minions."

Elf on a Shelf 2015 version

Well, it's that time of year again.  Zeke and Chubby Cheeks, our elves, are back again.  Here is what they have been up to this year.

Day one.  The elves must have missed their ride because they were nowhere in our house that morning.  And was B ever upset about it!  But when the doorbell rang late that afternoon, there they were on the front step in a special delivery straight from the North Pole!

The next day, they provided an elf-sized paper chain so we could countdown the days until Christmas.  (Idea from The Little Things blog.)

They must be into Minecraft as well, because we found them wearing these Creeper masks (courtesy of The Lunchbox Memoirs).  Fortunately these masks didn't put me out $25 like the Halloween one we bought for B a couple of years ago.

Give it up for hubby who told me he had an EPIC idea planned for the elves this night that I was working.  Ziplining has been a popular elf activity as I have noticed on several posts.  Kudos to him for coming up with this.

I'm proud that my elves love to read just as much as my boys do. I'm glad there was an elf-sized book in our basket of Christmas books for them to get into.

Shrunkin' Donuts for the elves.  Dunkin' Donuts for the humans! (These elf donuts are Cheerios dipped in sugar, or cocoa, or frosting and sprinkles.  The ideas are endless.  The box is from Etsy shop ThisWiddlePiggy, which at this point seems to be defunct.

Staying warm while enjoying the sights of the outdoor decorations.  Aren't they cute?  I wish my boys were that sweet to each other.

Another hubby attempt.  He told me he walked around the house for half-an-hour while trying to come up with an idea.  He was inspired by the elves on the Rice Krispies box.

I guess he's trying to catch some fish for dinner.

Stealing money from the piggy bank!  Naughty elf!  I hope he's at least going to buy W a Christmas present with it.

Learning the 78 things that one's true love will get them for Christmas.  (They may have mixed up days 10 and 11 though.)

Playing with a Christmas train

Trying to blend in with the Nutcrackers

He made a snowman ornament - but it melted! :-(

Indoor sledding

 

Well folks!  That is all for this year.  It's getting harder and harder to come up with things.  But trying to be creative is half of the fun!

Surviving work

"Oh, you hate your job?  Why didn't you say so?  There's a support group for that.  It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." -- Drew Carey

Ever have one of those nights?

From my board "Nursing is an art."

25 Days of Christmas - Book Version

"At Christmas play and make good cheer,

 For Christmas comes but once a year." 

-- Thomas Tusser

Ever since W was a baby, my kids have received lots and lots of books.  I mean LOTS.  We could probably open our own little library by now.  And while I have gotten rid of a few over the years (some that were just obviously not favorites or we somehow accumulated but weren't too interested in) we still have the overwhelming majority of them stored away.  These books are at three different houses and even more in storage.  Someday, hopefully, I'll be able to share them with my grandchildren.

So probably for about 10 years now, we have been doing this pseudo advent calendar activity, by unwrapping a book every night to read.  (So that means I have been doing this since before Pinterest.)  I think a lot of it started when my in-laws won a raffle full of children's books, and there were a number of Christmas books in there.  When the boys were little, it started out as a great way to keep them out of presents since they had something they could unwrap every night.  

At this point we have way more than 25 Christmas books.  I have taken out several, especially the baby books, but we still have more than enough, so I usually leave out the ones that the boys haven't really expressed an interest in.  However, there are a few standouts, which we can't wait to read each year.

This year's favorite, and the one they started looking for the first night, is definitely Jan Brett's "Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?"  The boys carefully compared sizes of the wrapped books in order to find this one, but it still took a couple of nights.  And everyone was still as happy as always reading this book. As always with all the Jan Brett books, there is always something extra special that you find in the gorgeous  illustrations.

Other favorites include:

 

Even our elves enjoy looking at the books.

This is a tradition I highly recommend getting on board with.

From my board "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas"

Middle-Aged

"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age."

--Victor Hugo

I always like to think that I'm cool and with it, and I certainly DON'T feel my age (45).  Then I sit at work with some twenty somethings and realize that we all basically have nothing in common as they snapchat one another. 

From my board "Humor is mankind's greatest blessing."

Autumn Trees

"Just as a painter needs light in order to put the finishing touches to his picture, so I need an inner light, which I feel I never have enough of in the autumn."                                                      -- Leo Tolstoy

So this will probably be the last post for a little while.  This is the last of my Thanksgiving tries and life will be back to normal when I go back to work tonight.  You've seen my Thanksgiving food inspirations.  Now you get to see an activity that I did with my adorable nieces.  

I have a bunch of kids' crafts pinned so that I have something to do with them.  And one of my favorites was this Autumn Painted Tree by La classa della maistra Valentina.  (Disclaimer:  The blogspot is in Spanish, but the pictures make it very clear how to make these.)

