Elf Themed Christmas Party and Exchange

This past weekend I held my annual Christmas party with my Close To My Heart customers. We usually do a card exchange, eat some goodies and like last year offered a Hot Cocoa buffet which has become a favorite tradition now! This year instead of cards we decided to do an ABC challenge project. We exchange cards in our monthly card all year long, so I thought it would be fun to make a project that is Anything But a Card! Boy! Did we have a mix of fun projects!

Last month in a search for another project I came across a SVG cut of witches legs and boots. I knew immediately that I wanted to turn them into Buddy the elf legs with his iconic yellow tights and curly elf shoes. I thought it would be whimsical to throw them upside down in a pop-up box. From that project I decided to make the entire party an Elf theme. We had lots of yellow and green decor, chocolate, candy canes and sugar. The only difference is that the Cocoa wasn't crappy, it was delicious!! Here is a collage of some of the pictures from the party.

After we snacked a bit and filled our hot cocoa cups, we got to work. Look at all of the fun projects we made.

First, is the pop-up box I created. I hope it would be Elf approved!

Look at this cute purse of chocolates! Yum!

Perhaps you would like a tin of chocolate!

These nuggets of chocolate are not only sweet, but deliver a special message! You might say they are nuggets of wisdom!

A fancy pillow box can hold all sorts of treasures for your loved ones!

This darling snowman holds something yummy in his tummy!

All of those packages and bags need some tags. These are decorated beautifully and ready to adorn those special gifts!

Lastly, I wanted to make a final little gift for all of the ladies. I used the holiday treat bags and dressed them up in the Elf theme. I filled them with some kisses and an assortment of enamel and glitter gems. Don't they just make you smile...smiling is my favorite!

{I am submitting these Elf treat bags to the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog as they fit their challenge this week; gifts from the heart!}

Besides the goodies bags, my customers were also treated to a sneak peek of the new Seasonal Expressions Idea Book which goes live on January 1st of 2016! What lucky girls! I'll have some sneak peeks here on my Blog of some of the projects I have created soon.

I'd say this was a fun day and reminds me what the Holidays are all about....being together, laughing and getting crafty!

Fall Themed Crate Card Club

This month's card club had a Fall theme. It was so nice to see everyone's ideas for Fall, my favorite season. Take a look at the lovely creations this month.

I love the change of season, the colors, pumpkins and yes even some sweet chocolate! What a fun card exchange!

Chocoate Ice Cream Makes Me Happy~

If you had to pick just one flavor of ice cream, what would it be? I'm a chocolate fan and I think chocolate looks amazing with hot pink and glitter! It makes me happy~

Get the stamp of the month Ice Cream Dream for only $5 with a qualifying order. Get more details and place your order here.

Christmas Treat Bags

You'll remember back in September I showed you some Halloween treat bags that were embellished a bit more than the kit suggests. You can see the post here.

I decided to make some Christmas treat bags for small gifts. These can also be dressed up more like the Halloween bags, however with all the added things to do this time of year I kept them simple. I always give gift cards to my FedEx driver, mail carrier, bug sprayer etc. The treat bag was fun to add to just the card and envelope.{in hindsight I could have added the gift card inside the treat bag!}

Like the Halloween bags I filled some with chocolate. {rolo's and kisses}

I thought it would be appropriate to fill some with peppermint candies too! 

Don't make yourself crazy and add more stress to this time of year. Just use a kit to create some easy, simple gifts. Plus they are super cute and still handmade!

Milk & Cookies

I put this month's Stamp of the Month to good use yesterday as a surprise for my children when they arrived home from their first day of school!

Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies were waiting for them in the kitchen. You bet that they dropped their backpacks, poured some milk and let the stress of the day roll off! Hey, it's tough to get back into the routine!

How cute is this stamped image? It's not too late to get your own and get it for free! Check out the Current Specials page to see all the details. Orders can be placed here before August 31st.

Inspired By Bunnies and Chocolate

It's been awhile since I've played along with a challenge at Inspired By! The image of an Easter wreath with a big bunny in the center was just too cute! Laurel's take on the challenge included some chocolate in the photograph which led me to creating some treat tubes!

You will remember these treat tubes, they were a big hit for Valentine's Day. I saved a few of them to use for other occasions and Easter treats are perfect!

{Inspiration Photo}

Have a Sweet Christmas!

I enjoy making several Holiday sweets this time of year to share with family and friends. I pull many of my favorite recipes and combine them into one folder. This year I tried some new recipes that just might make it into my "favorites" folder!

This first one is rich and sweet! It combines my two favorite flavors of smooth chocolate and gooey caramel. Yum!

Salted Caramel Cashew Fudge~ {also known as Cajeta Fudge}

You can find the simple recipe at Betty Crocker here.

This next one was a big hit at my daughter's Holiday concert the other night. By the time we made it over to the cookie table, only crumbs remained. It's not really a cookie, more like candy, but that didn't stop anyone from eating it!

Candy Cane Oreo Peppermint Bark~

I doubled up the recipe to feed a crowd and really loaded up the top layer. It is a super simple recipe, it only requires some time for the chocolate to set. You can find the recipe at Lil' Luna's blog here.