All posts tagged holidays

make this: painted wooden easter eggs

by Megan on March 12, 2013 in celebrate, easter, make this with No comments

**Hey! We’re on vacation this week! So, we might be a little absent from social media and all that jazz, but you’ve still got four days of awesome posts coming up!! Have a fantastic week!**

Like St. Patrick’s day, I have never really been into decorating for Easter. The traditional pastels and frills aren’t really my style. But this year I decided to do a little branching out and do at least one Easter project. If you follow me on Pinterest, you’ll see that a lot of the Easter inspiration I pin is mostly different (and amazing) ways to decorate eggs. Long gone are the days of those crappy little color tablets and flimsy wire egg holders. There are so many neat things you can do!! But we’re not exactly in the position to go the traditional hard-boiled egg route either, so I adapted.

These hand painted wooden eggs turned out so adorable and can be used year after year! I found these wooden eggs at Michael’s for $1.99 each. I took home three.

I deliberated for a while about what sort of design I wanted to go with and in the end I decided on my current favorite color combo: metallic gold + any other color! I covered the eggs with a few coats of some fun pastels and then, after they dried, I went back and hand painted some fun designs.

I love that they are sort of imperfect. You can tell they are hand-painted and that gives them a little character. Plus, they totally have a casual vibe going on. No fussy, stuffy Easter bonnets needed here!

Also, a fun tip for painting polka dots! I dipped the end of a paper straw in gold paint and then used that to create a polka dot “stencil” of sorts. The straw gave me a gold dot outline, and then I just went back and filled them in. Again, they aren’t perfectly equal but I like it!

Next week, I’ll be sharing all of our Spring decor and you can see where these adorable little eggs ended up!

What’s your favorite way to decorate Easter eggs? Are you trying out any fun new techniques this year??

celebrate: irish coffee cake for st. patrick’s day

by Megan on March 6, 2013 in celebrate, st. patricks day with No comments

I’m not big into celebrating St. Patrick’s day. Yes, I do wear green to avoid getting pinched, but I’m not a fan of beer and rambunctious people, so that’s the extent of my involvement. But I decided to get a little crazy this year and make a cake. After all, I love cake. There are a lot of recipes for Guiness and other beer infused confections, but I’m not going to buy a six pack of stout beer for just one bottle so, I went with an alternative. Coffee. I mean, the Irish are known for good coffee right??

irish-coffee-cake-st-patricks-promo-copy

Y’all, this cake is. the. bomb!!! It’s moist and chocolate-y and delicious. Now, it’s made from a mix, but before you judge, let me share with you my cake philosophy. For the most part, I use cake mixes (with some adaptations) and instead go all out with homemade icing (because, let’s be honest the icing is what we really live for!!). And I feel like I hit a little stroke of genius with this icing in particular. I used my standard vanilla icing recipe but added some amazing CINNABON FLAVORED COFFEE CREAMER!!! It made the icing fluffy and damn tasty.

I also went a little crafty on it and made these fun fabric toppers from this tutorial here! There pretty easy to make and they make great cake accessories!

Now, you need to make this cake!

Irish Coffee Chocolate Cake:

1 box dark chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons instant coffee grounds
black food coloring (optional)

Mix the 3 tablespoons instant coffee grounds into the cup of water.
Prepare mix as instructed on the box.
I added a few drops of black food coloring to darken the cake.
Bake at 350F until the top doesn’t jiggle and bounces back when you touch it. (Check the box for options depending on how you’re baking it!)

Cream & Vanilla Icing:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1.5 – 2.5 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons liquid coffee creamer (have fun with you choice!)

Using an electric mixer, beat your butter at a medium-high speed until light and fluffy. (About 1.5-2 minutes)
Add powdered sugar and salt
Add vanilla and coffee creamer and beat until mixed and fluffy. It’s it’s too loose you can add a little more powdered sugar to stiffen it up again. (*Note on the coffee creamer: I used a Cinnamon Roll Creamer which turned out amazing (!!), but you could easily mix it up and use any favorite creamer!)
Spread on top of completely cooled cake and devour!

