Christmas time is here and that means it’s time for Christmas gifts. I know when it comes to the perfect gift to my mom I just need to do something that involves her dogs! I decided to make her a special shash for her Prima Miche bag. I am a Miche representative and all of the ladies in my family carry these great bags so I have made my own sashes for certain shells. I picked 30 favorite pictures of all her dogs and printed them on fabric paper that I found at the local craft store. I simply created the print out in Word and made them about two inches height and closely next to each other. I cut the rows of pictures in small strips and sewed them all together to create a long ribbon. I then sewed on a cute dog print fabric to the other side of the picture ribbon. Lastly I ironed the sash and put it on a new Prima shell. I have no doubt that she is going to love her personalized gift. I hope you take the time to make a unique gift this Christmas for someone special.

Jack started on the fireplace remodel when he mounted our TV onto the wall above. We didn't get to work on the next phase of the remodel until this month which was perfect for Santa Cause to shimmy down it on Christmas Eve! 

We decided that it would be much easier to cover the old brick than it would be to remove them completely, however, due to the uneven texture he had to even them out with a small jack hammer that attached to our air compressor. We spray painted the inside of the fireplace with a high heat white spray paint; since the bricks were so porous we had to use five cans of spray paint to get an even finish. 

 We left the original marble on the bottom step of the fireplace so we found a great mosaic tile that was made up of stone, glass, and marble that complemented the marble and the design we wanted. Cutting the title turned out much more difficult than we were expecting. We tried several types of saw blades, but they only left the different types of tile in crumbles. After much research and patience we found that a grinder with a diamond blade worked the best. We used a peanut butter consistency of mortar to tile with using 1/8 tile spacers. As I tiled, Jack cut the needed lengths so we were done in no time. Once the mortar was completed dried, we used a sanded grout to fill in all of the space between the tiles.

Who doesn't love homemade Christmas treats?! I love to do a little something for all of my coworkers, but since there is so many I need to keep it simple and cheap! I got the idea for the Spoonful of Sugar from seeing those honey dipped spoons you see in little gift shops when on road trips. Since I don't know too many people who drink tea I decided to dip my spoons into chocolate to mix coffee with. Yum! 

I dipped each spoon into the melted chocolate and immediately sprinkled with sugar sprinkles. I used two small jars to sprinkle the spoons over. I let the spoons cool on wax paper. Once they were dried I covered them in cellophane wrappers and tied a ribbon and a Spoonful of Sugar tag. 

​My Grandma passed away a few weeks ago and today is her birthday. Now she wasn't the type to make a big fuss of her and she really didn't want a sad memorial services so we decided to get the immediate family together for a birthday dinner celebration. As the family baker I got asked to make simple cake that would honor her. I selected some of my favorite pictures of her and went to our local cake supply store and to have the pictures printed on editable rice paper. 

This year for Christmas gifts we decided to give out baskets with homemade goodies. The first thing that is going in the baskets is homemade berry jam, the second item going in is homemade canned chocolate sauce! This is an incredible easy and delightful recipe. I always keep a couple of these jars in my pantry since the chocolate is perfect over ice cream or in a glass of milk. Once you try this you will never want to go back to those High Fructose Corn Syrup version found at the grocery store!!!

Ingredients
     1 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
     1 cup Sugar
     1 cup Water
     1/2 tsp Salt
     1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

1. Whisk together the cocoa powder and the sugar in a medium saucepan until blended. Add the water and the salt. Stir constantly over medium heat until boiling.
2. Continue to boil for 3-4 minutes until the sauce thickens.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Makes one cup.
4. Pour the syrup while it is still  warm in jars. Refrigerate up to a month or preserve it by using the same canning method as in the homemade jam.

Growing up I was very blessed as a kid since we always had homemade jam. My favorite jam was this incredible fresh elderberry jam that my aunt made. She would pick the wild elderberries near her cabin and give them out as gifts. This year I thought about bringing back that tradition and made and gave my own jam as Christmas gifts. Now mine wasn't fresh elderberry jam, but frozen mix berries works perfectly!! There is just no comparison between overly processed store bought jam and delicious homemade jam! I used 5 cups of frozen berries with 7 cups of sugar. Each fruit has different amounts so make sure to follow the recipe on the pectin box.

Wash, then boil the 1/2 pint jars and lid rings for 10 minutes.

Boil water in a small saucepan for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place the lids in the hot water. Leave in the water until needed.

Crush 5 cups of mixed berries in a large pot and mix in pectin then bring to a rolling boil.

Stir sugar in and bring back to rolling boil for one minute exactly. Remove from heat and skim off any foam with a spoon.

Before the jam gets too cool pour into the sterilized jars using the funnel. Use the measurer to leave a 1/2 inch gab. Place the lid on the jar and tighten the ring. Place the jars in hot water and boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove with the tongs and cool on a towel. Wait 24 hours before enjoying.

Today was our Winter Warmer at work. Each division in the department was asked to submit a raffle basket to help raise funds for the next event, so we decided to make a Lottery Tree. Since I'm the crafty one of the group I got to put it together. It took a little maneuvering, but I think it turned out great and was a big hit at the luncheon!!

I started with a craft store cardboard tree and painted it a metallic emerald green. Also at the craft store I found a round wooden base that I painted gold and a gold star to top it all off.

Once the tree is glued to the base and the star glued to the top, start taping the largest lottery tickets to the bottom of the tree. Only tape the top of the tickets and if needed the sides so the bottom can curve out to look like branches. Moving up use the smaller tickets and spacing them accordingly.

Once all the tickets have been taped in place decorate it with some garland and presents!