My Top 10 Favorite Posts from 2010

I have seen top 10 lists on other sites and I thought it might be nice to do one of my own. I have only posted sporadically this year and I hope to post more often in 2011. Here are my top 10 posts for 2010!!

1.)  Gazebo Chandelier: I loved this project because it really added to the new gazebo and cost very little. https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/gazebo-chandelier/

2.) Harry Potter Birthday: This was fun and my son loved it. What more could a mother want? https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/harry-potter-birthday/

3.) Dessert Cups: What a great way to make an ordinary dessert special. https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/48/

4.) Princess Party: This cake was a challenge but in the end it was just what the princess wanted.

https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/princess-party/

5.) Vacation Picture Frame: This was a wonderful way to preserve our memories.

https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/vacation-picture-frame/

6.) Card Display: This Project was very easy and I might do it again next year.

https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/christmas-card-display/

7.) Inspiration: I still have not worked on that chair. I hope the chair makes it into my top 10 for 2011.

https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/inspiration/

8.) Deck Chair Redo: Well the deck is covered with snow. I can’t wait to sit on the deck next summer and watch the kids play. https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/deck-chair-redo/

9.) Summer Gift Bag: How simple and inexpensive. I have to keep my eye out at the local Target next summer. I need to pick up more. https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/summer-gift-bag/

10.) Kid’s Craft Center Organized: unfortunately it doesn’t look that great right now. It’s something I struggle with all the time. I am toying with having a weekly organization post in 2011.

https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/kids-crafts-center-organized/

Onward to 2011. I hope to get organized, clear out clutter and find some balance.

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Yummy Apple and Onion Pork Roast

I love to cook. However, I’m not the best at following recipes. I like to add a little of this and that, so I hope you enjoy this dish. I buy a whole pork loin when it goes on sale for 1.99 a pound. I usually make spicy pork sandwiches with it. I decided to try something new. I took the loin and cut it in three parts, one for tonight’s dinner, one to freeze and one for the spicy pork sandwiches (I’m making them for New Year’s Eve).

Apple and Onion Pork Roast

1 pork roast

1/2 cup and a teaspoon divided of Honey mustard

4 potatoes

olive oil

onion seasoning (I use Onion, Onion from Tastefully Simple)

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon butter

4 small apples

2 small onions

2/3 cup apple cider

1.) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2.) Salt and pepper on the roast and cover it with honey mustard. (Maybe a half a cup). Mine took about an hour and twenty minutes (the internal temp should be 160). I wish I had taken a picture of the roast when I took it out of the oven, it looked great.

3.) While that is cooking, cut up several potatoes and toss them with olive oil and some onion seasoning. Put them in the oven. Stir them every so often.  Take them out when they are crispy.

4.) Next is the apple and onion toping. Cut up 4 small apples. (I used Gala because that’s what is in the fridge) Cut up 2 small onions. Put both in a pan with one tablespoon of butter. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

5.) Stir often. Let it cook until the apples have softened. Add the apple cider.

6.) When the cider has reduced to about half add the mustard. Stir and let cook for a few minutes. Then remove from the heat.

To plate, put the roast in the center of a serving dish and add the potatoes around it. Put the Apple and onion topping on the roast. Enjoy!!

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Christmas 2010

Now that the Christmas is over I have a little time post about our Christmas. Every Christmas Eve we read the kids The Night Before Christmas. For the past two years my oldest has read it to the younger children.

Then we leave cookies out for Santa. This year I didn’t get to the cookie baking so Santa had to make do with Vienna Fingers and Oreos.

We mixed things up a bit and went to church on Christmas Day. It wasn’t crowded like the Christmas Eve masses. Who knew? We then had a wonderful dinner with family.

Here are some pictures from around the house.

I took a branch that my husband trimmed from the tree and decorated it. This is the vase from my fall branches project.  https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/fall-branches/ I added lights and silver balls to the vase. Then I put snowflakes and silver butterflies on it.

