Food

Friday Flair Link Party // Peppermint Cupcake Edition

2 · Dec 6, 2012 · 28 Comments

Well, It’s (almost) FRIDAY… Time for Friday Flair! I just returned home from our 2nd Christmas party for the season and it’s only December 6th. These parties start earlier and earlier every year. Tomorrow night we are heading over to have a gingerbread house party with some new friends here in Lincoln… We can’t wait! The girls and I LOVE making gingerbread houses. My friend Christene (in Las Vegas) hosts a gingerbread making party the first weekend of December every year and I was soooo sad to miss it this year. Here’s a look at my gingerbread house that I created last year, plus a great Gingerbread 101 post from Christene a couple of years ago. It’s an oldie but a goodie.

Our inspiration photo this week comes from Sweet Revelations. It’s a stunning photograph of some dark chocolate peppermint cupcakes that look divine!

img source // dark chocolate peppermint cupcakes from sweet revelations

I don’t think you can get anymore perfect that that. Just look at that frosting, it’s looks like a little ruffle of silk… heavenly.

Now, who’s ready to PARTY?!

Sharing Holiday Joy with Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

3 · Dec 6, 2012 · 29 Comments

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars // My all time favorite Christmas goodies are my Mom's Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars…

Some of my earliest Christmas memories are hanging out in the kitchen with my Mom and sometimes my Dad while they made their famous holiday concoctions. They had a few staples on the list… Fudge, peanut brittle (not my favorite,) your classic Christmas Sugar cookie and then my favorite the chocolate peanut butter bar. I remember dreaming about this little treat all though out the year. Not to mention the anticipation I would feel when Mom would start the task of holiday baking. She always kept the pans of goodies out in our cool garage which acted as our overflow kitchen storage. They were supposedly hidden from sticky little fingers, but no… I always found them. Nibbling little morsels here and there until the sad day when the pan of chocolate peanut butter goodness was gone for another year.

I remember that sense of pride I felt as we would travel out as a family to deliver our plate of goodies to friends and neighbors. I always felt like my Mom's holiday plate was just a little extra special because of the chocolate peanut butter bars. My Mom would always make them in a 9×13 pan and then cut them into bars. This year I made some for my family and friends in these super cute mini paper loaf pans that I found at Walmart and then wrapped them with decorative parchment paper tied with bakers twine. A nice little updated touch to an old family classic.

I just love these little treats full of messages of love from giver to the lucky person receiving the special gift. Whether it's a personalized card or cookies right out of the oven, I love sharing the warmth of the holiday season with my family, friends and, of course, my readers!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

2 sticks butter (melted)

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

Mix graham crakers crumbs, peanut butter, sugar and butter together well and press into a 8×8 pan. Melt chocolate and spread on top of peanut butter mixture and chill for 30 minutes. Cut into small squares and serve at room temperature.

Last Minute Holiday Gifts with GiftGloss

210 · Dec 4, 2012 · 4 Comments

Do you ever find yourself in a pinch over the Holidays? You need a gift for a friend, neighbor, colleague and you just don’t have time to make some goodies to share! You find yourself heading to the market to find some store bought goodies but feel like a total dope for bring bringing something that’s not homemade. Don’t you worry! All you need to do is keep some GiftGloss on hand with a few other handy packaging supplies and you are GOLDEN!

design elements // rhonna designs

I ran to the store yesterday and checked out the bakery section to find some goodies that I could repackage and give as fun gifts for friends & neighbors when you are in a pinch. Here are some suggestions that I have…

No. 1 Select a Theme

Even when you are in a hurry, take a few minutes to come up with a cohesive theme. This will kick your quick goodie up a notch and turn it into a stunning gift. It took just a few minutes to go through the bakery and candy section at the store to find a few items that would go with my red, white & chocolate theme.

