Friday, December 27, 2013

Baby Ensemble-a twist on a classic

Earlier this year, a couple of my dearest friends announced that they were expecting their second child.  I waited (as I am sure they did) in anxious anticipation for the gender announcement so that I could get myself started on some kind of creative project for the coming child.  We were all thrilled to learn that they would be expecting a girl. (Their first child was a boy-one of each!) I was on a mission to find and uber adorable outfit to make for my new "niece". **Quick tangent story-My Grandma likes to tease me because I didn't know until my older sister got married, that one of her good friends ,whom I called "Aunt", is in fact not related to me at all. Hahaha, and now I myself have been given and "honorary Aunt" title*

 
I found this adorable baby outfit pattern during one of my 5 for 5 dollar pattern sale raids at JoAnn and have been waiting for the opportunity to use it and this was my chance! Next came the search for the perfect fabric.  This pattern is so classic that I really wanted it to stand out with a bolder fabric choice. While chatting with the Mom-to-be about my outfit adventure a brilliant idea crossed my mind! When first pregnant with baby #1, she had asked me if I could assist her in making some maternity dresses for her.  We had picked out some fabric and had started sewing but I was fairly certain, from previous conversations, that she had not completed the dresses.  She confirmed that she had indeed not finished them and that if I wanted the fabric for the baby outfit, I was welcome to it. The fabric was perfect and exactly what I was looking for!
 
 
 
Due to the fact that it had already been cut and partially made into a dress for Mom, arranging the pieces was a bit tricky and I ended up needing more fabric.  I found some solid pink fabric that paired nicely and made a lovely accent to the pink crossbones.
 


 
I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out! :) Its, luckily, a bit big for her right now, so hopefully she will be fitting into it right as early spring arrives. Although quite honestly, it was in the mid 70's here on Christmas Eve so I'm not sure it will be too long before she needs some cooler clothes around here.  Gotta love Cali sunshine! The baby was born at the beginning of the month and after a whirlwind month and some unforeseen travel, I was able to meet this beautiful little girl on Christmas Eve.
 
She is so relaxed and alert! Only a couple of weeks old and already tracking people across a room with her eyes. She turns her head towards the sound of Mommy's voice. Such a little angel! She is a wonderful addition to a family that already means so much to me! I am so excited for their amazing family and all of the adventures they have ahead of them.
 
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and enjoy your New Years!

Friday, December 20, 2013

A great man- Remembering My Grandpa

 
 

The world lost a patriot and a great man this past month.  He impacted many lives with his generous and caring heart and he will be greatly missed.  Though there was no story on the news of his passing, no parade or statue erected in his honor, to my family and those who's lives he touched, he was far more valuable than any of those things. This man was my Grandpa.

My Grandpa was born and raised on a farm in Nebraska.  He and my Grandma moved to California, when he was stationed here, after joining the United States Marine Corps where he served in the Korean war.  He and my Grandma raised 6 boys who went on to give them 21 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.  He worked hard every day of his life, doing everything from meat packing and running his own meat delivery route, to working parts delivery for local Ford dealerships. 

My Grandpa LOVED Fords! It was a huge passion of his and he loved working on cars, driving cars and just looking at and/or talking about cars.  He was a Godly man who instilled strong values into his children and taught them the importance of Family.


As my siblings and I travelled back to Nebraska this past week for the funeral, we reflected on the many good times we shared with him.  My Grandpa could always be found in his typical "uniform" of Blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt, or a cowboy style shirt with pearl snaps.  I remember as a kid sitting on his lap and staring at the multi-colored reflections in the faces of the snaps.  I remember fondly how he smelled of a mixture of  car grease, bacon, lava soap and the orange scented cleaner he used to remove car grease from his hands.  I remember him giving us "tours" of his massive garage and being in awe of all the magnificent Fords in his collection. I remember my siblings and I each picking our favorite one and arguing over who got the best ones.  I remember taking turns riding with him on his riding lawn mower in the backyard.  I remember the pastel colored mini marshmallows he would give us as a snack whenever we would come over.  I remember his amazingly classic and subdued sense of humor.  He would insert the funniest things into normal conversation but was so serious when he said them that it made it ten times more hilarious.

He was one of the good ones, one of those classic old-school guys people just loved to be around. A reminder of a friendlier time, from a generation who's ways we have left behind and forgotten in so many ways.  A generation that knew that family and hard work are the only things that matter in the end.

