Christmas cookies and Holiday Hearts .. time for some Christmas Cheer

Makes 14-16 wreaths 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1 tsp green food coloring
6 cups corn flakes
Handful of red cinnamon candies

Measure corn flakes into a large bowl.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Once melted, add the marshmallows and stir continuously until completely melted.  Stir in food coloring.

Pour melted marshmallows into the large bowl with the corn flakes. Stir until well coated.

Lay out a piece of parchment paper on your kitchen counter. Dollop spoonfuls of the cornflake mixture onto the parchment paper. Grease your (clean) hands with butter or cooking spray.  Use your fingers to shape each spoonful into an individual wreath. Top each wreath with cinnamon candies. 

Stationery card

Purchasing some of our Christmas cards :)

Keep Believing Christmas Card

Create Christmas cards for the 2011 holiday season.

View the entire collection of cards.

Pineapple Jewels

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 egg
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8oz) can crushed pineapple in juice, well drained, 2 tablespoons juice reserved
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F 

2.In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and shortening with an eletric mixer on he medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg vanilla and drained pineapple until well blended

3. Add flour mixed with baking powder baking soda and salt and beat until blended stir in coconut

4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheets 2 minutes then remove to a rack and let cool completely

5. In a small bowl stir together powdered sugar and pineapple juice until blended and smooth. SPread glaze over cooled cookies. Let cool before serving

Festival of Lights

The 18th Annual Riverside Festival of Lights on Main Street Riverside is your chance to experience the most dazzling holiday spectacle south of the North Pole.


The Festival offers five weeks of holiday merriment in Downtown Riverside, celebrating the season with family activities that include the “Switch-On Ceremony”; holiday decorations and lights on The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, Mission Inn Avenue and on City-owned buildings; the Inland Empire’s first outdoor ice skating rink; holiday-themed vendors; family-friendly live entertainment; and of course, Santa Claus.

It all begins with the flip of a switch on Friday, November 26th at 6:15 p.m. during the “Switch-On Ceremony” presented by Duane and Kelly Roberts, owners of The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa. In one swift move Riverside’s downtown is instantly illuminated with more than three and a half million twinkling lights and spectacular fireworks! The Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and the Festival of Lights Committee, consisting of community volunteers and local businesses, put in many long hours to coordinate the Ceremony.

The magic continues for festivalgoers as they glide under the stars on an outdoor ice skating rink located on Main Street Riverside between University and Mission Inn Avenues.

In addition to the lights and ice skating, holiday enthusiasts can be dazzled by more than 225 hours of live holiday entertainment, unique shopping and creative dining along Main Street Riverside.

And no holiday experience would be complete without a visit from the North Pole’s most famous resident. Santa Claus will be out every night from November 26th through December 24th.

The Riverside Festival of Lights allows everyone - no matter what age - to be charged with wonder and anticipation of the magic of the holidays. Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of this wonderful Riverside tradition.

Festival of Trees

The yearly tradition in Riverside that lets the community know it's time to put up the Christmas trees is back.


The Riverside County Regional Medical Center Foundation's Festival of Trees will run Nov. 24-28 at the Riverside Convention Center.

Fifty trees will be designed and decorated for everyone to see. Among other trees on display will be a 12-foot military tribute tree and, in the Elves Forest, trees decorated by children at 35 schools.

There also will be special events like a story time with Santa from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday and a scavenger hunt during Family Day on Nov. 27.


The Festival of Trees raises funds for the medical center's children's units.

The Festival of Trees is closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Festival of Trees
What: Tree display and fundraiser for Riverside County Regional Medical Center children's units
When: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 24,
9 a.m.-9 p.m. Nov. 26,
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Nov. 27,
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 28
Where: Riverside Convention Center, 3443 Orange St., Riverside
Admission: Free

Pages 312 - 317

Pages 141 and 142 the last of the Mission Inn 2009

Pages 131 -140 Festival of lights

WOW a quick ten pages. Premade pages ROCK did i mention premade pages ROCK. I was able to reach into the bin of christmas stuff and pull out a stack of premade pages and quickly sort the pictures into groups and decide which ones that i wanted to use and then match them to premade pages. Once that was complete, i reached for the box of christmas embellishments and added some sparkle and flair to the pages and adhered the pictures. This process was amazingly fast. Just a few more pages and the Festival of lights is completed for 2009. I do think that tim and i are going to try and make this an annual event. The pages came from the scrapbook groups that i trade on ... awesome and dazzling scrapbooks.

The embellishements on these few pages were a pif and how handy they were to have ... no running to the cricut to cut :)

Day 358 Christmas Eve

The presents are all wrapped and under the tree dinner has been started now just waiting for the family to fill the room! :) Merry Christmas ALL!!!

Day 357 Oh the presents to wrap

Did last minute christmas shopping last night okay so you got me i did most of my christmas shopping last night and have asked hayley and derrick to help me wrap, derrick keeps telling me no but hayley said yes! Here is the box of presents ... thanks for helping me

Day 353 - Christmas Boat Parade

Woke up not feeling my best but decided to go to the Newport Harbor Christmas Boat parade. it was the 101st annual parade. There were not as many boats as i remember as a kid but i still had a great time!

Day 350 - Making bows

The bow party turned into a making pom pom party! :) it was so much fun thanks to all the girls who came!

Day 348 - Christmas

Ah the tree is up and all decorated :)

Day 347 - Putting up the Tree

I love my tree skirt! Tim and I bought it a couple of years ago and it totally makes my disney tree! Yes most of the ornaments on my tree are disney related!

Day 331 Mission Inn Festival of Lights

The kick-off to the 2009 Holiday Season Starts with the Lighting of the Mission Inn Lights

Pages 267 - 268 Girls at Christmas

Pages 66 - 77 i have been scrapping old pictures!!!

I have been scrapping some older pictures while i wait for kodak to issue a new coupon so i can order some new pictures! PLAY DOH is kelsie many a Christmas ago. At any holiday season my sisters kids always seem to be sick and this Christmas was no different but that didn't' stop us from playing play doh! i used some great Heidi Swapp silhouette words. This layout is of derrick meeting taylor for the first time. Next 2 layouts are compliments of a completed Christmas swap at awesome. I believe that this was made by Jodie.

The lime green pages were made for the same swap by andrea!

The pages that use so many awesome colors were created for the same swap by Lisa.

The baby pictures of Taylor were put on a page that i created for a sketch swap at awesome.





The next 2 pages were completed using a sketch swap created by garnetta for a swap sketch on awesome.