Category: Holidays
Celebrate, Holidays

Shot Through the Heart!

February 10
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While wandering around in Target…(I swear you can get as much inspiration there as you can by scrolling through Pinterest boards!)…I stumbled upon these adorable Arrow & Heart Kits for kids to to craft with.  They consisted of simplistic foam shapes, intended for small hands, but I LOVED the idea!  And after purchasing some of the sweetest paper hearts at one of my other favorite places (Alice-Louise Press), I knew right then exactly what I was going to do with them!  Have a look at these fun and whimsical arrows, shot through the pretty paper hearts that will crown some dinner plates for a Valentine’s Day Meal!

DIY holiday place cards…

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Celebrate, Holidays

Monkey Around!

February 8
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Today is officially the beginning of the Chinese New Year…the year of the Monkey!  If you’re feeling festive, it really is easy to pull off a quick party theme…especially since you can order takeout from your local Chinese restaurant and add thematic touches with store-bought items like fortune cookies and chopsticks!  So we pulled off a fun celebration with several family friends over the weekend…a semi-new tradition started by my youngest son a couple years ago!  I’d like to share some of the simple ideas for a Chinese New Year or even a casual, Chinese takeout dinner party…it’s easy to make a simple meal simply festive!

2016…the year of the monkey!

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Celebrate, Holidays

Gettin’ Ready to Monkey Around!

February 5
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Life seems to throw tons at us all at the same time!  The next few days are about as packed full of celebrations as you can get…Super Bowl Sunday is followed by the Chinese New Year on Monday followed again by Mardi Gras on Tuesday!  Not to mention that Valentine’s Day is right on the heels of all those potential parties!  I think it’s fair to say there’s NO way I can pull multiple celebrations from my sleeve…so now it’s just which one to choose?  For my family, the Super Bowl is out of the question since it happens to be on a school night!  And even though we don’t have guests, we still fix up a big platter of spicy wings and stay up to watch the game…or most of it anyway!  So out of the remaining two,  we decided to celebrate the Chinese New Year…and will be doing so a couple days early so we can have our holiday fun over the weekend!  It seemed natural to pick this celebration since our oldest just took a school trip to China this past summer…and bonus, he brought back some fun souvenirs we can decorate with!  Monday will be the beginning of the Chinese New Year and according to the 12-year Chinese animal zodiac, it’s the year of the monkey!  And even though this animal year is considered to be the most unlucky, there will be plenty of good fortune abounding around here!  As I prepare for our weekend fun, I’ll share a sneak peek at what’s to come…you’ll have to wait ’til Monday for the rest!

a new year celebration in the works…

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Create, Holidays

Dressed up Treats for your Sweeties…

February 3
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It’s time to start thinking about sweet tokens to hand out to those you love, like, and admire!  It never has to be big…just a simple reminder of how much you care!  Today I’ll share some fun ways to dress up your holiday packages…sometimes those little extras really show the recipient you made it look special just for them!  You can get as creative as you wish…but it often doesn’t take much to make a gift shine!  Kind of like sprinkles on a cake…the simple, crowning touches!  These are a few of the little packages to hold special treats for my Valentines this year…hope you can find some inspiration for yours!

holiday treats play dress-up!

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Create, Holidays

Hearts for Breakfast!

February 1
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Every now and again, I like to make a special breakfast for my boys…especially as holidays draw near!  It’s now February and Valentine’s day is especially fun for making treats…hearts can be found almost everywhere you look and that wonderful tool, the cookie cutter, can turn tons of different foods into that traditional holiday shape!  And even though the big day falls over a weekend, I can still serve up easy breakfasts to help start some school-day mornings off with smiles!  This year I wanted to come up with some fun ideas that would be healthier but still provide some festivity…something that we don’t often have before heading off to class!  So in preparation of the upcoming treats, I HAD to test some out to make sure they were acceptable!  I’d like to share a couple easy and tasty winners!   This is what I’ll be dishing out this Valentine holiday…some morning fun…healthy bites…and holiday joy!

serve up some happy hearts…

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Holidays, Savor

Baby Cakes

January 29
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Every year, close to Valentine’s Day, I serve up one of my family’s favorite treats…lavender pound cake!  The recipe makes the most wonderfully moist yet dense cake and the lavender gives it a slight flavor that’s hard for most to determine what it actually is!  And a couple things I love best about this cake…it can be baked in any form you desire (bundt pan, loaf pan, even cupcakes) and frozen until you need a sugary treat!  My favorite way to bake it is in a mini bundt pan.   My mom and I have collected several old, English Pudding pans and they work perfectly for making a baby-sized cake!  I love the miniature size…not just because it’s cute but it’s just right to indulge on without having sugar overload!  And since I’m infatuated with all the Xs and Os this Valentines, I figured I’d carry on with that theme…

xoxo pound cake!

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Create, Holidays

Wild for Wool!

January 18
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I love wool…whether it’s a cheerful, plaid throw or fuzzy sweater, I’m pretty partial to those snuggly fibers!  When I found these lovely little hearts a few years ago at Target, I just had to have them!  At the time I purchased them they were part of a Valentine garland.  It was completely adorable…but after I’ve used my decorations for a while, I try to recycle them into something different!  What I love most about re-purposing my favorite things is that I can hang on to them a little longer AND create something new and fresh!  This garland had been used in my Valentine displays for several years and it was time to give new life to these sweet, wooly hearts!   So I decided to cut them apart.  How cute would they be as fuzzy tags on a gift or maybe adorning my candy jars?  I really wanted to find a new place for these colorful little guys…so they had a slight reformation for the holiday!

happy, wool hearts…

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Create, Holidays

Calling All Cupids!

January 15
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You all know by now how much I like paper!  I really think paper can be one of the most simple & economical supplies to create just about anything your mind can imagine!  It comes in many sizes, weights, patterns, and shapes!  You can create your own designs or find wonderful paper craft kits that help you along the way!  Most crafting stores have isles and isles of paper possibilities…from tissues and actual sheets of parchment to cardboard boxes and die-cut shapes galore!  You can find banners and garlands and flags and confetti…all perfect for more than their original purpose!  If I’ve learned anything over my years of creating & crafting it’s to always look past what the packaging SAYS it is and think of all the other things it COULD be!  So Valentine’s Day is on its way and I suggest anyone can find inspiration wandering around favorite craft and party stores…always full of infinite possibilities!  Today I’ll share with you the simple creation I made for a holiday centerpiece using not much more than, you guessed it, paper!

a festive Valentine display…

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Create, Holidays

Lovin’ Those Tissue Tassels & Poms!

January 8
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Even though winter has really just begun…I’m ready for some spring color!  Maybe it’s because the weather has been so warm and the grass in our backyard is actually still green?  Maybe the thermometer has given the false impression that spring is just around the corner?  Or maybe the festivity of the holiday has merely spilled over making me want to keep everything happy and bright?  I’m not sure the real reason!  And even though I LOVE hunkering down indoors during the long winter nights I guess there’s no rule that states I can’t do that while surrounded by some cheerful hues!  So with the thought of Valentines Day on the distant horizon I added some pinks & purples just to make me smile!  I absolutely love tissue paper tassels and poms for making a room look whimsical and festive!  Mostly we think of using them for parties…but why wait for a celebration to perk up your spaces, right?  They’re easy and inexpensive to make…and now you can buy kits that have them practically put together for you!  So if you’re feeling the need for some colorful cheer…let some tassels & poms brighten your spaces!

whimsical, winter color…

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