Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas!  

This has been a wonderful year and I'm looking forward to 2013!  Thanks for following along with me and I hope you will keep coming back!

I'm going to be taking off until the new year.  I want to enjoy the holidays with my sweet family and hope you are able to do the same.

With love and thanks,

Holly Berry Felt Wreath

This project was first posted at See Vanessa Craft on December 8, 2012.

In case you missed one of the few Christmas crafts I made this year, here is a tutorial on how I made this Holly Berry Felt Wreath.

 Here are the materials you will need:
4 sheets of white felt
1 sheet of green glitter felt (or if you don't like the glitter, just a little stiffer felt)
3 small red christmas balls
foam wreath (if you are using white felt, a white wreath is best)
scissors
hot glue gun
ribbon for hanging wreath

Step 1: Start by cutting out 2 inch circles of white felt.  I needed 80 - 85 circles for my wreath.  I started out by tracing a 2 inch circle on my felt and cut it out.  Then I stacked 2 sheets of felt together and used my first cut out as my guide to cut out the rest.  Don't look too closely at the accuracy of my circles.

 Step 2:  Once all the circles were cut out I started gluing down my circles in a shingle type pattern.  I tacked the first 2 rows of my felt circles down with just a dot of glue so that when I came all the way around, I could tuck the other circles underneath and then really glue them down.

 Step 3:  The same as step 2, just keep gluing, just keep gluing.  Until all of the foam wreath is covered.

 Step 4: I cut out 2 holly leaves from the green felt.  I used the glitter felt because I thought it would add some fun to the wreath, and because it was a little stiffer and would hold it's shape if it went over the edge of the wreath.

 Step 5: Remove the hanging part off the end of the christmas balls and hot glue the holly berries and leaves onto your wreath.

Then all you need to do is attach your ribbon and hang your wreath!  It's the perfect compliment to any Christmas decor.  You can change up the colors to match your color scheme.

Happy Holiday Crafting Everyone!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Sandwiches

I know it's not Tuesday and here I am sharing a recipe!!

Well if you are a procrastinator like me, especially since I haven't been feeling well, then this is a great last minute treat to whip up for your neighbors.

These Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Sandwiches are easy to put together and are yummy too!

You know why they are so easy?

They cookies come from a box mix! 

Yes these are semi homemade, but the peppermint frosting in the middle makes up for the store bought mix part.

Just bake the cookies according to the directions on the box.

As the cookies bake and cool, you can whip up this peppermint frosting.

Here is what you will need:

4 TBL of soften butter

4 oz of soften cream cheese

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

1 TBL of milk

dash of salt

3 cups powdered sugar

* In a mixing bowl with whisk attachment cream together butter and cream cheese.  Add extracts, milk and salt and mix together.  Then add powdered sugar and mix altogether.

Once your frosting is made and your cookies are cooled you can assemble your cookie sandwiches.

Add a good amount of frosting to the middle of one cookie.  Place a second cookie on top and press together until frosting is at edges.  Pour the peppermint pieces that come in your cookie mix into and bowl and roll cookie sandwiches in to coat the sides.  Then place on parchment/wax/freezer paper and let the frosting set up for a bit before packaging them.

These are a great mix of chocolate and peppermint, perfect for christmas time!

You can stack them in a cute container like the one I found at the dollar spot at Target, in a mason jar, in a cute bag or just place them on a plate.

However you deliver them, they are sure to be a hit!

Happy Baking!

see my linky party people page to see where I link up

Tasty Tuesday - Candy Cane Corn

Today I have a fun Christmas Neighbor gift to share for our Tasty Tuesday Recipe.

It's my Candy Cane Corn!

Some of you may remember my "Candy Corn Corn" that I shared back in October.

Well here is a Christmas version perfect for neighbors, teachers and friends.

It started off with 2-3 bags of microwave popcorn, candy melts and a bag of peppermint M&M's.  You can buy candy melts at Michael's, JoAnn or Hobby Lobby in the baking isle.  I found my Peppermint M&M's at Target.

If you need a refresher on how to make this see here.

It is super simple and takes about 15 minutes to make.

Once it is cooled, you break it apart and fill your bags.

I wanted to alternate the red and white when I filled my bag so it looked like a candy cane.

Isn't that a great shade of red?

Did I ever mention red is my favorite color?!?! :)

Using bakers twine, I attached a cute tag. 

Now they are ready to be delivered!

Here are some tags for you to attach to your Candy Cane Corn:

Or any treat you are giving away this season!

8 tags will print on an 8.5 x 11 piece of card stock.

All printables are for personal use ONLY.

Click on the tags to be taken to download page

 Christmas is 1 WEEK away!!

I'm almost ready, but still have a few things left on my list.

Luckily I can deliver these treats to our neighbors and cross that off my list!

Happy Baking!

See my linky party people page to see where I link up

Sharing my Christmas Cheer

 I love giving and receiving Christmas Cards!

