DIY Mug FAIL

It has been a while since I have given this side of my life some TLC. About a year in fact! And it takes an epic fail to bring me back to my good ol' DIY Blog. There is something about Christmas that brings out every crafter and diy'er! This year is no different. I had the perfect project for the perfect present that would be cheap and easy!

You see, Pat and I have a baby on the way... and he sprained his ankle... So now, there will be a few months straight with Short Term Disability pay... one from him and 2 from me. Yikes. This was not expected. But our shrinking financial situation is no reason to give up on the tradition of giving gifts! Our family is full of gift givers... good gift givers. I won't let them down.

Now my challenge, find something awesome, and not so expensive to give to my loving family and friends! After scouring Pinterest and all my favorite blogs for awesome DIY gifts, I came across the ever popular His + Her Sharpie Mug DIY on A Beautiful Mess, you have seen it I am sure. I read through all the comments and found that if I want to do this the right way, the dishwasher safe way, I need to get the Pebeo Marker. And so I did. I did a test run for Pat and myself... I only want to give quality gifts... I followed the directions verbatim, then washed them in the dishwasher.

This is what came out...

Exactly what went in. That was the goal, right? In theory, yes. But I wanted it to DARKER, less "Hand-Made" looking. As you can see, when I went over the marker several times, it acted as a dry erase marker...  just erasing what was there previously.

Now we are on to Plan B. Find a new plan. I have 15 days to figure out a better present and make them. Any suggestions? (Baking is not my strong suit).
 
Perhaps I need to invest in a sewing machine and I can sew things for Christmas. There is always next year, right?

Easy Christmas Ornament: Wedding Invitation

After strolling around one fine day on Pinterest I came across this project. Now, after all the wedding planning we did, and the stress of the invitation wording, I was excited to pull the extra invitations out and test this project out. (Lord knows I can't throw them away)
All you need is a clear Christmas Ornament, Scissors, and your extra wedding invitation.

 

Cut your invitation into strips, select the most important parts, ie names, date, time. If you have fun scissors, don't be afraid to use those too! I used that on the design portion for a little filler!

I also had some left over Baby's Breath from our centerpieces that I let dry, just for crafts like this, so I threw that in there as well!

Voila! Here is the finished product!


 

I am so looking forward to hanging this on our Christmas tree this year, our first year as a married couple and exactly 6 months into our marriage!

This can be adapted to anything you would like to remember on Christmas day, baby announcements, graduations, engagements, first homes, or heck, just put some ribbon in!

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas from us to you!

A Christmas Tradition

Even though it is only my second year with this tradition, it is a tradition that screams family, love, togetherness, and, well, Christmas. Even though we were missing most of the usual suspects (Helen was sleeping most likely, Jessi in MN, Pete in Heaven), we still were able to sing Christmas Carols and have some laughs.

Mustang Man and his Ma

Everyone, choose your favorite cookie!

Here is a pic from last year when Pete was with us. I am so grateful to have spent my first year with Pete serving the cookies and regulating the "Don't Eat Cookies 'til We are Done" rule. (Mustang Man has been the the first to break the rule both years I have been involved, and probably years before that.)

A thing of the past?

I think not! For those of us that rocked the 90's, mix tapes were an awesome, very personal gift! There were often many meanings behind the songs, because we were a deeper people back then. (Flashback to the Cranberries and Mazzy Star). Mix tapes could range from Love Mixes, to Music-You-Should-Be-Listening-To, I think I even gave an "I HATE YOU!!!" mix tape.

Well, if you are in a creative mood this Christmas, how awesome would this gift be for a music lover?

It is a USB drive that you fill with songs that you want to share, then personalize the case. Super sweet.
Available by Seltzer Studios.

Baking... Day 1

I slept in later than I have since college. So I started my day a little later than I anticipated. I chatted with my lovely sister and baking coach first thing after a rolled out of bed and headed to the store with my list of needs. Now, baking and wine don't generally mix, but I picked up a bottle, just in case something went terribly wrong. Good thing I got the wine because I forgot the flour.

