Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars - Recipe

My Hubby believes that Peanut Butter and Chocolate are part of the major food groups...

At least for him, they are!  So, when I got married one of the first things I had to do was get his favorite no-bake cookie recipe from his Mom and now I try and make it for him every Christmas.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

I know they are not much to look at no matter how you try 

and shape them but they are quite the tasty treat.

2 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Butter

4 Tablespoons Cocoa

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 1/2 Cups uncooked Oatmeal

3/4 Cup smooth Peanut Butter

Add the Sugar, Milk, Butter and Cocoa to a pan on the stove

Bring to a boil for 1 1/2 minutes.

Take off the heat and Add:

 The Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Vanilla to the hot mixture.

 Stir till it is well mixed but still warm to the touch.

 Spoon onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and shape as you choose.

(You need to do this while they are still warm so work quickly but don't burn yourself.)

I use to make these as round drop cookies but now I make these as bars and call them Yule Logs.

Plate and Serve once they have cooled.
These don't last at my house long.
Makes about 2 Dozen "Yule Log Bars"

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn

Beaded Christmas Pendants and Earrings

Bead Art is one of the crafts I like to tinker with from time to time. I enjoy creating fun Christmas Jewelry to wear and give as gifts. While, taking pictures of these earrings and pendants; I couldn't help but think what a fun party pleaser it would be to decorate a small tree or wreath with hand made ornaments, earrings and pendants then have your guests choose a treat as their Holiday gift.

Here are a few of the items I have created just for the fun of it.

 Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree Earrings.

I like to make these in a variety of colors. Some I make on earring wires and others on 

loops so they can be earring charms for my hoop earrings.  

These could also be made as singles and hung as a pendant on a chain.

The Flamingo Pink Trees are to celebrate my Mom being a Breast Cancer Survivor.

It's been 15 years since her diagnosis and treatment and she's still going strong.

Love You Mom!

Christmas Tree Earring - Close up

These trees are made with the following Swarovski Crystal Beads:

4mm crystal cube - base

12mm Margarita bead

10mm Margarita bead

8mm Margarita bead

6mm Margarita bead

3mm Bicone bead - star

This particular tree was done with a bead color called "Vitrail Medium"

and looks like this

One Margarita Bead in Vitrail Medium
The Margarita Bead is shaped like a flower which makes it great for creating the trees.

 The difficult part is getting all 4 sizes of the Margarita beads in the same color.

I've had lots of luck with getting mine from ArtBeads

I like the fact that they have lots of color choices in all 4 sizes.

I used their Rose ones to make my "Flamingo" pink trees and

I'm considering getting some blue ones for a "Blue Christmas" set.

Fun, Fun and more Fun.

And if you want a larger pendant tree in Crystal or Vitrail you can add a 5th 14mm bead.

Larger 5 Tier Tree
This is what a larger tree looks like using the Crystal AB beads

it has 5 levels of Margarita beads including the 14mm on the bottom.

 Along with Trees I create Faeries, Dragonflies, Angels and Snowmen. It just depends on what beads 

and jewelry findings I have on hand or can easily buy as to what I create

Some of my beading supplies 
Beads, tools, wire & wings; with 3 finished Dragonflies and 2 Angles/Faeries in progress.

An Assortment of Beaded Pendants.
The larger snowmen are made from really cool snow textured Beads I lucked up on.
There is an angel made from pearl beads and one from blue crystals.
There is also a large green scalloped drop that looks like an old-fashioned ornament
which I made by recycling the bead off a broken pair of antique earrings.

I just find it fun to mix and match colors and shapes to see what I can come up with.


Here are two projects I recently found on the web that I want to try next.

 Christmas Tree Lights

Another Version of a tree.

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn

Beaded Christmas Ornaments

I like to play with a variety of crafting mediums; so when I came across some really fun shaped crystals in a bag at our local Michale's Craft Store I knew I needed to turn them into Christmas Tree Ornaments.  

These acrylic gems are sold in a bag and are intended to be poured in a bowl or dish to look pretty but since they had holes in them I had to turn them into angels for my tree.  I bought a bag of Green and a bag of Clear which allowed me to create about 30 large and small angels for my tree.

 

I loved these fun shapes and by using a bit of wire and 

some beading accessories I was able to create these fun angels. 

I found the large wings at JoAnn's Fabric and Craft Store and the metal bead caps 

I used for crowns and skirt tippers to hid the wire work at Hobby Lobby. 

