Fruit Christmas Tree

A party at my house with all of my workmates inspired me to make something festive to munch on. 

With everyone else bringing snacks to share, I thought a healthy snack might be a good choice this time.

So I went about building a Christmas tree out of fruit! 

Step one: Cut of the bottom of an apple to stabilize the tree structure.

Step two: Cut a hole in the top of the apple, just slightly bigger than the width of your carrot and stick the carrot on top. Make sure it's a tight fit!

Step three: Cut up all the fruit you want to use, and stick each piece on a toothpick to be inserted onto the apple/carrot structure.

(we actually found it easier to put the toothpick in first, and then put the fruit on)

This was the fun part :)

Done! Garnish however you like and serve! 

We made it the same day that we served it - a few hours early so that it was still fresh.
None of our guests wanted to eat the fruit at first. I think it looked too pretty to wreck. But once they started, the tree disappeared in no time :)
Enjoy!

{xoxo}

DIY Christmas Advent Tree

Being outdoors this winter inspired me to make a rustic advent calendar. 

I envisioned the beautiful bare branches covered in rustic bags and shiny ornaments. 

My husband was gracious enough to bring along a saw to cut some branches for me on one of our lovely winter walks this year :)

First I created the advent bags using the tutorial here. 

They were super easy to stamp and label. 

Once they were done I filled them with silver, gold, and black tissue paper to match the rest of the tree decorations :)

Next, I made some fun glittery Christmas ornaments, using this tutorial. 

I love the gold and silver colours shining off of the tree branches.

To make the stand, I filled a silver milk jug with rocks, places the braches in, and set it all upon a gold platter (from the dollar store - you can get everything there!). 

Then I used moss and pinecones to decorate at the top and bottom of the jug.

I finished it off by tying a festive gold bow around the top :)

Then I filled all of the bags before hanging them.
They were filled with one of two things - either a winter/Christmas activity for us to do together, or candy :)

Ta-Da! My finished project :)

Counting down the days now until December 1st so that my husband and I can open the first bag! 

(I made sure there were enough candy/chocolate pieces that we would both get one each time!).

Happy Holidays! 

{xoxo}

DIY Glitter Ornaments

I get very excited while decorating for Christmas

What a wonderful time of year to celebrate with family and friends. 

In the midst of my excitement, I decided to make some of my own simple ornaments this year
Step two (of the advent tree project): make glitter ornaments.

Beautiful, shiny, glittery Christmas ornaments :) 

Here is everything I used: 

Gold and silver glitter

Mod podge

Sponge brush

Small dowels

Styrofoam balls

Safety pins

Wire Cutter

1. Put the styrofoam balls on the dowels gently

2. Cover with mod podge using a foam brush

3. Sprinkle glitter everywhere
(Make sure to do this over a piece of paper so you can save all the glitter that falls off!)

4. Allow them to dry (I let them sit overnight)

5. Use wire cutters to cut the ends off of the safety pins

6. Remove the dowels (careful not to pull the glue/glitter off) and put the sharp ends of the safety pin through the styrofoam.

7. String ribbon, twine, or hemp through to let the ornaments hang

Done. 

Beautiful glittery Christmas ornaments made by hand :)

{xoxo}

How to Stamp on Muslin Bags

I decided to take the plunge and make an advent calendar this year :) 

Step one: Decorating the Muslin Bags

Don't these look adorable? 

This is everything I used: 

Stamp pads: I used Grey (Slate), Green (Juniper), and Red (Ruby)

Close to My Heart Magical Days Stamps

Muslin bags

An Acrylic block (to stamp with)

A small piece of cardboard

Then it's easy. 

Simple place the small piece of cardboard inside your bags to prevent the ink from bleeding through the material. Use the stamp and ink of your choice and stamp onto the bag. I found I need to be quite firm with some of the stamp colours (e.g. Green) to ensure that they stamped clearly.

And that's it! 

Stay tuned for my finished advent calendar :)

{xoxo}

Easy Christmas Centrepiece

As I was decorating for Christmas this year, I found a few odds and ends here and there.
Some mini pinecones, some HUGE pinecones, some leftover ornaments, some tiny glittery decorations, some red place settings...
So naturally I decided to put them all together :)
I made this super easy centrepiece for my kitchen table out of the decorations I had lying around.
Took about 2 minutes. Total.
Easiest centrepiece ever!

Now I'll have a pretty and festive centrepiece for all of my Christmas dinners and events :)

{xoxo}

Movember Update

His beard/moustache is still growing! 

It actually looks even thicker now than this picture that was taken a couple of days ago. 

He needs some support to motivate him to shave it into a moustache though! 

(Despite how dirty I think it'll look....)

Donate HERE!!!
Support my handsome husband in raising money for cancer research.

{xoxo}

New Scrapbook Cards

Right now I'm in full Christmas card mode, but events always come up in between! 
Here are a few of the cards I've made recently...

All very different styles.

Now that I make them so frequently, I can pop out a quick simple design in less time than it takes me to pick one out at the drug store. 

Welcome baby small gift bag card :)

Simple wedding card :)

Simple wedding gift bag card. This was my first attempt at embossing (with the new scrapbooking tool my husband gave me!). It's what gives the letter and heart the shine, and the 3D texture. Hopefully I get better at this, but I thought it was good enough to use :) [minus the smudge of glitter]

And a birthday card for one of those handsome gents using CTMH Buzz and Bumble paper!

Anniversary card for my husband :) Made using CTMH huntington paper!

Birthday card for my Daddy :) Made using CTMH huntington paper also!

{xoxo}

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

That's right! You heard me correctly! We already started decorating for the wonderful Christmas season :)

Usually I can be persuaded to wait until the 1st of December, but this year I volunteered to host a Christmas party at our house. The party is this weekend. We had no choice! 

The baby was very excited about it too because it wouldn't stop moving in my belly all night! 

Definitely my child.

In my home, decorating goes hand-in-hand with baking :) 

Christmas cookies came out of my oven by the dozens in preparation for our many guests.

We just sat still in the evening when the work was done. Sipping on hot chocolate, eating a cookie or two, and basking in the soft glow of the Christmas lights. 

LOVE the holiday season :)

{xoxo}