Happy New Year!

I've never been much for the whole New Year's resolution tradition, too much public risk and disappointment, which is weird because basically I am a pretty open book, but there you go. I guess it's kind of like breaking a promise to myself or something... don't wanna do that!

However. Things and circumstance always change and change is always good. So in light of the newfangled year and all it brings, here's a bit of a 'to do' list if you will:

Remove the furnishings, carpeting and all, from the "girls" room. Then do the same with the "studio" (heretofore the "boys" room).

Put down commercial grade Berber in both rooms, add new floor moldings.

In the new "guest room" add: a queen sized bed, the "family" dresser, and hang some photos. All this to make access to the bathroom easier and more convenient for guests, and to make a nice place for little people to play and nap closer to mom, dad, and or grandparents.

In the studio: Paint the closet doors chocolate brown. Configure the best way to align solid shelving along one wall, leave enough space for the gynormo (yet fabulous) business desk (soon to be an artist's desk!). Rehang the paper stack and glass shelves and generally make the room back in to a studio.

Put the food storage in the guest closet - finally.

Hang blinds in the front room.

Make a cornice box for the front room window.

Add bark cloth faux drapes to the inside of the cornice box.

Find and purchase a 5x7 rug for the front room.

Hang stuff (to be determined later) on the front room walls.

Rehang the wall arrangement in the hallway.

Repaint the master bedroom.

Repaint the two dressers and two side chests in the master bedroom and add grass cloth inserts, decide if I need/want a headboard of same after seeing the finished furniture.

Paint. Paint on canvas. One painting (at least) per month.

Clear out the "shed" and reorganize the boxes out there. Learn E-Bay and/or garage sale the items and begin to de-clutter on a huge scale.

Use up the crafting materials I have on hand.

Make specific items for sale in two major city open air markets, summer, fall, and winter. Meaning I will have a schedule for assembly line type of crafting to build up product.

Learn loom knitting, which seems pretty easy from what I can tell so far.

Take at least ten photos per day in an effort to become a better photographer.

With Thor, empty out the garage of clutter and sell off what we haven't used in years. Organize it so that more space can be used for the gym equipment we already have.

As far as personal goals are concerned, they will remain personal. However some old habits will be renewed and some forgotten. Continue to work on self reliance and emergency preparedness, adding to and rotating what we already have.

I'll let you know how well the other goals come along and hopefully post some photos as the projects progress.

So Happy New Year everyone! I hope all your goals and resolutions are fun and fulfilled!

Christmas Mice

Alrighty! Tis the season for all things sweet and loverly, and Christmas at S'mee's house just wouldn't go off right without a houseful of Christmas Mice. These super easy, super yummy cherry and chocolate treats are just the thing for getting you in good with the neighbors or, as in my case, my father in law...who can't get enough of them when he pops over Christmas Day.

Set aside about an hour and before you know it...you'll be in need of a people trap to keep certain folks from eating all your hard work before company can enjoy them!

cake. cake. and more cake!

Oy! This month has been so unbelievably busy. Case in point: today.

Those would be my lovely digits covered in cake goo ala cake pops! Granted, our first try out was less than stellar, but the 70+ pops we made for a leadership meeting this week turned out cute enough!

After the pops were wrapped and readied to go, I headed home to bake a few cakes for the Trunk or Treat cake walk tonight. They are only a single layer, but I made a dozen of them! Yummy home made cakes with yummy add ins (like always!) and homemade buttercream frosting to make them look like mummies, Jack Skelington, and spider webs. Again, not as ornate as if I were charging for them, but tasty and fast and they'll make do for little monsters who will just be goblin' them down tomorrow anyway!

Ribbon Wreath

Hey! Remember fourth grade? If you don't, this just might bring back a few memories. It's a tutorial on how to make a ribbon wreath...just like those ones we made way back in the day with tissue paper...only this time we're using ribbon. Go ahead and give it a look see!

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime...

When all the world is green? Do you fish in a stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?
Do you swim in a pool to keep yourself cool, or swing in a tree up high?

