NYE

On New years day 2011, we had a date as seen here

In Jan of 2010, I wrote this recall of 2009 

This year so many things have happened I do not know where to start.

A year ago, today I was trying on wedding dresses and found THE ONE!

We had our shower in May

Got married in August

I did several races including a 5k, 10k and half marathon.

I got a new job in November

and

I graduated in December

This year was amazing and went by oh so fast.

ALSO, this is my 125th post for the year

woo hoo!

Christmas gifts.. Besties part II

At our besties christmas, our friend ashley was also there.

Seen here from halloween.

Well, this year I decided to make her gift 100% handmade =)

A felt wreath

I used twine and lace (because i ran out of twine.. shh)

But I love the colors and pops of yellow.

She loved it.

Well thats all for my gifts.

Did you receive or make anything handmade this year?

Christmas gifts.. besties part I

We have talked about our friends Jessie and Tara, on here several times as seen here

Well this is all about christmas. 

We had best friend christmas on Monday (12/26)

I made lots of things =)

I made each of them a hat. (sorry I only got a picture of one

This was one of favorite yarns to use because it was so colorful, the other one was gray and light blue.

I also made a tie blanket.

The front was a crossword pattern and the back was b&w polka dots 

(I do not have a picture of that either) 

Sorry guys, this post was a bust.

Christmas gift.. future sister-in-law

Ok, we are back loading over here at Pumpkin love. It has been a hectic pass couple weeks esp. with the holidays, etc. We need a break from the breaks.. haha. 

Anyways, to finish up the christmas gifts. 

This has to be one of my favorites so far.

This is for my future sister-in-law. 

She lives in Mexico and I have only met her once.

I think she is awsome and wanted to do something special and home-made 

(& cheap, not something she can buy in Mexico)

I took a wine bottle (free) and some hot glue (also free) and wrote love on it.

[since she is newly engaged]

Painted it with 2 coasts of primer and 2 coats of  oil rubbed bronze spray paint 

as used in this project.

Made some paper flowers.. and viola!

I also found this jar and these fake flower buds at the idea store for $1.50

So two gifts less than $5 and she loved it =).

Simple is better.

Did you make anything for christmas gifts?

Merry Christmas

To one and to all. I sit in Chicago with my mother-in-law, p's step dad, brother and his fiancé. As the fire place roars and the music in the background as we toast each other.. And to you, I hope you enjoy. Have a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas gifts.. Mother-in-law Part II

As I promised here

Here it is...

THE FINISHED PROJECT

(finally.. right?)

I used oil rubbed bronze (in spray paint form)

I like it and I think it will pair well with the other gift for my mother in law.. 

as seen here

Project.. Fail

I had an inspiration for something for my mother-in-law mentioned here

Well,

I followed the directions and this is what happened. 

I used glue and it completely soaked through the canvas. ugh

So i went over the glue with puffy paint. 

I only had black so this is what it looked like.. 

I was not very happy with it and let it sit in my basement for maybe 2 weeks.. 

I will be back with the finished project.

Did something not turn out the way you wanted it to?

Christmas baking..

Its weird, but I am back again today.. 

It has become a tradition to bake cookies for christmas and this has been the second year in a row that I got to bake with my mom using my kitchen aid mixer as talked about here.

I talked about baking briefly in this post earlier today.

This year I picked a few recipes on pininterest and went at it ALL DAY!

1. Sugar cookie pinwheels

With the recipe found here:  ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com

(This recipe did not work for me for whatever reason and I used this sugar cookie recipe instead, split the batches in two, froze for 1 hour, rolled using wax paper than rolled in sprinkles, froze for another hour than thinly sliced and baked accoring to the sugar cookie recipe)

 2. Cherry Cookie Kisses

With the recipe found here:sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com

(This recipe I didn't personally like. The dough was very sticky and we put in the refrigerator for 2 hours which helped but I did not like the texture with the end product)

3. Pecan Pie truffles

With the recipe found here: growingupveg.blogspot.com

These are OMG delicious and super super easy. 

I used walnuts (because pecans are freakin expensive) but they still turned out AMA-ZING!

* side not: these were the favorite of the bunch this year*

4. OREO Truffles

With the recipe found here: chef-n-training.blogspot.com

These were delicious as well and super duper easy. 3 ingredients and no bake.

5. MY FAVE.. Ginger Spice cookies

You already know these are my favorite from this post

Recipe found here: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/10/ginger-spice-cookies/

What did you make this year? Try anything new?

holidays.. and stuff

So as I mentioned in the previous post here I would catch you up with all of my gifts, etc. Well, I will but not today. Today I am going to tell you why I am so behind. 

It started last week actually, my parents came into town on Thursday.

We baked cookies and I had to keep them occupied. 

Friday i had to work.

Saturday I graduated from my nursing school with a BSN from the Lakeview College of nursing.

than

We had to drive 2/5 hours to Chicago to celebrate P's step-dads 70th birthday.

Sunday we had to go to church, roamed around Chicago for a little while than came back home.

Where more entertaining had to be done with the addition of my sister. 

Monday .. I started working full time.. yay!

When i came home we invited my aunt an uncle and cousin over for dinner so the crazy day continued.

Tuesday, I worked than went to the IDEA store and out to dinner. 

It has been one crazy week. With work and family it has been a bit hectic and keeping up with gifts, etc. 

I will update you in a few days when things calm down but I have not forgotten about you. 

