Christmas in July: {Christmas Potpourri Jars}

It's July.

Way back many many years ago when I was teaching in the school system, I would spend my July getting ready for Christmas.

I loved my summers off as a teacher and took advantage of the extra time I had to organize my home, do fun things with my kids....and knock out my Christmas list.

I took "Christmas in July" literally and took it upon myself to organize my Christmas gift list.

One of the reasons I did this is because I loved making Christmas gifts to give away.

Another reason I did this was because we lived on a tight budget and this was one way I could give gifts to many without it costing me a fortune. I love to give gifts....family, friends, neighbors, postman, Sunday School teachers, co-workers, the gal who cut my hair, my doctor, my dentist....you get the picture.

You can imagine my excitement when I discovered Pinterest! Oh my...the glorious-ness of pinning all these awesome gift giving ideas! Pinterest is a great tool for just that. And I must say, I do actually try quite a few of the things I pin....That is where much inspiration comes from today for most of my projects.

One gift I made for a friend {or two} last year were some potpourri jars. I started out with a clean spaghetti sauce jar. The lid on this brand was actually already black and had no writing on it, so it was good to go as is. You can always spray paint the lids to cover up writing. 
I actually love to look at the different jars when I'm shopping to see what ones I can re-purpose into these.

I put the following in my jars. I don't measure or anything, just kind of fill them up w/ a mixture of:
**sliced oranges
**sliced limes
**sliced lemons
** bay leaves
**cinnamon sticks
**whole cloves {use at least 2T}

After you have placed the above things in the jars, you just fill with water.
Put the lid on and they are ready to give away as is, or you can add ribbons, labels etc...


Which is what I did:

I had found this red bowl and napkin at a local goodwill store and knew it would be perfect for this gift. I added a ribbon to match and then a sticker that had the instructions for use. {which is basically : simmer on stove}

I added a ribbon to match and then sticker that had the instructions for use: {which was basically: "simmer on stove" adding water when necessary} 

I then finished it off with cellophane wrap and a big bow in a coordinating color....ready to give....ready to enjoy!


Using re-purposed jars, goodwill finds, and not so expensive ingredients, these are great gifts that you can make a lot of for a small amount of money.




Here is another one I made. I just packaged it differently.

This one is the same recipe in a smaller jar that I nestled into an antique bowl I found. My friend collects them and this was a perfect find for her.
These jars are just perfect to tuck into things or to just give by themselves.

If you look close enough, you'll see I did another technique on the lid. I used this tutorial right here to mod podge a cupcake liner onto this lid. Can you imagine the possibilities??

So, if you, like me, take Christmas in July literally, why not make up a few of these jars to tuck into gift baskets or give as a stand alone gift this year. Recipients love to use these to bring the holiday smells into their homes.

....and making them this summer will allow you to enjoy your holidays completely this December....

Christmas Gifts {January's "Treat of the Month"}

I gave a bestie of mine a special gift for Christmas this year.

You know those fruit of the month clubs? Well, I did something like that, but not fruit...I made up a gift card that told my friend that she was going to get a "Treat of the Month" from "Tracie's Sweet Boutique"....aka, my kitchen!

Well, it's July and it's been a blast coming up with a new treat of the month...so I thought I'd share them with you through out this year....Perhaps you will want to bless a friend with a "Treat a Month" from your home this year...

So, for January, I put together this little package:

I made up some homemade hot cocoa and put them in those tall bags made for chocolate covered pretzels.
I included some chocolate dipped marshmallows. I just poked a sucker stick in a large marshmallow and then dipped one end of that in melted chocolate and then rolled them in crushed candy canes.
Kim also got some of my hand decorated snowflake sugar cookies.
I just loved making these for her...she loves snowflakes so I knew these would make her smile.

Finding the blue mug just rounded out the gift and finished it off.

Stay tuned...I'll share with you next what she got in February!

