Peppermint Brownies

Here's a quick and easy {altered} brownie recipe.

I made these for connection group, and then shared them at work as well.

If you love peppermint and chocolate {like me!},
these will be a big hit!

Even though they were a gooey mess, everyone seemed to enjoy them!

 

Peppermint Brownies

{I used a jelly roll pan for these…so doubled the recipe}

1 box fudge brownie mix
mini chocolate chips
mint of your choice:  Andes mints, York Peppermint Patties, crushed candy canes, etc.

Make and bake the brownies as directed on the box,
but add in some additional chocolate chips.

As the brownies are cooling, prepare the frosting.
1 tub of white frosting
Peppermint flavor
Food coloring {red or green}
Toppings of your choice

When I make these next time,
I believe I will use crushed candy in the brownies themselves,
in addition to adding some to the frosting
and on top of the frosting to finish off the look.


A quick and easy recipe to add some great taste
and fun color to your holiday plate of treats.

Windmill {Display} Blades

Christmas Decor continued.....

In addition to my ladder mantle,

my other favorite piece happens to be my
windmill blades!

I decided to do a little something different with them this Christmas season.

They are now displaying my Christmas photo cards!

I used some mini clothes pins that I picked up from Wally World,

in the office section.

{I think I might need to pick up a couple more boxes.
It seems I use these a lot!}


Since I'm missing some of my decor,
I'm looking for some new ideas.

I do have some bakers twine, 

that might be making an appearance if need be.

How do you display your Christmas cards?
Ideas are welcome!

Decking My Halls

Howdy!

I do {still} exist!
I guess life just took over for awhile.
And I'm okay with that.

But, I have a moment,

{and maybe I was harassed about not blogging....Jessica!},

so here we go!

After Thanksgiving 'break', I decided to start decorating my place.

As I was decorating, I quickly realized I was missing

one, if not two, tubs of Christmas decor!

That set me back a bit.  Jeesh!

But lucky for me, 

I feel that I was still able to decorate well with what I did have on hand,

in addition to some 'new' purchases.

{By 'new', I mean junk finds.}

This wreath was new new...
and I LOVE IT!!

On my sofa table, I had a tin container that was full of 'N's, 

so I dumped them out and added a bunch of
found ornaments.

The jumbo clothes pin is something I crafted last year,

and just change out the month flash card every month.

Well, for the most part.
I might have missed October and November.  :)

Next to it sits this...

The blue Ball jar has a chalkboard label on it.
I bought it with the bulbs inside for a great price,

from Rescued Junk a couple years ago.

My ladder mantle.

I kind of love it!

After I took this picture, there have been a few changes to it.

I can't get a new picture now,

because the top lights of the big tree blinked off a few days ago.

Any ideas on how to fix it?

I know I'm a little behind on the bottle brush trees scene,

but now I have 3 of them,

in different sizes.  :)

I like this little guy, hanging out with my little boot.
{They are on the far left side of my ladder mantle.}

This little truck was another junk find.

I believe I first saw the idea of using an

old toy truck for decorating

from Farmgirl Paints.

I'm still on the hunt for a different truck though.

I'd prefer Chevy or Ford, or even an IH.

This truck, I have never heard of the name.  

But at least it looks cute!

To wrap this up,

my obsession with 'fun' socks.

During the month of December,

I have enough Christmas/winter socks

to wear a different pair each day of the month....

and not repeat them!

Hopefully I'll be back in a few days

to share some more pictures from around my living room.

Have you ever lost/misplaced/forgotten

any of your decorations?

Christmas Cheer

I was on a baking kick Thursday night.

Two gingerbread cheesecakes.

18 mini gingerbread cheesecakes.

Frosted mint brownies.

And I didn't get any cleaning done.  :)

But, I did pull a light fixture off the ceiling when I attempted to change the light bulb.

I guess that is what you get with cheap apartment lighting.

Oops!  Good thing the landlord will be here to fix it later.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a little something with you today,

to spread a little Christmas cheer!

