Plum Jam

This time last year I was busy working on some future Christmas gifts.  One of them was plum jam.  I had made jam before, but never plum jam.  I had a ton of plums that were about to spoil and I needed to use them.  I had remembered from the movie Calendar Girls that they loved (in your best British accent) Plum Jam.  I figured why not give it a try.

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Holiday Gifts that I made

It is almost the end of January and I just getting around to sharing all the Christmas gifts I made for family and friends.

As some of you read, I decided at Thanksgiving to do a Handmade Christmas.  Take my advice, don't start as late as I did!  I actually think I will start soon on gifts for this next year so that I am not stressed making gifts versus enjoying the holiday season.

Surprisingly though, I got all the gifts finished, a few shortly after Christmas but who doesn't like a surprise gift!  Check out all the gifts I made.

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Holiday Teacher Gifts

I was hoping to share with you the teacher gifts I gave to Ryan's teacher before today, but my to do list this week was a bit overwhelming.  I decided to do a mostly handmade Christmas.  That wouldn't have been so daunting if I didn't have to finish them by December 17 and also do a bunch of crochet orders.  I have been working myself like a dog.  Thankfully, I plan to take a break close to Christmas and afterwards.  It will be much needed.

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Christmas Gifts

Here's a post I did from last year. I thought you may be able to use some of the gift ideas.  Speaking of gift ideas, I'd better get busy creating.  Christmas is less than two weeks away.  YIKES!!!!

'Tis the season to be busy.  Busy, I have been!  I have played nurse, baked, blogged, shopped, crafted, cooked, cleaned, decorated, wrapped, and played hostess for the past month!  My oldest daughter had her tonsils, adenoids, and a lymph node removed on December 9th.  She did wonderfully!  She's a tough one!  Anyway, that's where the nurse role came on.  The rest, just goes with Christmas.

Jill and I started this blog during the busiest time of the year!  This year was certainly no exception with the two weddings I went to, out of state, at the end of November. Then, the giveaways.  They sounded like a great idea at the time, and we had fun doing them, but wow... that was just another addition to our overflowing plates. No worries.  We've already begun thinking about our giveaways for next Christmas.  Woah... I guess I should let you in on a little secret.  The giveaways will continue throughout the year... just not on a daily basis.  We'll do our best though.  Giveaways are great fun.  I won four puzzles for my girls, on a blog, this Christmas!

Anyway, I wanted to share some of the Christmas gifts, I managed to make this year.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of them all.  Have I mentioned my sleep deprivation?  I am not at my sharpest without sleep. Hopefully, I'll get those folks to send me pics and post them later.

Some of my gifts were copy crafting!

I made a pair of these for my mom and myself.  Notice I made my snowman one block taller.  I liked him better this way!
 http://undermypolkadotumbrella.blogspot.com/2010/11/2x4-snowman.html

Copy crafting at it's best http://undermypolkadotumbrella.blogspot.com/2010/11/photobucket.html

For teacher's gifts I attached clothespins on the back for their gift cards.  Such a cute presentation!

I made 10 of these for friends. You would have thought I would have taken some pictures of the unwrapped gift!

Here's the first one I made for our family.
It's a HowDoesShe craft. http://www.howdoesshe.com/2x4-to-birthday-boardtutorial

Then there's the wreath I copied from Jill.  I added some bells and a ribbon and voila I have the perfect UK wreath for my brother in law, Jim: a huge UK fan. http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/sparkle-wreath-tutorial.html

Then, there are the coasters.  I made a set for my daughter's teachers, a set for my mom, and a set for my mother in law.  She's retired Navy so I made hers with great Navy scrapbook paper.  I just forgot to take a picture of them!  Grrr... Here's a tutorial Jill did on the coasters.  http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/gift-idea-inexpensive-coasters-tutorial.html

And then folks, I got creative on my own....

For my daughter's teachers' gifts I put a few handmade items together to come up with:

A tshirt, four kinds of homemade treats, and coasters, all in a decorated, reusable, plastic bin.

Stay tuned for a tutorial on these easy shirts.

We'll do an embellishing with vinyl tutorial soon!

Seven layer bars and Brickle cookies http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/cookie-swap-recipes-part-1.html and http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/cookie-swap-recipes-part-2.html

White candy bark and peppermint bark (recipes coming soon).

