Smurfette!

"Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years"

Ya, you read right, I just quoted LL Cool J....and Smurfette has been around for years and shes making her first debut in my Etsy shop. She's up for sale, come and get her!!

Felt Christmas Tree Ornament

If you're like me you have a craft stock pile with a random assortment of supplies for things you've done, you wanna do or for things you had good intentions of doing. Every so often I try and go through my stock pile and see if there isn't anything I can use for a handy project or if its finally time to donate them to the trashcan. This time I found a pile of felt squares from a project I did two years ago. Since I have been on the "make my own Christmas ornament" kick I knew I could use them for something! I was thinking of something along the lines of a Christmas tree ornament but the colors weren't quite what I had in mind. As you can see that didn't stop me!! Who said a Christmas tree had to be green! :)

Materials I used:

• Felt
• scissors
• needle and thread
• pen
• circular object(s) to trace

• I started by picking the order in which I wanted my colors for the tree then starting with the widest part of the tree I traced a circle and cut out the felt. I cut three circles for each color. Then I cut out a slightly smaller circle for my next color and so on and so on until you have your smallest circle for the top of your tree. 
• I then traced and cut out a small star to top my tree. 
• Next I threaded a needle and starting with the base of the tree ran it through the felt all the way to the top and through the center of the star to secure and finished by tying a knot at the top to form my hook.
• Then I cut a long strip of brown felt and rolled it up to make my trunk. I glued it to the bottom of my tree to finish it off.

Happy ornament making!

Christmas at the Lichty's

Its Christmas @ the Lichty's. The tree is up and the stockings hung! A few years ago I saw a show on HGTV featuring families who left their Christmas decorations up all year long. My initial thought was, thats crazy town. This year while putting all of our decorations up it crossed my mind that all this work was for 1 month. One month of enjoying the tree and ornaments, one month of singing carols and stuffing stockings, one month of house lights and santa beards, one month of christmas cookies and candy canes. And suddenly the idea of having Christmas all year long didn't seem so bad. I look forward to it all year long and I can see the appeal of being able to enjoy it 365 days. So maybe those families aren't so crazy town after all...or maybe just a little :)

As you can tell I like a little bling on my trees :)

Add caption

Mom and dad gave us this great advent calendar this year that we are excited to use

And even our friend above the fireplace got a little festive spirit with some homemade embroidery thread pom poms.

I've been having a lot of fun with these embroidery thread pom poms. It seems for one reason or another I have piles and piles of embroidery thread lying around, so instead of making yarn pom poms I opted for embroidery thread ones and I love them!
Merry Christmas from the Lichty clan to yours!!

Biscoff Peanut Butter Cups

Ya I went there. Not only are these peanut butter cups but they are Biscoff peanut butter cups. If your not familiar with Biscoff Spread then my friend you simply have not lived. You may be familiar with those tasty little Biscoff cookies that they used to serve on some airlines, well this is them only turned into a creamy spread. It can be found at almost any market next to the peanut butter or Trader Joe's sells a version of it that they call Cookie Butter, equally delicious.

I can remember when I first discovered Nutella, over 10 years ago, I thought I had literally literally literally died and gone to heaven, I mean literally!! Nothing could ever take the place of Nutella and in fact if you were to come to my house this very day, you will see a jar of Nutella and a very large soup spoon at my bedside table. Ya, that's how I roll...a spoonful of Nutella can do wonders!! About 1 year ago my sister in law over at twopeasnadtheirpod introduced me to Biscoff. And that's when the war between Nutella and Biscoff started in my house! Until then none other had even come close to standing up to my hazelnut spread and now I was torn. Who can even decide which is better! I can't and I stopped trying ... that's why if you were to come to my house right now you would not only see a jar of Nutella with an over-sized soup spoon on my bedside table but also a jar of Biscoff. Its my dirty little secret ;)

So this recipe is an homage to Biscoff and the peanut butter cup. Crack really is what I should call it, not that I know what crack tastes like but I assume that it is just as addictive as this dessert!

Biscoff Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:

1 roll refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough or homemade recipe

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups Biscoff Spread or Cookie Butter

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your muffin tin with cooking spray or shortening. Press cookie dough into each muffin cup, being sure to lightly press the dough up the side of each muffin cup as well. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are just golden. With a spoon press down the dough in the middle of each cup to make room for your filing. 

