Need To Write Thank Yous For....

I could have gotten some patterns in this book for free from the Internet, but there are some where I'm glad to have detailed instructions and pictures. Plus, I'm directly supporting Etsy sellers whose bios are featured throughout the book.

Clark's Jazz Boots in Stone. Super cute and comfy. Just broke them in today at the Galleria. 

G and I are both excited to have this! Our former alarm clock came out of the box with not all lights working. 9:00 and 3:00 looked the same, as did 5 and 6. Now, I don't have to go bed without my iPhone, and it can charge overnight. Plus, I set one alarm to get up early for my time with God and don't have to be responsible for waking up G.

Super excited to have magazine off the floor in the bathroom. I could spend hours in there just reading. Sometimes, in the middle of the day when I'm irritable, I just go in there and shut the door. It's great.

Gingher 4" curved embroidery scissors have already come in handy.

Just picked these up today from Joanne's. (I received two of the curved scissors above.)

Already on #300. Beautifully executed book. Wish I had written it first. :) Highly recommended. Lacking spiritual advice I'd give my daughter, and I disagree on a few things (chivalry SHOULD be expected):  I have to keep in mind that these are HER values to be shared with HER daughter: I should not expect them to exactly match my own. That being said, I already treasure this book like I do How To Be a Lady.

Haven't had a lot of time to go through this in detail, but the book is GORGEOUS, as is everything Amy Butler creates. Impressed that my hubby thought to give it me.

Technically, I bought this for myself. G's dad in FL sent us a check to buy our own gifts. This is what we got: G's excited that the plates are dishwasher-safe (he does the dishes), and I'm happy that I have a grill, griddle, & waffle maker!

Can you believe I don't have these already??

Oster 6-Slice Convection Toaster Oven, but we already have one that I love.

So the Oster Oven will be exchanged for 

This Rowenta iron! I have a Sunbeam right now, which is fine for the average Joe or Joann, but it's not cutting it for me.

  

Got these from my MIL. The teacher in me can't wait to look through them and even create lesson plans based around them. I found the main Core Knowledge website that gives me some great ideas and additional resources.

Peerless TV mount for the TV we don't yet have in the bedroom. G doesn't want to keep it around w/o the TV. (I thought it was going to motivation to hurry and buy one.) 

So the mount will be exchanged for

Benefit's Brows A-Go-Go. Just because I need it.

Other items not on Amazon and therefore require me to take photos of each item and post, which will take me until Spring Break to do:

• A Boatload Of Fancy Balsalmic Vinegar
• Beautiful Talavera Pieces (cross, serving bowl, & casserole dish)
• Milk White Turkey Platter w/ 2 Matching Serving Bowls
• Martini Glass and Shaker Set
• Smell-Good Socks (and apparently they'll smell even better after being washed)
• Sterling Silver & Crystal Cross Necklace
• Gift Cards to Hobby Lobby & Starbucks (the two places I frequent the most)
• Monogrammed Stationary
• Tumblers w/ Our Initials

I'm probably forgetting something (remind me if I did), and I didn't even touch on P and G's stuff. Needless to say, I am super blessed and super thankful and feel super loved.

Handmade Holiday Wrap-Up: How'd I do?

The following people received handmade (or mostly handmade) gifts:

• Mom: memory bag (small drawstring bag with strips of paper with memories on it), Thirty-One On-The-Go Wallet, & matching key fob
• Mom's Bfriend: guitar picks & a leather bracelet from Etsy
• Sister: Ipad cover
• Sister's Fiance': Starbucks gift card & cup cozy
• Sister: Ipad cover & Thirty-One Cindy Tote (The Cindy Tote was really for her college graduation: I just ordered it too late.)
• Sister's Bfriend: Ipad cover
• Memaw: grocery sack holder
• Papa: salsa
• Father-In-Law: monogrammed A&M shirt & a puzzle
• Mother-In-Law: Happy Lil' List-taker from Etsy
• Sister-In-Law: Gathered Clutch w/ DG inspired gifts (t-shirt w/ anchor from Target & notecards/pen set w/ anchor)
• Sister-In-Law: Diana Hobo
• Classmates: Happy Lil' List-taker from Etsy
• Neighbors: Saltine Toffee Cookies & Cuties
• Husband's Co-Workers: chocolate chip cookies & coasters
• Daughter's Teacher: Starbuck's gift card & cup cozy
• Aunt & Cousins: Starbuck's gift card & cup cozy
• Bff's Son: 1st bday appliqued shirt
• Hip Mama's Coloring Book Exchange (Landen): crayon roll to go w/ the crayons & coloring book

Who am I missing? Oh, yes. My husband and daughter. Fine. I cheated. You caught me. But they "benefit" from my handmade gifts often. I also cheated on the following: 2 aunts, a 2nd cousin, my other FIL, & my dad. Felt like I needed to confess.