Also, one needs Christmas socks while baking! These were sent to me by TPs. They have grippy decals so I don't slip and fall while baking. 

Also, generally my sister/baking coach is my supervisor because I don't follow recipes, which is my baking downfall. I thought Buddha was a good supervisor for the day!

My baking day has now become 2 days. I only go to the store once a day. It's an Emily law. It was already broken once this season, and I didn't see any reason to become Grinch-like, so I made my chocolate goodies today.The fudge recipe I borrowed from How Sweet Treats. It was to only take 3 minutes. Everyone has 3 minutes right?

This is all you need!
1.5 cups chocolate chips (almost a whole bag)
1/4 cup of peanut butter (how about trying this with crunchy??? Never thought of that until now!)
1/2 cup Sweetened and Condensed Milk (Not to be confused with evaporated milk.. which is what I did initially)
1 tablespoon water.

Mix everything into a microwave safe bowl:

Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave for 30 more seconds. Everything should be completely melted by this point. If not, Microwave again for 30 seconds. You don't want to burn the chocolate though.

Place in a 9x9 baking dish and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes or more.

I did another batch but without the peanut butter and added walnuts. Just roughly chop them and throw some of them in the mixture. I just took a few little handfuls, but not all of them.

Yes, darling sister. I didn't follow the recipe. If it doesn't work out, I will only blame myself, for you have warned me.

NOW ONTO THE BARK!

I used 1 bag of chocolate chips
4 candy canes

Smash them up with a rolling pin but leave some chunks

Microwave them the same way as with the fudge. The bowl was MUCH hotter with just the chips. (I had to microwave 3 times for 30 seconds.)
Spread melted chocolate onto waxed paper pretty thinly.
Sprinkle the candy cane pieces onto the still warm spread chocolate.

I also have a side for the walnuts that were remaining from the fudge.
Once it has cooled break it into smaller pieces and give as gifts or eat all by yourself, because hey, you did all the work! 

Stay tuned for cookies tomorrow!

Baking today...

But I need a little Christmas Spirit to get things movin!

 

My older and wiser brother sent me the link to this photo on this blog.
It is an OCD's person dream...

Holiday Break..

I lolly gagged my way home today... stopping at the Target for some candy (now is the time to get the bulk business.) Gazed slightly at the Christmas decor starting to arrive.I have to pace myself at the Target, as I will not be paying the $100 cover charge for a while. And when I arrived home I knew I would be receiving the usual Wednesday market coupons and standard mailbox fillers, but my excitement level raised about 50 notches... The Crate and Barrel holiday catalog was here! I tried to do a little meditation to de-stress about the chaotic house appraisal situation (yes I am finally buying that house I blogged about, well A house...) but my little eye kept peering open at the catalog sent from heaven. I just HAD to look at it so I could move on with my night, and my life! I know I know, it isn't even Halloween, but I think about Christmas all year 'round. I save little things that might go well in my Christmas cards, or collect things from antique stores. And my future Mother in Law loves Christmas as much as I do. I have already received some of her Christmas swizzle sticks (in August)! Oh this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

So Crate and Barrel, what have we to share with Emily's Christmas Spirit?

Yes, you are the holiday of my dreams! And how fortunate that my new home has a fireplace, and I will be moving in shortly before the holidays. Oh how my heart longs for this day!

If you know me at all, and perhaps this is a good time to say, I ADORE paisley, and this little (or large) gem is my two favorite things tied into one. *nearly shouting* Paisley and Christmas! Now if only there were a little piece of chocolate decadence on it I would be in REALLY good shape... ooohhh cheese would work too.

Oh, hello adorable matching piece of heaven.

Oh, the three together? I think so!!!

Why not do something like this for place settings or something???

 I figure, if there are holidays, there is a need for a holiday party. Now I just need to make some friends here and we will be on our way to this holiday soiree!
Ohhhh I am in Holiday Heaven!!! If anyone knows how I can move into Santa's workshop, please let me know. And now to start the Christmas music on my Pandora Radio!!!