Inspiration Cafe - Maple Cranberry Spread and A Charming New Year!

Happy Monday!!!! ....Its Danni's turn at the Cafe today..

She is sharing this delish Maple Cranberry Spread recipe

And a some good, timeless information....

To read more head on over to Inspiration Cafe 

 

Wishing Everyone a wonderful New Year

Take care and be safe 

xxx

 

Top Posts of 2012 Wrap Up

Hey Everyone,

Its nearing the end of 2012, can you believe it? This year has flown by.

Its so cool to look back on the year and see all the projects that I've done and how my blogging style has changed. Its been a fun and busy time.

I decided to show you my top 12 of the year, these are the posts that had the most views each month...

 January

Polished Washer Pendants 

February 

Heart Wall Art

 March

Painted Jars 

April

More Painted Jars 

 May 

Beachy Candles

 June 

Beach Inspired Bracelet 

 July 

Ocean Shell Ring 

August

Beach Inspired Wire Ring 

September

Turquoise Tile Pendant 

 October

Silver Ring Makeover 

 November

Sea Glass Wire Wrapped Earrings 

  

December

Glitter Ball Decorations

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year in 2013....

Take care everyone,

xxx

Linking Up To:

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/top-diy-projects-of-2012-party/

http://www.chasethestar.net/2012/12/keep-calm-and-link-up-21.html

http://happyhourprojects.com/2012/12/happy-hour-friday-12-28.html 

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2013/01/link-up-your-favorite-projects-from-2012.html

Seasons Greetings

Take care

 xxx

Inspiration Cafe - New Years Resolutions

Hey Everyone,

Its Monday and time for Inspiration Cafe....

Heather is sharing her resolutions and how she plans to stick to them this New Year.

"New Year's Resolutions. 

To some, that's a dirty word.  Many people resolve not to make resolutions.  But, I like them.  I like the idea of being able to make myself a better person starting....NOW!

So, here's some of my resolutions...and some tips on how to make them a little  easier to stick with."

Click here to read more...

  Take Care 

xxx 

Grandma's German Biscuits

Hi Everyone,

We baked our Christmas cookies the other day, and I wanted to share the really quick and easy recipe with you all. Sean's Grandma gave me this recipe when we got married and although its a pretty basic easy recipe, I tend to only make them at Christmas time. 

Our own little Christmas tradition.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1/2 cup Milk

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

125g Margarine

4 cups Flour

Pinch of Salt

  Boil the sugar, milk and baking soda. Be careful not to burn it. Let cool.

Rub the margarine into the flour and salt.

Add to the cooled mixture

Mix well, roll out on a floured surface and cut into shapes.

Bake at 200 C (390 F) for 10-15 minutes

I doubled the recipe for my family, as you can see...

 

 Our favourite part is the decorating, some I ice and others I dip into melted chocolate or decorate with chocolate buttons.

These never last long in my household... 

 They also make great gifts...

Take care everyone,

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook :-)

xxx

Linking Up To:

http://happyhourprojects.com/2012/12/happy-hour-friday-12-28.html

Glitter Heart Decorations

Only a few days till Christmas! Yikes...where has this year gone?

We have started our Summer Holidays and already I'm having to find activities for the kids...

So today I'm sharing a simple child friendly craft....

I had originally planned to neatly stitch these felt heart decorations, but time got away from me again and I decided the kids could help me out with glue and glitter..

What you need:

 Felt, ribbon, glue, glitter!

What to do:

Cut out the heart shapes x 2 (I used a wooden shape that I had).

Cut ribbon lengths and glue down on the wrong side of the felt.

Glue the second piece on top. Allow to dry.

Run a line of glue along the front of the heart making a heart shape.

Shake glitter over the glue and allow to dry, remove excess.

Oh my goodness - so easy!!!! I managed to get 6 hearts out of the piece of felt I had, but they are so cute I think I would like more for the tree....

Also how cute would these be as a quick last minute gift idea?

I prefer these to the decorations I had originally planned to do...

And best of all, the kids could help with this one!

Take care everyone,

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook :-)

xxx

 

Linking up to some or all of these great parties 

and

http://www.stonegableblog.com/2012/12/tutorials-tips-and-tidbits-27.html

Guest Post - Danni from Silo Hill Farm

Merry Christmas Northshore Days readers!  I'm Danni from Silo Hill Farm and I'm so happy to be guest posting for Natalie here today!

 Natalie was my first blog friend and her encouragement, emails and kind comments kept me going in those first scary days of puttin myself out there in the blog world.  She has a heart as big as Christmas itself!  If you are lucky enough to have Natalie as a friend, you really don't need anything else for Christmas!  If you have a friend like Natalie though, you might want to make them something like this for Christmas.......

  Every time I see the beachy blue colors (and I'm seeing them a lot this holiday season) I'm reminded of my good friend Natalie and her love of the beach in her home of New Zealand. 

This project started out way back last summer when I bought an old outdoor brass porch light at Habitat for Humanity's Re-Store.  Those things are awesome and have a ton of cool parts.  For this project, I used the top cover and spray painted it silver.

  Then I gathered a few supplies and went to work.

 What you'll need:

Glass jar with a lid, bottle brush tree, wire cutters, artificial snow, beads, some kind of base (I used the lamp part mentioned above) and glue. (I forgot to get the glue in the picture....oops.)

The first thing I did, was trim my little tree to fit inside the bottle.  I had to use some wire cutters to cut the stem down and then some scissors to trim and shape the branches at the bottom.

 Using a toothpick and some glue, I put the beads on the tree.

When it was dry, I stood it up and glued the base to the inside of the jar lid.

I put a little artificial snow in the jar.  (It doesn't take much!) 

 

 Then I carefully slid the tree into the jar, screwed the lid on and tapped it until most of the snow fell to the bottom.  I decided to tie a little blue ribbon on it and then just set it on the base that I had spray painted.  

If you don't have a lamp base that you just happened to have spray painted last summer laying around, it looks pretty cute without one too!

 

 Whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year, I wish you the best!  

I also want to remind you to reach out in the blog world and make some friends.  If you're lucky like I was...you may find someone who becomes a life-long friend who is dear to you even outside of blogland.  I love ya Nat!

How cute is this idea? So adorable and just my colours too!

Thank you so much Danni, I love you too and you are such a wonderful blog friend.  

To see more of Danni's fantastic creations head on over to her blog or visit her Facebook page. Say hi and follow along, you'll be so glad you did, Danni is the best!!!

     

xxx

Its Feeling a Lot Like Christmas

I have been waiting weeks for my Pohutukawa Tree to bloom.

When it does - its signals Christmas. 

It's nicknamed the New Zealand Christmas Tree. 

You can read more about it on the Wikipedia page.

I love driving along the roads and seeing all the red flowers against the blue sky. So beautiful...

Now my tree has started to bloom and I can admire it every day, because its Christmas Time ..yay!!! Happy Dance

  

 Gorgeous right? I love these trees.... In a few days they will be alive with bumble bees and birds.

 And not only do they mean Christmas time but also the start of our Summer holidays....cant wait.

Take care everyone,

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook :-)

xxx

 

Linking up to some or all of these great parties