I recently started decorating our buffet, which acts as my mantel since we don’t have a fireplace, and I am excited to add my snowy scene apothecary jars to it! They have a pretty vintage feel, and are super easy and inexpensive to make. I picked up the trees and street lamps from the dollar store, and the fake snow was a couple bucks at the craft store. The apothecary jars are from Home Goods, and were a great deal.
Today Sydney and I have an assembly line of handprint christmas ornaments going. I remember making one when I was a kid, and it still goes up on my mom’s tree every year. Now, we’ll have one to put on our tree every year!
We made a dough using 2 c. flour, 1 c. fine sea salt, and 1 c. water. Mix all ingredients together and knead for about 5 min. Then roll the dough out, about 1/2″ thick, and use a cup or bowl to cut out circles. Continue reading
I am in full force holiday decorating mode over here, and I’m excited to finally put up some garland I made awhile back when Syd and I were working on bowtie pasta hair bows, artwork, and father’s day cards. It’s a super easy project, and even fun for the kids!
You need bowtie pasta, white glue, paint brush, string, and glitter.
First, brush the pasta with glue, giving it a nice thick coat.
Cover the pasta with glitter. Allow to dry, and repeat on the backside.
After your glittered bows have dried completely, simply tie them onto string or yarn.
Repeat with as many bows as you’d like, making sure to secure each one with a double knot.
We also made a red version. These were done the same way, with just one added step. We first dyed the bows red using food coloring and rubbing alcohol. You can find the tutorial for coloring pasta here.
Have fun and get creative with your colors and string. We enjoyed using a red and white striped string, and even mixed the solid red and red glittered bows.
Happy Monday! As we travel back home, enjoy a little Insta-peek into our holiday weekend full of food, family, friends, traditions, nostalgia, and of course… traffic.
And as always you can follow me here on Instagram.
Just in time to add a last min dessert to your Thanksgiving menu, here is the recipe for the Chocolate Whiskey Cream Pie I made for my husbands birthday, which is today. Happy Birthday my love!
The recipe is adapted from one I saw in the latest Donna Hay magazine.
Ingredients:
12 oz crunchy chocolate cookies (I used these, you can also make your own)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 2/3 c. milk
1 c. light cream (18%)
7oz 70% dark chocolate, chopped (I bought 2 3.5oz Lindt bars)
7oz dark chocolate chips
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1/3 c. pure cane sugar, fine ground
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/3c. Jameson Irish Whiskey
4 large egg yolks
2 additional c. light cream (18%)
1/2 c. sour cream
unsweetened cocoa for dusting
Finely crush all cookies. Transfer to a large bowl and slowly pour in melted butter while mixing to incorporate. (You can also use a food processor for this step.) Lightly grease a ceramic pie dish, and press cookie mixture over the bottom and up the sides to create the crust. Refrigerate for at least 30 min.
In a medium saucepan, combine milk, cream, and both chocolates. Cook over medium heat, stirring until mixture just comes to a boil.
In a large bowl, whisk both sugars, cornstarch, egg yolks and whiskey until well combined. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Transfer to a clean saucepan and cook over medium heat whiling continuing to whisk, until mixture comes to a boil. Whisk for an additional 2 min or until thickened. Set aside to cool slightly.
Pour chocolate custard into pie crust, and place back in the fridge for about 3 hours. Shortly before serving, place the additional cream and sour cream in a medium bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Spoon over pie, and dust with cocoa. This is supposed to serve 8, but I found it to serve 12.
Enjoy!
Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Here’s a little glimpse into what we’ve been up to….
1. I went through 6 boxes last week, I’m so over this cold!
2. Counting gold horses in Sydney’s room
3. Mouse trap!
4. Leftover Chocolate Whiskey Cream Pie… recipe coming soon!
Have a great day! You can follow me on Instagram here
This week I saw lots of diy christmas ornaments, and here are just a few of my favs. Enjoy!
I just adore these cute bell jar ornaments. Genius and easy diy from My So Called Crafty Life. We will for sure be making some!
