It's.. Christmas Eve! o-o

Today I realized it's Christmas Eve.. o-o I know everyone says this and it's a bit cheesy, but wow. Time really does fly away. But, I don't care! I mean, it's Christmas eve! ~ That means... presents! I get to just spend time with family with the fire place on.. Speaking of which, what's your favorite thing about Christmas/The Holidays? Honestly, I love Christmas 'cause I get to feel all warm and cozy in mah awesome sweaters and hats.. Sadly it doesn't snow where I live, I wish it did on Christmas, that would feel so.. soo... AWESOME! It's a bit damp outside right now though where I live, since it rained. ( By the way, I live in California ) But, still.. I wish it had a more snowy affect to where I live.. I also love just the feeling of being cozy in my pajamas drinking hot cocoa while opening presents with family! Ya know, all those stereotypical things about Christmas. I'm excited to open my presents this year, I have like 6 presents, which I am VERY grateful for, and I'm really curious to see what they are.. Christmas treats are always really fun to make - and to eat too. Baking in general. I pretty much love everything about Christmas-not just getting gifts... Today I have been extremely irritating to my older siblings as I caroled all around the house. .. Ehh, I just really want it to be Christmas.. Is that a problem? O_o Aha, well, nothing much really happened today so far.. Recap : waked up, morning routine, wrapped some presents! Um.. Watched T.V... Ate breakfast, games, doing whatever, lunch, and here I am on the computer.. Well, that's pretty much for my blog today, so I'll just go now.. Oh yeah, the video : I'm really addicted to this song.. Aha, I love it.

Christmas Guide 2012 ~ Girls

Mistletoe ~ A Cute DIY ( Hugs Only Sign )

Today I am going to show you a really cute decoration you can make for Christmas time.

You Need :
Mistletoe
Cardboard
Markers
Decor ~ Glitter, anything you want to decorate the board.

To Do :
Stick your mistletoe on the wall, however way you want it.
Then, just get your cardboard, any color you'd like it, and have it cut to your liking. As you can see from the upper picture, it is around that big..
With marker, write down HUGS ONLY on the cardboard nice and big!
Decorate any way you'd like, I did mine with glitter.

Countdown 2 X - Mas -- 12 Days ( My Fav. Christmas Songs! )

Hey guys! Oh my god. 12 days? Squee! Presents.. I mean. Christmas, here I come! ! ! ! Anyways, today on my awesome blogmas series, I'm gonna be showing you guys my favorite Christmas songs / cover! :)

I'm not usually prone to liking Justin Bieber, but c'mon.. It's Cimorelli. .. But, anyways.. I do love how they arranged this song and I love their little video with Nick Cimorelli ~ How Cute! <3

I love this song because I actually am singing this for my holiday impromptu and I'm singing it in my choir. Of course, it isn't as beautiful, but I think my choir as in for the youngest people in it are 7 year olds.. It's beautiful. Ours is arranged differently but I <3 it. Just. . Pretty.

What can I say about this one? It's catchy and the music video is hilarious.. Love it. 

Then of course there's the Jingle Bells, and all the classics. :) 

Recipe Of The Week - Christmas Mice!

Squee! :D Thanks for all the views my lovelies! <3

Christmas Mice Cookies Recipe

Christmas Mice Cookies Recipe

• Prep: 30 min. + chilling
• Yield: 18 Servings

3030

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (about 40 wafers), divided
• 1/3 cup Daisy Brand Sour Cream
• 36 red nonpareils
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 18 pieces black shoestring licorice (2 inches each)

Directions

• In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in 1 cup crumbs and sour cream. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
• For each mouse, roll about 1 tablespoon chocolate mixture into a ball, tapering one end to resemble a mouse. Roll in remaining chocolate crumbs to coat. Position nonpareils for eyes, almond slices for ears and licorice pieces for tails. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.

C2C - 15 Days - Peppermint Bark!

My undisputed favorite holiday treat is peppermint bark. I'm not a big chocolate-lover, but there's something about the combination of chocolate and mint that just hits me in the right spot. After noticing that various purveyors have been jacking up their prices for peppermint bark, I set out to make some of my own.

Here's the tricky thing. I've not yet learned to temper chocolate. The chocolate you purchase in the store is already tempered. However, the act of melting it breaks down the crystal structure of the chocolate effectively removing it from temper. In order to temper it again, its cooling must be carefully controlled as the chocolate is worked to allow its crystal structure to form fully. This dense crystal structure is what gives the cooled chocolate a shiny surface, a pleasant snap when bitten into or broken, and a minimally increased resistance to melting in your hand.

The following recipe will produce peppermint bark that is best stored in the refrigerator and consumed while still cool. If left to come to room temperature, it's very likely to become a pliable, melt-quickly-in-your-hand mess. Fortunately the cool refrigerator temperature enhances the minty peppermint, and once the bark is in your mouth, it melts just as luxuriously as plain chocolate does. And it tastes just like Christmas.

