Making Homemade Pastries!

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I told myself after making these the first time, it was only gonna be one of those 'once a year' recipes. No, I made them about three times.
The recipe for these things is HUGE, that's the time consuming part is that it's a morning event, I don't mind that. It's the sore feet at the end of the day that is the downer on it, haha.

My Grandma asked me to make these for my Pappap this past year for the Holidays, wait, let me be specific. She asked me to make him nut rolls. Every year they buy them but they wanted me to make them. I've never made nut rolls before, I've tried making a jelly roll, which was a HUGE fail, so I was really nervous about making this, exspecially since the recipe only told me the supplies I needed and the basics on making the dough, not the details. So it was a trail thing.



So, as he wanted. I started off with the nut rolls. Like I said, it was my first time making these, there was yeast in them so they did raise and because the instructions lacked instruction, I asked Mom and did a little research on other recipes and I had to roll the dough thin, I didn't realize just hot thin it needed to be rolled. And two of the four ended up splitting on the side, (but my Grandparents said they tasted just as good.) But, than I ran out of nuts, and still had a half a bowl of dough left...

So I made apricot turn-overs. When we got the supplies I picked up a can of filling just in case I'd run out of filling. But then I ran out of the apricot filling and still had dough...

So I made cinnamon rolls with the rest of it, thankfully we had cinnamon on hand for them. Thank ya, Lord!

Bucket List Project: Have A Christmas Without Any Drama

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I am pleased to say, this was a success! haha!

Bucket List Project: Build A Gingerbread House

I don't think that Christmas is complete without building a gingerbread house. This was the one thing I was dying to do this holiday, my mom surprised me with one a while ago and I've been trying patiently to hold it off until closet to Christmas to make it and be able to enjoy it.

 

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I also found that putting the icing in the micrwave for about 10 - 15 seconds till it was warm helped SO MUCH. It would not stick to the gingerbread at all after kneading it in the package. And it worked wonderfully once it was heated.

I kept it simple. Gingerbread houses are still new to me, I don't understand how people can make them so nicely and perfect.
Until then, I'm content with my little house[:

DIY Pawprint Ornament

My grandparents are always so hard to buy for. I know if I ask them what they want they'll say nothing, they have everything they need, a roof over their head, clothes on their back, family, friends, food.... but there's no way you can't just not get them nothing.

This year, with having Chestnut, I thought it would be great to make them an ornament while she's still a puppy. I wanted to do this with Peaches and Benji but like had other plans before I had the chance to do it.

All you need is a half a cup of corn starch, 1 cup of baking soda, and 3/4  cup of water.

I didn't have a complete cup of baking soda, I was a few table spoons off, but it still worked! So if you don't have an exact cup of baking soda, that's okay, take out a bit of the cornstarch and you'll be okay[:

You mix it all together in a saucepan over low/medium heat until it starts to thicken. This can take a little while, I almost thought it wasn't gonna work and gave it a few more minutes and it started clumping together. When it starts to clump I stirred it till it started to get like mashed potatoes and took it off the heat and continued to stir till it was all mixed together then put it in a bowl with a damp paper towel draped over it until it cooled.

Once it's cooled you can roll it out or form it in any way you like. I found it best to roll it on wax paper to help when it came time to clean up.

Lay out your pieces and let them harden, over night is best.

Coat them in modge podge and your set to go.

You could also paint them or draw on the with a sharpie. Whatever you like!

Christmas & Everything That Wasn't On Sale!

This is what Christmas morning looks like at my house. Every year we sit at the top of the stairs while my parents make their tea(usually Dad has coffee but his recent Sherlock Holmes watching has changed that this year), and tell us about how we got coal while we wait for my grandparents to get here. Once they are here and they get their tea, and everyone sits down in the living room and is content, we can go down. Our gifts get hidden. It's been like that every year in the past and I love it.

My big gift was a new point-and-shoot digital camera. I wanted something to vlog with and apparently practically every model was sold out. It's a REALLY nice camera and I'm very happy with it.


The day after we decided to go shopping. I was every every hour Christmas night, on the hour, hoping I didn't sleep in and constantly trying to figure out what places we should go to. Mom didn't have anything set in mind, the only place I really wanted to go was Target and Tractor Supply. We got up at 5:30 and showed up at Target about a quarter till.

