HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I will be out and about with family and friends for the next couple of days. Check back after the holidays. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Shop Parcel

I love the January issue of Real Simple I got in the mail yesterday. They feature several female shop owners and their stores. Parcel is an amazing store in Montclair, New Jersey that sells custom designed invitations, vintage papers and more. The article says it is part stationary store, part general store and part craft shop. You can check out the Parcel shop online and purchase their line of stationary and notecards.

Christmas Morning Recipe

I am really excited to try this really simple cinnamon pull-apart bread recipe on Christmas morning. It is one of those "cheat" recipes from Real Simple that only requires pre-made pizza dough, butter, cinnamon and sugar. You just roll the dough into little balls, dip them in butter, then cinnamon and sugar and line them in a bundt pan. Then bake them and you end up with a cute cinnamon treat that is easy to pull apart and snack on while opening Christmas gifts.

Here's the Recipe:
2 1-pound packages refrigerated pizza dough
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted, plus more for the pan

Heat oven to 375F.
Tear off small bits of the dough and roll them into 1- to 1 1/2-inch balls. Place the balls on a plate.
Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.
Dip each ball in the butter, then in the cinnamon sugar. Transfer the balls to a buttered Bundt pan.
Drizzle any remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon sugar.
Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top of the pan and carefully flip it over. Tap the bottom to release the bread. Transfer to a plate and let people pull the bread apart with their fingers.

To: (Your Name Here), Love: Santa

Now that your gifts are wrapped and decorated with pretty ribbon, yarn, twine, thread, etc. (see post below), you are ready to add your gift tags. How about printing out these free templates and adding them to your packages. They are all colorful, fun and sometimes funny.


I absolutely love this set of fun, colorful gift tags from Martha Stewart. You have to click the link to see them all. I only wish I would have found them before I wrapped all of my kids gifts!






You may want to try Amy Karol's tags which have witty remarks pre-written.



How about a funny elf tag from Rosemary Travale's Super Blog.















Or maybe Martha Stewart Kid's printable dog and polar bear gift tags are what you had in mind.

Tie It Up

It's time to wrap up all those lovely gifts you've purchased! Last week, I taught a little class to some girls on how to wrap gifts and showed them a few simple gift wrap ideas. This year I am all about baker's twine. I bought red and white striped twine in the Martha Stewart section of Michael's and have been using it to wrap up treats or tie around gift boxes. Instead of using standard curling ribbon, you can also adorn gifts with colorful yarn or even thread (as seen in these photos from our friend Martha S.). Such a pretty look.

Gingerbread House How-To

So last week we hosted a Christmas party for some teenagers and decided to make our own gingerbread houses. Well, graham cracker houses technically. Mine was more of a run down shack. Then I discovered some tips and decorating ideas from Martha Stewart the other day for making really cute cookie cottages. Oh man. I wish I would have seen this before. I especially love the house with Frosted Mini Wheat shingles on the roof and the one with the marshmallow snowman out front.

Perfect Present

I found the best book for my best friend's birthday. It is Joelle Hoverson's book, Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. Generally, these type of books have a few cute project ideas and other so-so ones; but I love pretty much every project idea in this book. Some of my favorites include the tote bag, baby quilt, pincushions, colored pencil pouch, stuffed elephant, simple quilt and nursery wall hanging. Although I would never actually classify any of these projects as "last minute" gifts, I do like the way the book is organized according to the length of time each project requires. Add this to my Christmas list.

Marshmallow Treats

I would really like to make these snowman cupcakes! I just need an excuse. They are seriously simple. According to Martha Stewart, you just cut a piece off one marshmallow to make it smaller, use sprinkles for the snowman's eyes and cut a piece off a gummy fish or something similar for his nose.








I have had the snowflake hot cocoa marshmallow recipe saved for several years. I've never made it because I am one of the only people in the world who doesn't actually like hot cocoa. But I would drink it if it meant I got to make these snowflakes. You can follow the recipe and the how-to to make the snowflakes; or I wonder if using the spreadable marshmallow would work as well.

