Getting Crafty

Tonight while Bob was at school studying like crazy, I got my craft on. I now have burned/blistered fingers from the glue gun... but I am happy with the outcome. I went to Hobby Lobby after school, I shouldn't have gone. I loved everything and wish I could've come home home with a cart full.

The reason I went to Hobby Lobby was to get 2 styrofoam trees and some tissue paper. And with that, I made these:(If you were to turn them around, you would see styrofoam, they took forever to complete, so I only put tissue paper where it was needed.)

We haven't got a Christmas tree yet, but hopefully we will do that sometime this week. We didn't get one last year, but we just rearranged our furniture so one will fit. Until then, we will enjoy the decorations on our wall of shelves. (I have a few more things I want to do, and hopefully they will appear on the wall soon.)

2 Years Later

Bob and I went on our first date two years ago. We went on our first date Saturday the 22nd and the following week was Thanksgiving. We saw each other everyday that week, and on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Bob met my family. I went through my pictures from 2009, but I didn't end up getting a picture of us together.

Thanksgiving Break 2008
Thanksgiving 2010

Last one I swear....

Remember the nail shields? Well you can get them for half price through screaming deals. It is the deal of the day.

Go Here and sign up for an account. I just bought some and it said that the deal was available for 29 more hours.

Thanksgiving 2010

Bob and I both woke up up at 8:30. Bob was going to go play basketball, but they ended up not going. Luckily for me, because he helped me a ton.

I made a key lime pie, and Bob prepped for the apple cranberry pie. Then we put that together. Then Bob got ready and I started preparing the vegetables. I made fresh green beans with mushrooms and shallots. Bob made cheesy cauliflower. When I pulled the apple cranberry pie out of the oven, it looked really juicy. That's when I realized that I forgot to put the flour in it. *Why didn't I reread the recipe before I started baking???? Ah!

We were down to the wire when we left at 12:10. Of course we got about 5 minutes away and I realized I left my straightener on. So we had to turn around and come back. Even though we were a few minutes late, we were actually one of the first ones there.Thanksgiving was amazing. My favorites always include my Grandma's homemade cranberry sauce and my Aunt Shauna's yams. (Basically a yam dessert that we eat as a side.) There were 10 pies total for the contest. We all waited in suspense while the judges judged the pies.Bob and I ended up taking 3rd place, with the ....... cranberry apple pie. I was so shocked. But super happy. We got a gift card to jamba juice. My aunt Brenda took 1st with an apple pie, and 2nd place went to Emily with 2nd place.

My winning pie! My Dad was so proud to finally have someone in the family win, even if it was 3rd place. Emily and Matthew with their 2nd place pie!
My cute cousin Ryan licking all of the cream off of all the Turkey Oreos.
Grandma and Grandpa writing Christmas cards to my brother and cousin who are both on missions.

Cake Pops or Cake Disaster?

This morning I went to a couple grocery stores to get the ingredients for my vegetables and pies for tomorrow. My cousin Laken sent me a recipe for one of the pies I will be making. Attached to the recipe was another recipe for German Chocolate cake balls. I have never made them, but they only have a few ingredients. Whenever I look at the cake balls/pops on Bakerella's website, I fall in love with them. So I googled Turkey Cake Pops, and POOF, there they were on her website. So, I said to myself.... I should make some of those for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow.

I went to a couple more stores to get all of the stuff and came home on a crafty/foody high. I was super excited.I made the cake balls and put them in the freezer. That was pretty easy.
Then I made little Turkey faces. I even got edible pens so I could draw on their little eyes. This was a little more challenging, but doable.I dipped the chilled cake balls in chocolate. (Didn't take a picture, I was a mess.)

That's when it all went downhill. Maybe I should've googled how to dip the cake balls without making a mess. Or when to put the stick in the cake, or when to put the pretzel legs in.

When I went to put the stick in and the pretzel legs, it basically broke the chocolate shell around the cake. After the first four disasters, I basically cried to Bob telling him I should never do things like this. They are hard, messy, and I am not good at them. He said they looked wonderful.... and motivated me to finish them. (I used a knife to break a small hole in the shell before sticking the stick and pretzels in.)

I am glad I finished them, but they basically look horrible. Hoping that the taste makes up for the appearance.
*** Not all are crooked like this one. I just was too tired to look through all of them to find the best one.

I have one more tray of cake balls in my freezer.... If you want to attempt it, let me know. You can have mine.

Nail update...

Thank you to all of your ideas for Thanksgiving vegetables. My mind is spinning, I know I will be making cheese cauliflower (one of Bob's favorite) and another dish.

One of the traditions for my family is to have a pie contest. Whoever is hosting Thanksgiving asks neighbors or friends to come judge our contest. In the past we have had over 20 pies. Anyone can enter and there are always fun prizes. (2 years ago it was tickets to comedy sportz, and in the end the whole family went with the winners. This was right after Bob and I had started dating and he met my whole Hales side of the family.)

So any who, I have a few pie ideas, (yes I procrastinate) but if you have a fool proof favorite pie, feel free to share it with me. Last year I tried the French Silk, which was pretty good.... and I did master the pie crust- but it didn't appeal to our judges.

Jamberry Nail Update:
If you buy them, make sure you watch the How To Apply video. I didn't watch it, and I wish I had prior. I was just so excited.

My toenails are still going strong, but my fingernails lasted 1 week and I peeled them off. I would recommend having a friend put them on for you. It's so hard to do it one handed. If the shield sticks to your cuticle or skin at all, it doesn't seal properly. Between that, and me washing a million dishes by hand this week, a couple started to come up on the sides.

I can't wait to order these holiday designs.
To view all of the nails, go to their website HERE.

Thanksgiving HELP!

I was just notified that I will be bringing the vegetable to our Thanksgiving meal this year. Yes this is the first year I am contributing something on my own from my own kitchen. (Minus the pies for the pie contest, that I have never won.) Sooo.... I am in need of some help. What do you have for your Thanksgiving vegetable?

Recipes, ideas, anything.... please help!