In preparation for heading out for the funeral, I thought of something nice I could do for my Grandma.  I had recently seen some Ford Mustang fabric at Jo-Ann's so I grabbed some (along with some red fabric with white hearts on it) and made her one of my mesh tote bags. My Grandpa loved his Fords so much!  I thought she might enjoy the pleasant reminder of her sweetheart of almost 60 years.


My Grandpa will be missed by so many, in so many ways.  I know, however, that he lives on inside me and all of my family members.  He taught us all and influenced who we have become in so many ways.  The world could use more kind and courteous souls like him.  During my Dad's talk at Grandpa's funeral, he mentioned one of the many influences of my Grandpa, his deep rooted value of common sense and courtesy.  I had called my Dad a few months ago to share about an incident involving one of our pet peeves.  My Dad always taught us that after you press the button to summon and elevator, you move away from the doors to allow any current passengers of the elevator to be able to exit without you being in their way. I expressed to my Dad how bugged I was that as I was trying to leave the elevator that day, someone else was already on their way into it as I was exiting, and how frustrating it is that no one seems to have common courtesy any more! (I even jokingly said to him "Was everyone not raised by my Dad and taught these things???") After my Dad re-told of my frustrations to the rest of the funeral guests, he turned to me in the crowd and said "That wasn't me who taught you that, it was Grandpa, because he taught me."

My Grandpa put high regard to walking through this life not just for yourself but for those around you.  In everything he did and taught his boys, it all came back to not going around as if you are the only one that matters and that being cognisant of others makes the world a better place for you and those around you.  I think we need more people in the world like him!  I only hope that I can raise a family of my own and carry on the virtues he taught my father and him to me.  Thank you Grandpa for the wonderful memories and the Amazing family I am so blessed to be a part of. We love you! Rest in peace from a life well lived!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Christmas card display

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house.  With the help of some dear friends, I got my Christmas tree into my living room and got it decorated!

 
Years ago, my sister gave me a gorgeous Tinker Bell tree topper.  I LOVE Tinker Bell and this piece has proudly topped my tree and inspired the overall theme of my tree, complete with my collection of Tinker Bell ornaments,ever since she gave it to me.  My Mom and Dad gave me a Han Solo ornament last year and my Mom said "Well, if anything can be an exception to you Tinker Bell tree, it should be Han Solo!" Oh, how well she knows me! So, this year, Han is enjoying his place of honor amongst the many Tinker Bell's on my tree.
 
 
 
The one thing I have always struggled with, Christmas decor wise, is where to display my Christmas cards.  I usually end up settling with any place where I can tape up some ribbon and hang them.  They inevitably end up falling down a million times! I decided that this year would be different and I would create an actual and official method of display for them. Ever since I was a kid, I loved looking at all of the Christmas cards as they came and I really wanted a nice place to display cards at my house for the holidays.
 
I scoured Pinterest and google searched for ideas.  As tends to me my method, I ended up combining aspects of a few of my favorite ideas into the perfect concept for my space.  I started out with trip to The Home Depot where I picked myself up a  1x6 plank and had them cut it for me into three, two foot sections. (The other two sections to be used for a couple other projects I have planned.) When I got back home, I set up a work space on my balcony and hopped to it.  I had a sponge sanding block in my toolbox leftover from a previous project and used it to go over my two foot plank to even out the ridges and soften up the edges.
 
 
 
I had some light green spray paint left over from an old project so, I threw a quick coat of that on my newly smoothed wood and let it dry.
 

 
 
I found a holiday letters Martha Stewart stencil set on sale at Michael's along with some red and green acrylic paints and some holiday ribbon.  Once the spray paint was dry, I carefully stenciled on the letters one at a time.
 
 
 
I put the letters purposefully at staggered heights so that I would not have to stress over making sure everything was straight. I added some stencilled holly leaves to the corners for some added visual interest. Of course, I realized as soon as I got home that the green acrylic paint I got was almost the same color as my spray paint, so I added a bit of black paint to the green and made a darker green to use for the holly leaves.
 
 
 
While my letters were drying, I put a quick coat of red paint on one side of some mini clothes pins I had also gotten at Michael's. These will eventually be used to clip the cards onto the ribbons.
 
By that time, everything was dry.  I slapped some command adhesive strips onto the back of my sign. (love those things! SUPER great for apartment living when you don't always want to hammer a hole into your wall) For the next step, I pulled out my roll of Christmas ribbon. (I bought the kind with wire in it so that next year when it gets brought out of storage I can bend it back into proper shape) I used a staple gum and attached three strips to the back of the board.  I left a long length for each strip so that I could cut it to proper length once I hung it on the wall.
 
