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Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts

Thursday, September 26, 2013

6 Chic DIY Halloween Wreaths

If I had my way I would have a wreath for every season and every holiday. I would change it out regularly and my door would always be festive and beautiful. 

Halloween presents a really awesome opportunity to decorate any door with pizzazz! Here are some of my favorite DIY Halloween wreath ideas from Pinterest.

Some of these links go to tutorials, other just to pictures, others to places where you can buy the wreaths. I think most of them are pretty DIY-able. If you can't figure out how to make one of these just leave a comment and I will try to make a tutorial. 

Candy Corn Wreath
From rwposies.blogspot.com

Chevron and Bats Wreath
From tatertotsandjello.com

Day of the Dead Wreath
From fabricateatlanta.com

Glow-in-the-Dark Eyeballs Wreath
From homeandgarden.craftgossip.com

Harvest Moon Wreath
From flickr.com

Maleficent Wreath
(I mean come on! This is  freakin' awesome!)
From etsy.com

Snake Wreath
(honestly, I debated putting this up here. I hate snakes. I have a major phobia. just this picture gives me the heebee jeebees. but its a pretty cool halloween wreath. just don't expect me to come over if this is hanging on your door.)
No source

Spooky Grapevine Wreath
From www.hometalk.com

Vintage Scull Wreath
From etsy.com
For more great Halloween wreaths and decorating ideas follow me on Pinterest. Check out my Festive!  and Festive! Halloween! boards for fun holiday inspiration!

Happy Haunting!
XOXO,
Coco

Friday, December 7, 2012

Gingerbread House Love

Who isn't inspired by those amazing gingerbread houses? I mean have you ever seen how EPIC they can be! Unreal that they are made out of cookies. I mean some people are just overloaded with talent and creativity. I love watching those specials on the cooking channels, the creations that are outrageous.

Now, I love to bake. When I bake I try to make my cookies, cakes, pies, whatever as pretty as I can. They usually turn out somewhere between what my husband would make and a few steps below a professional bakery. I usually go for the chic and homemade look. When it comes to cookies however, my icing skills are seriously lacking.

I have never been able to figure out how to do that pipe and flood method, or really anything piped. I would love to learn, but I think its going to take more time than I have right now. One day... maybe...

Needless to say, I am always impressed with decorated cookies and therefore gingerbread houses. Eatable art. Here are some pictures of gingerbread houses that I am thoroughly impressed with.
Disney Gingerbread House, on Frog Prince Paperie
Gingerbread House, on Kalmbach Memorial Park
Falling Waters Gingerbread House, by coleypauline, on Flickr
Hogwarts, by Britta, at check out the photo tutorial!
The Burrow, By CraftSter user mezcraft, craftster.org

Biltmore Gingerbread House, by sweetashvegus, on Flickr




I really hope some of these photos have inspired you to get building! Make some awesome cookie houses and let me know how they turned out. If you need some more instructions, Nicole (a gingerbread house pro!) from Tradewind Tiaras did a great guest post on Frog Prince Paperie. Its a really great little tutorial on how to make great little gingerbread houses. Check out the post here.

Make sure to check out Gingerbread Ninja for some great Gingerbread inspiration!


XOXO,
Coco

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

10 Recipes to Try this Christmas!


I love to bake. 
And cook. 
And eat. 
I really love to eat. 
I mean, who doesn't, right? 

One of the best things about the holidays is all of the food. Traditional favorites, and new creations! This year I comprised a list of all the recipes I want to try. Some I have already made and they turned out wonderfully, others are on my (ever increasing) To Do list. 

Check out my list of Top Ten Recipes to Try and let me know how they turn out for you!

1. Chocolate Pie with Toasted Coconut Pie (made this for Thanksgiving, OMG good! Dark chocolate and coconut, where can you go wrong? With only 5 ingredients its a perfect little pie.)


2. Baked Hawaiian Ham and Swiss Sandwiches (these looks so good! There always seems to be tons of leftover ham at every family event, so why not make these the next day for all of those house guests?)

3. Peppermint Bark Cheesecake (apparently, this is a Cheesecake Factory knock-off recipe. I don't really go to the Cheesecake Factory ever so I wouldn't know, but I do LOVE peppermint bark and I LOVE cheesecake, so why not combine the two? Hello awesomeness!)


4. Frozen Whip Cream Shapes (how cool is this? Some people are totally brilliant. This is not a hard thing to think of, simply make whipped cream and spread it on a sheet; freeze then cut into fun shapes with cookie cutters and watch it melt in your mug of hot chocolate.)


5. Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge (made this last week. Having never made fudge before, this recipe was super straight-forward and it turned out unbelievably delicious.)


6. Cranberry Ice Cream Pie (another from the Brown Eyed Baker, I just love her recipes. This pie looks so yummy and I think it would be a nice addition to the warm pies that are usually serves with Christmas dinner, or even better for Christmas Eve.)

7. Grasshopper Bars (I have made these before. My husband who isn't a huge sweets person is still talking about how much he likes these bars. They are perfect for this time of year because of the wonderful minty green color.)


8. Gingerdoodles/Snickersnaps (if gingersnaps and snickerdoodles had a love child these cookies would be that baby. Making them for my sister-in-law's cookie exchange.)


9. Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix (this has been on my to do list for a while. I love the idea of making my own mixes and this time of the year I seem to be drinking a ton of hot cocoa. Why not make my own mix, save money and I won't be worried about all the chemicals in the stuff in the packets. This would also make a great holiday gift.)


10. Melted Snowmen Cookies (how stinking cute are these guys?)

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Doughnut Coffee Cozy (Tutorial and Pattern)







Who doesn't like a good jimmy (or a sprinkle depending on where you're from)? 
Especially when it is on top of a fried piece of dough covered in frosting? 
And what better complement to a lovely doughnut than a big cup of steaming hot coffee?



This is one of those tutorials that I started out taking pictures for, and for one reason or another (usually my camera's batter needed to be charged and I didn't want to wait) I only got a few process pics. Good thing this isn't a hard pattern to follow. Pretty much, after you get the sprinkles stitched on the rest of the cozy goes together rather quickly. 

I suggest popping in a good (or cheesy) Christmas movie and making up one of these cute cozies as a great stocking stuffer. Or add it to a coffee lovers gift basket (toss in some chocolate covered espresso beans, a travel mug, and a gift card to their fave coffee joint).



Doughnut Coffee Cozy

What you will need:

  • tan felt (one sheet, 9”x12” OR ⅛ yard)
  • light pink felt (one sheet, 9”x12” OR ⅛ yard) (You could use brown felt for chocolate frosting or even blue for blueberry, get creative!)
  • light blue felt (one sheet, 9”x12” OR ⅛ yard)
  • thin quilting batting (a small amount
  • tan embroidery floss
  • light pink embroidery floss
  • sprinkle-color embroidery floss (aqua, lime green, white, yellow, purple, and pink)
  • thin white elastic cording (about 4" of 2mm)
  • One ¾” button
  • Matching thread (light blue)
  • The usual stuff (sewing machine, hand sewing needle, fabric scissors, paper scissors, straight pins, pencil, paper, tape, etc...)

Cut out two pieces of light blue felt according to the pattern. Fold one sheet of light blue felt in half long ways and pin the pattern in place. Using very sharp fabric scissors cut around the pattern. Cut out the doughnut pattern from the tan felt, you will need two doughnut pieces. Cut out the batting and the frosting using the appropriate pattern pieces.

Pin the frosting in place on one piece of the tan doughnut. Using a backstitch embroidery stitch (check out this video), stitch around the outside and inside edges of the frosting. You want to follow the curves and stitch pretty close to the edge. 

Now its time to make those sweet little sprinkles! This is so easy and there is really no technique, its just random. All you do is make small (various sizes of small looks really great) stitches in different colors all over the frosting. I used one color at a time and just filled in wherever I felt like there needed to be a sprinkle. The back of this piece ends up looking like a mess of colorful threads, but the back doesn't matter :)


I also added sprinkles to the cozy its self. Use the same method of random stitches all over one of the light blue cozy pieces.

    Layer the two cozy pieces of felt (make sure the sprinkle side is facing out) on top of each other making sure to match up the edges and corners. Fold the elastic in half and pin inside the felt sandwich according to the elastic placement marking on the pattern. Pin the rest of the sandwich so that it doesn’t move while sewing. Using the sewing machine, stitch around the perimeter of the felt, ⅛” from the edge; making sure to back-stitch at the beginning and the end.


      Sew the button onto the cozy, see the button placement marking on the pattern, going through both layers of felt.

      Sandwich the batting piece between the plain doughnut piece and the frosting doughnut piece. Center this sandwich on the cozy and pin in place. Using the backstitch and the tan embroidery floss, stitch around the inside edge (where the hole is) of the doughnut, and then stitch around the outside edge. Make sure you are stitching through both doughnut layers and both cozy layers. Where the doughnut hang off the cozy, just keep stitching as if it were through all four layers.




      Thats it! I hope you get crafting this holiday season! 
      Get your craft on and make some doughnut cozies to slip in those stockings.
      If you make one of these darling cozies, please let me know! I would love to see how yours turns out.
      Leave a comment here or check out the Facebook page:

      XOXO,
      Coco

      PATTERN:
      (Print out on a regular sheet of printer paper. I drew the pattern on notebook paper because we were out of printer paper, but if you print it on regular paper the proportions  will be just right.)

       


      25 Days of Christmas - Evelyn and Anna Style!

      Welcome to my 25 Days of Christmas blogging extravaganza!


      Starting today (December 1st) and every day until Christmas I will be posting something wonderfully Christmas. Stay tuned for recipes, tutorials, decorating tips, and general inspiration for a wonderful and magical holiday season!

      I love, love, LOVE the days leading up to Christmas. I can'g get enough of the preparations  the family time, the cookies, the music and cheesy movies (thank you ABC Family!), the hot chocolate, the kids with glowing faces, and pretty much everything that has to do with the holiday.

      I love making gifts for my friends and family, so I will be posting plenty of great gift ideas and tutorials for how to make your friends and family some awesome homemade gifts. This is the only time I don't want my friends and family to read my blog, but I am hoping my F&F (friends and family, yeah, I'm clever) don't get a whiff of what I am making them before the 25th.

      Dear F&F, 
      If you read my blog and find out what you are getting, just act surprised on Christmas morning. Thanks!
      Love,
      Corey

      Here's to a great Christmas (and other winter holidays) season! I hope you check back here for some great inspiration! Have some great projects going on? I want to know what you are creating!


      XOXO,
      Coco