I created smaller clear angels using small fairy wings. I also found some fun glittered stars 

and added these great golden drops for a better bit of pop; then with the few left over 

green beads I created a few drops like this one on the end.

I like having one of a kind type ornaments on my tree and I also enjoy using them as decorations on the packages I give out at Christmas time.  This way they are a decorative element on the package and a gift all in one.

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn

Naughty Nick's Sausage Balls - Recipe

Every once and a while I actually find my kitchen; though not nearly enough as my hubby would probably like.  I finally started some of my Holiday cooking and thought I'd share one of my favorite quick and easy recipes.

Naughty Nick's Sausage Balls 

(I like spicy and these little guys do have a kick, so I consider them the bad boys of the party)

 I tweaked the original recipe a bit to get a slightly 

different flavor than the original recipe called for.

I use:

5 oz Sharpe Cheddar - shredded

5 oz Colby - shredded

1 lb - Bass Farm sausage - HOT

3 cups Bisquick

if Nick does not want to be naughty... 

change the sausage to mild you can use all cheddar if you prefer.

I start by mixing in my Bisquick with the shredded cheese.  

This coats the cheese and keeps it from clumping so it mixes more 

easily with the sausage when I add it in.

This is the messy part - add in the HOT sausage and mix it by hand.

This is what the dough looks like once everything has been thoroughly incorporated.

 Pinch off some dough, roll it in a ball and place it on a non greased cookie sheet.

My pan is by Pampered Chef - It's a stoneware product that does not look 

very pretty but it cooks like a charm.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes then reduce to 325 for an additional 15 minutes.

Golden Brown and Delicious!  Yum, Yum!

They are ready to plate up and serve or you can freeze them and 

re-heat later in the stove or microwave.

This recipe makes about 6 dozen 1 1/4 inch spicy gems. 

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn

Glittery Fun for the Holidays - Layered Christmas Ornaments

I love glitter at Christmas time. It's on the fun picks I stick in my Christmas Tree and on many of my store bought ornaments, so naturally I need to add some to ornaments I choose to make along the way.

Here are a few of my hand-made layered, glittery ornaments 
using rubber stamps and Art Institute Glitter.

Layered Poinsettia Ornament

This medallion ornament is made of multiple layers that have been heat embossed with gold embossing powder, trimmed, glittered and layered to produce this final piece. Stamp for medallion is made by Holly Berry House Rubber Stamps - Glitter is by Art Institute Glitter

Tip - For me the key to working glitter projects like this one with ease is
the glue and tip from Art Institute.

 

 Instructions for creating the Poinsettia ornament above

This was the instruction sheet I got when I purchased my stamp, it was a
bit hard to follow but I finally figured it all out.

Layered Glitter Ornament

 This ornament was created by stamping the full image 3 times and heat embossed with silver powder. Stamped twice on mint green cardstock and once on pale yellow.  Then the images were trimmed so they could be layered one on top of the other to create this finished image. Before being assembled each layer was glittered using glue, glue tip and glitters from Art Institute Glitter.

Rubber Stamp is by Sweet Stamps.

 

 Another Layered Ornament

This was created using the same similar steps from above.

Glittered using glue, glue tip and glitters from Art Institute Glitter.

Rubber Stamp is by Holly Berry House Rubber Stamps.
This Medallion is #1625

 Glittered Frame Ornament
You don't have to layer the stamps if you don't want to, for this ornament I heat embossed only one stamping of the image, glittered and cut out the center to add a photo of my kitty "Sherlock".

Glittered using glue, glue tip and glitters from Art Institute Glitter.

Rubber Stamp is by Holly Berry House Rubber Stamps.

Removable Ornament on Christmas Card

I enjoy creating cards where the main image is also a gift.
This card front has a removable Santa Christmas Tree Ornament.
It is attached with removable tape and the gold thread hanger is tucked behind Santa.
Santa is surrounded by layered, glittered poinsettias and there is also a bit
of glitter on Santa's costume and gloves.

Glittered using glue, glue tip and glitters from Art Institute Glitter.

Rubber Stamp is by Holly Berry House Rubber Stamps.
Stamp is Poinsettia Santa #1599 T

I hope this inspires some of you to drag out the glitter and add some sparkle to your holidays.

