Clearance Christmas Bauble Wreath

A while back, my sister-in-law Sarah emailed Theresa and I a Whatever tutorial on how to make your own bauble wreath. We liked it and decided to have a wreath making extravaganza evening. So, after Christmas, Theresa picked up some clearance Christmas balls, wreath base, and a hot glue gun. Thrifted ornaments would be even better, but unlike Sarah, we don't have a Goodwill Outlet. ;)

It's super easy and only took about 30 minutes.

Instructions? Just hot glue the Christmas balls to the wreath base in whatever order you want.

Isn't it pretty? Bright, cheerful, beautiful, and happy. Like Ms. Theresa.

 

And before you tell me that I shouldn't be sharing Christmas blog posts, I'll have you know that it's only the SEVENTH day of Christmas. Live Christmas to the fullest peeps! 

Merry Christmas!

Santa Joseph wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

We hope everyone is having a fantastic day!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Given my son's Thanksgiving Charlie Brown photo shoot last month and Snoopy's lit up dog house on my front porch, I've obviously been in a Peanuts kind of mood. With that in mind, does this look at all familiar?

Ok, so it's not an exact replica... That would have required venturing further than my back yard, but it's my version of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I think it's scrawny enough to pass muster.

I hung ornaments on it until it started listing dangerously to one side. The Santa baby spoon is actually holding it in place... It fell over a few times and as I watched the ornaments scatter, I made a face similar to this:.

I feel your pain, Charlie Brown.

So, that's my mini Christmas tree. It's gracing my kitchen table and, as long as it stays upright, it makes me happy. It's chillin' like a villain with it's cohort - the chocolate covered pretzels. I think they are plotting to conquer the kitchen together.

And, since we have a real Charlie Brown in residence... I couldn't resist ;).

 Oh Joseph... Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest.

Of course, we couldn't leave out Snoopy & Woodstock.

 

 Even if Snoopy is a suspicious character. He's pretending to sleep right now, but you know he was up to mischief last night. Shooting down enemy planes from the top of his dog house.

You're a good man, Charlie Brown.

Merry Christmas everyone! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. SO EXCITED!

The Untimely Death of a Snowflake

I was watching NCIS with Stephen the other day when, out of the blue, I decided that I wanted to make some snowflakes. So, I googled snowflake directions, and I found a really great post about five pointed snowflakes on How About Orange.

Supplies needed:
oragami or square paper
scissors

If you don't have square paper, you can use regular computer paper. Just fold over a corner like so:

Then trim off the excess so that you have a rough square.

Next, fold your square according to these instructions.

Cut away at your folded paper in any pattern you wish.

And unfold. Isn't it pretty?

Whatever you do, make sure to cut off the wider top part of your folded paper... Otherwise, you'll end up with something like this:

Oh, Theresa...

At least she got five mini snowflakes out of it... with creepy disappointed faces.

She redeemed herself by refolding her botched snowflake and turning it into a throwing ninja snowflake star. HI-YA!

From that point on, Theresa mostly stuck to mini snowflakes.

Aww... so cute!

I asked Theresa to take a picture of me with my snowflake so that I could blog about it. She took this, then started laughing... "Your the same color as the snowflake! BWAHAHA!"

Thanks, Theresa, I love you and your olive skin too.

I originally planned on making a garland (like on How About Orange), but the snowflakes didn't want to flatten out. So instead we taped all of the snowflakes onto the  front window.

I love them! They are seasonal, festive, quick, and easy! I think Theresa and I made most of them while watching Cupcake Wars together. Sidenote - whoever write the hosts' lines for that show should be shot. They are TERRIBLE. I like it.

One last thing - snowflakes are not baby proof.

Crumple. Crumple. Slobber. Rip. Tear. Chew. Lose interest. Crawl away.

Poor, decimated snowflake. It never had a chance.

My son the snowflake murderer.

Pomanders Perfected

What is a pomander? Up until recently, I referred to pomanders as "those smelly shriveled oranges stabbed with a zillion cloves." Very scientific and exact, don't you think? Once I discovered that they had an actual name, I became curious about the pomander. So, as any self-respecting young adult in the 21st century would do, I looked it up on Wikipedia.

