Thursday, December 29

Desserts for New Years Parties!


Here are two of my favorite New Year's Party desserts:

(visit the link for a complete tutorial and recipe for these assorted nuts, caramel & chocolate turtles!)
It's hard for me to post these in time for others to do before the New Years parties ... so this year I'm trying to do better with these reminders of previous years. Desserts around here generally involve lots of dark chocolate, but this year medallion style could be done on any kind of cake. Enjoy!!

Thursday, December 22

Kids Christmas Craft Party - Dipped Pretzels and Alphabet Block Ornaments

I hosted my 2nd Annual Kids Christmas Craft Party yesterday! It was so much fun! There were about a dozen moms and 25 kids, ages 3-9. They painted, beaded, freeze danced and pretty much ran wild for 2 hours. :-) I simplified things a bit from last year and organized just three craft areas. The main project was alphabet block ornaments using their kids' school pics:
I made my samples up a few days earlier to practice and the ladies did SO good making their own and I totally forgot to take pictures!! We used both the big ones from Circo and the smaller classic wood alphabet blocks. I had loads of paints - acrylic and glitter; decoupage, glitter glue, sprinkle glitter, cut out paper squares and they all chose their own colors and which sides of the blocks to cover or let show:
Cut your child's picture the size of one panel and glue/decoupage on first. Then frame it in glitter glue and decorate the remaining sides as you please. I kept one side showing with their initial. Then papered or painted the remaining sides and wrote on their age one one and "2011" on the other. Screw a cup or eye hook into the top, add a ribbon and it's ready to gift or hang on your Christmas tree!
The second craft was assorted wood ornaments to paint and glitter - wreaths, angels, candy canes and bells. The third station was at the kitchen island making beaded candy cane ornaments. I had little colored bags to write their names on and tuck their finished projects in to take home. Drink bottles were available with their names on for ease of keeping track:
And every guest left with a chocolate and/or almond bark dipped pretzel rod:
with a Merry Christmas note from the kids:
Notes: Use a cooling rack as a drying rack since all things glitter take a LONG time to dry. Have some paper plates for the ladies to carry the still wet projects home on.

Tuesday, December 20

Christmas Star Napkin Rings

Grab a few simple crafts from your supply closet for this easy way to dress up your Christmas table:

Red napkin rings, craft wire, colored glass beads and star charms:

Happy Christmas entertaining!

Thursday, December 15

Gift Card Holders for Teacher Christmas Gifts

Time for teacher Christmas gifts! 

In the past I've done these gift card holders - paper boxes:


This year my kids' teachers will get their gift card in an up-cycled mint tin...




... freshly washed and decorated by my kids! I wanted the kids to be more involved with the gift, while still giving the teachers the "choose something for yourself" benefit of the gift cards. We traced and cut out from Christmas crafting paper 3 rectangles with rounded corners. These are for the cover and each inside. Before we glued them in place, my kids wrote the "to" and "from" and a little note.

Add gift cards & ribbons! Easy project for the kids!

Tuesday, December 13

Christmas Votive Place Setting

An easy Christmas place setting for your holiday entertaining:

These simple glass votives have an easy ridge on which to wrap a little paper strip that you print a Christmas message on:
 Pop in a classic white ball ornament tied with a satin ribbon:

Thursday, December 8

Decorate Railing Post For Christmas

My stairwell landing post in my last house - decorated for Christmas:

Using gold pine cone, ribbon and jingle bell accents to dress up some fresh ever green boughs:

A handmade paper ribbon "Celebrate His Birth" in gold on green is the focus of this decor:


Tuesday, December 6

Christmas Greens Centerpiece

Decorate an old paint can and add your Christmas tree trimmings!

I printed "Celebrate the birth of Jesus" on frosted white paper and wrapped it around a small paint can. Add water and some extra evergreen boughs. Accent with a large velvet wired ribbon for the finishing touch!
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