Via Stars for Streetlights.
Christmas Bake Pops
This Christmas I asked for Bake Pops. We bought some at Starbucks once and the girls loved them. When I saw the infomercial for them I knew what I'd tell people I wanted for Christmas.
The girls were just buzzing about making something today so I got out the Bake Pop pan and together we whipped up some brownie mix and melted some chocolate chips.
I ran out of chocolate chips but I found some Reese's Peanut Butter chips which gave our Bake Pops some variety.
We used white chocolate to drizzle over the Bake Pops. But this was something I had to do myself, along with the dipping. I can't say it wasn't messy. It was VERY messy.
I plan on making more of these for Lily's classmates on Valentine's Day but honestly, I'm pooped. It took me a couple hours to make the ones shown here. Wasn't as simple and easy as the commercial makes it seem. But maybe it won't be so exhausting when I'm not 9 months pregnant.
Some tips if you are making these too! I used floral foam to put the Bake Pops in the freezer so that they wouldn't be flat on top. I just stuck them in the foam immediately after I dipped them. I won't lie. They were drippy. They got all over my freezer. But fortunately, once the chocolate is frozen it's easy to just pull off.
Also, for half of the batch I used regular Reese's Peanut Butter chips not dipping chocolate. At first they were too thick so I added just a TOUCH of canola oil. This made the melted chips just the right consistency. If you put too much oil just add more chips. Too much oil will make chips too thin and the brownie underneath will show. Plus it will run and run. Messy.
And the messy part doesn't end with the baking;)
But totally worth it. Yum!
Thanks Ann for all the Christmas fun!
Advent Calendar: Day 25
December 30, 2011
Ever since I saw the movie Annie when I was 7 I have had a secret love for lockets. So I planned on ending this year's Advent boxes with a homemade locket for Lily and Molly.
I bought these lockets at Createforless.com for only $2.19 a piece. I then added the ribbon and clasps from some extra pieces in my scrap stash. So the entire project cost $5 plus shipping.
I liked the lockets at Create For Less because they were large enough to put a picture that you could fit more than just a face in and they were also colorful enough to be eye candy for the kids. Gold and silver jewelry is great too but I think the girls preferred the design on the front. They had several other designs to choose from as well.
The photos were made in Photoshop as 1.5" circles. I then cut them out and used Zig glue to paste them in the lockets. Zig glue or rubber cement is best because it's not permanent so if I want to use a different picture later it won't be too difficult to remove. I applied the glue to the locket then the picture and let them dry separately. Then stuck them together.
Lily said it was her favorite of all the Advent boxes which was exactly what I had hoped for.
The girls are excited for next year's surprises!
DIY Party Blowers
What are you doing for New Years? Staying home? Going out? Throwing your own party? If the latter, check out these awesome homemade party blowers via Martha.
Mod Podge Pencils Tutorial
December 29, 2011
Wish I would have seen this idea for an advent box. Would be good for making photo pencil sets.....AND ribbon wands.
Fast Silhouette Christmas Labels
I will say that they look best on solid colored paper. For the labels, I used simple Christmas themed paper from an old paper stack I had bought at Michaels. So best of all, this project was absolutely FREE for me. And I got many compliments on the labels which were so much easier than anyone could image!
One more reason to love my Silhouette;)
Lalaloopsy Wig Tutorial
Post Christmas Slow Down
December 27, 2011
Christmas Eve was a lot busier than I anticipated. My sister, her husband, my dad, his girlfriend, my mom and a family friend was going to come over for a little gift exchange. Happily it didn't work out with everyone's schedules and I was out until after 6pm doing last minute shopping. I didn't get to finish digitizing the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Dress but I will be doing that today. So (fingers crossed) it should be up by tomorrow. Yesterday we got back from my dad's Christmas exchange and the house was a disaster. It looked as though Toys'R'Us had threw up all over the house.
It took me all night to superficially clean the main living area but it will take a trip to Walmart and some extra bins to really organize the chaos. There's a lot of little pieces just dying to litter the floor and injure my feet at night.
Took this pic this morning. Thought it was funny. We upgraded my mother's cell for Christmas to an iPhone and I bought a used iTouch for Lily as her "big gift". Eloise is using my iPhone. She uses it about as well as Grandma;)
Twas the Night Before Christmas Dress Pattern
December 22, 2011
Still working on the Downtown Holiday Jacket Pattern. But in the meantime I wanted to offer this ungraded pattern I made for my daughter Lily for Christmas FOR FREE. She wore it to school for "Fancy Day" and told me that all the teachers and kids complimented her on it! That made my day:)The pattern will be available tomorrow! Just wanted to give you a heads up and sneak peak today.
I made this dress with the best materials. At first I wanted it to be gold (and sort of still do) but I couldn't find quality gold sequin fabric that didn't look cheap. The selection at JoAnn's looked like Halloween costume material with few sequins and mostly elastic. I finally found some silver sequin material at my local fabric outlet for $12 a yard. I also used silver Duponi silk for the skirt (love that stuff). Finally, I used a very soft lining. I can't remember what it's called but it was pretty expensive for lining which is usually only $1.99 a yard at JoAnn's. Tulle was cheap enough. It's hard to splurge on that;) I suppose nylon chiffon would have been ideal, but that would have required a lot more sewing to get the fullness that tulle provides.