 

 

You can download it here.

I used various kit items from Shabby Miss Jenn to complete the little sign.

{Her kits are pretty much AWESOME!}

In other news....Gina and Jay return to Iowa in less than 45 hours!  

:)

I hope you enjoy the Christmas cheer. 
You can download and print it yourself, or send it off to the photo lab of your choice.

That's what I did.  

A Baby Changes Everything

How about a little Christmas music love?

This song is on Faith Hill's Christmas album, Joy To The World.

Christmas Garland

Since I never posted about this project last Christmas,
I thought I'd share it this Christmas.

Also, because I don't have any Christmas decorations up this year!
But that's what you get when you are out of state kid wrangling for one week,
busy with work the next week, then heading to the farm for over a week for Christmas.
{And getting to see my favorite little sister!!}

 To be honest, I have no idea where the inspiration for the project came from.
If it is from someone out in blogland, please let me know!

Otherwise, it must have been in my head.  :)

To start, I punched out a LOT of circles {in 3 different sizes} and 'flowers' from a coordinated set of scrapbook paper from HobLob {half price, of course!}.
To add some other texture to the piece, I also used brown kraft paper.

By the end, my hand was so sore from all the 'punching'!  But I wasn't done yet.

I then took little stacks of the circles and flowers and put a hole in the middle of them with my Crop-A-Dile.
{Which again, I got at Hobby Lobby, either half price or 40% off.}

Now it was time to string them!

 

Prior to this project, I purchased a BIG needle.  I have no idea what kind it is, but it was great.

The end was fairly dull, which I didn't care about.  My only concern was that I had something that would hold the jute twine in place, but would work to thread/string the cut outs.  

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention.  After I punched out all the shapes and punched the hole in the middle, I crushed/wadded up each of the pieces of paper.  I know I did more than one at a time to make things go faster. 

I did this because it gave more texture to the design in the end.  Otherwise, it just wouldn't have looked the same.  {You can tell they are crinkled in the 1st picture.}

  

Scrapbook paper garland {snake}

On the ends of the garland, I made loops because I used little 3M hooks to hang it.  

 

After I hung it up, I came up with another idea of hanging my Christmas cards from it.

  

Love it!  Had I actually decorated this year, I would have put some scrapbook paper on the clothespins.  

But, maybe that will happen next year.

 This was an easy craft that I did while watching movies.  

It's also one that kids could help out with.  Especially the crumpling of the paper.

One of these years, I think it would be fun to make mini garland to drape around like swags.
I would use a small circle punch only, instead of different sizes.

 What Christmas crafts have you done?

Now, if I could only get going on finishing my nephews gift!  I know he'll love it.  

I just need to {start and} finish it!

FYI....only 3 more days until I get to see my little sister!  :)

Brown Paper Packages....

......tied up with string.

These are now hopefully some of my niece and nephews and parents favorite things!  :)

Dear Santa...

{and Mom and Dad, and older sister and family.....}

This Empire Red piece of kitchen bliss is sure enjoying its new home!  I think I will finally break it in Monday after work.  What I will make with it....I have no idea.  Suggestions?

One thing I know for sure, there will be no need to stand in the return lines this year.  :)

I also received the slicer/shredder as well.  Since this is a Christmas/birthday/every-other-holiday-of-the-year-present, I might as well enjoy it all at once, right? 

I LOVE it!!!  {And I might have cried when I opened it.}  :)



Have Yourself a MERRY Little Christmas

Before we all get caught up in the holiday cheer, I wanted to be sure to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Our family has changed our little gathering from tomorrow morning, to tonight....due to traveling and the impending snow storm moving in.

It's been a little crazy on the farm, but I love it!  It's great to have all the nephews and niece under one room. 

Too bad we will be missing my 'little' sister and her husband.  With being in Germany, they decided to take a little safari over Christmas.  Hopefully the lions and tigers will leave them alone, so we can meet the pet giraffe she hopes to bring back.  :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts

I finally got a few crafts completed!  But it took me long enough!

