The Second Day of our Christmas...

On the SECOND day of our Christmas, the gift we gave our kids were: HOMEMADE STOCKINGS!

Okay, I didn't bust these out in a day. Not at all. But I found a GREAT pattern on Pinterest back in September, planned ahead and then learned how to embroider - then I got to work!
First, hats off to a GREAT pattern here at the Fabricworm Blog, it was great for a beginner like me.
I hit up Joann's and everyone picked out their favorite fabric and name color to give them a personal touch but I love that they are simple, clearly homemade (but not tacky!), and still let us all have our own style about them.
The kids are in awe of them and I have to admit, the new stockings actually got mention in my son's letter to Santa.

I'm kind of a big deal around here.

Working momma dinner strikes again!

I am addicted to pinterest. The creativity and great time saving tips I've been able to find are just great. However, it is the recipes that keep getting me. My family thinks some sort of recipe renaissance has exploded in my head....but really, I've abandoned my Farmville crops and shifted my evening obsession to pinning things to make our lives better!


Sometimes though, some of these recipes are still a little more work than a full time working, full time student, mother of two has time for! So I have to make some tweaks, but still get some awesome results.


This recipe started through pinterest from the great blog Iowa Girl Eats (link here: http://iowagirleats.com/2012/01/30/super-bowl-recipe-week-mini-corn-dog-muffins/) my son saw them on the board (oh yeah, he checks out the pins too) and immediately wanted them. I looked at the recipe and realized "I can be lazy on these!" So I was.


LAZY Corn Dog Muffins

1 - package of hotdogs
2 - boxes of Jiffy Mix Corn muffin
shredded cheese, if you're into that (we are!)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees


Cut hotdogs into 1 inch chunks
Prepare Jiffy mix and pour into mini muffin tins, about 3/4 full
Push 1 section of hot dog into the middle of each dog
Bake for roughly 10 minutes, until the muffin is golden brown

*you can sprinkle with cheese before baking if you want or get it on thereright as it comes out of the oven.


The end result?




Delish. The kids were so excited I had to start plating right away, no time for fancy pictures - but here's one of the end result. And the pickiest six year old ate six of these!! The one year old packed away FOUR (don't ask me how she did it). It was a hit.


And for my husband who declared I was goin to need a lot more muffins, I made some grown up ones too. Same recipe but in a standad muffin tin, still filled 3/4 full but with TWO hot dog sections in it and then baked for about 10 minutes.


Daddy's plate:


Super easy. Super fast. And SUPER yummy. The reviews at home were great! Welcome to the recipe rotation little corn dogs. This would be a GREAT recipe to get your kid chef involved on too...mine was too busy playing outside to be troubled this day!

Multitasking Mom skills

Today, I accomplished multiple goals by doing on project. That's what I call multitasking :)

I should have cleaned the house, wrote a paper due for school tomorrow, started a stack of work I brought home with me, or done some laundry. But instead, I cleared out the dining room and set up.....MY NEW SEWING MACHINE!

My mom got me one for Christmas after I'd gotten some help from my mother in law on learing to sew and making a doll for my daughter for Christmas - and I mostly fell in love with all the possibilities I could do.

As an avid pinner, I've been stockpiling things to make to improve our homes and lives (that's what all my pins WILL do, right?) but hadn't really gotten the guts/time to get something started.

Until my sweet little boy who is turning 6 in a couple of weeks turned to me and said he sure would like a blanket sewed to match a handmade pillow his grandma made him last Christmas. And his final request? Sure would be cool if I could do it.

Grandma and I hit up the fabric store Saturday - and they were sold out of the EXACT fabric to match the pillow. We found the same family though. And thanks to a great pinterest link (Click here for the patten)- I was on my way.

It's basic and simple. It took about an afternoon to do. But more importantly - it was my first solo project. And it was for my little boy. And that moved it to the top of the list, here's the final result and I'm VERY happy with it!

Striped side:

Even got some fancy stitching on there!

The flip side is frogs and snails - perfect for my boy!

The goals achieved? I sewed something. I made something from Pinterest. And most of all? I made my son's day - before furthering my career or education, I'm still a momma loving to go the extra mile to make the memories we're both going to cherish :)