Christmas Tutu Dress Made!

So I decided it was way cheaper to make than buy these cute dresses.

                                                         

They turned out really pretty, and super poofy. But the girls love it that way.

For the two dresses I read a ton of tutorials and then decided to just go for it. I ended up buying five rolls of ivory at 25 yards per roll and 4 rolls of red glitter at 13 yards per roll and 3 rolls of green glitter at 13 yards per roll. I also bought a roll of stretchy elastic ribbon, and a pretty glitzy flower button. Every single item was 50% off at Hobby Lobby. I Spent about $30 including taxes. I had a needle and thread to start with.

I spent about three hours total making both dresses. I used a crochet hook to help me pull the tulle through the holes in my decorative elastic ribbon, regular elastic might have been easier. I will also be making a slip for my older daughter to wear under her dress (hopefully this will cost nothing with some leftover fabric) and I will put the baby in a white onesie (that she already has) to keep her warm and covered.

Next time I will NOT let my daughter choose the sparkly tulle, it was very sticky and hard to pull, it was also a lot less soft than the ivory. Don't even get me started on the mess from the glitter, it is still everywhere.

Overall it was a lot less money than purchasing, the kids love them, and it only took a few hours, I made them while watching a movie, definitely worth it. If you don't want to make one, check my etsy site in the near future and you can purchase one custom made for your child.

Chocolate Hazelnut Goodies!

 
I'm in a Nutella kind of mood today. Doesn't everyone just love this stuff, creamy, chocolaty and delicious! I try not to feed it to my kids on toast very often. Not that its not amazing and just as good a source of protein as peanut butter, but I don't want them to think of sweet chocolatey yumminess as an everyday kind of food. I want it to be a treat. So I had an amazing idea. TRUFFLES. I love truffles. They are an amazing dessert. Do you want a list why I love truffles? I thought so.

Truffles are:
1. Delicious
2. A lovely small pre portioned amount
3. Rich enough that you don't feel the need to eat twenty
4. Super special, bring anyone truffles and they feel happy and special
5. Really easy to execute. These things do not take baking skills, or decorating skills to do a great job on. (they do take high quality ingredients though)

So here is my super simple, delicious every time and totally creative truffle recipe:

1 cup dark chocolate semisweet chips
1 cup heavy cream

Buy the best quality you can, heat the cream over medium on the stove until it is good and hot, (simmering not boiling) take it off the heat. Stir in Chocolate. Stir some more till its melty and amazing. Add the secret ingredients:

1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put in a bowl and chill in refrigerator. once totally cold and hard, pull it out, use a spoon and your hands to make small balls. If you do this nice and quick and then roll in your choice of toppings.

If you want more perfect balls, freeze them, then take them out and roll around in your hands for a second to make more round before rolling in a topping.

Photo Credit: http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Truffles/

Toppings:

Classic: Cocoa powder (unsweetened) dump in a bowl (feeling courages add a tablespoon of red chile powder for truffles with a kick) roll truffles in powder, shake off excess and place on pretty plate. Roll. Shake. Plate.

Mocha: take your instant coffee granules and blend in the food processor until nice and fine. Roll. Shake. Plate.

Lavender: (these taste amazing) pick up some organic lavender in the salad section of your grocery, process with equal parts lavender and superfine sugar. Roll. Shake. Plate.

Hard Chocolate (These are a little more skilled to make): Freeze your balls, Melt some high quality chocolate in a bowl over simmering water, stir until just melted, remove from heat but leave on top of water, Dip your frozen truffles into the melted chocolate, place on a cooling rack where the excess can drain off or onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. (its easiest to dip truffles into plenty of chocolate so use more than you need)

Nuts: Use any kind of nut you like, Pistachio, walnut, pecan, almond, piñon, etc. Chop finely or food proceess to your liking, they are prettier if they are really fine, but i like the crunch you get with a slightly bigger nut. Roll. Shake. Plate.

Powdered Sugar: Roll. Shake. Plate.

Today I am making Nutella Truffles, and wouldn't you know it, pinterest has done this before. Nutella Sea Salt Truffles. 

Don't you just want to make/eat those? I did. and they were amazing. I am going to take some to my gluten free sister this afternoon. (another amazing thing about truffles, naturally gluten free) and make her feel special for no reason and with unbelievably little effort.

These also make an amazing Christmas present: Some packaging ideas from, you guessed it, Pinterest.

 

        

Last minute kids gifts ahead of time

 You can find You know how on the night before the last day of school before winter vacation your daughter comes and tells you she has 15 best friends who she just has to give holiday presents too?

This year why not get the jump on her, when you still have time set aside an afternoon to make a bunch of easy and inexpensive but thoughtful gifts. Friendship Bracelets are great. You remember that box of colorful string and instructions she got for her birthday two years ago from your friend who doesn't have kids? You know the one she subsequently tied up her little brothers with and you had to cut the mass of tangled embroidery floss from him, while they were all screaming and crying; then you threw out every string you could find and cursed your well meaning friend? That's the stuff, but some more string, but maybe only three or four colors. After all besties all need matching bracelets anyway.

The only two problems with this are: she wants to make them all for herself and she wants to give them out immediately.

So after indulging, I mean practicing, on the first ten for her; and figuring our where to put them away where you will find them and the kids won't; it's time to get down to business. After extensive research on Pinterest I found
a ton of cute modern touches to your basic knotted up string. 

And the winners are: Lego center detail 

 You can find my pinspiration here http://www.thecentsiblelife.com/2013/02/lego-friendship-bracelets/

Bangle friendship bracelets You can find my pinspiration here :http://www.diy-craft.com/2013/07/how-to-make-summer-bracelet.html obviously my version is much simpler.

And of course just a classic friendship bracelet 

 These could be personalized by adding a charm with the initial of their first name or an animal or something unusual from around the house like small buttons or sequins tied into them.

My tips: it doesn't matter what kind of knot you use as long as you tie it in the same direction every time.  Pin the end of your work to the back of a chair or something to make it faster. If you don't want to make your own keep an eye on my etsy site for a bunch of choices soon!

Lotion Bars for Stocking Stuffers

I know what you are thinking, "Stocking stuffers?!? It's still September!" and I can see your point. But my holiday shopping list is really long. I have a lot of big families in my family. So I think about gift giving all the time, and am always for finding great deals and storing them away until needed.

Sometimes this backfires on me, my kids find a bag of toys in the top of my closet and make a tuesday morning christmas just for them.  But most of the time it really helps me stick to a tight budget, or save some money to spend on a place that would normally get overlooked, like myself or my husband.


So I found an easy lovely lotion bar recipe from this cute blog and thought immediately my mom and sisters would love that. They are all sensitive to perfumes and fake stuff so they usually spend a fortune on all natural skin care products.

Naturally I changed the recipe to suit what I had in the kitchen, but it works out basically the same.

I used 1 part beeswax and 2 parts coconut oil. I did not bother with any scents as the beeswax and coconut oil smelled amazing. Melt together on low heat until totally liquid, then pour in a mold. I happen to have an amazing flower shaped silicone cupcake pan. (Thanks to my mother in law and whoever invited her to a pampered chef party)

Don't they look delicious? Anyway I have used these all summer, and they are amazing. I gave them to my family to beta test and they all beg for more. My little sister uses these instead of shaving cream and is shaving less often with no need to moisturize after. They are amazing, and I will just keep making more.




Don't have the time to make your own. These will definitely be on my Etsy site along with my husbands homemade olive oil soap sometime in the next few weeks.