jump up and down

thrifty refashion: my christmas garb

I always got a new dress for Christmas when I was a kid.  My mom always let me pick out the pattern and the fabric that I wanted and I loved it.  My Christmas dress was often made from a rich velvet that always made me feel that magic of Christmas.  I haven't had a new Christmas dress in several years.  Last week on Thursday, I was thinking about this and thinking about how nice it would be to have a dress this year.  And I thought I'd procrastinated too long again because there was no way I was going to pull off a Christmas dress before Sunday when my first thoughts of making it were on Thursday.  Then I remembered a skirt that I bought a while ago that had been hanging in my "to refashion" pile and I had a bit of inspiration.  So, I didn't end up with a dress, but I did come up with an outfit that I really love and it even made me feel a little bit like I had put on a velvet dress, but for a lot less money.  
I've made a lot of effort in this past year or so to wear more thrifted items.  I think I've gotten to the point where I am wearing about 75% thrifted clothing.  I hardly even shop anywhere but the thrift store for clothes.  This Christmas outfit is kind of a culmination of that effort - minus the shoes and tights, it is almost completely thrifted or made from items in my stash.  The skirt was refashioned (using this tutorial -same one that I used for this skirt) from a longer skirt with a smaller waistband  that I got for $3 and it's kind of a silky fabric, so it had a touch of fanciness to it.  The sweater is also thrifted - it is a basic elbow length black GAP sweater that I have had since early this year and have found so essential to my wardrobe.  I think I paid between $2 and $4 for it.

I did have to buy the ribbon for the belt, but the flowers are made completely from fabrics in my stash - my favorite is the yellow plaid wool that I thrifted.  I'd like to do a tutorial for this, hopefully by next month.  I've seen these belts around the web for some crazy prices and they are so easy to make.  I made mine in about an hour the night before I wore it and had several hot glue gun burns on my fingers to prove it!  But it was definitely fast, easy, and inexpensive to make.  

It was nice to bring back some of that magic of Christmas from my childhood.  I've really tried to relax and take it easy this holiday season and it seems to be working - I'm so enjoying the holidays this year, really enjoying watching my kids get so excited.  I hope you are having a wonderful time celebrating also!

 

in the kitchen: crock pot peanut clusters

 

I got this recipe at a Relief Society Candy Recipe Exchange activity that I attended a couple of weeks ago.  There were many delicious candies and recipes shared that evening, but this is the only recipe I brought home because it was the only one that I really thought I would make because it was so easy.  I think I might be getting lazy, or just more realistic about the amount of work I am actually willing to put forth for something good to eat.  

Crock Pot Peanut Clusters

16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

16 oounces white chocolate chips

16 ounces white almond bark

16 ounces dry roasted salted peanuts

16 ounces dry roasted unsalted peanuts

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker on low for 1 hours, stirring occasionally.  When the chocolate is completely melted, use a spoon to drop small mounds on waxed paper.  Let the mounds set up and store in air tight container in the fridge.  Makes a ton!  Well, not really a ton, but around 100 clusters.

For the salted peanuts, I used the dry roasted peanuts that you can get at Costco.  These are very lightly salted and I think you could use two pounds of these peanuts instead of the unsalted and salted.  If I make them again, I'm going to try this.

Like I said in my last post, I'm not a big fan of making the same thing over and over again for neighbors and friends, so I also made these simple homemade oreo cookies, this pumpkin bread, and a great simple bread recipe that I know I got from a blog a while ago, but I can't remember which one.  And of course, there have been lots of extras for us that I've been enjoying a little too much in the last few days.  Tis' the season, right?  Enjoy!

holiday happenings

Hello there!  Here I am, still here, alive and breathing and getting ready for Christmas.  I shut down the shop a couple of weeks ago so that I could relax, enjoy, and spend more time with the boys and Ryan.  It's been lovely.  I think my Christmas cards are going to get in the mail before Christmas - this is progress for me.  

Life has been pretty much more of the same the last few months - the shop for me, school for the boys, and the job hunt (for Ryan).  There are a few things happening  with the job hunt, but I think I'll keep quiet about them on here for now.  The stress of it is becoming more normal, or I'm finding better ways to deal with it.  I did start substitute teaching in October and it's been nice to have a day or two a week to be out of the house and be occupied.  Christmas is also a good distraction.  

The boys are more aware than ever of when Christmas is and what it's all about - their enthusiasm is catching.  We had a great time tonight delivering goodies to our neighbors and friends and it was fun to have two boys willing to help out.   I always make many different things to give away.  I get too bored making just one thing for everyone.  This year our options were peanut clusters (made in a crockpot.  so easy!  I'll share that one later), homemade oreos, pumpkin bread, or bread and jam.  And I made this fun tags by downloading a free printable (I wish I could remember where this came from - help me out if you've seen this and know where it came from) and then adding some personalization to it in Picnik.  I had the file printed as a wallet at Costco and they worked perfectly.  I think we might start using something like this for all of our gifts - so easy to have our names already printed on the tag!

Well, I hope you are enjoying your holiday preparations!  Tomorrow is cleaning day for us...and Wednesday too probably.  I hope to be back here more often, especially after Christmas.  My camera is broken (I bought some things to clean it and hopefully fix it, but I'm still a bit scared to do it so it hasn't happened yet), but my phone takes a pretty good picture, so that will have to do for now.  The stress of the job hunt comes and goes, but one thing that definitely helps keep me level-headed is staying busy and doing normal things, even if I feel like things could be changing any day now.