 
Once hung, I trimmed the ribbon to the proper length and bent the bottoms of them strips into curls so they would look a little nicer until its filled with cards.
 
Then, I clipped the cards I had so far onto a strip of ribbon with one of my new red mini clothespins and VOILA!!
 
 
 
I'm actually pretty thrilled with how it turned out for being such a simple project. I think it will look even better when its filled with cards! (That was your hint to get those Christmas cards out family and friends ha ha) Also, I love how wonderfully it fills this space in my entryway that I am never quite sure what to do with.  So, at least for a little while this spot feels complete. :) Now I guess I need to start thinking up a project for this spot for after the holidays....hmmmm......  :)

Friday, December 6, 2013

Marshmallow World

"Its a Marshmallow world in the winter,
when the snow comes to cover the ground.
It's the time for play, its a whipped cream day.
I wait for it the whole year round."
 
Well....its not exactly a "marshmallow world" here in sunny So-Cal, although the temp did finally dip down into jacket weather this week. (44 degrees on my way home from work!) For all of you out there who get to experience actual weather during the holidays, I am slightly jealous.  None the less, Dean Martin captures wonderfully the magic of a snow filled winter in this, one of my favorite Christmas Season songs. Oh ,how I adore me some Dean! Since we don't actually get snow here, I thought I would get started on some holiday projects to help usher in the holiday spirit. I wanted to make some wintry treats and decided I would start with Marshmallow pops. These versatile yummy goodies can really be made for any occasion and can be as simple or as fancy as you like.  They can even be made ahead of time as well if you wanted to get them out of the way early.
 
 
It all began with a quick trip to my local Target for some supplies.  I grabbed myself a bag of large marshmallows (not the UBER big ones, although I am sure they would also make some pretty awesome pops) some melting chocolates in a few colors and a container or Christmas sprinkles.  I found a really awesome set of sprinkles with 6 different kinds in one pack. I grabbed some candy sticks, cellophane bags and twist ties at my local baking/party supply store but they are also available at any Michael's or JoAnn craft stores. Once I had my supplies, I threw in my "Christmas with Dino" CD and got to work.
 
 
For the first step, I rolled out some waxed paper on my counter and lined up my marshmallows. I then pushed a candy stick into each marshmallow, being careful not to push them all the way through.  Once all of the marshmallows were given a stick, it was time to melt the chocolate.  I decorated using one color at a time to avoid each color cooling too much between pops.  I melted the chocolate 15 seconds at a time in the microwave, adding one teaspoon of vegetable shortening for smoother melting. I then poured my desired sprinkles into a bowl, next to my bowl of melted chocolate.
 
 

I dipped the top of each marshmallow into the melted chocolate. You can, of course, dip as much of the marshmallow in chocolate as you want or even dip it at an angle. I chose to dip just the tops straight up and down. 
 
 
 
Immediately after dipping the tops in chocolate, I moved them over the sprinkle bowl and lightly poured on some sprinkles. (please excuse my blurry picture. I discovered that taking a picture while holding a marshmallow pop AND dropping sprinkles on all at the same time is in fact a lot more difficult than I had originally anticipated)
 
 
Once they received their sprinkles, I set the pops in a juice glass to dry.  They dry relatively quickly and can then be placed in cellophane bags and tied with twist ties.  Your treats are then ready to be enjoyed! They can be given out individually (great for kid's school holiday parties)
 
 
Or, bundle them together with some ribbon as a wonderfully wintry treat bouquet or as part of a hot chocolate gift set for gifting to families.  So cute and so simple!!
 
This was the perfect holiday project for me to start with, especially this week! My sister came out from Arizona with her daughter Charlie to visit.  We had some great family visiting and they got to have some great cousin playtime too.


 
Charlie also got to meet my Boyfriend, which was pretty hilarious! She was very interested in his facial hair. I'm pretty sure he is the first fully bearded man she has met, and we all know how much babies love grabbing fist fulls of hair.  Imagine discovering someone with hair, long enough to grab, on their face for the first time! :)
 
 
We had a very nice visit and I am glad I also got to kick of my Christmas festivities!  This week will include Christmas tree and present shopping. Only 19 days till Christmas, AHHH! This is my favorite time of year! I love the cool(er) weather, the sparkling lights everywhere you go, the music, and most of all, the time spent gathered with family and friends. I hope you all are enjoying you holiday prep as much as I am! Happy Holidays everyone!