Do you march in parades or drink lemonades, or count all the stars in the sky?
Oh what do you do in the summer time, when all the world is hot? Do you drive with Grampa, pet a bear with big claws? or pretend to be Dan'l Boone? Do you you to the park before it gets dark and see the log cabin there? Do you eat M&Ms, and make cool new friends and wish that the day never ends? Is that what you do?

So do I.

review of yesterday

Thor and I started out with breakfast and then we headed out to the city for a day of fun. We drove out to Laguna Beach and drove the coast south gawking at the zillion and two beach goers, knowing we would never find a spot to park.

We had a great time checking out the crowds and made our way into Dana Point where amazingly enough we entered the bay parking lot just as someone else was leaving and snagged a space near the docks.

Thor and I cruised a bit, took in the boats, the kayaks, and all the people in the water on all kinds of craft! It looked so inviting! Across the water at the yacht club there was a piper playing all manner of patriotic songs on his bag pipe. The music made its' way across the bay and out along the grass and jetty.

While we were at the jetty we saw two boys jump in between the sea rocks trying to get out to a larger rock in between wave sets. They were successful, but more on that story tomorrow.

We headed inland and ended up going through every variation of "Laguna" there was; city, Meadows, Niguel, Woods, Highlands, Heights, Valley, you name it, we hit them all. Finally we called #3 and asked if she knew how to get out of the Lagunas and onto the 5. We met her at P.F. Changs in the OC Spectrum, ate dinner and then headed back home.

About 8:30 we were in Fontana/Rancho Cucamonga and the fireworks started out. Still dusk the booms and sparks were against the lavender skies. Once one went off the whole city lit up for about an hour. Small neighborhoods, about three or four blocks big, set up their own shows all over the city. Wherever you looked you could see fantastic shows that rival any I have seen in a stadium or small city show. If you look closely in some of the photos you can see the rooftops... those houses are in a cul de sac and the fireworks are set off on the street! Amazing!

We watched for an hour or so and went back home exhausted but happily entertained.


(Does that rock look like a shark fin or what?)

Natural Dye Easter Eggs

Aren't they pretty?

All you need are eggs, vinegar, alum, and your veggies! Chop the veggies, cover with water, bring to a boil. Add alum and boil 10 or so minutes. (My pot was large so I added 2-3 tsp.) Add vinegar (I did 2-3 Tbl.) and turn off heat and cool. Add eggs and bring to a boil again for about 10 minutes. Shut off and let the eggs cool in the liquid.

I strained the liquid and put it in a smaller bowl and let the eggs cool and dye for a few hours.

My colours were a tad different than on the video, who knew? I still think they turned out cool.

The one up front is more periwinkle than blue or lavender (whole beets), the ones with the stripes and scrolls were supposed to be red, but came out more rust (red cabbage), the sage and olive greens came out fabulous and quick! (red onion, no alum, vinegar) Bright yellow (yellow onion with turmeric powder) were also very fast, almost immediate. The tutorial says you can get green from spinach, um no, not in my house. They came out perfectly white. grrr.

I made the stripes by using electrical tape, and the scrolls by painting the eggs with rubber cement, which actually the longer it sat in the solution, the more it was eaten away...just a heads up.

All of the dyes were much more intense before I rinsed them in water and dried them. Tip: PAT them dry, if you rub, the dye rubs off to a pastel colour.

All in all this was a really cool and interesting project. I am not sure a mom with a couple of kids would want to do it though. LOTS of funky fumes from the veggies. Seriously bad ones from the cabbage...ack! Also it took a lot more time than I remember.

That said, it is MUCH better to use the natural than the chemical dyes, but there you go.

what's happening today...

Well, I have tried to post a video on dying easter eggs naturally, but to no avail! WAH! So instead I want you to go here and watch the video...it's awesome. I am mid way through the process and will post photos when I'm finished.

So today is Easter egg dying with beets, onions, and spinach, etc. and also making a couple of cakes to donate to the girls in our ward so they can earn money for camp. I'll post photos of them later also.

Yesterday I went to a small home class to learn this gal's "World (or at least ward) famous Orange Rolls" really yummy. So hopefully I can get that up for you as well.

See you soon!

