Dare to...be sick and not make cookies

I am really lame this year for Kim's Dare to Do It Yourself thing.

This week is Dare to Eat Cookies.

I, however, have felt under the weather since Wednesday night, and the sick bug has slowly made his home in my lungs (just like the Mucinex commercial), so I thought it would be best not to make an entire batch of cookies with a 13th ingredient of otorhinolaryngitis (which translates to ear nose and throat inflammation which actually is not a word/term...but otorhinolarygology is.  There is your medical terminology lesson for the day).

So, I bring you my Dare to Eat Cookies from last year.

Ready go.

Dare to Entertain

Last year I put a lot of effort into decorating our table for our first Christmas.  I also may or may not have protested our lack of space for a Christmas tree and taped a tissue paper tree to the wall.  And I may have taped ornaments to it.  And I may have put our presents under it.

This year, I wanted it to be simple.  We found the best Charlie Brown-ish Christmas tree and it fit perfectly on the center of our table.  We won't be able to put presents under it, but I love its simplicity.

 

and because Blogger is being stubborn, you only get 2 pictures.

2 days until Thanksgiving! 

Monday.

Kim at Newlywoodwards is having her annual thingy about the holidays and it starts today.  But, because I am lame / not creative, I just decided to show what I did last year.  Because I liked them. 

Here is the original post.

Dare to Have Traditions

It’s a sad day…the last day of the Dare to DIY.  It’s been fun, ladies.

Dare to Have Traditions.

Um.

My family is ludicrous, and thus, we have some odd traditions.

On Christmas eve, which is when most of our traditions occur, you will walk into a warm house filled with the most random Christmas music you’ll ever hear.  Like…Willie Nelson’s Smokin’ Tokin’ Christmas or something.  I’m kidding.  Sort of.  As you throw your coat in the living room and head to the kitchen, a hot delicious mug full of hot Dr. Pepper awaits you.

Tradish #1

Honestly, you probably wouldn’t find a Dr. Pepper in the house unless it is Christmas Eve.  At least not where DC and I live.  In our place on Christmas Eve, you won’t even find Dr. Pepper because I am cheap a good steward of my money.  If I brought Dr. B to a Wood Family Christmas, I may be shunned.  Don’t worry, they would let DC stay because they love him more than me anyway.

Ingredients: DP and Lemon.  And awesome Christmas mugs that you use year round.  Oh that’s just me?

 

Put it on the stove on low until it’s hot to trot

Serve.  The sick ones especially like it, if you have any at your house.  I do.  Sad face.

Tradish #2

While everyone pours and enjoys their hot DP and some hors d’oeuvres, someone inconspicuously puts in a legendary Christmas mix sung by this group of extremely talented vocalists…

And we dance…not just any dance.  We dance just like them.

When the dancing is over and the mugs are empty, you better grab your wallet.

Tradish #3

Rummy Royal.  The 7 (parents, 2 brothers, a pistol of an 86 year old grandma named Goggle, me and DC) of us play Rummy Royal for pennies.  It’s a card game that I don’t care to explain in detail, however, I am sure Wikipedia would love to share its knowledge.

The game gets gruesome.  It gets scary.  Goggle tells you how much she wants to hurt you.  It’s rough, but it’s hilarious.  I never win, but I figure I am better off because that way Goggle still likes me.

So those are what I grew up with.  And now, DC and I might start some of our own.  I bought this book for us last week for our first Christmas (and 19 more…because it’s a 20 year book, not because I am leaving him in 19 years) together.  Hopefully him being sick for weeks will not be a tradition.  Please say a prayer for my sweet husband.

Dare to Deck the Halls

This weekend I did my first sewing project, like, ever, for the Dare to Deck the Halls entry.  I had to drive 45 minutes to my mom’s house just to use her machine.  That’s how much I sew.  None.

Anyways.

DC and I are in an apartment as I have mentioned, leaving little room for Christmas decorations 1. because if we decorated the whole place we wouldn’t have a lot of room to walk and 2. because we have no place to store said decorations after Christmas.  This really has nothing to do with my project except for the fact that I made stockings and when I brought them home, the only place we could find to hang them was

above the bike room door frame.

