Mini Mason Jar Hot Chocolate

Hey there wonderful friends!

I wanted to share a quick and easy holiday cutie project perfect for the kids, parties, neighbor gifts, teachers, or just some family fun!

If you did not already know, I happen to have this "thing" for mason jars...even before they became trendy. :) So when I happened upon these 1/2 pint cuties (at Wal Mart) with red and white gingham lids, I snatched them up to use for Christmas or Valentine's Day! Just adorable.

This Christmas, I thought it would be so cute to make them into ready to serve hot chocolate drinks. I know this is not a new concept by any means but I really like the idea of them being all ready to go!  Just add hot water or milk and you are ready to enjoy your yummy drinkable treat!

All you need is a cute tray or cookie tin, 1/2 pint mason jars, hot chocolate (from a packet or homemade), mini marshmallows, and peppermints. I will get to the spoons in a sec. :)

 Just layer your goodies in your jar for a pretty presentation. 

♥ (Seriously, I can't get over their itty bitty cuteness) ♥

 I love the red and white. :)

Now for the chocolate dipped spoons as an added treat.
I bought these cute coffee spoons at Marshall's which are a perfect size because they are mini. I am really rocking the mini thing and loving it. You can use plastic spoons (the red ones would look festive) or even hit thrift stores to find pretty vintage ones.

I piped in the chocolate rather then dipping the spoons. Much neater!  I melted the chocolate in a pyrex cup in the microwave. Using a baggie, I snipped the corner and piped the chocolate into each spoon. I used sprinkles, a red m & m, a mini marshmallow cut in half, and crushed candy cane to embellish these. I popped them in the fridge until set.

To package them, I used candy bags and cut them to size and tied them off with baker's twine.

Now just put it all on your tray and wrap them with a festive tag and you have yourself an amazing gift or party favor.  I had hoped to have a printable tag for you but there were some kinks in the process and then time got away from me. But if I end up making one I will let you know and post it back on this post for you to download.  But I can't make a promise! It's a crazy time of year!

So do you like the little spin on this fun little giftable treat?  What are you all making for your neighbors or teachers?  I can't believe this is the last week of school before Christmas break...I need to get moving so I would love to hear your ideas.  I have an idea that I will share hopefully later this week.

xoxo

♥
this post sponsored by Miss Andrea at

Gift Wrap Inspiration: Ties & Tags

Hello again lovelies!  How I have missed you!  I've been behind the scenes crafting but have had zero time to photograph or do a lot of tutorials. I sure do miss it!  Good lighting during the day is hard to come by so my chances for quality photography are pretty limited. But I put together some more packaging ideas here and there and did little mini shoots for you with some gift wrap inspiration.

Today I am focusing on tying up those packages.  What is it about embellishing that makes wrapping so fun?  The delicious anticipation of what hides inside a package is glorious enough! Yet the extra prettiness of ribbons and bows make it even more delightful. So I  fiddled around with some ideas to see what I could come up with.

Top Left: Oh yes...you knew I would have pom poms.  Their whimsy and playful cutness are too wonderful to pass up. I loved making those pretty teal-ish, aqua-ish (what color is that?) for this tie that could also be a garland. The little white ones are store bought by the package and simply threaded with a needle onto baker's twine.

Top Right:  Red and white bakers twine and some jingle bells.  Simple. Perfect.

Bottom Left: This is simple grey thread and sequins.  Add a little sparkle goodness with a pinch of simplicity.

Bottom Right: How about using paddle wire with some pretty beads and pearls?  I simply slid some wire through the bead and twisted it to stay put.  Pretty, pretty.

Some cute but earthy tags made of clay and wood.  I am a total novice with polymer clay but experimented with food coloring to dye it (too lazy to go out and buy the different colors) and alpha stamps. I made some mistakes but I like the imperfect feel of them. Clockwise from left: Fruit of the Spirit tags (love, joy, peace patience...from Galatians 5:22-23), wood circle tags and twine, scallop and circle tags with stamped words, clay hearts and twine with lace imprint, and clay leaves in cool blues and greens with bakers twine.

