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Back in December when we finished making our gingerbread houses I really wanted to just throw all the extra candy away but instead I saved it for a rainy day activity. (or a sick day or a snowy day …)
I think I should change the title to “An Overabundance Of Brightly Colored Photos On Another Gloomy Day!”
I bought white lunch bags from one of my favorite local gems, Cake Craft. Cake Craft is a bakers oasis. Every type of candy mold, cake decor, boxes etc you can imagine.And all the sprinkles oooh!!
We used liquid water colors to paint our gift bags. I barely diluted the water colors keeping them as bright as possible. Open the bags up to keep the paint from bleeding through.
We let the colors run together on some and painted designs on others.
Take care not to tear them when they are wet. Once they dry they are ready to be filled with a gift or a lunch!
Look at the pretty bags at Artsyville! Actually look at all the pretty things there!!
I LOVE hot and spicy food. I saw a recipe for Fermented Hot Chili Sauce at Nourished Kitchen and thought it would make tasty gifts to share.
Holy crap–this is some hot, hot sauce!
I bought just about all the habanaro peppers at our grocery along with a few jalapenos and a couple of pablanos for flavor. I cut the stems off and threw them into the food processor with a few sweet onions, several cloves of garlic and a few handfuls of basil and salt and a little sugar. I mixed up the only living cultures I had-keifer starter-with a little water and threw that in too. I put everything into a mason jar–it took several tries as just inhaling the fumes were tough! I let it sit on my counter for about 12 days. There wasn’t much bubbling and not much liquid so I ended up just bottling it up seeds and all.
The brave decided to try it yesterday………….
I ate some on tortilla chips and yes it was hot but super tasty. I love the taste of habaneros! I think it will be really good in a bowl of beans and rice topped with some yogurt! Mmmmm
The Nourished Kitchen blog is loaded with really delicious recipes!! Be sure to check them out.
Now that the gifts have been given I don’t have to keep secrets any more and can share the living ornaments we made.
We took the tops off of clear glass balls and pushed a pinch of Spanish Moss and a few small tillandsia (aka air plants) in the hole.
We used a skewer to position everything inside our ornament and to help push the stuff in. Be careful of sharp edges around the opening of the glass ball.
Tillandsia don’t need any dirt and very little water to survive. Before putting them into the ball we did give them a good rinse and shake. These can be hung in a humid place…above the sink or in the bathroom in filtered light.
Look for “bulk” tillandsia because they are cheaper and can be broken off into smaller plants.
We have a few in tiny pots but those are too big to fit inside the ball.
A great gift for any time of the year!
Our Holiday was wonderful. Mostly because everyone was home and together for three whole days. That doesn’t seem to happen as much as kids get older and husbands work more!
Here are a few highlights of the weekend.
We always go to my Mom’s for Christmas eve. She cooks delicious things and makes everything pretty just for us! This year she surprised Ginger with a karaoke machine! And a Hannah Montana CD…. Oh boy! Does she LOVE it!
Molly asked “how early can we wake you up?” Joe told her 5 AM…guess what time she woke us?
We are pretty good about sticking to the kids lists. Buying them things they want and not as much stuff that I think they should have. Yet there are always a few surprises thrown in. This year I hit a home run with my surprise for Molly!!
Bento boxes for her and Ginger along with a Bento cookbook and all the little tools and treasures. The perfect gift for my little Martha in the making!
It didn’t matter that we just had a huge breakfast, she couldn’t wait to get to work making lunch!
One of our other Christmas traditions is Molly’s Christmas day cake. This year she made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting from scratch. Look out Cake Boss!
I LOVE the week between Christmas and New Years. I feel like I can breath a sigh of relief and just enjoy. I wrote all about it last year too.
We are anxiously waiting for a friend to arrive in a few hours to stay with us for the week along with a cousin who will also be visiting. We are looking forward to some sledding today before the snow melts, a trip to the movies and the zoo to see holiday lights, sushi and chocolate fondue with friends. It will be a stay-cation around here and I am loving it!! Hope your week between is filled with more holiday joy!
And busy we have been!
The annual gingerbread house making…..
The secret gift making….
The holiday playing…..
And the snowflake making….I am a bit obsessed!
We followed these folding directions at instructables
We also used coffee filters.
And some of us are relaxing with visions of sugar plums or bones and balls dancing in our heads until the big day!
I plan to do the same next week!!
Happy Holidays to you and yours!!!!
For the past several years we have gotten together with friends to have a day full of holiday crafting and snacking. I posted a past years event here.
This year we made xmas trees out of magazines. I found it very relaxing to sit and fold these!
I found this great idea at Just Like Martha
We also made beaded star ornaments.
The beaded star idea came from Mrs Picasso’s Art Room
We also made these beautiful novena candles inspired by Artsyville
I personally made 4 of these! Who said crafting day was just for the kids?!
