My Top 5 Viewed Posts of Home

It is amazing how fast a year can go by and I think 2010, by far, has gone by the quickest of all!  Of course, my dad tells me the older I get the faster it will go, which is somewhat concerning! :-)

As a little recap of my blog, I figured I would share my 5 most viewed posts for the this year.

#5 Family Room Renovation is Complete! Pierre and I are lucky to have my dad, our personal handy man, living just 2 miles away!

#4 Warm Apple Crisp For a Cold, Crisp Fall Day There are so many amazing cookbooks and food shows out there that when I find a recipe my family likes, I just have to share it.  This recipe not only is delicious, but I love that my kids love to help make it too!

Getting Organized ~ I Finally Have a Craft Area!

As I started to organize all my scrapbooking materials, I realized that the number one thing I need to do before getting started is create a working craft area.  Before now, basically, my materials were piled on a table in our computer room.  Though the table is designated for my crafts, it is normally covered in mail, laundry, toys and whatever else isn't in its normal spot.  So last night I cleaned it off and got organized!

The best thing I found in this house to use was an item I have been cursing since I bought it.  When my daughter Hayley was just a toddler, we decided that the perfect addition to her Disney Princess themed room would be the Disney Princess toy organizer.  It has three shelves and nine showbox sized buckets you place on the shelves.  What a perfect way to organize toys, right?  Not quite.  Whoever invented these, obviously, had no children.  The concept is wonderful, but the reality is these should be called "How Fast After Mommy Organizes the Toys Can I Dump Them Out."  Ok, not a practical name, but really the only thing this was used for was dumping the toys out and me explaining yet again how to put the toys in.  Let's just say, this "organizer" lasted about a week in my daughter's room before I gave up and purchased totes with lids that only I could open!   But everything happens for a reason, and it is now the perfect addition to my craft area.  The nine buckets with no lids make it very easy for me to get to my materials quickly.  Plus, I can see exactly what I have all at once.  There is even space underneath for my paper trimmers that lay flat.  Even better, as you know, I am a Disney fanatic and having the Disney Princesses decorating my craft area is quite nice.

I also wanted to share my tip about the paper trays I have (the white totes with three drawers).  I purchased these months ago, because I made a classic rookie scrapbooking mistake - I have purchased more paper than I probably could use in a lifetime.  I swear that aisle at the craft store just sucks me in.  There are so many great papers out there I can't resist!  These trays have come in quite handy.  I have organized my paper by color, with other drawers dedicated solely to Disney paper, holiday paper, and patterned paper.  But when I was looking for something like this, I went to all the craft stores and they were just too expensive, even with coupons.  So I checked out our local WalMart.  The totes were pretty dusty and beaten up and there was only one.  I was looking for at least three.  I asked the WalMart employee about when they would get more and she gave some of the best advice.  She said to go online and order the totes from there and have them shipped Site to Store so I'd get free shipping.  Plus, she said that they come in their original packing, so there is no dust or dings in them.  I raced home and to my surprise, not only did they have them online, but they were cheaper than they were in the store! 

So now I have no excuse to not get some crafts done around here!  As you may have read in my post Disney Scrapbooks ~ Here I Come!, my first project will be finishing my 2006 Disney Trip scrapbook, which is nearly complete.  I look forward to testing out my newly organized space!

How do you organize your materials?  Feel free to share a link or comment below with your best tips for oragnizing your craft space!

Disney Scrapbooks ~ Here I Come!

One of my favorite ways to look back at my family's Disney trips is to scrapbook them.  I create one scrapbook per trip.  I also have another Disney scrapbook that is a timeline from my 1st trip as a teen in 1986 to my most recent trip in 2010 as a mom of 3.  Now I say have, but really all I have done is the plan for it.  I have been waiting to get my hands on the Sandylion Disney Mega Pack of paper before beginning.  I already have all the Disney Cricut cartridges, except the two new ones (see my post New Disney Cricut Catridges! for more details), which I hope to acquire soon.  So I was quite excited when not only did my parents give me the Disney pack of paper for Christmas, but also the 2010 Disney Parks Scrapbook.  I am all ready to get started. 

