Holiday Gift Wrapping

This year I have noticed that a lot of people have stayed away from the traditional Christmas gift-wrap, and instead have used a simple wrapping paper and then attached a handmade bow and gift tags. This year I have done the same. I used brown Scotch paper and some pretty Christmas ribbon that I purchased from the dollar store. I then used q-cards to cut out the gift tags and a Christmas stamp to decorate the gift tags. I used numerous ribbons to decorate my Christmas presents and they turned out great! Here are some photos of my 2013 Christmas Gift Wrapping.

Christmas Bark & Shortbread

Christmas Bark

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without some holiday baking! My favorite treats this year are my mom’s mouthwatering shortbread cookies and my good friend's Christmas Bark crackers. Both of these recipes are extremely easy to make and are both absolutely delicious. 

Christmas Bark Recipe also known as Christmas Soda Biscuit Toffee

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Bake Time: 9 Minutes

Chill Time: 1 Hour

Total Time: 1 Hour & 19 Minutes

Ingredients:

Premium Plus soda crackers

½ Cup of butter or 1 stick of butter

½ Cup brown sugar

½ Bag of chocolate chips

Step 1: Preheat the oven to Bake 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and lightly spray the foil with pam. Line the premium crackers on the tin foil side by side.

Step 2: In a small saucepan add  ½ a cup of butter and  ½ a cup of brown sugar. Mix the butter and brown sugar together until it starts to boil. Apx 3 minutes.

Step 3: Pour the sauce over the crackers and spread with a spatula. Put the pan in the oven for 7 minutes. Take another saucepan and add  ½ a bag of chocolate chips. Put on low until the chocolate has melted.

Step 4: Remove pan from oven and pour the melted chocolate chips over the crackers with a spatula. Put back in the oven for 2 minutes.

Step 5: Take pan out of the oven and let sit in the fridge for 1 hour until cold, and then break into pieces.

Christmas Shortbread

Christmas Shortbread

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Bake Time: 10-15 Minutes

Total Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

½ Cup of cornstarch

½ Cup of icing sugar

1 Cup of all purposed floor

¾ Cup of butter

Maraschino cherries for toppings

Step 1: Preheat the oven to Bake 300 F. Mix all ingredients together except cherries until smooth. Use a beater for this.

Step 2: Take a tablespoon and scoop a spoonful of cookie mix and put it onto the pan. Make sure the cookies are about an inch apart, as they will spread. Place a maraschino cherry or a nut on top of each cookie.

Step 3: Cook each batch for about 10-15 minutes until lightly golden. Once cool put cookies down on a wire grate.  

Enjoy Guys! 

Holiday Signage

Over the past few weeks my mom and I have been making numerous festive signs. They look great over fire mantels; hung on the wall, placed on your counter top against your backsplash or they make excellent Christmas presents.

These signs are really easy to do but can be a little time consuming.

Items you’ll need to make these Holiday Signs:

Piece of wood

Paintbrushes

Acrylic Paint

Carbon Paper

Print Shop OR Microsoft Word

Palm Sander

Picture Hanging Set

Pencil

**All these items can be purchased at a lumberyard and a dollar store.

Step 1: Sand down your piece of wood to a nice smooth surface. Now take your paintbrush and paint the entire sign your background color. Let the wood sit to dry for about 30 minutes.

Step 2: Use Microsoft Word or Print Shop to print your quote. Print shop allows you to put your board’s measurements in allowing you to print a perfect printout of your quote. 

Step 3: Now place your printed out quote onto your board and tape the top edges onto the wood. Place the carbon paper underneath the quote pattern. Take a pencil and trace over the quote. The carbon paper will allow the quote to transfer onto the piece of wood.

Step 4: With the outline quote now on your board its time to fill it in! Use a paintbrush and paint in your Christmas quote. Depending on the your fill color do 2-3 coats of paint until the quote looks bold. Use a clear varnish once your sign is completely finished and paint the entire sign with the varnish. The varnish seals the paint in and makes the sign look shiny.

Step 5: Use your picture hanging set to nail a hook and some nails into the back of your board allowing your quote to hang on the wall. Once the hook is attached to the board your sign is finished!

Happy Holidays Guys! 

Holiday Decor - My Christmas Trees

Holiday Décor - Christmas Tree

Here’s some of the holiday décor that I have been working on recently. I decided to put up two Christmas tree’s this year, one in my garage and one in my house! The one I put up in the garage I actually cut down myself. My mom has a large property, which comes in really handy over the holidays. The one in the garage looks like a Charlie brown Christmas tree, but everyone loved it the Christmas party! I used burlap bows, bells and pinecones. I just used twine to hang each ornament off the tree. I also made popcorn garland that looked excellent. I then added a few vintage looking ornaments from our old Christmas decoration box and I also purchased some from the dollar store. My tree was too tiny to stand nicely in a regular tree stand so I had to make my own. I used an old pot that once had a plant in it and then placed the tree in the pot and added stones to hold the tree in nicely. I then made a burlap bow to go around the pot.