Christmas blankets

follow up on the last post. finally finished the blankets, they are less than perfect as I was re-purposing clothes to blankets but I don't think any babies out there will mind. You can't see but the backing to the middle blanket is a sweet pink and white polka dot. I did two of the little green and white ones as I have this feeling I'll have twin boys one day! The blankets turned out just right for me :)

a few fun things

owl calendar you can personalize and downlaod!

http://www.myowlbarn.com/p/owl-lover-2011-calendar.html

tailgatin' Southerners

This blog reminds me of many reasons I'm proud to be a Southerner. His series on tailgating is wonderful . I can't believe I've lived in Raleigh for two years and never made it to this place though- I'm headed there this weekend!

http://taylortakesataste.com/shut-up-and-it-it-raleigh-nc/

Peppermint s'mores

That's right. I went there. It's the holidays and I'm all about still pretending I'm out in Colorado camping and eating s'mores. At home, we glamp though so we made home made peppermint marshmallows and they are to die for. The process of making them was so much fun. The mister and I ended up with it all over our fingers and faces- it was a made from scratch date night with giddyness like we were first dating. They came out wonderful but there are lots of things those other bloggers don't tell you about when they hand over recipes and boast that homemade marshmallows are something you'll never want to live without once you've tasted them-the mess!! I would never make this with munchkins running around, it was all us two "adults" could do to contain it and to clean up we had to soak all the dishes overnight just to begin! Is it worth it...meh, a couple times of year for sure!!

The s'mores are fabulous and they are great in our hot cocoa (with or without peppermint schnapps)

Now, I am off to finally finishing my wedding thank you notes- just in time to send out Holiday cards-where does the time go?

Crafts on the to do list

I am forever adding things to my to do list, but then I get home and nuzzle up on the couch with my mister and the night slips away from us...ahh newlywed life *love*. I feel like Christmas is a pretty good time to get some things done though, crossing fingers for some decent time off from work.
*tutu for Miss Caitlyn, my beautiful 4 year old niece who loves purple!-hopefully starting this weekend
*sleep pants for my mister? I'm wondering if I could adapt this pattern for my big kid. http://handmademommy.blogspot.com/2009/10/15-minute-jammy-pants.html would making a matching shirt be too far? teehee
*christmas hand towels
*I'm also adapting some cute old flannels to make baby blankets (the time will come one day) and besides, a newlywed does not need to be wearing matching flannel christmas pj's that her mom bought her. open that lingerie drawer with martini in hand :)

pictures of projects to come when finished. this should help me complete them faster!

adventures in bread making

In my efforts to become super-wife and eventually super-mom I have been trying to conquer the world of making my own bread. With our kitchen aid stand mixer nothing stands in my way...well, except the trials and tribulations of yeast, different flour, i could go on...

My first few attempts I used the kitchen aid recipe for quick-bread as I had never made my own bread before; I had just watched my Momma. This recipe was wack-mix dry ingredients then add wet, let rise in fridge? very different from mixing yeast with warm water and letting rise in draft free warm place like i'm used to. I stuck to it though for 2 rounds of bread before I declared that "I know better" as they kept turning out dough-y in the worst way.

This week= success! I used this recipe: www.melskitchencafe.com/2008/12/lion-house-dinner -rolls.html for dinner rolls and they came out delicious.

The hubs and I ate way more than we needed to and we keep going back for snacks. On some of them I added honey, some I added garlic and italian seasoning. We definitely like the seasoning better.

Last night I made bread again with success, using the tried and true method of letting rise in warm oven and dissolving yeast in warm water. I think I may be getting the hang of this. Next on the list- homemade hamburger buns!