Lilliput Horses- NO! I wasn't drinking when we found these tiny things!

The Lilliput horses

We took a day trip to Nojoqui Falls outside of Buellton, California yesterday....it was muddy but so pretty. Of course when you go to the Santa Ynez area, you MUST visit Solvang, and I think we've added a regular yearly visit to the Quick Silver miniature horse farm to our stops, you can view some of their lovely little creatures at  Quick Silver Miniature Horse Farm. This little horse is Gabby, the handler was bringing her to the immaculate stables for the night, and she SO patiently dealt with my stupid questions and my enthusiastic children. I have to say the impulse to hug and snuggle this little tiny horse was tough to control.
Did I happen to mention the hike, Solvang and viewing the little horses was Free?

The 3rd Christmas Stocking

3rd Christmas Stocking SVG

Let me just say I love Christmas! If I haven't been clear by starting stocking SVG's RIGHT after Halloween, priding herself on being the FIRST in the neighborhood with lights up, annoyed when I'm out after dark, and I see someone else in the neighborhood has so selfishly taken my previous title from me. Yes!  I am the one that is telling the neighbors that their houses are a little "dark", I really do this just to see the husbands make faces. (But seriously MEN, do you do the shopping? Do you try and needle the kids for the toys they asked Santa for? Do you plan the meal? At least try and make some people happy? Put the lights up and stifle it). I love Christmas! I love the school parties (Shelby's turned out fantasic!), the cold weather (hopefully in California we actually get below 70 degrees-which I report, happily, we have  and rain, too!), I love the smells of baking gingerbread cookies, I love the lights, I love the joy of it all, and I really love the music. But something has been eating at me....

 This Stocking! This stocking with the candycanes! I just wanted to get it done, but I just had to try new things. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but it cuts well, and it's really cute. Click on the caption under the SVG and pick up your link. Remember this won't look right until you use your layers window in SCAL, which by the way, they have a new version so you'll get all the bells and whistles. 

Thank you all for your kind words, they mean so much to me, and are truly a bright spot in my day. You all just show that a kind word is worth more than gold. I cannot say enough about how this blogging adventure has brought amazing people into my life, from all ends of this planet. I am so thankful for you and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År, Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun, Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan, Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok, Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom, Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr, Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia, Nadolig Llawen !


 Love, Peace and Blessings to you all...

Peppermint Chocolate kiss cookies

Butter Peppermint Chocolate cookies

I used to use almond extract and roll these in almonds slivers but last year I just fell in love with peppermint bark, so what's better than getting both in a cookie?!

1/2 Cup Margarine    

1/2 Cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 Cup Bread Flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

7 chopped candy canes

30 milk chocolate kiss

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Yield about 2 dozen.

Cream sugar, egg, and vanilla  together. Large bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the creamed mixture. Put the bowl to chill for a little while. Use about a 1/4 cup of flour to put in your palms for rolling the cookie dough. Crunch up your canes. Start rolling your dough keep it about a 1 1/2 inch ball, (too big and they will flatten out, you want them to be almost a ball when they're done cooking). Roll the top part of the cookie ball in your crushed candy cane and place it on your cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until it slightly springs back in the center. While they are baking unwrap your kisses. Immediately push your kiss in the center of your cookie once removed from the oven. Be careful as you move them, the chocolate will hold it's shape until you touch it. But this is when they taste the best.

Save me from the glue gun PLEASE!

Some of the little goodies I made for Shelby & Logan's class. 

For the Jingle Bell Reindeer, I actually had some flocking material from "Stampin' Up" from 15 years ago that I used on the antlers! I cut the antlers on my cricut. Once I figured out that the glue gun worked better, I Cranked these out like I was a factory worker. I did about 54 or so!

The candy cane reindeer where pretty easy, except those googly eyes really peeved me. So tiny, but the kids just loved them. So it makes it all worth it.

Shelby's rebuttal. FYI-- Note=naughty

Just thought I'd share some of my tribulations with Y'all. You see I was just about "done", when the kids and I came home from cvs and the market last Saturday. After shielding my children from "people" who insist on trying to run them over with their carts, cars, and anything that would seriously maim them...I was tired. You see, if you don't have twins that are 7, or basically a boy child that is excited by pretty much everything he sees, then you won't understand how much boys flail their arms, bounce, hide inappropriately behind displays of canned goods, run in the wrong place, talk loudly and generally annoy everyone. If you don't know that this is probably the most annoying young child age there is. (If you know something I don't about future years....imagine me making noises with my fingers in my ears, and making weird noises, not to hear you), well count your self one of the happier ones. If your pregnant with a boy- just pretend I'm insane, I don't want to ruin your happy pregO ride.

But here's the fun part, my daughter has designated herself Logan's lawyer. A lawyer that is allowed to hit her client with her hands, sweatshirt, toys and anything she'd like to within arms reach. (Why? You ask why? Because it's fun! Per Shelby, it's funny to hit him, and watch him be hit with whatever she deems necessary).  Now I know your asking, "why doesn't she stop it? what a rotten mother!" My response is YES I do, but you should know how sneeky those little people are. 

Where was I? OH YES the grocery store with 7 year olds, basically you could call it HELLLLLL! We came home and I wrote the letter to Santa. I told them they had till Monday to shape up...the letter Shelby wrote is her rebuttal. She stomped into her room with the "I'll show you a letter!" stomp, and that is what she came up with. That's my girl!

