Winner of the Christmas Giveaway!

Is it YOU?

(click on the link above)

Email me at lalfabeto (at) gmail.com to claim your custom wire monogram ornament. Please include your letter choice and address.

On another note... I'm busying myself making some Christmas gifts for Goofball's teachers... I'll post pictures soon because they're cheap, easy, use recycled bits, and are super cute!

Christmas Giveaway!

Well, I'm into custom orders up to my eyeballs, and loving it! So if I'm going to make 30 custom ornaments, I might as well make 31 right?! Lucky for you :) To get this to you in time for Christmas, I'm going to draw a name on Friday evening.
Winner receives one custom wire monogram ornament of their choice... you choose the letter, color, and ribbon color!

To enter, leave a comment for each:

1. Become a follower of this blog, or let me know if you already are

2. Become a Fan on Facebook (follow the link on the right)

3. Blog about this giveaway, and leave the link so we can check out your blog!

4. Share your favorite Christmas tradition.

I'm Torn

When do we take Sweetpea in for her first trim? Her hair takes forever to comb and is a rat's nest by the end of the day. I'm not sure I can bear to cut off those little precious curls, not knowing if they'll ever come back. Help! What's a mom to do? When did you first cut your daughter's hair?

On a side note, this is one of my favorite pictures from our family photo session with Session Nine Photography, Check them out... they are fantastic!

Cookies in a Pinch

Okay, this is seriously the most simple peanut butter cookie recipe ever. You probably have the ingredients in your kitchen right now. Goofball and Sweetpea helped me test this one out because I was skeptical too at first.

What you'll need:
1 cup peanut butter, smooth or chunky
1 cup sugar, plus a little more for rolling
1 egg

That's it, seriously.

Get to it:
1. Heat oven to 375, stir together peanut butter, sugar, and egg
2. Roll dough into little 1-inch balls, roll balls in sugar to coat, place onto cookie sheet
3. Press each ball down with a fork to make a good, old fashioned crisscross design
4. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cookies just begin to brown a bit on the edges.

I'm enjoying a warm one as we speak, happy baking :)

'Tis the Season

I adore receiving a handmade gift. I adore giving a handmade gift. Nothing is more personal and special. Last year I made The Crazies these little monster pillows. They love them and sleep with them every night. Sweetpea calls hers her baby, which is a little weird.A group of girlfriends and I got together bringing scraps of ribbon and buttons, corduroy and stuffing, and to assemble little monsters for our wee ones. It was such a fun Girls' Night, and we all left feeling rather productive. I paired the monsters I gifted with a monster book to add to the theme. One of my friends daughters used hers as a tooth fairy pillow. If you have ever sewed, this project would probably be rated "easy".

1) put your two pieces of fabric right sides together and cut the outline (no need to use a pattern, you really can't screw this up... any odd shape is a good monster shape)

2) On the front, sew on your eyes (the more mis-matchy the better, layer them even), nose, and pocket mouth

3) Pin the ribbon "hair" in place (remember to pin it towards the inside of the pillow, because you'll be flipping it inside out and want the ribbons on the outside eventually... I messed up the first time!)

4) Sew pieces right sides together around the outside to make the pillow, leaving a couple of inches open to flip inside out and to stuff it.

5) Stuff to your little heart's content, then hand stitch it closed.

6) Voila! Now monsters in the room at night will be a good thing!

I'm searching for a few good gifts to make this year, do you have any suggestions? :)

Taco Soup

This recipe is from my self-proclaimed "most non-chef-like" friend Shiela. It's funny too, because some of my family's favorite recipes have come from her! This recipe is sooooo simple, it doesn't even require a picture. So as Shiela says, if you can open a can, you can make this soup!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 onion, chopped
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 packet ranch dressing powder
1 packet taco seasoning
1 small can diced green chilies (although, the Crazies have complained that this makes it too spicy, so I omit this when I serve the kiddos)
2-3 cans chicken broth (depending on how soupy you want it to be)

Directions:
Brown the meat, then toss in the onions to cook a bit with the meat. Open all the canned ingredients and seasoning packets and toss everything into the crock pot. It can be ready to eat in as little as 30 minutes, but tastes better if left to simmer for 2-3 hours. The leftovers are so tasty too! Garnish with sour cream, cheese, green onions, or whatever you love most!

What's nice about this recipe, is that it doesn't have to be in the crock pot all day long, so if you forget to get it going first thing in the morning, its okay! Depending on sales at your local market, this dinner for 4-6 people will cost as little as $8-$10. Delicious Fall recipe!

Welcome Autumn, it's Been Too Long

So after three, count them, THREE consecutive days below 90 degrees, I am officially welcoming Fall into our little desert oasis. How I've missed thee...

We've also been busy, so for your viewing pleasure, let me recount for you our week in pictures...

Sweetpea and I had a Starbucks breakfast date while Goofball was at pre-school. We feasted on pumpkin bread and pumpkin spice fraps (well, milk for SP). Autumnal treats were fabulous and the company was in a good mood (a.k.a. no appearance from her psycho terrible-twos alter-ego who isn't very pleasant).

I made a fall-ish wreath for our front door. I always said I would never be one of those people who decorated for every season, especially wreaths outside of Christmas time, but I caved. And I love it. There, I said it.
$4.00 worth of supplies and some trinkets from around the house, not too shabby.

Here is Goofball, quasi-modeling the robot shirt that I made him. He is faking a smile and draping the shirt over him was the best compromise I could get from him. He's really been on the couch all morning watching Nogin with a 102 temperature and cough. Poor guy, he really had higher hopes for Fall Break.

Here are The Crazies waiting for Grandma at the airport. Yes, they are sitting on the disease ridden airport floor, probably soaking up swine flu, don't judge.

When Grandma comes, we get ice cream. It's a good night for all!

We were there too. Here's a rare shot of me and the Mr.

And here's my Fifth Grade class. They are posing in front of the set they made for their short play "Tall Tales from the Wild West". They rocked it, and I am proud!