Live Your Dream

Hot Chocolate Cones

I had a blast Sunday night (truly!) making these hot chocolate cones for my husband's co-workers. The recipe actually tastes good and it looks adorable, too. It took me about 2 hours to make 33 of them. :) I was a bit exhausted (and covered in cocoa) when I finished so I quickly put tags together and labels on the back with the "to" and "from" information. And when I totalled all the costs it came to right under $1 per person. Not bad!

I got the idea here and used her recipe but with Special Dark Hershey's cocoa. Each cone has 6 Tbsp. plus 1/4 c. of semi-sweet chocolate chips and about 1/3 c. miniature marshmallows. I also bought a bag of mini twizzlers which were perfect for the "cherry on top." If I remember right, each batch of cocoa made about 22-24 servings (3 Tbsp. of mix per serving).

I ran out of a few ingredients so I sealed up the leftover mix and made another batch Monday night for the kiddos' Sunday School teachers. (This second time around my husband poured chocolate chips and marshmallows for me--so much faster!)

A Visit with Santa

Last weekend we took the kids to see a puppet production of Rudolph and then got to meet Santa afterwards (compliments of our financial advisor). We just received the pictures today. So sweet!

Christmas Card 2010

Finally!! I just submitted this card to be printed in a 6"x7.5" size. It took a little manuevering to recreate the card in an 8"x8" page in My Digital Studio, export in full print size, and import into Photoshop (to size it down to 6"x7.5") but it's DONE. :)

Now to create a program for my piano students' performance at our local mall. Clark (my oldest) will be dubuting his rendition of Away in a Manger...

MDS: Christmas Cards - Take 2

I finally found some time to work on more samples for our Christmas cards. (You can see the first four in this post.)

I am toying with using just the one family picture (bigger image) vs. three pictures (everything smaller) that gives the recipient a glimpse of our kids' personalities. I updated a few of the orginal cards as well.

So what is your favorite?

Christmas Card #5

Christmas Card #6

Christmas Card #7

Christmas Card #8

MDS: Christmas Cards

Wow. It's been a long time since I posted! My brother took pictures for us on Saturday and I finally had a chance to play with My Digital Studio to design a Christmas Card. I still haven't decided if I am going to make something with paper or just get these printed. Can you help me choose a design (or tell me what you like and don't like)?

Christmas Card #1

Christmas Card #2

Christmas Card #3

Christmas Card #4

I hope to get a few more samples completed tomorrow...

More Christmas Cards

Here are a few more cards from my Annual October Christmas Class last month. I still need to photograph the other two so they'll get posted soon. :)

{supplies}
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Stamps: Winter Post, A Cardinal Christmas
Accessories: Early Espresso 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

{supplies}
Paper: Sahara Sand
Ink: Basic Black, Always Artichoke
Stamps: Scenic Season
Accessories: 3/16" Corner Rounder, Basic Black 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Champagne Mist shimmer paint, paintbrush

Operation Christmas Child 2010

I just picked up our Operation Christmas Child boxes on Saturday after my last rehearsal this weekend. We were cleaning up this morning (removing last week's art and replacing it with this week's) and saw the stack of boxes. The boys helped me put them together and then we got out our stash of goodies that we have been saving for the boxes--extra crayons, colored pencils, sharpeners, erasers, books, pencils, Ivory bar soap, toothpaste, etc. This way we see what else we need to buy to round out the boxes. They each get one box to pack for a boy ages 2-5 and I pack Ella's box for a girl age 2-5. We'll see how this week shapes up but hopefully we'll make a trip soon to our local Dollar Tree for some cars and girly things. :)

Packing shoeboxes has become a fun Christmas tradition for our family. I love how it changes the boys' hearts when they pick out toys to give someone else.

Here's a video from Operation Christmas Child and Franklin Graham. You can learn more here.

 

 

 

Annual October Christmas Class

I just heard someone say the other day that we are less than 90 days away from Christmas. Can you believe that? Get a head start on your Christmas cards and join me for my annual October Christmas  Class.

You'll make 20 cards for $30 complete with matching envelopes (4 cards each of 5 different designs). The cards feature stamp sets and accessories (ribbon, of course!) in the current 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog plus brand new products in the Holiday Mini Catalog!

Here is a sample of one of the cards. The other 4 designs are a surprise! :)

Sunday, October 17 @ 2 p.m.
Saturday, October 30 @ 9 a.m.

Register by Wednesday, October 13. Pre-payment is required. There are only 8 spots available.

All classes are held at my home. (Or contact me to do this same class at your house or place of business!)

Christmas in August Cards

Finally! Here are the pictures from my Christmas in August class. Enjoy!

{supplies}
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Jolly Holiday DS, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive
Stamps: Season of Joy
Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, Very Vanilla 5/8" satin ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

{supplies}
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Deck the Halls DS
Ink: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Many Merry Messages, Tags til Christmas
Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, Ornament punch, linen thread, Stampin' Dimensionals, Cherry Cobbler 1/2" seam binding

(Imagine the sentiment in White EP on the lower right...)
{supplies}
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Mambo Melon, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark
Stamps: Serene Snowflakes, Four the Holidays
Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, Rich Razzleberry 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, heat gun, White EP

{supplies}
Paper: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Ink: Early Espresso
Stamps: Contempo Christmas
Accessories: Scallop Trim Border punch, Blushing Bride 1/2" Stitched-Poly ribbon, Ornament punch, linen thread

Thanks to Ilina Crouse for inspiration on two of the card designs!

Christmas in August Spoiler

Here's one of the card designs we'll be making at my Christmas in August class in a couple of weeks. Don't forget that today is the deadline to register.

{supplies}
Paper: Night of Navy
Ink: Versamark
Stamps: Come to Bethlehem
Accessories: Gold EP, heat gun, gold cord