Until then, live your life on purpose today....it's all you have....

Like mother, like daughter...

Today in my newsfeed on Facebook was a link to a letter written by a gal to her mom.

I read that letter and it resonated within me in such a way I was just speechless.

I could have written that letter to my mom.

To read it was healing for me. I only wish my mom could've read it. It would have been healing for her too.

Grab a Kleenex....you can read the letter right here

My mom struggled the entire 65 years of her life with her weight. She never felt pretty, she never liked how she looked. She hated shopping for clothes.

My mom had wonderful willpower when it came to a diet. She was able to deny, deny, deny....just long enough to get to a weight she wanted to be. I remember her doing that for my wedding. She dieted for months to lose weight for my special day...

Isn't she beautiful??

 

My mom was beautiful. She was the life of the party and lit up rooms when she entered it. She had an energy that was contagious. People liked being with my mom.

 

But, she lived in a silent pain. She didn't love herself. She believed the lie that her significance, worth and beauty was based on her size. Believing that, she believed she had no significance, no worth and no beauty.

 

That is so far from truth. My mom was a wonderful mom. She loved her 5 children. She loved us a lot. Mom wasn't perfect...no mom is, but she loved us.

 

My mom died in 2001 from a resurgence of breast cancer that she had battled 10 years earlier.

I remember standing at her memorial, nodding my head in agreement to all those who would fondly tell me what mom meant to them. There was a recurring theme throughout that day....

 

....my mom was remembered for her love, her joy, her "lighting up the room" she was in.

 

Not. one. person. mentioned my mom's size.... not. one. Nor has anyone EVER in the 12 years she's been gone...

 

Now, I realize, no one in their right mind is going to talk about someone's size at their funeral...but what occurred to me that day was just what my mom was remembered for...what was right there blaring at me....her personality won....her personality was what people talked about, what people still talk about when I see her friends.

 

Fast forward to today....

 

I lived with that silent pain myself. My mom always told me I was going to be fat..."just like her"....and like my mom, I also believed to be fat meant to be worthless, ugly...horrible.

 

Mom wasn't being mean, in fact, just the opposite, my mom was trying to protect me from the pain she lived with all her life.

 

I've counted calories, denied myself, tried new fad diets....all in the attempts to reconciling how I felt with how I looked. I wanted to "feel" good about myself, and I too, believed the lie that I would "feel" good about myself when I was "thinner"...

 

 

But, I know better, now.

 

God taught me much in and through the death of my mom. I'm sad for my mom that she struggled so much with her weight. I am sad that so much of her time was spent worrying about her body size and how she could shrink it...time that would have been better spent seizing the life she had.

 

...and God showed me that much of my time, I was doing the same...

 

It was a wake up call...a wake up call for me to seize the precious moments I have. To live them fully and completely. To make the changes I wanted to make in the midst of living life to the fullest.

 

I still struggle, I still stumble and some days I just feel like giving in to the lies, believing that my worth, significance and beauty is bound up in the size of my waist....but God desires so much more than that for me, and I trust Him...and most of all, I know He loves me..

just. as. I. am...

I am His daughter and He loves me. I am His creation, and in me is His perfection.

What on earth could be more significant than that?

 

I am often told that I am "just like my mom"

 

I absolutely used to shutter when I heard that...

 

Now....I smile....

 

....and continue to "light up" the rooms I enter, bringing my mom's joy, love and laughter to those around me.

 

Thanks, mom!

Checking in...

It's been so long since I posted on my blog...so much "life" has been "lived" since my last post...uhm, back in February...

At first I thought, gosh, give it up already....it's been MONTHS since you've taken time to sit and blog...but then I thought, I may not blog much, but when I do, I love it...so, "no", I'm not going to give it up...I'm going to just jump back in and start where I feel led to go...and once I thought that, well my mind just went nuts....so very much I want to blog about:

such as:

.....my status with weight watchers...on again, off again, on again, off again...on...yes, I'm back on and yes, I will start blogging again....