That's all I have at the moment.  I have other packaging in the works but the crickets on this blog were getting LOUD! So I had to post something for fear of worrying you! :)

Tonight I am decorating a table at church for a Women's Ministry Christmas Tea Saturday morning!  Oh y'all know how I like a good tablescape!  But I confess to winging this one and kind of pulling something together last minute.  It is definitely not my usual (it's all about the details) approach but I hope to pull it off.  I have spray painted, cut, tied, and glued stuff.  And shopped my house once again. All in the last 2 days and throughout the process wondering when my procrastinating self will become proactive. I have no idea what it will look like but  I promise to share it with you.  Success or fail!

And I have more Christmas goodies up my sleeve too. 

Honest to goodness. 

Hugs and Christmas love!

Our Advent Calendar ♥

You know, there is something to be said for creative inspiration born of necessity. And I have wanted to make an advent calendar but I was unsure how or where to put it.  But my criteria was to make it, find a place for it, and use what I have but still try to make an impact.

So this is what I came up with. I love that it ended up looking like diorama but instead of a shoe box...I use an entire bookcase. To be more specific, I used a Billy Bookcase from IKEA. And the fact that I use the word "DIORAMA" further proves the geek girl that I am. At first,  I felt a little crazy starting this project but now...

I am IN COMPLETE LOVE WITH IT!

Each numbered box is a take out box leftover from my Fortune Cookie Thanksgiving Favors.

To decorate the shelves I basically "shopped my house."  I chose a red and white theme as my only criteria and just kind of threw things together from all over the house to make a sort of "scene" on each shelf to create the diorama look for the advent calendar.

The boxes contain an assortment of Christmas goodies like little chocolates, ornaments, stickers, or activities which I coordinated with my calendar.  Those activities could be baking cookies, doing a Christmas craft, or our family tradition of getting in our pj's, and driving in our car to look at Christmas lights while drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn.  The girls literally talk about that one all year long. :o)

Within each box is also a little paper circle with an attribute of Jesus with a coordinating verse to read after we open each one. I got that amazing idea from  Milk and Cookies and you can find a printable included with it which is what I used inside my boxes. I am really excited to do this with the girls!

You probably recognize some things I have done on the blog already this season.  It gets kind of challenging incorporating a red and white theme so I literally pulled things out of nowhere if it fit the color scheme. Thread, buttons, doilies, little pots, yarn, etc.

Those little snowflakes back there are popped in a random bottle with sugar.

I am all for an "anything goes" mentality with free decor. :)

 BOX #17 DOWN!  BOX #17 DOWN!!!!!!

Whew.  Box #17 made it back up. ;)

Some takeout boxes and ornaments bravely lost their lives during this project.

I think I love the randomness of it best of all. Like using ordinary objects such as spools of twine or a mitten gift card holder to make the color scheme work.

 I'm also rather smitten with how some boxes are hung high, attached to the back of the bookcase or elevated by a candlestick or something.  The varying heights make it look interesting and fun although I think I should have backed the bookcase with a red fabric or wrapping paper or something. It looks too washed out up close but as a whole I do think it looks very pretty.  It is simple and fresh with the red and white.

I was going to do a separate post on these white trees but I wondered if y'all might be "treed" out by now.  But if you are interested, I used felt, yarn, and paper flowers for those and used straight pins for all of them so I could reuse the cones at the end of the season.

 Oooh...the final box.  Are you supposed to do Christmas Day on an advent?  

I see it both ways so I just went for it.

Are any of you weird like me and can actually SPARE a bookshelf for a project like this? I think it is a fun idea but I am sure I will do something new and different next year. And as we use each box, I will just decorate each shelf until we are done.  Yippee!  I get to keep decorating a little each week!

Merry, Merry & Fa La La 

my sweet friends!


linking to: 
clean and scentsible:  the creative spark
the 36th avenue
southern lovely: show and share
tatertots and jello: weekend wrap up
what you want wednesday
crafty soiree
just something i whipped up: the girl creative
a sassy christmas: advent calendar link up

Wreath Chandelier + Ball Garland: TUTORIAL

I guest posted a few weeks ago over at Stephanie Lynn's blog...Under the Table and Dreaming for her Handmade Holiday series.  It was loads of fun and all the Christmas projects were so inspiring.  I am posting this Wreath Chandy Tutorial here on my blog in case any of you missed it!

Let's dive into the tute! :)

1.  In my eagerness to get started, I began wrapping my 16 inch wreath form of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam with floral tape prior to taking a "before" photo.  Sorry!  But here is what you need:

1 16 inch (or larger) wreath form of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam

2 packages (16 count ea.) 1 inch balls of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam

fishing line

textured white spray paint

4 faux pine garlands

2. Begin wrapping your wreath form of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam with one of your pine garlands.

