New Year Lemon Spritz

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm so excited for lots of new fun adventures and food in 2014. This was once a dream and I'm so happy that baking, crafting, and blogging are now my real life and full-time job that I do every single day. Thanks for being a part of my little world because I couldn't do it and wouldn't make it without an audience and cheerleaders.

Fun with Gingerbread

I spent my Monday finishing up the last of some gingerbread dough. I made two very different styles of reindeer, gingerbread "likenesses" of my husband and myself, AND then got tired and did the rest in the cookie press/gun. You can check out my full tutorial here. Happy New Year's Eve! My husband and I will be spending what I hope to be a quiet evening at home. Our dog hates all of the loud noises associated with this holiday and hopefully we can distract her from completely destroying the house. We'll see!

Finished Christmas Ornament Wreath

I finally finished my Christmas ornament wreath! I have been stocking up on the plastic ball ornaments since Halloween. It took 160 ornaments but it's finally done. I can't believe how beautifully it turned out. I'm also pretty happy that all in all it ended up costing less than 15 bucks.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Cookies cookies cookies! This recipe combines two of my favorite things: Cherry Cordial Hershey Kisses and Oatmeal Cookies.

Betty Crocker Hot Chocolate Cupcake Mix and Review

I somehow injured my sacroiliac joint back on the 12th. I've been on bedrest since then. Boo. I'm finally able to move around a little bit in spurts and had to do some baking. HAD TO. Sitting still and not being able to cook or bake is murder on my soul. Especially this close to Christmas.

Christmas 2013 Photo Inspiration

Today was a real pain in the butt for being productively crafty. I can't find the staple gun so I had to temporarily abandon one project and start another. Then I ran out of garland. With not enough natural daylight left in my kitchen for food-blogging, I decided to instead take some pictures to share.

Banana Raspberry Holiday Cornbread

I made this the other day as an experiment and it turned out so, so yummy. You don't have to tell anyone how easy this is to make or that it isn't made from scratch-- unless you want to of course :P

Pretty Pearl Mini Christmas Trees

I love when a project comes out a million times prettier than you first imagined. These trees were gorgeous as they grew and came to life in my head but I finally got around to making them this weekend and I couldn't be happier with the final result.

Christmas Gumdrop Tree

Christmas crafting and centerpieces don't get much easier than this gumdrop tree. Did you see my Halloween version in my Halloween China cabinet? I made this red and green tree last year and thanks to shellac and careful packing, you'd never know any time has passed. Click here for the full tutorial for both trees. When do you start decorating for Christmas?