I love catching up with families and friends I haven't talked to for a long time.  I love watching kids grow up and know what everyone is up to.

Here is our Christmas Card this year.

This year we wanted to share some exciting news with our family and friends.

Our Christmas Cheer is sharing the coming addition to our family!!

We are very excited to make this family of 4 into a family of 5.

If you've been wondering why Lizzie Jane has been MIA for the last couple weeks, wonder no more.  I have never felt more tired in my life!

The kids don't really know what is going on, but I know they will love the new baby when it comes.

Merry Christmas!

Some Cause Happiness Printable

Happy Holiday season friends!

Today I have a fun Christmas Printable for you.

I've been wanting to make a Christmas Printable for a couple weeks and I finally did!

Here is my Cause Happiness Printable.

 The reason it took me so long is because I already have a print for my Christmas Entryway that I absolutely love!

A few years ago for Christmas, my mother in law gave me this Mary Engelbreit poster that I just think is perfect.  I've used it every year on my entry table.

I decided if I loved it so much, maybe you all would love it too!

 Of course I'm no Mary Engelbreit, but I came up with something fun and festive and it touches all of those kids at heart!  I did frame the print and swapped it in the other's place.

It goes along with my Red and White Christmas Decor perfectly!

You know I love to share my printables with my friends so here are a couple versions that hopefully you can find a place for in your home.

These can print up to 8x10 in size

For personal use only.

Click on the link under the color scheme you would like to be taken to download page

Blue-Green

Red-Blue-Green

Red-Green

Once I printed mine out and framed it, I thought these would make a great gift for friends and neighbors too!

Happy Holiday Season!

See my linky party people page to see where I link up

Tasty Tuesday - Baked Potato Soup

 Welcome back to tasty tuesday!

Today I have a perfect soup for these cold winter days.

This baked potato soup is one of the best things my dad makes.  It is so creamy and delicious, and tastes like a loaded baked potato!

My dad shared his recipe with me, and now I'm sharing it with you.

It is packed with lots of veggies and potatoes of course.  Sour cream cheese and chives are the perfect topping when serving up a warm bowl of this yummy soup.

Click the download link below for the recipe.

I think I could live on soup.  As long as it comes with a side of bread! :)

This is so easy and your family will love it!

If you'd like more soup recipes, try these:

butternut squash soup

pasta fagioli

clam chowder

garden fresh tomato

Happy Cooking!

see my linky party people page to see where I link up

Customized Pies with Mrs. Smith

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Mrs. Smith's for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
The holiday season is my favorite time of year.  I love the celebrations of the season and time spent with family, but I really love the desserts!
Pie is my most favorite dessert of all time!  And apple pie is at the top of the list.  Anything with caramel, comes in as a close second.

So when I was asked to sample the new Mrs. Smith's Signature Deep Dish pies, I couldn't pass it up.  The signature Mrs. Smith's Signature Deep Dish pies come in 4 customizable flavors:
*Deep Dish Dutch Apple Pie with Caramel Sauce
*Deep Dish Cherry Pie with Butter Fudge Sauce
*Deep Dish Peach Pie with Cream Cheese Frosting
*Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie with Cream Cheese Frosting
Can you guess which pie I HAD to try first?!?!  Of course it was the Dutch Apple Pie with Caramel Sauce.
 
It was so easy to bake.  It goes straight from the freezer to the oven.  Once it was out of the oven, I drizzled the caramel sauce on top.

I couldn't wait to cut myself a piece and try it out!

I devoured my piece of pie in what seemed like seconds.  Little miss and Mr. C both loved the apple pie too.  It tasted like it was homemade, not that it came out of the freezer!  Tonight we are going to be having the Cherry Pie with Butter Fudge Sauce.  Cherry and chocolate, another winning combo!
And guess what else?  I have a fun giveaway for one of you lucky readers!  Mrs. Smith is giving one of you a coupon for you to buy your own Deep Dish pie as well as a $50 gift card to Williams-Sonoma!  How exciting is that?  Now you can bring the dessert to your hoiday party and get something fun for your kitchen.  Here is how you can enter the giveaway:
*Leave me a comment telling me which of the 4 customizable Deep Dish pies you would like to try
*Leave me a comment telling me what you would buy with your gift card
*Follow Mrs. Smith on Facebook and/or Pinterest (Leave me a comment telling me you did so)
That gives you 3 chances to win!! Good Luck!
This giveaway is open to US Residents and will end on Sunday, December 16th, 2012 @ midnight EST.
***UPDATE****
This Giveaway is now closed.  And the winner is

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:26Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Comment #26 - Brian

Mrs. Smith's Signature Deep Dish pies can be found at these retailers.

Shutterfly Christmas Cards + a Giveaway!

It's Christmas time and that means that it is time to get our yearly family photos taken.

Is your family the same?  Only get your family pictures taken once a year?