Project.. fail

So you know this whole series on my christmas gifts, well i was making mother-in-law part 2 and terribly failed, but alas your going to have to wait for that. I also have one of my favorite gifts I am working on now for you.. so stay tuned I am still alive. 

Sparkles.. Guest POST

Hi guys, I am taking a break today while my friend Emily over at http://emjoyable.tumblr.com takes over with some sparkle for your holidays. 

*****

Hi!

My name is Emily, and I'm just thrilled that Steph let me pop in to Pumpkin Love to help celebrate the holidays! While Steph is crafting away at some darling gifts, I want to jump in with some ideas for creating a festive backdrop for your Christmas cheer!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is coming home to an apartment that has been Elf-ed — yes, I did turn the Will Ferrell film into a verb. Nothing beats coming home from work to a home that smells like cinnamon, literally twinkles and looks like Christmas exploded! Here's a couple DIY essentials to help turn your home into a Winter Wonderland. The best part might even be that they can all be made for about $5.

Scented Holiday Wreath

Pick up a plain wreath. I found some at the dollar store for a buck a pop. Tie a bow with your favorite red ribbon. Use applesauce, cinnamon (recipe here) and cookie cutter letters to spell out your favorite holiday word. Use hot glue to secure the letters to the wreath. Hang it from your desk to brighten up your office a bit.

A Touch of Sparkle

Before it snows, run outside and grab a couple small branches. Stay outside, and spray the branches with a healthy amount of glitter spray paint (like this kind here). Let the sparkly sticks dry, and then place them in a vase. Tie a red ribbon around them too if you're feeling really crazy! (I got this idea from the oh-so-fitting blog called Glitter Guide via Pinterest.) 

Deck the Halls with Yarn & Pipe cleaners

Go to the holiday aisle at any store from Target to Farm and Fleet and you're bound to find a sign with a string of holiday words to hang from your wall. Don't pay $20 for a cookie cutter decal that hundreds of other people have - make your own! Go to Hobby Lobby and grab some pipe cleaners and yarn. Bend the pipe cleaners into one of your favorite holiday tag lines, like "Deck the Halls," "Peace on Earth" or "Merry Christmas." Then, wrap the yarn around the letters. Hang with Command Strips and you have your very own, beautiful wall-hang! (Check out more tips for this craft here.)

How do you craft your Christmas?

Coming soon

On monday, my friend, Emily is going to guest post here! about Christmas decorations for your house! Can't wait.

A Dirty Job

I read some books by Christopher Moore a couple years ago on my husbands request.. loved them.

A Dirty Job was the first I read.

I loved it

Read more about it here

Well, I saw this picture on Indie fixx . com and I could help but think about this book..

especially the souls part

Any body else, know what I am talking about? 

ok. i know, i am the only crazy one out there.

Christmas gifts.. Mother-in-law part I

I talked about creating christmas gifts here

Christmas gift for my sister here

Christmas gifts for my husband here

This post I am going to start my mother-in law's gift. 

Back story: She doesn't normally give christmas presents like my husband, but this year it different. I "stole" my mother-in-laws sewing machine a couple months ago and made all of those scarves, etc here. and her only request was that I use her sewing machine to make her gift.

I talked about inspiration here of this picture

This is my rendition..

I cut out 11 hearts out of book pages, folded in half and sewed down the middle.

The red one was made of corrugated paper and I sewed all the way around it. 

I paid $8 for the frame.. THATS IT!!

What do you think?

(stay tuned for part II)

christmas gifts .. husband

So I talked about christmas gifts here and told you about the stockings for my sister here

This post is about my husband

my husband, doesn't usually do christmas gifts, but this year is different. 

We decided to give "cheap" relatively useful gifts.

Back story: My husband, LOVES airplanes, not like little kid obsession, i MEAN LOVE like points out every airplane in the sky and states what it is and if it is on his airplane on the day/week/month list. Well, he is building an experimental biplane in our garage. 

I found the shadow box at Hobby Lobby for $12

The airplane for $8 from Hobby Lobby

The washers, map and flip switch for $1.25 from the I.D.E.A store

Total: $21.25.. woo hoo!

Put it al together.. what do you think?

It can also be used for a white board/chalk board thing for a to-do list/ parts board. 

Christmas gifts.. sister (& her boyfriend)

I talked about christmas gifts here and how i want to craft EVERYTHING

This post is about gifts for my sister

I spent $4 on the main gift.

I bought a grain sack and fabric from the i.d.e.a store 

for $4

cut a pattern, added fabric and sewed them together 

and WA-la!

stockings. I love them.  

(sorry for the bad picture, but i know my sister is going to see this)

I filled them with a bunch of goodies.

What do you think?

About $10 each (except a gift card) 

What do you think?

2nd annual ugly sweater party

we talked about out party last year here

Here are the pictures from this year..

Best outfit(s)

Best sweater

Co-host

What do you think of the outfits for this year?

that good huh?

I think next year is going to be hard to beat but i think i already have plans in the making.

Did you go to an ugly sweater party this year?

Goals.. of the christmas orientations

We talked about some goals here of the lifestyle orientation.. we are going to

 talk about goals of the christmas orientation today.

Let's get one thing straight.. IT FREAKIN' EXPENSIVE.

Number two: I am broke.

My goal for christmas is to .. make everyones gift or at least part of. 

I will have a series of things i am making for everyone and I have already started..

christmas gifts..

any ideas for the family? What are you guys planning? making or buying?

Found on pinterest.