Now my nieces are 5 and 6 years old, so this seemed like it was going to be the perfect type of craft for them.  But even W and B joined them in this activity.  I found the little canvases on sale at Michael's, then I painted a tree trunk for them.  I then traced a light circle so they would have an idea of where to paint.  They went to town with the Q-Tips dipped in paint and did all the rest themselves.  They did a great job until W told them they should make leaf piles under the trees so suddenly we had leaves all over the place.  But I'm very proud of them, and think they did a great job!

From my board "Every child is an artist."

Honey Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Feta

"Squatternut Bosh" - Ross from Friends

I have been looking at this pin for a little while now.  I knew I wanted to make it for Thanksgiving because it's so colorful and festive and let's face it.  The flavors just scream Thanksgiving at you.  But the feta cheese part has been throwing me off this whole time.  Now don't get me wrong.  I probably love feta cheese more than anybody else in the world, but just because you CAN add feta cheese to something, doesn't mean that you necessarily should.

So this yummy recipe for Honey Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Feta was posted by peas and crayons.  Doesn't it look delicious?

I thought mine looked pretty good, until now I've posted the two pictures side by side.  Maybe I should have added the feta.  But no.  This is really a sweet dish with the cinammon and honey, and feta is really for savory dishes.  (And forgive the lettuce garnish.  My sister-in-law who was trying to help, thought that would be a good addition.  It isn't.)

From my board "Vegetables are a must."

Happy Thanksgiving

"Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday.  People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year.  And then discover once a year is way to often." -- Johnny Carson

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

From my board "Give thanks for unknown blessings."

Thanksgiving Pies

"Men may come and men may go.....but pie goes on for ever." -- George Augustus Sala

So it's that time of year again and I am baking pies for Thanksgiving.  Do you know why?  I LOVE pie!!!  Everyone else is all into cupcakes and red velvet cake and such.  But those are getting boring.  Cupcakes are cupcakes - they all have a cake base and they're the same consistency and density.  but pies are so varied! I've done my usual Candied Apple Pie, but this year I am attempting a Pumpkin Chiffon pie and a Cocoa Cream pie.

I'll start with the cocoa cream pie  by Forgotten Way Farms.com.

I've had this one pinned for quite a while and just never got around to it. I ultimately decided to make it because the picky eaters in my family (my kids) don't eat apple or pumpkin pie.  I wanted them to have an option besides rice krispie treats, so I made this as well.  And it is AH-MAZE-ING!  My mother-in-law, who always has to find something to criticize, thought it was too chocolatey.  What?!?!?  There's no such thing!  However the seven children ages 5-14 gobbled it down with absolutely NO complaints.  Here's the recipe for My Granny's Cocoa Cream Pie :

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder (or 1/2 cup all-purpose flour)
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Mix cocoa, cornstarch, egg yolks, sugar and salt.  Gradually add milk while stirring in a pot over medium-high heat.  Cook until thick, beating it smooth.  Cream pies take some time to thicken, so stir.....and stir (10-15 minutes).  When thickened, remove from heat and add in vanilla.  Pour into a pre-baked pie shell.  Place in fridge to chill.

As usual, I forgot that the crust shrinks down a bit when it bakes, so that is why it is not all the way up the sides of the pie plate.  And I'm not sure why it is so shiny in the picture, but it was delicious!

For my next pie, I decided I wanted to make a pumpkin chiffon pie like my aunt always used to make.  I know she's given me this recipe a couple of times, but I can't find it anywhere.  I was going to ask my cousin if she could get it, but my aunt has been extremely ill, and I didn't want to add another thing to their plates.  So of course I went to Pinterest and found one which sounded like what I remember making in the past.  So I sent with the recipe by A Nostalgic Halloween.  

The major difference was that I used a regular pie crust instead of the gingersnap crust, because that is what my aunt always used and I LOVED that pie!  Here is the recipe for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 tablespoon plain gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Cook the pumpkin in a double boiler for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix egg yolks sugar and milk.  Add to pumpkin with salt, spices and melted butter.  Stir and cook until of custard consistency.  Remove from heat, add gelatin which has been softened in cold water.  Stir until dissolved.  Chill.  When mixture begins to stiffen, fold in stiffly beaten egg whites to which has been added 1/2 cup of sugar.  Pour into crust.  Chill 3 hours.  Serve with whipped cream.

Notice I did much better with this pie crust. 

But I learned a really big thing with this pie.  If you are beating egg whites in a glass bowl, you need to add some cream of tartar, or else they will not stiffen.  Who knew?  Apparently not me!  It was amazing how that cream of tartar stiffened it all up so quickly.

From my board "Eat dessert first."

