Variety Pack of Stuff + Cookie Recipes

Yeah wow, sorry I haven't been around much!  There's so much to do to prepare for the holidays, especially when we're the ones hosting this year!  Goodness me.  And especially when it's your first time hosting a major holiday with a large group too.  Goodness me, again.

I did manage to squeeze in our holiday cards though.  Every year I like to do something a smidge handmade since I find many store bought cards lacking in personality and aesthetic.

Making your own holiday cards, or cards in general, doesn't have to be a daunting task.

The burlap* cards themselves were pre-made and I picked those up at Joann Fabrics (no longer available but can be made with burlap, blank cards,* and ModPodge*).  I already had the gold stars from a previous year's round of cards and simply cut felt tree triangles.  After blops of hot glue, the cards were ready to be signed with cheery wishes and sent.

In the process, I came across a few of last year's cards which were an idea I snitched from something I saw on Pinterest.

Paint color cards cut in tree shapes, yep!  Again, the blank card kit* was from Joann.  Glued the trees on with a glue stick then I drew the stars with a silver paint pen.  Cute, yeah?  Easy peasy.

In the mean time though I'm having a rough go of it lately, feeling out of joint, missing Hailey in The.Worst.Way.

Hailey in my parent's day lilies several years ago.

Yesterday Mike asked if I'd mix up pancake batter for breakfast.  You wouldn't think that would be such a.) an unreasonable request nor b.) such a big deal.  They're pancakes.

But I had just sat down to eat some pancakes for breakfast, took one bite on that most horrible of mornings when my world imploded, the unthinkable happened and we lost our girl.  I haven't had pancakes since.  I was a crying mess through breakfast yesterday and bent out of shape all day.  I felt bad for Mike because he felt so bad just asking for pancakes.

Too, having guests over will be a painful in-my-face reminder that Hailey is not with us.

So I'm finding the holiday season to be tough right about now.

Well.  Anyway.

Today was the start of cookie baking, which makes lots of people I know mighty excited.

This year I'm making the ever-popular, always-requested Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, a given.  Today I started these Mexican Tea Cookies I haven't made before, only to discover they need to be refrigerated so I kept moving down my list.  Also this year are Cinnamon Peanut Butter Cookies, a recipe I have in this great cookbook my folks gave me for Christmas one year, Woman's Day Desserts,* but I found the recipe online for you too.  Then lastly, another new-to-me will be these Iced Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies, likely without the icing as it seems to me the maple will muddle the flavors of the cookie.

I did discover a bonus attribute of the wine glass rack I installed, by the way -- a couple a' magnets and it's a recipe holder.  Sweet!

But of course this plops me into one of my fave rooms:  our kitchen.  I'm grateful to have a kitchen mind you, but this one is so inefficient and frustrating especially when I'm in cuckoo cookie-baking-mode.  I found myself searching for replacement cabinet doors online today between cookie batches just to at least tweak the way the room looks if anything, if I can't rework the entire room yet or don't get the chance to do so.

See, the flipper, he combined traditional aspects with sorta modern-ish elements but not in a deft way -- nothing here works together for me.  And anyway, traditional ain't my thang.  To each their own, right?

Originally I was thinking of painting the cabinets but I don't think these doors are even made of actual real wood and when Finn gets going, he's pouncing on toys in there, inevitably scratching his nails across them all.

I doubt even oil based paint would hold up to gigantic riled up puppy nails on "wood."  Though, I will say, these doors don't seem to show riled up puppy nail scratches so they do have one sole plus.


I could paint the cabinet boxes then replace the doors in a hopefully-budget-friendly way, like an unfussy, clean, modern slab door.  But maybe that's too contrasty and too retro-y in the wrong way.

I've had some interesting, clever ideas (if I do say so myself, I know, thank you) but they would have to be thoroughly presented to Mike first as of course me, they're atypical and unusual.  But cool though, and I haven't seen anything like my ideas before.

Soooo.....Heh.  I can hear Mike panicking all the way from work as he reads this.

Sorry I don't have more for you today.  My goal for by the end of Saturday is to get some dimmer switches in and replace the bulbs in the new foyer fixture I'm still not sure about.  I also intend to install that master bedroom closet light fixture.  In case you've been wondering, here is the fixture I purchased on eBay (no longer available, sorry but here's a link to shop*).  I spent more than I had desired but I couldn't stop stalking this fixture either.

So much to clean, prep, organize, do, shop for before the holiday next week, it's cramping my house to-do list progress!  ;)

One last thing:  best wishes to my brother in law Bob, Heidi, and the girls.  Oreo will be sorely missed.  We'll be tearily thinking of you all, our hearts heavy and sad.

*The blank card kits and Woman's Day Desserts are an Amazon affiliate links and the eBay light fixture was an eBay affiliate link.  Too, the products from Joann are also affiliate links.  Mwah, thanks!