Holiday How-To #5: Decorate for Christmas if you've got a rambunctious toddler (or a cat)

Decorating for Christmas presented a whole new set of challenges this year. Kaylee is a climber, a daredevil, and loves to put things around her neck, so the thought of having a Christmas tree up this year was starting to give me heartburn.

I figured she'd do one of four things:

1. Climb the tree
2. Pull the tree over on herself
3. Try to make the lights into a necklace
4. Remove all ornaments from the tree and hide them wherever it is she is currently hiding 22 of her 24 crayons and all but one of her pacifiers.

I hate heartburn, so we opted to do things differently this year.

First order of business?

We downgraded from last year's tree...

...to this year's tree...


We're pretty partial to our Christmas tree ornaments, some of which were our very first Christmas ornaments on our first Christmases. We don't have a Martha Stewart matching tree and we never will (although I will admit part of me would love to have an elegantly decorated color coordinated tree - I think I'd go with pink and silver). We love our collection of ornaments that commemorate special events that happened each year, and Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without them.

So...we came up with this idea for our entryway, which - believe it or not - was not inspired by anything in Better Homes and Gardens or the Martha Stewart magazine.


And, for the part of me that loves decorations that are beautiful and color coordinated, we have this, which Kaylee cannot destroy - I hope.


Now, I realize that it's a bit late in the game to be giving you tips for Christmas decorating. I mean - shoot - it's just a couple days away. But, hopefully this will give you some inspiration for next year.

And, I'd just like to throw it out there that I got all my Christmas decorations for 90% off at Target and Michael's during their after Christmas sales last year, so get in on that bit of shopping heaven a couple weeks after Christmas and you'll be set for next year.

Also - for you cat lovers out there, my totally rockin' and not the least bit cheesy wall display of ornaments will work wonderfully if for some reason you decide to opt out of a Christmas tree as a result of an adventurous cat (my dear friend Deb got to experience this first hand this year).

This post is my 5th Holiday How-To post, inspired by Summer's Holiday How-To Blog Carnival at Le Musings of Moi.

Holiday How-To #4: Make to-die-for orange cream cookies

It's no secret I love food. Especially food with lots of sugar. And carbs. Sugar and carbs are where it's AT!

So, it shouldn't surprise you at all that one of my very favorite things about the holiday season is all the yummy goodies. Fudge, cookies, warm rolls straight out of the oven, pie, mmmmm...

One of my favorite memories of Christmas as a child was making sugar cookies with white frosting and rainbow colored sprinkles to leave out for Santa. What is that is just so darn fun about rainbow colored sprinkles on white frosting?

So, this past weekend I went to my first ever cookie exchange, which gave me a perfect excuse to bust out some recipes from my new Betty Crocker Christmas cookie cookbook. I'm trying not to have too many sweets in the house, but hello! I had to make 3 dozen cookies for this party, so the cookie making just had to happen.

I fell in love when I saw the words, "Orange Cream Cookies."

Holy toledo, Batman. Orange cream is one of my favorite flavors in the whole entire world. Orange cream soda, orange cream candy, orange cream ice cream treats, and now you're telling me I can have all that delicious goodness in a cookie? I love you, Betty Crocker.

So, here's the skinny on how you can make these rip-roaring tasty cookies. Now, keep in mind that in the picture in the cookbook, these cookies are a very calm, pastel-ish light orange color. That's because the recipe calls for 5 drops of yellow food color and 2 drops of red food color. Well, I decided to be cheap and buy the store brand food coloring. What I didn't realize is that there are no droppers on the store brand food coloring. I'm guessing I was off in my estimations of what the equivalent of 5 drops of yellow and 2 drops of red were.

Hence, the neon cookies that almost make you want to wear sunglasses.

Ingredients:

1 pouch (1 lb 5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp. orange extract
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
5 drops yellow food color
2 drops red food color
1 bag (12 oz) white vanilla baking chips (2 cups) **I think 1.5 cups would be perfect - 2 was a bit much)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl, stir all ingredients except baking chips until soft dough forms. Stir in baking chips.

2. On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough with 1 1/2 Tbsp-size cookie scoop or by rounded Tbsp about 2 inches apart.

3. Bake 9 to 10 minutes or just until dough is set (do not overbake). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks

Nutrition Info: Ahhh, who cares. Seriously.