Orange Crush Cupcakes

"Orange is the happiest color"
-- Frank Sinatra

We have had orange jerseys for 4 soccer seasons now:  The Orange Devils (W - 1st grade), The Thundering Vipers (W - 2nd grade), The Orange Cheetahs (W - 4th grade), and now, finally, The Orange Crush (B - 4th grade)!  I mean, how come no one came up with that in previous years?  Isn't that a great, intimidating name for a soccer team?  You can "crush" the competition!  Of course, our coach thinks we should have a different name every week, ie. the Orange Orangatans.  Really??? That's not intimidating at all.  And how do you know who to cheer for?  I can't keep remembering a different name every week (or even every half as is seems like it was this past week).   But the kids have called themselves the crush from week one.  And I promised them that I would bring in Orange Crush to drink when they won a game.  

Unfortunately, the Orange Crush was not the team doing the crushing this season.  There may have been a win in there, but the important thing is that they have improved over the season.  And for the last game of the season, they tied (the tying goal, along with TWO others (!!!) was scored by B himself!!!

So, a well-earned tie score.  What better way to celebrate than with these Orange Crush cupcakes that I found from LIVE LOVE LIZ?

The key I think to these cupcakes, is not actually the orange crush, but actually the orange jello flavoring that is added.  I was really hesitant to put it in, and actually only tried a couple of tablespoons until I tasted it and decided it did actually need the five tablespoons as in the recipe.

As for the frosting, I almost wish I had just done a plain vanilla frosting.  There is jello flavoring in this as well, and it left a really gritty kind of  texture.  I'm not sure how else you would get the flavoring in there unless you used an extract.  This may require some more testing to get a more acceptable flavoring.

(I obviously used the wrong filter on my camera because it looks more yellow than orange.  Don't judge me.  I'm a nurse, not a photographer.)

Also, forgive the soccer cupcake papers, but I felt they were completely acceptable since it was for a soccer game!  I also had a jar of orange crystal sugar, so I sprinkled that on for good measure.  All in all, a success.  And the way the kids gobbled them down, they had no complaints.

From my board "Cupcakes take the cake."

Kindness

In regard to recent events, both personally and worldwide, I just think the whole world would be a much better place if people would just exhibit a little more kindness to each other. #prayforparis

From my board "Life itself is a quotation."

Cranberry Orange Cake

"And they bought an owl and a useful cart, 

and a pound of rice and a cranberry tart." 

-- Edward Lear

Okay, I am really, really, really bummed about this one.  I found this recipe for a Cranberry Orange Cake from thatsmyhome.com and thought I would love to make it around Thanksgiving.  So I decided to make it for the girls at work, and if was okay, I would make another one to have as an extra dessert at Thanksgiving.  Come on!  You can NEVER have too many desserts at Thanksgiving dinner!

It was easy enough to make.  Except for me - who didn't realize that I had NO FLOUR half-way through the recipe and had to run out and get some.  Again, it wouldn't be a day in the kitchen without some sort of drama happening.  But once that snafu was fixed, it was very easy and everything looked just the way it was supposed to when I popped it into the oven.  It baked in the recommeneded amount of time and i took it out and it looked so moist and delicious.  I let it cool for a while and went to flip it out of the bundt pan, and.......it didn't come out.  I even slid a knife around the edges.  Still nothing.  I banged it and banged it on the counter.  Still nothing.  a harder bang.  Finally, half the cake came out of the pan.  the bottom half.  the top was still stuck in the pan.  I had no choice but to scoop it out with a spoon.  It was ruined.  Needless to say, we all tried it and it was super delicious.  I can only guess that despite generously spraying the pan, the sugar and cranberries in the bottom of the pan must have just melted and stuck to it really well.  I am willing to give this another go and see if I can somehow remedy this problem.


From my board "Eat dessert first."

Soak-the-Day-Away Detoxifying Bath

"There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them." -- Sylvia Plath

Tonight was bath night.  W dug holes all morning, helping with an eagle scout project.  B had an intense soccer game, then ended the day with throwing rocks into a reservoir.  And I worked last night, came home crawled into bed in order to sleep for 2 hours before the soccer game.  So everyone needed a good soaking. 

I don't know about all of you, but I certainly do not take advantage of a nice bathtub.  We've been in our current house for over two years, and I think this is only the 2nd bath I've taken in the large, deep soaking tub that we have.  Such a shame.

Anyway, by the time the boys were finished with their baths, and I had cleaned out the tub. I decided to try this idea that I read at mindbodygreen.com for a soak-the-day-away detoxifying bath.  The best part?  I actually had ALL the ingredients needed, including the lavender essential oil.  I mean, what are the chances?  I was MEANT to take this bath!

End result?  I'm not sure if it actually lowered any stress-related hormones and balanced my pH levels, but I did feel clean, relaxed, and refreshed.  The perfect way to end a crazy Saturday.  This is something I can definitely manage to do again!


From my board "The First Wealth is Health"

Leopard Face

"The leopard cannot change it's spots."