 

I hope Santa is tall.  Excuse the horrible pictures…I took these this morning on my way to work in-between drying my hair and eating breakfast.

I found this post on Blissfully Domestic (one of my favorites minus the cheesy title…no offense) and it seemed simple enough.  She used a tighter-woven sweater which gives you more of a shape, but I have always liked the “old sock” look for stockings.  (Plus, when you’re looking for sweaters to cut up, it’s not like you have a ton of options.  Right?)  When I got to my mom’s house, though, the only stocking I found to trace was so wide that it looked like it would fit DC’s foot (ba-dum-ching!), so these turned out bigger, or wider, than I wanted.

In addition, my dad was leaving to go to his Christmas party while I was at their house, and he kept calling me down to help him pick out what he was going to wear.  So, I was distracted.  Not that I’m making excuses for why they’re not perfect…because I actually like them a lot.

Dare to Make Homemade Gifts

My project is late, Teacher Newlywoodward.  I was sick.

This week’s Dare to DIY was dare to make homemade gifts.

I made salt scrub just like Martha says to…and then I didn’t like it her way, so I added and took out and made it more the way I like it.  Because if I am giving a gift to someone else, it needs to be just the way I like it, right?

Supplies: Mixing bowl, spatula, food coloring, cute jarish thing,

Epsom salt

(super super cheap)

essential oils

   

I did Eucalyptus Peppermint, or Peppermint Eucalyptus (it’s all in how you look at things)…one because I plan on keeping some of this and using it when I have a migraine and two…I really only have one reason.  You can get essential oils even at the grocery store in the health and wellness aisle (sorta by the vitamins).

Carrier Oil

Ok, your carrier oil is actually called that because it “carries” the scent and such into your skin.  I may have gotten that wrong, but Wikipedia explains it quite well.  Anyway, there are TONS of carrier oils, but I chose grapeseed for its natural perks.  What are those perks, you ask?  It was the cheapest.

I also read that olive oil is actually really good for your skin, so I mixed my grapeseed oil with Olive oil.

Can you count the bikes in the bowl reflection?

2 1/2 cups salt and 1 cup of carrier oil.  When I made it this way, aka Martha’s way, I thought it was too oily, so I added, like, 2 more cups of salt.  You can do whatever you want.

Add 8 drops of the essential oils…so if you do 2 scents, do a good ratio…I did more than 8 drops because I’m hard core.

 

This was one, I said ONE, drop of food coloring mixed in well. 

You could add more, obvs.

I found these little things at Crate and Barrel for about $1.50 each, I think.  I sill had free money there, so really, I paid nada.  Wow, that’s really not a good picture at all.  Martha uses some fancy shmancy canning jars that you have to order from this website where you fax in your order sheet and do all of this ridiculous math (total, tax, add $4.09, subtract your birthday, multiply by the number of cousins you have, divide by your dad’s golf handicap) for them.  So, if you know me and how terrible I am at math, you know I laughed and threw the order sheet in the shredder.  Then I went to Crate and Barrel.

Martha also gives you her clip art for her labels and tells you to print them on $20.00 bumper sticker paper from Office Depot or something.  I did not use said clip art because we do not have a printer at home (also because I do not need bumper sticker paper but whatevskis).  Nor do we have the internet from which I would print said clip art.  We live the simple life.  The life with 6 bikes in one room.  Anyway, so I tried to make my own and ended up with this botch deluxe.  But really, without the bumper sticker paper (I get it now, Martha), it is kinda stupid to make a label because you have to assume if someone actually uses this gift, they will get it wet.  So, I made one the way a certain store that I love (this store may or may not rhyme with Math Funkie and make the best bath scrub ever…salty enough even for me) does it.

The more I look at that, the more I think it’s spelled wrong.  Anyway, write the name on some packing tape.  Does the trick.

 

And with this, you could put a card that says,

“Merry Christmas!  You can thank me later for helping you get rid of your dry smelly skin”.

Or something else…

Dare to Eat Cookies

After I failed 3 times at making those blasted pumpkin cookies, I thought I’d take a break for a while…until I saw the Dare to DIY Challenge for this week…

DARE TO EAT COOKIES.

