Christmas in My Rearview

Wow! The season flew by so fast this year! I was so far behind on everything! Usually, I would post a recipe blog with all the goodies I made for my treat tins, but I just did not have the time this year. I’m lucky I even had the time to make treats! But I did! And here they are!

Clockwise from Upper right: Peanut Brittle (recipe), Banana Chocolate chip bread (from a box, just added the bittersweet chips), baklava, cranberry oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips (recipe on the back of every bag of original Craisens, and a link to it here), Christmas crockpot crack (recipe), shortbread cookies. 
Don’t they look yummy? They were yummy! This was my first year making the shortbread. I didn’t pay attention to the part where the recipe makes 6 dozen cookies! Oops! Don’t think I will be doing that again! J loves the peanut brittle I make every year, so he hoarded most of it. The baklava has become a new tradition. I use an old recipe from the town I grew up in, Butte, and everyone loves it! I like it, but its not my favorite thing to munch on, so he takes most of it to work to be shared! 🙂 The crockpot crack is something I made years ago when we were first married, and then I lost the recipe! Luckily a friend posted a similar recipe on Facebook this year! J was super pleased! He loves chocolate, and peanut butter, so this is a new favorite for him!
I also made my Christmas lumpia, of course! Lumpia are Filipino spring rolls–like an egg roll. There are lots of lumpia recipes on the internet, and all of them a little different. I got my recipe from an old Filipino colleague, and mine is mostly meat. I use egg roll wrappers because I just can’t find lumpia wrappers at my local grocer! I’ve made these every Christmas for the past 5-or so years. They are one of our favorite traditions!

 I also made my meatloaf for a dinner over the holidays, and got some better photos!

(recipe)

 I had some green onion in the fridge, so added some this time. It was just as good as the first time we had it!

I have been really slacking with anything DIY lately. I plan to pick it back up in the New Year, but this is a little project I finished over the holidays! I have been holding onto these Currier and Ives Lithos for years! I found some floating frames (that I am now addicted to!) at my local discount store! See the gap? I love that!

Each print represents a different season; Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn! 🙂

 I had a mental discussion with myself on how I thought I should hang them— an arrangement of 4…hmm. I decided that hanging them from some burlap would add some interest and make them look more as a unit, than as 4 separate prints. I had some wired burlap ribbon in my craft bin, and some hot glue. I laid out the frames and measured 1” between them, then glued the ribbon with 2 points of contact to each frame (top and lower frame for added strength).

The top frame is the only one with hanging hardware. The other frames all hang from the top via the ribbon! These are 5×7 frames, so not very heavy. I wouldn’t try this with anything larger!

I just love how this turned out! It added size and weight to the small prints, which would have been swallowed by my oversized dining room features otherwise!

Even from across the room, they still have a presence! 

 I have a few more projects tumbling around in the chaos that is my brain! So stay tuned! 🙂 Hope y’all had a great Christmas!

4 thoughts on “Christmas in My Rearview

  1. All of those treats look delicious! My mouth watered when I saw the lumpia. 🙂 The frames with the burlap is super cute and creative. Can't wait to see your next DIY projects.Hope your had a great Christmas as well!

    Like

  2. All of those treats look delicious! My mouth watered when I saw the lumpia. 🙂 The frames with the burlap is super cute and creative. Can't wait to see your next DIY projects.Hope your had a great Christmas as well!

    Like

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