23 Friday Dec 2011
Posted in Life As I Know It
22 Thursday Dec 2011
Posted in Mmm...Food...
Tags
cake balls, christmas, dessert, food, recipe, santa hat, santa hat cake ball
Oh yes. They are delicious. They are festive.
And they were a little difficult.
In spite of a few sloppy santa hats though, this was a fun little project. Do you remember those good ol’ cake balls? Well, that’s all this is! Here’s the process in a nut shell:
1. Bake a cake (I recommend any chocolate box cake).
2. Let the cake cool completely, then crumble and mix with almost an entire container of icing (again…I vote for chocolate).
3. Chill the mixture for a little while, then form into little cone shapes. Chill the cones.
4. Heat white candy melts in the microwave until melted and dip the bottoms. Chill until hard. Then, repeat the process with red melts, dipping the tops of the hats in. Let them chill again.
5. Re-melt your white candy coating and apply a generous little coat around the bottom, making any repairs you need to make after dipping in red (I had all sorts of smudges and accidental drizzles). Throughout the process, I added some red/white sanding sugar for a little extra sparkle.
6. Finally, add your cotton ball top. You can really use any white candy, like chocolate coated espresso beans. I had some white fondant in my cabinet, so I made little balls and used the candy coating as glue.
And then, you’re done! Wrap them up in little bags for your coworkers…
Or just break ‘em open!
21 Wednesday Dec 2011
Posted in Creative Crafting, Daily Notes
I completely stole this idea from my pal Lauren (shout if you see this!), but I just love the idea of labeling your Christmas presents with a tiny personalized ornament. I bought these ornaments for just a few dollars at Michael’s, and had a white sharpie paint pen at home.
What better way to make that gift just a little extra special?
20 Tuesday Dec 2011
Posted in Daily Notes, Mmm...Food...
I tend to always make the same treats for every party I host or attend. So when my roommate and I recently threw a little holiday get together, I decided to switch it up. I finally landed on a build-your-own crostini platter. This idea comes from Julia, as so many of my creative ideas do!
It is exactly as it sounds – first, you slice up one or two french baguettes, at an angle, and coat each side of the pieces with a little olive oil. Simply bake these for 8-10 minutes on each side (anywhere between 350-400 should work) until they are nice and toasty. They can be served warm or at room temperature.
Then pick out your fixings. You can choose whatever you would like! I put out some jam (fig is your best bet), sun-dried tomatoes, plain goat cheese, goat cheese with pesto on it, and thinly sliced prosciutto.
Let me just say this was a hit. And if you have vegetarians and picky eaters, all the better because there is an option for everyone. You really cannot go wrong!!
19 Monday Dec 2011
Posted in Creative Crafting, Daily Notes
Tags
While my 6th-grade pal and I made ornaments last week, we also made some stockings. This was a quick and easy project to do with the middle schooler. Let me say that I do not want to be responsible for her finger getting sewn through by the sewing machine, so I did most of that work. But she cut and pinned letters and helped with lots of little tasks throughout the project.
I bought a whole bunch of felt for this project, but I would bet we only used about 1/3 of a yard per stocking, probably less. I simply traced a basic pattern and cut them out.
Meanwhile, we printed giant letters off the computer. My little sis was able to cut these out, pin them to fabric, then cut out the fabric pieces while I sewed the stockings together.
Then, we took a few shortcuts, which is what makes this a great project to do with a kid. We pulled out the hot glue gun. We very easily and simply hot glued the letters on each stocking, as well as some lace trim around the top. I finished them off by making just a little loop and stitching it to the top.
This was a great project, which could be dolled up with a nicer cuff or a more intricate design on the front if you would like. But I must say, the simplicity of it is what makes it so wonderful and homemade feeling.
12 Monday Dec 2011
Posted in Creative Crafting, Daily Notes
This weekend, my 6th-grader little sister and I had an ultimate baking and crafting day. The first project on the agenda was decorating glass ball ornaments for her family members. She did a great job with paint pens and stuffing them with tinsel. We finished them off by tying ribbon through the tops. Here is what the situation looked like:
But this is a really great project for kids of any age. She loved it, and I remember loving it when I was younger as well. I also recommend painting the inside with white paint (just on the bottom) to look like snow. Here is a glance at the finished project!
28 Monday Nov 2011
Posted in Creative Crafting, Life As I Know It
Tags
christmas, crafting monday, decorating, holidays, lights, ornaments, tree
There is something my mother can do with a Christmas Tree that I can only hope to replicate someday.
The lights, the decorations…it is truly an art in our home. Today I want to share with you a few tips I’ve picked up from my mother over the years… Let me warn you that these photos do not do it justice. In real life, this tree twinkles and glows. It simply cannot be beat!
1. Not multi-colored, but not monochrome. Rather…two colors. White & Red. (can you see the colors in here?)
2. Ornaments must go deep into the tree, not just along the edges.
3. Some should be homemade…
4….and some should simply be beautiful.
5. The topper does not need to be a star – bows will do.
6. Not only should you have ornaments, but you should have sparkling birds, twigs, and other squiggly garnishes.
7. Decorating goes beyond the tree – you must have special Christmas knick-knacks all throughout the room.
Like this guy.
28 Tuesday Dec 2010
Posted in Daily Notes, Mmm...Food...
Tags
This post is simply to share with you that this happened when I was home last week. Merry Christmas!
21 Tuesday Dec 2010
Posted in Life As I Know It
I’m totally stealing this from Katy, but I just love it. Merry Christmas Week, everyone! I’ll be back next week with all of my Christmastime adventures.
Love,
MM
16 Thursday Dec 2010
Posted in Daily Notes, Picture Taking Time
Just had to share a few fun shots from our recent “Tacky Christmas Sweater Hootenany.”
And, your hostesses with the mostesses… Katy and me!
