Two Hearts Together Jeff & Samantha » Christmas

Post Christmas Valentine Tree

Samantha — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:10:10 +0000

With the holidays now said and done its time to get rid of the festive decor and the main attraction…the tree. This generation it is a good idea to find an eco-friendly way to recycle the tree by composing it in either the weekly yard debris container or drop off at your local boy scouts troop of Church.
But if you are like me, I kind of like busy green decor lighting up the living room and somehow have become attached to the forestry object being a part of our living room this past month.The lights glisten so nicely at night and it became a habit to turn it on when I came home from work. Now that Christmas is over and technically a tree has no need to be on or around, I dont want to take down or send it off to be chopped up. At least not yet.

Well a friend of mine Robin turned her Post Christmas tree into a Valentine tree! Some may say its to early to hop on to the next holiday (Valentine’s Day) but instead of the extra work of hauling the greenery out of the living room, keep it around for another month or so and turn it into a “V-Day” lovers tree!

Here is a picture of Robin’s tree below along with a few other Valentine trees I found around online!

Snowflake Art

Samantha — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:00:23 +0000

Amazing pictures of real snowflakes magnified to see their true beauty of snowflake art ! Nature’s art is so beautiful. Pictures from dailywaste.com

Portland Snow Winter Wonderland 2009

Samantha — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:16:50 +0000

For those of you who aren’t from the Portland, Oregon area last winter of 2008 in Portland was a very rare Winter. The city and community was shut down because of a generous showering of SNOW and dream into a Winter Wonderland! It snowed for over a week continuously and froze the city through Christmas and New Years. Many from Portland loved the snow the first few days but after a week of being home bound and inching lower on food because of the road conditions.
This year was told to be a snowless mild winter as they usually are in Portland, a few flakes in the upperhills but nothing to write home about.
UNTIL….this afternoon! The morning was somewhat warm, but as the afternoon progressed it became colder and proper conditions for snow. Yep today December 29th 2009 about 2:30pm snow started falling in the Portland Metro area! I stayed home sick today from school and boy am I thankful I did because the ride home for many was not good and Portlanders were not prepared at all. This caught the city off guard completely.
So far the snow has been falling for around 3 hours and there already is 2 inches by our house.
I have school tomorrow so we shall see if they stay open or cancel, but stay safe wherever you live weather you have snow,ice, or any other winter weather!

Here are a few pictures that I took when the snow started…

Merry HOHO!

Samantha — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:41:05 +0000

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Sorry I have not posted so much this past week, I have been busy with school and getting ready for the holidays!

My family took a dinner cruise on the Portland SPIRIT as a Christmas gift from my Aunt and Uncle in Kenmore Washington. They are so generous to send us girls (My Mom,Grandma,Sister, and me) for a good night together and yummy food as we cruised the Willamette.

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday with your celebrations and traditions! Continue to enjoy family and friends this next year! Many Blessings to you all!

Here are a few pictures from our holiday:

Looking at lights on Peacock Lane (visit their website {HERE} )

The Portland SPIRIT Dinner Cruise ( Visit the Portland Spirit website {HERE} )

Yummy holiday drinks! Cheers

Mom, Me, and Sister

Create Your Own Christmas Ornaments

Samantha — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:23:37 +0000

Create your own Christmas oranaments using clear ornaments (for endless possibilities) and foil tape! These ornaments are quick, easy and elegant! Great gift idea too.

Supplies Needed:
*Clear Christmas balls, available at just about any craft store
*Paper punches; I would suggest using cutters of the 3/4″
*Foil tape; you can find this in the heating department of your local big box store like Menards and Lowes and such
*Boning tool, optional

–> For full instructions visit DIY Maven and create your own!

Merry Holidays Everyone!

Christmas Cocktails and Merrytinis

Samantha — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:29:22 +0000

Here are some yummy festive Cocktails and Merrytinis to entertain your guests around Christmas or New Year! My favorite it the Baily’s Chocolate Dipped Martini, it tasts just like a candy bar!

Baily’s Chocolate Dipped Martini

Ingredients:

4 oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur
1/4 Cup chocolate melting chips or chopped Hershey’s milk chocolate candy bar
1 shaker chocolate sprinkles

Steps:

Melt chocolate in the microwave in 10-second increments; stir until smooth.
Pour chocolate on to a saucer.
Dip the rim of a Martini glass in the melted chocolate and immediately shake chocolate sprinkles over the chocolate rim.
Add Baileys and ice into a cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake and strain into the chocolate-rimmed Martini glass to serve.