Then there were photo boards:

These things are so versatile and amazing.  Remember the "We Believe" one I did? http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/12/making-photo-board-tutorial.html

I made some changes and a variety of gifts!

Another present for my UK loving brother in law.  Skeeter is his dog.

The glare so takes away from the cuteness of this.  My father in law is retired Navy so I thought this would be a great place for him to put Navy memorabilia.

This one is for my Daddy.

This is for my brother.  My girls will tell you, he is the best Uncle Ever!  They're right!

Here's another "We Believe" for my friend, Amy.



Remember the "Grateful" subway art?

http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2010/11/making-subway-art-tutorial-2.html

I made this for my sweet, sweet, Aunt Esther.

Then there's this calendar creation I came up with. (I'll do a tutorial soon...)

For my Mother-In-Law.  Notice the Navy paper on the date blocks?  She's retired Navy, so fitting.  Then, to keep with the patriotic theme, I did white and red stripes.  It looks "flag-y" to me.

My brother's.  I used the same paper on his numbers that I did on his "We Love Uncle Darren" board. Matchy Matchy!  I also did themed paper for each month. 

My Dad's is sideways.  I still haven't learned how to flip pictures, sorry.

This was a gift to my daughters, from my friend, Lesli.  She got the idea from HowDoesShe.  So cute!http://www.howdoesshe.com/bucket-o%E2%80%99-chalk

Here's the inside of the bucket!

This is the burlap pillow Lesli made me.  I LOVE the font she chose.  Too cute!

As you can see, it's been a busy time for all of us crafty gals.  There's still pictures of my handmade gifts, I didn't post, because I forgot to take them.   Still, I hope you're inspired to get your crafts on!

Santa shirt tutorial

Last week my oldest son, Ryan was Santa for his Kindergarten class play, "Twas the night before Christmas."  He was incredibly excited to be Santa.  His teacher asked me if I could get a costume or have something for him more than just a red shirt to wear.

His teacher was great and let me know about it in early November so that I would have plenty of time to figure something out.  So what did I do?  I waited until three nights before to figure out his costume!  I am great at procrastination!

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Our Christmas Traditions

I love traditions and have done my best to start my own with my girls. 

I believe live trees are one of the greatest Christmas gifts you can give your family.  Going to buy a tree, each year, is something I remember ever so well from my childhood.  Unfortunately, my husband was not raised the same way. Plastic and wire trees with silver icicles dangling were what he remembers.  Somehow, I have convinced him that the mess of a real tree is ever so worth it. (Probably because I'm usually the one that cleans most of it up.) I know they are expensive.  I say it's a worthwhile splurge! I also know they smell terrific and look genuine.  What's more fun than walking through a tree farm seeking out the ever so perfect tree for your family?  Live Christmas trees are one place I can stand imperfections. An occasional stray branch adds charm.  It's whimsy, not messy! 

This year we ventured about 30 miles to Jack's tree farm.  Here the girls chose their "perfect" tree.  Was it the tree I would have chosen?  Not at all!  It is small for our living room that has 2 story high ceilings. It's also a little thin for my liking; however, they say it's perfect and so in our living room it is!

Something my mom started was collecting ornaments, from places we travel, to put on the tree. Our tree is adorned with ornaments that represent memorable vacations in our lives.  Every ornament has a special tale.  We talk about where each ornament came from, when we hang it on the tree.

A tradition we didn't have as children was the tattle tale elf. We were blessed with an "Elf on the Shelf" three Christmases ago.

On November 30th, we read the book and discuss the elf's job: reporting to Santa. GraciAnn has named our elf  Dobbo.  I'm pretty sure that wasn't his name two years ago, but since known of us remember exactly, I think Dobbo will work just fine.  The story goes the elf reports the children's behavior to Santa.  Since he leaves each night, while the kids are sleeping, to visit Santa, he finds a new place in the house to reappear.  The fun is, the kids get to find his new location everyday.  Plus, he really needs to be high so our little gals can't be tempted to touch him.  The rest of the story is if he gets touched, he loses his magical powers to fly to Santa each night.  Well, we don't want him to lose that magic.  It comes in handy to remind the girls that Dobbo will tell Santa if they make bad choices.  I have seen many people online that have done wonderfully clever things with their elves.  I do think the elves are getting a little too naughty for their own good... but it's all in good fun and you can certainly keep your elf out of trouble, if you'd like.  Here are some elf adventures I saw today. You may also want to check out pinterest.  I hear there are some great ones there too!

