Best Candied Yams EVER!!!

I'm not sure where this recipe originates.  It's just the recipe that I've grown up with.  I can't remember a Thanksgiving with out these yams.  They are almost too good to be a side dish . . . they are yummy enough to be a dessert.

3 c. cooked yams
1/2 c butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 beaten eggs
1 c sugar (splenda)

Whip all ingredients together and put in a 8 x 11 dripper pan

Mix
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. melted butter
1/2 c. flour

Sprinkle on top of the yam mixture

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, and I promise you'll have the best tasting yams ever!

Christmas Presents for Day Care Teachers

My kids are in a real day care center this year, and that means Christmas gifts for teachers.  Looking for an idea?
Who doesn't love coke?  So, I decided to buy a bottle of diet coke for each teacher.  I bought some cork coasters at Hobby Lobby and mod podged the following images onto them, and then gave them a coat of glitter spray paint.  These will go in a clear cellophane bag tied to the coke, as well as the little tag below.

Deck the Halls - yes, I know it's early, but I LOVE christmas.

With just a few dollars worth of supplies, you can make a fun christmas bulb wreath.  I bought the wicker wreath frame, and all the bulbs at the dollar store.  I had some black felt that I wrapped around the wreath so I could glue on the bulbs more easily, and then used my glue gun and went crazy adding bulbs.  

Here's how it turned out!  Not too bad, but after having done it once, I would have changed a few things, like making the bulbs look more uniform instead of crazy all over the place.

 I also wanted to make my small christmas tree in my family room look a little more fancy this year and update the ornaments.  So, I grabbed some black card stock, modge podge and black glitter at the store and created these fun fluer di lis and eiffel tower ornaments.  I also bought fun silver bulbs and a silver garland to add to it.  With the new black and silver theme, I needed to change some of my other decor for that room.

 I made these fun little christmas trees out of scrapbook paper.  It cost me all of $2.50 to make.  I bought some cheap candle stick holders at the local thrift store to sit them on so they wouldn't all be the same height.  They were only $0.50 each.

 Then I decided I wanted some fun artwork.  I bought a 16 x 20 frame at the local thrift store for $2.00 and painted it black, and created a fun picture.  I then backed it with scrapbook paper that matched the little trees that I made.  Added a garland and some bulbs, and here is the finished product.

As for the big Christmas tree  . . . here it is.  I've changed it up just a little this year.  I'm not quite finished with the front room decor in this room.  More pictures to come.  I'm working on building a little sofa table to put my christmas village on, and those fun little spiral trees you see on the left hand corner of the picture.

Happy Christmas Crafting