S’mores Merrytini

Ingredients:

5 oz. milk
1 Tablespoon Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
1 – 2 tablespoons Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
1 graham cracker
1 chocolate bar piece

Steps:

Add milk into a mug or glass.
Stir in Hershey’s syrup until combined.
Spoon marshmallow creme on top of the cocktail. Wait for a couple of minutes and the cream will settle forming a smooth topping.
Insert the graham cracker and chocolate bar piece into the crème topping and serve.

Santa’s Hat

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 Teaspoon water
1/4 Cup sweetened, flaked coconut
3 oz. red cranberry juice
1 oz. Malibu Rum
1/2 oz. grenadine
1 candy cane

Steps:

Mix together powdered sugar and water until smooth.
Fold a paper towel into a 4-inch square and lay it on a saucer.
Spread the powdered sugar mixture on top of the towel on the saucer.
Spread coconut in a shallow layer on another saucer.
Dip the rim of a Martini glass in the sugar mixture on the towel until the rim is coated.
Then, dip the sugared rim into the coconut. Use a spoon to pack the coconut on to the sugar coating so it stays on the rim.
Add the cranberry juice, Malibu rum and grenadine into a cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake and strain into a prepared Martini glass and serve.
Garnish with a candy cane. Break off the top hook of the candy cane if desired.

Recycled Crayon Christmas Wreath

Samantha — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:07:31 +0000

If you have leftover crayons that need to be re-purposed then you will get them off your hands by turning theses bright colored sticks into a Recycled Crayon Christmas Wreath! This would be perfect decor for a child’s bedroom or a crafty area in your home.
This Recycled Crayon Christmas Wreath project was made from SCRAP Portland. If you dont know what SCRAP Portland is you can read me previous post about SCRAP Portland {HERE}.

Supplies Needed:

1 metal coat hanger
embroidery hoop, any wreath/circular form
crayons
hot glue
hot glue gun
plastic soda bottle caps
glass bottle caps
decorative ribbons

Gingerbread House Kit

Samantha — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:15 +0000

Something fun to do at Christmas many of us grew up doing is making/decorating a Gingerbread House! Many companies now have put together Gingerbread House Kits that you can purchase that cuts out all the baking of the pieces and allows you to jump right to it and start decorating which is always the fun part.

Jeff and I bought a Gingerbread House Kit at Target for $10. The Gingerbread House Kit had all the house pieces already precooked and ready to assemble with tons of candy and icing to start decorating once opened.

The Gingerbread House Kit includes:

4 PreBaked Gingerbread House Walls
2 PreBaked Gingerbread House Roofs
1 PreBaked Gingerbread chimney
2 PreBaked Mini Gingerbread Men
1 PreBaked Mini Gingerbread Tree
1 Large Icing Bag
1 EZ Built Tray to stabilize the house
TONS of sugary candy!

Christmas Art Ideas

Samantha — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000

If you are looking for Christmas Art Ideas to do by yourself or with the kids The Usborne Book of Christmas Art Ideas is a great book that has festive projects for all ages! I had this book at my old child care center I used to work at and used is pretty much every day during our art time. Each page in the book has highly colored step by step pictures of Christmas Art Ideas and tutorials on how to create the project. A lot of the projects can be done with little supplies so if you are in the crafty mood on a lazy Sunday afternoon most likely you will have all the supplies already.

Amazon always has great deals on books and is my #1 place I buy books. I found the exact Christmas Art Ideas book on Amazon for a good deal so check it out!

Unique Festive Wrapping Paper

Samantha — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:27:13 +0000

Wrapping Christmas presents is a fun time to create something unique and wrap in a special way for the giftee to remember before they even open their present!
Growing up my Uncle Chris always wrapped out presents with old used Maps. I never really payed close attention to which map mine was wrapped in but maps are good quality paper, usually full of color, and a good way to get old outdated maps off your hands.

Below are a few other unique festive wrapping paper examples I have found around online!

Tin Foil

Brown Paper Bags

Old Maps & Music Sheets

Left Over Fabric
Old Magazines and Newspapers
Old Music Sheets
Waxed Paper
Colored Saran Wrap
Brown Paper Bags
Reusable Boxes
Crepe Paper
Reuseable Old Wrapping Paper
Reusable Grocery Bags from your favorite store
Recycled Aluminum as Wrapping Paper
The Wrap is a Gift: Giving a scarf, blanket or towel? Use it to wrap another gift and tie with a piece of hemp or twine.
Newspaper Comics/Funnies
Green Package Padding
Re-Purposed Gift Bags: The bags that new sheets come in, burlap sacks from rice, or the plastic ones from citrus – find a new use for what otherwise might be thrown away.
Eco Gift Paper