Oh, Wikipedia! I couldn't have made it through college without you...  Flaming Portuguese Flamingos Treatise of 1745... What the heck is that and why is it going to be on the test?!?! I don't remember learning about that in any of my history classes... Hmm, let's  check Wikipedia.

lady with pomander around her neck

So, according to Wikipedia, a pomander is essentially a sphere of smelly goodness. During the Middle Ages & Renaissance, people used to wear perforated spheres filled with perfumes & spices on a chain around their neck. In addition to supposedly warding off pestilence, the pomander served the purpose of spreading a nice aroma around the smelly person. Back in the day when everyone threw their refuse in the street, people could hold their pomanders in front of their nose to cover up the stench while walking down the road. Today, pomanders are typically either a sphere of flowers or a citrus fruit dried with cloves.

After reading a Buzz post filled with tips for making pomanders, the following comment exchange took place between myself and Mrs. Five Camels with regards to our Thanksgiving plans...

Nov. 23

Sarah - I LOVE making these things!!! and they smell so good!!!! I'm glad you posted this, because I've had many finger vs. clove injuries in the past. I think the thumbtack will help.

Caroline - I'm not sure we have enough cloves to make these...

Sarah - I'm almost sure they can be procured... ;)

Caroline - Your right... Do you think approximately 24 oz of cloves might suffice?

Sarah - Has Stephen been grocery shopping again??

Caroline - Sadly, yes. That's what's left over from last years orange pomanders...

Sarah - You bring the cloves, I'll bring the fruit. My mom loves doing these things. :)

Caroline - Seriously? Deal. I've got a bag of lemons that need to be used in the fridge. I can bring those too.

Caroline - Umm... I was wrong... we have closer to 36 oz of whole cloves. !?!?!

Sarah - I'm so excited!!! :)

Yeah... I wasn't joking about those 35 oz of cloves. My husband is crazy and likes to buy things in bulk. Like the time he bought 576 candy canes for his sister Theresa. It's a problem. I'm signing him up for Bulk Buyers Anonymous.

So, during the Thanksgiving holiday Mrs. 5C and I decided we would make pomanders together with our sister Theresa . We poked clementines & lemons with thumbtacks and then stuck whole cloves into the holes. We quickly decided that thumbtacks didn't make large enough holes to save our finger tips from the spikey cloves, so we switched over to bamboo skewers. They are slightly wider and work much better.

Then, Stephen started using a large nail to poke the holes. That worked best!

You can place the cloves in whatever pattern you like. Go crazy!

Have fun with it!

Keep in mind, though, that the pretty orange rind is going to dry out, shrink, and turn brown.

So, a lot of the time, we like to cover the whole fruit with the cloves. That way, you don't have to look at the shriveled brown part. And it's less likely to mold while you wait for it to dry out.

Another thing you can do is roll the clove covered fruit in ground cinnamon. This adds to the scent and aids in the drying process.

If you really want to speed up the drying process, you can put the fruit in the oven on the proof setting (super low oven temperature) for a few hours. Additionally, if you put a nail or wooden skewer through the fruit while it dries, then you can put a string or ribbon through it to hang it up when it's done.

They make great Christmas ornaments and they smell spiffy too!

Oh, one more thing... Even if your cloves container says this on the lid:

"I LIKE CLOVES. CLOVES ARE YUMMY! :-)"

Don't listen to it.

Because they aren't all that yummy on their own... But they do last for years!

Pretzels by the Pound

Do you like chocolate covered pretzels?

We do.

ME.    LIKE.    PRETZEL. *manly chest thump*

At least, I have to assume we do... Otherwise it would be really hard to explain why we have 15 pounds of chocolate covered pretzels...

You see... Last year, my husband got his mother TWENTY FIVE POUNDS of pistachios. She likes pistachios... In order to get free shipping, he also ordered 15 pounds of chocolate covered pretzels.

And they were really, really good. Addictive even. Dangerous to have around. And we had them around for quite some time. I was glad when we finally finished them off. Then, the other day, I noticed a box sitting by the back door. A box with "NutsOnline.com" plastered across the side. And I knew, I just knew, that my husband had ordered even more chocolate pretzels by the pound.

RIDICULOUS. Who on earth needs 15 pounds of chocolate pretzels?? Wait, scratch that. I should never complain about chocolate. It's bad luck. Everyone needs chocolate. Unless they are my brother and don't like chocolate, but he's a freakazoid, so it's ok. Besides... The pretzels are very tasty.

 

Mmm. I think I'm sensing a Christmas family tradition in the making.

P.S. Dear family... We're scratching your Christmas presents. Can you guess what you are getting instead? ;)