Tuesday

Hot Cocoa on a Stick

Two years ago I had a winter wedding for my son and you can't have a winter wedding without a hot cocoa bar.  As I was searching for something fun to add to the bar,  I found a recipe for a rich fudgy treat called Hot-Cocoa on a Stick.  Turns out it was so easy to make and made the richest hot chocolate I'd ever had.  (Ok...I admit I added more than one "stick" to my cup, but that's how I like it!) 

It's basically a thick rich square of chocolate, like a piece of smooth rich fudge and after playing around with several different kinds of recipes...I have found my favorite. I love the plain chocolate, but you can change it up by adding different flavorings such as hazelnut, mint, or irish cream.  However you like your hot cocoa...there is a Hot Cocoa on a Stick for you!


Hot Cocoa on a Stick

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
One 14 ounce Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 Cups of Dark or Milk Chocolate Chips
4 Ounce Bar of Unsweetened Chocolate , Shaved
Vanilla or Flavoring of Choice
Wooden Sticks or Lollipop Sticks
8" x 8" Pan Lined with Parchment Paper

Heat the cream and sweetened condensed milk in a pan over medium heat stirring occasionally until it begins steaming.  Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes, then place back on the medium to low heat and whisk until the chocolate is completely smooth and silky.  Add flavoring of your choice.

Pour chocolate into parchment lined pan.  Spread as level as possible and let sit for 10 to 12 hours.

Remove chocolate from pan and place upside down on a cutting board.  Using a long thin knife cut the chocolate blocks into 1" square pieces.  Tip - Heat the knife in hot water and dry before every few cuts to get a smooth line.  

To finish off your Hot Cocoa on a Stick, add marshmallows, Swedish pearl sugar, crushed peppermints, candies or any other treat you like in your cocoa.  Add a stick or wooden spoon to the top and dust the bottom of each piece with a little cocoa powder.   I like to place the squares in mini-cupcake wrappers to keep them protected. 

These Hot Cocoa on a Stick squares make great gifts too.  Just wrap them in cellophane bags and tie off with a ribbon and they are ready to go.  This recipe makes 36 squares.

To use your hot cocoa on a stick, heat warm milk and cream at a ratio of 3 to 1 and stir until melted!  One stick will be good for 6 to 8 ounces of hot cocoa. You can make these treats ahead of time and refrigerate for up to two weeks.  

To top off the perfect cup of cocoa you have to have whipped cream and marshmallows and why settle for store bought marshmallows when you can make your own.  There are a lot of things I skimp on but homemade marshmallows are too easy and yummy...and fun to make with kids.  I am sharing the Barefoot Contessa Homemade Marshmallows recipe.  I promise they are worth it!


May your holiday be cups be overflowing with chocolate cheer!!!

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Friday

Swedish Christmas Trees

At Christmas time I love my home to be filled with lots of Christmas trees and one of my favorites are the simple Swedish Trees.  If you're lucky enough to find them this time of year...let's just say they cost more than they should.  


I found an easy and inexpensive way to make your own little forest of Christmas trees...and it is a fun family project too.  I found the materials for this project in my canning cupboard and at my local Hobby Lobby.



Small Jelly Jars
Styrofoam Block
Wood Dowels the Size of a Small Pencil
Colored Stain
Hot Glue Gun
Make It Christmas - Tree Branches ($2.99 per pack)
Make It Christmas - Snowballs ($1.99 per bag)
Wire Snips



1.  Cut a small piece of Styrofoam off the block and hot glue it into the bottom of your jelly jar.  (Make sure the piece is small enough that you will have side room for your snowballs.)


2.  Cut your wood dowels into 8 to 10" pieces.  Run one end through a pencil sharpener to make a point for the top of the tree.   Stain dowels with your favorite stain color.  I used weathered oak for mine.  Let dry.


3.  Take the center of a piece of the Make It Christmas tree branches and wrap around the tree twice.  Straighten out flat.  Repeat five times up the trunk.



4.  Use your wire snips to trim the ends of the trees.  Go from large at the bottom to small at the top.  Straighten your branches again.

5.  Push your trunk straight into the Styrofoam piece so the trunk stands tall.  Pull out and squirt a bit of hot glue into the hole and push the trunk back into the hole. Hold in place until cool and firm.  


