christmas decorations so far

So I am no decorator extraordinaire. I am still learning all the time. This is some of the things I have up this year so far.

we made these for 4 $ from the dollar store the other day


I think these hurricane glasses are beautiful I grabbed some poinsettias that had berries cut them up and filled them with the flowers, berries, and leaves. Perfecto!! It is just a candle stick holder hot glued to a vase and a candle. I can't wait to use this for other seasons :) soo pretty

some silver beads and candles in jars from old candles. you toss them in the freezer and the old candles pops out

these didn't turn out quiet like I planned and I went through like 800 hot glue sticks and have many burns lol. Next year I will be smart and get lots of empty bulbs of different sizes and some bags of the little berry things from the dollar store and just fill them lol

a few decorations on the ledge (for the cat to knock over with his butt no doubt)

Mr and Mrs Santa from my lovely grandma (all of us girls have a set )

My advent calender (I stole the idea from here at hello sugarplum but I really wasn't feeling the tree thing I though this worked better for our area)

That is all I really have up for now. It is a work in progress we don't have a tree yet that will be a post onto its own. :) what do you guys do for decorations??

nail tips

Okay So I have been in a spa sorta mood lately ever since mean and shelby gave me my super cute toes and thought I would share some great nail tips with you guys.

1. I prefer to use a cuticle cream and push back my cuticles rather the clip them I will only clip if I have a hang nail.

2. buff away ridges (not with a file but with a buffer with different textures so you get them smooth and shiny..opi has a pretty good one.

3.I prep the nail by running nail polish remover over them to remove oils and help the polish bond.

4.Then you use a great base coat I love orly Bondor it has rubber to help the polish stick.

5. if your polish is getting thick you can thin it a bit by throwing a few drops of acetone in it and rolling it between your hands

6. Always roll your polish and not shake that creates bubbles

7. when pulling the brush out don't run it over the top to remove extra polish this will eventually glue your bottle shut swirl it us you pull out and it will do the trick :)

8. use two thin coats of color instead of one thick it dries better.

9. wait in between coats for it to dry

10.use a great top coat mine is gelous. (I perfer gel coats they stay longer

11. go just over the tip of the nail to get the underneath a bit this will help prevent chipping.

12. Let nails dry all the way!!

13. run under cool water and apply a thick coat of lotion all over to give a bit of slip.

14. You can always add another top coat in a few days to give more shine and help color last.

That is it all my nail wisdom. I found some cute videos I thought I would share to help out with this since I love my zebra nails mean Taylor gave me

and because I will always love french tips

I used her system picked up a cheap eye shadow brush from walmart when I grabbed bread and coffee today took me ten minutes and they look like I just stepped out of the nail shop on the first try and took a quarter of the time to dry as my usual system for french tip!!! Brilliant

Enjoy guys!!!

sea salt scrub

So I thought today would be the perfect day to share another spa treatment/gift idea with you since monkey butt got her cast off and was in desperate need of some exfoliation. This is one of my long time favorites because it is so expensive in stores (one minute manicure or bodyshop bath and body works ext) but soo cheap to make. Sea salt scrub.. Here is what you need:a oil you can use almost any oil but my favorite is almond (doesn't leave you quiet as slimy but safflower is good coconut is great (but a tad on the spendy side) grape seed of coarse, evoo you get the drift. Some sea salt I like to mix coarse and fine to get a good scrubby mixture and something for scent you can use a few drops of your favorite essential oils or go natural (almond oil and coconut oil have a nice scent already)

Here is monkey butts post cast arm..
you should have seen it before the first washing!!! She looked like a leper!


Here is the mixture. It doesn't have to be a perfect science. I throw one part coarse to 2 parts fine and then add oil until it looks like this..


grab a bit

and buff away. I don't recommend this for faces. your body has different types of skin..for example below your neck is like cardboard above is like writing paper, around your eyes is like tissue paper and they all hav e differnt thickness . Elbows knees arms this is all great for anywhere like that you get dry on :)

Just buff a good minute of two depending on the needs . I do it on my hands before bed or if you are doing your whole body in the shower before you turn it on.