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to try to complete one Disney 2-page scrapbook layout each week.  If I stick to that plan, my 2006 one, which was Joey's 1st trip, should be completed in just a couple of weeks since I am basically almost done with that.  Then, on to my 2008 trip scrapbook, which was Hayley and Emily's first trip.  Then, onto my 2010 trip.  That sounds like a lot but really, I have them all planned out and somewhat started.  I just need to make the time for myself to do it.  Plus, I don't know about you, but I find I work on a lot of different scrapbook projects at once.  Right now I have about 5 projects started.  It gives me the opportunity to work on whatever I am most inspired to do at that moment. 

Keep checking back to see some of my layouts!  If you have any Disney layouts you'd like to share, leave me a link in the comments below.  I would love to see them ~ I am always looking for inspiration!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank you to everyone who has followed my blog as I have tried to teach myself some new skills this year.  Though I feel like I have definitely improved in many areas over the last 12 months, I think replacing my kitchen faucet with just my three trusty helpers (my kids) is my most memorable and out of the box accomplishment for me! If you missed that one, check out Handy Mommy to the Rescue. It is actually a pretty fun little memory of time spent with my kids this year.

Thank you to all the other card makers and scrapbookers who have shared their projects and inspired me to be more creative through their own blogs.  I am now creating things I never thought I could.  Your time spent sharing your creations and giving instruction to me and other Cricut rookies out there is very appreciated.

My family wishes you and all your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!  I can't wait to see what 2011 brings us!

Have You Met Hallmark's Snowman Band?

Hallmark is one of my favorite places to shop during the holidays. They have some very unique gifts, as well as a great collection of Disney ornaments (you can read about my Disney ornament collection on my Disney blog ~ A Disney Mom's Love of Disney ~ it was actually the theme of my Magical Blogorail post this month). Normally every year they offer some holiday set of ornaments or decor that requires you to make a purchase and they release one piece of the set every few weeks or so. I normally do not participate in these for the simple fact that in the end, you pay quite a bit of money for just a few items. But this year I could not resist. The Wireless Snowman Band caught my eye right away.

When I first saw them, only Keyboard Ken was available, though the entire band was set up and playing in the store. Each snowman was $24.95, which honestly I would never pay, but with any purchase, he was only $12.95. My kids were with me and they loved it. As soon as the Hallmark woman showed it to them, they were literally beaming ear to ear. How could I not purchase it? With the ornaments I already planned to purchase, we brought Ken home. Well, as cute as he was, he really needed a band mate. I figured I would pick up just one more in November when I went to purchase the rest of my ornaments with my next rewards check.

After purchasing our second snowman, Saxophone Joe, our little snowman band was looking better. But of course, now with two of them, I thought how cute they would be with all four. So, I gave in, purchased Guitar Freddy and Trumpet Tom when they were available, and now we have all four members of the band. Seeing my kids dance and sing when the band starts playing makes me realize they were worth every penny. If I didn't have $24 in rewards checks, I am not sure I would have purchased all four, but I am certainly glad we have them.

The Wireless Snowman Band is pretty unique. Each snowman plays two Christmas songs, so the band as a whole plays eight songs. Once one snowman begins playing his song, the other three join in. Two sway side to side, while two sway front to back. Even better, once they are synced, they can be placed up to 25 feet apart and will still play. If you are not sure if this is something for you, check out my video below. I recorded all 8 songs of the Snowman Band's Holiday Tour.

Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas!

New Disney Cricut Cartridges!

Did Santa deliver early this year???  I am so excited!  I just saw over at Obsessed with Scrapbooking that there are two new Disney cartridges being released for the Cricut this December!  The first one is Cricut Best of Pixar cartridge.  It includes images from the movies Finding Nemo, Monster's Inc., The Incredibles, A Bug's Life and Wall-E.  The second cartridge is Cricut Disney Classics cartridge.  This one includes images from Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Pinocchio and Bambi.  Just when I thought I had all the Disney cartridges, there are two more I must have.  I am quite excited to get my hands on these two cartridges.  If you want to see images from them, make sure you check out Obsessed with Scrapbooking to see them, as well as the other Hello Thursday releases for December.

By the way Robyn, over at My Pink Stamper, will also be dispaying projects from these cartridges! Can't wait to see what she has created!

Added 12/29:
Here's a link to Robyn's Disney Classics Cartridge 2-Page Layout
Here's a link to Robyn's Cricut Best of Pixar - Nemo Card

A Bit Under Construction

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Doda Family!