It's been really hard to do photo shoots now. Only three more weeks until I go into the hospital. Crouching and standing is super hard. I get winded so easily. I took the opportunity to go outside and take these photos today because it's unseasonably warm and setting up the photo studio in the garage is just too difficult a task to bear the thought of. More pics of Molly in the dress tomorrow. Lily won't be available to model it until next week. Until then....
Hedgehog Mittens
December 21, 2011
Seriously. How stinkin' cute.
Hedgehog mittens.
You can buy the kit to make here.
However, I bet you could make a similar one for yourself without a pattern.
Check out these hedgehog mittens below.
The knitter said the spines are grass yarn is 100% synthetic knitted separately as a rectangle and sewed to the woollen back of the mitten.
Wallpaper to Gift Bags
December 20, 2011
Oh Happy Day has a great post on turning wallpaper into gift bags! Love it!
This would work with any sturdy paper.
Gift Ideas: Homemade Monogrammed Necktie Free Pattern
December 19, 2011
Ice Cream Sandwich Seat
December 18, 2011
How stinkin' clever is this? Could easily be made out of an old chest and some reupholstering.
Free Christmas Cards Courtesy of Silhouette
December 16, 2011
First, she didn't want to buy any cards and asked if I could just print some out for her. After some thought I wanted to try to make them out of leftover cardstock from the advent boxes and use my Silhouette machine. I don't like to waste printer ink (which I'll come to later).
Then I realized that I didn't have any envelopes to fit the cards into properly so I downloaded an envelope template and cut 10 custom sized envelopes out of light weight 12"x12" paper. Done! Without having to spend a penny (I had a Silhouette gift card). And they looked pretty good too!I used my 2-way zig glue to fasten the envelopes together. But I think the really neat part was the scalloped edge of my envelope flap. Imagine how much money you could save if you made your own wedding invitations with the Silhouette! The template I downloaded also had an option for contrasting lining but I didn't want to bother with it. Still, would be nice for fancy invites.
At any rate, I finished editing the photo and went to print them out when my printer said my cyan was empty. So today I went out and bought the cartridge at Office Max. When I got back and printed out two photos it said my Magenta now had to be replaced too and wouldn't let me print anymore. Brother printers have this insidious feature that won't allow you to print when it senses that the cartridge is supposedly 'empty'.
Last I checked the Magenta was 1/4 full and now after one printed page with two photos it said it was completely empty?! I was really mad. Aside from not wanting to spend $11 on another cartridge I didn't have the time or energy to make another trip to Office Max. So I did some research and found this little article.Cute Cheap Dress
December 15, 2011
Only $34.99 at Modcloth.
Free Shipping for the holidays! Limited time only.
Only $36.99 at Modcloth.
Free Shipping for the holidays! Limited time only.
What She Wore Today
Saw this beautiful wrap around french braid tutorial and had to try on Molly. Must admit, with her little tweed vest and felt flower pin, she looks very "put together" for preschool.
Tutorials Felted Gift Boxes
December 13, 2011
These look totally easy to make! Get the tut at Curlby.
Tutorials: Fabric Covered Suitcase
My mother has a ton of these kind of suitcases! I should snag one and try this.
Bad Morning
At the lab taking a 3-hour glucose test. Trying VERY hard NOT to throw up the lemon lime drink I just downed. I have a very high gag reflex so I'm exercising as much mind over matter as I can muster. If I throw this up I'm going to cry.
Also, was told there'd be a private room to wait in but it turns out it's just the public waiting room with uncomfortable seats for three hours. Glad I wore sweats. Hope I don't run into anyone I know. Also noticed some chocolate stains on my white shirt.
At least there's wifi.
Wedding: Paper Flowers vs. Real Flowers
December 12, 2011
Ever wonder if making paper flowers for your wedding was doable? Well....I guess there is the small factor of your artistic ability but looking through this woman's site makes me think it might be possible. The flowers look surprisingly realistic. It looks like she uses crepe paper for many of them. The process would probably take weeks but if you had months to plan perhaps it could be done?
The key is using paper of just the right color (in other words, nothing store bought). This site has a great selection of paper crepe folds. But to achieve that natural color fade in the petals you might have to learn to dye. Here's a tutorial for that too!
And using bleach.
The key is using paper of just the right color (in other words, nothing store bought). This site has a great selection of paper crepe folds. But to achieve that natural color fade in the petals you might have to learn to dye. Here's a tutorial for that too!
And using bleach.
Coin Purse DIY ideas
With all these Advent boxes I've been thinking about coin purses. I know there are a ton of tutorials out there about how to make your own and I wanted to try one of them out for Lily and Molly. Perhaps personalize it with their initials or something?
Purl Soho has a fabulous kit but unfortunately a little on the pricey side:( I'd be paying over $100 for two with shipping! Now, that would be insane, right?
But I did find a similar type frame on etsy that I might purchase. Here, here, here, here and here for much cheaper.
I loved coin purses when I was little. I guess I still do. There's something so quaint about them even if they are a bit impractical for me at this point in my life.
Making a few of these in multiple patterns to give as a gift would make a good Christmas surprise!
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