I Heart Hot Chocolate

We are a Hot Chocolate type of family. When it's frosty and chilly and snowy and we've been outside nothing is yummier to warm up with.

OR

When it's frosty and chilly and snowy and we've been inside *looking* outside!

I'll repeat. Nothing is yummier!

We decided to show our Love of the Treat and Celebrate the Month of Love all at once.

Why yes. That is a giant Heart floating in some Hot Chocolate. I'm sure you've seen shots of this on Pinterest and around. I'm not the inventor of the idea. And I'm not sure how everyone else does this...but I'll tell you how we did it!

I thawed a tub of Cool Whip. Then I flopped it on a sheet of wax paper and tried to spread it out evenly. I say "tried" because my children seem to think that as soon as the Cool Whip is out of the Tub it is perfectly acceptable to dip their fingers into it and chow down. (I wonder where they get their table manners from?) So...anyway...I was rushed.

Put your Sheet 'O Whip in the freezer. This is the hardest part. You have to wait for it to freeze.

And. It. Took. Forever.

So. We pulled it out when it was solid, but only just.

Use a cookie cutter in the shape you desire, and cookie cut away!

I think if we would have waited for it to become more firm it would have been not so messy pulling up the hearts. But it wasn't too bad! Maybe a few fingerprints...

Then heat up some Hot Chocolate and garnish it with your Cool Whip Heart.

Waste not Want not...Mom's mug got all the little non-heart bits left over from cutting!

This was really a fun way to serve up Hot Chocolate! My kids were in on it, but it would make a sweet surprise for Valentine's Day, a Birthday, when they come in from the cold, or just because!

The Cool Whip melted much faster than marshmallows do. Also, because it was frozen, the Hot Chocolate cooled nicely as the hearts melted.

Melted Perler Bead Ornaments

Already on Day 3 of my Ornament Challenge! I can tell December is going to fly by really fast this year. Our youngest is in pre-school this year and dance. Then there is swimming all around and basketball for the oldest. PHEW!

December...or rather Christmas...is so wonderful in that we are all still busy as ever, but there is a reason to make yourself pause and: pray, reflect, wonder, make some magic, help someone out. The list is endless. I love it!

So today we did a melty plastic project! There is an awesome Perler Bead pin running around Pinterest. The beaded moose. I'm sure you have seen it! Follow the link to a blog titled WOOZ.DK and it's in Danish! Thank goodness for Google Translator!!!

With this Beaded Moose in my head...I flipped out while on a recent vacay in Minneapolis I found a set of cookie cutters with a moose that looked identical to the Pin at Ikea! Grabbed it up! And here is how it turned out:

This was fun and easy! The only change I made from the original post was I upped my oven temp to 300. Maybe that's a Danish/Nebraskan translation??? Anyway...after about 30 minutes on 200 my beads weren't melting at all. Up to 300 and five minutes later and it was done!

We also made a Star!

Elf on the Shelf...or Not!

Well, we've got a busy little Elf at this house! They guy hasn't sat on a shelf ONCE!

This morning we found this:

It seems that Filmore was getting a bit lonely. He gathered up some of his Best Buddies from around our house and sat them all down to read a story!

He got everyone to climb on top of our tubs full of Christmas decorations and sit nice and quiet! Maybe tonight he and his posse can dig out the decorations and put them up for us! And do the dishes. And fold some towels...

These friends are hanging onto every word of this story! And the best part is...Filmore brought back "The Animals Christmas Eve" from the North Pole and we get to keep it! We love new books!!!

Elf in Our Tree

This little Felt Bodied and Plastic/Rubber Headed Elf is making us all insanely excited! Like CrAzY excited!

Last night was our oldest's turn to spend the night with Gram & Gramps. So we let the little two "camp" out in the living room and fall asleep to the soft Christmasey Tree Glow. This morning...a little past the crack of dawn... I hear whispering and some giggles. Then I hear Thump Thump Thump which translates into chubby bare feet smacking the hard wood floor.

Then from the kitchen are squeals of astonishment and delight. "HE'S GONE! FILMORE MOVED!!!!!!!" at the same time as, "OHMAGOSH! Where is he???????" (insane punctuation to enforce the level of Christmas Excitement Spazzyness)

Thump Thump Thump Thump which translates to chubby bare feet scurrying around looking for him. Then, "He's HERE! He's on the tree!!!!!! FILMORE is on the Christmas Tree!!!! He has a SIGN!!!!!"

All for this:

Filmore is perched near the top of the Christmas Tree. And the children spoke the truth...he is holding a sign.

Filmore say What? Only 24 more days 'till Christmas? How will we ever keep track of how many days?

Obviously with the Elvin Sized Mini Paper Chain he made us! Filmore somehow knew our family had an affinity for keeping track of things with paper chains! This baby is staying on the tree and each night we will gingerly tear off a tiny piece of the chain.

Filmore. You Rock our Christmas World!

Crochet Stocking Ornament

For the past couple of years, I've challenged myself to make an ornament a day from December 1 to December 25th! And...somehow...today is December 1.

