We Wish(ed) You A Merry Christmas!

Who wants a very belated Christmas post?!

You do!

Well, even if you don't you're here and reading this so that's what you're going to get. 

Anyways, here's our lovely little dessert spread: Chocolate Pie, Chess Cake, Derby Pie and a little cookie assortment of hopscotch, chocolate crinkles, and snickerdoodles. We also had some yummy spinach dip. 

Before dinner I had the three of them find the pickle on the tree for a special 'pickle present.' Mom gave up rather quickly and Russ ended up finding the prize; a $10 Fred Meyer gift card. 

For Christmas Eve dinner we had ham, green bean casserole, scalloped pepper potatoes, rolls, and deviled eggs. 

And for Christmas entertainment we had my brother in a horse mask and Santa hat.

Ian stole Brayt's phone for a while and was trying to text some of his friends before he realized that he doesn't have thumbs. Or friends. 

At least Russ isn't camera-shy. 

The only picture I took on Christmas Day was Russ opening his black and white Batman statue in front of our roaring fireplace TV.

Snow Day

On December 20th, the day after my birthday, I awoke to the sweet sight of it softly snowing outside. I meant to post these pictures earlier (.... like the day it happened) but forgot about it. The snow only hung around until the next day but it was beautiful while it lasted. 

Merry Christmas From Apartment To Apartment!

It's That Time Of Year...

Happy Monday! I'm more than past due to share our Christmas decorations. I've been waiting for 1) a day off (because it gets dark at 4:30) and 2) a decently bright day to photograph. 

We've been done decorating for a while now and I think it turned out really cute and cozy!

This is our $20 Big Lots tree that we've been using for the last four years. The star on top we got from Walmart this year for $10.99 and Mom was the only one who could get the thing to keep from flopping over like a wet noodle. 

This little mini tree was $5.99 and I used some ribbon I got from Dollar Tree and some already owned ornaments. 

I loved this idea from Pinterest for the window. I really wanted to use those large balls from Dollar Tree but when I went out to get them they were out at both locations I went to. These are from Walmart for about $10 and the ribbon was about $4. I was also considering hanging large snowflakes if I couldn't find the balls that I wanted and I think that would have been cute too. 

Mistletoe!

I thought that our little clock could use some Christmas spirit as well so I switched a few things out. 

(Pardon the blurry pictures, my camera would not cooperate for the close up shots today for some reason!) I got the angel and Nutcracker at Dollar Tree and the cute silver reindeer at Walgreen's for $4.99(! That would have been double anywhere else!). I simply added some small bows that I bought from Dollar Tree on the reindeer and my little Kleenex box faux present. 

I saw the original stocking hanging idea on Pinterest and thought it was brilliant: two stocking hangers and a cheap curtain rod. I spent a total of $12.96 on this little arrangement. We also bought the green and red stockings at Dollar Tree as well.

Those brass candlesticks on the mantel I bought this last Fall at Target on clearance for about $3.96 each and added the bows to jazz them up a little bit. Those trees on the left I also got on clearance at Target back during the 2011 season. 

The Christmas cheer spread to our little kitchen window as well. The sign I bought at Big Lots in 2010 for about $9 and it has held up pretty well. 

Then there's Mom's Charlie Brown Christmas tree (from Walgreen's) and the little mini European tree I bought at Fred Meyer because it was unbelievably adorable. It's real and you can plant it in a pot or the ground and it'll grow to 8-14 feet! Though now, it's just a baby and I hung some cheap Michael's mini ornaments on it so it wouldn't feel so naked. 

The gingerbread man was a gift from my grandma and he looks perfectly dashing now with his new little red bow.

And those painted ornaments I did back in 2011...

They still look great! There's one where they paint has cracked a little but it is pretty unnoticeable and I think it adds to the charm. 

Only 9 days until Christmas! 

I Am The House In The Box

I haven't made one of these in about three years and I thought it was time to bring back the tradition of making one. I thought about how interesting it would be to make one from scratch (and I still might try...) but this Wilton set was wonderfully easy.

The house was already together! Mind = blown. I'd been putting this thing off for a few days just because I didn't want to deal with gluing the sides together with icing and then meticulously decorating it only to have the sides fall apart and ruin everything. This set would be perfect for kids and anyone who hates one of the most irritating things in life, crumbling gingerbread houses. 

Even though I'm a cake decorator and have an arsenal of icing tips and such, I really wanted to make this just as Wilton intended and just used everything they provided in the box which was plenty. 

I think my favorite part is the roof. I used the 'reverse shell' icing method on the roof with the round icing tip they provided (side note: I remember when I just had to use the corner of the icing bag it came in as they only recently provided disposable icing tips!). 

Next week I'll share more of our Christmas decorations that we've got around the house... I've just been waiting to photograph on a day where there's still light so I've been waiting for  a day off work! 

Pinterest Recipe: Red Velvet Cake Balls

So I had a pretty nice Valentine's Day with my honey... 


With flowers and an adorable teddy bear...

And a pretty box of chocolates... 

And he took in a huge box of the red velvet cake balls/truffles that I made on Monday.  To be honest, I wasn't too impressed with them.  They were really, really sweet and I ultimately wished that I had just made the cake as opposed to the dense, overly-sweet cake balls.  With the added cream cheese frosting to the finished cake it just became too sweet. 

Ingredients:

cake mix (and the ingredients to make the cake)

cream cheese frosting

almond bark or candy coating

Bake the cake and allow it too cool completely. 

Crumble the cake into a bowl... my favorite part of making these.

Add the can of cream cheese frosting (I didn't add the whole thing because it was getting too runny).  It turns into a mushy consistency...

Roll into balls and place on wax paper and place the tray in the fridge until they are more solid.

Dip into chocolate.

I used vanilla and chocolate and let me tell you, the vanilla was a pain!  If you poked the cake ball AT ALL it would leave residue and make it have red cake smears on the surface which for a perfectionist like me was quite infuriating. 

Sorry for the bad "inside" picture of the cake ball... They're pretty just... TOO sweet and I didn't care for the consistency of the inside.

But... Happy late Valentine's Day!

Shopping Find: Target

Normally I would avoid any stores around Christmas but, I'm glad we stopped in at Target on Christmas Eve where I purchased this beautiful tree that I've been admiring for weeks.  However, I balked every time at the $19.99 price tag.  Fortunately, it seems, so did everyone else and they were marked down to $9.98 which was definitely a price I could stomach.  


I had my Target gift card in hand (the people in Russ' office were so wonderful and generous that they gave me a gift card for Christmas because of all the goodies I sent in throughout the year, isn't that sweet?!  I even teared up a little when my husband handed it to me...).   Anyways, I bought the tree and paired it with my green Target table runner that I bought a couple weeks prior.  Gorgeous! 

Target also had a smaller version of the tree in bright red for about $8 which I might get if I happen to go in there and see it again.  They'll probably be out though from all the Christmas decor scavengers I saw while I was in there last. 

I love my little snowflake candle accents which are ornaments that I got at Target (where else?) for four for a dollar. 

Except for the white pillar candles, everything on this table I bought at Target!  I seriously love that store.  It's a rarity when I go into Target and don't see anything that I want to buy.  I used to love Walmart just as much until I worked there last holiday season.  Now, I loathe going in there.  Let's just face it, Target is a much classier Walmart and I'd rather shop there.  Plus, my eyes aren't savaged by the clientele of Target like they are at Walmart (peopleofwalmart.com, anyone?).