Christmas

Pie Crust the Perfect Canvas // Mini Cherry Pies

92 · Dec 13, 2013 · 28 Comments

This post brought to you by Crisco // It's no secret that I LOVE pie! I love making pie, I love eating pie. As far as I'm concerned pie crust is the perfect canvas to make what ever you want! A few weeks ago I created a post about some of my favorite tips for making Picture Perfect Pies. It all starts with my favorite simple pie crust recipe from Crisco. Once you have that down you can make anything. You can make sweet pies or savory pies. Last night after a day of pie making, I decided to whip up some more crust dough and make some Taco Pies in my new Breville Personal Pie Maker. The family LOVED it!! I will post the recipe soon, promise!

While I was working on this week's pie project, I thought I would make a little video on Instagram on how I make my pie crust.

Kinda fun… thanks to Rhonna Designs and Mindy Gledhill for letting me use some of their talents for the video.

So, I had a thought. Since I just adore pies… Why not make mini pies to give as neighbor gifts for this Christmas season?

Now, these couldn't be any easier… With a great pie crust recipe, some simple store bought filling and the Breville Personal Pie maker. Nothing too crazy here, I gathered my pie crust ingredients…

Click Here for the Recipe

If you still have any questions about making Pie Crust, you can always call the Crisco Pie Hotline 1-877-FOR PIE TIPS (877-367-7438) for all kinds of around the clock PIE help this holiday season!

Next, I took some store bought cherry pie filling and supplemented it with some frozen sweet black cherries. The color contrast makes the filling really pretty, plus I LOVE black cherries. I used one 12 oz. bag of frozen cherries to 2 cans of cherry pie filling.

Then, I rolled out my pie crust and cut it using the special cutter from Breville machine, here is a quick video on how I did that as well.

Didn't they turn out CUTE?! They fit right inside those clear cellophane bags that you can find any where these days. Then I added some holiday greenery to make it look festive.

These cute little mini pies are just so fun and so easy to make…

The are just scrumptious!! Crisco has made pie making so easy these days.

They have a Crisco Picture Perfect Pie Pinterest board that has all kinds of fabulous recipes.
The Crisco Kitchen has teamed up with Michele Stuart owner of Michele's pies in Connecticut, she is over at Crisco's site sharing all kinds of fun pie tips and ideas.
Crisco is hosting a fun Rate & Review contest for a chance to win a Michele Stuart pie prize pack. Visit the Rate & Review site to rate your favorite pie for a chance to win!

Crisco is giving away a fabulous Perfect Pie Prize Pack to one of you!! Here is what you will win…

A Prize Pack valued at $200!! Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below to enter. This giveaway is open to those with a shipping address within the United States and will be open from November 27-January 2 with the winner announced on January 3rd.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Crisco. I did receive payment for development of this post.

Basswood Trees with eat.sleep.make.

1 · Dec 12, 2013 · 1 Comment

Hi all! Shannon from eat.sleep.make. here! So excited to share this inexpensive and easy project with you! All you need is a sheet of basswood, a craft knife, a rule, pencil and some paint!

First – Decide how big you want your tree to be. My first one I made 6 inches tall and 4 inches wide. Mark the wood and draw your triangle

Second – Use your ruler and craft knife to cut along the lines you drew. It may take several scores with the knife to get through the wood. Don't press too hard or you may crack the wood.

Third – Draw a line half way up from the middle of the base on one triangle. Then draw a line half way down from the tip of the triangle on the other. Use your craft knife to cut a slice about 1/16 to 1/8 inch where the line was.

Fourth – Slide your pieces together to make sure they fit.

Fifth – Paint a fancy little design on it!

These take little time to make, but turn out so adorable! It would even be fun to cut them out and let the kids paint/color/glitterfy them.

Stop over at eat.sleep.make. and check out some of our other Christmas projects!

Celebrate the Light Canvas

DIY Rosette Tree

DIY Snow Globe Necklace

Gingerbread Granola

3 · Dec 10, 2013 · 2 Comments

I’ve known for some time that I want to recreate this recipe. Gingerbread has been on my mind a lot recently with the holidays. My two flavor staples for this time of year are gingerbread and eggnog. So when I tried out a granola that incorporated one of those I became giddy with the thought of building a recipe around the product! This gingerbread granola is now a staple in our home. Mainly because it’s so quick to prepare and packages up beautifully for last minute neighbor treats!

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup molasses
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or a baking mat.

Mix all of your ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread into an even layer on your prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through the baking time. Allow to cool completely and enjoy!

While this bakes you get the wonderful smell of the Holiday’s floating through your home. It is so wonderful to wake up to and seems to last for days! We like to double the batch otherwise it never seems to make it to our friends and family!

Try it out on top of cereal, yogurt, fruit… or just on it’s own. It is unbelievably delicious and helps spread Christmas cheer whenever you decide to share! If you liked this recipe, check out these:

Coconut Macaroons // Easy Orange Blossom // Cranberry Bliss Bars

DIY Jingle Bell Ornaments

29 · Dec 9, 2013 · 8 Comments

DIY Jingle Bell Ornaments // One of my favorites at this time of year are jingle bells! I love the songs, the stories and the bells themselves. One time last year I walked into a beautiful shop in Colorado called Old Glory Antiques and they had a giant rustic German bread bowl FULL of jingle bells… I was in Heaven! Here is my Instagram collage of the place…

I knew I had to make something with jingle bells. It needed to be beautiful and easy to make, so I created my DIY Jingle Bell Ornament…

DIY Jingle Bell Ornament Supplies

48 inches of red 1/4″ wide grosgrain ribbon

24 inches of 2″ wide decorative ribbon

41 medium size jingle bells

2 inches of masking tape

hot glue or floral wire

DIY Jingle Bell Ornament Directions

Take your 48 inches of small red ribbon and cut in half (24 inches.) Then using the masking tape place little pieces of tape around all four ends. You are essentially making needles at each end of the ribbon. This will make it easier to feed the bells onto the ribbon.

Take one of the bells and feed it onto both of strands of ribbon.

This is going to be your center bell so, pull it to the middle of both of the ribbons.

Next, spread out the four different ends and add one bell to each end and pull to the center.

Now all you have to do is continue to add bells to each strand. Ten total on each strand.

Now, scrunch them down so that they are over lapping and close to the center.

Gather each of the ribbons together and arrange the bells to your liking and then gather the ribbon together and tie with a large loop at the top.

Make sure the knot is really tight and then trim the ends pretty close to the knot.

Tie a bow with the large ribbon and either hot glue the ribbon to the knot or use floral wire to wire it to the knot. I don’t actually tie the bow on the ornament because of the bulk of the wide ribbon. Voilá, you are finished!

It’s perfect for your Christmas tree, they are so easy, you can make a whole bunch for your tree. Or, you can use it to decorate a wreath. Either way, it’s super fun.