Crafting fun, & last minute preps, and beginning on my food page upgrade

 It's been a fun but busy week of overdue housework, craft completion,  food shopping and preparation, plus jigsaw puzzling.  Also, I've been working on a re-design of the Food and Recipes page. Instead of just a link over to our old site I've set it up to feature some of my (forgotten) favorite recipes plus tips & tricks in the kitchen. Check it out if you like food-related posts.

OK- now let's do a small show 'n tell on those DIY snowflake hanger ornaments. Last blog I showed how they looked zip-tied and hot glued together. Next I'll show how they look decorated and finally how they look lighted. 

Filled the center with a handmade velvet bow
and snowflake ornament, hot-glued some of 
the sparkly bling on various spots and used wire ties to 
secure the white wire lights around the outer edges.

The cost: 16 identical hangers = $4, 1 pack small snowflake tree ornaments = Dollar store ~10/$1, ribbon for center "bow" = $0 (already had some) and a link to the sparkly rhinestone crystal ribbon  $0 (used $7.50 worth of reward points) = $0, and 2 - 50-light indoor/outdoor lights = $2.40 each, so about $10 for the 2. Not bad for some inexpensive decorating craft fun. I will store these in a closet somewhere for future use.

 

Shows the effect as dusk approaches.
 A nice pop of lights.

I thought this was funny - something I've never run across before. I was shucking some fresh corn and there was a little ear (with it's own husk) under the husks - Haha, so cute.

Good looking corn for mid-December

More on the cooking front, I made another 9" x 12" of the King Ranch Chicken casserole. It takes a while but is definitely worth the effort.

Bake covered for 45 mins (350°), then uncovered for another 15 mins.

When reheated from frozen, plus some salsa verde and some chips.

My latest jigsaw puzzling effort, a 500-piece Americana type puzzle.

All the presents are wrapped, and the stocking stuffers ready, and after a soaking wet day of rain yesterday the sun is out! Hope you have a great day, and thanks for stopping by.