PEPPERMINT BARK

6 oz dark chocolate (I used 70% cacao content El Rey chocolate) – cut into small pieces if in block form

8 oz white chocolate – cut into small pieces if in block form

1 teaspoon peppermint oil, separated

¼ cup crushed peppermint

Begin by preparing an 8" x 8" pan by carefully lining it with wax paper. I did this by cutting out two pieces that were roughly as wide as the pan and about twice as long. Then I laid them in the pan perpendicular to each other, taking care to allow the long edges to hang over the pan edges.

Next, melt the dark chocolate and stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the peppermint oil.

Carefully spread this along the bottom of prepared pan, smoothing it and working it to the corners with a rubber spatula. Place this in the refrigerator till firm, at least 30 minutes.

If you haven't done so already, crush your peppermint. (There are many methods for doing this. My approach is to put the intended amount of peppermint into a heavy freezer bag, then squish the air out of the bag and seal it. Next I take my favorite heavy implement - in this case, my meat tenderizer though a pub glass or a frying pan would work - and pound on the peppermint till it's as crushed as I like.)

Next, melt the white chocolate and stir in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint oil. You will notice that I call for more white chocolate than dark. I've tried the recipe with equal amounts, but when dumping the hot white chocolate on the dark, it's very easy to get dark streaks of melted chocolate showing through the white. Making that layer a bit thicker makes it easier to spread out without causing streaking.

Spread this on top of the chilled dark chocolate, again smoothing and working it into the corners with a rubber spatula. As soon as it's spread out, sprinkle the peppermint on top. Place this into the refrigerator till completely chilled, at least an hour.

Break the chocolate into serving-sized chunks. If the chocolate bends when you try to break it, stick it back in the refrigerator for a while longer.

C2C ( Countdown 2 X-Mas ) - Crystal Snowflake - 20 Days

Hey girlies! :D Today Ima do another Countdown To Christmas craft with y'all, and it's really cool and fun!

Before I start, I wanna show you this AWESOME and COOL site! :D http://emailsanta.com/clock.asp

Okayy.. And let's get started!

Make an amazing snowflake from real crystal (borax). This is a beautiful project (and also demonstrates some basic principles of chemistry).

Supplies needed:

Wide mouthed jar 3 white pipe cleaners String Scissors Pencil Boiling water (have an adult do this part) Spoon Borax (called 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster - the product called Boraxo will NOT work) Optional: blue food coloring

Make a giant snowflake frame from 3 white pipe cleaners and string. Twist the 3 pipe cleaners together in the center to make a 6-sided, spiky figure.Make sure this figure fits inside the wide-mouthed jar.

Tie the string around the pipe cleaners to look like a snowflake shape. Trim the excess string.

Tie a few inches of string to one of the pipe cleaners. Tie the other end of the string to a pencil, so that the snowflake will hang from the pencil and dangle inside the jar.Take the snowflake out of the jar.

Pour boiling water into the jar (have an adult do this part).Add the 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster to the hot water in the jar. Keep adding the Borax until you have a supersaturated solution (you will see undissolved Borax at the bottom of the jar). You'll have to add about 3 tablespoonfuls of the 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster to each cup of hot water in the jar. Optional: Add a few drops of blue food coloring for a bluish snowflake.

Hang the snowflake in the jar and wait at least overnight.In the morning, your snowflake will be covered with beautiful crystals. As the supersaturated solution cools, the borax comes out of solution (less of the borax can dissolve in cool water) and forms crystals on the pipe cleaners and string.You can do the same type of project using supersaturated sugar-water and a string, making edible rock candy (but the crystals take longer to form).

C2C - 21 Days -- Christmas Countdown Blocks

Hey guys! Today I found this AWESOME DIY for Christmas, and it's also a very fun and cool decoration~ So, of course, I HAD to share it with you! Here it is!

Materials

Wooden Blocks (2 – 3.5 x 3.5 inch blocks & a 10 x 3.5 inch block)

White Cardstock
Countdown Printables: page 1 ,page 2, page 3, page 4
White Paint
Paintbrush
Mod Podge
Straight Edge Trimmer or Scissors

Directions
Step 1:Paint all of the blocks white. Allow to dry overnight.

Step 2: Download and print out the countdown block printables on white cardstock. Cut them out using a straight edge trimmer or scissors.

Download the FREE printable labels here: 
page 1 ,page 2, page 3, page 4

Step 3: Add a coat of mod podge to the back of the “Days Until Christmas” printable and glue it to the larger 10 x 3.5 inch wooden block.

Step 4: Adhere numbers 0,1,2,3,4,5 (the numbers with the chevron design) to the first block using mod podge.

Step 5: Adhere numbers 0,1,2,6,7,8 (the numbers with the mod dots design) to the second block using mod podge.The 6 can also be used as a 9 when flipped upside down.

Step 6: You can add a coat of mod podge to the front of the printables to seal it. The colors might run a bit so I suggest using only a small amount of mod podge and only brushing over the area once or not coating the front at all.

Step 7:Place the smaller blocks on top of the larger block and start counting down to Christmas!