Advent Calendar

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year because Katelyn can begin to understand and remember the holiday traditions.  I wanted to have an Advent calendar for her, but I had a long list of criteria: not all chocolate, not too expensive, reusable for next year, sturdy enough that she won't destroy it, and affordable (aka...less than $20).  Pottery Barn had lovely, wood calendars that I couldn't afford, and Pinterest had a lot of ideas that were too easy to destroy.  (Advent would be over in one, big, hit...http://www.pinterest.com/pin/284641638922331930/.)

A friend of mine (hi Kelli) was pinning for her boys.  She found a bunch of cute Advent calendars, but this one caught my eye.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/20477373279333553/

 This was super cute, but I wanted to incorporate some color and make it reusable.  Here is what I did:

I cut paper towel rolls into thirds and spray painted 1/2 white and 1/2 red.  Boxes helped to keep the spray paint contained.

Next I Mod Podged wrapping paper to 1/2" foam board that I had trimmed to fit the 24 tubes.

I wrapped the paper around the back and used more Mod Podge and tape to secure it.

The Keurig lended a helping hand to drying.  (A Keuring is not necessary for this project, but wine is critical.)

I measured the remaining foam board and used a Wildtree catalog to cut it in half to make the roof.  (Wildtree catalog is not required for this project, but wine is.)

I wrapped each piece in another color wrapping paper.  It is reversable...this is the inside of the paper.

When I wrapped it, I realized that I didn't have enough (I blame the wine), and white would show on the underside of the roof.  Wrapping fail.

No worries.  I cut a piece the same size as the back, and Mod Podged it right on top.  Wrapping win!!

I cut squares of red tissue paper and numbered them 1-24 with a Sharpie.  Make sure to write over something, or you will Sharpie your counters.

Next I put everything out playing with different layouts to see what I liked.  I eventually measured a grid of 24 dots to be the center of each tube.

Grey's Anatomy is as vital to this endevor as wine.

I traced each tube with a small box cutter.

Then I cut on the inside of the circle that I drew with the knife.

I shoved the tube back in to the cut outline to ensure that it fit.  For the 24 red and white tubes, I kept them all in until I was ready to glue.  Keeping them in without glue helped me to line them up.  Once all of the circles were cut, I glued the circle and put the tube back into the slot.

For the red and white tubes, I removed one row at a time, glued one at a time, and replaced it into the pre-cut circle.  Since the tubes aren't perfectly round, the traced circles aren't perfectly round...so it is important to keep each tube with its traced place on the board.

I used toothpicks to create the roof.  I used one toothpick cut in half to connect the two roof pieces, and two toothpicks to connect the roof to the house.  I "pre-drilled" the holes, lined everything up, and removed the toothpicks.

 I put hot glue into the holes, put the toothpicks back into the foam, and pushed the pieces together.

Once everything was shoved together, I used the hot glue to "caulk" the back of the house..keeps the cold air out.

 I gathered up my loot for the gifts.  I only bought the stickers, necklaces, and bracelets.  I found the jewelry in the party favor section of Target.  The rest of the items I had around the house and included: sparkly letter stickers, foam hearts, and leftover Halloween candy.  I shoved them in the tubes, covered them with the numbered tissue squares, and secured with a rubber band.

Using Halloween candy for the Advent calendar...parenting win!

Finally I dug a hole in the back with the knife, hammered a nail in the wall, and hung up the calendar.

It is sitting at the bottom of the stairs so she sees it every morning, but is in the gated off section of the house, so she won't be able to raid the goods with my back turned.

In addition to wine, this project requires good supervision...

"Could you get us some more pillows...or perhaps a peanut butter cocktail??"

This project cost $10 ($5 foam board and $5 for gifts...I had the rest of the supplies), two naps, and one evening's worth of work.  It took longer than expected, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

House Party with Keurig

A few months ago I started seeing ads on TV that weren't ads.  "House Party with Keurig"...and there would be smiling women with a Keurig coffee maker in a random kitchen...then it was over and onto the next commercial.  "Wait...what the F was that??  That wasn't a commercial!"  I thought that I must have misunderstood.  So the next time it came on TV, I really paid attention.   Keurig...women...coffee...kitchen...W.T.F???  It still made no sense at all.  Then I started seeing the ads on my Facebook feed.  The non-ad was following me!!  The only logical conclusion was to click on it.

After filling out my address and a survey, I found out that House Party sends different products to a host's house for them to share with their friends.  I applied for the Keurig party, and a few weeks later was accepted to host!  The only rules were that I needed to invite 10 people via email, take a photo of the party, and agree to give away a Keurig...no problem.  I received two Keurigs in the mail and a huge box of coffee and Keurig swag.

Today a great group of friends came over to our house.  This was NOT your typical Tupperware party.  I couldn't decide what kind of scones to make, so I made raspberry with white chocolate chips, toffee and chocolate chips, and cinnamon chip.

 Al made a brilliant pyramid of Keurig iced coffee/tea sippy cups.

The big prize was set out in the center of the living room with a pretty red bow.

Super fast Guinness

Not only did the guests get free coffee, free scones, free swag, and a chance for a free Keurig, they also got a coupon for 50% off a Keurig brewer.  I of course created my own side by side comparison of each Keurig available with the features and price with discount.

