DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

Shortbread has to be one of my favourite holiday cookies, I mean it is so easy to make and that melt in your mouth buttery goodness is almost impossible to resist! Although plain shortbread is amazing you can fill it with pretty much anything from simple to gourmet and from sweet to savoury even. Taking a queue from my  candied orange peel shortbread  I had been wanting to try a festive version with bright red maraschino cherries, though instead of coating them with chocolate this time I was going to add the chocolate to the cookies along with the cherries. I was however a little torn between whether to use white or dark chocolate as white chocolate seemed more festive but dark chocolate goes so well with cherries. In the end the easiest solution was to make a batch of both and besides you can't have too much shortbread. The chocolate and maraschino cherry shortbread cookies did not disappoint! I was quite pleased at how the red from the cherries swirled into the cookie do

    Almost every culture in the world has its own vampire legend, and some date back thousands of years. Today, we are most familiar with Count Dracula and other folklore from Eastern Europe. Do you want to learn more? Here is a wealth of juicy trivia to sink your fangs into sink your fangs into this Halloween season. 1. Was the first vampire a woman? The oldest known vampire legends come from Babylonian and Sumerian mythology. Female demons called the Lilu were said to hunt women and children at night, and drink their blood. 2. Vlad III Tepes, also known as Vlad Dracul, was known for his incredible cruelty; he was alleged to have killed up to 30,000 people at one time! His bloodthirsty reputation inspired Bram Stoker's  Dracula . 3.  The National Retail Federation  listed "Vampire" as the second most popular adult Halloween costume in 2005.  Vampires  were the sixteenth most popular children's costume for the same year. 4. While modern pop cul

    A little known fact is that fifty-four of the fifty-six signatories of the Declaration of Independence were believers. These men understood the powerful influence that the Savior God had on each and every individual who had signed this and pledged allegiance to it. Their signatures could have possibly sealed their deaths and they were all fully aware of it.     In their framework of the Declaration, they sought God's wisdom in creating a document that would become this great nation's most important testament. Little did the signers of the Declaration of Independence know that with the signing of this Declaration, the birth of a new nation had begun, and "the shot that was heard around the world", the first shot fired against a British soldier, would be the beginning of the end for Great Britain's rule over the American colonies. The Declaration of Independence     With the signing of the  Declaration of Independence , on July 4th, 1776, the U

     Gawai Day or Gawai Dayak  is a festival celebrated in Sarawak on June 1st every year. It is both a religious and social occasion. The word Gawai means a ritual or festival whereas Dayak is a collective name for the native ethnic groups of Sarawak (and neighboring Indonesian Kalimantan): the Iban, also known as Sea Dayak and the Bidayuh people, also known as Land Dayak. Thus, Gawai Dayak literally means  "Dayak Festival".  Dayak would visit their friends and relatives on this day. Such visit is more commonly known as  "ngabang"  in the Iban language. Those too far away to visit would receive greeting cards.     It started back in 1957 in a radio forum held by Mr Ian Kingsley, a radio programme organiser. This generated a lot of interest among the Dayak community.     The mode of celebration varies from place to place. Preparation starts early.  Tuak  (rice wine) is brewed (at least one month before the celebration) and traditional delicacies lik

Halloween Window Silhouettes Our Halloween Silhouettes lit up and shot from outside.  You can see another close up view of these silhouettes  here  and  here .   You can also see our large "Witch on Broom" and "Fading Ghost" silhouettes  here .    **See below for updates & a brief "How To". **Update  - Several people have asked me where we purchased these Halloween silhouettes & if the were vinyl.  All of our silhouettes were painted on cheap white fabric. For these silhouettes -  We cut cheap white fabric into long panels. We traced the design onto fabric. We painted the silhouettes using "dark gray paint" (Martha Stewart tip). The gray paint will appear black when lit.  Make sure you paint the silhouette  on  the side of the fabric that faces towards the outside. Also, make sure you protect the surface that you are painting on, since the paint can bleed through the fabri

The sour cream adds a subtle tanginess to this moist, chocolate-y cake. I made this for Justin’s birthday and loved it! While you’re at it, click  here  to see how we used this recipe in our Owl Cake. Shown with  this  chocolate frosting. SOUR CREAM CHOCOLATE CAKE Ingredients: 1 cup baking cocoa 1 cup boiling water 1 cup butter, softened 2 1/2 cups sugar 4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup sour cream Directions: Preheat oven to 350 °F. Dissolve cocoa in the boiling water; let stand until cool. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well. Add cocoa mixture; beat well. Pour into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes o

DIY Vintage Inspired Bell Jar Ornaments     I absolutely love bell jars! My favorite holiday decorations are small vintage bell jar ornaments with sweet little snow scenes in them! I have been wanting to make some of these tiny cloche ornaments for a long while now, but have had a really hard time finding the little glass belljars anywhere. Recently I was at the dollar store and saw some plastic wine glasses. They were the right shape, so I decided to give it a try, and they actually turned out to be a pretty fun substitute! These little ornaments are easy to make! I had so much fun making them, I went back and bought more wine glasses to make more! Here’s What You Need: *Plastic Wine Glasses *Dremmel or Utility Knife *Chipboard (cereal boxes, etc.) *Scrapbook Paper *Rubber Cement *Trinkets *Glitter *Large Beads *Pipe Cleaners *Twine *Scissors *Hot Glue *Large Circle or Scalloped Circle Punch (optional) Step 1:  Cut Glasses- Gath

UPDATE 5.23.12:  I did a variation of this recipe, cutting it in half and using blueberries instead of strawberries for her 5th birthday. We also live in a much higher and drier climate.  Click here to see how it turned out! My little girl turned two a couple of weeks ago, and we had a bunch of her little friends over to celebrate (as well as their families. It was quite the shin-dig.) I needed a large cake so everyone could have some, and after the chocolate cake fiasco* from her first birthday, I wanted to try something in the fruity spectrum. Plus Sophie’s crazy about strawberries. *Last year she ate chocolate cake by handfuls, broke out in a rash from getting it all over herself, then threw it all up an hour later. Happy 1st Birthday! Hint : Refrigerating the cake for a few hours makes it LOTS easier to cut into layers. This was the first time since my cake decorating class over a year ago that I used my frosting bag and tips. Writing on