Merry Christmas! (Simplicity 1797 View C)

Merry Christmas my lovelies!!

(I know, I know... I am a day late. Better late than never, I always say)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, full of love and happiness.

I had a pretty good one myself.

Christmas Eve-Eve and Christmas Eve were both full of baking and spreading Christmas cheer. In between all of that, I managed to finish my Christmas dress.

Simplicity 1797 in View C, without the bow in the center waist

I love how it all came together!!

I made sure to add red and green details to really bring out the Christmas in it

The back neckline is a low V-neck

I didn't have any trouble with this pattern at all. It was simple to follow and turned out great!

Now for some Christmas pictures...

with my Thea

with my Penny

I got this beautiful Bettie Page purse from Santee Clause.

I just love the red bow details!

I also got an Ariel coin purse perfect to tote my lipstick in.

I must have been a very good girl!

In the evening, my sister-from-another-mister came over and we played games with the kids before going down to see a local light show.

The light show was awesome! The lights danced to some Christmas songs from the Transiberian Orchestra and they managed to squeeze in "What Does the Fox Say" and somehow make it all work haha

They gave free pictures with Santa, hot chocolate, and cookies while you wait.

The property is beautiful and it was so lovely to be able to tour the yard to see all the decorations.

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful Christmas Day!!

Now to get ready for a New Year!

XOXOXOX

Lily Bean

Egg Nog Cookies, Where Have These Been All My Life?!?

Hi everyone!

Boy oh by did I get in the baking mood this Christmas!

With all the Christmas movies playing and Christmas songs on my Pandora I couldn't help but let the spirit of Christmas over come me.

I found this wonderful recipe for Egg Nog Cookies and was happy to find that I had everything I needed to make them.

 

 

Here is what you need:

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup eggnog

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

1 tsp nutmeg

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

 

 

Whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix butter and sugar together. Then add egg nog, vanilla extract, and egg yolks and mix until smooth

Add in the flour mix and mix at a low speed until well combined, but do not over mix.

Make teaspoon size balls of dough and place them about 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet.

I found they came out better when i smashed each dough ball down a bit with the palm of my hand.

Sprinkle them with nutmeg and then bake at 300 for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. 

 

 

 These cookies are amazing for anyone who enjoys egg nog. They complimented my morning coffee quite well!

 

I was sure to share some with my dear friend and neighbor on Christmas day <3 

 

 

I hope you enjoy these while egg nog is still being stocked in markets. I know I will be buying plenty more egg nog!

 

XOXOX

Lily Bean

 

p.s. Here's the last Christmas outfit I photographed

My shirt says "JUST HOW GOOD DO I HAVE TO BE?"

 

My Christmas Dress (Butterick B5603 View A)

Wow! Christmas came and went like a flash of lightning!

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

I have been keeping very, very busy since beginning my winter break from school.

Here is the dress I made for Christmas

 

 

(Please excuse the pup running by and her foxy toy at my feet lol)

 

 

I adore this dress! As you may already know (by the tattoo on my arm) i love boughs of holly! i got this fabric after Christmas last year and I am so happy with the way the dress turned out.

 

I had a wonderful Christmas! I baked, and baked, and baked. (Recipes to come)

 

XOXOX

Lily Bean

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

XOXOXOX,

Lily Bean

We need to play catch up...

Hi everyone! Well we have some catching up to do. I am finished with finals and just found out i got A's in all 4 classes!! So awesome! I kept my 4.0. Time to celebrate...

I have 4 weeks of winter break!

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I am preparing for my next "end-of-semester-tuition-reimbursement-tattoo". I will be getting a cartoon '57 Chevy Bel Air on my left lower arm.

Hoping to be able to get it before my winter break is over but it all depends on my tuition reimbursement.

 

I have washed and ironed 2 loads of fabric. I have never been happy to iron so much! For one, I was excited to finally use my new iron and two I was so happy to finally have time for crafting.