It was practically dead. Within' ten minutes I think like 20 or so other cars showed up and people were lining up at the door. We stayed in the car and waited for everybody else to go in. I thought it was gonna be like a mad house but when we went inside it was SO quiet, everyone was back in the Christmas stuff.
I couldn't get over how much stuff wasn't on sale. Everywhere we went I was just shocked, there is supossed to be huge sales...WHERE ARE THE HUGE SALES?
I did manage to find a few things, I think I'm gonna do a post on the stuff I got.

When we saw how dead the mall was we made a quick dessision to stop.

Only the day after Christmas can you make a last minute choice to cross three lanes of traffic with not another car in site in any direction to go to a mall that opened 2 hours ago that has HUGE SALES advertised. (seriously though, Old Navy had everything 75%). The parking lot was dead at the main entrance where everyone always parks.

They didn't have what I was hoping for, no polar bear sweater, or the clothing items I was hoping were on sale. Ain't that the way of it? Haha!

We were out from 5am to about 3:30-4pm and were EXHAUSTED when we got home. I fell asleep about an hour later. I'm hoping that burned off all the biscuits I had for Christmas, lol!

3 Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas

Maybe you're not one of those people who shops early, or time gets away from you and before you know it stores are packed and there's only a week left until Christmas and there's someone you forgot to get a gift for and you have no idea what to do.
Well hopefully this will help.
Here is a few different gift ideas that could get you on your way.



A Bakers Basket
Pick up a cookbook and pick out a recipe, something simple, it doesn't have to call for a ton of ingredients. Maybe a cookie recipe, or brownies! Pick up a few of the dry ingredients, how about the cocoa powder? Vanilla extract? Maybe something to mix in with the brownies like Reese's Cups or Chocolate Chips. Add a spatula, cookie cutters, an oven-mitt, and you're good to go!

A Custom Mug

Find a plain white coffee mug and with a sharpie write on it maybe an inside joke, a special quote, or a cute doodle of a cat or a flower, put it in the oven while it preheats[so it doesn't crack] to 425 degrees and then bake it for 35mins. It's best to leave it sit in there while the oven cools off too, just in case!

Create a Mani/Pedi in a Jar
Find a jar fill it with a nail file, clippers, fuzzy socks, lotion, sugar scrub, and nail polish.
The perfect quick fix for any girl!

Stocking Stuffers Ideas Under $10 ~ For Her

Stocking Stuffers:

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EOS Lip Balms
Hand Lotion
Nail Polish
Fuzzy Socks
Jewelry
Earphones
Gloves
iPod Case
Hair Ties
Bookmark

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Book Light
Pens
Mini notepads
Make Up
Finger Nail Files
Ornament
Candy
Snacks

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Cookie Cutters
Craft Supplies
Candle
Small Stuffed Animal
Hand Sanitizer
Change Purse
Car Air Fresheners

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Bath & Body Works Fragrance Mist
Hat
Scarf
Sunglasses
Coffee Cup
DVD
CD

Gluten Free Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Hello there!

Here are a some suggested food ideas for stocking stuffers for your gluten free buddy!




The Chocolate Lovers

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Milk Chocolate Hershey Kisses
Candy Cane Kisses (on the package these are not listed as gluten free, but they don't contain any gluten ingredients)
Ian's Cookie Buttons
Peppermint Patties
M&M's
Chocolate Covered Cashews
Original Reese's Cups
Original Butterfinger Bar
Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Mix
Glutino Fudge Covered Pretzels
Raisinets
Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares




The Health Cautious

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Beef Jerky (be sure to check the ingredients to make sure there is no wheat/gluten)
Freeze Dried Fruit
Yogurt covered fruit
Trail Mix
KIND Bars
Nuts
Simply Balanced Fruit Leathers/Ropes/Snacks
Annie's Fruit Snacks
Popcorn
Tea
Orchard Bars
Flavored Drink Powders
Gum
Welch's Fruit Snacks
Larabars
Clif Kid Zfruit & Veggie Fruit Snacks
Apple Chips






The All-In-ers

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Candy Canes
Gummi Worms
Lollipops
Schar Hazlenut Bars
Skittles
Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks are all said to be gluten free.
Jelly Beans
Life Savers
Gummi Bears
Schar Cheese Bites
Fruit Pebbles Snack Bars
Glutino Yogurt Covered Pretzels
Bit O Honey
Oh Henry! Bars
Laffy Taffy
Lik M Aid
Wonka Pixy Stix
Schar Vanilla Sandwich Cremes
Starbursts
Butterfingers

Gifts Ideas For Cat Lovers

These are some super cute gifts for the cat lovers in your life! I hope these spark a bit of inspiration on what to get them for Christmas[:

Whether you're a book advocate, or someone who always has a planner on hand, this bookmark is adorable!

