Tag Archives: holiday

Hello, faithful readers!  How’s everyone’s Christmas shopping going?  I still have quite a bit left to do and not a whole lot of time to do it!  If you’re like me, I’m always looking for new easy and inexpensive ideas.  If holiday shopping and DIY gift-making is your plan this week, I’ve got a special treat for you today!

I’m sure many of you remember the DIY Beard Hat Pattern I shared earlier this year.  I made this beard hat for Daniel as a Christmas gift last year.  He loved it so much, I wanted to share it with all of you, since I know I had a hard time finding the perfect pattern.  I had no idea so many of you would love it too!

Knitting a beard hat for someone is a great DIY Christmas gift on its own, but if you know someone that wants to learn to knit, there’s an even better way to present this gift.  A knitting kit!

I had a very sweet and talented reader contact me with this great idea.  She’s a graphic designer from Spain, and she created a wonderful printed tutorial based on my beard hat pattern.  She originally created it for her sister-in-law to include in a knitting kit for her, but she generously wants to share it with all of you as well!

You can download the Beard Hat Pattern tutorial here, and then simply print out the guide on standard letter sized paper.  You’ll notice there are small black lines on each corner.  Those are just guide lines for cutting each side, as the graphic is smaller than the paper.

She also included this handy guide on how to fold the printed tutorial.

Here’s how I followed the guide:

1. With the blank side of the paper facing up, and the Knit Beard Pattern cover closest to me.  Fold the cover side up.  You will now have steps 7-16 facing up and upside down.  This is Step 2 on the graphic.
2. Fold over the right side of the tutorial, you will now have steps 3-6 facing up (upside down).  This is Step 3 on the graphic.  This is just to create a crease, so then you will unfold the right side of the tutorial.
3. I then flipped the tutorial over, so steps 1-6 were facing up.  Then following Step 4 on the graphic, I folded both the left side and right side of the tutorial to the crease I just made.  You will now see the Knit Beard Pattern cover and steps 7-10 facing up.
4. I then folded the right side of the tutorial back (steps 7-10).  You should now be left with a little accordion booklet, with the cover facing up at you.  You can flip through to make sure all the steps are in order.

Here’s the finished Beard Hat Pattern printed tutorial!  Super cute, right?

This is such a great idea to include with a knitting kit, and a really easy, fast and inexpensive DIY Christmas gift!

If you’re not sure what to include in a knitting kit, you could always buy a pre-made kit.  This is actually the one I got as a kid, and how I taught myself to knit.  I still use a lot of the tools that came with it!

Here are a few more options for those that like to comparative shop:  Red Heart Knitting Made Easy Kit and the Learn Knitting! Kit.

I want to say a BIG thank you to Laia for her awesome idea for a printed tutorial and knitting kit.  And especially for being so kind and sharing her wonderful tutorial.  Be sure to head over to her website and check out more of her work!

Hey guys, so today I’m going to share an outrageously delicious Spicy Cashew Brittle recipe.  I made this for Daniel for Valentine’s Day, and he said it was the best brittle he’s ever had!  Not only is it delicious, but it’s also ridiculously easy to make!

Here’s what you need:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup cashews, chopped
• 1 tsp butter
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The original recipe called for a 1/2 tsp of rum extract and a 1/2 tsp of vanilla.  I couldn’t find rum extract anywhere, so I just upped the vanilla.  I also upped the cayenne because Daniel loves spicy food, but the brittle is still easy to eat for someone that can’t handle a lot of spicy (aka, me).  And my last deviation was using all cashews (original used 1/2 cup of pecans), because they are Daniel’s favorite!