So right now what I should actually be working on are the 21 Toy Story cupcakes for my son's 6th birthday tomorrow, but for some reason I am here updating my blog and listening to my two girls upstairs playing when they should already be sleeping.  I can't even start to make the frosting for the cupcakes (luckily, I at least baked them earlier) because my four year old loves to cook and bake.  If she heard the mixer going, she would be down here in a flash and wanting to help.  I would certainly never get her to bed then!  Anyways, as you may have noticed I have made some changes to my blog and finally figured out how to add tabs at the top.  Feel free to check them out!

By the way, to all the moms and dads out there who can get all their children into one photo, all smiling and looking at the camera, I admire you!  This photo above was the best of I'd say of at least 100 I took.  Seriously, it was like herding cats to accomplish this!  But I must admit, I loved every minute of it!  Well, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Magical Blogorail ~ On My Disney Blog

Last month a group of Disney bloggers came together and created the Magical Blogorail.  Each month we create a "loop" of posts all related to one topic.  Last month we shared what inspired us to write our blogs.  This month we discuss celebrating the holidays Disney style.  Feel free to check them out!

1st Loop ~ (starting at A Disney Mom's Love of Disney) Welcome to the First Magical Blogorail
2nd Loop ~ (starting with Growing Up Disney) Magical Blogorail: A Growing Up Disney Christmas

Enjoy!

Cricut's Fit to Length Feature & Toy Story Green Alien Glasses

I have finally upgraded to the Cricut Expression!  I am very excited to be able to cut the larger images, as well as squeeze more colors of paper onto one 12x12 cutting mat than I could on the 6x12.  As excited as I was about it, I had no idea how to use any of the features.  At first this meant I just didn't use them.  As a mom of three I have to say honestly, anytime I make my way to my craft area, I usually have my three trusty helpers close behind.  I swear my kids could be outside playing and as soon as I sit down to work on a project, presto - there they are!  Oh well, it has been nice having their "input" on colors and sizes for my projects.

I decided this week to make a point to try something new on the Expression.  For my son's upcoming birthday, we are having a Mater's Tall Tales party (if you don't know Mater, he is the tow truck from Disney-Pixar's Cars).  Now I have planned out the cake, decorations, etc and suddenly, out of the blue, Joey says he wants a Toy Story cake.  Now if you have been following me for a while, you may have noticed I am a classic Type A personality. I plan things out for weeks and having a change in schedule can really throw me off.  So in a round about way I was able to convince Joey that we would make Toy Story cupcakes for school and keep the Mater theme for home.  Since he was pretty excited about that, I let out a sigh of relief and started planning the Toy Story themed cupcakes. 

Luckily I had just purchased the Cricut Toy Story cartridge.  As I looked over my options of things I could make for little toppers for the cupcakes, I noticed that there was the choice to create glasses.  There were three versions ~ Woody, Buzz and the Green Alien.  As I prepared my craft area to create 18 sets of glasses for his class, I realized I had no idea what size to make them.  Then it hit me, now was the chance to test out the Fit to Length feature.  I brought my son over and measured his face from left to right, which was 5.5".  I then set the size dial to 5.5" and hit the fit to length key.  The machine let me know that to create glasses with a 5.5" width, they would be cut at 3.5" height.  Wow!  That was easy.  I didn't have to print several sizes to find just the right one.  So I reset my height dial to 3.5, turned off the fit to length feature and cut the rest of the pieces out.

Here are the green alien glasses that Joey will bring to school with his Toy Story cupcakes (modelled by Hayley's toy dog named . . . Hayley).  He even told me this afternoon that he is so excited to have a Cars cake AND Toy Story cupcakes.  After seeing the Toy Story Green Alien glasses, he then asked if he could look at my Cricut Cars cartridge.  About a minute later, I asked him what he was looking for and his response was, "The kids in my class would love Mater glasses too.  Are there any Mater glasses on this cartridge?"

Football Food for Monday Night Football

As you may recall from my previous post Patriots Day ~ According to Hayley, we are big New England Patriots fans.  So tonight's game against the Jets is not only a big game (both teams are 9 and 2), but it should be a great game to watch for all football fans no matter who your favorite team is.  So I decided to share my two favorite football recipes.  What better way to enjoy the game than to make nachos and stuffed jalapenos with a Sam Adams Winter Lager on the side?  Now if you are looking to control your calories, sorry, these aren't those kind of recipes.  These are not your healthiest foods, but they are delicious!