I will just post pictures of them now, and expand on them later.

Happy crafting!

Decking the Door

Thanks to the awesome Clark's,

{and maybe a little swapping of some chocolate from Germany and
a future kid wrangling job}

I now have myself a REAL wreath for my door. 

I love that it already has pinecones on it. 

In addition to a fun, glittery red bow!



I'm slowly getting my place decorated.

Once I find the rest of my decorations, that should make the process easier.  :)

Happy December!

I'm back from my quick trip across Europe! 

What an amazing trip it was!

But I haven't had time to go through pictures yet, let alone even unpack my suitcase! 
I might not even unpack, since I'll be heading to the farm this weekend to spend it with my niece and nephews.  I think it will also be a great time to do laundry.  {Catch that mom??}  :)

The above picture was from a little snow fight Gina, Jay and I had.  This snow fight was held in Rothenburg [which is pronounced Rote-en-burg...no 'th'.]

Hopefully the snow will soon fall in the Midwest.  These 0-1 degree windchills are no fun without snow!  Plus, I LOVE snow.  :)

Here's to a great December.  But among all the hustle and bustle of the season, may you remember the true reason for the season....JESUS. 

Update:  If you'd like to see a recap of the trip from Gina's view,
go to her blog and check it out. 

Handmade Christmas

I know it is only November 1, but here's a fun site to go to start working on your handmade Christmas gifts.

Who wouldn't want a handmade gift? If anything, it could be a gift to yourself!

So head on over to Creation Corner and see what you want to make.

Happy Crafting!

What A Wonderful Christmas It Was!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

I know here at the Nechanicky Farm, we had an enjoyable time. My sister and her husband are going between our farm and his family during the week. They are stationed in Germany, so it's fun to have them back for this week. My brother and his wife are here as well. Between all of us, we got some great stuff! In all of this great stuff, there were some games.

If you are a fan of Monopoly, did you know they make all sorts of other forms of something-OPOLY? How about FARM-OPOLY? It was a fun game. I enjoyed it a lot more than the regular Monopoly game. It's more fun to buy horses and tractors and seed and have droughts instead of getting sent to jail. And the money pile that goes in the middle...how about some free manure! I liked calling it the money pit. Manure.....pit. :) Instead of buying homes and mansions, you buy square acres and barns. It is the perfect game for our family.

We also played a couple games of Settlers of Catan. However, I believe it is actually called Sedlers....since it is in German! Good thing my sister was thinking ahead and copied their friends directions that are in English so we could remember how to play. I guess it's a good way to teach us all a little German. I know that ritter must mean robber.

Now we have the rest of the week/end to bum around a little. On Monday we'll be having a little snow party at the farm. I hope you all are having a fun time with your family and friends as well. I know all of us here definitely charish our time together, since two of the four of us are in other parts of the world.

Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday Jesus (& Grandpa!)

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas, as you celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After all, HE is the reason for the season.
Merry Christmas!

Jesus Didn't Hurry

Taken from Unwrapping Christmas by Lori Copeland. A letter written by Karen Hancock.

