My Presents this year...

This year I got tons of presents! I didn't even expect all of them. And every single one was something I wanted :) I love my family and friends!

Here are all the things I got (in no particular order):

~ Cricut machine - I saw those a while ago and thought they're really cool... Wanted one for a while but never really though of buying it myself, I always talked myself out of it... but now that I have it, I know I will use it all the time! I can create greeting cards, decorations and all sorts of paper crafts. I got 3 additional cartridges with it - County fair, Best of 2006 and Best of 2007. So far I've only used the one that came with it, which is a font and some shapes. But it's been only 1 day since I have it, so I will try all of the images soon :) You can find more info about the machine here: http://www.cricut.com/  Oh and the other thing is you earn points for every cartridge you buy and points can be redeemed for other cartridges or Cricut stuff.

~ Babycakes makers. I got the mini pie, doughnut and cake pop makers. The other treat maker I got was the soft pretzel maker from Nostalgia

So far I used the mini pie maker. It's really easy to use. One tip I can share is when you cut out the top and bottom crust, make sure the are thin and don't let it sit too much out because the dough will pull back and the circles will get smaller. You want to make sure both are touching where the crinkle part is so they get sealed nicely. I made apple pies.

~ A Wilton chocolate melting pot. I love that it has a "warm" setting.. so when the chocolate is all ready it can stay melted while working with it.

 ~ A Foreman panini grill ! I wanted that one for a while, so I can make panini at home. Can't wait to use it and make yummy panini.
~ I got an office chair, my old one was .. well old. haha. The new one is comfy and nice :)
~ Jeans and a red shirt, which fit nicely.
~ The new Professor Layton DS game - Last Specter.

~ Panda charm for my bracelet. My boyfriend gave me a charm bracelet 2 years ago, the first charm was a heart, the one from last year was a Christmas stocking and this year was a little panda. So cute. I wonder what he'll get me next year.

~ Lotion, perfume, cleansers and make up. The lotion and perfume are coconut scented, yummy.
~ Kitchenaid ice cream maker attachment. Now my ice cream will have better texture :)

~ Cake pop cook book. It has tons of recipes for cake pops, I will have fun trying all of them!
http://101gourmetcakebitesbook.com/
~ Michael's and Starbucks gift cards
~ Movie tickets
~ Slippers
~ Socks (I think everyone gets socks for Christmas)
And of course a stocking full of candy and Christmas cards.

As you can see most of the presents were cooking and crafts. So you can expect to see a lot of new treats and crafts on my blog.

Again I want to say thank you to everyone for the awesome presents!

*Gingerbread House*

My first try at making a gingerbread house, and it turned out better than I expected! Very happy with the texture, taste and look. I found the recipe online from the Food Network website: Gingerbread House Recipe
I had all the ingredients at home already. I didn't have as much candy as I would have liked to put on it, but it still turned out nice with what I had.
After I made the house I read the reviews for this recipe and looks like people either loved it or hated it. haha. Well I was one of the people who loved it. The dough did not stick or crumble or anything, and the icing stuck on the gingerbread just fine and glued the house nicely!
It was a small house... which was perfect for me. Maybe next year I will try a bigger one so I probably will make 2 or 3 batches of this dough. And will get more candy to decorate it.

Merry Christmas!!!

Ribbon Bows

I love making ribbon bows! I learned how to make those when I was little. My mom used to make bouquets and arrange flowers and she made ribbon bows to put on them. She had to show me just once and I learned how to make them. For the last few years I have wrapped all Christmas and Birthday gifts I have given. Here are couple of the last bows I have made. I haven't gotten the chance to take photos of the current gifts I wrapped. (But if I do I will update this post).

I wrapped this box and made the bow for my work holiday party - gift exchange.

This one was for my friend's birthday. I also made the box myself. I used card board and wrapped it with paper from an old gift bag. I tied the bow from a ribbon I had kept from a box of chocolates.

And these are gifts I wrapped for Christmas last year. I reused boxes and made my own ribbons.



If you want to learn how to make ribbon bows, you can find some very useful videos on Youtube.

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Cards

This year I decided to make cards! For each card I cut out 2 pieces of paper, I measured them to fit the envelopes I already had. Each piece of paper is different color, most of them contrasting colors.

I bought a new paper cutter for the edges EK Tools Snowflake Edger Punch

I also got a whole bunch of holiday stamps from Michael's . My favorite one is this one:

I've been stamping everything I make with it! haha.

I also got a ton of glitter! I have glue that is white and becomes clear when it dries, really neat, so that way I can see where I'm gonna put the glitter and when it dries you can only see the glitter.

