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Ooh, I’m so excited! This is WhipperBerry’s very first linky party!  But first I want to do a recap of our 12 Days of Christmas Event!

Here are all the gifts we featured for this event. Click on the image to jump to that day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are all 12 Printable Gift Tags from our fabulous Kristin! Click each image to download the free printable (please note, it takes a minute to download fully – so be patient!)

   

   

   

   

12 Days of Christmas Show-Off! 

It’s time to see what you’ve got!!

Our goal for this party is to expand the ideas we’ve already given you with projects from our readers. Please link up anything you made following our ideas, or any ideas of your own. It can follow one of our 12 days of Christmas (e.g. cupcakes, bows, wreaths, etc.) or it can be your original gift idea. We want to see your creativity, to inspire our readers to give this season! If you actually followed one of our tutorials or recipes, please please please link up! We would love to see!

This linky party will end on Thursday, Dec. 16th, and on Friday we will feature our favorite posts!

Rules:

• Please link to your actual post, not just your main blog page.
• Feel free to list as many projects that you wish as long as they fit our Christmas theme.
• Grab a button (below) or put a link to this party on your post (or somewhere visible on your blog) so everyone can join in on the fun.
• We reserve the right to remove any submissions that do not meet the theme or requirements. If you see your link has been removed, don’t fret! Just re-read the rules and submit again!
• This is a party so please “mingle”! View and comment on the links around you.
• Please do not link to Etsy shops, thank you!
• We appreciate all submissions, so please join us!

Here we go…

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New Stockings                   handprint pillow                   Tree Canvas                   Time Capsule Ornament                   12 days of Christmas                   Paper Fan Bunting & Ornaments                   Cheap and Easy Wreath                   Sequin Tree                   wreath                   The Ever-So-Sweet Christmas Candi!                   Christmas Wreath                   Christmas Topiary                   PB Christmas Banner                   Apothecary Jar: Mints!                   Festive Flowers                   Snowman Kit {Neighbor Gift}                   plastic bag wreath                   fabric flowers (teacher gift)                   What's in a name?                   Reindeer Food!                   Craft Stick Snowflake                   Root Beer Sampler                   Nativity and Banner                   DIY Holiday Coffee Sleeve                   Christmas Quilts & Keepsake Quilt Labels                   1st Day of Christmas – Ruffled Ribbon Trees                   Button Ornaments                   How To Make: Pine Cone Fire Starters                   Knock Off $9 Wreath                   Black Bottom Cupcakes                   Felt Ribbon Wreath                   Jingle Bell Gift Card Holder                   Snowball Ornaments (Very sparkly!)                   Felt Tree Stocking (made from Painter's cloth!)                   Pomegranate Molasses Gift Idea and Recipe                   Christmas Trivia Game                   Rosette Wreath                   Tree Skirt                   Glam Holiday Wreath!                   Faux Metal Stars                   Fringed Stocking                   Holiday Kissing Ball                   Pom Pom Snowman                   Holiday House Place Cards                   Holiday Gift Wrap                   Ornament Hanger                   December Danishes                   Free and easy ICE candle holders!                   Easy "fillable" Christmas Ornaments                   Gingerbread Truffles                   My Wannabe Mantle                   Joy Wall Hanging                   One the 1st day of Christmas. . .                   Anthropologie Inspired Ornament!                   Sweet Dreams Dress                   Oh Christmas tree. . .                   Crayon Wreath – Teacher Gift                   Mmm, Norwegian bon bons                   Christmas Tree Pillow Tutorial & Template                   Christmas Rosette Stockings

This linky list is now closed.

 

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me…

…twelve cupcakes and a wish for me to Be Merry!

Can you believe it’s day twelve of our 12 Days of Christmas event? If you want to start back at the beginning, and get all of the details, click here!

Here is Kristin’s final 12 days printable, and this completes the set. Click on the image to download.

So for our twelfth day, we have something extra special for you, because today we are introducing our newest WhipperChick, Katie!

Katie is the talented cake artist from Sweet Street Cakes that made the beautiful black and white cake on this table.

She brings you our cupcakes for today!

Double Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

Who Doesn’t love a cupcake? It’s the perfect portion of sweet indulgence. They transcend through every season and holiday, and Christmas-time is no exception. These cupcakes are a double chocolate fudge with red buttercream frosting.

