Welcome to my
Perfectly Imperfect Life..........

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Are You Ready For Some Football?


This Sunday is Superbowl Sunday 
so you better have your game plan down.
Here's a few tips I've used in the past to make our get 
together's a memorable championship fun time whichever team you're rooting for.
 Set the mood.
Create a great game day atmosphere with football themed party supplies such as football field table covers, banners, streamers, paper plates and cups. If you’ve got the opposing team’s jerseys, t-shirts or hats, hang them on the walls. Keep a soft football or two around the house to toss around between plays. If you really want to go over the top, you can offer to paint your guests’ faces in their team’s colors. Too fun!
We had one of these ref's one year.
 He was in shreds by the end of the game!
We gave him a proper burial.

Check your equipment.
You can’t beat a large, dust-free flat screen to take in all the action. With the TV off, gently clean the screen with a soft microfiber cloth. Do not use paper towels or tissues as they can scratch the surface. If you’ve got a home sound-system, check the connections for optimum audio quality. Clear any unnecessary furniture or clutter from the viewing area and make sure there’s plenty of room for all to sit or stand up and cheer after a score.
MOST IMPORTANT

Have plenty of food and drink on hand.

Watching an event this exciting can take a lot out of your guests, so make sure you serve plenty of refreshments to refuel the fans. Put out bowls of chips, pretzels and dips for the pre‑game. Once the game starts, break out the nachos with salsa, melted cheese and sour cream. A hearty pot of chili, hero sandwiches, pizza and buffalo chicken wings are always crowd favorites. Have plenty of soft drinks, beer and water on hand to keep everyone hydrated and happy.

I made these cute football mason jars to drink out of one year.
Just get white tape and mark off the stitches like on a football. Any brown soda inside resembles a football! Add a fun straw, a little pennant if you'd like, using a marker to edge it in for your teams colors tied on with bakers twine. The kids love them!


A few quick and easy food ideas that have been crowd pleasers at my home in the past. 

Salami, cheese, and olives. That’s it!

Just put out your favorite Nacho toppings 
and everyone can create their own.
Pop in microwave to heat and your done.

Easy peasy Pepperoni Rollups


Salted Caramel Apple Dip
4-6 Tbs. unsalted butter
3/4 c brown sugar
1 package of softened cream cheese. {8 oz.}
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Melt the butter and sugar in the microwave together for 2 min covered, stirring half-way.
mix in cream cheese until its all melted and combined, may even need an electric mixer to be sure it’s completely smooth. add vanilla and salt (or omit the salt if you use salted butter).

Don’t forget the bathroom.
It’s a long day and the bathroom will be busy, so make sure it’s clean and well stocked with plenty of hand soap, clean towels, room deodorizer and toilet paper. After all, you don’t want your loo to look like a locker room.

Now sit back and enjoy the game!

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Sleeping Dogs


This dog's asleep. Wait, I mean "This dog's a-sheep."

Dogs are magical. Not because of the special connections they have with humans or the fact that they evolved from that mythical,
Magical trickster, the wolf - dogs are magical because they can sleep anywhere.
If I could sleep like dogs sleep, I'd never be tired. And if I could sleep like dogs sleep, there would probably also be a lot of pictures
on the Internet of me sleeping, because sleeping dogs are ridiculous.

After your hound is planted, expect puppies to sprout in six to eight weeks.

I'm actually not sure if this dog is asleep or just having a vulnerable bonding moment with the table leg.

Because really, isn't every water dish just a very small pool? 
OH does that mean that every pool is just a large water bowl?!

Hey, I'm just gonna see if my Kong went under the cou...zzzzz.

All 2016 Hondas will have puppy sleep handles as a standard feature.

Sorry, your patio furniture is now a dog bed.

No, seriously. Your patio furniture is a dog bed.

"I didn't fall asleep in the food bowl!"

Somebody doesn't understand the concept of a pillow.

And that was the day he discovered his dog had a shoe fetish.

Although he loved music, it was Spot's greatest secret that he was actually tone deaf.

