10 Winners!

No giveaway for this week, but I do have 10 lucky winners from last week's Incomparable Button Giveaway!

poppyinpink said... 67

Just being with my family is the favorite tradition at Christmas. I hope you are enjoying yours too!

Miss Nancy said... 22

I follow the Button Mad blog. It is a great blog with a great mission. I did leave a comment on their blog two minutes ago. Thank you for this great giveaway.

Lisa Cox said... 42

Follower of your blog

Purl Buttons said... 99

I am now a follower of yours as well!

rickimoo said... 66

following button mad and left a comment there and i am already a follower of you.

gill said... 27

We always go to the midnight church service at our local church and after we have mulled wine and mince pies!
Thanks for a great giveaway and happy Christmas!

JustPam said... 10

We just have family together and the grands get to open all of their presents.

Diane H said... 9

One of our traditions is to watch White Christmas on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

karamino said... 62

I follow Naptime Crafters

Galadriel said... 72

La mia tradizione di Natale è stare con la mia famiglia ascoltando musica di Natale e aprendo i pacchetti sotto l'albero!
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Roberta

Please email me with your mailing address to claim your prize.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Friday Favs Party #43

It's Party Time!

I hope your holidays were fabulous! Now it's time for some fun winter tutorials!

the most viewed link last week was...
DIY Photo Display Board by Mom on Timeout

I have one like this and I LOVE it!



And my other favs this week...

Scarf Hanger by Mama Says Sew
How cute! And with a few more months of winter ahead this is a must!

Peppermint Bark by The Crafty Blog Stalker
Christmas may be over, but I bet you have some leftover candy canes just waiting to be used up:)



Bread Tag Gingerbread Men by Crafts by Amanda
How cute! She also has links to little snowmen and monsters



Were you featured? Go ahead, grab a button:)

<a href="http://naptimecrafters.blogspot.com/"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LNEJ3bT4mFk/TW3DyxHXpZI/AAAAAAAACiM/vEy4qyH3660/s1600/I%2527m+a+Friday+Fav.jpg"/></a>
Are you Ready to Party?!
Just grab a button & display it anywhere on your blog, link up, & enjoy the party by checking out some amazing ideas!

And of course I love new friends, so go ahead and follow along too:)

<center><a href="http://naptimecrafters.blogspot.com/"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-khaXKqZJaVQ/TW3CoVliOdI/AAAAAAAACiI/MY45earI1k4/s1600/Friday+Fav.jpg"/></a></center>

Let's see those ideas! You could be next week's Friday Fav:)

Guest Post: New Years Facial

It's been a long year and you deserve a bit of pampering! This tutorial is just the thing:)

Hi Everyone!  I'm Sarah.  You can find me at a happy little place called Creating Sarah.  

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  Can you believe it is all over already and that tomorrow is the last day of the year?  I don't know about you, but I have to admit that I'm kind of glad I survived.  I may have taken on a bit too much this year and I'm kind of exhausted.  

Tomorrow is kind of a big day, right?  Do you have any plans?  I plan on staying home and having a fun little party, with WAY too much food and my little family.  I need just a little bit more energy to make it through one more party.  

Here's a little trick my mom taught me.

First get some sugar.  I used too much here.  All you need is about 1 Tablespoon.

And also you need some honey.  Did you know honey is a natural moisturizer?  

Add some honey to the sugar.  The ratio of honey to sugar is about 1:1... 

but I just add it until it looks good.

Like this. 

You want it runny enough that it will spread, but not so runny that it will drip everywhere.

Now comes the fun part.  I prefer to do this in a nice hot bubble bath, but not today.  If it is more convenient, this works just as fine lying on a bed or couch (even the floor, but that's not as comfortable), just make sure you put a towel behind your head.

Take that sticky mixture and spread it all over your face, (wash your face first!) avoiding your eyes and mouth.  I suppose you could put it on your mouth if you wanted to, but that's a lot of sugar.

Now relax. 

Lay quietly for at least 10 minutes.  Maybe even take a little nap.  You've earned it.  

Fair warning:  It will drip. 

When you are ready, use a soft, warm washcloth to clean it off.  This is where you will feel the sugar acting as an exfoliant.  

 That's it!  

Take some time to notice how your face glows and it is so soft.  Take some time to relax and refresh today and ring in that New Year with style!

Thank you for having me today.  I'd love to have you come visit me some time.  I've got lots of fun planned for 2012!

Guest Post: Winter Bucket List

Winter blues got you down? This will fun idea will keep you and the kiddos having lots of fun!

Hi everyone, I'm Valerie from Occasionally Crafty!

I'm so excited to be here at Amy's blog today.  I'm a huge fan of all the lovely goodness here at Naptime Crafters. Just a quick introduction:  I'm a mom to three lively kids, and when I'm not crafting, I teach piano, read anything I can get my hands on, and play with my kids!  Over at my blog, you'll find fun home decor projects you can easily make yourself, seasonal crafts and decor, digital scrapbook pages that give a glimpse into our family life, and sweet projects for my kids and yours. Today's project came about from what I call the "winter blahs".  It seems like every year, once Christmas is over, the rest of the winter just...drags....on.  There's no major holidays, the house feels empty without my cozy holiday decor, and it's cold (well, maybe not where I live in Phoenix- but hey!  50's is cold for me!) I came up, aided by many different ideas I found online and from friends, with a list of some things to do in the winter.  I'm calling it a Winter Bucket List, and with it, I'll show you how to make a cute altered clipboard to display it on. First, remove the clip.  All you need is a screwdriver.  Unscrew the screws and don't lose the pieces!

On your scrapbook paper, trace around your clipboard base to make it fit perfectly.  I chose this one based in blues, because the colors and the swirls on it made it just feel like winter to me.  Cut it out and Mod Podge it on.  Trim if necessary.

Add the clipboard back on.  Poke holes through the scrapbook paper for easy entry, then screw tight with your screwdriver. Embellish your clipboard as desired.  I used my Silhouette to create a vinyl label, using text I created and a snowflake.

Now, I think this looks pretty great by itself!  (not that I'm biased or anything).

But, I put together this printable for you to add to your clipboard.

I know this isn't an original idea- but almost all the lists I found had holiday activities included, and I wanted one that was just for winter.  So, here you go.  Simply click on the image below and save it to your computer to print.  It looks great up to an 8x10, but I printed mine as a 5x7 to fit on the clipboard.

 (If you don't want a clipboard, this would be great to frame and use a dry-erase marker to check off your activities!) And now, you have some fun ideas to keep you busy this winter, and a cute clipboard to make you happy!

Thanks for having me, Amy!  I'd love to see any of you readers over at my blog, on my Facebook Page, or over on Pinterest!  Happy New Year! 

   

Guest Post: New Years Breakfast

Ring in the new year with this amazingly yummy looking breakfast idea from our fabulous guest blogger!

Hi All! My name is Michaela and I blog over at Covered in Mod Podge. 

 I'm thrilled to be here and can't thank Amy enough for having me!

Well we made it through the hussle and bussle of Christmas and now its on to the next big thing- New Year's Eve/Day. I'm not a night person. I never have been. As a result, New Year's Eve really isn't my cup of tea. I love that its a holiday often spent with friends. I love that fireworks are frequently involved. However, I do not love staying up past 9pm. Blaming it on my little miss would be a lie. I really can't remember the last time I made it till midnight.

Gooey Yumminess

Since I'm usually well rested come New Year's Day, I like starting the year off with a special breakfast. Enter Gooey Yumminess. It's the name I've given this wonderful breakfast concoction that I've been adapting over the last couple of months to meet my breakfast needs. Its warm, sweet, and defiantly not good for you. Its everything you want for a special occasion breakfast like New Year's Day breakfast.

The best part about Gooey Yumminess? Its so easy. There are few ingredients, it uses pre-made biscuits, and it comes together in a snap. It leaves you plenty of time for laying on the couch recovering if you actually made it till midnight. 

Gooey Yumminess

{adapted from All Things Delicious}

1 tube Pillsbury Grands biscuits 

4 tbsp. melted butter, divided

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon

{Serves 4}

Preheat the over to 375.

 

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in one bowl. Stir together 3 tablespoons of the melted butter and the corn syrup in another bowl. Add the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Spray the living daylights out of your pan. Them spray it more. Corn syrup is a sticky moster. The original recipe calls for making this wonderfulness in a fluted pan. I would recommend doing so. I just don't because I don't have one. 

Spread 1/3 of the gooey mixture evenly on the bottom of the pan. Arrange the biscuits into a circle. Then, evenly distribute the rest of the goo. Finally, drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter on top of the gooey wonderfulness.

You'll pop this puppy into the oven for 30 minutes. When you check it, make sure you stick a fork down into it and really check the middle of one of the biscuits. The top can look wonderful while the inside is still uncooked.  

Once done, invert onto a plate and enjoy! For a memorable meal, serve with fruit, eggs, and juice!

Yumm

Guest Post: Turkey Pot Pie

Have some leftover turkey? This recipe will save the day!

Hi, I'm Jen and I blog at The Crafting Fiend and would love for you to come over. I have a wonderful, funny, and rather charming husband. We have a 16month old daughter who is awesome, so full of energy, and a climber. I love the color pink, shoes, and crafting. I mainly do sewing crafts on my blog with a few recipes here and there and some paper crafts. 

I don't know about your family, but mine usually over makes food for the holidays and so we always have plenty of leftovers! My favorite thing to make with leftover turkey meat is turkey pie, plus my husband and daughter both love it!

Step 1 is to gather your leftovers or ingredient leftovers. I used ingredients for the veg and leftover turkey. For veg I used celery, onion, mushrooms, and frozen peas and carrots. Anything will work really.

For the sauce use 1 cup of milk.

and then fill it up to the 2cup line (ish) with chicken stock. I did water and oxo.

Pour all but 1/2cup into the pan with the veg and turn to medium heat. With that 1/2cup you left behind add a little cornstarch stir and add it into the pan and stir it all together.

While it's heating up you have the fun of taking the leftover turkey off the bones (yay!) and adding it to the sauce and veg. Stir everything together and let the sauce thicken.

Once it thickens add the potatoes. They will get a bit mushy and end up kind of like slightly mashed spuds in there - so if you want to use leftover mashed potatoes go right ahead. This really isn't a fussy dish to make. 

Roll out your pie crust. In case you don't have a favorite recipe I use this for a double crust pie:

2c. flour

1/2 tsp salt

2/3c shortening (lard)

1Tbsp vinegar

5-6Tbsp. water

(This recipe works great unless you try and double it like I did... my pie crust turned out terrible - so please don't judge the recipe based on my pie crust in the following pictures)

Put mix into the pie crust  - I used a deep dish pie plate- cause meat pies should be thick.

See the horrible pie crust... fail, but it will taste good! 

Looks a bit better once the top is on.

Here is the finished pie !

(see the crust doesn't look *that* bad now that it is cooked up)

I also made a few rather sad looking mince meat pies for my husband... I think I'm going to throw out the rest of the dough though. Lesson learned.