Decor

Cinnamon Roll House Centerpiece

11 · Dec 5, 2016 · 1 Comment

There is something truly magical about baking during the Christmas season. I have very fond memories in the kitchen with my family during the holidays making all kinds of goodies. Cookies, fudge, peanut brittle, my favorite cinnamon roll and all kinds of candies and goodies to pass out to friends and family. I loved to watch my parents in the kitchen working on these projects together. When I was little, my Dad never really spent a whole lot of time in the kitchen except for Christmas. That was the time of year he would join my Mom in the kitchen helping her make up the magical Christmas goodies and making up the scrumptious plates that would be whisked off to our loved ones.

The years we made cinnamon rolls were some of my favorite. As I thought back on those memories, I thought it would be fun to make a centerpiece for our Christmas table out of cinnamon rolls. I mean really, that’s a perfect holiday centerpiece!

I headed off to Walmart to get some inspiration and boy did I find it. I found this fun Gingerbread House Bundt Pan and thought it would be great to make the house out of CINNAMON ROLLS!

It would bring back those memories in the Christmas kitchen with my parents along with bringing in a new tradition with my kiddos. To make it even easier, I decided to make our cinnamon roll house with Pillsbury Grand Cinnamon Rolls. Super easy & tasty as well.

You know when you dream up an idea and then cross your fingers and toes in hopes that it will work? Well, I was beyond thrilled with how this one turned out and it hardly took any of our precious holiday time to make the magic happen. Here’s a quick little video to show you how to make one as well…

I’m mean really, how fun is that?

All you really need to do is…

Spray your pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Layer your Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls in the gingerbread house pan. I used three cans of Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls Make sure to press it a bit into the nooks and crannies.

Bake at 350˚ for 50-60 minutes.

You may need to cover it with foil after about 30 minutes to avoid over browning on the bottom.

Once it is baked all the way through (make sure to test with a cake tester), remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

I dressed mine up with holiday greenery, some cranberries, powdered sugar and then at the last minute thought I would try it with a drizzle of the icing on top.

First, I laid down some of the greenery on a cake plate.

Then I placed my cinnamon roll house on top and dusted it with powdered sugar and placed a few cranberries and a festive sprig of holly at the door…

Then I thought, you could either leave it like this with the powdered sugar, you could even decorate it with Royal Icing just like a gingerbread house OR, you could drizzle the icing that comes with the Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls on top of the roof.

I love it BOTH ways! I decided it didn’t need the full Royal Icing treatment. I love the rustic look of the powdered sugar and/or the Pillsbury icing. PLUS, it makes it so much easier to make and extra tasty as well.

So, what do you think? Are you inspired to make a Cinnamon Roll House for your Christmas table?

Disclaimer // This is a Pillsbury sponsored post. All thoughts, ideas and opinions are my very own. Rest assured, I will never promote a brand that I don’t truly love and use in my every day life.

DIH (Do it Herself) Drink Station

3 · Jun 13, 2016 · 4 Comments

+ This DIH Drink Station post brought to you by the lovely folks at Home Depot +

You guys, I’m so excited about this project. No, really!

See that drink station above? I BUILT IT MYSELF!!!

Not bad for a girl who used to be afraid of power tools. Now I feel like I can conquer the world! Or build a table or something. I’m no Ana White yet, but I totally have the confidence now to try my hand at this building thing. I owe it all to Home Depot and their DIH (Do it Herself) challenge. The cool thing is that YOU can do this at your local Home Depot too!

This months DIH Workshop in your area will be on Thursday, June 16th at 6:30. Click HERE to register. If you have never been to a DIH workshop, you should go! This one is so fun, it’s FREE and you’ll learn how to make a beverage stations just like this one. Plus, to get to build on your skills and become truly handy around the house.

I was asked to be a part of a blogger challenge with 24 other bloggers. We all had to build the same beverage station from the Home Depot instructions and then give it our own special touches.

I decided to give mine a classic look… I love everything clean and white right now but I want to distress through to a darker brown so, my first layer of paint was brown and then I painted the top an off-white and then distressed down a little bit.

I added a decorative trim piece around the top to give it a more elegant look and then added these fabulous hooks on the side to give it a little more character. Of course I had to spray paint the bucket gold as well.