You might feel a bit slimy at first your skin will soak all that moisture up in a minute or two and leave you silky smooth. Store the extra in a jar in your shower

poor monkey butts arm looks much better but it will take her a few times to get back to normal.
Enjoy guys and hope this helps you out :) I am off to scrub my self up with some peppermint and hop into the tub (my cold is killing me and the hubby has the kids at the gym oh sweet glorious silence )

more christmas present ideas

Okay I have two exciting things to share with you before I show the gift ideas.

Exciting thing #1 is my sisters and brother got me the sewing machine I wanted for Christmas. (after allot of begging and waiting outside of walmart at 12:00 midnight and racing all the other ladies out there lol)

Thing #2 is monkey butt is now big enough to pain nails for me!!! woohoo. She did a great job with this hot pink she did a base coat 2 color coats and a top coat. Then when mean was over thanksgiving night between stores she put the zebra stripes on!!! aren't they cute?

Okay so on to the projects.

project # 1 cute dry erase board Here is a great on I did this for my wall. I got this cute frame at Joann's for 3$ black Friday. Brought it home took the paper out and added some cute scrap booking paper inside and then it didn't' hang so inside before I put the back on I hot glued the ribbon to hang it:) It is my dry erase menu board in my kitchen :)

Project #2 yummy moisturizing bath salts

this one you need Epsom salts (good for sore muscles), powdered milk (helps sooth and moisturize skin) and either essential oils or your favorite body spray or bubble bath.

mix the milk and salts 2 parts salt to 1 part milk and then mix a bit of your sent choice in.. there you go a great relaxing gift for a lady..

Project # 3 draw string bag

these are great project bags. Sew up the sides of the fabric leaving 1 1/2 '' for the top seam and then fold over and sew across leaving a lip to run your ribbon through. I used a needle with the ribbon and two pieces running them all the way through in opposite directions and then tied knots and run a flame across the ends of the ribbon so it wont fray..

Aren't they cute..

Project #4 rice bags

You need fabric rice (you can also use corn feed, or fennel seed) and some herbal tea for scent (sleepy time tea works great)

fold over and sew the top seam then sew the two longer sides I did two seams on each side (we don't want any leaks lol) and then fill 3/4 way with the mixture you put together and sew the top seam shut. :) These are great for headaches or really great for allergies or sinus infections 1 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes in the microwave. :) Great for tummy aches or sore backs too if you make bigger ones. :)


there are my some of my favorite projects for Christmas presents that are non-knit.

But just to get a knitting fix in here is my newest f.o.

It is another hat for my etsy shops ..

feel free to go on there and check it out or even cheat and pick it up for a Christmas present :) have a great weekend guys

Happy Thanksgiving.

So since it is Thanksgiving and I have I am soo happy to have my family all together and mostly healthy for the moment I thought it would be a great time to show my appreciation to all my blog readers :)

I am giving you a 35% off coupon for anything on my etsy shop. I will keep it up until midnight Monday when cyber monday is over. :)

The coupon code is firemonster (since she is the only one who has been healthy all fall :) Happy Thanksgiving everybody

quick easy knitted christmas gift ideas...

so I know yesterday that I said I was going to be making a list of great easy gift ideas and that not all will be knit so I decided that I am going to do a series of gift ideas and these will be the knit ones. :) (all the patterns will have links as to where to find them)

these are susie's reading mitts

Pretty easy and cute and can be I loved them soo much I have made 3 pairs this year.

if the thumbs and little details are too much for you then you can do toast

I altered mine to leave a simple thumb hole for my thumb instead of the no thumb or a full out thumb knit on like Leslie's pattern toasty. They are both on her great blog a friend to knit with where the link takes you.

These are the kid version of sorta the same concept I came up with tiny toast

I left thumb holes for kiddos so that they can have use their fingers for gripping play ground equipment and other things their busy little fingers might need to do. They are also great at keeping arms warm when wearing short sleeves or...

they double as leg warmers

Another great simple pattern is bertrand louis. I can't link this but it is a free ravelry down load. :) It is a tube you fold and tuck to make a hat (great with pony tails.

shows malabrigo lovely..

here is the front ..

or use it as a cowl down around your neck..

Another great cowl and what I grabbed every time I left the house last year was infinity cowl...

