Christmas table runner and a yummy dessert!

I love decorating for Christmas, but this year I haven't gone all out like I usually do. I only decorated a couple areas of the house and one of them was the top of my bookshelf. A while back my mom made me this Christmas table runner out of Christmas fabric and I love using it to decorate my house. These table runners are really simple to make. They are perfect for the beginner sewer. I have a couple of them all for different times of the year. They would also make a really great gift.

I don't have a tutorial on this but I found one that is really good you can check it out here. Instead of making a blanket you would just make it long enough to fit your table and the width that you want.

Okay, so when I was on the cruise they had the most AMAZING dessert ever! And luckily for me it was on the menu every single night! So I got it every night and it was sooo good! So the last night I just had to take a picture so I could remember it! :) I'm such a dork, but I love dessert! I would rather eat dessert than dinner! :)

as you can see....i really enjoyed it!

So when we left the cruise we stayed at my sister's house in Vegas for a night and we told her about this delicious recipe. She told us about a recipe she makes that is very similar and made it for us! It was just like the dessert we had on the cruise! It was soo good I had to share it with all of you!

Brownies that make their own hot fudge

Cake:
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Flour
3 T. Cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Beat until smooth pour into 8x8 pan

Topping:
Stir together
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 T cocoa
Sprinkle evenly over top of cake batter. Then pour 1 1/4 cup of boiling hot water over the top.
Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 mins. Let stand 15 mins.
To see if done poke the edge of the cake if it comes out clean done. If you do it in the center it will come out gooey because of the fudge. So I try to poke an ege that doesn't look gooey.

This was so yummy...You have to serve it hot so it will have the gooey hot fudge in the middle. It is so good served with vanilla ice cream! We loved it so much that we are going to make it for Christmas!

Wow...it's been a while!

It seems like forever since I have posted a real craft! :) It seems like as soon as Thanksgiving hit I have been insanely busy! I went on vacation and now I have finals going on at school this week. So I guess it never ends! Anyways, this craft is just a simple Christmas decoration or a Christmas card idea that you can make with all of your scraps!

To make this project, I used the back of a frame that I had left over from a previous project and decided to finally put it to use. I found this scrapbooking paper that had vintage looking Santa's on it and I just fell in love with it so I wanted to make a project out of it.

You could do this with an old Christmas card as well...but I don't have any old vintage Christmas cards so this paper worked perfect. Everything is made out of paper. The holly is just layered red circles with a button and some green leaves I cut out. I just threw it all together with a tag from the same paper I got the Santa image from.

I have wanted to do a lot more Christmas crafts this year but I just haven't found the time to do them. So I thought I would post about the earlier projects I did for the holidays earlier this year.

This Christmas tree advent calendar is so much fun to make and your kids will love it too!

This 12 days of Christmas matchbox banner is easy to make and very festive for the holidays.

If you still are looking for a gift for your neighbor or friend you could make these really easy clothespin magnets! You can find the tutorial here

Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things after my finals are over. I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season!

Rag Wreath Tutorial

I have wanted to make a homemade wreath for a long time! I finally found the time to make a "rag" wreath and I love it! It was so easy and simple, anyone could make one of these.

Supplies Needed:

12 inch wire wreath

8-10 Assorted fabrics/ribbons

(I probably used about 1/4 yard of each fabric and a couple yards of ribbon to complete this wreath)

Step1: Cut out your fabric strips into about 1 inch thick by 6-8 inches long. The easiest way to do this is snip the fabric and then rip it. I used burlap as well, but you can just rip burlap so I had to cut it and I also had to cut the ribbon.

Step 2: Tie a piece of fabric on your wreath in a double knot. Continue until your wreath is very full.

I love how it turned out and I love how it is so simple to make! I might just have to make another one!

For other handmade craft ideas check out Today's Creative Blog!

"Christmas in my heart" and Hot Apple Cider

I know that we are technically still in October.....but Christmas is right around the corner! So I am going to be doing a lot of Christmas projects so I hope you're prepared!

This is just a small project. It only took me about 30 minutes. I made this with a small piece of wood that I bought at walmart for like a buck and then just decorated it with some paper and buttons. I love the quote in the middle, I just cut it out of a piece of scrapbook paper that had the quote on it.

You can hang this on your wall with some ribbon or just lean it against a wall or put it on a shelf! I like how it turned out and I only spent a dollar on the whole thing.

Close up of the bottom

Close up of the Top

I love this this time of year, but can I just say it is FREEZING cold here in Utah and I am so ready for the warm weather to come back! It is so cold that I made some Hot Apple Cider. It was so yummy. I got the recipe out of my Kraft Magazine and it was super easy.