Here’s what you do:

1. Butter a cookie sheet and set aside.  I also highly suggest setting up all your ingredients, as each step happens pretty fast and you’ll need to move quickly.
2. Lightly grease a 2-qt. microwave safe bowl, and combine sugar and corn syrup.  Microwave uncovered for 3 minutes, then stir.  Microwave an additional 2 1/2 minutes.  Stir in cashews, butter, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and nutmeg.
3. Microwave uncovered for 2 minutes, or until mixtures turns a light amber color (caution:  this will be extremely hot, so please be careful!).  Quickly stir in baking soda and extract until light and foamy.  Immediately pour mixture onto prepared pan, and evenly spread with a greased metal spatula.  Cool completely.

   

4. Once cooled, break into pieces and enjoy!  Store in an airtight container.

I’ve never been a huge fan of brittle, but I seriously can’t get enough of this one!  I thought it worked particularly well as a Valentine’s Day gift, because of the spice and heat.  It would also make a great Christmas treat as well – the cinnamon and nutmeg definitely give this brittle a holiday flavor!

Hi guys, so today I’m going to share some Valentine’s Day gift ideas with you.  These gift ideas come from some of my favorite presents that Daniel and I have given to each other throughout the years, and most of them will work for either a girl or a guy!

If you’ve been to my blog before, you know that I’ve mentioned that puzzles have long been a theme in our relationship.  So I’m sure you can imagine that this has influenced a lot of the gifts we’ve given each other!

One year I had the idea to get Daniel a puzzle piece necklace.  I personally think jewelry for a guy is an unexpected gift, which is the kind of gift I strive for.  Unique, personal, and meaningful is my mantra when searching for a gift (especially for Daniel).

After searching and searching, I finally turned my attention to Etsy and found the perfect puzzle piece necklace.  This necklace was by far the most masculine looking one I found.  The seller was super nice, and the necklace came quickly and looked just as pictured.  Daniel loved it, and I love it whenever he wears it!  It also gave Daniel the idea to have a friend of his make me a matching puzzle necklace in silver!

Staying with the puzzle theme, Daniel gave me this amazingly romantic and sentimental gift (originally for our 1st year anniversary)!  Yes, that’s right, he made a puzzle for me.  I was so surprised and in love with this gift, not only when I first got it but every time we put it together.

Another gift that keeps on giving is… a fondue pot!  Daniel also got me this during our first year together.  It was particularly sentimental to us because of an amazing fondue dinner during our first trip together, but this would make a fabulous gift for anyone.

He was also very clever and made it a two-in-one gift by including the ingredients for chocolate fondue!  We exchanged gifts after dinner and were able to try out the fondue pot that night!  Yes, I know, I’m an incredibly lucky girl.

Since then, we’ve elevated countless stay at home date nights and celebrated special occasions with a fondue dinner (as you can see below).  It’s amazing how it can invoke so many wonderful memories every time we use it!

I don’t know about you, but we have numerous songs that have become very meaningful to our relationship and signified different stages of it.  For that reason, another gift I love giving are records.  This originally stemmed from Daniel having a beautiful record player, but no records!  Also, I’m not sure why, but I’ve always found vinyl to be more romantic than a CD.

Of course, if your significant other doesn’t have a record player, Valentine’s Day would be a great excuse to get one!  I personally think this would be an awesome gift for a guy, and a more unique and unexpected gift as well!

This is the one Daniel has, which doesn’t appear to be sold new anymore, but I love the look and features!

Another favorite gift that Daniel gave me was a picnic basket!

Talk about a sweet gift!  Would you not melt after unwrapping this?  We’ve used it SO many times during the summer months, and it makes me smile every single time.

And last but certainly not least, Daniel started making awesome paintings last year, and he made this WALL-E and Eva pair for me for Valentine’s Day!

As you can see, I was pretty happy!  You can visit his Etsy page to get these adorable paintings for your significant other.  I’m sure any Pixar-loving girl (such as myself) would LOVE to have these hanging on her wall!

There you have it, a few unique and meaningful Valentine’s Day gift ideas for your guy or girl!

I hope you all have a very special Day of Love!

The very first Valentine’s Day Daniel and I celebrated together I made him cupcakes as one of his presents.  Not just any cupcakes though… Daniel has a love affair with spicy foods, and when I was looking for sweets to make, I was specifically looking for HOT recipes.

