Food

Diet Coke® Cranberry Walnut Chutney with Brie in Puff Pastry Recipe

10 · Dec 1, 2017 · Leave a Comment

This post is being sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

With the Holidays soon upon us, it’s time to start thinking about what to make for all of our family gatherings and what to stock-up on to keep our pantry full for the season. For me, I’ll be heading to Sam’s Club and stocking up on several items. Good cheeses, pickles, olives, bread, puff pastry, seasonal fruit, nuts, spices and of course plenty of Diet CokeⓇ! Come see what we will be making at our house…

A table full of seasonal goodies is what really makes the Holidays for my family and I. The kitchen, especially the table is the center of the season with all kinds of scrumptious goodies. We have several food traditions in our home… Of course the typical cookie and candy making, the traditional meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas and some not so traditional like a dinner that is made up of a whole spread of yummy appetizers for New Years.

Friends and family are always dropping by and I’ve learned that it’s super important to keep the pantry stocked at all times so that we are prepared for unexpected guests. Here are some of my pantry staples from Sam’s Club.

Holiday Pantry Staples

It’s always good to have those quick appetizers or snacks on hand like the pickles, olives, cheese and crackers. The Sam’s Club French Bread freezes beautifully and is easy to pull out to go with soup or to slice up to use with a dip. Their seasonal fruit is exceptional and is great to give as a quick gift. You could even make a gift out of holiday spices… Wouldn’t that be fun! It’s good to keep nuts on hand for baking along with snacking and we CAN’T FORGET the Diet CokeⓇ! It’s perfect for serving to guests, for helping you get through the craziness of the season AND for baking or cooking.

Wait a minute… Baking and cooking? Yep, Diet CokeⓇ is a great pantry staple that is good for cooking with as well. You may have heard of Diet CokeⓇ cake or even several types of meat slow cook nicely in Coca-ColaⓇ. Here is one of my favorite recipes for Cranberry Chutney with Brie in Puff Pastry to take to Holiday gatherings that is made with, surprisingly enough, Diet CokeⓇ! Here is a QUICK little video to show you how I put it together.

Diet CokeⓇ Cranberry and Walnut Chutney with Brie in Puff Pastry – WhipperBerry from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

I LOVE how the Diet CokeⓇ Cranberry Walnut Chutney pairs with the Brie cheese, what’s fun is that it’s all wrapped up like a nice gift in some puff pastry. You have the savory cheese paired with the tangy and sweet chutney that is simply scrumptious. Plus, it looks great on a Holiday table. Our family can’t get enough of it! Here’s how to make it.

Diet CokeⓇ Cranberry Walnut Chutney with Brie in Puff Pastry

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Farmhouse Black and White Striped Home Decor • Winter Decoration Idea

6 · Dec 1, 2017 · Leave a Comment

I love dressing my front porch for the season rather than the holiday most of the time. Less turnover, less expensive & I just love celebrating the seasons. Here is my Fall front porch and I’m still in love with it but, it’s time to turn the season and start working on my winter front porch. One of the elements that I love for winter is a vintage sled that I found at a garage sale. I dressed it up with some greenery and some large bells that I found at Michaels. However, I didn’t want them to just be simple bells. I want them to stand out! I busted out some Americana Decor Satin Enamels and added my own special touch to the bells. Come see how I transformed them just a touch but added some real WOW factor.

+ The post brought to you by DecoArt +

Design Decisions

I’ve been in love with black and white LONG before Joanna Gains hit the scene. That has always been my color profile with a touch of red or green at times. I love that it’s so popular now. Those are two colors (or, non-colors) that are simply timeless and classic. I’ve also been a huge fan of stripes. They also, if done well, have a timeless quality too. They are perfect to add to a metal tray or a wood side table to add that classic farmhouse look to your home.

I wanted to add some timeless elements to this beautiful sled and greenery. When I found the large bells at Michaels, I knew that was the ticket. However, I wanted to put my own stamp on it so that I don’t look like everyone else on the block.

I guess that has always been my MO (method of operation.) I’m totally fine gathering fun things at Michaels, Target or Home Goods lets say, and then putting my own simple touches on them. That’s why I LOVE the Americana Decor collection. For this project I used the Americana Decor Satin Enamels in Pure White and Classic Black. I selected this paint for a few reasons.

