Sunday, December 30, 2012

Tick Tock


It's that time!

While we are waiting for the
NEW YEAR to arrive we are
also waiting for our next
winter storm. A Winter
Weather Advisory was
issued this evening until
6:00 am January 1st.
Oh Boy!!
Whatever your weather,
if you are out and about
tomorrow BE SAFE!
********************
I'd like to thank all of YOU
for your friendship and
support over the past year.
As we look to a new year
and fresh beginning Mr.
Ken and I wish you THE
BEST in 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Friday, December 28, 2012

A Different Thank You


Hello~
Popping in with a cute idea.

Here is a great way to say
"Thank You" for both kids
and adults.

Send a gift giver a personalized
message by writing it on a
chalkboard then pose with
the gift and chalkboard complete
with the message and take a
pic, print it and then mail or
e-mail it to the gift giver.
(See the picture above)

Have a great weekend!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 25


This is the last installment in the
Christmas Fun series.
Today's selection is:
The Aftermath!


Time to pick up the ribbons,
the bows, the wrapping paper,
all the boxes, bags and tissue
paper.THEN after looking at
everything one more time it
will be time to pick up all our
loot and put it away.


These two crazy kids had a
spectacular Christmas and
hope that yours was the best!
We'll be away from blogland for
for a bit, family and friends to
see and other fun things to do.
See you soon!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

PS: If you missed one of
the 25 days posts just
click backwards. :)

Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 24








Today's selection:
The Tree

This year's theme was
red, white and lime
green.


Merry Christmas to
ALL of YOU!!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 23


Today's selection:
Co-Workers Gifts

On Thursday, we had a snow day-
a perfect day to make the pretzel
rods for gifts.
Wax paper down, wire racks on top,
a dipping cup, pretzels, sprinkles,
crushed peppermints and the melted
white chocolate.


I poured some of the chocolate
in the dipping cup and then
dipped each pretzel in the cup.
This worked really well, especially
when knocking the extra chocolate
off each pretzel. I then laid each one
on a rack to harden a bit.


Then came the fun-putting on
the sprinkles! WARNING:
Don't let the chocolate harden
too much or the sprinkles won't
stick. You'll need to work a bit
quickly. Next time I will work
in small batches.






The final step: Putting them
in gift bags for my co-workers.

I used Wilton Chocolate Melties
for this project. I like this better
than the white chocolate bark.
melts much smoother.

~Keep on Dreaming~

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 22



Today' selection:
Colorful Name Card Holders

Having an upcoming dinner
party? These will help your
guests find their seats.

Using scraps of wrapping
paper you can make place
card holders.
Glue paper to both sides of
a 3x5- inch piece of card
stock.
Fold in half, leaving a 1/2-
inch lip to fold up as the
card holder.
You can write guest names
on the cards in holiday
colors or "give" guests
names from classic
Christmas tales, then
let them pick where they
would like to sit.

~Keep on Dreaming~

Friday, December 21, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 21


Today's selection:
Poinsetta Pot

Materials:
Terra cotta pot
Painter's tape
Chalkboard spray
paint
Colored spray paint
Krylon Glitter Blast
paint
Chalk
1 poinsetta

Tape off the rim of the pot.
Paint the base with the
chalkboard paint. When dry,
paint again.

After paint dries, remove the
tape from the rim.

Tape newspaper around the pot
to cover the chalkboard paint.

Place pot upside down to paint
the rim and top edge the color
of your choice. Let dry, repeat.
Next paint with the Glitter blast
paint.

Once paint is dry, write your
message on the pot with the
chalk and place the poinsetta
inside--Instant gift!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

ps: HAPPY WINTER

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 20



It came: THE FIRST SNOW
of the season!


It stuck to the back screen.


It came with 40 + mile
an hour winds that caused
drifting.


The wind blew snow
everywhere!

 
It covered Mr. Ken's car.


So he took mine because
I had a SNOW DAY!


