Jingle Bell Ornament

I made a simple little sheet music ornament.

I bought a couple of music books from a used book store and one song happened to be "Jingle Bells".  Appropriate, right?

To make the ornament, first I inserted a loop of ribbon into the top of a styrofoam ball the same as with my pinecone map ornament.  You just make a hole in the ball with scissors, make a ribbon loop and tie the end with a knot, drop some glue into the hole and push the ribbon knot firmly into the hole.

I cut the sheet music up into approximately 2 inches strips and mod podged them onto the ball in a random pattern.  Make sure you go right up to the ribbon loop.

After it has dried, spray it with a sealer to make it shine and seal it (duh) from moisture.  I tied a bow to the top to finish it off.  Next time I think I'll tea-stain the paper before I glue it on to give it a more antique look.

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Linking up here this week!

Boughs and Bows (Christmas Wreaths)

I'm slowly, slo-o-o-o-wly getting the house decorated for Christmas.  The tree went up this afternoon - no ornaments yet - but I did make two wreaths. 

The first wreath is for the main floor bathroom door. 

All of the materials came from the dollar store.

I think I spent $10 total (wreath included). I love that.

I started with a plain wreath, fluffed out all of the branches, and wound red ribbon and silver beads through the greenery.  I then spaced out the pinecones and hot glued them around the wreath. Lastly I attached a sparkly red ribbon at the bottom.

  

Tom now calls the bathroom the "Christmas Pooper". 
Always classy isn't he?

We went to my father-in-law's place on Saturday to cut down some evergreen branches.  We found some pine, cedar, and a little bit of spruce - mostly from trees that had already fallen. Plus a bag of birch bark and pinecones. Tom laughed when he looked up and saw me coming out of the forest dragging a birch tree that had fallen down.  I'm no wuss.

I started the wreath for the front door by removing the leaves and decorations from the fall wreath I made in October. I hot glued  another, slightly smaller wreath to the front of it to make it more substantial. 

I took small cedar branches and squeezed them between the two wreaths, adding a spot of hot glue to the back of each branch to keep it in place.

I trimmed small pine branches from a larger branch and glued them all around the inside wreath.  I then went back and filled in the spaces with more branches, giving it a layered look.

I arranged some pinecones (spruce cones?) around the edge and glued them down.  Is hot glue not the best invention ever?

I found an old arrangement from last year, trimmed the berries off in small bunches, and inserted them randomly into the pine branches. Three pinecones were hung together and tied to the bottom of the wreath. Finally I tied a burlap bow and glued it above the pinecones.

I like the rustic look of it, and I love that it cost absolutely nothing.  I either found or had all of the materials on hand.

How fantastic is that?

Not so fantastic is my worktable right now:

I also made some new ornaments today and hope to share them later in the week. They're buried in the mess in the picture above.  I bet you can't find them.


Update: had to add one more wreath.  This one is hanging above the fireplace. I didn't make it, and I don't remember how much it cost, but in keeping with my rustic, country theme this year I wove some burlap through the branches.  It was a bit boring looking before (hence the reason I didn't post about it) but I think it looks sweet now.

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I'm linking to these great parties this week!

Stuffed Peppers

I've been trying to make our meals more interesting lately. 

I stopped eating grains (rice, flour, pasta, etc.) about 6 weeks ago

and sometimes it's hard to find a new way to cook meat and vegetables.

Last week I tried beef-stuffed peppers. 

That's the most inventive name I can come up with. 

It's an easy recipe. Pan-fry ground beef with chopped onions,

mushrooms, garlic, or any other vegetables you want. 

There might be some cherry tomatoes in there. 

Finely chopped carrots would be good as well. 

Since ground beef and bell peppers are both on the bland side,

you'll want to spice these babies up. 

I added sweet thai chili sauce and southwest pepper flakes to my beef mixture.

Cut the tops off the peppers and discard the seeds and membrane inside. 

Keep the tops, you'll  need them later.  

Fill each pepper with your ground beef mixture and put their "hats" back on.

Place them in an oven-safe dish and bake at 350 degrees

until they are wrinkling and look thoroughly cooked. 

Mine got a little toasted on the top but it didn't affect the taste at all.

One Tip: Poke a few small holes in the bottom of each pepper before cooking. 

This will let the liquid run out during baking. 

Otherwise, the first time you cut into one

there will be a flood on your plate.

A couple of nights ago I tried ground pork instead. 

Chopped onions, mushrooms, and garlic again.

Threw in some baby spinach.

Seasoned it with spicy chili sauce. 

(Excuse the steam, I couldn't get a shot without it.)

I layered some shredded cheese into the pepper

before and after adding the meat mixture. 

They were soooo good! 

Heavy on the heat and the garlic - just the way I like it. 

I only wish Tom hadn't talked me into eating

a cupcake before dinner (yeah flour, I know). 

These peppers are deceivingly filling and I was stuffed! 

Ha! Stuffed! (Like the peppers, you know?)

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I'm linking to these great food parties this week!