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Another way to make a beautiful holiday display is to group all of one color together. I happen to love white.
It's surprising how these items, none having anything to do with the other, can look so pretty together. Look around your house and see what you have in like colors, and then pull it together for a display.
It will be beautiful!
Image by John Granen
There's something special about collections just for the holidays. Like holly mugs - for Christmas. And aren't they so wonderful, displayed for all to see?
Do you have holiday collections? If so, what do you collect?
Image by John Granen
P.S. Melaine at My Sweet Savannah is giving away a copy of my book, The Farm Chicks Christmas. Head on over to her blog to enter!
Tonight I'm having a Christmas party and I'm looking forward to serving this creamy latte deliciousness. And although I'm not a coffee drinker, this cool drink is more like a dessert in a mug than anything else.
Coffee Latte Punch
Makes 14 (1 cup) servings
1/3 cup instant coffee
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 gallon 2% milk (8 cups)
1 cup half & half
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
Heat 1 cup water to boiling. Add the instant coffee and sugar and stir until dissolved. Set aside until cool.
Pour the coffee mixture into a large container and stir in the milk. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.
Thirty minutes before serving, pour the coffee mixture into a large punch or serving bowl. Stir in the half & half. Using a scoop, add the ice cream to the bowl and let sit until most of the ice cream has melted - approximately 25 minutes. Gently whisk everything together until incorporated and serve.
Tips: You can substitute 1 cup of hot, double-strength brewed coffee or espresso for the instant coffee and water if you like.
Sometimes I don't fully mix in the ice cream, instead I leave it floating on the surface as a yummy sweet topping for each serving.
You can find this recipe, as well as Christmas inspiration, decorating ideas, and Christmas cheer in my book, The Farm Chicks Christmas.
Images by John Granen.
Growing up with very little was a blessing because I was able to see the beauty in the everyday objects that are often overlooked. That's what you do when you don't have much.
When you take the time to look around at what you have, you can make anything special. Take this collection of syrup dispensers for example:
It's really simple:
1.) Gather together clear, like objects that can be used as vessels.
2.) Fill with Christmasey items such as little trees, ornaments, and fake snow or objects in a color to fit your Christmas theme such as old game pieces and glitter. (This can be done with anything you love, any time of the year!)
3.) Display as a grouping.
You can find this Christmas inspiration, as well as decorating ideas, recipes, and Christmas cheer in my book, The Farm Chicks Christmas.
Special thanks to my friend, Nancy, for letting us into her home to play and display with her collections. You can find more wonderful objects such as these at Nancy (and friends) shop, Forget-Me-Not, in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.
Image by John Granen.
Hi! How are you today? I've been thinking about you. How'd you like to add some holiday cheer to your computer desktop? How about barnloads of cheer?
Well now you can! Here's how to download my image as your computer's desktop screen:
If you're on a PC: Click on the image size you want (below). The image will open in a new window. Once the image loads, right-click on the image and click on "Set As Background" or "Set as Desktop Wallpaper". Done!
If you're on a Mac: Click on the image size you want (below). The image will open in a new window. Once the image loads, move your cursor to hover over the image. Press and hold the control key down and simultaneously click on the image. Select "Use Image as Desktop Picture". Done!
Tip: If you don't know the image size you need, simply try the images until you are happy with the appearance of your desktop.
Barnloads of cheer - from me to you.
Image by John Granen
I'd like to introduce you to my family's favorite holiday cookies: Snowballs. They're rich, buttery, crispy and sweet and fun to eat.
(Snowballs shown on left).
Snowballs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans (about 4 ounces)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Grease two large baking sheets. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter and honey in a medium-size bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined and fluffy - 2 - 3 minutes. Lower the mixer speed to medium-low and beat in vanilla; then beat in flour and pecans until combined.
Roll the dough by tablespoonful between your palms, into balls. Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1" apart.
Bake the cookies just until they turn light golden brown - 12 - 14 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Put the powdered sugar into a large plastic food-storage bag. Add the cookies, 6 at a time, and gently shake the bag until they are coated with sugar.
Makes 24 one-inch cookies.
To serve, pile up on a tray.
Tip: Snowballs make great gifts! Wrap in cellophane bags for gift giving. For added cuteness and stability for gift giving, place cookie filled cellophane bags into vintage food containers (as shown above), jars, or colorful paper bags.
You can find this recipe and many more, as well as decorating ideas, projects, inspiration, and Christmas cheer in my book, The Farm Chicks Christmas.
Sources:
The containers shown are vintage.
Cellophane bags: Target
Ribbons: Michaels
Sweatshirt: Boden
Images by John Granen
One way to add Christmas cheer (or any season for that matter) to your kitchen is to add wrapping paper to the cupboards.
You can line the back of the cupboards, inside the doors if they're glass, or line the inset panels on the front of your doors.
