Yummy Pinecone Treats

Squirrels have a bad rap. I don't care, I think they are adorable.

I had this cutie pie hoarding my walnuts for the winter:

I was reminded that I needed to do a homework project with my son that involved helping these little guys get through the winter.

Yummy Pinecone Treats

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Supplies

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-pinecone

-twine

-peanut butter (I used chunky for more nuts!)

-seeds (I had sunflower seeds leftover from the summer. They love them!)

Directions

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-Tie a piece of twine around the top of the pinecone, trying to get under all the little "petals"

2. Spread some peanut butter all over the pinecone.
3. Roll your pinecone in your seeds, trying to coat it as well as possible.

4. Hang it up!

Also, check out this yummy wreath for your furry and feathered friends. Of course, you need to live in a place where it's freezing. (Yup, I definitely do!). For instructions on how to make this for your own yard, click on the picture.

Imposters!

I was happily paging through Better Homes & Garden's 100 decorating ideas under $100 magazine, when I found this!
I stared in shock.
I guess I wasn't as original as I had thought! ;)

If you want to check out my oh-so-cooler version, click here.

Back to the drawing board!

6th Annual Festival of Lights

What started out as a good friend coming over to help us put up Christmas lights on our old apartment while drinking beer has become a full-blown festival every year.

We (as in my husband and our friend) have lovingly termed this occasion as the "Festival of Lights."

Basically, we drink beer to make the chore of putting up Christmas lights a little more tolerable. Plus the beer helps us cope with the freezing temperatures (which, if you have any knowledge of anatomy, isn't true).

The antics of this day have become legends.

Here's some highlights of our day:

The fridge ready and raring to go.

My husband with his safety helmet gearing up to put lights on the roof. You'll notice that the them for the party was "hats." So don't make fun of mine!
We also do a Dollar Store gift exchange, which always makes for the best presents. Vanessa sporting her new safety goggles. She had the greatest penguin hat.
Vanessa showing off her new Fight Club action figure.
Mike got a new stick pony with the matching "cowgirl" hat. Yes, there were many Brokeback Mountain jokes that night.
I was sporting my new fuzzy frog slippers. My daughter loved them! Yes, the kiddos got presents, also! They really get into the festivities. Hailey got a dollie, John received a whoopee cushion, and Will has a magic trick card set.
Did you dig the "Elmer Fud" hat? Hey, it was warm!

Keith received Kiss (as in the band!) M&M's.

Jeff got War card games.
Alicia was rocking our her new glasses. Also being rocked hard-core: her new 74 cent Younkers "J-Lo" hat.
Joe got a brand new recorder (his old one was accidentally busted over my knee after a 2 hour concert in my car.)

There were more gifts, but unfortunately my camera was left in the garage for about an hour, and the lens was terribly fogged. Sorry!

The women enjoyed some red wine. I'm being my usual dorky self.

Though I honestly believe there was more antics going on than actual work, in the end, everything looked great!

We are putting up more in the next few days, but at least the hard stuff is already done!

Featured!

I've been featured over at The DIY Showoff again!
I'm a hard-core follower of this blog, and if you aren't, you should be!!
Click the image above to go check out the feature and tell Roeshel "hi!"

Ornament Redone

I received this ornament from my mother-in-law. How did she know that I love stars? =D
Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of glitter. So she gave me free liberty to do with it as I pleased.

So I sanded it down...

spray painted it maroon...
distressed the entire thing...
and wrote "Noel" with a white paint pen.
Definitely more "me."

And here's a sneak peek of my major project:

Sorry it's so small. I cropped the photo like crazy so that you wouldn't exactly see what I'm doing.

Anyways, tonight we're getting our tree, so look for that post tomorrow!