The Annual Yule Log

Swissmas by Mathew Lucas

For the past six years on Christmas day, I've posted a video of a yule log.  This year I'm breaking from tradition and sharing this Yule Log 2.0 site.  Just click on the image to visit the Yule Log 2.0 site.  Once there, you can pick out a yule log to watch that suits your taste. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Festive Funk Machine by Moo

I know this is a silly time waster but I like it none-the-less.  Cute design gets me every time. The Moo site has created this interactive music generator called the Festive Funk Machine.  All you do is click on a robot and it starts singing or playing an instrument.  My kids and I had fun making different combinations of tunes. You might enjoy it too.  Click here, for some funky holiday music.

Part II: Christmas Gift Wrap with Origami Details

The more gifts I wrap, the more ideas I come up with.  Here are a few new ideas for my "origami theme" gift wrap.  In case you missed it, you can see the first part of Christmas Gift Wrap here.

 O Little Town of Bethlehem

A medallion made from Motif Pattern of Origami.

Palha Italiana Recipe

A few weeks ago my husband came home raving about a dessert (Palha Italiana) he tried at his company potluck. What piqued my interest was he claimed it was better than his maple flan recipe.  Now maybe flan doesn't sound that exciting to you but the flan recipe he has is amazing.  To me it's a cross between creme brulee and flan.  People who don't even like flan love that recipe so naturally I wanted to know more about this "Palha Italiana".

Fast forward to today, I got the recipe and tested it out.  The verdict: I still think the flan is better.  However, this recipe won the dessert potluck contest over all the other fresh baked goods. Since it's so easy to make, I thought some of you might enjoy it for the holiday season. 

This recipe was given to me by the Lyon family.  They also gave me permission to share it with all of you on my blog.   Enjoy!

Palha Italiana Recipe

Ingredients:

2 packages (4.9 oz) of Maria's cookies - pictured above, this box comes with four packages total

2 14oz cans of sweetened condensed milk 

1 stick of butter - the recipes didn't specify unsalted.  If you like a little salty taste use salted, otherwise use unsalted

1 egg

2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder

Sugar for rolling

Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

1.  Break up both packages of cookies into fourths/fifths.  Place in a large bowl and set aside.

2.  Whisk egg and set aside.

3.  In a medium size saucepan, melt butter.  In order, add both cans of sweetened condensed milk, egg and cocoa powder.  Whisk until smooth.

4.  On medium to high heat, cook until mixture thickens (about 10 minutes) stirring continuously.  I found the mixture starts off thick, gets thin from the heat and thickens up again.  The texture of the sauce will be like pudding when it's ready.

5.  Add sauce to bowl of broken cookies and fold in mixture so all the cookies are coated.

6.  Spray a 9 x 13in glass pan with cooking spray.  

7.  Add mixture to pan and spread out to make flat.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or more. 

8.  Once set, take out of fridge and cut the dessert into 1in squares while it's still in the pan.

9.  Roll each square in sugar.  Enjoy

It can be enjoyed chilled or at room temperature.  Our family prefers it at room temperature because of the soft texture.

Printable: Snowman Drink Decorations

Have you ever visited the Mood Kids site before?  I discovered the site a while back and found their projects quite charming.  They have a good amount of fun printables.  One specifically that caught my eye was this snowman drink decoration.  I especially liked the creative use of the orange straw as a nose.  These would be fun to use as a surprise at dinner.  Or you could print out a set for a classroom party.   Click here for the free printable.

Chrismas Gift Wrap with Origami Details

 Origami Dove

Each year I like to choose a theme for my Christmas gift wrap.  This year I decided to incorporate origami pieces into the wrapping as a picture.  The gifts were wrapped with basic brown craft paper.  Once the gift was wrapped, I  drew directly onto the package with a white paint pen.  And for the final touch, I added an origami piece made from metallic paper.  The gifts came out fairly close to my vision.  If I had more time, I would have changed a few things but it is just wrapping after all.  I know this will all be ripped away in a matter of weeks so I can't be too picky.  Plus, I still have more gifts to wrap. 

 Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

Origami Angel Tree Topper

Kid Craft: Holiday Cards for Dolls

My family and I our in the full swing of the holiday season.  The Christmas tree and other decorations are up.  The kid's have been feasting on their chocolate advent calendars.  Dates for holiday gatherings have been set.  And last but definitely not least, we've been crafting.  My daughter and I have been making these tiny holiday cards for her American Girl doll.  They're such an easy craft, I thought some of you or your children might enjoy making them too. 

Supplies:

Christmas images (about 1 /12in by 1 in) - we cut out images of cards from a Paper Source catalog.  Any small Christmas images will work. Look through all those catalogs you been receiving in the mail.

Scraps of card stock

Glue dots or glue stick

Scissors

Scoring Tool (optional)

Instructions:

1. Adhere image with glue dots to the right side of a card stock scrap.

2. With a scoring tool or by hand, fold paper behind image to make a card shape.

3.  Hold the card shut flat and trim off excess paper.  Making the cards this way opposed to measuring out the card stock first is easier for children.

Fun Labels for Your Handmade Goods

Image Credit: Sublime Stitching

For me, what elevates a nice gift to fabulous are the details.  That could mean the way it's wrapped, how it's presented or a special detail to the gift itself.  Which is why I'm absolutely smitten about these labels from Sublime Stitching. They're just the right touch of whimsy for that special handmade gift.  I personally like the Japanese labels that read "made with love".  However, the "this took forever" labels come in a close second because haven't we all wanted to say that at some time.  

What's your favorite?  Would you use these labels in your handmade gifts?

Hand-knit Gift #2

As I mentioned earlier, I've been trying to make a few gifts for Christmas.  I knit this hat last week. It only took me two days to complete but one could easily make it in a day.  And don't let the leaf pattern intimidate you, it's actually pretty easy to knit. I was even able to watch T.V. while knitting this.  That's the true test of a simple pattern.

This hat is knit on size 10 needles with bulky yarn.  If you look at the original pattern, you'll notice that there's a larger ribbed band at the bottom.  I had to adjust this since I used size 10 1/2 needles. 

The pattern for the hat was designed by Deniza Bakalova and is called Autumn Leaves Hat.  You can get the pattern for free on Ravelry.