GIANT Ginger Cookies

All I can say about this recipe is, these are DELICIOUS! You must try them. If you love the taste of ginger, these are the cookies for you. I've been making these since 2004, and I just love them!

Combine in a bowl:

4 1/2 C. Flour

4 tsp ground ginger

2tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

In another bowl:

1 1/2 C. Shortening-beat with mixer for 30 sec.

Add in

2 C. Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 C. Molasses

combine wet and dry ingredients

Roll into 2 inch balls and then roll them around in a bowl filled with about

1/2 C. Sugar

Place them on a baking sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart and

Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 min.

Let cool on a cooling rack for 10 min. Then,

EAT AND ENJOY!

A Merry Wreath

Simple and under $10

I really wanted to make a wreath this year, but didn't have a ton of money to do it. My goal was to spend less than $10. ACCOMPLISHED!! I found a very simple wreath at Walmart for $2. Nothing great, but it does the job. Then I found these snowflakes in a pkg. of 2 for only $1 at JoAnn Fabrics. They needed a little sparkle though.
I also found the glitter at JoAnn Fabrics for .99cents and had the sparkle glaze on hand. All I did was put a quick coat of sparkle glaze on the snowflake and sprinkle on the glitter.

Make sure to work over a piece of paper to save yourself a huge mess. You'll still end up looking very glittery doing this project.

I love glitter...makes everything look so pretty.

Next, I wired it to the wreath so that it would hand in the center.
Also at JoAnn Fabrics I found this cute ribbon for around $3.50.

A simple bow for the top of the wreath.

Then I wired on some extra Christmas bulbs I had in red and green!

Very simple, but pretty enough to hang on our front door! Better yet, it can be used year after year.
I linked up to these parties:

Oh Christmas Tree

It has been our family tradition to decorate our house every year on the day after Thanksgiving! The tree has always been my favorite part. It has come to be quite the eclectic collection of ornaments. We choose one every year and you can tell this family is full of male influence.
I love to make Christmas decorating whimsical! It's a wonderful time of year to think like a kid again. I found this tree topper at Home Depot, part of the new Martha Stewart line of Christmas decor. And, the letter J was our wedding cake topper! I love that we can incorporate it into our tree!

This Dinosaur we found at Macy's a few year back. Our son Jaxon picked it out! Can you tell what he was into that year?!

A little, metal Gingerbread man along with a salt dough one that I made last year.

An ornament that was on our wreath a few years ago.

My husbands favorite sport.

A sparkly little snowman.

A few vintage looking items.

Old fashioned glass ornaments.

And you can't forget about Thomas The Train. The gift Santa brought last year. I love how every ornament tells a story from years past. This is our family tree.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I linked up to these parties:

Thrift Store Cheese Dome

I've seen tons and tons of blog tutorials on how to make over a cheese dome and incorporate it into your decor. I know, I'm being a copycat! I just couldn't pass this up when I found it at a thrift store for $2.80. This is a cute, inexpensive project. However, I probably won't be linking it up to any parties...once you seen one, you've seen them all!
First, I gave it a good sanding. It looked like it was from the 70's or 80's. It was impossible to get all the glue off that held a floral, decorative plate to set the cheese on. It was so ugly, I threw it away before taking a BEFORE picture!

I chose to paint it black. It just goes with most of my decor!

Thank goodness for acrylics...they dry in no time!

Here it is all done. It can be used for any season. Fun for a collection of mini-ornaments, seashells, or small gourds like I did above. If you ever come across one in a thrift store, give it a try. It's a cute, little addition to anywhere in your home.

The Johnson Family Christmas Card

Candy Boxes Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

An Amazing Promo for Bloggers!

Christmas is soon approaching and if you're anything like me, you start thinking of what photo cards you'll be sending to your friends and family! A fellow blogger let me in on a little promotion going on through the website SHUTTERFLY.

I just could not pass up this opportunity. They have a collection of the cutest Holiday photo cards.
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

How does 50 FREE holiday cards sound? Amazing, right!? How can you pass this up? All you have to do is:

Write up a 150 word Blog about your favorite SHUTTERFLY Holiday cards, send your readers to your favorite products including 3 links, share on twitter or Facebook about this promotion, then submit your blog post back to SHUTTERFLY. How easy is that!

Just by doing these simple things, you can earn yourself some super cute holiday greeting cards. Not only do they have Holiday cards, but also Calendars

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and Baby Announcements

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So, So many fun things to choose from.

I hope you'll go check out SHUTTERFLY'S promotion
http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Give yourself the gift of ADORABLE Greeting Cards this Holiday Season!

White Turkey

I found this little Terra cotta turkey at a local thrift store for $1.80 while my husband and I were looking through clothes to make his Halloween costume! I have no Thanksgiving decorations, so I figured I could spruce him up somehow!

Lately, I've been seeing a ton of decor painted in a high, gloss white. I just love how modern and clean it makes any decor look. So, that's what I decided to do with the turkey!
I used this Appliance Epoxy(1. because I had it on hand *FREE and 2. I used it on my dollar store monster figurines, and it worked great)

I happened to come across this picture of a Turkey in a William Sonoma add...how cool!!! It's amazing how expensive things cost in popular home stores, but if you take a little time and effort, you can usually make it for next to nothing!


Here is the finished product!!! For around $2, I have a cute, white turkey to display during the month of November. I strongly encourage anyone to dig through thrift stores, consignment shops, estate and garage sales! There are so many treasures to be found.
I linked up to these parties: