12 Projects of Christmas: Chalkboard Wine Glasses

One of my favorite things to do over the holidays is sit and share a glass of good wine with friends! But if you're like us, at some point you all put your glasses down and a few minutes later have that moment of "wait--whose glass belongs to who?!" Wine charms are cute, but I wanted something fun and different. I've seen the idea on Pinterest, and I decided that this would be a great addition to any Holiday party or even make a great gift!

Look at how fun these are!  Guests can write their names on their own glasses, and I like the look of the matte black paint against the glass.

These are SO easy to make, too!!

Grab your materials:

A 4-pack of wine glasses
Paint brush
Chalkboard paint
Chalk (not pictured)

 

Start by painting a layer of chalkboard paint around the bottom of each glass.  You'll want to let it set for 1 hour, then paint a second layer and let it dry 1 hour.  Hold the bottom of the wine glass up to the light and see if you can see any light through it.  If you can, add another layer of paint.  Once you've added enough layers of paint, let the paint cure for 24 hours.

Once it's cured, scribble some chalk over the chalk paint...

...and then wipe it off.  This sets the paint up and makes it ready to be used repeatedly.

Then go for it!  Pass your glasses out to your guests, give them a piece of chalk (I used white, but how fun would it be to use multi-colored chalk?!), and let the festivities begin!

Like I said, a fun addition to you Christmas or New Year's party, or a great gift for anyone!

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xoxo, Melissa

12 Projects of Christmas: Typography Canvas

A couple weeks ago, my friend Krissy asked me to make a giant canvas for her boyfriend's Christmas present.  She had seen another typography project that I made earlier this year and fell in love with it, but wanted something bigger for her boyfriend's new apartment.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't take too many pictures of this one because my camera wasn't working right and wouldn't focus for most of the pics I tried to take.  But here's what I did get:

The first step of making a canvas this large is to create your typography on the computer.  I used Picnik to create mine because I love all the different fonts it offers and it's easy to set it up how you like.

Once I had the layout how I liked, I used a projector hooked up to a computer (thank goodness for technology at the school I work at!) to project the image onto the canvas and traced it with a pencil.  If you don't have a projector to use, you can try to freehand it.  I was using a canvas that was 30" x 40" so freehanding it would have been hard---it would be easier to freehand using a smaller canvas, though.

I then used a medium blue acrylic paint to paint in the words over the pencil.

Again, I apologize for not having more pictures, but for whatever reason I could not get my camera to focus at all :(

Here's the finished product!  You can see Krissy's hand in the picture-we had to take this outside at night, and my camera (for whatever reason) finally decided to work right!  So frustrating, but I'm so glad I got a picture of the finished product!

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xoxo, Melissa

12 Projects of Christmas: Guinness Cupcakes

This was definitely not a project I was planning to make, but it falls under the gift category so I decided to post it.  Plus, it had rave reviews from JP, so I thought it would be great to share!

My "brother" JP is proudly Irish, and LOVES anything to do with his heritage, especially the beers.  His favorite beer?  Guinness.  Now personally, I think Guinness is awful---it's thick and dry and the flavor is terrible.  But JP loves it so much, so as soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to make these for him.  I tweaked the recipe a little to make it work for his taste, and I have to say these did turn out really good!  Even for not liking Guinness, the flavor that it adds to the chocolate cupcake is wonderful!

So here we go:

Grab your ingredients!

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup Guinness stout
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream  
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 pinch table salt
3 tablespoons Bailey's (we used the coffee flavor)
1 tablespoon milk

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the butter, Guinness, cocoa powder, and brown sugar until the butter has melted and it's all smooth.  Make sure to whisk often because you don't want it to boil or burn.  The bubbles you see in the picture is actually the foam from the beer--the foam will cook down, don't worry.  Once it's all smooth, let it cool until it's room temp or a little warmer.

Now, in a bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together.

Add the Guinness mix to the bowl and mix until well combined.  Add the eggs and sour cream, and mix again.

Pour into your cupcake pan (make sure to use liners or grease the tin very well!) Bake at 325 degrees for 24 minutes, then let cool completely before frosting!

Here's the frosting recipe (ingredients are listed above)

Make sure you start with butter that's softened to room temp or else this will be very hard!  Cream the butter with a hand/stand mixer, then add the powdered sugar about 1/4 cup at a time (maybe even a little less than that--you be the judge) until you've added 2 cups total.  Add the milk and Bailey's, mix, and then continue to add the powdered sugar until the frosting is the consistency you want.  If you add too much powdered sugar, go ahead and add a little more milk.  Be careful adding too much Bailey's, because the frosting is very sweet so too much Bailey's can make it a little overpowering. 

So I gotta say, even though I don't like Guinness, these cupcakes are addictive and delicious!  I sprinkled with a little sanding sugar for decoration (not that JP actually cares about how they look, just how they taste! lol)

These would make a great gift for a guy in the family, or as a fun twist on Holiday treats at the family gathering ;)

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xoxo, Melissa

12 Projects of Christmas: Vintage Button Bracelet

Okay, so as promised here is my second project of the day.  I must have been on a button kick this week because both of my projects involved them!  Wanna see the other one?  Check out my Button Tree Pillowcase (no sewing involved).

I got inspired to make this after seeing a gorgeous version of this at Anthropology, but it was sooo pricey!  I immediately realized that I could probably make it myself and that it would be a great gift for any of my girlfriends.  You can make it with any kinds/sizes/colors of buttons and make the width of the band to your own liking, but I chose to keep the colors/size as close to the Anthro one as I could because I really liked the look of it.

Start with our materials:

1/8 yard material (or any scrap material you have leftover from another project)
2 metal snap sets
Various buttons of your choice (I went with antique-looking white and gem colored ones)
Hot glue gun and glue
No-Sew
Iron and ironing board
Matching thread and needle

You want to figure out how big to make your bracelet, which I did by eyeballing the material against my own wrist.  Make sure to leave enough around the edges for the hem.  Make sure to cut 2 matching pieces.

Turn your material inside out and use No-Sew around the edges to "sew" 2 of the long edges and one of the short edges.  Turn your bracelet inside out, fold the un"sewed" edge under and use No-Sew to hem it closed.

Sew on the snaps.

First, place your larger, colored buttons on where you would like them and attach them with hot glue (you can sew them on if you want, but I'm trying to keep these projects fast and as sew-free as possible).

Then fill in the rest of the spaces with the small, white buttons.  I like the 3D look of the bracelet so I stacked some of my buttons, but you can keep it flat if you like.  This is your project, so make it fit your style! :)

Here it is on:  

I love the look of this, and I can't wait to make another one for myself.  It was so easy, and I just keep thinking of all these color-schemes to match my wardrobe!  :)

Cost breakdown:
Buttons:  $5
Snaps:  $2
Material: Used scraps from my Button Tree Pillowcase
No-Sew: Already Had

Total Cost:  $7 (a savings of $13 from the Anthro one!)

I think I love this project, not just because of the savings but also because of the amazing ways you can tailor this project to the tastes of the person you're giving it to (or to your own taste if you're keeping it--sometimes we all need to gift something nice to ourselves!)  :)
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xoxo, Melissa

12 Projects of Christmas: Sugared Vanilla-Cinnamon Almonds

My house smelled absolutely wonderful yesterday morning, and H was pleasantly surprised to wake up to sugared vanilla-cinnamon almonds cooking in the kitchen (although I think it had more to do with making homemade presents and the house smelling wonderful, and less to do with the fact that I used most of his bulk-bought almonds...oops...all in the name of crafting/gifting, I suppose!)

We've decided to do gift baskets for a lot of our family, full of homemade goodies. I love sugared nuts, but they are so pricey and I knew that I could easily make them for a lot less, so I started on my search for a good recipe.  Most of them were pretty simple, but I wanted to put my own twist on it.  So here's what I came up with.  The best part?  It took 15 minutes at most to make these!  So fast and so easy!

By the way, you will fall in love with how this recipe makes your house smell!
This is delicious and makes a wonderful gift, or even a treat to put out for company at your family party


Of course, start off with our ingredients:
1 cup sugar
4 cups almonds (or any nut that you want to use)
1/2 Tbl cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1 Tbl vanilla extract

Start with a large skillet and put all of your ingredients in.  Stir it up so that all of the almonds have some sugary goodness on them!

 Cook over medium heat.  Everything will cook down into a nice, bubbly brown syrup so make sure to stir it every couple minutes to keep things moving and keep the almonds covered.  I let it bubble and cook for about 10 minutes, but you can go a little longer as long as you're stirring---the syrup burning to the bottom of the pan would be bad news!

Once the almonds have simmered for at least 10 minutes, you can pour out the entire mixture onto a sheet of wax paper.  Let cool for 20-30 minutes, then break the nuts apart and store in a sealed plastic bag/container.  They should last in the fridge for about a month, but chances are they won't last that long!!

I made these yesterday morning, stored them in the fridge overnight, and they were so yummy on my oatmeal this morning!  (I know they are for gifts, but I had to taste them for myself!)  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did  :)

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xoxo, Melissa

12 Projects of Christmas!

Hi friends!

Gosh, I can't believe it's almost December!  Where has this year gone?  I'm excited, though--I LOVE Christmas!  The decorations, the baking, the music, getting together with family and friends, and of course I love to give gifts to those I love.  This year, with the economy being so tight, I've decided to go more of the homemade route for gifting, which got me thinking...

What can I do on my blog to promote all the goodies I"m going to be showcasing and tutorialing?
::lightbulb::

This year will be the first annual 
"12 Projects of Christmas"!

 

Between December 1 and December 24, I will feature 12 different projects that are Christmas/Winter-themed.  Some might be decorations for the house, some might be for gifts, and some might be for plain, ol' delicious Christmas cookies.  In theory, I'll post 1 project every other day, but let's be honest---there might be one day with 3 projects and a few days with none, but I'm going to be as consistent as possible.

I'm really excited!  A good friend of mine commissioned me to do a big project for her boyfriend's present, so that'll be a big project on here, plus I have a few more up my sleeves...so excited!

Please make sure to click the little blue "join this site" button on the side so you can get all the wonderful projects between now and Christmas (and feel free to Pin any project you see!)

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas (okay, I know...still a little early...c'mon, I'm gettin' excited here!) :)

Tutorial: Bread in a Can

A few weeks ago, while having coffee with my friend from college, Krissy, I told her about how I found this great idea for making bread in a can from this great craft blog.  After going on about how it combined my two loves: baking and crafting, and how much I couldn't wait to try this project for my blog, she asked me if I could wait just a few more weeks to do it, but that if I did wait she would pay me for it.

Um.  Duh.  Of course I will--are you kidding me?  I have a million other craft ideas to create and blog in the mean time!

She's a high school teacher who needed a nice gift for her secret pal at work, and thought that bread in a can would be perfect!  She told me she'd pay me for the materials, plus for my work (I told her none of this was necessary, but she insisted) and that she's need them at the beginning of October.  Perfect!  I can make yummy Fall quick breads in cute cans, and it's a great excuse to go crazy with the decorating--I mean, who wants an undecorated, uncute gift?  No one!  Let the crafting begin!

So this week, I made bread in a can.  Again, I can't take full credit for this--it's something that's been going around the crafting world for a while, and I got my banana bread recipe from Chasing Fireflies.  What I didn't get from her wonderful blog was a recipe for a pumpkin quick bread (which I already had) and the ideas for how I was going to decorate these beautiful cans.

If you want the banana bread recipe, head over to Chasing Fireflies because she has done an amazing job with the recipe and her own design of the cans.

Here's my recipe for pumpkin quick bread.  You can add walnuts to it, but since I didn't know if the receiver of this gift has any allergies, I decided to leave it out this time.  But it's definitely yummy to add a 1/2 cup of walnuts to this before you bake it!

Pumpkin Quick Bread
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 c sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
1/2 c veg oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c water
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon

 First, mix your dry ingredients (including sugar for this recipe) in one bowl and your wet ingredients in another bowl.  Super easy, right?

 Now is the hard part:  mix them together.  Okay, I'm kidding; this is not hard.  In fact, this might be one of the easiest recipes ever.

 Instead of baking them in a loaf pan or muffin pan, I'm baking them in washed out veggie cans!  One can for pumpkin, one can for Chasing Fireflie's banana bread, and a third can (not pictured) for the leftovers so that I can munch on them...hehehe...

 All I did was take off the lid (make sure to use a can opener that doesn't leave a jagged or sharp edge), take of the labels, and wash them out very well.

Before you pour your bread into the cans, though, you need to make the new pretty labels.  Trust me, this is way easier before you bake them than after!  I just chose 2 different scrapbook papers that have complementary colors, plus 2 small tags.

 Take the paper and wrap it around the can with the pretty side facing in.  This way, you can draw on the paper without worrying that the receiver will see it.

 Draw around the edge of the bottom of the can so you know where to cut.  I used the inside part of the bottom lip so that I'll have a silver can border around the edge of each paper.  You can kind of feel where it indents, and then I just used a pencil to mark it.

 Cut your paper on the pencil line, and voila!  You have a new, much prettier label for your bread cans.  You don't want to bake the labels, though, so don't attach them yet.

 Next, I traced the tag onto the scraps of paper left over, cut it out, and glued them on so I had matching tags for each can.

 You can see here are my 2 labels and 2 tags.  Since they are complimentary colors, you can mix and match the tags and labels if you want.

 Now, fill your unlabeled cans.  I filled each of them 3/4 of the way full.  Be careful!!  If you fill them too full, they will bake over the top and that won't be a very pretty display--it can also fall off into your oven and make that awful burning smell....not that I know from experience or anything...

 Once they come out of the oven, let them cool completely before you try to put the labels on.  I put them in the fridge overnight to ensure that they were cool enough.  I also then let them warm up to room temp before I tried to put the labels on, so the cold can didn't cool the hot glue too fast for me to put the labels on.

I used hot glue to attach the labels to each can.  Go slow, only gluing a small portion at a time, and make sure you line up your label before you glue or your label might be warped when you're finished.  I didn't take pics of this because it's hard to hold a camera, a can, and a glue gun all at the same time.  But here are the cans after they were labeled:

 Next, I cut plastic wrap just big enough to cover the tops of each can with just a little hanging over the edge.  This will keep them fresh before you give them away.  I used 2 layers of plastic wrap, just to make sure.

 I used 2 squares of matching fabric on each can, just laying them on top with alternating points, and then folded the edges over the can lip.  I used twine to secure the plastic wrap and material down (to keep them fresh) and then used twine to tie a pretty bow on top with my labels.

Here they are all finished:

How cute are these to give and get?!  A great gift for a friend, coworker, teacher, new neighbor--anyone would love to get these!!  :)

Totaling up the cost of these is a little harder, because it depends what you have on-stock in your cupboard.  This is definitely a project/gift that you can do for under $10 though!

So go ahead and give it a try--even if you don't give it away, and you just make some bread in a can for yourself to eat on a crisp Fall afternoon!  Bon appetit!


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