 

Of course I can't show you anything I am crafting that is a Christmas gift until it has been received. But as soon as I am done making my gifts I can start on my Christmas dress. Today I finally decided on Butterick B5603 View A in this holly material with red accents.

 

 

I have taken a few Xmas outfit pictures but dealing with all the issues of this past week I have forgotten to snap pix on most days.

 

"Hey Santa I may be bad but I'm so good at it". This shirt has enough green glitter to last a lifetime! I love it! 

 

I paired it with my tan corduroy mini and my super thick knit winter leggings. They are just like a sweater for my legs. And they have adorable sprakly snowflakes all over.

 

 

How fun is this top! Happy Bunny as a "Gangster Wrapper". I did not get a full outfit picture when wearing this shirt (it was the night of my final) but I promise the rest was bland anyways. Just black tights with a burgandy corduroy mini.

 

 

I usually don't wear this shirt very much but I fell in love with it paired with this polka dot skirt.

 

 

This is a close-up of the candy cane heart rhinestone design.

 

 

and an artsy shot of my skirt =P

 

 

And lastly (for now) my snowman shirt. I love this outfit <3

 

 

Well that wraps up this post. I will follow up with a post with 2 recipes and another post where I answer the questions offered by Cherie over at The Sewing Lab who nominated me for The Liebster Blog Award. Hooray!! (Thanks again Cherie).

 

Here's a picture of a thick icicle from a drippy hose (no one knew it was even dripping before the freezing night haha). They say we may be in for rain mixed with snow tomorrow... Looks like Jack Frost may finally be here to bring winter.

 

 

 

Baby It's Cold Outside!

 

XOXOX

Lily Bean

Xmas Outfit Day 1 and More Fabric

Hi everyone!

Well My goal is to write and post this in 10 minutes. I have to get to bed to be up by 6A tomorrow so I can get to a craft fair. ( I promise, I will have my 700 million flash cards with me. I will just be there in case help is needed).

I just wanted to share my Christmas shirt and outfit from today:

I wore my pink "I Love Frosty" t-shirt

 

 

I paired it with a tan corduroy mini skirt and striped purple tights.

 

I love funky tights! These have sparkles in some of the stripes!! Too cool!

 

Well I went into Joann's today... I really shouldn't have. I barely have the dough I need to finish shopping and shipping for Christmas. But I did. And I bought fabric.

I have a problem.

I recognize this.

Knowing and admitting is half the battle.

What's a girl to do when the red tag and flannel fabric is an extra 50% off?!?!

Of course I had to buy some!

I have no regrets and no buyer's remorse.

I got all of this for $15.06

 

 

(1 yard charcoal with girly skulls sweatshirt, 2 yards green and white flannel, 1.5 yards white flannel, 1 1/3 yards fox flannel, and 1 2/3 yards magenta flannel)

Feel free to enroll me in Fabricaholics Anonymous.
 

Off to bed!

XOXOXOX

Lily Bean

 

p.s. I only went 5 mins over the time I wanted to spend right now, hooray!
(I expected worse haha)

p.p.s. Here is a "blooper" picture for you. I was planning on posing with a candy cane but Penelope decided I was holding it up for her to try and grab haha. Needless to explain, I was caught mid-laugh in this shot. Crazy pup.

19 Months to go (Paper Chain Countdown to Grad)

Wowwie! I just realized it is already November 1st!

That means I get to tear another ring off my paper chain!!

I was already in my comfy, cozy bug PJs when I realized haha

Only 19 links left!

 

I did make it for some candy clearance this morning but did not find any Cadbury "Scream" eggs. I got a bag of Wonka mix, milk duds, Krabby Patty gummies, and tootsie pops all for about $7

 



Another thing I realized just now is that we are 3 weeks from Thanksgiving

ONLY 3 WEEKS!! Whoa! That means 3 weeks from tomorrow is Black Friday. (Probably my absolute favorite holiday ever! You all know how I love to shop for bargains.)

What are your Thansgiving plans?

Still not sure what is happening here but I will probably make my cranberry applesauce and take a stab at my first pumpkin pie. (Is that smart to try for my first time on Thankgiving day??)

More importantly though I will plan my black Friday attack.

And on Black Friday I will become a Christmas Elf

After shopping I always turn on my favorite Rankin/Bass claymation movies and sing along while I wrap gifts. When my movies have all finished I put on my Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas CD and decorate the house.

The Christmas lights are already hung on the roof. When we had to go up to close off the AC units last week I took advantage and fixed up the lights.

I think there's only 4 weeks left in this semester! Time sure flies when you are having fun =P

xoxoxoxox

a very excited Lily Bean, Christmas Elf

my lovely Valentine's tree and waffle agony!

hey everyone! here i am 730 pm on sunday and i haven't studied, not even 1 minute all weekend for my test this week... just don't have the attention span for it right now.

what i did accomplish this weekend is a little cooking, a little crafting, and some much needed sleep

so you want the good news or the bad news first?

ill go with the good: seeing as how i have not gotten to putting away my christmas decor yet i decided that this weekend i would force myself to because the next holiday is only 2 days away: Valentine's Day <3. instead of packing up my tree i redecorated it for vday with some construction paper and yarn

 i made  heart shaped garland out of strips of construction paper

 then i cut some big hearts out and stiched in the word love.

 and cut out some more hearts and stitched in x's and o's

 it was actually good practice at needlework... i'm still at about a 5 year old's level though hahaha

i hope you enjoy my Valentine Tree as much as i do

so this weekend I cooked breakfast cupcakes (mini fritatta's), chicken, and i attempted waffles.

my breakfast cupcakes came out awesome! I will be making them again and make a step by step recipe for you.

 the moment of truth: cutting the first in half and seeing they were cooked all the way through.
PERFECTION

 for dinner saturday i made chicken with white rice and roasted veggies. i used this seasoning as a rub and let it marinade into the chicken for about an hour.

 in the meantime, i washed my rice. it took about 6 rinses til the water was this clear. i started 8 cups of water with 4 bay leaves to boil. once boiling i added my 4 cups of rice (drained from the water it was sitting in to wash), dropped the heat to low, and covered my pot. 20 minutes later i turned off the fire i scooted the pot to another side of the stove. DO NOT PEEK INTO THE POT. let sit for 10 minutes.

 i got a 16 oz bag of frozen veggies and put them in a large ziploc bag with some basil and oregano. shake it up a bit then add a good splash of olive oil and shake well to be sure all are covered evenly with oil and herbs. lay them out on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 mins at 350.

 look how white and fluffy my rice is... mmm mmm! (i may just go heat some up cause it looks so good right now)

 i took my chicken breast and cooked it on my Cuisinart griddler checking until all pink was gone. I sliced it into strips and served it all up. oh boy!

 i followed it up with banana splits! i am so addicted to sprinkles

 i was off the hook cooking dinner today because my uncle stopped by with 2 pizzas

so on to the bad news...

i tried to make waffles, TRIED. i followed the directions on the blueberry mix. i decided fresh strawberries would make it extra scrumptious so i cut some up to add in. i had oiled my waffle iron and i made sure to let them cook long enough but they just would not come out

i debated putting them here at all but thought it would be a good idea for 2 reasons:

1) i am still learning and if anyone else reading this is as new as me, i want to show we all have fails and its part of learning. dust yourself off and go buy some fast food for this meal =P

2) i was wondering if any might have some insight as to what i did wrong. my family thinks maybe it was the fresh strawberries... any suggestions?

things i learned this weekend

-it really stings when oil pops and hits your arm

-even when food does not come out looking as it should, it may still taste good

-spices are pretty rad but i looooove herbs

wow! i guess i better warm that rice now and get some studying in... my test on "blood" is this friday =/ and that's 4 weeks worth of info and i haven't studied much at all.

xoxoxoxo

Lily B. Homemaker