Look who came out later...
Mr. Sun!
Love those snow days! I
was actually able to get
some stuff caught up on
and work on some
Christmas stuff. Yea!
For those of you living
EAST---hold on to your
hats, she is coming your
WAY!!!

~Keep on Dreaming!~

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Christmas Fun Day 19


Today's selection is:
Food Gifts

Spicy Cocktail Pecans

1 stick of butter, melted
4 tsp Tabasco Sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
6 C pecan halves

Preheat oven to 325 with racks
set in the top and middle positions.
Meanwhile in a small bowl, stir
together all ingredients together
EXCEPT the pecans.
Place pecans in a large bowl. Pour
butter mix over pecans, tossing to
combine. Spread peacns evernly
on two baking sheets and bake
until toasted  and fragrant, 12-15
minutes. Rotate pans halfway
through.
Transfer to a paper towel-lined
tray and let cool completely,
20 minutes.
Place 1 1/2 C pecans in a goodie
bag. Make 4 bags.




Peppermint Fudge

24 oz. (about 4 C) White
Chocolate Chips
1 14 oz. can of Sweetened
Condensed Milk
Pinch of salt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 C coarsely crushed
peppermints

Line an 8 inch square pan with
parchment or waxed paper,
allowing side to hang over.
In a medium bowl, stir together
the chips, milk and salt. Melt
the mixture according to the
chip pkg directions, then stir
in vanilla and peppermints.
Pour the fudge into a pan and
use a spatula to spread it evenly.
Scatter extra candy on top. Chill
until firm and set (2 hours).
Use the flaps to pull the fudge
out of the pan and slice into
1 inch squares. Makes 64 pieces.
Enjoy!

images: Google

~Keep on Dreaming~



Monday, December 17, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 18



For today's selection:
Secret Santa gifts


I am participating in
a Secret Santa exchange
at work. Each day we
can give a small gift or
wait till Friday and give
one "big" gift. I try to give
something each day.
Today was Christmas candy
and tomorrow will be the
the item in the picture
above--in fornt of the clock.

For the gal that I drew,
I spelled her name with
Scrabble tiles and glued
them to the tile holder.
(I buy old games at garage
sales and "part" them out)
these would make great
last minute gifts if you
have all the parts.




Back in January, it seemed
like everyone was choosing
a "word" for the year. I
chose on also--mine was
"BELIEVE." We must continue
to do this.
Please continue to send your
thoughts and prayers to those
dealing with this tragedy. Let's
say an extra prayer for our
nation too.

~Keep on Dreaming~




Saturday, December 15, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 17


Today's selection is:
Last Minute Gifts

If you find that you are in need
of a last minute gift, these are so
easy to make.

Materials needed:
Clear glass or plastic
ornaments
Fillers

For the glass ornaments,
pop the cap off and fill with
sprigs of winter greenery.
Leave the cap off overnight
to prevent condensation then
replace and loop ribbon through
the top loop.
For the plastic ones, open them up

and place artificial snow and
small pine cones inside.
                   or
Pine tree clippings
                    or
Feathers
When finished loop string or
ribbon through the hanger.

You could also put the small
figures for Christmas villages
in the snow.
Let your imagination run wild!

~Keep on Dreaming~


Friday, December 14, 2012

A Day of Sadness

The news reported some tragic news today.
Innocent children and adults went to school
and work this morning, not having a clue
that their world would change as they
knew it. 20 children and 7 adults lost
their lives at the hands of a gunman.
Many more traumatized by the whole
event. We may never know the why's
of this but hopefully those involved
can move beyond this as time goes by.

Let's take a moment out of our busy day
and offer prayers for ALL involved.
The parents and their families of the
victims, the first responders, the staff
and students who have to deal with all
of this in the coming days, the gunman's
family--who are dealing with the loss
of two of their family members. Plus
the rest of the nation. We will have to
find a way to explain this to our kids and
give them a sense of security where this
world and their surroundings are concern.