It’s beautiful, delicious, and the perfect way for you to celebrate St. Patrick’s day without getting… you know… crazy. Wins all around!

freebie: kind valentines

by Megan on February 11, 2013 in celebrate, freebies, valentine's day with No comments

It’s the week of Valentine’s and today, I’m bringing you a fun free printable for some kind valentines. I know, I know, I’m way past the school age where handing out valentine’s is expected but I just can’t help myself.

So, I made these simple and fun valentine’s in photoshop. They don’t have any names and they aren’t necessarily mushy. They’re just nice.

I thought it would be fun to hand them out kind of randomly. On a table at Starbucks, under someone’s windshield wiper, maybe a mailbox or two? This February 14th, I just want to make someone’s day.

And, here’s a printable for you. You can just cut them out and hand them out to anyone who could use some extra love this week.

Download the free printable here!!

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day? J and I usually like to avoid the rush and hang out at home together, and for two home-body dorks, that’s mighty fine!

{I linked up at Home Stories A to Z!}

easy decor switch to welcome in the new year!

by Megan on December 31, 2012 in celebrate, new years eve with No comments

Here we are on the very last day of 2012. It’s the time for reflection and resolutions, but I want to talk about what’s really important… decorations! (Just kidding, all the mushy goals stuff is scheduled for Wednesday!!) But honestly, I feel like New Year’s Eve gets the shaft as far as decorating goes. It’s right after Christmas and people are tired and just trying to get their holiday decor packed up, so I wanted to share a quick switch that celebrates the coming of the new year, but doesn’t really require a whole lot of effort: a resolution tree!

I took down all of our special Christmas ornaments and replaced them with as many gold bulb ornaments as our tree could handle! I bought these shatter-proof gold and silver ornaments from an after Christmas sale in 2009 and they are perfect for achieving that glitzy New Years feeling! I also added some crazy glittery garland that I snagged from Hobby Lobby in my traditional “day after Christmas” shopping trip for $3.00.

Next, I just got some squares of black paper and used a silver metallic sharpie to jot down some of our goals for the year!

It’s a super simple, cheap switch that is still festive and inspiring! With the lights on, everything glitters and it’s really motivating to look over and see my goals for the year staring me in the face.

The tree will come down soon, but I don’t like to pass up an opportunity to decorate! And since our New Year’s Eve plans mostly consist of staying home, cracking a bottle of champagne, and heading to bead around 10:00pm, I wanted to make sure we gave 2013 some recognition as it rolls in!

Do you decorate for New Years? What are your plans for tonight? Going out? Staying in? Let’s hear it!

from us to you

by Megan on December 24, 2012 in celebrate, christmas, our colorful life, personal with No comments

Josh and I are home for the holidays but we wanted to take a moment to wish you all things merry and bright! Enjoy your family and friends! We’ll be back Wednesday to start the 2012 year end wrap up!

an ornament storybook for your special decorations!

by Megan on December 21, 2012 in celebrate, christmas, make this, organization with 1 Comment

Well, it’s finally the Friday before Christmas and I’m just in time to share the final project on our Christmas To Do list: creating a story book for our special ornaments.

We try to add at least one ornament to our collection every year that has a significant meaning or connection to our little family. Sure, sometimes I buy little random ones like an owl and these cute metal drink glasses from Crate & Barrel to fill out our tree, but my favorites are the ones that have a story behind them.

So, I fired up photoshop and created a template for each page going inside the book. Even though I really loved the idea of having an actual book made for this, I wanted to make sure it could be easily updated with new ornaments, so I chose a red mini binder from staples and also picked up some page protectors to keep my pages looking pristine from year to year.

I chose deep jewel tones for the pages to keep it on the traditional side but still a little unique. I grabbed a cute free font from dafont.com (this one is Learning Curve) and typed up a little explanation of the ornament and the year we got it for each one.

(Yes, I’m an adult and I love Harry Potter. We both do actually! It’s amazing and awesome and I’m not afraid to admit it!)

I still need to create a nice cover page, but I am so in love with how it turned out and I can’t wait to keep adding to it every year. It will be really neat to share with our future kiddos and maybe even pass down.