Handmade Holiday: Gathered Clutch

Season's Greetings Sign

I used my embroidery machine, an applique alphabet, and bits of Heather Bailey's Pop Garden to create a "quick" Season's Greetings sign for our Christmas card display.

I thought this was going to be a fast, easy project...Yeah, right. It took hours on my 4x4" embroidery area (a.k.a. one letter at a time). And because I was eager for the project to be over, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the letters being straight.

 At first I was annoyed, but now I kind of like the it that way.

Here's a pic of it with more cards:

And all the presents on Christmas Eve under and around our lil' tree:

And just for grins, here's this year's Santa photo:

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!!

Love, The Kirchhoffs

Recipe Review: 3-Cheese Bacon-Apple-Bella Frittata

Photo from HungryGirl.com

Hungry Girl did it again. I love quiches & frittatas, but they are normally either high-fat, high-cholesterol, or high-calorie (or all three!). The premise of the Hungry Girl website is taking your favorite eats and tweaking the recipes to make them a healthier and/or more nutritious.

In this 3-Cheese Bacon-Apple-Bella Frittata, she does just that. Except I'm not as fabulous as Hungry Girl, so I still used real eggs (6 of them) & regular bacon but ONLY because that's what I already had at home and didn't want to go the grocery store. I don't think subbing these things like the recipe suggests would change the taste much at all.

My favorite thing about this recipe is...Well, there are two favorite things. 1.) The tiny little pieces of apple: I've had frittatas with mushrooms, bacon, etc. but never thought to put something sweet in there. The apple was a perfect compliment to the bacon. Mmmmm... 2.) The fact that this was FAST to make. Usually frittatas take forever for the eggs to set, but these set on the stove and under the broiler for for a few minutes. From start to finish, this recipe took me 15 minutes or less. Awesome!

Here's the link to the recipe again.

Recipe Review: Fettucini Carbornara With Roasted Tomatoes

Holy comfort food! This classic pasta dish from Our Life In the Kitchen totally hits the mark. Pasta. Garlic. Cream. Cheese. The fresh punch of roasted tomato. I could pretty much just list the ingredients here and sell you on it, which is why I chose to make this recipe in the first place.

Here's why you should try it: It's easy. It's affordable (minus the pancetta element, but that's one of the ingredients that makes this recipe elegant & indulgent). It feeds a family. Good for weeknights or entertaining. Your family will be hovering around you at the stove waiting for you to hurry up and say, "Dinner's ready!" because they've been salivating in response to the smell for several minutes. Okay, well possibly not the last part, but my little family sure was. They dug in so quickly (fine...me, too) that I did not have time to take a photo. Probably for the best and my photos are getting worse and worse. So instead I'm including a photo from the original posted recipe:

Here's the only teeny-tiny flaw: It's almost - I repeat almost - too salty. Between the cup of parmesan and the pancetta, it was hovering at the borderline of saltiness. I wouldn't want to use less cheese but maybe combine the parm with something else... I dunno. We still ate it up & agreed it was a super, do-again recipe, so maybe this part isn't even worth mentioning. But we mentioned it, so I thought I'd just put it out there.

It's totally worth just viewing the recipe as well. Karen, the author of the blog (and chef & photographer), included beautiful photos like this one:

Who knew tomatoes falling into a pan could be so pretty? I guess Karen did. 

Here's the recipe again. She includes easy step-by-step directions, so you really can't mess this up.

Tree Skirt

Do digital cameras wear out? My pics are consistently getting worse, and I'd rather blame it on the camera. Anyway,  I finished the tree skirt!!! I'm so in love with Heather Bailey's Pop Garden fabric but not so in love with bias tape...I'll explain later. A couple of months ago, I finished our Christmas stockings. And a few days ago I added pom-poms. Glad I did!

And continuing with Sew4Home's Citrus Holiday plan, I finished their tree skirt. I forgot to purchase the batting and didn't want to wait another day to make it, so it's flatter than I would like. But I love all the bright colors and flowers. It's like it matches my house decor but still Christmas-festive.

The assembly of the skirt wasn't difficult. I did have Grant make the pattern, though, b/c he's more precise than I am. It was my first time putting on bias tape. (The pattern has you make your own, but I just bought red, 1/2" double-fold bias tape to save a step...lots of steps actually.) But I didn't buy enough. Probably needed 7-8 yards for this. And I had to go very sloooowly. This is not enjoyable but the outcome is pretty - just don't look too closely.

Next up is some ornament making with the fabric scraps.

Here are some of the fabrics I used: