Homemade Canvas Prints

I love those canvas prints that are so trendy- and expensive- right now. When I saw directions on how to make them on Pinterest, I gave it a try.

First, I bought 24x30 canvases at Hobby Lobby and painted the edges black.

I had big prints made at Inkleys and had to trim them a bit to fit the canvases. I'll do better research about sizes next time.

Then I painted my little friend, Mod Podge, all over the canvas, using a foam brush. I didn't put too much on, just a light coat. Then I set the picture on, making sure the edges were even. I laid down waxed paper and turned the whole thing upside-down on the kitchen table.

Have you been wondering what to do with that set of encyclopedias you bought back in 1993? You use them to weigh down the back of your canvas. Let it sit overnight, so that you are sure that it's nice and dry.

They turned out kind nice, I think! I'll be doing this again.

Little Missionary Gives It A Try

You remember Lindsey's Sumo Thumb Wrestlers that she got for Christmas, right? Well, Little Missionary just had to try to convert them.

"What do you know about the Mormon church? Would you like to know more?"

I guess not.

A Merry Christmas To All

 I like Christmas on a Sunday. It made the whole day nice and tidy! Everyone was at the kitchen table, in their Sunday clothes at 9:30, sharp. After breakfast we went to church. After church, we got comfy and started opening presents.

I've never seen anyone look so happy to get a cake mix for Christmas.

Ben and Shannon gave Bruce this nautical compass. Come on guys, you are just feeding the monster!

Lindsey got her own set of Sumo Thumb Wrestlers. A battle ensued, starting with a polite bow.

 Both sets of married got a canvas print that I made with instructions off of...Pinterest! (Blog will follow.)

And what's Christmas without someone getting hurt? Shannon brained herself on the new dining room chandelier we lovingly call the "Medieval Dungeon Light." You can see how bad Bruce feels for her. (There's Ben and Shannon's canvas picture behind Shannon's prone body.)

 Maybe a thwack from Ben's new Thor hammer will make it feel better. But I doubt it.

 One final pose with the new Green Lantern Ring and the Thor hammer.

Our present from Disney! Awesome!! Merry Christmas to all!

The Christmas Eve Feast

Every year, we have a crazy Christmas Eve feast. Everybody brings something different and it can get a bit...interesting. Bruce thinks that his recipe doesn't count if they're not off the Food Network website.

He chose to make Ina Garten's Smoked Salmon Terrines. I know, the thought of Bruce making a Barefoot Contessa recipe is wild and crazy, but he was pleased with the results.

There was a wide variety of delicious dishes from Antipasto to Jerk Chicken to Jam Pastries to Fried Cinnamon treats with Chocolate Sauce. Believe me, a good time was had by all.

To aid digestion, we played the Wii. Bruce and I don't have a lot of experience playing the Wii, but it was fun. Almost as fun as watching other people play.

And, of course, Xena was in the thick of things, hoping for another delicious piece of Ina Garten's smoked salmon.

We ended the evening by reading the Christmas story out of the scriptures (if electronic scriptures count), and then , because we didn't want to go to bed, we played a rousing game of Aggravation. A fun evening, if you ask me.

Skypeing With NZ

On Christmas Eve, we were all excited to Skype with Peter, but never having Skyped before, we knew things were going to be a bit dicey. He was going to connect with us at 4:00, our time, which was right after church, tomorrow, his time. I know, confusing, but he is on the other side of the world.

We were all ready. Some of us raided Peter's closet and were wearing his clothes. Lindsey was wearing his Christmas sweater.

 4:00 came and went. 4:30 came and went. Bruce was going to call Peter's bishop. Bruce started monkeying around with the connection.

Then, all of a sudden, he was there! Amazing! He'd had to borrow his Bishop's laptop and figure things out on his end, but there he was! We cheered!

What a fun way to communicate! That was the fastest hour I've ever lived through. He was the same old Peter, only Samoan. He talked like a Samoan, and made these crazy Samoan faces. He told us about what he was doing, introduced us to his companion, (who we might have overwhelmed, just a little), showed us his flat belly (he's lost those 20 lbs.), wanted to know why we were stealing all of his clothes, and tried to fight off the 3 year old who was pestering him. He thought our new fridge was "flash as." He also says "hi" to everyone at home.

We told him about Little Missionary, which he thought was creepy.

After an hour, it was time for he and his companion to move on to the first of 4 "feeds" they were scheduled for that day. It was sad to say goodbye, but we get to see him in person on March 1st at 7:26 pm, when he gets home!

Happy Christmas Day

Christmas Lights

After delivering our "cute as" snowmen, we went in search of Christmas lights. We found this hideous beast a few blocks from our house. Those two green lights, just to the right of center are this creature's eyes.

 Cool, but disturbing. Kind of like a Zombie Wreath.

Then we made our way out to Layton, where the city park is full of Christmas lights.

 FYI: I took these on my camera's TV setting, at 1/100 speed, with the ISO at 4000. :)

Happy Christmas Eve!!

Marshmallow Snowmen

Shannon and Lindsey made my neighbor gifts for me this year. How nice to have several willing pairs of hands around the house! I copied this idea off of Pintrest. It's from the Wilton website.

First they threaded 3 big marshmallows onto sticks,

Then rolled them in melted chocolate, (I was the chocolate melter!),

Then drew on arms and faces once the chocolate had hardened.

Most of our snowmen were happy,

But a few got a little out of control. You know how my house works.

There was the Angry Snowman:

The Alien-Creature-Erupting-From-My-Belly Snowman:

The Impaled-Through-The-Head Snowman:

I'm not sure what kind of snowman this is:

And a special Band-Aid Snowman for my neighbor across the street who fell off a ladder and broke his hip a few weeks ago.

These were easy and fun to make, plus they are cute! The perfect neighbor gift.