Do you have a way to remember your special ornaments and decorations? I’d love to hear about them!

easy, cute, & free salt dough gift tags (+ present wrapping tips!)

by Megan on December 18, 2012 in celebrate, christmas, do it yourself, make this with 1 Comment

Christmas presents have become somewhat of a sport to me. I love the challenge of finding the perfect gift for someone (especially if they are notoriously hard to by for like my dad, dad-in-law, and husband. And now that I’m a grown up and have a real job, I took the opportunity to really have fun with gifts this year. I won’t reveal anything yet to keep prying family eyes in the dark, but I’m pretty proud.

One of the things on my super fun Christmas To Do List was to spruce up our presents with some easy and cheap (my all-time favorite combo) salt dough gift tags (like these!). This project is simple, easy to customize, and saves you all that printer ink! Because even though all those printable gift tags are adorable, my printer’s poor little cartridge just can’t handle it.

For this project you’ll need 1 cup flour (plus extra), ½ cup salt, ½ cup water, a rolling pin, cookie cutters, and a tray lined with wax paper.

Mix the flour, salt, and water in a large mixing bowl until a smooth dough forms. I kept adding flour until it wasn’t sticky any more.

Flour your work space and use your rolling pin to spread the dough. I would estimate that I stopped at around ¼ inch thickness. You’ll want to make sure they’re thick enough to be sturdy after drying; not thin and brittle.

Then, use your cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place them on your lined tray.

Since it was my first time with this project, I just kept it simple with circles and used a tiny heart stamp to make an imprint.

Use a straw to cut holes into the shapes so they can easily be tied to presents.

Now, you wait. I let my tags sit for about 3 days, turning them over about twice per day to make sure they were drying all the way through.

When they’re completely done drying you can decorate them more with craft paint, stamps, or sharpies! I chose the latter and add names with a gold metallic marker.

And, here’s the finished product. For my presents, I stuck with brown kraft paper and made bows using different shades of green fabric. There’s something really charming about fabric bows and how they fray a little around the edges after tying them. Plus, if you stick with broadcloth or discount fabrics, you can get away with spending much less than if you went with fancier ribbons!

I also always put presents in boxes if I can help it. Not that there’s anything wrong with gift bags, but I personally loving boxes and I think it adds a little more excitement to the unwrapping process.

And there you go. A super easy, practically free project to make unique and personal gift tags! What do you’re presents look like this year? Do you stick with a theme? Change it up from year to year? Or stick with the basics like kraft or newspaper? Share below!

glitter is the new red nose

by Megan on December 17, 2012 in celebrate, christmas, do it yourself with 2 Comments

Rudolph is getting a glamorous make over! We’re back today with another super easy holiday project! This glitter reindeer silhouette has been all over Pinterest and I just had to have it for this Christmas! I love glitter and, honestly, I just need more of it in my life!

And, what’s more, this is another super simple project! For this all you need is a small-ish canvas (mine is 12×12), glitter, modpodge, small paint brushes, a deer silhouette (I pulled mine off of google), and a pencil.

First off, trace the outline of your silhouette onto your canvas.

Next, add a thin layer of mod podge inside the silhouette. I worked in small sections to make sure that the mod podge didn’t dry too quickly. I also used a chunkier glitter because I had it on hand, but I think that a finer glitter might work a little better for smoother coverage.

Keep working, until the whole silhouette is filled. For extra staying power, I used a clear spray sealant to cover the whole canvas to keep the glitter in place.

And to finish, I added a deep Christmas red border around the canvas to spruce it up. Done!

Another, super easy project done and some extra Christmas cheer added to our home!

We’re now nine days away from Christmas so it’s time to start pulling out the stops! I’ve got the holiday cards in the mail, present shopping is done, and we’re almost done with our fun Christmas to-do list! Which of your holiday tasks remain?!

nutella hot cocoa with candy cane marshmallows

by Megan on December 11, 2012 in celebrate, christmas, food love with 2 Comments

Well, the cold finally kicked in down here in Texas. Not that it will actually stay chilly for long, but it’s nice to have actual winter weather at all. Anywho, the dropping temperatures made this past weekend the perfect time to make some homemade hot cocoa!