Bitsy built her own version of Temple Grandin's hug machine.

He didn't even rinse himself off in the sink before getting in the dishwasher.

Shifting into sleep mode. 

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Do You Save Your Christmas Cards?


When I was little I used to help my Mom by putting the postage stamps on the envelopes of the Christmas cards. That was back when we had to lick them...yuk.  One of my favorite things, (not the licking part) was waiting for them to come flooding in from all over the country! My Dad was in WWII so they had friends from many states and this was their once a year catch up with each other. We had a huge family and cards went out to them too. She must have sent 100's out. Christmas cards decorated the house - placed on lamp shades, hung from book shelve edges, I don't know why but it was very touching for me even at such a young age.

We would always save our Birthday cards in scrapbooks, do you remember those big ol' hardcover ones?
Geesh, we had tons of scrapbooks.
I think I may have one left in my cedar chest but after graduating High School who needed those "baby" things anymore. Yep, I tossed them. Of course now I wish I would have kept them. I sure have gotten sentimental as I've aged.

As a young adult I sent out my fair share of Christmas cards. I would always have them ready by Thanksgiving, so I could mail them the next day. I wanted everyone to receive mine first! LOL
Then stamp prices went up, people cut back on the tradition due to the cost. It was sad.

I would find some way to recycle the beautiful cards. When my kids were little, I would cut out the pictures from the front of the card, punch holes around the perimeter, give them some yarn and have them lace the cards. Made for cute little Grandparent gifts. I'd also make gift tags for the next years gifts.

This year I decided to keep my cards - the few I receive (sadly most from companies I do business with :( ) ,and make a Junk Journal or Smash Book whatever you want to call it.

 I have already started one to look through when I'm feeling down - it's an ongoing process and I add to it as I please. It's a cheer me up book.:) I add things to it that make me smile - a movie ticket, a napkin....you get the idea. But that's for another post.

So back to the Christmas cards ~
The biggest thing you must remember is there are
 NO RULES
you make and do to it what you like!

I picked the largest card to place on the outside,


placed the others inside. They get placed inside each other. This is called a signature.
I did keep some out to decorate with.


I didn't insert them according to size, 
I just stuck them in - 
with the outside card being the largest you won't see the other cards edges when all is done.


You have some options when it comes to making the signature.
You can staple the cards in the middle (my stapler doesn't reach that far)
or
stitching

or tying with yarn and gluing.


Since I don't receive many cards I only made one signature. If you receive a lot of cards you may want to make more, so as to not have too thick of a signature.

Now I wanted a sturdier cover to put these in.
Look what just happened to be laying around ~
I removed the top and bottom flaps from the cracker box.


Found the side seam and opened the box up


I cut off the extra side flap


I needed to make sure the cards would be covered by the "cover"


By leaving the one side of the box intact (spine) with so much room left, I thought I could keep adding to it each year


 Once the box was cut to the correct size I wanted to cover it.
I hadn't put Christmas wrappings away yet 
and found this gift bag laying on top.
It seemed to be a good size to use.


First followed the seams and opened it up so it was flat, then  I cut the handle off


Glued to the front of the box, 
I used a fake credit card to make sure it adhered good, work any bubbles out, and flatten seam creases


Inside front


Completed outside


The cover!


 Hey, creative minds make a mess,
so I've heard ;)


Embellish as you please or not, it's all up to you.
Add mementos from the season ~ we purchased a Norfolk Island Pine, so I included it's tags and even used the paper it was wrapped in for some of the ''pages'' backgrounds.
I left some cards with messages as they were, so I can look back on them. I only wish I had thought of this a few years sooner.

I used a gold sharpie to write 2016 on the first card







Signature tied to cover


Front embellished, bells added to ties 


Back


There's plenty of room to add more signatures for years to come,
Can't wait until it's nice and fat, lol


If you're into Scrap Booking, Journaling, Smash Books, Junk Journals, Art Journals, etc. my cousin has some great supplies in her shop! 

.

.
Blog Widget by LinkWithin