News of the Feus...: December 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

As like many others, this year was a tight Christmas for us. We have three days of furloughs and on top of that, though we love our new car, we didn't really have a choice in buying it. The Celica died and we needed a vehicle and this created a somewhat hefty car payment. Therefore, I decided to get crafty and make gifts (at least some gifts).

These mini pies were given to all our family members and we also gave them out to our friends after our Christmas party (Jess - I still have yours!!). I made apple pies and triple berry pies and they were a huge hit!

Step One: Gather your ingredients . . .

Step Two: Peel the apples (if you're making apple pies) . . .

Step Three: Prepare your favorite pie dough recipe and push into the jars . . .

(my grandma's home made pie crust in small Kerr jars)

Step Three: Make your favorite pie filling and place filling in the jars . . .

(bubbling brown sugar goodness)

(apple pie filling)

(triple berry pie filling - blackberries, raspberries and blueberries)

Step Four: Roll out the remaining pie dough and cut out the tops (the ring of the jar is the perfect shape!) . . .

Step Five: Place the cut out pie top over the filling and use a fork to crimp the sides . . .

Step Five and a Half: When making pies you need to cut (or poke) whole in the tip so the steam can vent. I used the Fall Leaves Pie Cutters from Williams-Sonoma because Geoff bought me the set just for this occasion and they worked perfectly!!

Step Six: Brush melted butter over the top and sprinkle sugar . . .

Step Seven: Cover and label (so you know which pie is which flavor) . . .

Step Eight: Decorate how you see fit!! I cut out a cloth circle out of blue fabric and used labels from lolychops.

Step Nine: Place in Freezer until ready to gift (or eat!)

Geoff and I had a couple pies that weren't good enough to gift (yeah, it was planned) so we kept them for ourselves and we ate the berry pie the other night. It turned out wonderfully!!

Yummy!! I hope everyone else enjoys theirs as much as we enjoyed ours!!

Christmas 2009: Our Special Morning

Unfortunately I forgot my camera when we went to each of our parent's houses for our Christmas celebrations so I don't have picture of the family. I do however have pictures of us and our special morning.

the loot

The "where's my present" look

opening presents

Just one of my favorite gifts from my love . . .

and here's the other!!

Sadly, this beauty is in the shipping process but I should have it in about a week. I can't wait!!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas 2009: A Merry House

We too had a Christmas gathering at our home. This was the fourth year that Geoff and I have hosted a party for our friends and I absolutely love this tradition! It is something that I plan to continue and I'll enjoy watching it change when all of us have children. :)

Unfortunately since I was so busy at the party I didn't take pictures but here's what the house looked like before everyone arrived.

The Living Room:

On the hall tree sat a box full of this years Christmas cards and two of our favorite Christmas books - The Polar Express (a gift from my friend Jamie) and 50 years of Peanut Christmas Comics.

This is my Nutcracker Suite Village. I saw this set at Costco one Christmas with my mother; I was in college at the time and I had no place to put it so sadly I did not buy it. Several years later (about 3 years ago) I scoured ebay and found it! I was so excited! Although it was mid August Geoff let me by it to put up in our house that Christmas. It's now one of my favorite decorations! You gotta love ebay!

You may remember a previous post where I bought the cute glittery pick sign from one of Adriana and my thrifting adventures. It's a perfect adornment for our antique armoire.

Our tree is perfectly located in our front window.

The Dining Room:

A set table (minus silverware) with my grandmother's china

The Family Room:

A couple of years ago, I decided to start a nutcracker collection. I'm so glad I did!! This is my collection thus far. My first year (after my announcement of wanting nutcrackers to start my collection) I was gifted several and each year I add a nutcracker to the collection.

This year's addition - a elf from Santa's village :)

Since we don't have a mantel - the stockings are hung by the nutcrackers with care.

Both of these were new this year!

My parents gave us this beautiful vintagey Santa sleigh that swings on a pendulum

And because we didn't do much outdoor decorating I had several strand of lights left over. I LOVE Christmas lights so I had the idea to make my very own Christmas lamp! Personally, I think it turned out beautifully!!