Oh yeah, the missionary lunch. hmmm. A few glitches. Like the ovens at the church not exactly working as designed, so casseroles took HOURS to heat through instead of, like, 30 minutes! Ack! We we're able to pull them out just in the nick of time (thank you, long winded speaker man) and let me tell you, those missionaries could eat! We had absolutely nothing leftover. not one crumb! Fabulous!

Curious George!

For the last two days I have been in the jungle! And at the lake. And building New York. My son and his wife are getting ready for baby number one, a boy, and they wanted his room to be decorated as a Curious George book. Each wall will be a different adventure. This top photo shows the almost complete (still need to add finishing touches to the tops of those palm trees) corner that takes George from the lake to the jungle. (if you look closely enough you can see the chalk outlines for fish in the lake)
Paint cans abound! However this shows how cute the jungle is going to be when we finish the tree tops! Oh and we're going to add some flowers in there too. Mommy loves her orchids, so we're going to have some growing in the jungle.
The jungle corner wraps around into Central Park and down into New York City! Lots and lots of high rise buildings! The Brooklyn Bridge, The Chrysler Building or is it Met Life?, Empire State Building, and of course a toy store, book store, and others!
Miss Liberty is out there in the harbour, George will be flying with the Man with the Yellow Hat in a helicopter, and the city wraps around to the third wall. On that wall (no photo yet) will be more tall buildings and a Fire House with "real" fake brick! George will be balancing on his blue and red ball as he goes down the street.

The 4th wall is where poor George falls into the lake, fascinated by the fish in the water. A small yellow pier and a few dragon flies will complete the total cartoon look. We took the cartoon drawings from the many stories and tried to put them on the wall as closely as possible, telling a few of his more famous adventures.

Tomorrow we head out to the OC to move the RDH back home for two weeks - I'm excited to have her home again for a bit- (she's in between apartments over the holidays), and then tamale night we have a schmancy business dinner. Always busy, but always fun!

Vintage Paper Houses

Remember when you were a little girl and your Gramma would let you help her decorate her tree? I remember going to my Gramma's and seeing all the great hand blown Santa's, the mercury glass globes, and of course the paper houses with cellophane windows. I loved those tiny little houses! Pastel colours and glittery and perfect for sitting atop a twinkle light.
I decided that I would try my hand at making on myself. I Made a pattern from graph paper first, then transfered my design onto cardboard. I used hot glue to affix each piece and then white glue to GLITTER! it up. (I waited all day to get to the glitter.)
I outlined each opening with more glitter, it got a bit gooey, I'll have to reign myself in a bit more next time!
I put all the pieces in a 200 degree oven for about five minutes to help it cure, then glued that baby together and gave her a test run on the tree.
I love it! I need to tweak the pattern just a bit, but as soon as I do I'll have one up on the tutorials page. I want a whole housing track!

Today was the last day to get our Traditions exchange in the mail. So I added my little house, some sheet music, chocolates, a story, a recipe, some Christmas decorations, and a spool of French Wire ribbon with a tutorial; and a note explaining the whole lot. I hope Stephanie enjoys the goodies!

First tree is up!

Thanksgiving Part Deux

Today all the kids are coming home to do Thanksgiving here at the house. Everyone will be here , plus the two little boys!

We're having ribs and chicken wings, both slow roasted over 8 hours. They're amazing when they finally get done! Plus a baby greens salad with feta, cranberries, and walnuts, baked beans, home made rolls, and a fresh fruit salad. We'll munch on fresh veggies and a cheese plate while we're waiting.

One of my favorite appetizers is toasted baguette slices spread with roasted garlic and topped with goat cheese and dried cherries. I can wait for those! The girls are looking forward to their brie, and the guys love just plain cream cheese with home made chili sauce and crackers or wheat thins. We're covered.

Dessert is sugar free lemon meringue , sugar free peach pie, vanilla bean ice cream, and also a pineapple upside down cake, loaded with sugar!

I rearranged the furniture for the holidays in anticipation of more bodies in the house and also trees beginning to go up on Monday. Thor put up the lights yesterday, and we are both getting excited!