DIY Christmas Decorations

I know that Christmas is fast approaching...but there are so many fun Christmas ideas that I am going to keep blogging about them until the holiday. The Small Object made a really simple fabric chain garland for the Christmas tree which is really pretty and colorful and fun; not to mention, a great use for fabric remnants. And since I am a total sucker for fabric, I love the other idea of using fabric leftovers to make little stacked Christmas trees. Aren't they adorable? And even though there are only 14 days left, I have to show you this blank advent calendar you can print and totally customize. There are so many options for this little calendar. What about putting fun photos behind each day? Or quotes?

A Quilt for Jane

Completing this quilt was an extremely satisfying experience. I was able to use a friend's quilting machine to quilt it. It was so fun! I was really nervous at first, but once I got the hang of it, I loved doing my own random pattern all over the quilt. It has so much personality now and the little imperfections add character to it. I am really happy to have it done. I also discovered a trick for making the binding process a lot more simple: instead of using a separate fabric and sewing it on, I used the fabric from the back of the quilt, folded it over and stitched it. What a great trick. And I just have to say that last night while I was finishing it, my daughter came to me and said "Thank you mama. Thank you for making me a beautiful blanket." You can totally cry now. It was so sweet and made my labors completely worthwhile.

16 Days Until Christmas

I've put together some of my favorite handmade gift ideas categorized by recipient. You have 16 days left until Christmas to get crafty. Some of my favorite ideas include Martha Stewart's strawberry pincushion template and recipe booklet, the tote sewn from dishtowels from Write Mama Write, the funky flower pin from The Farm Chicks and the cute beanbag frogs from The Purl Bee. Check out more ideas below.










For Babies and Kids
Beanbag Frog from The Purl Bee
Dog, Chicken & Pig Stuffed Animals from Martha Stewart
Felt Quiet Book from Martha Stewart
Baby Bib from Nested
Fabric Baby Blocks from London Mummy
Fabric Patch Onesie from Angry Chicken
Stripey Patchwork Cat from The Green Kitchen
Felt Covered Barrettes for Girls from Angry Chicken

Fabulous Accessories
Flower Pin from The Farm Chicks
Button Hairpins from Martha Stewart
Ribbon Headbands from Martha Stewart
Caterpillar Eyeglass Case from Betz White
Headbands from Altered Cloth
Fabric Flowers from Wise Craft
More Headbands from Heather Bailey
Bangle Bracelets from Fashion is Spinach

All Kinds of Bags
Over sized Bag from Machen/Machen
Dishtowel Tote from Write Mama Write
Oilcloth Lunch Bag from Tumbling Blocks
Personalized Canvas Tote from Martha Stewart

For Crafty People
Patchwork Sewing Basket from Little Thing by Magda
Strawberry Pincushion from Martha Stewart (I want one!)

In the Kitchen
Holiday Recipe Booklet from Martha Stewart
Lined Apron Skirt from Lululollylegs
Smock-style Apron from Still Dottie

And One More
Custom CD Envelope from Camp Creek Press

Let the Holiday Baking Begin

I kicked off my holiday baking this morning by making chocolate dipped macaroons and chocolate diped pretzel rods. To make the pretzels, all you do is melt chocolate chips in the microwave, dip the pretzels half way, (I used a plastic cup for easy dipping), then roll them or sprinkle them with whatever you like. I used some white and multi-colored sprinkles I had, some crushed up candy canes and some chopped up chocolate chips. You can lay them flat on wax paper to let them harden. I propped them up in short plastic cups to avoid having one flat side.

Not-So-Secret Recipe

I made a batch of caramel corn to munch on while decorating our Christmas tree. Caramel corn is a love of mine and a staple of the Christmas season. I typically give it as a gift each year to family and friends. This year I plan to try several variations of my recipe, as well as making a few new treats to give as gifts. I can't wait to start baking.

In case you feel like making your own batch, I am including my secret recipe:

Ingredients
1/2 C. popcorn seeds
1 C. brown sugar
6 Tbs butter
1/4 C. corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions
Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Prepare popcorn, set aside. On stove, melt butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt on medium heat. Mix thoroughly. When it starts to boil, remove from heat and add baking soda (the caramel will bubble up). Mix in the baking soda. Pour caramel over popcorn. Use buttered spatula to mix popcorn in caramel until evenly coated. Spread caramel corm onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake in oven about 45 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool a few minutes. Enjoy!