This hits a little too close to home since
I work in a school. I just can't imagine...


God Bless Us All!!!

~Keep on Dreaming~

We will get back to the Christmas
Fun tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Christmas Fun-Days 15-16


Today's selection is:
Ornament Collections

Over the years I have
started many ornament
collections for many
children.
Currently I have three
children that I give an
ornament to each
Christmas. Our Niece,
our Great Niece and
our friend's son.
Sometimes I do themes
and other times I pick
random ornaments.
For the girls, I have been
doing random girly
ornaments and for
the male in the group I
am doing a sports theme.
Each ornament is tagged
with the ornament number
and the year. ( #1  2012 )
Hopefully by the time the
kids are grown they will
have a collection to take
with them when they move
out on their own.

~Keep on Dreaming~






Monday, December 10, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 14

,
 


  
Today's selection is:
Christmas parties

We are having family over during
the holidays and we will be serving
a snack buffet. I decided that our
contribution to the buffet will be
snacks that I remember my Mom
serving at Christmas parties when
I was growing up.
Back in the 60's-70's, homemade
Chex Mix, Seasoned Oyster
crackers and Fondue are some of
the yummies I remember. Those

will be on our table this year.
Some other yummies I remember
and still like today are the cheese
in the squirt bottle, the cheese
spread in the small glass bottles
and chips (wavy) french onion dip.
Mom always made fudge too. The
kind with the Fluff in it!

If you grew up in 60's-70's what
snacks do you remember?

~Keep on Dreaming~

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Christmas Fun-Days 12-13


For this weekend our selection is:
Holiday Bonbons

30 vanilla wafers
2 1/2-3 C vanilla ice
cream
1 bag semi sweet choc. chips
6 T butter spread

Arrange cookies on a wire rack
placed on an foil lined jelly roll
pan; freeze 20 minutes.

Using a 1 1/2 inch scoop, scoop
out ice cream onto each cookie-
freeze for another hour on the rack.

Mirowave chocolate on HIGH for
1 minute; stir until smooth. Stir in
the butter spread until it is melted.
Working quickly, spoon chocolate over
each bonbon, almost covering each one.
Freeze for another hour or until ready
to serve.

Enjoy!

~Image and recipe from HyVee
Grocery

~Keep on Dreaming`~

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Christmas Fun Day-11


Today's selection is:
A Tea Towel Apron

Materials:
1 tea towel-solid
or a continuous print
Seam tape or ribbon
cut to fit a specific
waist

Measure your waist and ribbon
to fit around your waist.
Sew the ribbon to the long edge  
of the towel.

Ta Da you are finished!
These make great gifts.

~Keep on Dreaming~

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 10



Today's selection is:
Peanut Butter Popcorn Munch

1 pkg. Orville Redenbacher's
Gourmet popcorn
1 C tiny pretzel twists
3/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
2 T  buttery spread

Pop popcorn according to pkg.

Microwave peanut butter and
buttery spread for 1-1 1/2
minutes or until melted. Stir
to blend then drizzle all over
the popcorn mixture. Toss to
coat.

Sprinkle with the confectioners'
sugar over the popcorn mixture,
toss to coat. Cool 10 minutes
before serving. Store leftovers
in an airtight container. This
would make a great gift. You can
find this and other yummies on"

www.readyseteat.com

~Keep on Dreaming~

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Christmas Fun-Day 9


Today's selection is:
Repurposing Christmas
cards.

I save all of my Christmas
card fronts and turn them
into gift tags.
 
At the end of the holiday,
I take all our cards down
and tear the fronts off
then I put all with the
wrapping paper and bows
for the next year.

After I finish wrapping, I then
choose a card to be my tag.
Sometimes I cut part of the
card off and save the rest.
I do a "TO" and "From"
then tape to the gift.

~Keep on Dreaming~

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