2022.

I am still trying to get in my after-the-holidays routines. I am proud that I put all my Christmas stuff up right after the New Year. I don't make resolutions because I just don't. I always hope to spend more time with family and friends. That is my yearly goal.

Photo and recipe can be found at Food Snobs

These are Mexican Wedding Cookies and they are one of my favorite holiday cookies. I loved 'em when I was a kid. Best of all, we were able to use the pecans we picked in November for them.

Anyway, Ben has been home a lot since it was Christmas Break and today is MLK Day. So he has been busy baking and doing repairs around the house (new faucet for the win!!!).

I have not been active online or writing lately. Not just because of the holidays, but also because I am not a Winter lady. I know that sounds weird, but I do not do cold weather. I prefer to be home in my cozy bed. And a bookstore I love recently went out of business so I have a stack of about 40 books to read. I started reading one on immortality written in 1959. It has been interesting so far!

I leave this quote here, like so many others do on MLK Day, in order to honor him and highlight his wisdom.

Happy New Year!!!

Enjoying an Oklahoma sunset.

We are supposed to have the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises here.

Tonight it turns over to 2022!!

I want to wish all my blog readers a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I don't have high expectations for 2022...you know, based on the previous two, but a girl can certainly dream! 

And that is what I am going to do. 

Don't mind my lipstick got smeared by my mask.

Put my cowgirl boots on with my sequin dress and dream.

I hope this year brings more happiness, more time with my family and more love.

My son. My everything.

I think about how fast my son has grown. How many years (19!) my husband and I have been a couple. I appreciate them both. They both put up with my dramatics, silly ideas and shenanigans. 

Ben gives me strength and support like no other. He is always there for me. 

I just want this year to be good.

I hope I find an amazing job. I hope I work more and (finish!) my book. I hope I learn to step back and enjoy the life I have. That's my 2022 wish!

Happy.

Be happy today.

All That Glitters is Snow

It really is! I am posting some Christmas ideas today.

I saw this idea and thought it was so easy to make. (I

can do it without burning anything!!)

This is a cool cone tree to make. You use pasta and styrofoam cones.

I would love to add glitter, personally. Source: Crafty Fun Facebook Group

  

I love, love science! So anything that gets those little brains thinking

and resembles snow is a win-win in my book! Directions HERE.

Help! I am trapped in a snow globe!

Really, this is a great keepsake to make and give!

Source

I got this Facebook ad. And I absolutely think this would

be an easy project to make yourself. Just hot glue a big piece of felt

(you can buy it by the yard in fabric stores) in a cone shape.

Use more felt to make pieces!

I saw these cute construction paper elves

and immediately wanted to make one of my own!

Source

You can make your own luminaries using an empty jar,

battery-operated tea light and stickers/rub ons or by gluing 

on embellishments. Shared by a fellow librarian.

Yarn and sticks make this a free craft project!

Mason jar lid ornaments! Source

Another cool ornament idea? Christmas trees made from clothespins!

Source

And I really wish my town would do Christmas lights like these:

Season's Earrings!

Just an update...I found more Christmas earrings! WalMart. So now I am so earring fun challenge ready! Photo of my day one (yesterday) earrings that were made for me by a friend I worked with in the library. I love handmade gifts!

Let It Snow...Earrings!

I enjoyed spending time with my mom this week. We shopped until we dropped.

And I realized it is very hard to find Christmas earrings in shoppes!

I went to Target, Ross, Five Below, Dollar Tree

and Claire's. No luck locally.

I am taking part in a 25 Days of Christmas Earring Challenge!

And so I only own like 4 pairs lol. 

I ordered some online but most of the shipping estimates are on Dec. 20th.

C'est la vie!

I am so blessed. My mom bought me the most beautiful blue sequin dress to 

wear to a friend's wedding in a few weeks. I adore it.

I cannot wait to decide what jewelry to wear with it.

I want to curl my hair but we will see.

Anyway, I appreciate and love you mom and dad and brothers!

I have been busy road trippin' lately. Harrison and I hung out in Hinton.