So that's the post for today. Happy shopping, if you're still out there after yesterday! Whew! See ya tamale!

Tree Tutorial

O.k. the $40.00 Tree!
tutorial is up! Click that link for the info and have fun!

Tree Update:

I finished the tree! Whoot! I got up with Thor so I could get down to the church before the "cemetery" kids* left for school, which means I was there at 6:15 a.m.! I put the last bulb on the tree at 12:45, so it was a loooong morning!

Then the phone began to ring and ring and ring and ring! Seriously. For 45 minutes I got one call and then another sometimes overlapping! A small emergency with one of the kids, nothing terrible, just an emergency.

After getting that all sorted away I needed to get some shopping done for tomorrow. Shop shop shop, stop to make a 3 more phone calls in the grocery store!, then head home. I just put the groceries away and got on the computer to post for today.

I will try very hard to get photos of the tree up tonight or maybe for tomorrow's post, but I am not making any promises! This day is outta control!

Now I am off to make soup for the masses (potluck dinner at church tamale!) and then dessert for (about 50???) -my daughter in law's baby shower; also tomorrow. So busy afternoon ahead! See ya later! (cross your fingers!)

*seminary is an early morning religion class that all high school students can attend. It begins at 5:45 a.m. each school day and ends at 6:45 so they can go to school. YAWN! (to think that I used to teach seminary...holy yikes!)

Little Orphan Annie

When I was about 4 years old our single mother and her four charges made a move to help the struggling brood survive the harsh reality that was our life. We moved in with another single mom and her six children. As you can imagine, ten children, two moms and eventually a young college student to help out, this house full of 13 became frenetic with energy!

A schedule was instituted, chores assigned and rules posted! My mother was nothing if not efficient and she found her ways to motivate. One of which was the following poem. This poem scared the beejeebees out of me. I remembered it by heart for many years, and for anyone interested, no, I never recited this poem to my own children.

Now, for a good scare, during this spooky time, I offer the following: (enjoy!)

Little Orphan Annie

Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun,
A-listenin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you Don't Watch Out!

Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers, -
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout: -
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you Don't Watch Out!

An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'for she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you Don't Watch Out!

An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'bugs in dew is all squenched away, -
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' cherish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you Don't Watch Out!

-James Whitcomb Riley, born Oct. 7, 1849
Happy Halloween!

Nightmare...

This first photo is a pumpkin stem, but I thought it looked just like those Tim Burton drawings! I can almost see Jack and Sally! I just love these "vintage" faces I found while out and about. Only a few more hours to get your Halloween fix for this year...

Tuesday Tutorials: Tombstones and Cupcakes

This is Halloween!
Originally uploaded by S'mee

"Fred's Dead, Baby"
Originally uploaded by S'mee

We are down to the wire on those Halloween preparations! So today's tutorials are easy, fast, and best of all CHEAP! We have tombstones that you can personalize and cupcakes that are just fun. For the complete instructions head on over to Tuesday Tutorials!

Halloween At Disneyland

So just a few more days left to go and hang out with all the spookies and ghosties at Disneyland before Halloween has come and gone. All kinds of weird happenings!

Click on the following links to enter sweepstakes and contest from Disney:

Your Halloween Costume could win a trip to Walt Disney World! But hurry, this one ends soon!

$5,000.00 for Holiday spending can be yours just by clicking on their website! click each day...ends November 28

Evidently even Disney wishes lurkers would comment. Their Comment Mania is Disney's way of getting you to interact with other readers and get a chance for a "Disney Page Prize" whatever that is.

Disney Princess
is another "just click" contest to win a Princess type vacation complete with all the princess-y prizes you can think of. There were 20+ prizes to win, one entry per day until Jan.31

All of these prizes are via Disney Insider -a Disney e-mail letter anyone can sign up for, free, and about once a week. Lots of promotions, and fluff, but hey, if you win $5,000.00 for Christmas shopping who cares?

Thor and I will be heading out Thursday for a conference; and because the location is in Anaheim I will be spending quite a bit of my time there (D-land) gathering as many photos, videos, and information as I can. If you have any Disney questions, now is the time to ask!

That's out Mickey Mouse Monday for today!