....being a "foster" grandparent...my daughter and her husband just became licensed for foster care and have their first "placement"....wow, talk about a new "life" style change...for all of us...and I want to blog about it...

....empty nesting....or almost empty nesting...parenting adult children in your home...not sure how to do that...learn along with me as I blog about it...

.....T-Tapp.....new, exciting neuro-kenetic workout routine...not your typical "let's get physical" workout...but a new way of building lean tone muscle while shedding inches....getting our hormones in balance...and working the brain...no, I'm not even close to being "there" yet, but I'm learning about it, I'm trying it and so far really liking how it makes me feel...

.....my decorated sugar cookie hobby.... I've been enjoying learning new techniques for decorating them and I plan to share some of my favorite tricks.

As you can read, I have much I want to blog about. Life isn't slowing down for me, but I love to blog about how I'm living it....

so stay tuned....

My blog is back on my list of things "to do" ..... as I live life today...

Thanks for stopping by...

Cookies, Valentine's and my Mother-in-Law....

Valentine's Day is this Thursday...
Thinking about this upcoming Valentine's Day made me think of cut out cookies...

My mother-in-law {Shirley} and I used to make cut out sugar cookies and decorate them together every February for Valentine's Day plates. We'd get together the weekend before the holiday and roll and cut and talk and chat and learn more about each other in the process.

As a young gal I  had little experience at making cut out cookies. I always wrestled with sticky dough that rolled out terribly..usually cut them way to thin which resulted in a hard crunchy cookie.

I didn't like making {or eating} cut out sugar cookies...definitely not worth the mess.

And then as a new bride,  I learned his mom LOVED to make cut out sugar cookies....one year she asked me to make them with her...and a yearly tradition was born...

Making cut out cookies with her immediately started out different...she had an awesome, soft, nutmeggy {is that even a word?} cookie recipe that rolled out like play dough...oh was it fun to play with the dough. These cookies baked up nice and soft and had a wonderful delicious flavor and smell.

After they cooled, we'd whip up this soft, fluffy frosting. Now, I have to be honest with you here, after all that work rolling, cutting and baking up these beautiful heart cookies, I always felt a bit disappointed with the final product after frosting them with this wonderful, fluffy frosting.

They were ugly.  {in my humble opinion}

They tasted heavenly and most people LOVED the cookie platters they received from us, but, the "presentation" of these cookies was  lacking. Those of you that have frosted cookies with a fluffy frosting know what I'm talking about....it's just kind of messy and they don't look real pretty and they don't stack nice on a plate, and you can't package them up pretty.....

Fast forward to today, and Shirley has been gone for the last 12 Valentine's Days. Along with her went our traditional Valentine's Day cut out cookies...

but since then, along came Pinterest....and pictures of beautiful cut out sugar cookies...works of art really...using a Royal Icing so they could be detailed...stacked....presented oh so beautifully!

and then, I thought...

                                I should try this....

                                                                so I did...

and...
I liked the final product....so much that I kept trying and perfecting and playing in dough.

My new hobby developed into a love for cut out cookies...time invested in rolling, cutting and baking is oh...so...worth it... in the smiles it brings to those who recieve them.

I'm no expert, and I don't have any cookies on Pinterest {yet} but I've found a wonderful new hobby that brings back precious memories of my mother in law and the time we spent together every February....rolling, cutting, chatting and getting to know each other better!

I'm so glad I lived in those moments yesterday...they are precious memories today.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day this Thursday. Live in the moment and make a memory!

You can see my gallery of sweet things on my Facebook page HERE

Though I don't use this recipe in my creations today, I thought I'd share the memory with you! Enjoy!!

Mom Smith's Sugar Cookies

4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups suga

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. nutmet

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup shortening

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk {approx}

 

Sift together all the dry ingredients.

Mix in the shortening w/a pastry cutter.

