What I Made Wednesday {A Plethora of Projects}

 

Happy day-after Christmas! I wanted to share with you a potpourri of What I Made's throughout the week. Every year we have Christmas dinner at our house so I'll share the menu of our feast, as well. Finally, we hunt out a family ornament that best represents each year. We started this tradition 16 years ago when Super Hubby and I celebrated our first Christmas together in this house of ours. So, today's What I Made Wednesday is a mish-mosh of projects that have been keeping me busy these past several days. I hope you are entertained.

Felt Rosette Wreath

Last week I started this Felt Rosette Wreath but never got finished in time to show you the completed project. Well, here it is! It's actually quite impressive in-person. Click here for the "how-to". I just wanted to make sure you knew I finish things I start:-)

Christmas Dinner Menu We have been honored to have 16 Christmas dinners at our house since we've been here and every year it has been a joy to pull-off. Some years we have had as many as 25 guests, all seated around our dining room table (with both leaf extensions) and a couple card tables at the end of it spilling into the living room for good measure. With cousins grown and living their own lives and starting their own traditions, our numbers have dwindled but the effort I put into Christmas dinner is the same: always made with love. Here's our Christmas menu for 2012, all homemade, even down to the pita chips! I just wish I had the thought to take a picture of it before we dug-in. A note about the beef wellington: so easy to make, so impresssive when it hits the table! Look for it in an upcoming W.I.M. Wednesday!

Veggies and Dill Dip

Eggplant/Pepper Spread with Pita Chips

 Beef Wellington with Mustard Sauce and Mushrooms

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Scalloped Potatoes

Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing and Croutons

Rosemary Bread

Peanut Butter Pie

Christmas Cookies

2012 Family Christmas Ornament This year's Christmas ornament comes with some revelation. My son first spotted this gem at the local Garden Center. This place treats the public to a dozen of fully-blown, decorated to-the-nines, Christmas trees. There isn't a bare branch to behold with all the ornaments that adorn these differently themed trees. Of course, all the ornaments are for sale and my son spotted this interesting number. I joked with Super Hubby and said how perfect the ornament was for 2012 as the first thing I thought of when I saw the jingle bell inside the ball of wire was "Trapped"! Trapped with health insurance, trapped with the Fiscal Cliff, trapped, trapped. My bah! humbug mood was overtaking my clarity. 

We bought the ornament never intending it to be the family's 2012 ornament until, right before Christmas, it hit me! The jingle bell inside the wired ball didn't represent us being "trapped". Instead, it represented us being "protected"! Despite all the woes of 2012, we were always, and will ever be, protected and safe because we believe. Wow! I went into my workshop and got busy hand-stamping the numbers 2-0-1-2 onto a small silver blank and attached it with a jump ring to the top of the ornament. There, perfect! I absolutely love it! 

Happy Holidays!