These little acorns are glitzed up with glitter. You can buy them on Etsy, or just be inspired to make your own! Continue reading
Good Afternoon! Today I finally got around to a project that has been on my list for some time now. Painting a couple of plain old cork coasters. Before they were boring and drab, and now they’re pretty and compliment our table nicely! Here’s how you can make your own: Continue reading
We have been working on making snow flake window clings for about 4 days now, and finally put them up yesterday. Perfect timing since we had our first snow of the season last night! As soon as we noticed the wintry scene outside, my husband and I ran to Sydney’s room to wake her up. We found her already sitting in her window, watching with excitement. It was so sweet!
Happy Monday! We had a fabulous weekend full of relaxing, celebrating, and a little holiday cheer. Here is a glimpse into our weekend via Instagram. Enjoy!
1. Last week my friend and I enjoyed ourselves at the Real Simple Nights in Chicago. She was even the lucky winner of the Real Simple’s Celebrations Book!
2. A sneak peak at some snowflake decorations Sydney and I are working on…
3. Yummy cupcakes from Bake to celebrate the birthday of one of my favorite ladies!
4. Sydney’s baby Christmas tree. She picked out all the ornaments and decorated it herself! It may be too early for the family tree to go up, but it’s never too soon for a baby Christmas tree!
You can follow me on Instagram here
At the store yesterday, Sydney couldn’t get enough of all the snow globes and little christmas town accessories. So, today we decided to combine the two elements and create our own waterless snow globes!
For my version of waterless snow globes I added a personal touch with our own photos!
This is also a special way you can give and display your family holiday photo.
Here’s what I used:
old jars, cleaned
spray paint
tape
hot glue
family photos
fake snow
mini trees
mini street lamps
jingle bells
1. Wash and dry all your lids.
2. Gather your festive accents, I chose items that would go along with our photos.
3. Spray your jar lids, I used gold. Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area.
4. Print photos, and feel free to embellish and decorate them!
5. Assemble all the pieces using double sided tape and glue*.
6. For a more finished look, spray the backside of your jar. This will hide any visible tape or glue on the backside of your photo.
*Tip: I glue cotton balls into my lids to give some height and dimension. The fake snow is loose in the jars, and will sit nicely on top of the cotton. Be sure to keep all glue, cotton, and accents away from the edges of the lid to avoid any issues with closing the jars.
I originally made this garland last season, but I like it so much I’m making it again this year! So I thought I would share it with all of you. I found packages of white, silver, and gold doilies at a thrift shop for a dollar. You can also find them at your local craft store. Just thread the doilies onto some string or twine, and hang! Easy as pie. One little tip to threading the doilies: wrap the end of yarn/string with tape. Now you have a rigid end to weave through the small holes in the paper doilies. This is a versatile garland that can go up now, and stay up ’til Easter!
I have been enjoying a long weekend away in New York with my sister and mom. So thankful for my superman husband who has been busy working and taking care of Sydney! I am one lucky gal! Here’s a glimpse of what I’ve been up to:
I helped my sister with a super quick mini facelift in her room. She bought the lamp at a local store, and we picked up the super cool mechanical drawing for free on the curb!
Christmas ideas are already popping up everywhere. I swear it happens earlier every year, I won’t be surprised if we start seeing Christmas decorations in June next year! Anyways, since I am a blogger now, I do need to start thinking about the holidays sooner than later. So, as I get started on some fun ideas for our house this year, I wanted to share some great advent calendars I came across this week. Enjoy!
I love this simple blackboard, paper bag, and clothes pin idea from Lovely Things. It’s simply beautiful!
After a very chilly night of tricks and treats, and a little too much candy, Sydney and I are feeling a under the weather today. As a result, we have decided to spend the entire afternoon relaxing indoors and getting healthy again. So, today I thought I would share some of my favorite rainy day craft ideas for kids. Enjoy!
1. Making Slime is always a fun time!
2. With $1 Birdhouses just break out some craft supplies and get creative!
3. Glow Jars are a reader favorite
4. Play pirates and Make your own telescope!
5. Stick People are a fun craft, and they promote imaginative play and story telling
6. With some oil and whole wheat flour, have an indoor beach day with Moon Sand fun.
7. And the classic homemade Playdoh is always a kid favorite!
8. Have some unmatched socks laying around? It’s Sock-topus time!
9. Make Pasta Necklaces with some dry pasta, food coloring, and rubbing alcohol.
10. Chances are you have all the ingredients for some homemade Puffy Paint art.
And, I will most likely be spending some quality time on Pinterest during nap time today, so be sure to follow me here!