I wanted to make something different (a la pumpkin cookies) but easy (not a la pumpkin cookies) and a cookie that can go great with my favorite beverage. So, I found a recipe in my December issue of Real Simple Magazine that was perfect.

Cinnamon Pinwheels

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for shaping the cookies
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated (the dough will be stiff). Shape into a disk and (unless otherwise specified in an individual recipe) refrigerate, wrapped, for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

Divide dough in half (do not substitute slice-and-bake dough). On a floured surface, roll each piece into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle.

Sprinkle with a mixture of ¼ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Starting from a long side, roll each rectangle into a log. Refrigerate until firm. Slice ¼ inch thick.

Bake at 350° F on parchment-lined baking sheets until just beginning to brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Now, I am no Fattycakes (have you bought yours yet??)extraordinaire, but my cookies turned out okay thanks to the engineering skills of husband, because without him, I would be stamping a big fat fail on these too. I don’t know what it is, but cookie dough just loves to cling to our counters no matter how much flour we put down. Pay no attention to their less than perfect distorted shape. We were going for the Dr. Seuss look.

Cinnamon Pinwheels

+

HEB Taste of the Hill Country coffee

=

I am happy for life.

Happy Monday party people

Winter/Christmas Centerpiece for a Small Space

This week’s Dare to DIY

Dare to entertain…Show Us Your Table

Along with about 90% of the female population, I love Christmas and I love to decorate for Christmas. With husband and I living in an apartment in our first year though, we don’t have a whole lot of room to store such things. So, this year I wanted to make something that could be easily stored or discarded and remade for next year.

The husband and I went branch hunting earlier this week and found exactly what I had pictured. While I worked late and ran some important (like buying decorations important) errands, Devin made a paint booth out of a box and painted the branch for me. That’s $.99 spray paint, you guys.

After the branch dried outside, I got everything together to get this branch in the vase aka tissue cover. This was, like, the greatest find ever at Homegoods. I couldn’t find ANYTHING I liked ANYWHERE and then, there it was, with a beam of light shining on it.

I have never been more thankful to be married to an engineer because I am pretty sure I would have screwed this up without his help. We made a hole in the foam with the blade of his hack saw rather than trying to shove the branch straight into it.

I covered the top of the “vase” with Spanish moss, you know, to make it look like this branch is growing out of that tissue cover. But, really, it gave it the sort of rustic look I love.

Then I just hung some small silver ornaments and some crystals, both from the local craft store on pre-season clearance.

And Voila.

I did pick up some new Christmas linens at Crate and Barrel with leftover gift cards from our wedding. I love free stuff.

I love it love it love it. It was very affordable, it fits our little table so perfectly, and the branch can be chunked and easily be remade next year.

Now if Houston would bring on some winter weather, I might actually feel like Christmas is upon us!

Dare to Be Thankful

For the Dare to DIY week 1, I decided to make something that I knew we would use and that reflected one of my favorite hobbies.

Wine.

So, I made some fallly Thanksgivingy wine tags.

Because my family likes some wine on Thanksgiving.

And because I don’t want anyone drinking my wine.

These were super easy, and I think they turned out pretty good. I just got some clearance leaves from a local craft store- I think I paid $1 for all of them, and I bought some hoop earrings in the jewelry making section. If you need some, my package came with 60. I do not need 60 of these.

Enough beads to last me long enough to pass them down to my grandchildren? Check.

Prepare for borderline bad pictures…

Pick a bead that has a bigger hole- the leaf and the ring have to go through that one.

Make sure to bend the end so they don’t come apart.

I might find a different way to put the names/initials on them- I don't know if I am a fan of the gold paint. Maybe a stamp? Maybe just different color leaves for each person.

I like them.

Cheers!

Dare, Double Dare, or Physical Challenge?

My blogging, pug loving, friend Kim over at Newlywoodwards is hosting a Dare to DIY party for the next few weeks, and since I am trying new things lately, I decided to sign up.

While I am not much of a DIYer (I need a work space…and a lot of other things), nor do I own a sewing machine, I like to think I am pretty creative, so I think I can make it work.

My entry to the challenges will be posted every Monday, and I will link to the others so you can check them out too.

Kim’s website has a list of the challenges, so if you’re a blogger and want to join, head over there to let her know (you can click the button on my left side bar).

Happy Friday!