HGTV's 31 Days of Christmas Crafts

Hi everyone!  Hope you're having a great weekend!  We just spent the day with my side of the family and had such a nice time.  I wanted to pop in quick to tell you about a fun Holiday Countdown that just started at HGTV.com called 31 Days of Christmas Crafts.  A Christmas craft from a blogger will be featured every day through the month of December including a full tutorial.  (One of my own favorite projects will be featured on the 4th!) If you follow the link below you can scroll through the months calendar to check them all out. They are festive and fun and I think you will love them!

31 Days of Christmas Crafts at HGTV.com

Also, I just finished making a new set of Printable Paint Stick Ornaments with the Names of Christ and Christlike Attributes.  

Here's a sneak peek...

Watch for the Names of Christ Ornaments to be posted at the first of next week!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Today's Fabulous Find...31 Days of Christmas Crafts

Find me on Pinterest

It's taken me awhile, but I finally went ahead and joined Pinterest.  

Am I the last one? 

Any of you still holding out?   

I spent three evenings (and part of the day) going through all of my Google Bookmarks from the past three years, pinning the projects and recipes that I would still like to try/make.  

It was tedious (believe me) and I didn't know if I'd ever make it to the end of the list, but now that I'm done I can say that it was worth it.  It's so much easier and faster to find what I'm looking for now, this will be a great resource.

I'm excited to have another way to share all of my 'fabulous finds' with you!  If you'd like to come see what I've been pinning, you can find me on Pinterest here.

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

P.S. I haven't posted much lately, don't give up on me. :)  I have a printable project in the works that has taken a lot of my spare time to put together and involves these.  Can't wait to show you!

Pull-Apart Cinnamon Breadsticks and Dinner Rolls from one Delicious Recipe

More often than not these days when I want freshly baked rolls for dinner I buy a bag of frozen roll dough at the grocery store.  Occasionally though when I have a little extra time in my day I'll bake them from scratch.   Last week I finally got around to trying a recipe for Melt in Your Mouth Dinner Rolls at Sew Dang Cute Crafts that I'd bookmarked months ago.   My family LOVED them!

We all liked them so much that I made them again a few days later and took half of the dough and made it into pull-apart cinnamon breadsticks for dessert.  This roll dough recipe is large enough to make 12-16 rolls with one half of it and an entire cookie sheet full of pull-apart cinnamon breadsticks with the other.

Pull-Apart Cinnamon Breadsticks

Make one batch of roll dough.  Let rise.  When dough has doubled in size, divide in half.  Roll out one half of the dough into a circle to use for rolls and roll out the other half into a rectangle to use for pull-apart cinnamon breadsticks.

1.  Roll dough into a rectangle shape.  Use a pizza cutter to cut dough into 1" by about 6-7" long strips.
2.  Dip in butter (or brush on both sides) then in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.
3.  Place on cookie sheet (you could twist them first if you like), cover, and rise to double in size.  Bake following the roll dough recipe directions or until fully done.  Store in a sealed plastic storage bag.

This is a simple roll dough recipe with basic ingredients and a great taste.  Thanksgiving is right around the corner (if you don't already have a favorite roll recipe you use) you might want to consider adding these rolls to your menu!  

Today's Fabulous Finds...

Melt in Your Mouth Dinner Rolls  
and Pull-Apart Cinnamon Breadsticks

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Subway Art

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Painting Cheek Art with Watercolor Pencils and Paint Crayons

If you'll be painting cheek art this Halloween season for a school party, carnival, or costume (or possibly in the future) this is a one tip you'll want to remember!  I recently learned that you can use non-toxic Crayola watercolor pencils to draw cheek art.  I never would have thought to use watercolor pencils, I didn't even know they made them, but they do and they really work. 

How to Use (non-toxic) Watercolor Pencils to Draw Cheek Art

1. Dip the watercolor pencil into a glass of water (or onto a wet sponge).
2. Wait just a few seconds for the water to soften the paint.
3. Draw the design.

*We made sure to keep the watercolors away from the kids eyes and kept it strictly on cheeks and hands to keep it safe.  Watercolor pencils are not made for the purpose of painting on skin.

My oldest daughter is the real artist in the family, but since she was at school when I was taking photos for the post, I did my best to draw a little ghost to show you how the watercolor looks. :)  Whether you're painting on a hand or a cheek, it seems to work the same. 

I bought the watercolor pencils at Wal-mart in the office supply section.  I think I paid less then $3 for them.

I also tried face paint crayons for the first time.  I was told by my daughter who used them to paint cheek art at a church carnival this week that they worked great too.  I bought them at JoAnn's in the kids crafts section and used a 50% off coupon, so I paid $2.50 for them.  (Reg. price $4.99)  I don't know how well they would work if you were to paint an entire face because we didn't try it, but they worked well for small shapes.

I used baby wet wipes to remove both the watercolor paint and the paint from the crayons after the paint had been left on for a couple of hours.  They both came right off.  I didn't see any staining on the skin but you may want to test an area first before you go all out on a whole face design or if you will be leaving it on for a long period of time.

This is all new to me and is the first time I've bought products to use for painting cheek art.  Have you tried watercolor pencils or face paint crayons before?  Do you have any great tips for face painting/cheek art?  Please share!

Today's Fabulous Find...Painting Cheek Art with Watercolor Pencils