--Vietnamese Proverb

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!  Whew!  We had a busy busy day.  W was sent off to camp last night.  This morning B had a soccer game.  We ran home, he changed into his scout uniform and off we went to a Cub Scout Fun Day.  After hanging out for a couple of hours, we raced home.  While in the car, I attempted to replicate this leopard face that I found by face painter Hazel Wood at Jolly Good Faces.  I had bought leopard ears and a tail at Target the previous month, so I was determined to make those into a costume.  I am not an artist by any means.

So after a bumpy, harrowed ride, this is what I ended up with.

I wore all black, had leopard print shoes and nails and voila!  Instant leopard!!!  (And no, I don't have orange streaked hair, although that would have gone with the costume.  It's a reflection from our pumpkin light.)

From my board "Happy Haunting."

Paintball Party

Happy 12th birthday to W!  I can't believe it!  One more year until he's a teenager.  Oh, how I miss those years where I could plan cute, fun parties for him.  We had a pirate treasure hunt party, a Lego party, and a Survivorman party, to name a few.  Now he's getting too old for these types of things, but when he told me that he wanted to take some friends to go play paintball, I knew that I could somehow incorporate a party into all of this.

First off, we had to find a place to play paintball.  Having moved to central Virginia, from northern Virginia, I feel that my options are quite limited.  When it comes right down to it, there's actually nothing to do here along those lines.  You either have to drive an hour to Richmond, an hour over the mountain, or an hour and a half to northern Virginia.  Definitely not something you can have parents drive their kids to.  So our numbers were limited to the number of kids we could fit in the car.

But we did find a place:  Warplay Paintball in Rhoadesville, VA.  They were very helpful in advising us in the best way to have a party for 12 year-old boys.  And they told us encouraged us to get the Groupon coupon, which saved us boatloads of money - like 80% off!!!

Like I mentioned earlier, this place was probably about 45 minutes away.  While in the car, I gave the kids some instructions and tips as to how to play paintball since it was the first time for all of them.  I found this list from http://www.warfighters.co.uk/ and they enjoyed learning the different tactics to try.

I was going to do sandwiches for lunch, but W insisted that sandwiches aren't special enough for a birthday and wanted hot dogs instead.  So we brought our portable camp stove and grilled up some brats right then and there.  But I had already designed and prepackaged these cute MRE containers from makebakecelbrate.com, and they WERE going to get used.

I got medium sized brown shopping bags, pulled the handles off, and attached these with spray-on adhesive.  Inside, I put Kool Aid Jammers, trail mix, Slim Jims, chips, and cookies.  The boys totally dug into these while waiting for the brats to finish cooking.

After playing all their rounds of paintball, we stopped and had cupcakes before heading home.  The cupcakes were a disaster after the cupcake holder falling over in the car and having them fall against each other.  But I worried needlessly - the boys gobbled them up anyhow.  

For the long car ride home, they all got a party favor to have.  I had seen a cute thing on Pinterest out of Etsy, but they were sold out, so I found another vender and went with EnchantedKidsParties mock paintball gumballs.  https://www.etsy.com/listing/215280464/paintball-splat-theme-gumball-tube-party?ref=market

I actually priced these out and it was going to cost just as much to make them myself as to buy these, so I went ahead and bought the favors.  They were a huge hit and boys being boys, they were trying to see how many they could fit in their mouths at one time.  

So all in all, I feel like it was a big success.  But I also have a feeling that this may be the last party W will want to have, that I will be able to help plan.  Luckily B is still only 9, so maybe I'll get a few more parties out of him!

From my board "Get the party started."

Mountain Day

Oh, Mountain Day!!!  One of the oldest and highly anticipated tradition at Mount Holyoke College.  Dating back to 1838, it continues the belief of Mary Lyon, the founder of the college, that students should include outdoor activities in order to balance out their intellectual pursuits.  The bells in Mary Lyon Hall ring at 8 am, but don't stop on the 8th ring.  All students know that classes are cancelled for they day.  You can sleep in, but not too late, then go grab a box lunch from the dining hall.  Then it is off to climb Mount Holyoke.

It is the anticipation of when it will be is what makes this day so special.  There are so many theories as to when it can or can't be.  It won't be on a Monday or Friday, because that would be a three day weekend.  It can't be on Thursdays, because those are faculty meetings.  It won't be during the week  before parents' weekend.  And it DEFINITELY must be before hunting season begins.  That usually narrows it down to a couple of days, yet we were still almost always surprised.  So imagine my shock when it was on a Friday this year!  

So in honor of this tradition, I thought I would post this yummy sounding drink I pinned a while back.

Of course, living far far away from Pioneer Valley down here in Virginia, I will have to make do with a Carter's Mountain cider doughnut, which I feel is a more than adequate substitution.

From my board "Oh Mount Holyoke."