1 Gallon of Apple Cider

1 tub of "sunrise" crystal light

4 cinnamon sticks

2 tsp whole cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Put all of the ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer and let simmer for about 20 minutes and then remove your cinnamon sticks and cloves and enjoy!

This recipe is definitely going in my recipe box!

The 12 Days of Christmas

I have wanted to make a banner for a while. I have seen people making banners everywhere! They are so popular right now! I decided to make a banner out of mini matchboxes and do it for the 12 days of Christmas! I love how it turned out!! It did take a little more time than the advent calendar but I love it!

I decided to make it the 12 days of Christmas and put a different activity in each day for my daughter. So I am still thinking of things to put in it. If you have any ideas let me know! (she is only 2...so her attention span is very small!)

Advent Christmas Tree Tutorial

This project might look complicated, but it's not I promise! It is such a fun project and such a cute Christmas Decoration! Way better than those store bought advent calendars you buy for your kids! You just have to make this one once and you can reuse it every year!

Supplies Needed:

24 Mini Matchboxes

(I bought all of the matchboxes at my local dollar store and they came in packages of ten)

24-- 1/4" wooden plugs

(you can find these at Michaels, or Robert's, depending on the kind you buy they can have 25 in a package or 20)

Red and Green Paint

Sponge Brush

10 different pieces of coordinating scrapbook paper

(Each piece needs to be cut 2" x 12")

Hot glue gun, and glue sticks

Scissors

3" star

2 Red Buttons

Step 1: Get all of your supplies ready. Since I did this for craft night I bought about 15 different styles of Christmas paper, but if you are just doing one you can basically make it with 10 different kinds OR if you don't want to buy as many you could easily make it with about 5 different pieces. Each piece is cut 2" X 12"

Step 2: Paint your knobs. I did this at the begining so they would have time to dry. I painted them half red and half green. You could also just do one color.

**Tip: my mom taught me that if you put your knobs on duct tape or any other type of tape then it's a lot easier to paint them because they stay in place!

Step 3: Separate the insides of your matchboxes from the outsides. This is because you don't want to accidentally glue them shut.

Step 4: You are going to glue each layer of your matchboxes together. So the first layer is the stump which is 2 matchboxes. So glue the side of one of you matchoxes and glue it to another. I like to sit it on the table so I know it's exactly even.

Step 5: continue glueing all of your layers. You should have

2 layers of 4 matchboxes

2 layers of 3 matchboxes

4 layers of 2 matchboxes

and 2 single matchboxes

Step 6: You are going to start glueing your paper to each layer of your matchboxes. For the stump I decided to do it with a brown patterned paper. So take your 2" x 12" piece of brown paper and cut it in half. So you have two 2" x 6" pieces of brown paper. You are doing this, because the stump is two layers of 2 matchboxes.

Step 7: glue the top of your 2 matchboxes and put your 2" x 6" piece of paper on the top, making sure you center the piece on the two. Then glue the sides and the back, making sure your paper is glued on all sides of the matchbox. You are going to do this to another set of 2 matchboxes so that you have 2 sets of 2 matchboxes with brown paper.

Step 8: glue your other pieces of paper on each layer of the tree.

*for the sets of three and the other sets of two and the single matchboxes you will not need to use your whole piece of 2" x 12" piece of paper because you don't need the paper to overlap. You are going to use the extra paper for the fronts of your matchboxes!

Step 9: As soon as you have glued all your paper on all of your layers you are going to glue them all together! Start with the base which is the two layers of 2 matchboxes then it goes as follows:

2 layers of 4

2 layers of 3

2 layers of 2

1 single

1 single

Step 10: Use your scraps for the fronts of your matchboxes. Apply a thin layer of hot glue on the front of the inside of one of your mathboxes.

Step 11: Put it on a piece of paper. You don't have to cut it out to fit and then glue it, just glue it on a scrap and when it dries cut around the matchbox so you can get the perfect size.

You are going to do this to all 24 of your matchboxes.

Step 12: To make the star stand up you need two scraps of paper cut into a thin strip about 1/4" or smaller. Hot glue one of your buttons to your star. When you are done with this you can number your boxes. 1-24

Step 13: you will bend one of your scraps a little bit and hot glue it down on the top like pictured. Then do the same thing to the other scrap but on the back of your first one. Then hot glue your star on.

Step 14: Glue your other button on the base of the scrap to hide it.

Step 15: Hot glue your knobs on the fronts of you matchboxes and put in your candy and you're done!