To make your cupcakes, you can use a special family recipe, or you can certainly use your favorite cake mix from the store. One of my favorite things to do is to jazz up a store bought cake mix. You can add any type of chip (milk, semi-sweet, butterscotch, peanut butter, etc.) to your batter to give it a pop of flavor when you bite into it. Or you can add any of your favorite nuts or sprinkles. One of my secrets to a really moist cupcake is to add pudding into my batter. I like to pick an instant pudding that matches my cake flavor, and I add it in with my wet ingredients. Be sure to make the pudding, not just add the powder into it. Do this and your cupcakes will come out moist and irresistible!

For the frosting, I like to use a homemade buttercream recipe. It’s creamy and delicious, and so simple to make. A few tips about your frosting. First, if possible, use a high-ratio shortening. It gives your frosting an unbelievable creaminess. Second, if you want to make your frosting really white, use a clear vanilla extract and replace butter with shortening. And third, don’t forget to sift your sugar. It helps to make the frosting silky and free of clumps.

Red Buttercream Frosting (via Wilton.com)
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or your favorite extract)
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk
1 bottle of Wilton no-taste red food gel
Makes: About 3 cups of icing, enough to cover 24 cupcakes.

 
 
In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add extract. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add your gel coloring until you get desired color. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
 
Once your cupcakes have cooled, place your icing tip at the bottom of your pastry bag, and snip off the tip. Use the biggest round frosting tip you have (if no.12 is the biggest you have use it) Load your frosting in your bag, and squeeze down to get the air out.  Then take one of your cupcakes and slowly, in a swirling motion, pipe your frosting onto your cupcake. Once you’re done you can add sugar crystals to your cupcakes to give them an extra sparkle.

Enjoy! –Katie

And Jamie made the perfect white-chocolate snowflakes to go on top! She melted almond bark mixed with sprinkles and poured them into her silicone molds.

                                                                                                                                      Come read Katie’s bio on our WhipperChick page! You will love her!

 

 

 

Okay, that’s the last of our 12 Days of Christmas! but don’t fret, because we still have the linky party! Come back tomorrow and link up all of your takes on our gifts, or ideas of your own! We can’t wait to see!

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true friend gave to me…

…eleven gift tags so my gifts go under the right tree.

If you are just joining us, refer back to day one for all the details of our 12 Days of Christmas event!

Click the image to download Kristin’s printable for today’s gift:

I decorated these gift tags using paper yarn that I spun from a variety of different papers.

I cut tags out of heavyweight white paper, and lined the edges with two layers of home-spun paper yarn (tutorial below).  I also formed a decorative heart out of the yarn and glued it on each tag.

I punched a hole in the top of each tag and tied on matching yarn.

I used many colored tissue papers, newspaper, and even toilet paper (shhh!) to make my yarn.

Here’s how I did it!

Home-Spun Paper Yarn Tutorial:

For this example I’m using one sheet of red tissue paper.

Fold the sheet on it’s natural fold lines and cut width-wise into 1-2 inch strips.

 

Unfold the strips and twist the end of one. Insert it into the end of an electric drill, and tighten it down. Two people are needed for this next part, so I enlisted the help of my darling husband. He was happy to help because there were power tools involved.

 

One person runs the drill (any bets who that was?) and the other person holds the other end of the paper strip. Run the drill until almost all of the paper strip is twisted tight. Leave a section big enough to fold in another strip and then keep on twisting.

 

Keep folding in new strips and twisting them tight. Each sheet of tissue paper ends up making approx. 20 feet of yarn!

 

I made some out of newspaper and toilet paper too.  The toilet paper is easier because it’s already long and on a roll, so unwind it as far as you want, cut it to the width you want, and spin away! No need to fold in additional pieces.

 

Have fun spinning paper!

On the tenth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me…

…ten napkin rings so my guests can all stay neat.

Welcome to our 12 Days of Christmas Event! If you need any details on this event, click here to go to day one.

Download Kristin’s free printable by clicking on the image!

Whitney made our cute napkin rings today:

These napkin rings are festive and easy to make!  I bought the little balls at Michaels, along with the ribbon.  The only other thing you’ll need is a heavy duty needle with a large eye for the ribbon.
Take your ribbon and tie a knot at one end.  Thread your needle onto the string and then thread 2 balls onto the ribbon.  Space the little balls as far apart as you want them, cut the ribbon, and tie a knot at the other end.  Wrap the ties around a rolled up napkin and tuck the ribbon through itself so that it stays put. 
And there you go!  Fun, easy, and a great way to add a festive touch to your Christmas table!

-Whitney

Thanks Whitney!

Only two more days to go! This has been so much fun. Please give us some love with your comments. We absolutely adore hearing from you.