No. 2 Packaging

Nothing screams LAME more than store bought goodies brought in their store containers. To save myself from that mistake I keep a few items on hand to save me when in a pinch…

GiftGloss – Not sure what GiftGloss is click here to see their video. I keep both the 6 & 12 inch rolls on hand
Decorative plates or containers – The skies the limit here, as long as they fit in the 6 or 12 inch GiftGloss tube.
Fancy parchment paper – I found my red dot parchment paper at Cost Plus World Market
Ribbon, twine, yarn or some type of decorative tie – I found my fun personalized ribbon on Pick Your Plum not too long ago. It says “Merry Christmas from the Thoming Family” LOVE it!!

No. 3 Placement

You’ve taken the time to get the goodies, stock the fun packaging… Now you need to make sure you create a beautiful goodie package or plate by making sure you place thing well.

Don’t over crowd the plate.
Use the color to your advantage with color groups.
Think of your patterns and textures and place accordingly.
For large plates have one item be the show stopper then add to it with a good supportive selection of items. For example, in my large plate I have the beautiful cookies as my show stopper and then the supportive cast accentuates the beautiful cookies.

Now, if you keep all of those things well stocked, you can have some amazingly SIMPLE yet STUNNING holiday gifts in a snap.

The FoofQueens are making that extra easy right now with a special deal for EVERYONE!!

Head on over and visit the FoofQueens to stock-up on GiftGloss so you won’t be caught empty handed.

Here are some more easy ideas from the FoofQueens…

What are some of your ideas? What would you foof-up with your new GiftGloss?

Discloser Statement

Friday Flair Features

1 · Dec 3, 2012 · 13 Comments

Welcome to Monday, the first week of December… are you feeling it? This magical time of the year? We spent the weekend putting up our tree, the lights on the house and dressing up the little red barn for the season (if you follow me on Instagram, you know about the little red barn) We had a bit of a false start over Thanksgiving when it came to our holiday decorating… We started setting up our 12 year old tree, only to find out that 75% of the lights no longer worked on the tree, so sad. Well, I wasn’t too bummed, the tree was way too big for our little rental house, so I took the opportunity to find a slim Christmas tree during all of the Black Friday whoopla and then we started over again. Today I’m working on dressing up the rest of the house and can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on. I have some fun stuff for this week!

Last night I spent a few hours pinning away while going through last week’s Friday Flair and had a ball looking through everyone’s amazing creations. Here are a few that caught my eye…

diy grain sack tree skirt // dirt stains and paint

magnetic advent calendar // eat.sleep.make

random acts of kindness // anna nimmity

“be good” christmas reward jar // my sister’s suitcase

cherry ice box cookies // a pretty life in the suburbs

cottage cheese cookies // hubby made me

diy glitter reindeer art // shaken together

envelope advent calendar // a touch of yellow

eggnog cupcakes with nutmeg cupcakes // bird on a cake

pear ornament // a pumpkin & a princess

candy cane hot cocoa bar // clean & scentsible

reindeer cupcakes // half baked harvest

stocking advent calendar // sweet little gals

drop cloth holiday swag // reposhture

snowflake wreath // fit crafty stylish & happy

for unto us a child is born print // kiki & company

peppermint ice cream // your homebased mom

dark & white chocolate mousse // sweet 2 eat baking

treat packages // it’s always autumn

rudolph silhouette christmas sign // no.2 pencil

joy to the world mantel // uncommon design

candy cane cookie truffles // ode to inspiration

winter twig wreath // design,dining+diapers

Stunning, truly stunning!! You guys blow me away every week… I can’t wait to see what you come up with for this weeks Friday Flair.

Friday Flair Link Party // Christmas Star Edition

2 · Nov 29, 2012 · 44 Comments

Who’s ready for some Friday Flair fun? Better yet… who’s ready for some Christmas inspiration? I am having so much fun getting the house ready for the holidays. I just adore this time of year and all the creativity that it brings out in people. Recently I fell in love with this simple ribbon star from Beyond the Picket Fence…

img source // ribbon star from beyond the picket fence

Isn’t it lovely? It’s amazing how something so simple can create such a stunning statement piece in your home. Visit Becky over at Beyond the Picket Fence and say hello from WhipperBerry. Now…