I love the smooth satin finish
How easily it adheres to slick surfaces without any priming
This paint acts more like and enamel rather than a paint and I love that look for this application
Smooth brushability
Minimizes grain raising on wood
Non-toxic
Soap and water clean-up

Materials

wood or metal home decor item
DecoArt Americana Decor Satin Enamels in your color choice
sponge brushes in the size of the stripe that you desire
painters tape (optional)

Instructions

This project is crazy simple. It just requires some patients and a slightly steady hand. I don’t have the perfect artist hand and I managed to create these simple stripes just fine. My secret… I use foam brushes instead of your typical bristle brush. This eliminates the bristle spread that you typically get when painting with a traditional brush. I just buy the size foam brush that matches the size of stripe that I am looking for. You may find that you need painters tape and thats totally fine. With my round surface it was almost easier to follow the line on the bells using my brush as the stripe guide than it was to tape it.

It may not look like a perfect stripe here but, after I go around the bell a few more times it looks better. I’m not really wanting a nice crisp line anyway. I like the more rustic imperfect look.

I did layer about 4 coats of the Satin Enamel so that I had solid coverage.

Then, after the white is totally dry, I carefully used a flat brush that was the size of the small stripe that I was looking for to create the small black stripe. This one, you need to be careful and watch for the bristle spread. Again, I wasn’t looking for perfect and I LOVE how they turned out.

Once they were completely dry, I waited overnight, I affixed them to the sled.

First, using floral wire, I wired the greenery onto the sled with some floral wire.

I then made a bow out of some red and black buffalo plaid ribbon that I found at Michaels and wired it to the sled as well.

Then, I hung the bells on the sled with some think rope and wired that onto the sled as well.

Aren’t they fun? What would you like to add a little black and white farmhouse flair to?

By the way… My front door is painted with the Americana Decor Curb Appeal Paint. I LOVE it!! I’ll have to share how I did that soon. You’ll be amazed!

Create Curved Text in Cricut Design Space • Video Tutorial

9 · Nov 30, 2017 · 5 Comments

I have been creating all kinds of goodies for our home in Cricut Design Space and then making them on my Cricut Maker. If you use a Silhouette then I’d recommend checking out my post where I compare Silhouette vs Cricut. One of the biggest questions I receive time and time again is, “how do you create curved text in Cricut Design Space?” It has been a conundrum for many people who like to create fun typography for their Cricut projects. Well, I’m here to the rescue! I’ve created a video tutorial on how to create more stylized text within the Cricut Design Space platform. Come check it out…

+ This post brought to you by Cricut +

For quite some time now, I would design most of my creations in Adobe Illustrator and then import them into Cricut Design Space mainly because I wanted more freedom with my word art. I wanted to create curves, waves, archs & arches. I felt like the Cricut Design Space kind of tied my hands here. Then I did a little playing around and figured out how much freedom we really have when designing with words in Design Space. It may not be as quick as clicking a button, BUT… You can do so much more, you just need to have a little imagination. Here’s the video tutorial that I put together to teach you how.

WhipperBerry Cricut Design School – How to Create Curved Text in Cricut Design Space from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

If you’re looking for more tutorials on how to create with your Cricut machine and within Design Space, visit my other posts that help walk you though creating with Cricut. Like this one on how to import and use your SVG files within Cricut Design Space. If you have questions or would like a video tutorial on how to create with Cricut, leave a comment and I’ll work on putting one together for you!

This is the project that I made with that tutorial. A stylish zipper pouch, a perfect Holiday gift for friends and family.

Christmas Tree Truck Mug • Cricut Holiday Gift Giving

10 · Nov 29, 2017 · 2 Comments

Always, always, always… Looking for fun and unique gifts that I can create for friends and family during the holidays. This Christmas Tree Truck Mug, that I created with my Cricut Maker, has my heart! I Now if you aren’t sure which is better, Cricut vs Silhouette, then make sure you check out that comparison! Anyways, I love how it turned out. This Christmas Tree Mug filled with hot chocolate packets is fun to give to friends, neighbors, teachers, and so on. I typically stick with black and white in my designs because I LOVE black and white. This time, I branched out and layered different colors of vinyl to create a fun look on a white and black enamelware mug. While I was making them I created a video tutorial on how to layer your vinyl when working with multicolored vinyl projects. Come check it out…

+ This post brought to you by Cricut +

Christmas Tree Truck Mug

Inspired by the ever-popular red truck with a Christmas Tree in the back, I thought it would translate nicely into a fun neighbor gift. This project is really quite simple. However, it looks impressive and your friends who receive it are going to LOVE it! I know I would if someone gave it to me. Here’s what you’ll need to make some of your own.