Here is my picture card wreath that I described in the Christmas card display post. https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/christmas-card-display/

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Christmas Card Display

Every year I tape the photo cards that we receive to a door in my kitchen. It gives me pleasure to glance at them during the day.  When they are taken down I save them to scrapbook in a Christmas album. That’s another great tip. It’s so neat to look through the album and see how the families change and grow. Every year I line them up and cover the door. This year I wanted to change it up a little. I cut evergreen branches out of dark green vinyl and put them on the door in the shape of a wreath. I spaced the branches out because eventually most of the space will be covered.

My cards are arriving and I can’t wait to see it filled.

Do you have a tradition when the cards start to arrive? Are you ready to change it up?
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Holiday Pictures

One way to find great ideas for your pictures is to check out you local parks. Often you can do “location scouting” by looking a the websites for the parks. I decided to take our picture among the birch trees after reading this blog.

http://positivelyptown.com/2010/10/12/swamp-creek-park-where-dreams-soar/

Another thing I love to do is pack at least one set of color coordinating outfits for vacation and have a photo shoot. You never know when you are going to get that great picture.

Where do you take your holiday pictures?

Holiday Planning Update

Here is an update to my holiday planning post. https://mommyidea.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/holiday-planning/
I’m off to a great start. I have ordered the cards and calendars. I went to the post office while my daughter had dance class and got stamps. Having the cards finished is great because it’s always something I leave until the last minute and that’s stressful.

Now, do I have all my Halloween stuff put away yet?  No. It’s in the garage because I want to sort through it and get rid of what I don’t use. We’ll see if that gets finished before I bring up the Christmas boxes.

Coffee Filter Ornament

I love the coffee filter wreaths and thought I would see what the filters looked like on a glass ball. I folded the filters.

I then attached the filters on the ball with hot glue.

I then covered the ornament with the filters.

It’s a little big to put on a tree unless the tree is very large but it might look great in an entryway.
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Christmas Ornaments

I’m working on homemade gifts for the family. I bought a few boxes of glass ornaments. I decided to personalize an ornament for each family member. I removed the gold hanger and stuffed each ornament with basket filler.

I put the top back on. I then cut vinyl designs with my Silhouette SD. I also cut out letters to personalize each ornament.

I think they look cute!! The great thing is the you can creat so many designs or you can coordinated many ornaments for a matching tree.

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Christmas Cards

 

Every year I look forward to the arrival of Christmas cards. Well, I do start to feel a little pressure once the first one comes. Can I get the perfect picture? Will I get them out in time? I love to send picture cards for Christmas and love to receive them. I hang them on a door in my kitchen as soon as they start arriving. At the end of January I take all the family pictures down and save them for my Christmas scrapbook. I have two pages every year of pictures from the cards. I can flip through the pages and look at growing families. There is something wonderful about the ease of ordering cards on the internet. I tell myself that I’m going to get them out early and then I am up at midnight one night working on then so that they will arrive on time. This year I’m setting a goal of getting the cards out by the first week in December. (We’ll see if that happens.)  http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards Shutterfly makes this fantastic card. We had a wonderful year and I’d love to use lots of pictures of the kids. What a bonus I don’t have to find the perfect picture!!

Every year I send wall calendars to our grandparents. Last year I bought the Shutterfly calendar because of their great designs. http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars  They remind me of scrapbooks. I think I’m choosing the flower market design this year. It look so pretty.

Another thing I like to use Shutterfly for is their photo greeting cards. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/folded-greeting-cards I can take a picture of the kids playing with a new toy or having fun at a party and then send the card directly to the recipient or host.

Do you send picture cards? Do you try to get the perfect picture?

Are you a blogger? Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, follow the arrow à  http://bit.ly/sfly2010  Make sure to indicate that sent you.

Fall Branches

I made this decoration using things I found around the house. This vase has been sitting underneath my sink for years.  The branches were taken from my parents back yard and painted black. My son collected the rocks from a beach trip last year. The whole thing cost nothing and I think it makes a nice fall look.

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