Merry Christmas!

 Hope you're enjoying a day filled with lots of laughter & love!

Merry Christmas!

~Brandy

Hot Chocolate Dippers

Stir up something special on a cold winter day with 

Hot Chocolate Dippers!

What you'll need:
Marshmallows
Peppermint sticks
Chocolate candy melts
Assortment of sprinkles

Take peppermint sticks and insert into marshmallows.

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolates and dip each marshmallow stick in to the chocolate. Be sure to coat entire marshmallow. Tap off excess chocolate and add sprinkles. Place on wax paper to cool.

My adorable assistant!

Add one dipper to a cup of hot chocolate.
Minty ~ Chocolatey ~ Goodness!

Magic Reindeer Food

Start a holiday tradition with your kids... Magic Reindeer Food!

On Christmas Eve, sprinkle this magic reindeer food on your lawn. The sparkle of the glitter in the moonlight and the smell of the oats will guide Rudolph to your house!

Want to create some? Let's get started!

What you'll need:

Dry oatmeal

Glitter*

Cellophane treat bags

Labels available HERE

Simply mix the oats with a couple spoonfuls of the glitter. Add to cellophane bags & attach labels. Easy peasy!

*Another option is to use colored sugar. It will still give the sparkly appearance, without being harmful to actual animals who may end up eating it.

If you are unable to download the link, right click & save the above image.

Sprinkle it on the lawn, driveway, or apartment patio to entice the reindeer and give them something to munch on while Santa delivers his sleigh of goodies.

Reindeer Food is perfect for those (young and old) who love the magic of  Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

 

Elf On The Shelf - Week In Review

Our elf decided that my lil gal needed a make-over!

Going for a cruise!

 Nutcrackers give the best piggyback rides!

 Slinky bungee jumping!

 Looks like she's got a sweet tooth!

 She spent the night in the freezer ~ Guess she's missing the North Pole!

Even elves need a pick me up!

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? 

I would love to hear about the fun you're having with yours!

Vintage Glitter Bulbs

Remember these fun holiday bulbs? Some of you may even still decorate with them! I decided to give them a fab makeover!

Unscrew the bulbs, and coat each one with some Elmers glue. Sprinkle glitter all over & tap to remove excess.

Set to dry & figure out how you will display these sparkling beauties!

On a wreath?
In a bowl?
Gift tags?
Ornaments?

So easy to make & I love the retro feel!

Shutterfly Holiday Card Tradition

Can you believe it's already December? Crazy! I'm really trying to be ahead of the game this year. Our holidays decorations and Christmas tree is up. Some presents are wrapped & I'm working on classroom gifts for my daughters school. My biggest project that I can't ignore is our holiday cards.

Every year I turn to Shutterfly for our annual Holiday Cards. This year their wonderful new collection features traditional colors and embellishments to merry & bright colors (my favorite!) that take on a modern feel. Whatever your style, they always have something for everyone. Don't forget to check out their special offers for the best deals on cards, photo books & gifts!

Here is my top three picks for 2012:

Chalkboard Blessings Holiday Card

(you all know how much I adore the chalkboard trend!)

Merry Bright Patterns Holiday Card

(love that you can write a little story about the past year)

Flurry of Merriment Holiday Card

(our holiday colors for 2012 are turquoise & red so this one is a lead contender)

Do you have a holiday card tradition?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by Shutterfly. All my opinions are my own and it's something I would have talked about regardless because we've been ordering Shutterfly cards for many years!

Bubble Wrap Advent Calendar

 Looking for a cute, clever & inexpensive advent calendar?

What you'll need:

Round label stickers

Large bubble wrap

Sharpie Pen

Scissors

Using the bubble wrap, cut out a Christmas tree shape. Take the labels and have your little ones write out numbers 1-24. Place one sticker on each bubble. You can place them in numerical order or to make it more of a hunt, place them in random order.

Who can resist the joy of popping bubble wrap? I personally have no self control, so I'll leave this one for my daughter to enjoy! Haha!

Our Elf's Debut!

She's here!
Maddie our Elf made her first debut this morning! And decided to arrive in style!

The excitement, joy and look of wonder on my daughter's face was priceless! This is going to be so much fun!

Elf On A Shelf Planner

This year we're going to start the Elf On A Shelf tradition. While I'm so very excited - I'm also beyond overwhelmed at the thought of trying to plan the amazing mischief our little elf can get into. 

(thank heavens for Pinterest whenever I stumped!)

Today I found this helpful Elf On A Shelf planner from Lovely Living. There's a sheet to jot down crazy antics ideas, a calendar to plot the daily events and a planner to keep track of necessary supplies needed.

Go HERE to download your copy! Let the shennanigan's begin!

I'll be posting photos of our elf's ideas so stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving friends!

I'm so grateful & blessed for so many things in my life! 

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful day filled with 

family, love, laughs & lots of delicious food! 

Gobble ~ Gobble

Thanksgiving Turkey Toes Treat

I wanted to create a fun Thanksgiving treat for the kids table. While Halloween shopping, inspiration hit when I saw the brown & orange version of candy corn. Forget the drumstick, it's all about the 'Turkey Toes' this year. Ha!

I made these Turkey Toes tags using a fun chevron turkey image I created. With a tag paper punch & some card stock, create the tag shape. Using a distress ink pad, create a gritty, aged effect. Add a hole with a paper punch and attach some raffia ribbon.

 

Add about two dozen candy corns to a treat bag & you are all set!

Gobble ~ Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Turkey Hand Tee

Here's a modern twist on the Thanksgiving hand turkey!
My daughter and I made this a few years ago and we had so much fun I had to share it again!

Look at that sweet little face! I can't believe how fast she's growing up!

Three years later & she had to squeeze into the shirt one last time for some silly photos!

We followed the tutorial from Treasures For Tots as our guide. Using fabric scraps, ribbons & buttons, we made the whole thing in less than one hour & the best part... No sewing involved (woot)!

Now go create some memories of their sweet little hands and make your little one a fun tee to rock this Thanksgiving!

Gobble ~ Gobble

Pilgrim Hat Crayon Holder

Thanksgiving is right around the corner & I need some projects to keep my little one busy while we're visiting family. Paper placemats & this pilgrim hat filled with crayons is sure to do the trick!

What you'll need:

Black cups

Black paper

Scrapbook paper

Hot glue gun

Simply cut the bottom out of a black cup (I only had white cups so I sprayed mine with chalkboard paint). Hot glue the cup upside-down to a circle shaped piece of black paper. Cut a band for around the cup & add a scrapbook paper square for the buckle. Simple!

 These would also be adorable at each place setting to hold disposable silverware setting or fill them with candy treats!

Happy Thanksgiving!