Merry Christmas from the Stay-At-Home Daughters!

I think I can speak for Courtney as well when I say that we are very busy around here getting ready for all the Christmas festivities!

We'll be returning to posting after Christmas is over, check back!

In the meanwhile, have a wonderful and safe Christmas!

Looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Lord,

Flibby

~~~~Edited to add~~~~
Merry Christmas from me as well. I hope you have a lovely Christmas and a very peaceful week!

~@~Courtney~@~

Room Decorations

Courtney requested that I post some pictures of my room, so here they are! It's a pretty simple room, but you might enjoy seeing it.

First, here's my room as it looks normally, without any Christmas decorations. There's a bookshelf out of this picture to the right.

I set up a nativity scene on my hope chest...

...and decorated a little tree on top of my bookshelf. It lights up, but you can't tell in this picture...

...and lastly, I interspersed some white lights on my desk!

So there you have it. I like to keep the decorating simple, although I would like to have had something on the window, I just couldn't get anything to look right up there.

Let me know what you think!

A Yummy Recipe

With the holidays quickly approaching, I thought it would be nice to share a favorite dessert recipe with all of you!

Peanut Butter Balls

Combine & mix:
1 lb. peanut butter
1 lb. powdered sugar
2 sticks melted butter (1c.)
Shape into balls & cool in freezer.
Combine in double boiler on low:
1/2 slab paraffin
12 oz. choc, chips
Dip balls in with toothpick or fork. Cool on waxed paper. Store in layers on waxed paper.

Enjoy!
~@~Courtney~@~

My Christmas Ideas

I was excited to see Flibby bring up the topic of homemade Christmas gifts! One of my favorite things to do is to craft and sew, so I have very much enjoyed getting ready for this coming Christmas!

In addition to Flibby's, here are some of my ideas (and I will share more after Christmas):

Homemade Aprons-
For my younger sisters Jessica and Emma, I made two aprons, just right for helping to cook!

Hand-Stamped Notecards/Stationary-
These are so easy and very nice! Who doesn't like personalized stationary????

Ribbon Bookmarks-
I posted a tutorial for these here These are especially nice to send through the mail, maybe to cousins or friends who live out of town?

Crocheted Dishcloths-
These go very quickly, and are very, very, useful. They work much better than store boughten ones, and can be made in a variety of colors and patterns.

Knitted Finger Puppets-
My Mom has a wonderful selection of knitted finger puppets here

Needlepointed Chunky Alphabet Letters-
These are very cute and easy to make! You can click here for the pattern.

I hope these are useful to you in your holiday planning!

Have a great day!
~*~Courtney~*~

Homemade Christmas Gifts!

Tonight I thought I would share some lovely ideas for creating special Christmas gifts at home! Homemade gifts are much more meaningful, often higher quality, and can save your family a lot of money this holiday season.

Last year, I embroidered a pillowcase for every member of my family. (Click here, here and then here.) It was a time consuming task, but it was wonderfully fun and I learned so much about the fine art of embroidery. I started the embroidery projects in August and they were finished by the end of November. Evaluating how complicated your project is, how skilled you are at the task, and how many people you intend to make gifts for will help you judge exactly how long it should take to complete the project before the big day!

This year, I had a lot of trouble trying to come up with Christmas gift ideas, so I thought it would be nice to post some suggestions.

- Bath salt

This is a wonderful and easy gift to make! It's great for jars and containers that need to be used. All you do is mix 1 cup of epsom salt, half a cup of baking soda, and a third of a cup of table salt together. For scent, add essential oils (the kind found in bath beads) and for color, add a few drops of food coloring.

- Scarf

Knitting is not as hard as it looks! Here is a website that will help you learn the different stitches. Making a scarf is fast, and can be made very simple or with a more complex design.

- Rice Socks

There are so many things that you can sew for a family member, but you can make a rice sock with very little sewing skills! You can make a little pouch yourself (out of a lovely fabric) or use an actual sock. All you have to do is fill it full of uncooked rice and sew it closed. You can get creative with these! Rice socks are perfect when heated in the microwave or put in the freezer for relieving aches and pains. They are wonderful gifts for pregnant women, and they are also loads of help when dealing with menstrual pains!

- Food!

For people outside your family, the best gifts are baked goods or other consumables! Food can be enjoyed by the whole family and it's so easy and fun to make! In the past, we've made homemade hot chocolate mix with chocolate dipped (plastic) spoons, loaves of bread with embroidered breadcloths, "bear" cakes, peppermints, and much more! The sky's the limit when it comes to food! Pretty packaging makes it a gorgeous gift!

- Redeemable "coupons"

When all else fails, your family would love to get a "coupon" from you to redeem whenever they want. My mother loves these! They can be for extra chores like cleaning out the car, or a "coupon" for something like a quiet nap (while you entertain the children). Anything you know the person will love!

These are just a few suggestions. There are so many homemade gifts you can make for your friends and family. I know Courtney will have some things to add! I'd love to hear your crafty gift ideas and past successes! Please, leave a comment below!

Help Your Family With Holiday Cleaning

Good Afternoon!

I am doing a quick posting, because my family has been busy preparing for our upcoming Thanksgiving. While working on that, I was inspired to post about some of the ways girls can help their families with cleaning tasks!

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1. When working on a task assigned to you, do it with a cheerful heart and countenance. - Your attitude greatly effects those around you. If you are complaining, whining or grumbling, you can be sure that soon everyone will be in foul moods as well. We are called to spread peace, not strife.

2. Work well with those around you. - Fighting over who does what is not only going to prolong the task, but again, we are to spread peace, not strife. (See Above, #1)

3. Ask if there is something you can help with. - Many times your Mom or Dad could use help, but are simply too busy to ask! You can be a huge blessing just by asking! Again, cheerfulness is very important!

4.Watch younger siblings. - Sometimes the best way to help is to watch your younger siblings. I babysit for my parents, and that allows them to go grocery shopping or do other errands quickly and efficiently, which brings us to #5:

5.Efficiency! - Wandering from room to room is not working efficiently! Picking things up from one place and sitting them somewhere else is not efficient. Being lazy is not efficient. Picking up after yourself, helping younger siblings to pick up after themselves, cleaning systematically, etc., are all good ways of being efficient.

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I hope these are useful to you, I know we are busier than usual in the holiday season, and these are good things to keep in mind!

Have a wonderful day!

~@~Courtney~@~