Now, I grew up on the powdered stuff, with the tiny cardboard-textured marshmallows, so I was pretty certain I would like the homemade version. Oh my goodness, was I right. Seriously, this recipe is so rich and filling; it’s amazing. And combined with the homemade peppermint marshmallows I whipped up, you might as well just call it a day! And I’m going to give you the recipe for both!

Now, the recipe just for you!

Homemade Nutella Hot Chocolate: (Adapted from Honey & Fitz)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
- 1 10 oz bag dark chocolate chips
- 5 cups milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 big tablespoons nutella

Directions:
1. Heat all ingredients over the stove on medium-high, stirring frequently. And, DONE!

Candy Cane Marshmallows:
Ingredients:
- 4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 1/2 c. water (divided in half)
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
- Powdered sugar

Directions:
1.Spray a 9×13 pan liberally with non-stick spray, line with parchment paper, then spray again. Don’t skimp on the spray!
2. Pour 3/4 cup water into mixing bowl and sprinkle in gelatin. Let sit for at least 5 minutes.
Combine sugar, syrup, salt, and the remaining 3/4 cup water into a medium sized pot. Boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Without stirring any further, heat to 238F (use candy thermometer). When it’s ready, it will start to look bubbly and foamy on top.
3. Pour done syrup slowly into mixing bowl. Work up to a high mixing speed and continue to beat for about 12 minutes until stiff, fluffy, and white.. I usually like to put a towel over my mixer to contain the steam and any potential splatter while I’m increasing speed.
4. Spread into prepared pan and let sit for 3 hours uncovered. If you want to add the red swirls, add a few drops of red food coloring (I usually use the gel kind so as not to water down the marshmallows) and swirl with a toothpick.
5. When done setting, spread top with powdered sugar and then release onto a clean surface covered in more powdered sugar. Cut into squares with a sharp knife and dip all sides into powdered sugar and enjoy!

The awesome thing about serving up from scratch hot chocolate and marshmallows is that they aren’t really that hard to make but they’re things that most people buy pre-made, so the homemade version always feels like a super special treat.

And if you want to grow this treat up a little, you can add some candy cane vodka! We used this recipe (which was on our Christmas to-do list) and it certainly warms you up!

What are your favorite holiday treats? Do you have recipes because I’d love to try them out!!

christmas is for the birds

by Megan on December 9, 2012 in celebrate, christmas, make this with No comments

Christmas is inching closer and closer, which means it’s time to get cracking on our fun Christmas to-do list! One of the items we listed was making some cute bird seed ornaments for the tiny trees outside of our apartment. We are lucky enough to have our patio look out into an actual nature seen (as opposed to a well-frequented doggy business area like at our last place!), so I thought we’d take the opportunity to enjoy it and maybe tempt some pretty birds to hang out with us!

I found this super easy tutorial over at saltwater-kids and it worked out wonderfully! It was a simple project that took less than an hour (not including drying time) and I’m so pleased with the finished product. I made sure to really spray my cookie cutters with a non-stick cooking spray to ensure they would come out intact and I also let them dry over night, just to be safe.

I chose fun shapes from my plethora of cookie cutters to make them more interesting. I’ve got hearts, leaves, acorns, and stars. Maybe the birds have a shape preference, who knows? But at least we’re prepared!

I ended up with a few to many to pile onto our tree, so I set of with some ribbon and a few birdy ornaments in hand and put them on some other trees around the complex as well. Hopefully, other families nearby will enjoy some flying friends!So, we added a little Christmas cheer to our small outdoor area and got another fun item crossed of our to-do list! I also ordered my last Christmas present today and will be mailing our Christmas cards out tomorrow! I am on a roll!!

How are you doing this holiday season? Are you getting things done ahead of time or do you end up partaking in the last minute rush? And what kind of outdoor decorating do you do for the holidays? I’m curious! (especially if you live in an apartment!!)

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