Friday, December 27, 2013

Baby Ensemble-a twist on a classic

Earlier this year, a couple of my dearest friends announced that they were expecting their second child.  I waited (as I am sure they did) in anxious anticipation for the gender announcement so that I could get myself started on some kind of creative project for the coming child.  We were all thrilled to learn that they would be expecting a girl. (Their first child was a boy-one of each!) I was on a mission to find and uber adorable outfit to make for my new "niece". **Quick tangent story-My Grandma likes to tease me because I didn't know until my older sister got married, that one of her good friends ,whom I called "Aunt", is in fact not related to me at all. Hahaha, and now I myself have been given and "honorary Aunt" title*

 
I found this adorable baby outfit pattern during one of my 5 for 5 dollar pattern sale raids at JoAnn and have been waiting for the opportunity to use it and this was my chance! Next came the search for the perfect fabric.  This pattern is so classic that I really wanted it to stand out with a bolder fabric choice. While chatting with the Mom-to-be about my outfit adventure a brilliant idea crossed my mind! When first pregnant with baby #1, she had asked me if I could assist her in making some maternity dresses for her.  We had picked out some fabric and had started sewing but I was fairly certain, from previous conversations, that she had not completed the dresses.  She confirmed that she had indeed not finished them and that if I wanted the fabric for the baby outfit, I was welcome to it. The fabric was perfect and exactly what I was looking for!
 
 
 
Due to the fact that it had already been cut and partially made into a dress for Mom, arranging the pieces was a bit tricky and I ended up needing more fabric.  I found some solid pink fabric that paired nicely and made a lovely accent to the pink crossbones.
 


 
I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out! :) Its, luckily, a bit big for her right now, so hopefully she will be fitting into it right as early spring arrives. Although quite honestly, it was in the mid 70's here on Christmas Eve so I'm not sure it will be too long before she needs some cooler clothes around here.  Gotta love Cali sunshine! The baby was born at the beginning of the month and after a whirlwind month and some unforeseen travel, I was able to meet this beautiful little girl on Christmas Eve.
 
She is so relaxed and alert! Only a couple of weeks old and already tracking people across a room with her eyes. She turns her head towards the sound of Mommy's voice. Such a little angel! She is a wonderful addition to a family that already means so much to me! I am so excited for their amazing family and all of the adventures they have ahead of them.
 
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and enjoy your New Years!

Friday, December 20, 2013

A great man- Remembering My Grandpa

 
 

The world lost a patriot and a great man this past month.  He impacted many lives with his generous and caring heart and he will be greatly missed.  Though there was no story on the news of his passing, no parade or statue erected in his honor, to my family and those who's lives he touched, he was far more valuable than any of those things. This man was my Grandpa.

My Grandpa was born and raised on a farm in Nebraska.  He and my Grandma moved to California, when he was stationed here, after joining the United States Marine Corps where he served in the Korean war.  He and my Grandma raised 6 boys who went on to give them 21 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.  He worked hard every day of his life, doing everything from meat packing and running his own meat delivery route, to working parts delivery for local Ford dealerships. 

My Grandpa LOVED Fords! It was a huge passion of his and he loved working on cars, driving cars and just looking at and/or talking about cars.  He was a Godly man who instilled strong values into his children and taught them the importance of Family.


As my siblings and I travelled back to Nebraska this past week for the funeral, we reflected on the many good times we shared with him.  My Grandpa could always be found in his typical "uniform" of Blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt, or a cowboy style shirt with pearl snaps.  I remember as a kid sitting on his lap and staring at the multi-colored reflections in the faces of the snaps.  I remember fondly how he smelled of a mixture of  car grease, bacon, lava soap and the orange scented cleaner he used to remove car grease from his hands.  I remember him giving us "tours" of his massive garage and being in awe of all the magnificent Fords in his collection. I remember my siblings and I each picking our favorite one and arguing over who got the best ones.  I remember taking turns riding with him on his riding lawn mower in the backyard.  I remember the pastel colored mini marshmallows he would give us as a snack whenever we would come over.  I remember his amazingly classic and subdued sense of humor.  He would insert the funniest things into normal conversation but was so serious when he said them that it made it ten times more hilarious.

He was one of the good ones, one of those classic old-school guys people just loved to be around. A reminder of a friendlier time, from a generation who's ways we have left behind and forgotten in so many ways.  A generation that knew that family and hard work are the only things that matter in the end.