In my search I came across this recipe for Chocolate Chipotle Cupcakes, and I thought, “This is perfect!”  It’s got spicy, it’s got chocolate (who doesn’t love chocolate?), and it’s definitely more unique than other cupcake flavors I could of made.  I was sold and decided to make the recipe, and I was super impressed with how delicious they turned out!

Now I’d like to share the recipe with my changes and suggestions with you!

Here’s what you need:

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix
• Any ingredients the cake mix calls for (usually water, oil, and eggs)
• 2 TBSP pureed chipotle peppers in adobo
• 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/4-1 tsp of cayenne pepper (depending on heat preference)

Here’s what you do:

At first glance, what I loved about this recipe was how simple and quick it was.  It would be really great for anyone running short on time, or for a novice baker!

Preheat oven to temperature indicated on your cake mix.  Then puree your chipotle peppers.

Next, in a large bowl mix all of your ingredients until blended.  In a prepared cupcake pan, fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full.  Then bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack and you’re done!

This recipe made 20 cupcakes for me.  Now, the cayenne pepper is my suggestion if you actually want these cupcakes to have a kick.  While the chipotle peppers give a delicious flavor, it really didn’t give off any heat to us.  While you may be thinking, well, why don’t I just add more chipotle… that’s what I thought too.

The second time I made these cupcakes that’s exactly what I did, I doubled the amount of pureed chipotle pepper, and it was WEIRD.  I’m not sure if it had to do with something in the adobo sauce, but it completely changed the texture of the cake and made it way too salty.  I would definitely recommend learning from my mistake!

The original recipe suggests sprinkling the cupcakes with powdered sugar and cinnamon, but a cupcake isn’t a cupcake to me without icing.  I wanted these cupcakes to take decadent, so I knew I wanted to use a buttercream frosting.

I found this delicious recipe that is apparently from a Sprinkles cupcake mix.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP cinnamon (I added this)

Here’s what you do:

1. In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Beat until blended.
2. Add the milk and vanilla, and beat until smooth and creamy.

This frosting is amazing!  I added in cinnamon because I wanted to play up that flavor in the cupcakes, and I was not disappointed.  One heads up though, the recipe states that the serving size is 12 cupcakes… well, I frosted 20 and had tons left over.  The second time I made them I even used some to pipe extra decorations, but still had maybe 3/4 of a cup leftover.  Maybe I don’t add as much frosting as other people though, this buttercream is also very sweet so you don’t need a whole lot either.  While it’s better to have more frosting than too little, you might want to adjust the measurements depending on how much you need.

As for decorations, I kept it pretty simple, and rimmed the sides with chocolate sprinkles and chili powder.

I remember Daniel absolutely loved them, and I know it made our first Valentine’s Day very memorable.  They also freeze really well too!  Since Daniel had a whole box of cupcakes to himself, this Valentine’s Day gift lasted for the next few months!  What a sweet reminder for your man (of their girlfriend or wife that made them)!

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and I know a lot of you out there are probably searching for gifts for your boyfriend/husband or girlfriend/wife.  I always say this, but I think homemade gifts are such a wonderful way to express your love for someone.  So much thought, energy, and love goes into the gift that that’s almost a gift on its own!

I had come across the 52 Reasons Why I Love You DIY a while ago, and knew I wanted to make it at some point for a special occasion.  After pinning it, I was a little intimidated by the DIY… I’m what I like to call an “uncrafty crafter.”  This project looked slightly beyond my capabilities, so I passed on it more than a few times.

Finally, last year for Valentine’s Day I decided to take on the challenge and make it for Daniel.  This DIY is all over Pinterest and everyone has their own take on it.  After looking at a bunch of examples, I knew how I was going personalize it for Daniel and myself.  And now I’d like to share it with you all, so here’s my DIY of the 52 Reasons Why I Love You gift! Read more »