CHRISTMAS CARDS????

Is it to early?  December 1st is just around the corner so it's time to start thinking about it!

Stop back by SCS on Monday and we may just have a DEAL for you?!?!?!  See you then and have a great weekend!

~SCS~

An Elf Tradition



Courtesy of http://www.amazon.com/

 I heard of the Elf on the Shelf a few years ago and thought it was a cute idea.  Now that my daughter is a little older I decided this would be a great year to introduce this tradition to our family.  If you are unfamiliar with The Elf on the Shelf you can check out the website. 

The idea is that your family adopts an Elf, which you name, then your Elf watches over your household during the day and at nighttime comes to life and reports back to Santa.  Here is where you can get creative and hide your Elf in new places every night so when the kiddos wake up in the morning they have to hunt for the Elf.  I love the idea of having the Elf do different things to keep the kids excited and interested.  I researched the Internet for some ideas and Allie and I came up with a few on our own as well.

Since the holidays tend to be extra busy I decided it would be great to share some of our Elf ideas with each other so we can have a game plan in place.  Here are a few suggestions!

Elf on the Shelf Ideas:

•  Elf makes breakfast and the kids wake up to Snow Covered Donuts (powdered donuts)
•  Elf makes snow angels on your kitchen table using flour or sugar
• Elf is found in the bathtub with new peppermint soap or bubbles
• Elf bakes cookies
• Elf wrapped presents and is found under the tree
• Elf is found on the dashboard of the car and when the car starts Christmas music is playing
• Elf is found in the freezer because he misses the North Pole
• Elf is found on the back of the toilet, when they lift the lid there are snowflake sprinkles in the water
• Elf is found in the refrigerator and the milk is green (food coloring)
• Elf brings new Christmas pajamas
• Elf is found playing a board game with a few other favorite fuzzy friends in the play room
• Elf is found coloring on a new Christmas coloring book he brought back from the North Pole
• Elf is found in the shoes and filled the shoes with Hershey Kisses
• Elf is found in the Christmas Tree with a new ornament
• Elf is found having a tea party with a few friends
• Elf is found in kitchen where he hung candy canes from all the cabinet hardware
• Elf is found with a few pictures of him playing out in the snow during the night
• Elf is found watching a Christmas movie on the portable DVD player (if you can time it right)

We would love to hear any other ideas or suggestions you have and happy "Elfing"!!!

I have had a few people ask where I bought my Elf on the Shelf, I purchased ours at Delaney's.  Oh and we named him Kringle, after Kristopher Kringle!  Don't forget to go to the official Elf on the Shelf website and register your elf and print out your adoption certificate and letter from Santa.

~SCS~

Please Put Your Pencils Down

Time's up!!! Pinterest Challenge time is over, and we can't wait to see what exciting, awesome, creative-why-didn't-we-think-of-that ideas everyone came up with.

We are already in Christmas mode over here at SCS and  couldn't wait to start our first Christmas projects for this year and the Pinterest Challenge gave us the little boost we needed.

We love the ladies over at YHL and Bower Power  for creating the Pinterest Challenge, it's such a good excuse to actually get some of those Pin's done! We went through our holiday appropriate Pin's and I (Allison)  decided to put my own twist on this one...



Pinterest

I set out to Hobby Lobby and Michael's to purchase what I needed.  I knew  I didn't  need the numbers on ours since you can't see the house from the road and I knew I wanted red flowers.

The wreath was $4.00
Ribbon $1
Flowers $8
"S" $.99
Paint for the "S" $2.00 (found this at Michael's)
Hot Glue Gun-Free (already owned)

I first wrapped the ribbon around where I wanted it, making sure that it covered enough area for me to put on my "S" later and secured it with hot glue. I cut the flowers off the stem and arranged them how I wanted around the ribbon.  I then glued the flowers on making sure to put them close enough together so that you couldn't see the wreath underneath.  I painted my "S" with Martha Stewart's Glitter Acrylic found at Michael's. Once it was dry I glued it onto the ribbon.  I tied some ribbon around the top and done!  I can't wait to leave it hanging on my door after Thanksgiving!



For $15.99 I am very happy with the way it turned out, I don't think I could have found a similar, personalized wreath for less.

What did you guys come up with? Any yummy new recipes to share, easy DIY projects or maybe something Holiday related?