Jesus Didn't Hurry

Jesus was never in a hurry. He accomplished the greates work a man ever accomplished in only three and a half years, yet he was never worried or hurried or flustered or stressed. He wasn't concerned with building a big ministry, either, nor was he rushing off to do this or that, urging his disciples to get this or that, going to see such and such. he stopped and talked to the people who came into his life without checking his watch. His disciples did not stand at his elbow reminding him he had to be in Capernaum by sundown or Jerusalem by the next day. Sometimes he just went fishing.
The thing that struck me was that sometimes it's okay to do nothing. Because this concept is bound up in what I am learning about creative process, I find this especially exciting. After a cell is finished dividing there is a period of rest before anything else happens. If cell division is about growth, and it is, then growth is about rest. This seems an obvious fact when you look at children, who grow at prodigious rates and yet need a lot of rest. Even as adults God has created us to require about eight hours of sleep every night. Americans seem on a headlong charge to do away with rest and sleep as quickly as possible.
Article after article documents the growing epidemic of sleep deprivation and everyone is always in a hurry, always pressed for time despite the time savers of fast food, fast cars, and fast Internet. With cell phones, microwaves, and bagged, ready-to-eat lettuce, we have more time than ever and yet seem more frazzled than ever. Voices from our media-saturated lives constantly offer us new things to do and have, new ways to achieve, new areas to improve so we can get more done. There isn't much talk about doing nothing. Whatever happened to "come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest?" As believers we are children fully accepted by our Father already. Wy do we need to do all these things? what are we trying to prove?
I count it no accident that the Father called Jesus his beloved son in whom he was well pleased before he had done one thing in his ministry. The Bible's silence on those years between ages twelve and thrity is also not an accident. He wasn't doing great things for God during those times. And God made it a point to declare him already beloved and well-pleasing anyway. As believers, we are in union with him and thus we too are beloved and well-pleasing before we do anything.
So why are we so obsessed wtih achieving things? Why must we live harried, driven lives when all we are called to do is take his yoke and learn of him? As children of God, we have nothing to prove and nothing in this world to gain. Seek him fist and all things will be added to your life, Matthew tells us. David wrote of grace and mercy pursuing him, not the other way around.
Jesus was not in a hurry. I don't have to be either. I don't have to worry about meeting my deadline, because he will see to that. I don't have to worry about building a big ministry, because he will see it is whatever size he has chosen it to be. I don't have anything to prove because children of God don't have to prove anything. I only have to follow him and learn of him, and in so doing, I will find the rest that is the Christian way of life.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30


Please remember, I did not write this. I just read it in the back of the book I got yesterday from the library. If you have a chance to read this book, I recommend it. It was a quick read, since I started and finished it last night while babysitting. It reminds us to not get so busy serving others and meeting others expectations, that we neglect what really matters...God.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things!

Last night when I went to watch this little guy......he had a Christmas gift for me! His mom said that he sent her a text asking about one of my favorite things...CREAM SODA!!! But he didn't stop there.

He also got me fun socks (I try my best to avoid plain socks), stationary (so I can write letters to my family around the world), and a vanilla candle (because it smells good). Who knew a little guy like this could be such a fabulous gift giver....giving me a few of my favorite things.

And to top the night off, he bought me Jimmy John's! There was also a chilled cream soda for me to enjoy with my sandwich.

So to recap, These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things:
Callen!
cream soda
fun socks
paper
Jimmy John's
vanilla

What more could a lady ask for?

Christmas in the Apt

Finally, here are the pictures of what Christmas looks like in my apartment. So far I have seen it only in the morning before it's light or late at night. I'm glad I had Sunday to get it all decorated.

I even did a little altering to my 'Christmas' sign. With my wall color, the sign just blends in. So I painted the border of it red, then crackled black over it. It looks nice. (You can't see the red in the picture though.) I'm happy with how it turned out. Usually I don't want to mess up something that I love. But, I had to do it with the sign.

And a special THANKS to a give away at Creating Cupcakes, I received a free reusable mistletoe Vinyl Wall Art. It's fun! And it's something I will get to reuse year after year.
Even though I will be back at the farm for Christmas (and getting to see my sister and brother-in-low who are stationed in Germany), I couldn't enjoy the Christmas season without decorating for it. I told myself that I was going to decorate with what I had...but I made one exception. I have seen some pictures where people put some ornament bulbs in a big glass hurricane type device. The ones I saw were way to expensive. So I bought my bulbs on sale at KMart, and got a $10 cookie jar from Target. I just left the lid off. I really like it. Because the cookie jar has a little shape and character to it, I think I like it better than the $30 ones I saw. Enjoy my recent holiday addition! (And I'll see what I can do with the cookie jar after Christmas.)