3. Push each wrap tightly together to make it thick. Tuck ends under the wrapped pieces.
4.  Here's your wreath wrapped with all 4 garlands.

5. To make the wreath look snowy, I used a textured spray paint that produces a flecked effect.
6.  Lightly spray it with a sweeping motion but don't saturate it in one area or it will become too white.
7.  When one side is dry, flip it over and do the other side.
8.  It takes at least 3 hours to become completely dry and will be stiff to the touch.

After it was dry, my husband helped me tie 4 strands of silver cording I bought at Joann Fabrics (99¢ per yard) equidistantly around the wreath in between the wrapped layers of garland.

Push the garland back around the tied cording to hide the part that is tied.

We attached the ends to an O ring (or in my case...a key ring I had on hand) and hung it from a hook on our ceiling after measuring the distance from the ceiling to above the dining room table. 

(I have cathedral ceilings which is why the hook is on an angle)

I ended up making 2 small garlands to crisscross underneath the chandelier using a 16 count package of 1 inch balls of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam for each garland. You will also need Mod Podge, metallic crochet thread, scissors, the fishing line, and a yarn needle.

1. Begin by wrapping the 1 inch balls of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam with silver crochet thread.
2. Wrap completely but don't worry if some of the white still shows.
3. Glue the ends with a bit of Mod Podge and let dry.
4. Thread each one onto fishing line using a thicker needle used for yarn.

I also strung silver bells to make this pretty garland. I tied a loop at either end of the fishing line to hang it up using ornament hooks.

Now for the fun part...decorate your chandelier! I used all silver ornaments to give it some sparkle.

Here's a shot underneath.
Yes, I totally laid on my back on the dining table to take it. Cool shot though, right? :)

It's so pretty hanging over the table and I love how festive it looks.

This does not even have to hang over a dining table.  What about a front entry hall table or even  in the kitchen?  Lots of possibilities!

Hope you are inspired to add some sparkle over your table too!

I will be back this week for some more Christmas inspiration!

I am so Thankful for YOU!

(feel free to grab this image and have fun)

Thanksgiving Fortune Cookie Favors

I am going to take a little break from Christmasy fun to share these Thanksgiving Fortune Cookie Favors. Courtney, one of my sponsors, asked me to create some Thanksgiving favors for her Thirty-One consultants.  I remembered Martha Stewart's fun little fortune cookies she made for Valentine's Day and thought they would make a great little Thanksgiving note to send along with a little takeout box.

Using card stock and some Fall graphics, I typed out the message "I'm So 'Fortunate' To Know You" and used that as the little fortune inside.

1.  To make them, I cut out 4 inch circles out of brown felt.  I cut floral wire slightly shorter then 4 inches and glued it to the center of the circle with brown satin ribbon glued on top.
2. After they dried I laid my fortune across the center face down.
3.  I pulled two sides of the circle up so that the tops meet...
4.  Using my two thumbs in the center, I bent the 1/2 circle in half again to form the fortune cookie shape.

 

I used raffia as a filler inside the takeout boxes and placed the fortune cookies on top.

Each box was tied off with a little, orange ribbon bow.

I added a 2 inch round label with a Turkey and a little thank you note from Courtney.  These circle labels from Avery are awesome and there is so much potential with them.  The turkey template is actually available on their site and I was able to edit it and customize the message.  So fabulous!

I got them all shipped out last week and I personally think it would be such a sweet treat to get a small little box like this in the mail. I mean, who does not like mail??

-I like this idea so much especially for other occasions.  How about having slips of paper for the whole family to write what they are thankful for and then putting them in little fortune cookies  to open on Thanksgiving Day and read them around the table? You could plan ahead and ask family members to make theirs ahead of time. (A great idea for next year) :)

-Great favors or place cards for around the table too!

-Or what about using these for a fun little scavenger hunt in the little boxes?  Perfect for a party, maybe even Christmas morning as clues to find hidden goodies, and of course Valentine's Day.

-How about a way to tell someone you love how special they are?  A great "card" to send to someone far way like a college student or a loved one who just moved to a new place.

Hope you like this fun Thanksgiving idea and it's still packaging so it counts!

Thanksgiving Hugs & Blessings

I am so THANKFUL for each one of YOU!

♥