Another tradition we have is a count down calendar. I invested in the great pottery barn advent tree I mentioned in an earlier post. Santa leaves the girls notes each night. For the past three years, he also left them chocolate.  My girls have inherited my love of chocolate so this is definitely their favorite part; although, they pretend to love the notes as well. My five year old daughter gleefully bounds down the stairs, each December morning, to see what Santa's left while she slept.  It's so great to see GraciAnn reading her own Santa notes this year. She'll even read Mariella's to her.

Another big tradition we have is sending out Christmas cards. We have family pictures taken and cards made. We then send them to family, friends, and my husband's customers.  We send out nearly 250 a year.  It's a big undertaking but well worth it.  We love to share an annual family picture with others. John and I just got back from a 7 day cruise. (I'd never been away from my girls for more than a day before this!) Anyway, we're super behind on everything, includng our Christmas cards.  We're going to try to fit these in next week.  I see a lot of late nights in my future... yawn.... The above picture is from last year.

The good news is I have taken my kids to see Santa.  Each year we visit the Santa that comes to our local Country Store. The Santa is a great country Santa. Don't you think?

Our Christmas decorating is behind where I'd like it to be the beginning of the second week of December too.  We've had two cold and rainy days so I haven't finished the outdoor decorating at all.  I've lacked motivation so I haven't finished the indoor decorating either.  I do have a deadline set for myself though!

Are you looking for easy Christmas decorations? Here's a link to an ever so cute Christmas subway art. This is the same lady who created the Thanksgiving one I included in an earlier post.  She did all the work for us!  All you need to do is put it in a frame!  Voila!   Christmas Subway Art

  

Don't worry, Jill and I will continue to share holiday decorating ideas, traditions, and recipes.
By the way, I am ALWAYS looking for ideas! Please share your decorating suggestions, ideas, and your holiday traditions by commenting on this post.We look forward to learning from you!

Holiday 2010 Recap

I had fun making some great Christmas items last year and I wanted to share them with you.  In case you missed them you can follow the link to get the tutorial or for more information.  I will have more gifts that I am making and decorations coming up this month!

Christmas Decorations, Recipes & Traditions

Christmas Advent Board Tutorial

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Christmas Printables

Whether you have your decorations up yet or not, add a bit to it with  one of these great printables.  Follow the link for how to download and print!

From Jones Design Company

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Copy Cat Christmas Crafts: Coffee Filter Tree

Thanksgiving is over so it's time to get going on Christmas decorations.  Here's one I made last year.

How cute is this?  I made it for $2.50.  I used coffee filters I had left over from my coffee filter fall wreath.  I used crystals from the bouquet I carried in my friend Mandy's wedding. I used a pack of ribbon roses, I already had.  I used the wood cut from the bottom of our  Christmas tree as a base.  The only thing I bought was the green foam cone which was $2.50.  This didn't take long at all to make and is oh so cute!

Check out where I got the idea as well at Crafts by Amanda

Cookie Swap Recipes from 2010

This was a post from last year.  I'm going to this same swap on December 3rd of this year. Does anyone have the perfect cookie swap recipe for me? I want to blow my friends away with my mad cookie making skills! 

I thought some of you may need some great holiday cookie ideas.  Here's what I've got to share! 

Cookie swaps are so much fun. I went to one last week.  There were 11 of us. We each brought 4 dozen cookies.  There were some for sampling, and then each person took home four of every cookie. What a great way to get a variety of great cookies!  I wanted to share some of these great cookie swap recipes with you, as well as some of my favorite holiday cookie recipes.  You can add these to Jill's and bake away!

The recipe I brought was for Heath Cookies.  These sound plain, are easy to make, and taste incredible!

Heath Brickle Cookies

1 pack Heath brickle (this can be found in a brown bag, near the chocolate chips)
1 1/2 tbsp oil
6 tbsp flour
(mix in bowl and set aside)
1/2 cup butter
6 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. flour
Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add egg. Blend until smooth. Add everything else, flour last. Fold in Heath crumbles. Bake 375 degrees 10-12 minutes.

*****

This was a recipe shared by my friend, Linda Hunt.  It's an unusual cookie recipe but mighty tasty.  If you like cheesecake, you'll like these.