It is normal to create product comparisons complete with logo...yes?

We all grabbed a coffee or tea (iced or hot...some with Bailey's or Kahlua).

Decisions...decisions...decisions...

Then we needed a way to give away the Keurig.  Al wanted to be sure that he had influence over the great power that we had of determining the lucky winner of the Keurig.  Clearly the only option was to play two rounds of Cards Against Humanity..."the card game for horrible people".  Everyone had a great time!

Ben was the big winner for the day.  He took an early lead, and nobody was able to catch up.  Congratulations Ben and Shanna on your new Keurig!!

The happy couple with their new Keurig!

It was a great afternoon with friends, coffee, and CAH...also not a bad day when you get a free Keurig!  I've applied to host a Yellow Tail Moscato party...how awesome would that be??  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Irish Dumplings

Here's one of my favorites for a cool day.  I used Penzey's Spices "Mural of Flavor", but you can use any herb blend.

2 cans reduced fat condensed cream of chicken soup
3 cups water
3 medium onions
1 package carrots
1 package celery
salt and pepper
2 tbsp Penzey's Mural of Flavor (or other herb blend)
family pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
6 medium potatoes, peeled
1 package frozen peas
3 cups Bisquick
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/3 c fat-free half and half or low fat milk

Sprinkle boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs with the seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes until the center is 165 degrees.

Chop carrots, celery, and onions into equal sized pieces.

Heat olive oil in a large pot.

Cook the veggies with salt and pepper for 10 minutes on medium high heat.

Remove chicken from the oven.

Chop potatoes into 1" pieces.

Add soup, water, potatoes, peas, and chicken to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes.

I noticed that the chicken pan had all sorts of tasty goodness stuck on it...and I want ALL of the tasty goodness!

I took two ladles of the broth, fired up two burners, and deglazed the pan.

Scrap the pan with a wooden spoon using the broth to clean off the cooked on pieces.

Drain the liquid into the pot, and now you've not only put all of that flavor into the stew, but you've cleaned most of the pan!

Mix up the Bisquick, buttermilk, and milk to create the dumplings.

Plop them into the pot in small batches turning after 2 minutes to cook all sides.

Enjoy!  This is a great meal to double and put half in the freezer.  You can also put it into small containers and make all of your coworkers jealous with your awesome leftovers.

Flowers, flowers, flowers!

 The veggies have already been planted, and the tulips have come and gone, so it was time to plant some annuals.  Last year I planted what I thought were annuals in the front yard.  They had cute, little, red flowers.  My only complaint was that they weren't very big.  Turns out they were perennials because they came right back up twice as big as last year.  Only one of them has new flowers, but the rest should be in soon.  I planted a flat of white impatiens around them.  Hopefully it all fills in soon.

For the flowers around our lamp-post, I went a little nuts.  I wanted to add another color to the mix besides red and white.  These cute little neon flowers caught my eye, and I went for it.

Then because I wasn't tired of digging yet, I decided to move some hostas.  I usually hate hate hate hostas, but these weren't so bad because they were solid colored and weren't the size of a small bus.   I didn't take a before picture (because I suck), but they were to the right in the grass.  Al would have to mow around them.  The mulched area by the sidewalk was completely empty.  I moved them over, dug up some rouge grass, and replaced the hostas with grass.

My supervisors tell me that I'm doing it wrong.

On a random note, I'm in love with my new foundation.  I decided to spend a little more money than the drug store, and I'm really happy.  This is 8 hours after I applied it with no touch ups and 3 hours of gardening.

Thank God...because I couldn't live without buttercream or wine

My legs used to itch...a lot.  Like itch through my jeans so much that my legs would bruise...and at night, I would itch until I bled.  Good times.  I would always have to wear panty hose or tights because my legs were so damaged.  There was no rash...just itching.  I tried lotions, creams, prescriptions, seances, an exorcism, etc.  Nothing worked.

When I was pregnant, one of my midwives suggested trying a gluten free diet.  I was waaaay too hungry at the time to eliminate any sort of food.  Plus I had been tested for Celiac's Disease twice, and was negative...twice.

I decided to give a gluten free diet a try...just to show that it was totally not gluten.  Two weeks without bread, and I could totally cross this off the list.  So I made up a bunch of lunches of chicken, veggies, and potatoes.  "It isn't gluten!"  I kept telling myself.

It totally was gluten...$%$@#$%!!!

After only two days, I noticed that the itching was gone.  After two weeks the large eczema patch on my stomach that had been there for over a year disappeared.  Shit, this was not the plan.

I really like bread...really. like. bread.
And also cake...mmmm....cake. 

I've been 80% gluten free for two months.  Basically I avoid anything with flour.  Dairy, potatoes, rice, fat, potato chips, buttercream, and wine are all ok...thank God...because I couldn't live without buttercream or wine.  It also isn't an allergy; it is just an intolerance...so if I eat gluten it isn't the end of the world...my world is just a little itchier.

So if you see me throw away the yummy roll that Panera gives you, don't think that I've completely lost it, but if you taunt me with warm, fresh baked bread, I am likely to punch you...just FYI.