I took a pic of an angel statue there but did not like the awning overhead so I cut the 

photo out digitally and extended the clouds. I love how it turned out!!!

Oh! Look at this fun and inexpensive Christmas craft!

Photo and instructions HERE.

I always use paper towel tubes cut in half. I am not a TP roll craft lady because...germs!

Also, if you don't want to paint the trees you can glue scrapbook or wrapping paper. 

Even gluing pom poms would be adorable.

I love Mother Nature.

On the mend after being sick. We had a pecan picking morning. :) 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thankfulness.

This is turkey month! And next week is Turkey Day, aka Thanksgiving. I am here to share some fun learning and craft activities for Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

Get some clothespins and coffee filters to make these cool turkeys!

From Darcy and Brian

This is from Simply Kinder. I think this would be a good activity for 

little ones so they understand what the concept of thankfulness is. In order

to get your turkey hat printable, go to this link and scroll at the bottom to 

 become an email subscriber.

This placemat idea is also from Simply Kinder!

You can find sooooo many ideas at Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds.

Love this nature color hunt idea. From Mbsactivityroom.

Easy to make! Make a cupcake liner scarecrow. From The Pinterested Parent.

Apples=Awesomeness

I love, love Fall so much. Bring on the pumpkins, the crunchy leaves, the hot apple cider AND the juicy apples. Oh yes, the apples. One of my earliest memories was eating an apple, carefully saving the seeds and then planting them in our backyard. Nothing ever grew, but I am pretty sure my dog King dug them up when I was done.

Sharing a recipe! Caramel Apple Dump Cake

Right click and save to download recipe.

Apple pie is the one thing I love to make in the Fall. I pretty much combined like 3 recipes to make one I like best. My husband loves the cinnamon crumble top that I drizzle icing over. I love the regular crust best. But honestly, apple pie is ALWAYS good. I am in the mood to make an apple run at the grocery store and to have my house smell like cinnamon apples for a day. 

Image from Pinterest.

Last year, I posted some Halloween costume ideas and one of them included a jack o'lantern with a smoke bomb inside it. I found out about an article on how to do smoke bomb photography! You can read it HERE at Shutter Bombs.

Today is my birthday and I am not sure about becoming wiser....but hey, I get some cake! :)

Fun-o-ween ideas!

Squee!! My favorite season is upon us. 

And my favorite month in the whole wide world is...you guessed it...October! I love the colors, the candy and the cooler weather.

Of course, I found some fun Fall and Halloween ideas online to share!

Okay, y'all know I am a rock freak. I have most recently been collecting small pieces of meteorites. So in my rock group, someone shared that she had been painting rocks into pumpkins. I really am going to attempt this one because rocks are free, I have paint and some time. Also, the idea of hiding them in my community is fun!

See? I told you this was cute idea!

And here are some more...

Make ya some Jell-O worms with straws.

Instructions from One Little Project.

Oh...check out this nature spider web. I saw the idea on

Facebook from Mud and Bloom, but it would be fun to go on a

nature hunt and make your own.

Handprint vampires! You can teach triangles, too.

Seen on Facebook on The Kindergarten Smorgasboard page.

I adore this one! You can find potato smashers at the dollar store or thrift store. I never ever would have thought to make spiders out of them. Cool idea from Young School Art.

Okay, I really like how they made a tree and then the kids made owls from paper towel tubes. I think it would be easy to make the tree in Fall colors, too. From Hello Wonderful.

And Hello Wonderful has this Boo handprint art idea!

AND they also have this very trendy and easy-to-make Halloween costume! You can be a fidget popper! Click HERE for instructions.

You can use pipe cleaners and pony beads to make some nifty pumpkins!

Great idea from Cutesy Crafts.

This is a creative art idea from The Pinterested Parent--make pastel resist mosaic pumpkins. Magnificent!

Before you go, check out this house in my neighborhood. My frame cropped out the Michael Myers inflatable...

And this is a fun one making fun of the crate challenge from Tik Tok.