Simply cut the paper to fit the spaces you'll be covering and attach with removable double sided tape. It's quick, simple, and darling!
You can find this project and many more, as well as decorating ideas, recipes, and Christmas cheer in my book, The Farm Chicks Christmas.
Images by John Granen.
I always find it interesting to watch the trends that come and go in the world of antiques. I remember when trunks were popular. Now they're not. But these old pieces shouldn't be overlooked. In fact, they are so useful for turning into entryway or mudroom benches. (And they have storage space!)
I bought this old trunk/box from my friend, Hollie, at her antiques show.
I simply topped it with a standard pillow covered in my favorite vintage Christmas pillowcase and it was instantly transformed into a little bench.
I can easily change the pillowcase to fit the season.
Have a large trunk? Use two pillows or several toss pillows. It's as easy as that!
I found the trunk here.
My floor tile is from Daltile.
My beadboard wall tile, tile base trim, and tile cap is all from Dirk Elliot Tile.
I purchased my wallpaper from Wallflowers in Spokane. I'm sorry, I can't remember the brand.
We've been decorating for Christmas and I love it when I add some cheer and the boys notice it first thing when they come home from school.
Today I decorated the bookcase in the kitchen. I organized the cookbooks by color and then just added in happy little bits I have on hand. I love that about the holidays. Just making things special with what you have.
As you know, I love displaying sprinkles, and Christmas is no exception. Little old milk bottles are the perfect receptacles. Since they have no lids, I simply capped them with cute mini cupcake wrappers.
Little vintage ornament boxes fit right in.
A vintagey looking Christmas tree cake topper adds the perfect touch to the old toy sedan.
Who says treats can't make you happy?
Cupcake wrappers and cake topper from Bake it Pretty.
Mother's brand Christmas animal crackers are from Fred Meyer.
Cheer Up canister from Fishs Eddy.
My Christmas Book can be found here.
Looking for an impromptu treat when friends drop in? My Gingerbread Eggnog Ice-Cream sandwiches are just the ticket!
Start with some thin store-bought gingerbread cookies
and some slightly softened eggnog ice-cream.
Dollop ice-cream onto bottom cookie and spread around, to cover.
Press down top cookie atop ice-cream. Smooth around edges and place in the freezer to harden.
Serve when hardened or wrap individually, with plastic wrap and serve as needed. The cookies will soften just like a traditional ice-cream sandwich if stored in the freezer overnight.
The combination of gingerbread and eggnog is delicious, but any flavor of your choosing would work wonderfully. It's your treat, so you decide!
Images by the super wonderful, Samantha Cabrera.
A definite must for the holidays: cinnamon and powdered sugar for dusting.
A little dusting adds a special touch to many things, such as a stack of pancakes, french toast, berries, pie, cake, and
hot cocoa!
I like to keep little shakers on hand, just for when I need them. Cute old cake sprinkles jars, such as the pair shown above, work really well and look especially festive for the holidays.
Images by the wonderful Samantha Cabrera.
Need a cute and colorful centerpiece in a hurry? Simply fill a mixing bowl with your favorite drugstore candies, arrange candles in the candy, and you're all set!
Image by the super wonderful Samantha Cabrera.
I love the fun treats that can be found during the holidays and am always inspired to use them to make something special.
I started my Woodsycake by baking three chocolate cake layers. I frosted each layer, as well as the outside.
The fun part is the candy that makes it woodsy:
Duplo Wafers and Meiji Chocorooms...
Sugar cones and sprinkles.
I lightly frosted the cones by holding them with my fingers inside the cone and spreading the frosting on the cone with my other hand.
Then I sprinkled.
For a smaller tree, I broke off the bottom of a cone to make it smaller. Then, I frosted and sprinkled as I had done on the larger cone.
And then I placed the logs and trees all about the top of the cake
and scattered a few chocorooms around the base.
And here comes the fun part: Cake Sparkles Edible Glitter!
Sprinkle Sprinkle sprinkle *shake* *shake* *shake*
So pretty. So Christmasey.
So *yummy*.
xo
I love any decorations that involve cookies or give me an excuse to bake. I've been dreaming of making a cookie wreath and was so happy to create such a fun project.
I decided to make the wreath and cookies out of gingerbread cookie dough so that it would smell especially Christmasey. I used this recipe (minus the black pepper) for the dough. And this recipe for the icing. Here's how I made my wreath:
I cut out the shape of a wreath using a mixing bowl for the outer circle and a cereal bowl for the inner circle, using the rims as an easy guide for my knife. I baked the wreath (as indicated in the recipe) until it was really hard, but not burned. After it was completely cooled, I covered the wreath in green icing, and sprinkled it with Wilton light green sugar sprinkles. At this point, the wreath needs to sit for several hours until the icing is completely hardened.
