Hot Chocolate Jar

Wisconsin weather took a wintery turn last Thursday and Friday.  We were blessed w/ a rain/ice storm.  While it made the roads messy, it made the EVERYTHING else absolutely beautiful. 

The trees, shrubs, bushes all had this beautiful icy coating. 

 

 

I wanted to go outside and take a bunch of pictures to share, but instead I worked on finishing up the Evan's therapist's gifts. 

 

I know that Christmas gifts in a jar aren't uncommon, but I have found that they are always well received.  I made homemade hot chocolate mix and filled quart jars. I added a simple tag and found some REALLY cute snowman mugs at Wal-Mart to give along w/ the jar.

 

 

Here's a close up of the jars.  I used the Season of Style DSP and the Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon.  A simple white tag.  I did round the upper corners w/ the corner rounder on the Envelope Punch Board (this is my FAVORITE FAVORITE tool). 

 

A little peppermint to go with the hot chocolate...yum yum!

 

 

My daughter, Riley Kate helped me finish up my baking yesterday.  We made and decorated cut out cookies for the cookie plates while we watched The Sound of Music. I think I would like that to be an annual family tradition.  :) 

 

 

Here are our finished plates. 

 

 

Merry Christmas from our family to you!  <3 p="">

Candy Reindeer

We are getting down to those wire.  Christmas 2013 is almost here.  I have been baking and packaging, wrapping and panicking!  Yes, that panic when you have forgotten a little someone in your life. If you are a mom or just have some little ones that are  on your "nice list" here is a simple idea. 

 

I used the Two Tags Die which unfortunately RETIRED.  :(  You can simply make  two Soft Suede tags and make a sleeve for your candy cane antlers.  I used sticky strip make the sleeve.

 

The Cherry Cobbler nose is a 1" circle punch and attached w/ a dimensional.

The eyes are 3/4" and 1/2" circle punches and attached w/ dimensionals.

 

I sponged the tags and nose w/ Early Espresso ink.

I added a Gumball Green Ribbon collar.

 

 

In total I made 18 reindeer, but here's part of the herd.  ;)

 

 

 

 

My Husband Said....

My husband said I would never use the FUZE bottles.  He had no idea WHY I was saving them.  He threatened to throw them out.  He complained about their existence in our house--mind you they were in the basement shoved under a shelf and not in a place that he typically is.  For whatever reason, my box of empty FUZE bottles bothered him.

Now in his defense, it did take me several years to use them.  But sometimes it takes awhile to find just the right project.  Plus I had a little panic because FUZE now comes in plastic bottles.  :(  I had to make sure that the project was worthy of my precious bottles.  LOL

This morning, I made a batch of Muddy Buddies a/k/a Puppy Chow and threw in some Holiday M&Ms for color. Then, I rounded up some of my FUZE bottles and ran them through the dishwasher.

Today was the big day.  My FUZE bottles have a purpose again. They will be Christmas gifts and hopeful bring a smile to the face of those who receive them. May they keep them for years and annoy their husbands w/ them.  LOL 

 

Here's my FUZE bottle all dressed up.  Please notice the top of the bottle has been covers w/ packing paper from Stampin Up!  My husband is pretty freaked out by my stash of that too.  (Gosh, I'm starting to sound like a hoarder.  I swear I'm not really that bad.)

 

I like the little bow on the side of the bottle. 

 

 

 

 Here's a close up of the bottle front.  I absolutely love how it turned out.  It is simple, but pretty. 

 Supplies
FUZE bottle :)
Pool Party Seam Binding
Winter Frost DSP
Festive Flurry Framelits and stamp set
A Banner Christmas stamp set
Label Collection Framelits
Pool Party and Smoky Slate Ink
Whisper White Cardstock
Glue dots, Sticky strip and dimensionals

Let's Nugget Again...

I wasn't sure about using the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper with the gold wrapped Hershey's nuggets.   Blue and silver go together and red and gold go together.  Those are just the unwritten "Wendy Rules". 

 

 

 Honestly,  I'm really happy with how this turned out.   If I keep breaking the Wendy Rules and trying out these new combinations, there won't be any unused and must be consumed (by me) nuggets.  That's probably a good thing.  This time of year is hard on my waistline.  :)  LOL

 

 

 

Supplies Used:

Whisper White and Island Indigo Cardstock

Pool Paper Seam binding

gold brad

Baker's Twine

Winter Frost DSP

Chalk Talk Framelits

Hershey's Nuggets

Pretzel Bags

bells



Add a Little Jingle

I think everyone has those people on their Christmas list that they don't want to buy an actual "Christmas gift", but they provide a service and need to be remembered this time of year.  Today, I was thinking of all those people that I didn't want to forget this time Christmas and I had quite a few.  Well as most of you know when it comes to the perfect gift there is nothing that says, "I Care" quite like chocolate.  Thank goodness for Hershey's nuggets.  They just scream, "I Care"!

 

 

 

I think the Season of Style Designer Series Paper is beautiful.  I love Cherry Cobbler.  It is such a perfect Christmas color.

 

And no little Christmas tag would be complete without adding a couple little jingle bells.  They always make me smile and want to watch It's A Wonderful Life.  :)

 

 

 

Supplies Needed for this Nugget Holder are:

 

Pretzel bag

Hershey's nuggets

Cherry Cobbler Cardstock

Crumb Cake Cardstock

Cherry Cobbler Seam binding

Baker's Twine (to attach the bells)

Season of Style DSP

Chalk Talk framelits

gold brad