Elf Yourself

I know you've gotten those "elf yourself" videos from your friends! If you click on the link above (title) you can see the one I did....using son, hubby, me and daughter! But most importantly, will anyone watch "It's a Wonderful Life" with me this week????

Diva Christmas 2007

Somewhere deep in the "liveable forest" is a group of friends that call themselves The Dirt Divas. It can be difficult to get a photo of them all gathered in one place at the same time. Below are two attempts...but as you can see the attempts do not show everyone. This first shot was taken by me. And yes, they are often seen wearing the official headdress. This photo was taken immediately upon their sitting and talking time...which follows their standing and talking time. This period often lasts quite awhile. As you can see they are very classy. They are having champagne with their Fritos. Below you can see that one of the Divas has escaped....lured away to another function with other people....in this case family....children home from the mission field in Argentina. But the others go on and try to enjoy themselves and a photo is captured by Nancy this time.

See the empty place at the end. How symbolic a group they are. Merry Christmas!

Good mail!

My good friend, Nathalie sent me the Moravian Star ornament above in a beautiful handmade Christmas card last week. I, of course, tried to make one, too. Mine is below. I am only showing mine so she can see it. I have the basic concept down, just needs "refining"!!!! Diva party pictures....NEXT post! I gotta get something done here.

Chicken Enchiladas

This is something that I like to make and take to people that are in need of a meal brought in. My friends also like it....so I made it for dinner last night when the Dirt Divas came to my house for their annual Christmas party.

Pictures from the evening will appear in the next post...but for now, here is the recipe:

Chicken Enchiladas

1 chicken, boiled and deboned (I just buy a bunch of breasts and boil them)

Chicken broth (just need a little, save some from boiling)

1 can of cream of chicken or mushroom soup

8 oz. sour cream

4 chopped green onions (I never have these)

small can of Rotel tomatoes (chopped) (I always double this recipe, so I use a regular can)

1 lb of cheddar cheese (grated) (buy it grated)

1 pkg corn or flour tortillas (I use flour)

salt and pepper to taste (I seldom add)

Combine chicken, soup, sour cream, green onions (optional), drained Rotel tomatoes and enough broth to mix well.

Put a small scoop of mixture on each tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in a baking dish (I usually spray dish with Pam). Pour leftover sauce over all and top with cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serves 6.

One thing that never appears with the recipe and I think it is a crucial part..... before you fill the tortilla, dip the tortilla in picante sauce (I use Pace, but any will work). Just submerge that thing in a bowl of it and yes, your hands will be messy....then fill the tortilla. This keeps them soft! (the tortillas, not your hands)

It's yummmmmmy! All you need with this is a salad!

Christmas, Christmas time is here!

A few more pictures.....I spend days slowly putting it out and I must tell you that this year, I left a lot in the attic. But it's okay.... I'm feeling good about "paring down" .. is that spelled right? It is... I just looked it up. See my Rebecca Sower vignette hanging there? I put all 6 of them on the tree. No, I haven't made more. Why do you think I would have gotten that done? I'll do it tomorrrrrrrrrrrrrow! I should maybe put some crochet or "snow" under those above? Hmmmm.... we'll see.. I got those angels on Ebay a couple of years ago. I just love them!! The house is a replica of the one on It's A Wonderful Life. What was the name of it? Be the first to name that house and I'll send you a surprise! I'll post more later. I realllllllllllllly must go shopping today!!!!

What I like about MY Christmas stuff!

This is in the dining room....I love these silver trees...bought 5 of them at Thad's in Old Towne Spring, TX a couple of years ago. Put some of my little houses underneath 3 of them here. I have these little pipecleaner gnome people there, too. Those arrived inside my china hutch when I bought it from my boss back in 1977 after his wife died. The white house in the glass dome....got two of em at Walmart last year for under $20 each. The small dome with the tree, I got it at The Nutcracker Mkt in Houston in 2006. I made the Christmas banner last year....strung it on a jingle bell swag I had. I'll put some more up tomorrow. Do you like my black background? I can't decide....and I'm not too crazy about my banner right now (at the top of the blog)....maybe I should use an antique postcard.... too much to do.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!!! I got this darling ornament in the mail a couple of weeks ago from Natalea... my Silver Bella buddy! Isn't it sweeeeeeeeeeet?! I hung my ornaments from the Aquabella Ornament Swap at Silver Bella today...on my great tree from Urban Outfitters. It's hard to get a picture that does them all justice without just doing a close up of each one. They are all beautiful!!!!!!! Do you love the Urban Outfitters tree? It was originally $48, but I got it when I stayed at the Galleria for $28! That was what just over a week ago. They only had 3 left at that store..but you might try online. It folds up, too. Has a bird on top!!!

If you like graphic downloads....

Lisa Vollrath has a great offer on her site right now. If you like free jpegs of "our kind of stuff", be sure and visit her site. She is giving us 45 images over 25 days, you will just need to publish her link on your blog or a group list!

Gettin Ready!

This is one of the vignettes I did in Rebecca Sower's class at Silver Bella. I plan to make some more, with some of my old postcard images....maybe later today. Don't you love these!!! If you haven't visited Rebecca's blog in awhile, you need to get over there. She's uploading a new idea each day called Christmas From the Craft Room.

The Galleria

I've been wandering the Galleria in Houston since 1972 and I'm quite sure I've never taken a picture in there before. So above are some shots of the Christmas decorations. In the middle one that is water coming down! It's so beautiful in there and I can't visit without remembering what it was like to go there alone as a 20 something year old girl and not knowing a soul in Houston. I had just moved here to work. I did know the parents of a good friend and had stayed with them a couple of nights while looking for an apartment. Oh how my life has changed since 1972 when I took that step of faith and moved to the big city to work. God has richly blessed me.

Below is a picture of my son and his girlfriend. We were at the same party in The Galleria on Friday night. That's DH in the tux on the left in the background. Picture of the 4 of us to come...when someone sends it to me!

So today I need to remove the pumpkin from my front porch and start pulling out the Christmas decorations! It was still November when I left last Thursday! We stayed at The Westin Galleria Hotel Thursday and Friday nights! So I shopped Thursday, Friday and Saturday! Had parties on Thursday and Friday nights..... I still have tired feet.