This cat speaker dances when you plug your iPod into it. Too cute!

It's not the size of the gift that counts. Get them a magnet that has the saying every cat lover isn't afraid to admit.

You can never go wrong with classics, especially when the kitties are involved.

Curl up next to a fire in this cozy sweater with a book, slippers, and a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate and just relax for the evening.

Gift Ideas For Dog Lovers

Being a huge dog lover myself, I thought it would be nice to come up with a post of some cute gift ideas of gifts for the animal lover in your life, these are just a few things I found!

Shelter Pups has this really cool custom stuffed dog. You send them a picture of your dog and they'll recreate it into a stuffed animal. Adorable!!

I LOVE this Personalized Pet Pillow. You can choose from 4 different deigns, your dogs name and your own pronunciation, there's also 12 different dog graphics, and 3 different unique dog definitions. I don't know any dog lover who wouldn't like this!

A gift for the dog, and the owner! Chuckit! Tennis Ball Launcher. All the fun of playing it, without worrying about holding the slobber covered ball.

This cute necklace is sure to win over any animal lovers heart, and there is a gold version!

Gift Ideas For Kids ~ Girls

This guide is for the younger girls, maybe if you're stuck on what to get someone, this will help[:

Let's be real. I think every girl wants a Barbie Dreamhouse. I was never the girly girl kid but the one going fishing, digging in dirt for worms and liked playing sports and even I wanted the Barbie Dreamhouse.

Play-Doh is one of those amazing things. You can create practically anything and everything with it and you won't get bored. This set is too cute!

LEGO's aren't JUST for boys. Girls can play with them too! LEGO has a few different lines, this is the Friends Heartlake Shopping Mall set.

Who DOESN'T love play kitchens? This one by KidKraft is pretty cool. And of course if you get one you have to get one of those food sets to go with it *wink wink* (they even have a cute picnic set!)

A journal that has invisible ink, opens to your(the girls) voice, there's even hidden compartments to keep things in! How cool is that??

Gift Ideas For Kids ~ Boys

This one is for the boys! Hopefully these will help you out!

This Ninja Turtles LEGO set is sure to keep your boy entertained for a while. The set includes Raphael and Michelangelo mini figures, along with two others.

I'm pretty sure everyone's heard of NERF. But have you seen this gun?! It has 4 extra clips that can hold up to 144 darts!! That's WAY better than only 5 darts.

I never knew that Minecraft had this cute animal figure set. If you kid loves Minecraft, chances are they'll go crazy over this too.

Tonka Trucks are perfect for any kid that likes digging in the dirt, or just vehicles in general. These were one of my favorite toys growing up too, I can't imagine any kid not liking them.

The oh-so-challenging Pogo Stick. How many hops can you do in a row?

My Top 5 Favorite Christmas Movies

My favorite part about Christmas time is all the Christmas movies. I always try to watch all of my favorites before the month is over and they aren't being played anymore. Here is 5 of my favorite movies, in no particular order.




Snowglobe
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Angela's family is anything but perfect, all she wishes is to have a normal Christmas. When she's given a snow-globe as a gift and falls asleep with the music playing, she ends up in the world she's always dreamed of, inside the snow-globe.
















The Santa Clause
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 After accidentally killing Santa Claus, Scott gets guilted into putting on Santa's suit and gets flown to the North Pole by the reindeer where he meets the elves of Santa's Work Shop and starts  to become Santa Claus















Jack Frost
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Unable to talk and hang out with humans, Jack Frost falls for one of the ladies in town, Elisa. The Groundhog tells the story of how Jack Frost asks Father Winter to be human and has to keep his end of the deal for it to be a permanent change.














Rudolph's Shiny New Year
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 Father Time tells Santa that Happy, baby new year, is missing! Rudolph becomes the leader of the job, using his nose to get through the foggy and snowy mess. But if he doesn't find Happy, it'll remain the old year forever.














Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
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As the Mailman decides to answer some of the most asked questions that kids have for and about Santa, he tells us about Kris Kringle, a little boy that grew up wanting to deliver toys to the kids in Sombertown. But the Burgermeister absolutely does not want that to ever happen. There is even an evil Winter Wizard to make things more complicated!












Question of the day

What is your favorite thing about the Christmas season?

What are your favorite Christmas movies?