In preparation for heading out for the funeral, I thought of something nice I could do for my Grandma.  I had recently seen some Ford Mustang fabric at Jo-Ann's so I grabbed some (along with some red fabric with white hearts on it) and made her one of my mesh tote bags. My Grandpa loved his Fords so much!  I thought she might enjoy the pleasant reminder of her sweetheart of almost 60 years.


My Grandpa will be missed by so many, in so many ways.  I know, however, that he lives on inside me and all of my family members.  He taught us all and influenced who we have become in so many ways.  The world could use more kind and courteous souls like him.  During my Dad's talk at Grandpa's funeral, he mentioned one of the many influences of my Grandpa, his deep rooted value of common sense and courtesy.  I had called my Dad a few months ago to share about an incident involving one of our pet peeves.  My Dad always taught us that after you press the button to summon and elevator, you move away from the doors to allow any current passengers of the elevator to be able to exit without you being in their way. I expressed to my Dad how bugged I was that as I was trying to leave the elevator that day, someone else was already on their way into it as I was exiting, and how frustrating it is that no one seems to have common courtesy any more! (I even jokingly said to him "Was everyone not raised by my Dad and taught these things???") After my Dad re-told of my frustrations to the rest of the funeral guests, he turned to me in the crowd and said "That wasn't me who taught you that, it was Grandpa, because he taught me."

My Grandpa put high regard to walking through this life not just for yourself but for those around you.  In everything he did and taught his boys, it all came back to not going around as if you are the only one that matters and that being cognisant of others makes the world a better place for you and those around you.  I think we need more people in the world like him!  I only hope that I can raise a family of my own and carry on the virtues he taught my father and him to me.  Thank you Grandpa for the wonderful memories and the Amazing family I am so blessed to be a part of. We love you! Rest in peace from a life well lived!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Christmas card display

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house.  With the help of some dear friends, I got my Christmas tree into my living room and got it decorated!

 
Years ago, my sister gave me a gorgeous Tinker Bell tree topper.  I LOVE Tinker Bell and this piece has proudly topped my tree and inspired the overall theme of my tree, complete with my collection of Tinker Bell ornaments,ever since she gave it to me.  My Mom and Dad gave me a Han Solo ornament last year and my Mom said "Well, if anything can be an exception to you Tinker Bell tree, it should be Han Solo!" Oh, how well she knows me! So, this year, Han is enjoying his place of honor amongst the many Tinker Bell's on my tree.
 
 
 
The one thing I have always struggled with, Christmas decor wise, is where to display my Christmas cards.  I usually end up settling with any place where I can tape up some ribbon and hang them.  They inevitably end up falling down a million times! I decided that this year would be different and I would create an actual and official method of display for them. Ever since I was a kid, I loved looking at all of the Christmas cards as they came and I really wanted a nice place to display cards at my house for the holidays.
 
I scoured Pinterest and google searched for ideas.  As tends to me my method, I ended up combining aspects of a few of my favorite ideas into the perfect concept for my space.  I started out with trip to The Home Depot where I picked myself up a  1x6 plank and had them cut it for me into three, two foot sections. (The other two sections to be used for a couple other projects I have planned.) When I got back home, I set up a work space on my balcony and hopped to it.  I had a sponge sanding block in my toolbox leftover from a previous project and used it to go over my two foot plank to even out the ridges and soften up the edges.
 
 
 
I had some light green spray paint left over from an old project so, I threw a quick coat of that on my newly smoothed wood and let it dry.
 

 
 
I found a holiday letters Martha Stewart stencil set on sale at Michael's along with some red and green acrylic paints and some holiday ribbon.  Once the spray paint was dry, I carefully stenciled on the letters one at a time.
 
 
 
I put the letters purposefully at staggered heights so that I would not have to stress over making sure everything was straight. I added some stencilled holly leaves to the corners for some added visual interest. Of course, I realized as soon as I got home that the green acrylic paint I got was almost the same color as my spray paint, so I added a bit of black paint to the green and made a darker green to use for the holly leaves.
 
 
 
While my letters were drying, I put a quick coat of red paint on one side of some mini clothes pins I had also gotten at Michael's. These will eventually be used to clip the cards onto the ribbons.
 
By that time, everything was dry.  I slapped some command adhesive strips onto the back of my sign. (love those things! SUPER great for apartment living when you don't always want to hammer a hole into your wall) For the next step, I pulled out my roll of Christmas ribbon. (I bought the kind with wire in it so that next year when it gets brought out of storage I can bend it back into proper shape) I used a staple gum and attached three strips to the back of the board.  I left a long length for each strip so that I could cut it to proper length once I hung it on the wall.
 