Crescent Jalapeno Poppers
Pillsbury ~ Summer Appetizers ~ June 2007
4 jalapeno chiles (about 3 inches long)**
⅓c. Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs (from 5.2 oz. container)
8 slices packaged, precooked bacon (from 2.2 oz. pkg.)
1 can (8 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
½ c. pineapple or fruit salsa (optional)

1. Heat oven to 375º. Carefully remove stems from chiles; cut each in half lengthwise and again horizontally to make 4 pieces. Remove and discard seeds. Spoon about 1 t. cheese into each chile quarter. Wrap half slice of bacon around each.

2. On cutting board, unroll dough, separate dough into 8 triangles. From center of longest side to opposite point, cut each triangle in half, making 16 triangles. Place chile, cheese side down, on dough triangle. Fold one point of triangle over filling; fold 2 remaining points over first point. Place on greased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve with salsa.
Per Appetizer:
Calories 90
Total Fat 6g
Sodium 220mg
Fiber 0g

**One can (4oz.) Old El Paso whole green chiles, drained and cut into 16 pieces can be substituted for the whole jalapeno chiles.




Game Time Dinner

 Super Nachos
Rachael Ray ~ 30-Minute Meals-Get Togethers

Since Food Network lists the recipe, here is the link for Super Nachos by Rachael Ray, which also includes photos.  Just to give you an idea of how much this recipe makes, the first ingredient is 2 bags of tortilla chips.  This recipe is definitely for a crowd, though I will admit that my husband and I have made these on many an occassion for just the two of us . . . though there were a lot of leftovers!

Good luck to the Patriots tonight!

What is your favorite football food recipe?

Has the Elf on the Shelf Visited You Yet?



Here's Max, our Elf on the Shelf



December is by far the busiest month for us.  Not only do I have a full day dedicated to trimming the tree, but we also celebrate our anniversary, two of the kids' birthdays and of course, Christmas.  December seems to sneak up on me every year, no matter how much I plan and prepare for it.  This time of year I actually believe that my To Do List (yes, I write one everyday . . . I am a classic Type A personality) gets longer by the day not shorter.  So, I am going to be catching up today on all the things I have wanted to add to this blog.  Somehow at this moment, though I shouldn't say it, all three of my kids are playing nicely.  I hear no crying or arguing, so I am taking full advantage of that!

We have many traditions this time of year, but I have added a new one . . . The Elf on the Shelf.  Now this is such a wonderful idea and my kids have fully taken in our elf, which was named Max after the dog in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Max appeared on our cabinet shelf last week with a book giving us all the information to make sure we take good care of him.

The first thing we had to do was give him a name.  Joey suggested we name him Joey, which then made Hayley suggest we name him Hayley.  Emily, at first thought we should name him Mater, since there has been so much talk of Mater with my son's upcoming Mater themed birthday, but then suggested Max, her favorite dog.  Everyone agreed Max was a great name.  Once we gave him his name, according to the book, he could begin his mission for Santa.  He watches over the kids each day, then reports to Santa each night on their behavior.  Every morning he reappears in a new spot somewhere in the house where he can watch over the kids.  Today he has hidden in our Christmas tree, though yesterday he was inside our clock and the day before that he was sitting on our wreath.  There are very specific directions about not touching Max because that makes his magic disappear.  Without magic he can't fly to Santa and report on all the good things they have been doing around the house.  My children are very aware of this and make sure any visitors that stop by know that they absolutely cannot touch Max.

Max has really helped out around here because I hear a lot of talk between my kids, ages 5, 4, and 3 about how Max can see them.  Yesterday, Emily wouldn't eat her dinner and Joey said, "I hope Max doesn't tell Santa that you won't eat your dinner."  What do you know?  Emily ate every bite of her dinner.  It makes me wonder if there are elves for other seasons too?? :-) Max has become a great helper for controlling behaviors without me even having to say a word.  Now he isn't a miracle worker and I still need to give reminders about what we should and shouldn't do, but it is nice to hear the kids reminding each other about how they should behave so Max won't tell Santa.  Every morning they race downstairs to find him in his new spot and excitedly let me know where he has appeared. 

If you are looking to add something new to your holiday season, I highly recommend "requesting" Santa send you an Elf to visit your home.  I love listening to my kids whisper things to him, so that he will tell Santa.  I think the three of them will be very sad when Max leaves on Christmas Eve, but he promises to return next year right after Thanksgiving!