Cheese Fingers
2 - 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese at room temp.
2 pkgs. crescent rolls
1 egg (separated)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar

Grease 9 X 13 pan.  Lay 1 package of crescent rolls in bottom of pan.  Seal perforations with fingers.  Add egg yolk, lemon juice, vanilla & sugar to cream cheese.  Mix for 5 minutes.  Spread over crescent rolls.  Unroll second pacakage of crescent rolls and put on top of cream cheese mixture.  Seal perforations with fingers.  Beat egg white and spread on top of rolls.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let cool overnight.  Dust with powdered sugar or colorful sugar for the season.

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Justine Tobin, the host of the cookie swap, made these yummy peanut butter balls.  If you're like us and have a house member allergic to peanuts, try substituting almond butter or sunflower butter.

Peanut Butter Krispy Balls

1-18 ounce jar of peanut butter
2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

In a double boiler, over low heat, melt chocolate and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, combine all other ingredients.
Blend well until the mixture forms a dough.
Roll into 1 inch balls.
Using a toothpick or fork, dip the balls into the chocolate until well coated.
Place onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

*****

Jeanie Collin brought delicious Mexican Wedding Cookies.  She said that it was her favorite as a child.  They are easy and adaptable.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

1 cup of margarine
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 3/4 cup plain sifted flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup ground pecans

Cream margarine with sugar. Blend in vanilla, flour, and pecans. Chill. Roll dough into balls. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
When slightly cooled, roll in powdered sugar.

*My daughter's school had an International night this week.  We were supposed to bring an international food item. I made these.  I did make a few adjustments. Instead of margarine, I used butter.  (I think butter is ALWAYS better) I also omitted the pecans.  I was worried that someone may have a nut allergy so I wanted to make sure it was safe for everyone.  To add a little more flavor, I added 1/2 tsp. almond extract.  Yum!  They turned out delicious. They flattened a little so they weren't perfect balls, but they were pretty and I added sifted powdered sugar on top.

*****

Jamie Newman made Peanut Butter Blossoms. They were absolutely delicious. You could substitute almond butter or sunflower for the peanut butter too.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

48 Hershey Kisses
3/4 cup Reese's Peanut Butter
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove wrappers from chocolates. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy.  Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Gradually beat in peanut butter mixture.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll in granulated sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie. Cookie will crack around the edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Krissy Lyell made Paula Dean's Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Paula Dean's Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
confectioner's sugar for dusting
1-18 ounce box moist chocolate cake mix
1-8 ounce brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 egg
1 stick of butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Beat in the egg.  Then beat in the vanilla extract.  Beat in the cake mix.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls.  Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake12 minutes.  The cookies will remain soft and gooey.  Coll completely and sprinkle with more powdered sugar.

*****

These were my favorite cookies at the swap.  They are called Seven-Layer Cookie Bars. Kathy Gosman brought them.  They are rich and DELICIOUS.  So many yummy flavors all in one cookie.

Seven-Layer Cookie Bars

3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1-12 ounce package semisweet chocolate chips
1-12 ounce package milk chocolate chips
1-12 ounce package butterscotch chips
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
2-14 ounce cans sweetened condensed milk

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter.  Spray sides of 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.  Pour butter into pan. Sprinkle crumbs evenly on butter, then pat them down to even out.  Sprinkle semisweet, milk chocolate, and butterscotch chips evenly over crumbs.  Sprinkle with coconut, then nuts.  Pour milk over layers. Bake25 to 35 minutes or until mixture bubbles and browns on top.  Let cool on a rack; cut into squares.

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Here's another great peanut butter and chocolate cookie from our friend and follower, Elizabeth Garbin.

Recipe: Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
From the kitchen of: Elizabeth Garbin

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mini real semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons sugar
35 milk chocolate candy kisses

-Heat oven to 350.  Line 13x9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, extending foil over pan edges.  Set aside.
Combine brown sugar, margarine, and peanut butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Continue beating until well mixed.  Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Beat until well mixed.  Stir in chocolate chips.
Pat dough into prepared pan. Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately press evenly spaced chocolate candies into warm bars. Cool completely.
Remove bars from pan using edges of foil.  Cut into bars, cutting between candies.
Yield 35 bars

*****

 These cookies were so different and so good.