Stay tuned later in the week to see what other DIY craft the SCS completed from Pinterest for the challenge!

~SCS

Ready, Set, GOOOO!!!!!

You can see the original Pinterest Challenge here!

Allison and I both have a "healthy" addiction to Pinterest, but lets be real, you couldn't really make everything you "pin".  I mean that would be way more then a full time job!  So when we saw the opportunity to participate in the Pinterest Challenge, we figured what better way to motivate us to do something from our pin boards.

BUT...we want you to participate too!!!!  So we are asking our fellow DIY'ers to get your thinking caps on and creative juices flowing.  Here's the plan, pick an inspiration from Pinterest and re-create it with your own twist.  Then, next Wednesday the 2nd we will have a show & tell party here and here.  Just hop on over to YHL & Bower Power and share your love!

Allison and I are both on our way to Michaels today to pick up our goodies. We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with on the 2nd!

~SCS~


*We are not sponsored by Michaels and do not receive benefits from mentioning them in this post.*

A Bridal Shower Success Story

So it seems that lately my life has been consumed with weddings, bridal showers and baby showers (which I can't say I'm upset about being an event planner and all). Just last week myself and a co worker of mine hosted a cooking themed shower for our co worker who is getting married next month.  We hosted a cooking class where all of the guests were taught how to make their own pizza dough and then got to create their own pizzas.  The shower was a huge hit, especially for the Bride-to-Be who is quite the foodie!



The favor that we created to give to all of the guests was a wooden spoon with a packet of spice. They were really easy to put together and we felt that it was something that peeople would actually use.  We "spiced" it up a bit and put a cute tag on it with the ingredients listed as well (just incase anyone was allergic). 



Our spice of choice was Paula Deen's House Seasoning (a personal favorite of mine).

This is definitely an idea I would use again and hope that you may tuck the idea away for that next bridal shower you get to host!

 ~SCS

Pumpkin...YUM!

I LOVE anything pumpkin, which is part of the reason fall is my favorite time of year. Seriously, you could put pumpkin on about anything and I will eat it. I LOVE IT!   So, when I saw a recipe the other day for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls, I knew I would be making them in the near future.  I did alter the recipe a bit to make it my own and highlight the fall flavors.

I decided to make them this week and try them out on my co-workers, they were a hit!  Here is my recipe breakdown:

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Rolls

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll crescent rolls leaving them in the 4 rectangles, you will then pinch the pre-cut seams together to keep the rolls in the rectangle from.  Place the cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin, and spice together in mixer, beat until well combined.  Spread mixture over crescents, leave a  small border around the edges. Starting at the long end, roll up and cut into 1 inch pieces. Place in pan that is sprayed with cooking spray.

2. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes.  Frost the rolls when they are still warm to touch with the recipe below.

Frosting

4 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon pumpkin

1. Mix all ingredients together until smooth, spread over warm rolls.

Sorry for the bad pictures, I took all of these with my phone and it was night time.

Pinch the seams together so you have one rectangle,
 you should end up with 4 of these

Golden brown, let cool for a few mins before icing

Yummy goodness!!

So, what is your favorite fall, comfort food?

ENJOY!

~SCS~

Wall Gallery

I finally get to start my Wall Gallery!! This is a huge accomplishment for the Sparks household. Let me give you a little bit of background on the living room, you see my husband is a hunter and my living room looked a little bit (a lot) like a hunting lodge, and we're not talking like Bass Pro Shop hunting lodge, we're talking 3 guys-used-to-live -here bachelor pad hunting lodge. So it took a little bit of persuasion and batting of the eyes to get the deer heads off of the walls (I spared you from the before pictures) in the living room.


Here is the look I am hoping for but maybe with a little bit more color.

Pinterest

Below is the start of my gallery,  it's a SLOW start but atleast it's a start.  I am contstantly looking for things to add and will hang stuff as I find it.  For right now I have the lyrics to a song that was played at our wedding, the number 13 which is the day we were married and the letter "S" for our last name. The thing I love about the wall gallery is you can change out the items in the frames and get a whole new look anytime you want! I really didn't measure things out or do anything technical, I just hung the stuff up how I thought it looked best and will continue to add to it. (I'll keep you updated as I add stuff).


At least it's a start!

**UPDATE** Below is the picture I promised of the silverware art I did for our living room, I'm pretty pleased with the turnout.





Finished and framed silverware art!