The Irish Terrorist and a balloon

November 14, 2010 4:53 PM

Close encounters with tinfoil cardboard kind

I used  SvgCuts.com "Out of this world" collection for the planets, Shelby and I loved Venus the best!

So we've made it....I've made it with the help of Jennifer, and Judy (mommies).  I do believe they think I'm a little anal. And the funny thing is I agree with them. My neighbor got us two big boxes that we duct taped together,  the ladies and I cut, covered and painted, and as soon as my kids got home from school they just had to play in it. But my daughter, who owns my  heart, said it needed something MORE,  so she and  I used some more duct tape to make bindings, we covered circles with more tin foil for rivets.  I used some dimensional glow in the dark paint for the stars.

 I was thinking I'd try and make rocks out of paper bags to cover up that portion on the bottom, you know to give it that floating effect. So yes...My name is Belinda and I'm Anal. But other than that I think this is adorable, and the aliens are the cutest I hope to ever encounter. Did I mention I made the antennae's too. Jennifer and Judy help to glue ribbon on the remaining headbands. I used green pipe cleaners, and green pom-poms attached with a hot glue gun.

(Did I ever tell you how I have an irrational fear of alien abduction? Add my tendency to be anal, the thought of ever living in a house in the country doesn't give me the warm fuzzies for very long...it usually goes like this "Oh how wondeful would it be to live in a beautiful place like this, fresh air, animals?..... insects...... and the potential for alien abduction...Honey!! We need to go!")

So besides the sky falling I've recovered SCAL on my Netbook

Star of David SVG

In case you've been wondering, I haven't turned stark raving mad, "things" were not copacetic between the Universe and me. Let me explain, if I can't get my crafty ON, I suffer....and I don't suffer alone.There isn't a need to tell me that I'm not that talented, I know this! I know there are more talented individuals than I...however it is my way of keeping the remaining sanity I have.( I had SOMEHOW started getting script errors on my blogger dashboard, and pretty much every webpage that I used on a daily basis. I couldn't see anyone's blogs. So I had to restore my computer to it's original factory settings and restore or reinstall EVERYTHING. But I'm happy to tell you that I've recovered my SCAL, and my svg's. whew!).

On top of all that I got another SURPRISE. Some of you Mommies know (lucky me just found this out) that when your daughter's teacher asks you to show up for a meeting to discuss the Holiday party, it's not mandatory that you show, granted it's unacceptable to me to agree to something and then NOT show. (Especially to our teachers, they have enough burden to tote around, I'll happily-well dutifully take on a little more to help those in that honorable position) I was the dutiful Mommy and showed. In fact, I was the ONLY one to show. Nothing against the others on the list, whatever their reason, I'm taking it on. To make a ridiculously long and confusing story short and simple, let's just say that NOW on top of all else I get to make a spaceship about 5 feet high, outfit for 9 little 2nd graders/aliens in antennae and alien appropriate threads, organize a holiday party (per the teacher) with no food, no crafts, but with a reindeer theme. Can you hear my sniffles and sobs from where ever you are? I hope so because I don't know if you know this but I really hate to suffer alone. 

Now for the reason I made a Star of David...besides what it means to me, such as Blessed, Favored, Strength, and Survival. It's just downright beautiful to me. As a child, I remember my Grandmother telling me of the Jewish people, the importance of their existence, how beloved they are by God.Because without them I wouldn't have my most favorite man, he was a Jewish man, you may know him, Jesus. The One thing that this beautiful Christmas season is about. Now what I really need to do is repeat that last thing to myself over and over as I'm waiting for a parking space at Target, trying to back out of the space at Target, waiting in line at Target, listening to my children whine in Target, etc etc. Here is my apology...I'm sorry I'm late. I wish I had it done by the 30th of November or before...but darn it...it really isn't my fault.

 I placed little slits in the tops of the inside star, and slits inside of the other star, stickled the heck out of it, and made a little ornament for my son's class, one of his lovely little friends is Jewish, and there will be something made just for her to decorate there, from me. I will beg the Mommies from his class to take pictures, because we know I'll be in the other class, running them reindeer!

In case it isn't clear click on the caption under the picture of the Star for you link, or click on the right side of my page on the Bee's free svg's

In the midst of the Plague I got to craft

The Advent Calendar from Svgcuts.com

The plague visited my house. Really it came about a month ago, and hasn't really left. Like a household guest that is much like fish, after 3 days they both begin to stink. But you all know that when children enter out lives so do the germs, no matter how we clean, the germs come. As I was in the death throes of the plague, when I managed to get my fever down, I felt compelled to get this done for my crafty girl. As I was completing it she'd come take a peep, her face would light up, and she say "Oh Mamma it's beautiful! Where's the candy?".

Just a note to all of you, kind Leo at Svgcuts.com told me to update my SCAL, it was likely the older version was keeping me from completing it in a timely fashion (hahaha as if I could get anything done in a timely fashion). I went from version 2.012 to 2.03 and I've not had any problems since. And the plus side is it was ready for Dec.1st. 

I've survived so this is coming soon

frustrated scream!

Is anyone else having trouble accessing blogs from google dashboard? I haven't been able to access any of the blogs I follow!

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