Merry Christmas and See You Next Year!

Merry Christmas Eve, guys! Can you believe it's here already? I'm super excited! Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I can't wait to spend it with my family, relaxing and partaking in some of my favorite family traditions!

Well, after a very, very busy holiday season, I'm particularly thrilled that I will be doing some serious relaxing for the next few days! In fact, I've taken all the days between Christmas and New Year's off of work, and I'll be on a blogging hiatus at that time as well. Ya'll, I gotta deep clean my house. It's a disorganized mess at the moment, and I want to get 2014 off on the right foot! But fret not! I'll be back soon with lots of good stuff.

I hope you all get to relax and spend lots of time with your loved ones over the next few days!

Merry Christmas and see you next year!

XOXO

Becca

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A Holiday Playlist!

Well guys, Christmas Eve is tomorrow, which makes me think three things: 1. Seriously? How did this happen? It's tomorrow already? 2. It's about time! and 3. Christmas music!!!

The third point is clearly the most important one, since today I'm excited to share this Holiday Playlist with you! It's full of some of my very favorites, including lots of Soul and Motown Christmas songs, lots of songs from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and of course, some Mariah Carey.

I hope you enjoy listening to this playlist while you're finishing up wrapping gifts, spending time with your loved ones, or driving around looking at Christmas lights!

Til next time!

-Becca

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DIY Rudolph Silhouette with Marlene of Jade and Fern!

Hi guys! Today, the lovely Marlene of Jade and Fern is back to share an amazing holiday DIY! Marlene's DIY projects totally blow me away, so I was tickled that she wanted to do another guest post. I hope you enjoy her awesome tutorial, and be sure to stop by Jade and Fern for more DIY goodness!

Thank you, Becca, for having me back on your fabulous blog! 

Ever since the deer/antler silhouette trend exploded, I’ve wanted to make a “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” version. Mostly because I need more excuses to use glitter. And aren’t the holidays the perfect time to add some sparkly glitter to our nests? 

Bonus: I’ll show you how to make a stencil out of contact paper, which you can apply to any painting project! Here we go:

Materials:

• a piece of plywood, size is up to you (mine came from the hobby section of the craft store, in a 12”x12” square)
• contact paper
• red paint and red glitter
• a second paint in the color of your choice
• clear acrylic glaze (such as Mod Podge)
• brushes
• scissors
• pencil

Steps:

Find a reindeer silhouette image that you like, print it on regular computer paper, and cut it out. I ran a Google image search on “deer silhouette” to find the one I used.

Trace the silhouette onto the back of the contact paper. You are creating a stencil, so trace the image flipped opposite of how you want it to look. Since I wanted my reindeer facing to the right, I traced the cut-out facing left. 

With a pencil, give Rudolph a nose job to emphasize that glowing schnoz. If you are anxious about free-handing a circle (I was!), you can trace a round object, like a toothpaste tube cap.

Cut out the reindeer and apply the contact paper to the plywood. The easiest way to do this is to start with the widest part—the neck—and work your way up bit by bit. Smooth the contact paper down and press down the edges firmly. Press the edges down again. And again. Seriously, do not skimp on this step! The contact paper is acting like painters tape, so you need to create a good seal to get clean lines.

Now paint all the exposed plywood. I used minty green craft paint to tie in to the rest of my holiday décor. You’ll probably need several coats to get smooth coverage.

When the last coat of paint has dried, gently peel off the contact paper. 

Paint that nose red and allow to dry.

Finally, mix red glitter with clear glaze and paint the glitter over the red nose. And that’s it!

I hope you enjoyed this little DIY project! Are you ready for the holidays? (Because, they’re next week—yikes!).

DIY Vintage-Inspired Sequined Christmas Ornament!

Hey buddies! I don't know about you guys, but the last few years, I have been a total sucker for tinsel Christmas trees decked out in pretty vintage ornaments. The lovely pastel colors, the sparkle, and all the pretty handmade touches really makes them feel special.

