Oh Hello There : Back in the Habit

Hello sweet readers! Did you have a lovely Christmas and New Years?

Here's some questions I've gotten recently :
1. Are you Dead?
     - No. Yippee!

2. Are you Pregnant?
     - Hahah, no.

3. Have you quit blogging?
     - Heeeeck no. I love blogging.

December completely zapped all of my free time, energy, and creativity reservoirs. Whew it was a mammoth month. I'll tell more over the next few weeks.

I'm not sure how to catch up at this point, but I suppose just diving in is best, yes?

To get the blogging juices flowing again, here some photos of my Christmas holiday...in Instagrams.

Mmmm...gourmet gingerbread lattes at Union Station

Save my Dad! (Movie night with the family goes wild)

Most delicious open-faced artichoke sandwich from Room 39 in Midtown KC

Family fun at the shooting range (that's husband with a handgun)

Oh my gosh I have so much to share with you!!! BLAH! Stay tuned I guess!

Much love, Lisa

Three Holiday Bark Recipes

First off, who else finds "bark" to be a hilariously unappetizing name for candy treats?

This weekend marked the second annual cookie exchange amongst my girlfriends. Because I had to be out of town all weekend right up until the hour before the party, I had to bake way in advance. Solution? Bark.

I also had no chance to print recipes. Solution? A blog post that all can reference if needed.

Bittersweet Chocolate Lemon Bark

Recipe originally found on about.com. I ended up having to spread the candied lemon peel out on parchment paper to bake it in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. I needed to make it breakable instead of gummy-sticky.

Mocha Meringue Bark

Delicious and light! I typically cook variations on ingredients and processes that I already know. The world of meringue was rather intimidating, but one must learn these things. Turns out that this was my favorite bark of the three. Found on foodnetwork.com by Claire Robinson.


Somoa Bark

Riiiiiiiiich and delicious. Coconut was another food adventure for me this time around. I used a smaller pan instead of the recommended 9x13 (a girl only has so many 9x13 pans!), so my somoa bark turned out thicker than necessary. Recipe found on cookiesandcups.com.


All together at the cookie exchange :

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Something True for Friday

As evidenced by my lack of blogging this week, (and even more so by my lack of guilt about it!), I have had a crazy week. 10-11 hours at the factory each day, and then home for 2-3 hours of freelance work. I am so scared that I will miss the beautiful Christmas season! I don't want all of December to become a blur of stress and neglect.

So I was really happy to hear a couple of true and simple stories from my mom about her Christmas season. It's all I have for today...no pictures or anything.

In my home county of Johnson County, KS, there is a Christmas Bureau every year. Disadvantaged families under the poverty line are allowed to come to the Christmas Bureau each year. In different rooms, they can pick one gift for each of their children and one gift for each adult in the house. They can choose a set number of produce, meat, bread, and dairy products. In yet another room, they can pick a specified number of household items.

Now. This year Mom worked in the adult gift room, and she told me these two stories.

1. There are many single mothers who come through the bureau. This year my mom talked to several of them as they entered the adult gift room. My mom greeted each one saying, "this is the adult gift room. Pick out something for yourself." With these words several of the women teared up. Could this be the first time they've been able to think about something for themselves all year? Do they practice such self-denial to try to make life work for their children, that the mere mention of a choice for themselves touches a deep need?

2. An old man in a wheelchair and taking oxygen pushed himself around the room, starting with the men's section. (Remember this is the section where the adults can pick a gift item for every adult in their household.) This man lived alone, and clearly struggled to make ends meet. After browsing the men's section for a time, my mom noticed him move along to the women's section. The next time she noticed him, he was checking out with a women's gift as his selection. "This is for my nurse," he said. Sweet, unselfish man with no family to buy gifts for still passed up a new item for himself to gift his nurse, who may be his most beloved companion. I melt.

Really makes me think about what to do with my Christmas season this year. It's so easy to help people, and a dollar can go a long way.


PS, speaking of Christmas! Don't forget to check out The UpCycled Pillow giveaway going on now! Designer pillowcases make great stocking stuffers!

Giveaway : The Up-Cycled Pillow

You may remember that I announced the opening of my Etsy shop, The Up-Cycled Pillow, where I am repurposing beautiful designer fabrics destined for the garbage. When you have a blog and a shop, the option is clear : hello first ever MHHM giveaway!

Here's how this is all going to go down.

The winner will receive two Up-Cycled Pillow cases of their choice out of those listed on the site at the time of their selection (after the winner is announced).

The giveaway begins today and will close Monday, December 12th at 12:00am.

You can enter one of four ways :

1. Follow Making Home Homemade on your favorite blog feed! After you have done so, leave me a comment below to let me know.
2. Sign up to follow Making Home Homemade via email. The button and field to do this is listed to your left. Let me know you did it by writing a comment below.
3. Add Making Home Homemade to your Bloglovin' feed. After you have done so, write a comment to tell me!
4. Select "Like" on the Facebook page of TheUpcycledPillow. Once again, write a comment below to keep me up to date.

On Tuesday, December 13th I will select a random winner from the comments on this post and will notify the winner.

Good luck lovely people!

Hunger Games T-Shirts

I've had a ton of fun designing and selling these Twilight Tees.

I've had so much fun that the only thing better would be designing, manufacturing, and selling tees for my new favorite teen trilogy and upcoming blockbuster : the Hunger Games!

Today I loaded my new Team Peeta and Team Gale tees to sell on Etsy. What do you think? Whose team are you on?

Thanks to my lovely models :)

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Something Musical for Friday

Do you know Andy Grammer? He is the most recent addition to my list of favorite musicians. His songs are upbeat, positive, wholesome. I can't help but wonder...is he really like that? In the case of Andy Grammer, does art reflect life?

Help me find out!

During our Friends' Thanksgiving Dinner of 2011, our friends danced and lip-synced the night away to Andy's song "Fine By Me" as a part of a contest to win a Christmas day serenade from the man himself.

First we need the points. Every view is worth two points, and everyone that attends this Facebook event is 5 points. Help us along the way!




More importantly, this video just feels like a celebration of the hilarious, fun-loving, spontaneous people we are privileged to know. Husband and I are so thankful for each person in the video and how much each enhances and blesses our life here.

I am so glad we have video record (/evidence) of these happy shenanigans. 


Here's the week's wrap up...a fairly active week for this blog I'd say!

Rich and Delish Peanut Butter and Grahams Chocolate Candy-Cookies

The annual Gift Wrap Up of my favorite papers for this year. Which do you think I should use?

Pictures from Husband's family's farm over the holiday break.



Everyone have a musical weekend!