 
Once hung, I trimmed the ribbon to the proper length and bent the bottoms of them strips into curls so they would look a little nicer until its filled with cards.
 
Then, I clipped the cards I had so far onto a strip of ribbon with one of my new red mini clothespins and VOILA!!
 
 
 
I'm actually pretty thrilled with how it turned out for being such a simple project. I think it will look even better when its filled with cards! (That was your hint to get those Christmas cards out family and friends ha ha) Also, I love how wonderfully it fills this space in my entryway that I am never quite sure what to do with.  So, at least for a little while this spot feels complete. :) Now I guess I need to start thinking up a project for this spot for after the holidays....hmmmm......  :)

Friday, December 6, 2013

Marshmallow World

"Its a Marshmallow world in the winter,
when the snow comes to cover the ground.
It's the time for play, its a whipped cream day.
I wait for it the whole year round."
 
Well....its not exactly a "marshmallow world" here in sunny So-Cal, although the temp did finally dip down into jacket weather this week. (44 degrees on my way home from work!) For all of you out there who get to experience actual weather during the holidays, I am slightly jealous.  None the less, Dean Martin captures wonderfully the magic of a snow filled winter in this, one of my favorite Christmas Season songs. Oh ,how I adore me some Dean! Since we don't actually get snow here, I thought I would get started on some holiday projects to help usher in the holiday spirit. I wanted to make some wintry treats and decided I would start with Marshmallow pops. These versatile yummy goodies can really be made for any occasion and can be as simple or as fancy as you like.  They can even be made ahead of time as well if you wanted to get them out of the way early.
 
 
It all began with a quick trip to my local Target for some supplies.  I grabbed myself a bag of large marshmallows (not the UBER big ones, although I am sure they would also make some pretty awesome pops) some melting chocolates in a few colors and a container or Christmas sprinkles.  I found a really awesome set of sprinkles with 6 different kinds in one pack. I grabbed some candy sticks, cellophane bags and twist ties at my local baking/party supply store but they are also available at any Michael's or JoAnn craft stores. Once I had my supplies, I threw in my "Christmas with Dino" CD and got to work.
 
 
For the first step, I rolled out some waxed paper on my counter and lined up my marshmallows. I then pushed a candy stick into each marshmallow, being careful not to push them all the way through.  Once all of the marshmallows were given a stick, it was time to melt the chocolate.  I decorated using one color at a time to avoid each color cooling too much between pops.  I melted the chocolate 15 seconds at a time in the microwave, adding one teaspoon of vegetable shortening for smoother melting. I then poured my desired sprinkles into a bowl, next to my bowl of melted chocolate.
 
 

I dipped the top of each marshmallow into the melted chocolate. You can, of course, dip as much of the marshmallow in chocolate as you want or even dip it at an angle. I chose to dip just the tops straight up and down. 
 
 
 
Immediately after dipping the tops in chocolate, I moved them over the sprinkle bowl and lightly poured on some sprinkles. (please excuse my blurry picture. I discovered that taking a picture while holding a marshmallow pop AND dropping sprinkles on all at the same time is in fact a lot more difficult than I had originally anticipated)
 
 
Once they received their sprinkles, I set the pops in a juice glass to dry.  They dry relatively quickly and can then be placed in cellophane bags and tied with twist ties.  Your treats are then ready to be enjoyed! They can be given out individually (great for kid's school holiday parties)
 
 
Or, bundle them together with some ribbon as a wonderfully wintry treat bouquet or as part of a hot chocolate gift set for gifting to families.  So cute and so simple!!
 
This was the perfect holiday project for me to start with, especially this week! My sister came out from Arizona with her daughter Charlie to visit.  We had some great family visiting and they got to have some great cousin playtime too.


 
Charlie also got to meet my Boyfriend, which was pretty hilarious! She was very interested in his facial hair. I'm pretty sure he is the first fully bearded man she has met, and we all know how much babies love grabbing fist fulls of hair.  Imagine discovering someone with hair, long enough to grab, on their face for the first time! :)
 
 
We had a very nice visit and I am glad I also got to kick of my Christmas festivities!  This week will include Christmas tree and present shopping. Only 19 days till Christmas, AHHH! This is my favorite time of year! I love the cool(er) weather, the sparkling lights everywhere you go, the music, and most of all, the time spent gathered with family and friends. I hope you all are enjoying you holiday prep as much as I am! Happy Holidays everyone!