I can not even tell you how awesome it feels to know that I built this myself!! This is what I started with…

Just some basic plywood and some common boards, with some fabulous directions and that’s it! I now have a beverage station that I can be truly proud of.

Isn’t it cute! I’ve teamed up with 24 other bloggers who have created the very same thing and then personalized it for their taste. Won’t it be fun to see everyone’s different styles? Before you head out to check out the other drink stations, make sure you register to attend the DIH Beverage Station Workshop at your Home Depot. It’s FREE, it’s fun, grab a friend and learn how to BUILD!

Click on over and check out the other beverage stations…

The Casual Craftlete Blog

Domestically Speaking

Disclaimer // This post was sponsored by the Home Depot. I received product in order to complete my assigned task. Remember, I will only share what I truly love, and believe in!

How to Decorate with Flowers

0 · Mar 1, 2016 · 2 Comments

+ How to decorate with flowers post brought to you by Michaels Craft Stores +

I ADORE flowers!

I love how something so simple can transform a space.

Especially this time of year when we are all waking up from our winter hibernation. It’s time to pack away the buffalo check and the fun plaids and bring out the romantic spring florals. That’s why this month’s Michaels Makers Challenge is all about the Flower Market!

How to decorate with flowers

My one issue…

I HATE how quickly fresh flowers fade. I love having them around, but I truly dislike the cost of keeping them up in our home. That’s why I’m in love with Michaels new Floral Market with over 500 fresh new blooms that will for sure match almost any personality and decorating style!

I tend to keep things more on the simple end. As much as I love huge arrangements in other spaces. I feel like the space in my home needs something a little more delicate.

img source + beyond sweet and savory

I have always loved Ranunculus blooms and thought they would be the perfect addition to this little corner in my kitchen.

These beautiful Ranunculus blooms paired with the romantic bud vase that I also found at Michaels it was a real home run!!

The beauty of the whole thing is that I get to have this romantic splash of spring and it’s not going to wither and die on me. I LOVE IT!

I’m sure you have a space in your home that could use a little love… It’s amazing how adding a little bloom can totally transform a room.

Looking for more simple floral ideas, you should visit Michaels blog The Glue String for all kinds of inspiration OR you can visit the 49 other Michaels Makers to see how they’ve dressed up their home from the Flower Market.

Michaels Makers Summit Challenge

Speaking of Michaels Makers… YOU could win the opportunity to join us for this years Michaels Makers Summit

Come and be creative with some of your favorite creative friends!!

All you have to do is submit a photo of your work at the Made with Michaels site. We will be pouring over your fun creative projects and we will be selecting a few of you to join us for this years event. Head on over for all the details.

NOW, here are all of the other fresh new spring ideas from the other Michaels Makers this month…

An InLinkz Link-up

Simple DIY Art

4 · Apr 2, 2014 · 8 Comments

Simple DIY Art // Hey all! It’s Jenn from My Fabuless Life! Last month I shared my embroidery hoop bulletin board I did for my daughter’s big girl bedroom, and since then, I’ve caught the makeover fever, because I’ve moved onto my master bedroom and am here to show you a quick, simple art project you can do for less than $10. Finding large scale art for those bigger walls can get expensive, which is why I love creating my own. You can customize everything about it, for next to nothing!

I started with a 4′ x 4′ piece of thin, pine plywood from my home improvement store (in the lumber section with the peg board), and stained the whole thing. If you’re more into the painted look, you can do that too, it’s up to you.

My original plan was just to put the text right on the wood (which you’ll notice below), but after I wrote directly on the wood, it was hard to see, so I got out the paint. I wanted a really unique, sort of “messy” look, so I just grabbed one of my favorite sponge rollers and roughly rolled out the paint in the pattern I wanted. I let that coat dry, added another, and filled in some spots with a paint brush, and then it was time for the writing.

Remember, I tried writing first, so this picture is a little backwards. You’ll notice though, that if you’re writing with white, it would be just fine. Anyway, I measured for where I wanted the writing to go, and then drew a line with chalk so that the text wouldn’t be all over the place. Then, I wrote out my phrase with chalk and wrote right over it with a gold paint pen. After the gold was dry, I just wiped off the remaining chalk with a damp cloth.