Materials

For the mug, I found some enamel ware mugs at Amazon (I’m not an affiliate) but they can be pretty pricey. If you want a more budget friendly option, I would visit a Dollar Store, Dollar Tree or even a thrift store to find just some basic white mugs.

white mug
design file for Cricut Design Space
black vinyl
red vinyl
green vinyl
Cricut Transfer Tape
Cricut Cutting Machine ie. Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore Air 2
Cricut Light Grip Cutting Mat
hot chocolate packets

Instructions

The first thing you might want to do is watch a video tutorial that I created that shows how to create curved text in Cricut Design Space AND how to apply the vinyl to the mug. It would be really helpful. Don’t worry though, I’ve handled the entire design process for you! Once you watch the video, make sure you have clicked on the link to my design file so that you can easily create this project in Cricut Design Space. Select the click it button on the bottom right and follow the steps to cut all three colors of vinyl. Next step, you’ll need to weed your vinyl. That means that you need to remove all of the vinyl around your image and inside the image. Once you’ve weeded the vinyl, you’re ready to apply it to the mug. Here is a quick video tutorial on how to easily layer your vinyl.

WhipperBerry Cricut Design School-How to Easily Layer Vinyl Video Tutorial from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

Now, all you need to do is fill your cute mugs with your favorite hot chocolate packets. Then, make a list of all your favorite friends & neighbors to give one if these fun mugs to this Christmas.

Cricut Questions

Have any Cricut questions? I’d be happy to tackle them if you’d like. Leave a comment or email me at heather @ whipperberry . com and I’ll put together a video to help shine some light on what has been perplexing you.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine. I have included some Share-a-Sale links for tracking purposes only. I am not a Cricut Affiliate.

Homemade Snowball Bath Bomb

16 · Nov 27, 2017 · 1 Comment

In a pinch and need a nice, simple and budget friendly Holiday gift for friends, neighbors, teachers and the list can go on and on. These bath bombs are a fabulous simple way to show your friends a little Holiday love this time of year. With the free printable gift tag, you can’t go wrong with this fun little gift.

When it comes to neighbors, co-workers, teachers and friends, I always want to give them a little something around Christmas to show them how valued they are in my life. I however, don’t want to inundate them with all kinds of sugary treats all of the time. (Don’t get me wrong, I am no stranger to the classic goodie gift plate.) Sometimes it’s nice to receive something that isn’t sweet during the Holidays. With this easy to make Holiday de-stresser, it may quickly become their favorite Christmas goodie this year. All you need are a few simple ingredients…

Snowball Bath Bomb Ingredients

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup epsom salt
1/2 cup corn starch
4 tsp. water
8 tsp. coconut oil
2 tsp. peppermint essential oil
spray bottle
3 fillable plastic Christmas ornaments 70 mm
3 fillable plastic Christmas ornaments80 mm
black medium oil-based Sharpie
3/8 inch black grosgrain ribbon
white card stock paper
hole punch
scissors
printable gift tag via WhipperBerry

Snowball Bath Bomb Instructions

This is one of those projects that is super fun to get the kiddos involved so, gather everyone around the mixer and let them dump away. Here is a quick little video that I put together to show how easy it is to make these little bath time gems.

Snowball Bath Bombs via WhipperBerry from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

Use the 70 mm plastic ornament to mold the bath bomb.
Keep spraying until your dry ingredients start to fee like nice wet sand.
Turn the mixer on low and spray the liquid ingredients into the bowl. The reason for the spray bottle is so that you add the liquid as slowly as possible. You don’t want to activate your ingredients until you or your friend is in their nice hot bath.
Add the liquid ingredients to the spray bottle and shake to mix.
It’s helpful to have a stand mixer for this project but, in a pinch, a whisk will do. Add all of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl.
Using the oil-based sharpie, draw little crosses or “x” all over the ornaments.

The following day, place your snowball bath bomb into the 80 mm fillable plastic ornament. It’s funny, they kind of expand a bit when they dry. That’s why you need the larger ornament to use as your gift box.
Leave in the mold for 5 minutes. Then remove the bath bomb from the mold and let dry overnight.
Let the black paint dry, it only takes a few minutes.
Print the free printable gift tag from WhipperBerry and cut out the circle.
Using a hole punch punch a whole to the side of the snowflake on the tag.
Then tie the tag on the ornament and you’re finished!

Check out the back…

Aren’t they cute! And… They are soooo nice in a hot bath sipping some peppermint hot chocolate. I may need to make a few batches to keep on hand for myself.

Food

Diet CokeⓇ Cranberry Walnut Chutney with Brie in Puff Pastry

Design Decisions

Materials

Instructions

Christmas Tree Truck Mug

Materials

Instructions

Cricut Questions

Snowball Bath Bomb Ingredients

Snowball Bath Bomb Instructions

Here is a quick image that you can pin so you don’t forget the recipe.

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