I added foam stickers, lots of love and here's what came out:

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Treats

Here are some of the treats I made. This year was the first year I started making those treats. I filled my stockings with most of those. :)

There are hot chocolate mix bags. I found the idea online, honestly I don't remember which website - that night I had looked at a lot of different ones. I got the idea there but I personalized them a little more. For the mix I used Swiss Miss milk chocolate. I put 3/4 cups of it inside a cone cello bag and tied it with a small rubber band and cut out the excess. I placed the mix filled bag inside another bag and put a mini candy cane in between the two. Gotta make sure to press the top of the inner bag so it touches the sides of the outer one, that way when you put the additional things on top they don't move down. Next I put 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips. I used the mini ones, not regular, so that way they can melt easy when you put them in the hot chocolate. Then eye balled the marshmallows to fill the bag and topped them with another mini candy cane. I used another small rubber band to tie the outer bag. I made little tags that say the bag makes 4 servings and the contents of it. I put a sticker and wrote "Happy Holidays" and on the very back I put my "handmade by" stamp. I tied the tag with ribbons and put some more for decoration. Then finally put the foam stickers all over the cones. They turned out adorable!

The other treats I made are peppermint bark. They were pretty easy as well... just like the hot chocolate mix, I got the idea online while browsing random things. For those treats you will need either milk or semi-sweet or dark chocolate (whichever you like more!), white chocolate, peppermint oil and crushed candy canes. I also used a little bit of red die to make it more colorful. I used milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. First you want to melt the milk chocolate, I melted mine in the microwave. You have to then spread it onto parchment or wax paper in a cookie sheet (so that way you can move the chocolate) then you place it in the fridge to set. Meanwhile you melt the white chocolate, then you mix in the peppermint oil and half of the crushed candy canes. You can mix in couple of drops of red dye and stir just a little to form swirls. Pour the mixture over the milk chocolate and spread to cover it all. You should use the same amount of milk and white chocolate. In my batch I used 2 cups of each. Then while the white chocolate is still soft sprinkle the remaining crushed candy canes and press gently so they stick. Put everything back in the fridge to set. Usually about 10-20 min depending on how much chocolate you have. After it's all set you break the chocolate into small pieces and package them. And of course decorate the little bags with ribbons and anything else you can think of!

Finally I made my famous cake pops! I make those for any occasion, but this time I wrapped them in festive baggies and decorated them with ribbons.

This is one of the videos I used to learn how to make the cake pops: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80PCMoL2xrM

Well, those are all of the treats I made so far... I will let you know what else I make!

Happy Holidays!!! :)

Christmas Stockings

I wanted to make smaller than regular Christmas stockings, so I started to look for some online (of course!) but I didn't really find ones that I liked. So I decided to make my own. After few trials I got the hang of it and it's actually pretty easy. You can also make your own size... you can make them as small or as big as you want! The ones I made are about 9 in tall.

Here is what you will need:
*Stencil with the shape of your stocking, I drew mine on card board paper and cut it out.
*Felt - I used red with sparkles on one side
*Another fabric for the top of the stocking - the one I used was a really fluffy baby blue fabric. You will need a rectangle long enough to cover the stocking pieces when put side by side.
*Marker to outline the stencil on your felt.
*Sewing machine ( or you can hand stitch if you'd like) I used black thread, but you won't be able to see it since we're gonna turn the stocking inside out, so any color will be fine.
*Scissors
*Holiday stickers and decorations.
*And your favorite stocking stuffers!!

First you will cut out the two pieces, make sure you turn your stencil the on the other side for the second piece so when you put them together they will match.

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They should match like this:

Then you will sew together only the front part like this:

You will be able to spread the two parts, then put the top of your stocking fabric and sew like so:

You want to make sure that the back of the blue fabric is facing the back of the red fabric, so that way when you turn it the other way and over the stocking it will show the right side.

Next you will sew together the rest of the stocking pieces following the outlines you have.

When you're done, you need to turn the stocking right side out.

You can see here that the blue fabric is facing the other way, but when it folds down on the stocking it will be with the fluffy side out!
Next you will sew the blue fabric together to close the circle:

You will then fold the blue over:

Now it's time for the hook so you can hang your stocking over the fire place!
Make about 2 in long ribbon out of the red felt and fold it together, then sew at the back of the stocking:

And the fun part! You want to decorate your stocking so it's more festive. I used foam Christmas stickers, they stick nicely on the felt. If you're more creative you can embroider something. Here is what I did:

Of course don't forget to stuff it with lots of fun stuffings!


Happy Holidays!

New Blog

Hello everyone!

Thanks for visiting my new blog. I want to take the time and tell you about all the crafts and cooking I will be posting on here.
I will take photos of the crafts and jewelry I make, most of them will have a tutorial of how to make them yourself. Some of them may not, however if you're interested just let me know and I will post one.
I will post any new recipes I try, such as cookies and other treats. I love making sweets the most, so you will probably see a lot of those. Usually I find new recipes online, so I will include the website where I find them.
I have made a lot of Holiday crafts, treats, post cards and such this year. Yes, you guessed it! I will post how to make those Holiday treats! :)

You can also follow my crafts on these websites:
www.facebook.com/starbitjewels.
http://www.starbitjewels.deviantart.com/
I also have a shop on Etsy where you can purchase some of the crafts and jewelry I make:
http://www.starbitjewels.etsy.com/


If you have any questions or requests please e-mail me at starbitjewels@gmail.com

Happy Holidays!