Break the 2 eggs into a one cup measuring cup. Fill to the one cup measure with milk. Mix this with the dry ingredients. Knead on a heavily floured surface until you can roll it out and cut. Cut with floured cookie cutters. Bake at 325* for 8 minutes. Cool and frost.

Fluffy Decorator's Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/4 cup shortening

3 t. vanilla

2 egg whites

3 T. cold wather

1 t. lemon juice

Dump in a large mixer and whip until light and fluffy. Add color and frost cookies.

Weighing in: -.2

Well, today was my morning to weigh in. I'm happy {no, shocked, elated} to post a teeny tiny .2 loss. Why would that excite me?? To begin with, it was a loss..no matter how small, they will add up. But secondly, I'm more shocked than elated or happy...I didn't expect any loss....in fact, I was hoping, {fingers crossed, actually} that I wouldn't have to get on here, my first week's post, with a gain...

I didn't quite follow the plan this week....

As good as my intentions were last Tuesday to start anew, to begin fresh, to get going, so to speak, I wasn't ready! I hadn't set myself up for success. I didn't have good eating options in our home. My fridge wasn't full of fresh fruit and vegetables and my cupboards held little whole grain anything. I came off a very busy two weeks and just hadn't had time to replenish our groceries so I was making meals, snacks etc from a low stock {what in the world am I fixing for dinner??} kind of cupboards.

But, the good news is....it's a new week....and I have watermelon, apples, bananas, grapes and super red raspberries waiting for me...carrots, celery and all kinds of yummy veggies for salads, stir fry's and sides. My menu's are planned and I know what I'm fixing for dinner each night...this week should go way better!!

So, what didn't I do last week that I should have done?

• I didn't have my fridge/cupboards stocked with good options {see above}
• I didn't "track" my points {key to Weight Watchers, in my opinion}
• I didn't make most of my meals at home {aka...ate out too much}
• I didn't make the "best" choices at graduation parties, or Father's Day celebrations this past weekend {put the chips down already!! and that cake...what are you doing with that cake??}

But, let's not end on a bad note, what did I do this past week?...

• I ate more fruit than I did chocolate {Hey, that's big for me}
• I thought about drinking more water and actually drank more than usual
• I thought about this blog, and posting my progress {that stopped me from many seconds}
• I didn't give up....I came, I blogged and I'm moving on into this week...a new week!

Each week, I'd like to highlight a recipe/meal or awesome find of the week:

This week I'm sharing one of my favorite breakfasts. It's fast, transportable and keeps me full throughout the morning. It's a GREAT value at only 3 WWP+ {Weight Watchers points plus}

I call it simply "Banana Peanut Butter Roll-up" because that is simply just what it is...

It starts with a Mission Carb Balance Tortilla: {2 WWP+ per tortilla}

I love these Tortilla's. I use them for everything...wraps, burritoes, taco's...anything you'd want a tortilla for. With only 120 calories per tortilla and a whopping 13g. of fiber they pack a nutritional punch. I find these at Walmart {about the only thing that makes me walk through those doors}

Next, I mix up some Peanut Butter...wait you say..."mix up?"...no, I'm not talking about grinding up peanuts...uck, tried that...didn't go so well...no, I buy a product called PB2 which is peanut powder:

This stuff is great!! I love, love, love peanut butter, so for me, this was a wonderful find. Now, this is NOT your fat laden, high fructose, Jif kind of peanut butter {too bad, cuz I love that stuff}. But, it is a great alternative. Best part is it is only 1WWP+ per 2T...compared to 5WWP+ for regular peanut butter....and it makes the best roll-ups...trust me on this, I really really like peanut butter and I like this stuff...now, I wouldn't necessary eat it off the spoon {like I do Jif} but put on apples, celery and used in these roll-ups...it's awesome. I also use this in my favorite Chocolate Peanut Banana Smoothie (4WWP+) I'll post that recipe another day...
Anyhow, this is a powder form of peanuts...{basically they remove the oils, grind into a powder} You reconstitute it with water, to the consistency of your liking.
I buy my PB2 here, but I've seen it at local health food stores and on Amazon. This product also comes in a chocolate flavor, that I didn't care for...{shocking, I know}

Now, spread this on your tortilla:

Some may want to add a splash of honey here, but with the riper banana I had, it was sweet enough with out it.