It also means that those photos end up on a Christmas Card that gets sent to all our family and friends.

Well Shutterfly makes the task of choosing the perfect Christmas Card easy. 

Not only do they have a bunch of cute card designs to choose from, they also have a microsite that has a ton of tips and tricks for taking the perfect #CardWorthy photo for your card.

Right now Shutterfly has a #CardWorthy Photo Contest running on their Facebook page. People can upload a photo into one of their 2012 holiday cards. This contest will run for 4 weeks with a new theme every week. The grand prize is a dream trip for a family of 4 (winner chooses the destination). 

You can enter the #CardWorthy contest Here.

Right now Shutterfly is going to give one of you lucky readers a $50 credit just in time to get those Christmas Cards ordered!

Use the rafflecopter below to enter this giveaway. 

This giveaway is a quick one and will end on Monday, December 10th at midnight EST.

So get your entry in, and Good Luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can connect with Shutterfly and keep up with them on facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest and on their blog.

Tasty Tuesday - Chowder Fries

Happy Tuesday all!

For today's recipe I wanted to share with you a remake of a dish my hubby and I had on a recent trip to Boston!

CHOWDER FRIES!

During our trip to Boston, we spent one of the days over on Martha's Vineyard.  It was one of the cutest places ever!  It was their off season so some of the busier shopping places and touristy sites were not open, but we enjoyed the day soaking up the atmosphere.

We decided to eat lunch in Edgartown at a place called the Warf.  We knew we had to get seafood, being that we were 20 paces from the water, so we ordered the fish and chips.  The hubs is not a huge seafood fan, but he could handle fish and chips.  He also is a big fan of clam chowder.  So when he saw an appetizer for something called Chowder Fries, he was intrigued.

They were AMAZING!  It was chili fries without the chili!  I'm not a chili fries fan, but I love like clam chowder, so this was a win win for us.  I knew that this was something I wanted my family to try when we got back home.

Of course it starts with a yummy clam chowder recipe.  You can download my clam chowder recipe in the link below.

Once you have your chowder made, you fill a baking dish with your fries.  Then you pour clam chowder over the top of your fries, and then top with grated cheese.  (Mine needed more cheese!)  Then you bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes to get everything warmed through and until the cheese is melty and bubbly.

Then you use a big spoon to scoop yourself out a delicious sized portion!

Yes, I did need a fork to eat this. :)

This is a fun take on the classic chili fry.  Clam chowder fans will love it!

Happy Cooking!

see my linky party page to see where I link up

Holiday Smiles with Colgate Holiday Packs

The shopping season has begun here at our house!

(It actually is kind of a year round thing, I'm a sucker for a good deal and then I stow it away until gift giving time.)

I'm sure it is in full swing at your house too.

One of the things I always try to get done and out of the way early in the month, is stocking stuffers!

 I remember as a kid that the stockings were never that exciting.  But as I got older I got dependent upon the things that were in my stocking.  I knew that each year I would get an orange, necco wafers, a pack of gum, a candy cane and a tooth brush.  It was just something I knew to expect every year.

Once I got married and started having kids, I have kept the tradition of the stocking stuffer items alive.  maybe not the necco wafers :)

My husband knows to expect a new tooth brush each year in his stocking and this year is no different.  The kids this year will also be getting a new toothbrush in their stockings.

But this year it will be a little more exciting.

 This year they will be getting not only a new toothbrush, but their very own toothpaste to match!  Colgate Holiday Packs have  Nickelodeon themed Dora and Sponge Bob toothbrushes and toothpaste packaged together.  They are the perfect stocking stuffer for my little ones.

Little Miss loves to sing the Dora song and Mr. C. loves Sponge Bob.  These holiday packs not only come with their favorite characters, the toothbrushes come in all sorts of different colors.  So I could buy a pink one for little miss and a blue one for Mr. C.  

 Lately Mr. C has been telling me he doesn't want his teeth to come out.  So I keep telling him that if he doesn't want his teeth to come out, he better take care of his teeth and brush them.  He will flip over the battery powered tooth brush!  I don't think I will be able to keep either of them out of the bathroom.  They will just want to brush their teeth all the time.  Which will make that bed time task a little more easy and their holiday smiles will be even brighter!  Plus, I grew up on Colgate and now my kids will too.

You can find these Colgate Holiday Packs at Walmart.  They had a nice big display near the toothbrush isle at my local Walmart.  These are a perfect gift idea for those Nickelodeon fans!  You can see and read all about my stocking stuffer shopping trip here.

I can't wait to be able to tuck these into their stockings.  But for now they are hidden away in my "gift" cupboard with all the other goodies awaiting the arrival of Christmas.

You can read more about Colgate Holiday Packs and #HolidaySmiles on their website or connect with Colgate on facebook.

I am a member of the Collective Bias Social Fabric Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and Colgate.  All opinions are my own.  #CBias #HolidaySmiles #SocialFabric