This post is a part of Wordful Wednesday at 7 Clown Circus and the Holiday How-To's Blog Carnival going on at Le Musings of Moi.

Holiday How-To #2: Mr. Potato Head like you've never seen him before... *Edited with new info!*

***EDITED INFO...

Ok, so after posting this, I went to Wal-Mart - totally excited to score 2 Mr. Potato Heads for a buck, and the crankypants old lady at the checkout informs me they do NOT price match for Dollar General. Stupid radio ad says, "We will match any competitor's price." So, sorry if any of you tried this at Wal-Mart and it didn't work. But, if you've got a Dollar General - then hop to because the deal will still work there!

So, ever since Summer from Le Musings of Moi announced her Holiday How-To blogging carnival that's going on through the whole month of December, I've got ideas for holiday how-to posts just coming out my ears!

Coming up in the next few days you'll find these holiday how-to's on my blog...

*How to make a fun, inexpensive gift for your child or a child you know
*How to prioritize your week so you don't get overwhelmed with all the holiday hullabaloo
*How to let Healthy Choice take away some holiday stress (this one includes Healthy Choice coupons for one lucky reader)
*How to make some of my favorite holiday foods.
*How to put your Christmas ornaments up without putting up a tree to hang them on because your child will climb to the top of it, get tangled in the lights because they look like a "pitty neckick" (translation - "pretty necklace"), or choke herself with garland.

Today's idea is all about how you can get your child (or a child you know) a Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head doll for just 50 cents, and at the same time, you can get another Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head to donate to a child this Christmas.

This really takes care of two things for us this holiday season:

1. You're getting a fun, brand-new, not annoying or loud toy for your kiddo, or for some little munchkin on your Christmas list for a whopping 50 pennies. I don't even know if Goodwill would sell you Mr. Potato Head for that cheap. Even if they do sell them for 50 cents, this way you're guaranteed to get one that won't have snot from someone else's kid on it.

2. It allows you to give this holiday season without breaking your bank. So many of us are not in a place where we can just bust out the checkbook and give to charity right now, but what a great opportunity this would be to help out a little cutie pie in your town this Christmas.

I think most communities have toy drives going on this time of year, and they usually want new, unwrapped toys. If you're unaware of any, contact your local Salvation Army, shelters, children's hospitals, or your local Child Protective Services office - they're always in need of toys this time of year.

Ok, so how do you make this magic happen? It's easy.

First of all, go to www.coupons.com and print out 2 of the $2 off Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head coupons. The site allows you to print just two.

Next, head on over to your local Dollar General store where these toys are currently on sale for $2.50. So...$2.50 minus a $2.00 coupon = 50 cents.

Now, if your Dollar General store is out of them (like mine was), go to www.dollargeneral.com and print out the ad (or, pick up one of the actual ads if you're in the store) - the Mr. Potato head sale price is on page 7. Take the ad to Wal-Mart, where they match any competitor's prices from a print ad.

Now grab 4 quarters and a few pennies for tax and go get you some Mr. Potato Heads! I would also recommend getting yourself a chocolate bar while you wait in line. You deserve a tasty reward, you frugal woman, you!

It's Vegas or bust, baby.

If you're reading this, I'm in Vegas. I know, sniff, sniff - you're really sad for me because I'm not going to have any fun at all.

I mean, I'll be staying at a total dump.

Relaxing in luxury.





























Shopping.

Dancing like a fool (seriously, like a fool - must I remind you I have no rhythm?).

Meeting blog friends for the first time.

Like Summer from Le Musings of Moi.



















And Mama Kat from Mama's Losin' It.













Riding a gondola while a little Italian man sings to me.















Eating lovely food.

Watching TV in the bathroom. Because there's a TV in the bathroom.

Walking around, pretending I'm actually in Venice, even though it's far, far away.















And smiling from ear to ear.




















Because I'm going on vacation. SITScation, to be exact, with a bunch of lovely ladies from SITS - otherwise known as The Secret is in the Sauce.

No diapers to change, no bills to pay, to work to go to, no dishes or clothes or spilled spaghetti-o's to clean up.

Just a girl's weekend in Vegas.