Put your banana on top and roll up like a tortilla...grab a napkin and you are good to go...

Breakdown:

• Mission Carb Balance Tortilla : 2 WWP+
• PB2 powder (2T.)  1 WWP+
• Banana 0 WWP+

Grand total  3 WWP+

I had this for breakfast this morning and it kept me full all the way through to lunch. I didn't have mid morning drowsies, and I didn't snack...didn't even think about it...give it a try!

It is 5:00 here in Indiana and my dinner is in the oven {awesome Taco Chicken Burritoes @ 7 WWP+ each} and I've tracked anything and everything that has passed my lips. I've reached for watermelon instead of chocolate and added more water to my day. So, for today, my first day of my new week, I feel good about my choices....tune in next Tuesday and I'll share with you how the rest of my week went...

Until then,
~Point me to my goal~

                   

Weight Watchers: "point" me to my goal

It's a relatively easy concept to grasp...and it works.

I'm talking about the Weight Watcher's Points Plus program.

I've been off and on Weight Watchers a number of times...enough to remember the old exchanges system, again when they first launched the point system, to now the Points Plus system.

I've tried many diets, I said many, not all...and not everything. I'd be lying if I said, "I've tried everything and nothing worked until...{fill in the blank the newest diet out there}

Truth is, I have tried many, and I did have success on most of them, as long as I followed them...that in lies the problem...you see, I get tired of diets. I get tired of saying "no" to that piece of cake, or that second dinner roll, or that afternoon chocolate...or...to all those bad eating habits I've picked up in my 50 birthdays. {I know, I know..this is a dicipline problem...will get to that another day}

Most diets, or now, so-called "lifestyle changes" work if you really do them. Yes, you can lose weight eating nothing but grapefruits, yes, you can lose weight eating nothing but meat and yes you can most certainly lose weight eating little or no breads...but can you do that long term? No...I can't. Now, I didn't say YOU can't, because, I don't know what YOU can do. I just know my limitations. {and I have many when it comes to food}

This is where Weight Watchers wins it for me. It has variety {which I like}, nothing is off-limits {which I love} and it also works {ta da...winning combo here, folks}

When I've lived the Weight Watchers program, it worked.....everytime....every single time.

So, today starts a new journey for me. Yep, I'm going to start back up on Weight Watcher's Points plus program....today...and I'm going to blog about it every Tuesday, which is my weigh in day.

There....I already feel like I'll have more accountability...and that is just what I need. If I share with you my journey in this area of my life, well, then I'm going to feel a bit less inclined to eat that afternoon chocolate...{usually} since I'll have to tell you about it...you read that right...you'll get to read all about what choices I make and how that affects my end result...good and bad. {pretty and ugly}

My motivation??.....

Yep...that's right. These three lil' darlings are one reason why I want to develop better "lifestyle changes" {not to mention so many others that want me to stick around awhile}

Skinny jeans??...not me....tank tops?...so not me....bikini?....oh please...{remember 50 birthdays?}

But these precious little ones {and hopefully more!!} that call me "gramma"  make all the discipline of saying "no" {to the above forementioned} so well worth it...

So, come along with me. Allow me to be vulnerable, sharing my journey to weight loss and healthier lifestyle with you, using the Weight Watcher's Point Plus program.

I have today...and some choices I make today, will affect my tomorrow...and I want to not only see tomorrow...but LIVE in it.

I look forward to "weighing in" on Tuesdays with you!