In the meantime, I baked my cookies (I chose two different sizes of stars) and prepared the icing. I added a few Tablespoons of cold water to the icing to make it almost drizzley (just not runny to where it can't keep it's shape. See images of icing below). I divided the icing and colored each batch the colors I'd be using for this project. I spooned the different icing colors into Wilton squeeze bottles, and a tiny squeeze bottle I found at Daiso. (The tiny squeeze bottle wasn't necessary, but I love teeny things, so why not?)
To ice the cookies, I used a technique called "flooding" where you outline the area and then "flood" it with the icing. It's such a fun technique that makes cookies look really impressive.
Step 1) Outline cookie:
Step 2) Flood the cookie, using the same icing. You can use the tip of the squeeze bottle to help spread it around if necessary:
Step 3) Add dots by squeezing contrasting dots of icing onto the icing already on the cookie. (The icing dots will sink in together and all be flush after a few minutes):
Step 4) Allow cookies to dry completely (This will take several hours, but time really depends on how much icing is used).
Step 5) Attach cookies to wreath using the icing as glue. Let sit for 24 hours or until really hard.
I hung my wreath directly onto a nail, however, this will only work if the wreath is really hard. The wreath can also be hung by attaching a colorful ribbon and hanging it from the ribbon, or simply display it on a shelf, ledge, or window sill. Better yet, if you're looking for a cheery holiday centerpiece, this is just the ticket!
When I was a little girl, I loved to bake Chocolate Cake for my dad. And when I was feeling especially fancy, I'd add in Peppermint Extract. He loved it. And it was one of his favorite treats for Christmas time. These little cakes are an adaptation of my childhood specialty.
Cakes:
1 ¾ cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup butter, at soft room temperature
1 ½ cups milk
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 eggs
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add in butter and milk, and beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the peppermint oil, eggs, and melted chocolate and beat for another 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly between 24 cupcake liners and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 18 minutes, or until done. Cool completely. In the meantime, make the filling.
Filling:
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. crushed candy cane crumbs
Combine all ingredients together in a mixing bowl and beat at medium speed until all combined and fluffy. Add filling to a pastry bag, fitted with a size 12 decorating tip. Insert decorating tip into the center of one of the little cakes and slowly squeeze, until you see the top of the cake swelling up. Remove and and repeat with remaining cakes, using the same method. Set cupcakes aside and prepare fudge glaze. (Please note that this filling doesn't taste AMAZING on its own. However, when combined with the cake and glaze, it's just right).
Fudge Glaze:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Add chocolate chips and butter to a small bowl and microwave, in 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in peppermint extract. Spoon glaze atop cakes and spread with the back of the spoon. Adorn with mini candy canes or crushed candy cane pieces and enjoy!
Helpful Hint: I love for my little cakes to look really pretty. In order for the liners to look perfect, I baked the cupcakes in white liners and then dropped them into the pretty star liners once the cupcakes were all filled and frosted.
Sources:
The star cupcake liners are from Bake it Pretty.
The mini candy canes are from the dollar section at Target.
I cleaned out my pantry and while I was at it, added some Christmas cheer.
My shelves are covered in a fun gingham contac-type paper, which makes them completely wipeable, if need be. Bulk items are kept in pretty glass jars. I tucked in cute little Christmas trees here and there.
For holiday cheer, I added Christmasey paper to the shelves, by adhering it with double-stick tape. I scalloped the edges of the paper on some of the shelves. To easily make scalloped edges, simply trace the edge of a tiny glass and cut.
Sprinkles look cute in re-cycled tiny jam jars and placed in a bright pan for easy access and tote-ability for Christmas baking.
Special Christmas treats are colorful and are a happy surprise to find in the pantry.
It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....
Gingham shelf paper and glass jars with red lids are from Daiso.
Holiday paper used for shelf edging is from Martha Stewart Crafts at Michaels.
The bright green cake pan is from William Sonoma.
Clear glass pantry jars are from Target.
Cupcake liners are from Bake it Pretty.
I do love vintage Santa and what could be cuter than mugs? Thrift stores are a great place to find them, and they're usually priced just right, at $1-$3 each. I can't resist. What do you love collecting for Christmas?
When it comes to the holidays, there is no better dessert topping than real whipped cream. But when I make something, I want it to be fuss-free. And usually, with whipped cream, it will separate after a short time. One year by chance, I discovered that by adding honey to whipped cream, it becomes stabilized and won't separate. Here's the trick: Add one teaspoon of honey for each cup of whipping cream. Whip and sweeten and you normally would (I use powdered sugar) and your whipped cream won't separate.
I'm Serena, mom of 4, author, entrepreneur, & Country Living Magazine contributing editor. I consider myself the luckiest girl in the world and I write about it all here, on my blog.
