Must Be Santa Monday

http://bejollybygolly.blogspot.com/2008/12/must-be-santa-monday-14.html

My donation to MBSM today is my list of appetizers for my Christmas Eve party:

Cranberry Meatballs--half in freezer. I'm making more this week. The sauce gets made the day before.

Coconut Chicken--again, half in freezer. I decided to make more. I have the chicken cut up already and will do that this week, too.

Cocktail Hot Dogs--in a kind of cranberry sauce. I made the sauce a while back, and I can't tell you what's in it because it's one of those 'throw it together with what you have' sauces, but I tried some on another batch of hot dogs and it was yummy. I just froze the rest and will heat it up with another package of mini dogs--possibly in the crockpot.

Shrimp--this is the one time of year we splurge on the really good stuff from the seafood store (our favorite restaurant, btw--Catfish Annie's.)

Celery Cheese Sticks--basically just cream cheese and shredded cheddar in a celery stick with some nuts on top.

Swedish Meatballs--I need to make another batch, plus the gravy.

Cheese Bites--I also plan to make these this week to freeze them

Nacho Dip

Bacon Wrapped Crackers--just bacon around crackers. Intriguing. I think there's a recipe out there that uses parmesan cheese, too.

I might find a few more things to make. I have no qualms about buying some things from the frozen food section, LOL!

The main dish, as I've posted before, is scungilli and sauce over linguini. I'll pass on the snail, but I make enough appetizers to fill up anyone who doesn't want that. My kids (other than Nicky) and my husband love the stuff.

Do you do a Christmas Party? Any suggestions for make-ahead appetizers?

Must Be Santa Monday: CVS Deals

It's that time of the week again, and I hope more people join in! I want to know what you are doing, how you are saving, what you have planned!
http://bejollybygolly.blogspot.com/

My donation today is about a good deal at CVS. Maybe you can snag it, too!

They have a nice Craig MP3 player with this little screen on sale for 24.99--marked down from 39.99. And you get 5 ECBs back!

I happened to have 2 5.98 ECBs, so this is how the deal worked for me:

39.99
-15.00 savings
=24.99 sale price
-10.96 ECBs
=14.03

So I paid less than $15 and have $5 to spend on something else. Nicky's getting the MP3 player as a 'big' gift.

Other deals for ECBs you can use for gifts:

Buy $15 Tide and Duracell (Tide is 12 this week and Duracells are 3, so you only have to buy one of each) and you get back $5 ECBs. Look for mfr. coupons in the most recent P&G circular.

There's a deal on Energizer batteries, too, but I don't have the circular in front of me so you have to look that one up yourself. All I know is I got $10 ECBs back from it, and there is a coupon for the batteries in the Smart Source circular of November 9th.

Have fun!

Must Be Santa Monday

http://bejollybygolly.blogspot.com/

It's Must Be Santa Monday! I took a pic of some of my WIPs for today's offering:

In the back corner is an aqua/white and yellow apron--with an aqua towel attached. I have to do the waistband and ties.

Next are two cloth balls I have actually finished (yay!)

Molly is wearing a crochet jumper that just needs another button, and a yellow coat that needs a lot done. By her feet are pieces for a t-shirt that is aqua with yellow daisies.

I need to add some 'frillies' to the purple tissue holder.

The thing behind it is a cloth bucket. I need to finish the binding. It does not have any batting inside, so it's rather mushy, but I'm sure it's useful in some way.

The odd crocheted cat head was supposed to be an owl, but I didn't like the way it came out so it's going to be a cat. Which explains the little pink nose...

The blue and pink thing actually is going to be an owl!

The red thing in the lower right hand corner is a towel topper.

And finally, those are fish for a fishing game for my nephew. http://memoirsofamommy.com/?p=31 (Isn't it great to find a sewing project for a boy?)

A lot of these ideas came from "Sew, Mama, Sew" or from just looking around the internet. Really, blog 'free sewing patterns' or 'free crochet patterns' and you'll be surprised at what you find!

I got another award!

TX Poppet over at "Canned Laughter" nominated me for this cool award. Isn't it pretty? Check out her blog...it's got great tips and some funny stuff, too!

http://cannedlaffs.com/

Poppet doesn't believe in following the rules, so she is a woman after my own heart. So here they are, and I'm not nominating that many people.

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate 10 other blogs for this award
4. Add links to those blogs
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs
6. Give a reason why you consider their blogs cool


I nominate:

Susan at Blackberry Creek for making the coolest quilts in creation.
http://blackberrycreek.typepad.com/blackberry_creek/

Debbie J at Homemaking Dreams for the great tutorials!
http://homemakingdreams.blogspot.com/

Lettie at Polka Dot Pineapple. Who knew you could do all that with yo-yos?
http://mousechirpy-polkadotpineapple.blogspot.com/

Enjoy these great blogs! And please scroll down for "Must Be Santa Monday."

Must Be Santa Monday

Amy over at "Be Jolly, By Golly" is hosting "Must Be Santa Monday" again. She posts about a cool little present she's giving her Dad this Christmas. Go on over and take a look:

http://bejollybygolly.blogspot.com/2008/11/must-be-santa-monday-10.html

I'm trying to make a bunch of presents this year, and will post about those at a later date...when I have something to show! Meantime, my big, for-the-whole family gift this year is going to be a...

DVD recorder.

Except I don't know anything about them. Does anyone have one? Any recommendations? I can't afford top-of-the-line but I can do better than the cheapest one since I've been saving up. So I'm open to suggestions!