But, since we're all bloggers, I can tell you that what happens in Vegas, won't be staying in Vegas. ;)

Have a great weekend, and I'll tell you all about it when I return!

Eeeeeeee!!!!

Alright, ladies. Let's talk makeup.

I've been fighting a mad case of the frumpies lately, and I'm in desperate need of a change.

So, it's mostly been the hairstyle and the makeup that have been crimping my style.

My hairstyle? Well, I had perfectly legitimate excuse for that. My stylist has been on maternity leave, and I'd rather chew on glass than let anyone else near my hair. I don't know about you, but when I'm left with the choice of either looking frumpy or chewing on glass, I choose frumpy. Every single time.

We all know what it's like to have hair that makes you feel less than stunningly gorgeous. Mine's just been dull. Flat. Boring. Of the non-zesty variety. In need of some serious va-va-voom.

And, just in the nick of time - wouldn't ya know, my stylist is back. So, last night, after I left her lovely little hair cutting booth, I walked in my front door feeling 50% like a new woman. I'll feel 100% like a new woman when I get some makeup I totally love.

I was a liquid foundation girl in my early makeup days, eventually switching to mineral makeup in the past 5 years or so, mainly because so many liquid foundations caused me some sort of reaction - itchy face, burning face, super fun stuff like that. I've been a loyal mineral fan for a while now, but lately it's just not cutting it. My skin's feeling dry and dull. I'm planning on investing in a really good quality moisturizer because I know that will help. But, that'll be easy. It's the makeup thing that's got me stumped.

So - here's where I'm at. UPS just delivered a box of the new Victoria's Secret Pro makeup to my humble little doorstep, disallowing me the opportunity to test drive this makeup for my whole day because they meandered on over to my doorstep after dinner. My impatient self couldn't wait until morning, so I opened it all up tonight and tried it out.

I got the Pro Airbrush FX Face Primer, the Pro Radiant FX Face Illuminator, a concealer, and a liquid foundation. (Click here or here to see what I'm talking about for the rest of you visual people out there) I put it all on, aside from the illuminator, then promptly boxed it all back up, getting irritated that I would have to be returning it tomorrow because I didn't like it. Then, I tried the illuminator stuff, added my own blush, and used some finishing powder from my mineral makeup collection.

Now, I might actually like it, and I'm not sure what to do.

What I really want to do is go downtown to my favorite little boutique filled with things I cannot afford and get myself some high quality naturally-based, no nasty ingredients makeup, and have a consultation so a professional can help me find what's best for me, all the while talking me in to buying more things that I really don't need but really do want. That, to me, sounds like a really fun time.

But...I think my checkbook would like it better if this Victoria's Secret or some other non-85 million-dollar-a-tube makeup stuff worked better, since I'm not sure I'll like the price tag at my favorite little boutique.

And now, in the time it took me to put all this goop on my face and finish this post, my face won't stop itching. So, I will not be wearing it for a full day tomorrow to see how it stands up against the test of a day in the life of a mother of a toddler. I guess we can check this one off the list...

This is where you come in...

What makeup do you LOVE? What makes your skin glow? I want to hear all about your favorite makeup and why you love it so much. I'd get super excited if you share your more naturally-based makeup options with me as my skin freaks out easily, but I'll hear any ideas. I need options. Quickly. I'm impatient. And frumpy-faced, so get a move on and leave me some comments about your makeup!

(This post is a part of Fashion Fridays with Summer at Le Musings of Moi.)

The Look

You're going to love this guest post from Summer at Le Musings of Moi. Summer is absolutely hilarious, and oh-so-honest about motherhood and the struggles of life. After you read this post, be sure to go check out her main blog, Le Musings of Moi, where she talks about everything from fashion, celebrities, motherhood, love, life, and everything in between. You'll also want to make sure you stop by The Haute Stuff, where Summer shares some of her favorite products with you in reviews and giveaways.

*****

A little background.

I am a stay at home mom. I have a 3.5 year old and a 3 month old. I love them and I love that I get to be home with them. I also do my best to keep up the house, do everybody's laundry, shower, work out, write, work part time for HurryDate, blah blah blah.

The story of every housewife. Right?

Anyway, both my kids were sick last week which kept me quarantined to my house and unable to see adults, the sun, or a shopping mall. Ya, it was tough. Really tough. I mean, sniff, I barely made it through....

So, today I got dressed. I did my hair and I put on my favorite mascara. I even wore my new gray boots. And I left my man with both kids and took off.

My big outing? A one year old's birthday party. Once there I realized the opportunity I had before me. I was out of the house without kids! I had makeup and cute clothes on! And I was at a birthday party??? With kids??? It was Noah though, and he's worth it for sure. I mean, he's betrothed to my daughter, so it's more like a family function.

Anyway. After I left the party I called Jimmy to check in. I had only been gone
an hour.

Me: Hey babe, how are things?

Him: When are you coming home? Taylor isn't asleep yet and Chloe is crying.
I thought today was going to be a relaxing day and it's not turning out
that way. Grump, grump, grump....." (he went on, but I tuned out.
Thanks dad for that useful skill!)

Me: Okay then, be home later. Bye.

Somehow instead of driving home though, my car took me to Ross. And then an hour and a cute purse later, I unknowingly ended up at Marshalls as well. It was weird. I mean, I wanted to go home, but just couldn't fight the force. And time was just flying by.

Purses, shoes, and clothes, OH MY! Flash forward a few hours after putting Tay to bed.

Him: I feel like I'm about to flip out. I can't handle anymore of the whining! I
mean it's been all day, and then taking care of Chloe and the house. I mean, I am going to lose it. I really am.

Me:

Have I mentioned that he hates that look?

Fashion Friday: Pinky, pink, pink.

Time for another Fashion Friday with Summer at Le Musings of Moi, and this week, I'm using pink as an accent color. Why? Because I love pink. It's awesome. And, I'm impressed with passing off this "jeans and t-shirt" outfit as acceptable casual Friday clothes for work.

So...

Pink tank top - Old Navy
Gray top - Old Navy (I found it at a consignment shop, though)
Jeans - Big Star Maddie Fit Boot Cut


















Shoes - Payless (a BOGO find)














Earrings - Maurices

Aprons and Tide pens and screaming babies with vampire teeth, oh my!

Sure as shit, today is just going to be one of those days...

So, Kaylee has her bottom 2 teeth in, right? The two top teeth usually come next, right? Well, uh - not so much with my kid. She's got her two little vampire teeth poking through under the gums and they are SHARP. I wish they'd just come through already.

Anyway, I'm officially declaring today Screaming Vampire Baby Day at our house because that is all that's going on around here. Screaming. And screaming. And screaming. I'll be screaming next - anytime now. Poor kiddo is only happy if she's being held, and it's really hard to eat, take a shower and dry my hair while holding a child. Hence the screaming child who cannot be held every waking moment.

In an effort to maintain my sanity and happiness, I am going to tell you about a few happy things that you really need to be aware of.

Let's start off with some giveaway news. Who doesn't love a giveaway, right?

First giveaway: It's week three of Mama Kat's apron giveaway. This week she's featuring aprons from another great seller at etsy.com. This is my favorite apron in her etsy shop. Isn't it cute? I think it definitely has my name written all over it. So, click here to visit Mama Kat and to enter the giveaway for yo bad self.


Second giveaway: Summer at Le Musings of Moi is having one of the coolest giveaways I've ever heard of. It's a care package, carefully selected and prepared by Summer herself. It's got skin care, makeup, a headband, nail polish, and more! It sounds so girly and fun and fantastic. I'm hoping I win that one, too. So, click here to visit Summer and check out her giveaway.

Third giveaway: I'm jumping up and down for joy over this one! Do you remember me telling you about how I was about to embark on a beautiful relationship with a little something called the Tide to Go pen? Well, a certain someone who works with Tide is overnighting me some of these little beauties to give away to my fabulous readers! So, hang on to your hats because that will be happening soon and very soon.

In other news, you need to check out April over at April Showers by clicking here. She was the featured blogger over at SITS yesterday and she's working with me to redesign my blog. I know, I know - I just redid the layout not long ago, but it's just not what I'm looking for, and I'm Photo Shop challenged. She's got lots of orders, so a bit of time will need to pass before the changes are up, but I'm totally excited about it.

Well, please excuse me and my ringing ears as I attempt to pry my squealing child off of me so I can go finish getting ready for my day.

Where's my damn chocolate!?!?