Christmas Project #3

Christmas Project #3 is one of my favorites- Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix. It's a sweet and easy gift for friends and neighbors, and it's great to have on hand for Christmas company. Once you make this, you'll never go back to Swiss Miss. Actually, that's not true. I still use Swiss Miss sometimes. But this is like the difference between Blue Box Macaroni and yummy homemade baked mac and cheese. Given the choice, you would surely go homemade.

Here's what you need:

25.6 oz. of dry milk

1 lb powder sugar

16 oz. plain non-dairy coffee creamer

16 oz. Nesquik

In the picture, I have enough ingredients to make double the recipe...I needed lots of Hot Cocoa. To give you an idea of how much this makes, I doubled the recipe and ended up with 6 pint jars  and 7 quart jars of dry mix.

The directions are simple; find a really big bowl (sometimes I use my stockpot), dump all of these dry ingredients together, and stir, stir, stir. Make sure it's mixed together really well and you're done! Easy Peasy.

To use your mix, Add 5 tablespoons of Hot Cocoa Mixture to 8 oz. of hot water.

Now let's make this into a cute gift...this is the fun part! I decant my Cocoa Mix into pint and quart mason jars. Then, get out all of your ribbon scraps and papers and pens and stamps...or whatever you have.

I'm happiest when my dining table looks like this:

I used a 1.5 inch circle punch to make my gift tags. I stamped them with a Christmas tree stamp that I got a few years ago from the Michael's $1 bin. Obviously my stamp pad is dried up...just roll with it. We'll make do.

I used a regular hole punch in the top for the ribbon. To jazz up the stamp a bit, I went over the tree with a green marker and hit the stars with a little yellow dot. It made it a little cheerier.

 

I cut squares of some red fabric with pinking shears on the lid and tied the tags on with green ribbon. I wrote a greeting on the front of the tags and on the back, are the instructions to make a cup of cocoa.

This is a great gift to have on hand to pass out to friends and neighbors. It will warm their hands and their heart. I've been snuggling up with a quilt and a mug every night.

Today, I'm going to try my hand at Barefoot Contessa's Homemade Marshmallows!

Wish me luck.

Melissa

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Christmas Project #2

Christmas Project #2 is one that we all have on our "to do" list: Christmas Cards.

The first two years we were married, I made our Christmas Cards, cut and paste style. It was cute and fun, but I can't handle it any more. I had to wise up. Last year, I had someone on Etsy design our Christmas cards so that we could do a "Merry Christmas" and "We've Moved!" combination card. Clever, yes? Yes.

This year I didn't really have much of a plan. I hadn't seen any thing that caught my eye or thought of any funny saying to put on our card. Like one year, we had the standard family picture in front of the Christmas tree, but Jack was basically freaking out and tearing the tree apart. The caption on the card said "Peace on Earth."

I like the funny.

However, Shutterfly came to my rescue by offering bloggers 50 free Christmas cards if they give them a shout out. Can do, Shutterfly. Can do. I love Shutterfly, anyway. They have great service and amazing deals on photo printing.

They have tons of great Christmas Card designs. Here are some of my favorites:

(Note: Try to picture David, me, and two drooling dogs in these cards, not the well groomed, adorable, model families pictured. Thank you.)

I like the tree and the square picture on this one. I think it's classy.

I really like this one, but I don't think David would approve of the pink. I'm a sucker for polka dots, not to mention a monogram...Please.

More dots. More monograms. I can't help myself.



Love the colors of this one and that it looks kind of craft-y.

And I'm always up for a good square card. Why is square stationary so much fun? Why does it cost extra to mail? The mysteries of the universe...

I still have to get David to check these out before I make a final decision on which one to use. Which card would you want to get in the mail? I'll show you the finished product later! I think they are going to look great...drooling dogs and all.

On a separate note, I these desk calendars would make great family Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers. Who doesn't love pictures of their family? These would be awesome gifts for grandparents! I've also made some fun photo albums that would make great gifts.

Thanks, Shutterfly, for helping me check some things off my Christmas "to do" list.

If you don't already use Shutterfly, go check them out!

Melissa

Stop the Presses!!

Run! Do not walk...

You must get to the grocery store, so you can experience this with me. The deliciousness that IS Starbucks Holiday Peppermint Mocha (or as I call it, "Christmas in a Cup") is now available as an ice cream.

It's really good.
Really, really good.

It's a limited edition flavor, which is code for "Eat as much as you can now, cause it's not going to be around long." I'm choosing to eat it straight out of the carton, while listening to my "Celine Dion Holiday" Pandora Station.

Christmas is the BEST!

So now I need to know, what is your holiday food vice? Right now, I'm digging peppermint Tootsie Pops, red and green peanut M&M's (they're better than the regular colors), hot chocolate, and, of course, the aforementioned Peppermint Mocha, in both coffee and ice cream forms.

Whatcha eatin'?
Mocha Mel

Christmas Project #1

Hi friends.

We're in the thick of it. December is in full swing. The Christmas Season is upon us and I'm soaking it up like sponge. I've got Christmas music blaring. My decorations are out (as are the boxes from whence they came, unfortunately). I'm watching Christmas movies in cozy socks and wrapping presents and drinking hot cocoa like it's my job.

I love it.
LOVE! IT!

I have lots of Christmas projects to share with you. Some are decorations, some gifts, some recipes... we'll cover the spectrum of holiday DIY. This first project is one that I saw on a Christmas tour of homes that David and I did two years ago. This year I found a great tutorial to create my very own version, and it became Christmas Project #1.

I started out with these...

And with a little help from my trusty hot glue gun, turned them into this:

Isn't that the happiest little wreath that you've ever seen?! It's hanging in my kitchen window, over my sink. Very festive.

If you'd like to make one yourself, go check out Cheryl's great blog:

a pretty cool life

She has an excellent tutorial for gumdrop wreaths, along with many other cute projects. I love her photos, too. Have fun looking around...you'll like it. 

I used small gumdrops, whereas I think the tutorial shows large ones. Either one will work. You can use whatever you get at the gettin' place.

The finished project is very heavy, so hang it somewhere sturdy. And do not eat the gumdrops. I repeat DO NOT eat the gumdrops.

Question: Are gumdrops and sugarplums the same thing? I picture gumdrops when someone says sugarplums. I don't won't to live my life misinformed about Christmas sweets. What kind of life is that?

Have a Crafty Christmas (not in a bad way...),

Melissa


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Sparks Fly...

...Every time my dog wags his tail.

It could have something to do with his latest chew toy.

Last night, we walked to our neighborhood pizza joint for a slice, and by the time we got back home, Jack had pulled this extension chord off of the house, where it had  been stapled, and chewed it into bits.

Can you imagine how bad this had to of hurt his teeth. He persevered despite the pain.

Jack is nothing, if not determined.

I guess I should just be happy it wasn't plugged in.
Jack should be happy he doesn't have any fillings.

Love,
Jack's Mom