6.  Fill your jelly cups with the Make It Christmas snowballs and your Swedish Trees are done!




I LOVE these little trees.   I placed two of these in each window of my house along with our Light of Christ candles.  They look so traditional and give a little Christmas cheer to a usually un-decorated place in my house.  I'm making a few more this weekend to give to friends and family. 

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Wednesday

Chalk Art Christmas Hoops

These little ornaments may just be my favorite addition to our big family tree this year!   I'm calling them Chalk Art Christmas Hoops and they are so simple and easy to make you could get your little elves involved too.


MATERIALS

3" to 4" Wood Embroidery Hoops
Black Fabric
Pom Pom Trim
Ribbon
Glue Gun
Scissors
Deco Fabric Pen - Pearl White


To make these Chalk Art Christmas Hoops you stretch the black fabric into the wooden embroidery hoops tight!  You will want it tight because as you write with the marker, it will stretch and loosen the fabric.  The tighter the better.  

The next step is where the magic happens.  Find a design you want to put on your ornament and using the DecoFabric Pearl White marker, draw your design on the fabric.  You may need to trace it more than once to get a good "chalk line" on the fabric background.  Let it dry for a few minutes.  My tip after making a few of these is to keep your design simple.  They show best the more simple they are.

Once your design is dry and finished glue your trim around the outside rim of the wood embroidery frame.  Tie a ribbon around the top screw piece and hang from the tree using a ornament hanger slipped into the opening where the screw is located.


I love making these ornaments because they have the look of chalk, there is no sewing involved, and it gives your tree high impact without a lot of time!  I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did.


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Monday

Photo Transfer Christmas Ornaments

Photo transfer Christmas Ornaments are a beautiful and fun way to decorate with some of your favorite holiday memories.  Wood is one of my favorite mediums because of it's warmth and texture.  This year they are so "on point" and it wood products can be found easily at your local hobby store.  They make perfect gifts too!  Let's get going...


For this DIY project you will need wood slices or slabs.  I found mine at my local Michael's and Joann's Fabric Store.  They cost approximately $1.50 a piece.  You will also need Matte Gel Medium, Sparkle Modge Podge, White Acrylic Paint, Brushes, Damp Rag, Pencil, Scissors, Ribbon, Copy Paper, and an Ink Jet Printer.

Find a photo you love.  You will want one with a lot of contrast.  You can use either color or black and white.  I recommend sharpening the colors so there is good contrast when the ink is settled into the wood.  Also, if there is any lettering or numbers in the pictures, you will want to use a photo editing program to reverse the image.  Print off your image on light weight copy paper.

Once your image is printed off on the light weight paper.  Take your wood piece and trace around the image to get the sizing right.  Cut just inside the traced line to give you a margin for the bark edge to show.



Using the white acrylic paint, dry brush the surface you will be applying the image to.  This helps make the image pop.  You can skip this step if you want more of a shadow look to your finished project.


Once the paint is dried, the magic can begin.  Using a dry brush coat the wood slice surface with Matte Gel Medium.  This is the product that takes your inked image and "soaks" it into the wood.  When the surface is coated, place the image face side down onto the surface and smooth out.  This will need to dry for 8 to 10 hours.  


Now that your medium is dried, you will be removing the paper fibers from the image.  To do this, lightly mist the paper with water and using a damp rag, lightly rub off the paper.  You will see the image appear from under the fibers.  This is a delicate process.  If you feel too much of the image is coming off, you can use your fingers to release the fibers.  It may take a few mistings to get the fibers off, be patient and rub lightly.



Once the fibers are removed, you are ready to seal the image.  I use Modge Podge and because these are holiday ornaments,  I used the Sparkle Modge Podge.  It just give a super fine sparkle to the project which looks spectacular when the tree lights hot it.  If you have any spots where the image rubbed off too much, just add a little more Sparkle Modge Podge to give it a snowy look.



To finish the ornaments, drill a hole in the top of the wood slice and hang from your favorite ribbon.  Tuck larger slices into blank spaces on your tree or nestle into your garlands.  


I use this technique for the art images I sell at Sundance.  They look so antique and unique whether you use color or black and white.  I think my next project will be taking images of vintage Christmas Santas and making them into a colorful set of ornaments for my kitchen tree.

You can see a tutorial on this project on KUTV's Fresh Living today at 3:30!
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