DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   Santa knows whether you’ve been naughty or nice, but he doesn’t know how much he’s hurting the environment. In one night, Santa uses as much carbon as Qatar does in one year! I like getting toys for Christmas, but I don’t think I need them that badly!    Maybe we need to raise our standards on who makes the ‘nice’ list.    Not sure what else to say about this infographic. Santa’s a carbon glutton and needs to be put away. In this kind of economic recession we need to cut down on spending and we are wasting too much on Santa. Or maybe get him a hybrid sleigh?    Well I guess this infographic is a good exercise for thinking critically about our energy usage. Although I’m not sure where they got the statistics. But now you know to limit the amount of wrapping paper you use to help offset Santa’s ridiculous carbon usage.   

  All Souls' Day  commemorates the faithful departed. In Western Christianity, this day is observed principally in the Catholic Church, although some churches of the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches also celebrate it. The Eastern Orthodox churches observe several All Souls' Days during the year. The Roman Catholic celebration is associated with the doctrine that the souls of the faithful who at death have not been cleansed from the temporal punishment due to venial sins and from attachment to mortal sins cannot immediately attain the beatific vision in heaven, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the Mass (see Purgatory).     In other words, when they died, they had not yet attained full sanctification and moral perfection, a requirement for entrance into Heaven. This sanctification is carried out posthumously in Purgatory. The official name of the celebration in the Roman Rite liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church is

This diy comes from  www.zakkalife.blogspot.com  .  Enjoy!   Craft: Music Sheet Stars I was looking through the new Pottery Barn (PB) catalog when I stumbled upon something that looked very familiar, paper stars. And they weren't just any paper stars but over sized lucky stars. Did anyone else catch that? Every year PB comes out with something to fill their vases and apothecary jars. This year one of the fillers was over-sized lucky stars. Some of you might remember I wrote a tutorial for basic lucky stars long ago,  here . So, I'm resurrecting the tutorial along with an explanation on how to make these music sheet stars. For the most part the process is the same but there are a few adjustments. Supplies: Music sheets - search online to find holiday carols and print on light brown paper. Position your sheet music so it's formatted in landscape. Paper trimmer or scissors Double stick tape Basic Star Instructions Instructions For Large Stars

   This was found at www.wilton.com  .   A super idea instead of cones.  They make little ice cream sunday bowls that you can eat. Sugar Cookie Bowls Ingredients: 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon No Color Almond Extract Makes: 12 bowls. Tools: Ice Cream Cookie Bowl Pan Instructions: Step 1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray the outside of each bowl cavity of Ice Cream Cookie Bowl Pan with vegetable pan spray. Step 2 In medium bowl, combine flour and salt. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Step 3 Roll out dough on generously-floured surface to 1/8 in. thickness. Cut 4-1/2 in. circles from dough.. Drape one circle over each bowl cavity

   This diy comes from www.52kitchenadventures.com .  I hope this tips can help you out!! The first time I made cake pops, I was pretty convinced that I would never make them again. It seemed to take forever . There are so many steps. To make matters worse, I was making peppermint chocolate cake pops , so after I dipped each one in white chocolate, I waited 30 seconds for it to set before rolling it in crushed candy canes. That added a lot more time than I’d anticipated. However, if you read this blog regularly, you know that I have actually made cake pops several times since my first attempt. They turned out to be so delicious and popular that I couldn’t help but try making them again. Each time, I discovered a new way to make it easier. I’ve had a lot of people ask me how I make cake pops, especially without a cake pop maker. I’m not a huge believer in unitasker kitchen appliances, plus a cake pop maker just shapes cake into balls. In my opinion, a true cake pop i

   What was the absolute worst gift you ever got as a kid? Forget about the cool toys that you totally wanted and, if you were lucky, found under the tree on Christmas morning. Who could possibly forget Ralphie’s complete and utter humiliation at being forced to wear the bunny suit he got for Christmas from his clueless aunt? It’s funny because we’ve all been there. Ahh, the memories!

This comes from  www.bakersroyale.com .  These look so good you don't even want to eat them. But, if we have to snack on them, what's the harm.  Go ahead and make a batch or two. Snowflake Sugar Cookies  – Dress up your holiday cookie tray with some fun and colorful snowflake sugar cookies. Snowflake Sugar Cookie I don’t make sugar cookies often, in fact I usually only make them for certain holidays and sometimes for birthday requests. I love the beauty and creativity of them, but they are massively labor intensive and I’m not the most patient person for baking projects like this. But to save myself a step, I skipped  flooding  the cookies for the simple design you see in the picture. The royal icing I used is from  here . It’s easy to work with and has the perfect consistency for simple lines like the one you see on these snowflake cookies. The cookie recipe is one I have been working with and fine tuning over the years. Actually, the recipe started

   This diy comes from  www.thewonderforest.com .   Go ahead a make a couple.  I dare you! DIY Printed Paper Pine Tree - Anthropologie Inspired Happy Monday friends!  I have an awesome tutorial to share with you, but first I wanted to wish my amazing fiance the  best birthday ever today !!!  Also, we finally bought a new car!  It was fate I tell you!  I'd been looking for a Jeep this entire time, but every time I'd come across one that I loved, all I would hear was "It's JUST been sold".  I swear I kept missing these things by mere hours.  I was getting pretty fed up and about to just choose a car that I wasn't too keen on, until Dustin mentioned that a new Jeep had just come in as a trade-in.... but when he checked into it he was told it had already been sold!  Not again!  He just so happened to ask about it the next day and was told that it in fact wasn't sold and that the person who told him that was thinking of a different one. Bingo! We drove

   This recipe was found at www.markethq.blogspot.com .  Who doesn't like these two different desserts?   So why not try them together! Recipe By The Girl Who Ate Everything (adapted from Martha Stewart) 42 Oreos, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped 2 pounds (32 ounces) cream cheese, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup sour cream pinch of salt Preheat oven to 275°. Line standard muffin pans with liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each liner. Beat cream cheese at medium speed using an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar, beating until combined. Beat in vanilla. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool complet

  This comes from  www.bigindoortrains.com  .  Make a few or many, maybee enough for your very own Christmas village.  Enjoy! Building a Glitterhouse The house shown in the photo is a good starting product for learning to build "putz" houses. What You Will Need If you are going to build vintage-style cardboard houses, stop throwing away used, clean cardboard yesterday. Save cereal boxes, the backs of writing tablets, anything flat, firm and clean, that you can save. Please keep some corrogated cardboard on hand, too - it makes the best bases. In addition, for this project you'll need: A sharp mat knife or Xacto knife (or both) A stiff metal ruler Elmer's white Glue-All. A glue stick would also come in handy. Clear glitter. I use the “Sulyn” brand. Several sheets of acid-free white bond paper Flat white paint (flat latex interior wall paint is good) to prime the building (and give it the chalky feel of the original) Acrylic paint in the colors