Grins, Giggles and Glitter,

 Evelyn

Creating a bit of Christmas Fun - Santa ATC, Cards and Celtic Tree Ornament

There's just something fun about creating Christmas crafts for the Holidays and as I get geared up to start some projects; I look to some of my past projects for inspiration and wanted to share just a few of my favorites.   I hope you like them too.

Even if you don't have a lot of time, this one is quick and easy.
 

 Simple Santa ATC (Artist Trading Card)

For this bit of whimsy I used Red velvet like paper, white mulberry paper 

a strip of black and a square of gold
(slits were cut in the square to thread the black strip through)

When I have lots of time to stamp I enjoy creating fun scenes; 

for this Holiday ensemble I incorporated a few extras for some added pop.
 

Christmas Surprise

 The dancer and box were stamped using the masking technique. Then a cut a slit in the tissue paper portion of the box to add the accents of real tissue paper and inserted the Harlequin figure using pop dots along with feathers as accents. The two figures are by Judikins Rubber Stamps and the box is by Love you to Bits Rubber Stamps. The piece was colored with decorative chalks and pastel pencils.

I took my inspiration for this Holiday Card from the Victorian Christmas 

color scheme of burgundy, pink, green and gold.
 

Victorian Greetings

White cardstock that was sponged with decorative chalk became the foundation for the background and the ornaments. The ornaments were stamped and heat embossed with gold powder, then trimmed close into balls. The garland was extended across the card front by stamping it twice. It was colored with gel pens and glitter glue. Decorative gold ribbon was added for accent and the middle ornament was attached with a pop dot to make it stand off the card. Ornament by Alias Smith and Rowe Stamps - Garland & Greetings by Northwood’s Rubber Stamps.

 Another Card using the Victorian Color scheme of burgundy, pink, green and gold.

Glittery Greetings
 These ornaments were stamped using Versamark ink and some fun iridescent embossing glitters
with a few glitter glue accents sprinkled here and there for extra pop.
The ornament rubber stamps are by Hero Arts and the Greeting is by Northwoods Rubber Stamps.

I thought this rubber stamp would make a fun 3-D ornament.
I created this box shape you see here from pink cardstock.
 

Celtic Knot Christmas Tree

Each panel was stamped and heat embossed with gold powder, trimmed matted and attached to this three sided box shape. The bottom was also done with a trimmed down version of this same stamp. Some bells and gold wire ribbon were added for fun.  Rubber Stamp is by Wordsworth.

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn

Christmas - The Nativity - The Magi - Epiphany

I was born in Spain and my mother is Spanish so for me Christmas is all about The Nativity - The Magi (Three Kings) and the Epiphany.  Growing up my mother put less emphasis on Santa and more on the celebration from Christmas Eve Night till January 6th which celebrates the Epiphany (the day the Three Wise Men came paid homage to the baby Jesus.)

The Three Wise Men by EKDuncan

Background paper was made by spraying Peacock fire Glitz Spritz by Lindy's Stamp Gang onto navy cardstock. Wisemen were stamped and heat embossed with black powder onto paper I marbleized with Faskolor paints. Stamp is by Stampendous

Many people do not realize that the 12 days of Christmas are the days from Christmas (Dec 25 till Jan 5) and not the twelve days that lead up to Christmas. Then on Jan 6th we have the Feast day of the Epiphany.  So basically as we in the USA are wrapping up Christmas by the 26th our European cousins are just getting started in their celebrations. Being of both cultures; I basically celebrate all month long and with my birthday on Jan 4th it's just another reason for me to keep having a great holiday time.

 Wooden Nativity - hand cut by my Uncle Kaj and painted by my Aunt Nell

Wise Men Star Ornaments for my tree by Dept 56

Due to this European tie; I have a thing for Wise Men and the Nativity related Christmas images.

 

Here are just a few of my favorite artistic images related to the Magi

These came from a variety of sources and I've listed artistic credit for them where possible.

 From and old Christmas Card - source unknown

Byzantine depiction of the Three Magi in a 7th-century mosaic at Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo

The Mystery of the Christmas Star - by Digistar

A Background Template for your Computer - Wallpaper Link by Marvelsphoto.com

Alter-piece from Florence Italy

"Adoration of the Magi" 

By the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, from 1462.

Representation of the Three Kings - Source unknown

 John Hall Thorpe - The Wise Men - 1925

Old Christmas Card - source unknown

 Old Christmas Card - source unknown

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn