My Christmas Eve Eve Eve Projects

Yesterday was the first day home away from work and anything work related. Except for a few frenzied emails, since I'm the only Leadership faculty in the country. This post will include lots of pictures! Hope you're ready.

Project #1: Super Chocolatey Hot Chocolate-on-a-Stick

I started on the hot chocolate on a stick, my recipe was inspired by Givers Log. You can find the recipe here. She has lots of helpful tips! And I will tell you what she does...do NOT get even a DROP of water in your chocolate!!!! I'm SERIOUS! Bad things will happen if you do.
I used candy canes instead of sticks and drizzled white chocolate over all of it and then topped it with crushed candy canes.

Step 1: Get your molds and sticks (or stick substitutes) ready, while your water heats up in your double-boiler (or makeshift double-boiler like I use)

Step 2: Melt the chocolate and add in the other ingredients. I had 16 oz of chocolate, 1/2 cup cocoa, and 1 cup powdered sugar. Mix it all up (it will be very thick! So use your muscles!)

Step 3: Dump that deliciousness into a ziploc bag and snip off the corner with a pair of scissors. Then pipe the chocolate mixture into your molds and wait for it to harden (it will obviously harden faster if you pop it in the fridge)

Step 4: Pop your chocolate sticks out of their molds and place them on some wax paper for their finishing touches.

Step 5: Finishing touches. This can be whatever you want. The chocolate looks a little chalky when it dries, so if you want it to be shiny and smooth you might want to dunk it in some more plain chocolate. I melted some white chocolate and drizzled it over the sticks, then I crushed the leftover candy canes and sprinkled them on top.
Who knows! Some of you might be getting one of these for Christmas. :)

Project #2: Christmas Wreaths

When I saw this wreath on Thrifty Decor Chick, I knew that I wanted to make one. Now, about three weeks later, I did. Mine isn't as pretty, but hey, it was worth a shot. If you're going to make one, PLEASE follow Sarah's advice and hot glue all the bulbs to their little toppers before you start. It will save you a lot of trouble. I thought that because mine were plastic and not glass that they were on there really good....not so. I had to go back and glue them all.

This wreath is hanging in our Christmasy Kitchen.

This is about step 3 on the wreath I've been promising Evan that I will make, ever since we put our tree up. We saved the branches that fell off or that we had to saw off our tree from the bottom and have been preserving them in water for the past couple weeks. They were still quite fresh. Then I took a wire hanger and reshaped it into a circle to be the base of the wreath. THEN... I tied all the branches around it and wove some of the branches through other ones, added a bow, some pine cones and couple ornaments....and VOILA!

Evan's wreath. We still need to hang it up, but hey. It's finished.

Project #3: SOAP! (of course)

I tried two new soap recipes last night (which I'll detail in another post). But it was a crazy adventure. At 11:30 my comatose husband was being a gem and standing next to me to help me stir. SO now, coconut milk and green tea soap are curing on my table. Hurray!

Project #4 was wrapping a ton of gifts, but I won't bore you with a picture and I still have more to wrap. So before my little guy wakes up, I better get to that.

DIY Removable Wall Decal & Planters

SO...I love wall decals. You know, the vinyl ones that say things or make your walls look like a forest. Like the ones here. But they're pretty expensive. I've been using clear contact paper for a lot of different crafts, and I thought I might be able to make my own decals. One problem. I have clear contact paper. All the other contact paper I've seen are primary colors or weird patterns.
So I looked around online and found a place that said that you could paint contact paper if you did it with acrylic paint. After trying it, I'm sure that a regular wall paint would work as well.

Like it?

It's my first one, so I think I can do even better next time, but I like it a lot! Here's how I did it.

Just cut off a long piece of contact paper and paint it your desired color.

Then trace your design on the backside and cut it out.

Peel off the backing and stick wherever you want on your wall. If it's not just right, peel it off and try again. :)

I also worked on a project that I had been thinking about for awhile this weekend. I took my old formula canisters (yes, I saved some. I just thought, "seriously! I am throwing so many of these away! I'm sure I could do something cool with them. They're containers for crying out loud)...so I took them and nailed a few holes in them. Spray painted them with chalkboard paint and transplanted a few of  my plants that needed to come inside from the sun room since it's getting cold. I'm very please with the results!

Without chalk

With Chalk! :)

Wallpapered Bookshelves

I love this idea! I've been thinking about doing it for awhile, but I haven't been sure which bookshelves or what colors. But Centsational Girl had a great inspirational post Friday that has gotten me thinking. And I'm pretty sure this will be my next project. (After my try at DIY wall decals of course! :)

My Ballard Designs Project - Finally!

Inspired by Thrifty Decor Chick (check her out) who was inspired by Ballard Designs (DIY tutorial - check it out)...I completed my first two projects tonight (I'll post the other one too) at our new house.

Yay!

(sorry about the poor quality pic, you can't see the detail of the patterns very well)

Total Cost = $14 (Poplar on clearance cut at Lowe's, free Glidden paint, and clearance scrapbook paper at Michaels)

Similar Project in Ballard Designs Catalog = $89 a piece (SERIOUSLY NOW?!)

My Favorite Little Corner of the Kitchen

So we've been moved for a week now...I guess a little more than that, actually. Things aren't moving along as fast as I would like, but they are definitely moving and I am so grateful for everyone's help. While Evan went to work straight away on the music room, my first project was the kitchen - I mean, you gotta eat right?!

So here's the product of my labor so far. I'm LOVING it! We had little to no natural light in our old apartment and a sort of galley-type kitchen. This is so nice for us!

I have my little produce prep and herb drying corner!

Complete with a fruit fly trap...I got the idea from Lindsey at Passionate Homemaking. Just put a bit of apple cider vinegar and a small piece of whatever seems to be attracting the fruit flys (banana, peaches, etc.). Make a funnel out of some scrapbook paper and stick it in the top of a nice glass jar or bottle. I like the little glass container that I have with a spouted top and the netting. That way I don't have to tape the paper on to keep the flies from escaping and I don't have to see them flying around in there. It works splendidly!

CUTE Name Blocks

SO CUTE! I love this! Check out TheCreativeCrate for the tutorial.

It would make a great wedding gift, but I was thinking of making one as a doorstop for our new house...possibly out of stone or tiles instead of wood.

Design on a Dime...Kinda

I've been trying to be creative with our apartment - adding touches here and there to make it feel and look like our home, while still abiding by the rules of our management. To paint a whole room we need to pay a $50 fine, so I try to do as much as possible without painting every wall. Right now, I'm working on our hall bathroom. It was YUCK! before...to say the least. 

I've finally had some time to work on it this week and $25 later, this is what I have! :)

 

I got the Cotton Ball & QTip "holders" from Target at the $1 Spot and painted them. The basket with washcloths I was able to get for less than a dollar on clearance after Easter. The "Splish Splash" Bathtub frame was a gift from one of Elliot's showers. I got the 3 shadowboxes at a garage sale for free and painted them gold. Check out The Idea Room and Martha for instructions on etching glass like I did on these shadowbox frames. And the pictures and mod podged paper in them cost $2.49.

I know, I know...you're thinking, "Dang! That's only $5.49." Well, you see that polka dot shower curtain? That was my splurge. It was $17 at Target.

I still need to do a couple more things to a wall and a shelf, but I'm getting close! :)