Well, as much as I love them, I've done some combing through the vintage shops and always find the Christmas decorations I love cost an arm and a leg. So! Today, I'm here to share a DIY for a vintage-inspired sequined Christmas ornament!

These puppies are really easy to put together, but admittedly, a litttttttttle bit time consuming to make. But hey, you need something to do while you're curled up on the couch watching Christmas movies, right? Right.

Let's hop to it!

Ok! As usual, you're gonna need some supplies. For each ornament you make you'll need:

- 1 styrofoam ball
- Some fancy ribbon
- Ball head pins (mine looked kind of like little pearls)
- Sequins in the color of your choosing
- Flat head pins. Lots of them. Be sure that the head of the pin is just wider than the hole on your sequins, or you'll be in trouble. With a capitol T!

First things first, begin pinning your fancy ribbon around the circumference of your styrofoam ball using your fancy ball head pins.

Once you're nearing the end, trim your ribbon so you'll have some extra length to make a loop to hang your ornament. Then, loop it, tuck the ends under, and pin into place.

Once you're applied your ribbon, you should have something that looks like the photo above! Hey look! An ornament!

Now, it's time for some sparkle. Have I ever mentioned how much I love sequins before? Because I love them. Adore, is more like it. Actually, let's go with obsessed. I am obsessed with sequins.

Anyway! Start by placing one of your sequins at the middle of one side of your ornament. Then, use a flat head pin to pin it into place.

Then, continue placing and pinning your sequins. I tried to keep mine in a somewhat linear pattern, but I assure you, all hell will break loose as you start going around the curves.

Getting there! Keep going!

And hey, before you know it (ok, fine, after quite a while), you'll have a dreamy ornament like this one!

All that's left to do is to pop it on your tree and admire your handy-work! Seriously, aren't they lovely?

I hope you enjoyed following along and hope this inspires you to try adding a little DIY vintage-inspired ornament to your tree!

Til next time!

-Becca

P.S. Did you enter the Ladyface Blog Holiday Giveaway yet? Tomorrow is the last day to enter!

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Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

Boy oh boy, I don't know about you guys, but lately, I've been wanting to eat all the cookies. That's right- all of them. I'm not sure why, really, but I don't think I care! Cookies are delicious, and I love them.

Well, this weekend I decided it was due time for me to bake a batch. I wanted something simple, rich, and delicious, so I decided on these super simple and tasty Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies. Yum!

Ya'll, these cookies are so simple to make. They only have 6 ingredients, and don't even require you to pull out a mixer to whip them up! I love them for the holidays because the chocolate peanut butter combination makes them a perfect comfort food, and they look extra fancy since they're dipped in delicious chocolate!

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies- Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar, plus another 1/4 cup or so for rolling
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- About 6 oz. good milk chocolate. I used Theo Chocolate Pure 45% Milk Chocolate. You could also use dark chocolate if that's more your cup of tea!

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and peanut butter. Use a wooden spoon to mix together until well combined.

3. Add the egg, baking powder, and vanilla, and stir until well combined.

4. Measure out 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball.

5. Then, roll the ball of cookie dough in your extra sugar, and place it on your parchment lined cookie sheet.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the dough is used up. You'll want to place the balls of cookie dough 2" apart on your baking sheets.

7. Use a fork to press a set of lines into each cookie, then turn the fork 90° and press into each cookie again, forming a criss-cross pattern.

 8. Put your cookies in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Once they've baked, remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

9. Then, using a spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.

10. Once your cookies have cooled, melt your chocolate, and begin dipping your cookies! I dipped mine about half way, though you could do more or less as you prefer. Once you've dipped a cookie, lay it out on a piece of parchment.

11. Once the cookies are dipped and laid out on the parchment, let the chocolate set up and you're all done!

Look at those beauties! Crunchy, delicious peanut butter cookies dipped in luscious milk chocolate. Yum!

Serve these up with a glass of milk and you will be in heaven!

I hope you get a chance to try making these amazingly simple and amazingly delicious Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies this holiday season!

Til next time!

-Becca

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