Christmas Paper Bauble With Bling

This Christmas season, I enjoyed many paper crafts but making various paper baubles was by far my most enjoyable. My Christmas paper stock arrived and I couldn't wait to get crafting on the paper bauble ideas I had. Using various Christmas paper stock theme, I cut 12 circles with a radius of about 7 cm each.

After folding each circle in half, I began back to back gluing of the now semi-circles. Halfway through I added ribbon so that I would have something to hang the bauble from as well as something to add the 'bling' to. Once all were glued back to back, I threaded the beads onto the ribbon and whalla - a gorgeous big paper bauble with added sparkle. The kiddies and I made a few varying in size, colour and shape. Fantastic memories created with my special ones.

Happy crafting.

xx

Homemade Neighbour Christmas Gift

Those who know me know how I enjoy a little humour added to every thing I do. I wanted to put a home made Christmas gift together for our neighbours with that added touch of humour reflecting a little me. Looking for inspiration on Pinterest I came across the perfect gift. 

Using Christmas themed paper plates, paper cups and serviettes then a little added bonus of home made Santa chocolates - I wrapped the contents together with cellophane, tied a nice red ribbon on it and made matching cards for each gift. The cards read as follows:

'Merry Christmas to you and yours,

My gift for you is a little less chores.'

The gifts were well received with laughter and appreciation. Making all the effort that much worthwhile. 

Happy Home Made gift crafting.

xx

Halloween Treats

I'm a little late in posting I know but here goes.

Halloween is the time of year my boys get to enjoy the gore that goes with it. It's a boy thing I guess. Even though we bake and craft many Halloween goodies, the dress up and venture out for trick or treat is what goes down best. Especially seeing all the other little monsters come out to play. 

The cake we baked had to be chocolate of course. My little boy opt for a Jack-o-lantern. I like that jack-o-lanterns don't have to be scary. Butter cream icing is always a hit in this house so as usual I went with the obvious. Simple shaping of the cake and a layer of icing. I used left over fondant here and there. My boys don't like fondant so I don't use it much. A sprinkle of toy spiders to top it off - DONE. Note to watch the spiders when serving little ones.

Enjoy.

Treat bag filled with sweets & a few trick items. Made using tissue paper and cardboard for his face.

Jack-O-Lantern chocolate cake

Our Mini Gingerbread House.

Our mini gingerbread house for dads coffee cup on Christmas morning. This was our first attempt and getting  all the pieces to stick together took a little time playing with various icing consistencies. Not the neatest but was definitely the most fun. We will be sure to make more next year as we enjoyed baking this one.

I used the following link  For Gingerbread dough recipe and templates.

Happy baking with your kiddies.

xxx  

Paper Christmas Tree Craft

To make this ornament paper Christmas tree, I took all the bits and pieces of Christmas paper stock I had left over after making paper baubles and gift tags. Using an office message spike and the longer strips of paper measuring about 15cm - I began pushing the strips on through the centre of each strip. As I worked up the spike I shortened the paper until I reach the desired fullness. Popped on a star to end it off. Simple, easy and pretty on any bookshelf around your home for the season. I made a few with my little one too.

Have fun, happy crafting
xx

Late Night Cup Cakes

I haven't a cooking clue as to why I woke the day after Christmas aka Boxing Day with a huge migraine. Sadly, I'm a sufferer but over the years I have learnt how to control, manage and keep away from what triggers them. Mostly - it's heat and we are in the throws of a heatwave.  Being man down, I woke to the sounds of hubbys voice phoning around looking for an open chemist. Wasn't long before I was brought some pain killers and a glass of juice. I slept the day away. Missed out on precious time with my boys and man but they were well taken care of and had a fun-filled father/son day.

At around 8pm I decided baking was the way to go. Cupcakes were e cards, with a mix and pour, bake and cake - whalla. There you have it. 24 butter cream iced cupcakes made from a standard chocolate cupcake mix. The boys were not too impresses with the pink icing and edible glitter but the chocolate sponge seemed to console them.My piping bag packed up as I stared icing but not worries - nothing a sandwich bag couldn't fix. Presented on this Christmas tree platter - done.

Happy baking

xxx

Chocolate Banana Lollies

With three sons, over the years I have sought ideas for yummy teethers. All my sons love bananas and chocolate. That goes without saying when it comes to my chocoholic boys who take after their chocoholic father. Chocolate banana lollies were a hit and still are as my 1 year old tackles his teething stages.

Peeled and halved, slide a blunt skewer into the centre of the banana. Dip the banana into melted baking chocolate. Sprinkle anything on from 100's & 1000's to coconut flakes. Anything your children favour. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes before delighting your little one with this delicious treat. My big boys like them too. Enjoy. 

Beautiful Bracelets Hand-Made by Val

Our local radio station ran a competition of sorts lately where you  called in for the R 1000 they offered to people with a business concept using that R 1 000 to turn out a profit and a possible new small business. 
My hubby followed this competition for weeks until the winner was revealed. He learnt a lot from the show that we could implement in our own small business.

One competitor in particular stood out to Mr. Valerie. Val as we came to know her as, started Beautiful Bracelets. Creating beautiful beaded bracelets at a set price. Vals concept took off well. Little did I know Mr contacted Val on twitter to arrange the purchase of a Beautiful Bracelet, not only as a gift for me but in support of small business owners. 

Needless to say - last night while at our church Carols by Candle light where they had a moon light market too, there was Val selling a wide range of her Beautiful Bracelets. WOW, what an amazing spirited woman. She is beautiful on the inside too. We got chatting for some time but our little ones soon needed their beds.

Here is the Beautiful Bracelet we purchased from Val - You can contact her on twitter @1000Bracelets or check out her website Beautiful Bracelets 

I love mine in crimson red, perfect for the Christmas season.

As per Vals tag line: Stylish bracelets to bring out the beautiful in you.

Beautiful Paper Baubles

I love Pinterest as there are so many shared ideas for many different crafts. Often, all it takes is a photo and a dash of  savvy to inspire your own creative master piece.

I had fun with my son crafting paper baubles for the Christmas season. We created a few with different shapes then added a little bling for that little sparkle. 

I used a textured pearl card stock from my local paper craft shop. When making the smaller bauble as per the pictures, six stars or circles worked best. Once cut and folded in half, I began gluing the halves back to back. On the third I added a ribbon then continued. Once the glue was dry, on with the bling and Walla - A Beautiful Paper Bauble.

With plenty shapes to go on, you can create till your hearts content. I like most how inexpensive they are to make and enjoyed the shared memories with my son.

Happy Crafting.