Recipe: Rolo Cookies
From the Kitchen of: Marianne Martin

2 ½ cups All Purpose flour                                              

2 eggs
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa                                                

1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon baking soda                                                    

48 Rolos, unwrapped (9 oz pkg)
1 cup sugar                                                                        

1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
Heat oven to 375°.  Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off.  In small bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking; blend well.
In large bowl, beat 1 cup sugar, brown sugar and butter until light an fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs; beat well.  Add flour mixture; blend well.  Stir in ½ cup of the pecans.  For each cookie, with floured hand, shape about 1 tablespoon dough around 1 Rolo, covering completely.
In small bowl, combine remaining ½ cup pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar.  Press one side of each ball into pecan mixture.  Place, nut side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake at 375°F. for 7-10 minutes or until set and slightly cracked.  Cook 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets.  Cool completely on wire rack.
Makes 4 dozen cookies.

*****

Recipe: Italian Christmas Cookies
From the Kitchen of: Candace White

Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 carton (15oz) ricotta cheese
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, soft
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons milk
colored sprinkles

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in ricotta and vanilla.  Combine flour, salt, and baking soda.  Gradually add to creamed mixture.  Drop by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove to wire racks to cool.  In a large bowl cream butter, sugar, and vanilla.  Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency.  Frost cooled cookies and immediately decorate with sprinkles. Store in fridge.

*Oops... I didn't store these in the fridge.  They actually got better the longer I had them (a week).

I DID IT!- I finished the boards-A Tutorial, kind of...

This is how my morning started.  I had 8 boards that needed sanding, holes drilled, wire put on, vinyl added, and ribbon...I had a goal.  They'd be done today.  I think I can..

The boards are stacked and ready to go to the belt sander in the garage. I sand the edges where the paper is attached to the board. It blends so nicely.  The belt sander makes this part go quickly.  If you aren't blessed with a belt sander, a piece of sandpaper will do the trick!

To get holes that are perfectly spaced, I use a wooden square and drill in the lower corner of the square.

See the hole?  It's pretty small. I use a small drill bit because the wire is thin and I don't want big holes.

8 boards, 2 holes per board, let's see, 16 holes later I'm ready to add wire.  Here's what I need: wire, wire cutters, and an object to wrap the ends of the wire around to give it a curly look.  I use a pen.

I thread the wire from back to front.

I then wrap it around the top and go back through again. This gives stability. The wire I'm using this time isn't heavy wire so the double wrap is necessary.

I added a white bead. It reminded me of a cotton tail.  Perfect for my Easter board.

I wrapped the wire around the pen and pulled the pen away.  That's how I got the curl.

Wire wrapped around pen.

This is what the wire looks like when the pen is removed.  You can arrange it however. 

I added beads to this wire to match the candles.

The wires are in.  Now it's time to add vinyl.  Here's a "Santa" board I made for my friend, Jessica. The vinyl is cut out and ready to be applied.  As you can see, pull away any vinyl you don't want on your board.  What's left on the paper should be exactly what you want on the board.

Put transfer tape on the vinyl and rub it to get the vinyl to adhere.  Transfer tape is necessary.  It makes transferring the vinyl so much easier and keeps things straight. You can use a piece of transfer tape over and over. I usually can get about four uses out of each piece.

Peel the paper away from the vinyl.  This is what the letters look like on the transfer tape.

Position the tape on the board and rub it well. 

Pull the tape away and you're left with the vinyl, on the board. YEAH!

After vinyl, I added ribbons. Woops, forgot to take pictures of that!

Here's the finished Santa board.

Here's the finished birthday board.

I really like using different fonts for the vinyl.

Here's the finished Easter board.  It says, "Hoppy Easter".

Here's one of the finished Valentine's Day boards.  I made two identical.... craft sharing, remember! (I hope you like it Jill!)

Here's a not so great picture of our St. Patrick's Day board.  I added a washer to the ribbon. It reminds me of a Leprechaun's hat and it's gold.

There you have it. I completed 6 photo boards.  I also finished the board part of the subway art boards. Jill is going to add the vinyl. You'll get to see them in a future post where we show all the prizes won in our 12 days of Christmas giveaways. 8 boards complete!

So, I wanted to finish these early and have a relaxing evening. I finished at 10:15 pm.  Well, they're done. I  met my goal and I'm ready for bed!  There are so many benefits to "assembly line crafting"; however, I'm usually sick of the project once I've finished it. I'm glad to see these boards behind me.  I'm also glad that I've got a jump start on St. Patrick's Day and Easter.  Wow!  I'm actually ahead in something.

Please check our linky parties to see all the places we are linking up to today!