So here is Day 1 of Ornie Challenge 2012!

How cute is a little Granny Square Christmas Stocking??? Complete with a candy cane! I found the pattern at Eating Out Loud. They work up quick and easy and there is a great photo tutorial to follow along with the pattern.

In fact, the pattern is so fast and fun...I couldn't stop myself!

Then I started having fun and mixing it up!

I was working on these in the back of our church while our oldest was going through some training to be an Altar Server. One of his best buddies since forever came back to chat and he was fascinated by the entire crochet process. "How do you do that? Do you think I could learn? These are so cool! Hey, everyone, look at these!!!" He was so sweet (he's always so sweet) I decided to make one for him. And his little brother. And his two little sisters. And then my three kids. Like I said...I'm addicted...

Love Them!!!

Christmas Linky Love:

Elfish Antics

I'm pretty sure we are the last family in the Universe to jump on the Elf on the Shelf Band Wagon.

Better late than never!!!

This morning our three little grumps woke up to this:

North Pole Breakfast!!!

Santa FINALLY sent us our own Elvin Scout...Filmore!

The Man in the Big Red Suit also sent this letter, introducing Filmore and giving us his brief resume and job description!

That's S.C.'s official signature, people! We're so glad Filmore came with a name, as our children are not the best at picking out names for things: Meow Meow, Pup Pup, and (the most weird) a stuffed Buffalo named Moosey. SO! When Santa says "Filmore" we comply!

This Cute Little Guy made us Breakfast:

Peppermint North Poles with Powdered Sugar Do-nuts, Reindeer Do-nuts, and normal...non-theme-specific Do-Nuts. Hey, even Elves need some sleep!

Close up of a Rudolf Do-Nut. The kids got the biggest kick out of them. And the noses are definitely candy...to they kept saying, "These are candy. Thanks, Filmore! We get candy for breakfast!" It's the little things...

He had hot water waiting to make up some Cocoa in new Christmas cups and a bowl of Peppermint Marshmallows to go with it.

For himself, although he Froze before he had a chance to munch on them, Filmore even made up a tray of Elf Sized Do-Nuts!

For Reals. If the Cooking Network had a show called Mini Do-Nut Wars, Filmore would be BOSS!

Here's John & Katy in a state of Ecstatic Christmas Wonder. They were so in awe of Filmore, they only got a few nibbles and sips in!

Filmore also tricked out our stylin' 1980s ceiling fan with lights, tinsel garland, curly ribbon and giant snowflakes! 

When it was time to get brushed and dressed for school, the tree Filmore chose to perch himself on was gently lifted and placed on top the fridge (where it originally was before this Elvin Madness). It was a great spot to watch and listen from!

 Santa's letter did explain that these Elves like to Make Mischief sometimes and will get stuck in silly situations when the have to freeze every morning. While children can't touch the Elf...if this happens, it's okay for Mom or Dad to "gently" remove an Elf and place him back on his watch spot. For those days when he's wrapped around the gallon of milk and we need to pour some. Or he's mummified on our t.p. roll and someone needs a wipin'!

Oh Silly Filmore! What fun will you get into tonight???

Joining the Christmas Linky Party @

Pony Bead School Spirit

Welcome to September!

Kids back to school, cooler days, crackly leaves, and College Football!

This house cheers for the Nebraska Huskers! Go Big Red!!!

So today I'm going to share our crafty project from yesterday and I'll be linking it up with Sara over at Mom Endeavors. Sara hosts a College Football Tailgate party...a great place to check out lots of fun & footbally (totally a word) ideas!

(and I forgot to mention...Sara cheers for the Huskers, too!)
On to our project!  The Sun Catchers from I'm Feeling Crafty caught my eye and I've been wanting to try it for a long time.Yesterday the kids were all antsy and needing to focus on something and I thought, "Carpe Pony Beadium!" (that is Latin for Seize the Pony Beads)

We got to work picking out Husker colors from our bead stash. It was about this time that I realized I only had a handful of clear pony beads. But we were in GO mode...so we kept going!

I let my little Pony Bead Artists have free creative license with arranging the beads in their muffin tins.

All Right! So you take your beads and arrange them in the design you want in a metal pan or muffin tin. 

Single layer would have been better...but this was a Fly By the Seat of Our pants sort of project.

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees and bake your beads for 20ish minutes. 

And you will get awesome melted bead mosaics!

Then my Hubby drilled some holes for me. Feel free to leave a comment about how he needs to stop chewing on his nails...he won't listen to me!

And string them up!

Since ours didn't turn out to be transparent...I went for wind chimes instead!

This is something we will do again with clear beads. I have Visions of Christmas Presents swimming in my head! Taking a little more time to make sure the beads are all flat and in a single layer would make the finished project smooth. But I kind of like our Funky Bumpy Clacky Wind Chimes!

FYI...this did make our house smell pretty bad. I'm not sure if it was the opaque beads or maybe my oven just really needs to be cleaned (blush!). We opened all the windows and let the house air out for about an hour. I see that these are doable on the grill...and I think we'll experiment with that next time!