Happy New Year!

I hope you all have been enjoying the holiday season with your friends and family!  I'll be back posting some fun projects soon (I'm enjoying the time with my own family and friends).  Until then, have a fantastic New Years Eve!  Stay safe!

Merry ChristmasTo All!

Enjoy this time with your family, friends and loved ones.  Emmerse yourselves in the special moments, laughter and being in each others company.  Be grateful, kind and compassionate for we have been given so very much in this life (my special gift is in the picture above!). 

Warm wishes to you all, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Giveaway from Pick Your Plum!

I am oh so very happy to host an awesome giveaway courtesy of Pick Your Plum!

For those unaware, PYP is an awesome daily deal site offering fabulous deals on quality crafting supplies to feed your creativity!  They are generously giving away a sweetly packed Plum box of fab crafting supplies worth $25!  Here's a sample of some previous offers...

I know...awesome, right?  PS, the images above are not necessarily the exact items the winner will receive.

Let's get down to business!

In order to be entered into the draw for this amazing Plum swag, please head on over to PYP's Facebook page and click 'Like', then come on back here and leave me a comment on this post saying you have done so.  If your email is not linked to your Blogger profile, please be sure to leave your email address with your comment so I can contact you if you win!

Want additional entries into the draw?  Each of these will give you an extra entry!  But make sure you've 'Liked' PYP's Facebook page first, otherwise, the extra entries don't count.

Bonus Entry 1 - Sign up for the PYP newsletter, then leave a new comment saying you've done so.
Bonus Entry 2 - Follow PYP on Pinterest, then leave a new comment saying you've done so.
Bonus Entry 3 - Follow SaltTree to the right -> and leave a new comment saying you've done so.

Ok, so the last one is shameless self promotion.... lol.

The giveaway will remain open until December 31, 2011, 11:59pm EST.  One winner will be selected at random and announced January 2nd, 2012.  Open to US residents only.

Good luck everyone!

*GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED*

White Chocolate Cranberry Almond Bark

Yum.E!  I was trying to think of some last minute neighbour gifts that were super easy and didn't take a lot of actual labour.  After all, with a little one running around and a full time job, things need to be quick and easy in general!  So, using three ingredients I had on hand and barely five minutes of my time, this is what I came up with.

Candy Coated Swizzle Sticks

Hi everyone!  This is a recent post I shared over at Type A!

I'm going to share with you something sweet and simple.  I know, just look at it... yes, it DOES taste as yummy as it looks!  It's a white chocolate and crushed candy cane coated swizzle stick, just in time for the holiday season.
Super easy + inexpensive x indulgent goodies = excellent gift idea! 

Here is what you'll need for this little treat;
- chocolate candy melts, your choice of colour and flavour
- something to 'dip' like plastic spoons, candy canes, wooden stir sticks etc
- crushed candy cane or candy cane flavoured crystals
- wax paper

Put the candy melts in a microwave safe bowl and melt in 30 second increments, stirring in between.  You don't want to burn it, so better to go slow.  Do not add water or you will cause them to seize.

Once completely melted, coat your chosen swizzle stick in chocolate (about 3-4 inches worth) and then coat with the crushed candy cane bits.  Set on wax paper to cool and firm up.  If you find they look a little scrawny, just coat with chocolate and sprinkles again to fatten them up.

Yep!  You're done!  It really is that simple.  The top is a straight candy cane and the bottom is a coffee stir stick which was by far the most economical route when making these.  Just wait until they are fully cooled before packaging them... and it's a must that you do a little quality control taste test *wink*.

Package in clear baggies tied with ribbon, glass mason jars or anything else that you fancy.  You could package a few in a mug with some cocoa so it's already to go.

You bet I had one with my hot cocoa after this shoot... those little boy hands also found it hard to resist and managed to sneak a taste or two.  So, consider it one year old approved!

Delightful, Soft, Sugar Cookies

Christmas is getting close, holiday baking is well underway...so that means, it's time to share my sugar cookie recipe with you! These are my all time, favourite sugar cookies, hands down.  They are soft and easy to cut using cookie cutters.  The dough freezes extremely well for up to 3 months.  I made a couple batches of cookie dough last year before Foster was born in October and they baked up into fresh and tasty cookies for Christmas.  You couldn't tell they dough had been frozen at all! 

So come on, take a look, make it, pin it, tweet it, facebook it, stumble it, bookmark it... you're going to want this recipe!  You will go back to it again and again!

Guest Post at Type A

Hi everyone!  I've just done a guest post over at Type A as part of the 25 Days of Guest Bloggers going on right now!  So please hop over and take a peek!  I shared a super simple, tasty treat that would make great little Christmas gifts for others or yourself.  Thanks so much to Tammy for having me!

And stay tuned... I've got some other yummy things coming up very shortly!

Musical Cookie Tin

I saw an awesome little idea at a thrift store recently and I just had to share it!  I know your thinking... it's just a metal tin....

... it's a musical tin!  I was so excited, especially after recently sharing my musical ornament tutorial with you all.  This would be a great way to give a little extra oomph to some gifted holiday sweets, wouldn't it?

Supply list
A tin with a flat side
Drill
Glue or Screws
Music box mechanism (new or recycled)
Safety glasses (wear them!)

Lay a piece of paper over the music box mechanism (the side with the turn key, but take the turn key off for now).  Using a pencil or marker, make a mark where the turn key / screws would go by feeling it through the paper.  Then, tape this onto the outside of your tin (as shown above) and drill through using the appropriate sized and type of drill bit.  Be sure to wear your safety glasses!

No measuring required.  If you are using glue to adhere your mechanism, just drill one hole for the turn key.  I recommend using E-6000 as your adhesive. 

Some music box mechanisms might have covers which would be great for this project.  Mine doesn't, so I lined the tin with wax paper before filling it with some favourite cookies.  An assortment of tea or individually wrapped candy would also be pretty sweet ;)

Enjoy!

Yarnaments

Today we have an incredibly easy project... so much that I probably don't even need to do a tutorial.  But just in case... here you go!  Some simple and sweet yarn wrapped styrofoam balls, which I call, Yarnaments.  Clever right?  ... Um.... okay... maybe a little silly... but so am I lol.

Supplies needed:  Styrofoam balls, Yarn, Scissors.  Foofy work surface is not required, but highly recommended.

Hold down the end of your yarn and just start wrapping it around the styrofoam ball.  Once you get it around a few times, the tail end will not unravel.  Keep going around and around until you can no longer see the styrofoam and the ball looks uniform.  Cut your yarn so that you're free from the skein (ball of yarn), and knot it around one of the strands you've wrapped around the ball.  Tuck in the tail end under the other strands of yarn.

You can tie an extra bit of yarn so you can hang the yarnament or use ribbon... or don't tie anything at all!

I think they would look adorable on a Christmas tree, in a bowl as decoration or hanging a bunch together in a group.  I think the multicoloured one is my favourite... it reminds me of candy canes!

Remember, yarn, styrofoam and a foofy work surface = a good time.