Let cool in tin for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to continue cooling for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a pan on medium heat, melt white chocolate chips and 3/4 cup Biscoff stirring constantly. Divide mixture evenly into cookie cups filling about 3/4 of the way up. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

In the same pan melt the chocolate chips and remaining 3/4 cup Biscoff over medium heat, stirring constantly. Divide mixture evenly on top of white chocolate mixture. 

Allow to cool in refrigerator for 10 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Pom Pom Christmas Tree

One of the greatest parts of this project besides it being adorable is that it is super durable and almost indestructible. And having a 1 1/2 year old means that pretty much all of our decorations this year need to be 1. durable and 2. mildly indestructible.

Finally my Santa has his own tree

I used some cardboard from an old box and rolled it into a cone and secured it with some hot glue.

Then I took out all of the green yarn I had and used my pom pom maker to make pom poms in every color.

I glued them on from brightest green to darkest.

Simple, easy, cute, soft, and your kids can play ,look at, touch and even toss this project without worry.

Shrimp Panzanella Salad

So basically I could eat this salad twice a week for the rest of my life. Summer, winter, rain, shine, doesn't matter, it always tastes good and is ALWAYS a crowd pleaser. In fact I am not even sure what I ever ate before I started making it! 

Two ingredients that you never want to scrimp on in my opinion when making this salad, and your going to make this salad, is the ginormous homemade croutons and the basil. A must and a must! And a tasty addition this time is my little friend the shrimp. D.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.

Shrimp Panzanella Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

Shrimp

2 cups grape tomatoes

1 large cucumber

1/4 red onion

1 bunch of basil

Large homemade croutons

Balsamic Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic smashed

1-1 1/2 Tbl sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Dressing:

For the salad dressing combine all of the ingredients and stir well to combine. Set aside to let smashed garlic infuse into the oil and vinegar.

Salad:

The real star of this salad is the homemade over-sized croutons. I have made croutons from homemade bread and store bought and have loved both. For this salad I usually buy a garlic bread baguette. The roasted garlic in the bread is a great addition to this salad. I slice the bread into 1-1 1/2 inch slices then continue to cut it into cubes. I place the cubed bread on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and toss to combine. I salt the bread fairly well at this point. Stick the bread in the oven for 15 minutes then remove and turn every bread cube over onto another side to brown for an additional 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them after you turn them since everyone's oven heats differently and I would hate for you to burn your yummy croutons.

After your croutons have been baked you can start preparing your veggies. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half, slice your cucumber in quarters, thinly slice a halved onion and give your basil a ruff chop. Throw all of those ingredients into a bowl and set aside. Next prepare your shrimp however you like whether it be grilled, pan seared, baked etc. Once cooked add to your bowl of veggies. In my opinion I like to add the croutons at the very last second before I am going to dress and serve my salad because I want to postpone the croutons from absorbing any moisture from the vegetables or dressing for as long as possible. Once you are ready to serve your salad combine your croutons with the shrimp and vegetables and add your pre-made salad dressing.

Thanksgiving

Almost 9 years ago I was given a challenge to say a prayer of thanks. Just a prayer of THANKS...not a prayer filled with "Help me..." or "Comfort me...", etc. I often remember this challenge and especially during this season of Thanksgiving. Stopping to really reflect, I mean really reflect on all that we have to be thankful for, from our 5 toes to a rising sun, is almost overwhelming. It is a prayer that has the potential to leave me on my knees for days and days and something I hope to incorporate into my  life more often than once a year. And why not start by giving thanks to my incredible family with whom I am so grateful and thankful to live so close to and to have spent a really amazing Thanksgiving holiday with this year. Every time we get together the day and the food goes way too fast!!  

All the ladles...well 4 of the 6 ladies were in the kitchen cooking up one of the best Thanksgiving dinners to date!

And the two little knuckleheads were having fun causing a ruckus in the kitchen with us.

The boys were kicking back watching football in the livingroom

There was a little play time outside...

and a little play time inside

After we ate our weight in food, we changed into our stretchy pants and went for a little walk.

We stuck Easton and Hazen in a wagon for the stroll. It was a tiny wagon....with a 1/2 inch side lip....with two big boys inside.

The first 30 seconds went fine...

and this is what took place the rest of the walk! :)

Already looking forward to next Thanksgiving!!