This is simply brilliant and such a pain free knit. I love love love mine... I snagged these pics from Kim and I hope she doesn't mind because I love this sooo much. :)

She shows it way better then I ever could .

I still follow Kim's blog..

Here is my sisters I made her last year :) Well there are some great free easy stress free knits for quick Christmas gifts. :) I hope you guys enjoy and they turn out great

darining day...

Well today is darning day at my house. It is seeming about twice a year I notice parts of my socks wearing thin or god for bid... get a hole. I also have to ambush my husband a few times by this point and peel the socks off his feet because he never warns me that his socks are wearing thin knowing it will probably be a while before i darn them and return them to him so he wears them anyway. Then I notice he has a hole and rip them away anyway. My sister was not wearing her socks and I asked why and she said they were getting thin she didn't want to ruin them so I grabbed hers and brought them home telling her that I would rather have some one wear something I made them until it had holes then not wear it at all.

So between the hubby's socks , my sisters, and mine I was darning socks from about 10:00 am until 3:00 pm They are all done and I have my favorite pairs of socks back. I am very excited.

My hubby gets back his 2 malabrigo socks that he loves soo much. Well I have actual chores around here to do and people to feed and I really need some afternoon cocoa to get me going. :) but tomorrow I am going to give you some great hand made gift ideas for Christmas. Some knit and some not. :) Well off I go

great weekend.

I had a great weekend spent some great time with my hubby. After him having sooo much over time over the summer and working the two jobs it is soo nice to have him around. He really is my best friend and I miss him when he is gone all the time. He is a great dad and huge help around the house.

We spent the morning at the zoo with fire monster yesterday and then we went to harry potter with the whole family while my brother in law (very bravely kept a eye on fire monster) We did get some horrible news on the way home. One of my nieces friends big sister (who megan was in dance with) passed away. She was only 13 years old and she contracted strep a and she was sick less then a week. It was awful news that just makes you hug your babies and your heart break for that poor family of the beautiful blond girl Kaleigh Faeh.

I got a cupcake hat started and started a different hat to cleanse my palette. I got very little done though because this weekend was just more of a reading type of weekend. I finished Earthly delights and started heavenly pleasures. It is a good series although I didn't' realize it takes place in Australia and some of the sayings and terms throw me for a loop but all in all I like it a nice feel good read that made me get up and bake home made bread this morning. :)

We had a great dinner. This is a new one for me but it is sooo good...Potato Pizza. I know bucas has a pizza with potatoes on it. For this one I use Alfredo sauce. I slice potatoes using a potato peeler so it is paper thin slices cover the Alfredo sauce in the sliced top it with FRESH MOZZARELLA and some Oscar Meyer bacon crumbles. Soooo good. I spent most of the morning while my hubby worked cleaning and reorganising my kitchen which felt nice and when he got home I went through monkey butts drawers and made her narrow down her clothes by about half so her drawers will shut and what we took out will be put up for fire monster. (we have a large family and some great friends so we get lots of wonderful hand me downs in great condition) Alas she does need good pant length leggings it seems every thing is capris and a few more pair of jeans. Maybe Santa will hear my plea. ;)

But I am going to have to make some decisions and start my ramp my Christmas gift making. I was begging to put up decorations today but my hubby is firmly a after thanks giving sort of guy so no go. But oh well. I am off to finish my cocoa and read before bed. Hope you guys had a great weekend and hug your sweet baby's and say a extra prayer for the sweet Kaleigh Faehs family tonight.

Harry Potter..

So I just got home from Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. Love it!!! Loved the books and am soo happy I have got to see it. I have been waiting now I just need it to come out on video and then next one to come out in the theater :) and to knit this cute hat ...

Hermione wears it in the back there..
Here is a better picture...

It is great looks like a seed stitch that spirals and more of a slouchy style. I have seen lots of talk on ravelry about the hat and patterns that look like it. But most of them are more of a beanie style which I don't think is quiet right. So this one might take me a while to be happy with. But one thing I am happy with is Emma Watsons new hair...

She is so cute. Some people are against drastic change but I love it and I say go for it. She hasn't been able to change her hair pretty much ever.

I mean look at her at the premier. Too beautiful. Well I am off to spend some time with the hubby. Get to the movie people.