Christmas Cupcake Wreath

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all many blessings to you and yours this holiday season and with the coming new year!!!

Things have been plenty busy around here. Between doctor apts, a surgery for Adam {no worries, he is doing well, just needed to have a little procedure done}, work, illustrations, graphics, kids home for vacation, christmas, etc., there doesn't leave a heck of a lot left to just sit and relax!

Today is another family Holiday gathering. We are sure to have some fun with games, conversations and much laughter. Each family is suppose to bring something to share, and I chose to bring a Cupcake Wreath! My niece Ayla {age 6.5} helped me make the frosting and decorate the cupcakes...such a wonderful helper she is! {Her mom took this picture, she is a wonderful photographer, but it doesn't hurt to have such a gorgeous girl to photograph either! LOL...Looks like it came out of a GAP ad or something!}

All you have to do is make the cupcakes, frost, place in a circle and decorate! Pretty simple. I just used a white cake recipe and then White Buttercream Frosting! I've attached the recipe in case you don't have enough recipes saved already! LOL...

White Buttercream Frosting

1 c. Shortening

1 c. Butter, soft, but not at room temp

2 tsp. Clear Vanilla Extract

1 tsp. Clear Almond Extract

1/4 tsp. Salt

8 c. Powdered Sugar

5 Tlbp. Whole Milk or Heavy Cream

1. Cream shortening & butter until smooth and creamy.

2. Add extracts & salt.

3. Add powdered sugar a little at a time, mixing until incorporated after each addition.

4. Add milk/cream until you reach desired consistency. Tint & Frost away!

Our Elf ~ Christopher

Hey everyone!

For my birthday, my mother in law got me a Christmas Elf {Similar to the o-so-popular Elf on a Shelf} named Christopher that came with a story on how he came to be. I opened it up and had a big ol' grin on my face and the kids were even more happy because they thought my birthday gift was actually for them...silly boys. Anyways, that night, we read the story on our elf Christopher...it's been a real big hit every morning since.

So after putting the kiddos to bed, I went on Pinterest and started pinning Elf on a Shelf mischief because I've never actually pinned the previous 10K I saw before owning my own...lol. Found lots of fun ideas, and have put some to good use. The first night Christopher climbed up to the top of the tree and must have dropped the star or something because he was hanging on to the star and the tree for dear life. He's played some Super Nintendo one morning, that didn't prove to be such a smart idea because Lance almost missed the bus he got so into the moment! LOL...So, after 1 week of doing ideas only found off of Pinterest, I decided to try my hand at my own ideas!!!

So this morning, we woke up to Christopher and his friends having a WWE wrestling match...The boys absolutely loved this one. I had a lot of fun setting things up. It was a tag team match between the figures. One opponent had another wrapped in the ropes and was pommeling him, while his partner had the other guys partner passed out on the ground and was about to body slam him. Who knew I liked wrestling so much I would get into it like that?!?!?! The elf brings out my mischief side to be sure!!!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed my first Christopher posting! Have a great day and many blessings to you and yours!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 7

Hello everyone! Happy Monday! Hope you all are enjoying your day!

It feels like my day has never ended! LOL. I went to bed last night at 6:30, woke up to a phone call at 8:30 pm that kinda made me irritated, so then I couldn't get back to sleep. Finally decided to lay down at 3:45 am, but hubby is sick and his snoring kept me awak, and then at 4:45 am, I am still awake and baby Jack decides he is too. So then I need to feed him a bottle, and by that time, I just didn't have a chance to get to bed. Thank goodness for that 2 hour nap! Draggin' today though...hopefully can get to bed early tonight

Anyways, we are on day 7 of our 12 Days of Christmas and I have the CUTEST santa pictures to share with you! We took the kids to the mall yesterday as is tradition and visited with Santa. The kids were very taken with Santa and were just so darn cute! Love family traditions and being able to capture them on film each year! Hope you enjoy & have a fabulous day!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 6

Hello Everyone!!! Happy Sunday! ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? LOL...I wish I could say I was, but I'm thinking the Vikings are not being aired today because they play at noon, and they aren't scheduled on any station...so boooooo to my Sunday game day!

Oh, well, it gives me a great opportunity to share with you Day 6 of my 12 days of Christmas!

So one of my all time favorites are the movies we watch during the holidays! I have my favorites with the kids, my favorites that remind me of growing up, and then my favorites because they are absolute classics! So I'm going to share a few of my faves with you all today!

My ALL TIME favorite!

These are movies I can't go a holiday season without watching... These are the ones I watch with my kids each year...

12 Days of Christmas: Day 5

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday!

Can't believe next week is Christmas already! Absolutely crazy! Time is flying by and we don't even have snow yet! It snowed yesterday, but didn't get anything to stick! Booo!!! LOL

Anyways, I'm on day 5 of my 12 days of Christmas. Today I want to share with you one of my passions of the season. I absolutely LOVE looking for a special holiday outfit to wear for my family. Even if it's only a new pin, dress, sweater, or a pair of socks...doesn't matter, I absolutely LOVE shopping for it! This year I also discovered Polyvore, which is a site to help you visualize the perfect Christmas Attire! If you haven't checked out the website, you should, it's so fun to be a "fashionista", if only for a day! LOL...You can find the link to my "Closet" here...

Vintage style Christmas

Vintage Holiday by heather-rolin featuring longchamp tote bag

Comfy Cozy Christmas

A Comfy Christmas by heather-rolin featuring kate spade tote

Glitz & Glam Christmas

Splashes of Red by heather-rolin featuring kitten heels

12 Days of Christmas: Day 4

Hello everyone! Happy Friday!

Welcome to my Day 4 of my 12 Days of Christmas...Everything about the Holidays scream music. It's the theme to any movie on TV or commercial. It's in an elevator ride or mall or car on any given radio station. And to me, nothing screams Christmas like listening to your favorite songs or hymns!

For me, my favorite song is What Child is This...but I also love Away in a Manger and Do You Hear What I Hear...I could listen to them over and over again. Which I do, every year on my City on a Hill CD that I've had for the past 10 years! I've even effected my oldest son, since he is now obsessed with this CD and has been for 2 years! LOL...So if you don't have this CD...it is a MUST in my opinion!

City on a Hill

Happy Holidays!!!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 2

Hello everyone!

Happy Holidays to you all! Hope you are enjoying the season and finding time for family, friends, and remembering the true meaning of Christmas!

This year, I discovered something new. Something INGENIUS! And something so addicting! If you haven't yet discovered it, you will. My new favorite thing is Pinterest. This is a site that can't be discribed quickly. So what I will share with you is a few of the Holiday Treats that I made this year with my family with recipes I found on Pinterst!

The first is a Sweet N' Salty treat using pretzels, Kisses & M&M's, the recipe is found HERE. Holiday Pretzel Treats

Bite-size, Holiday Shaped Pretzels
Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug
M&M's candy

Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 170F. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug.

2. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates feel soft when touched with a wooden spoon. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss.

3. Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Place handfuls of the candies in clear plastic bags and tie on colorful ribbons.

(Picture from Source)

My next treat is Candy Cane Blossoms, recipe found HERE or on a bag of candy cane hershey kisses.Candy Cane Blossoms

1 bag Hershey;s Kisses brand Candy Cane Kisses
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons milk
Red and Green colored sugar

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove wrappers from candies (approx. 35)

2. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternatively with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

3. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red and/or green colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 - 1o minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Yields approximately 35 cookies. (Picture from source)

12 Days of Christmas: Day 1

Hello everyone! Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful start to your Holiday Season! We've been super busy, but still enjoying each other and the true meaning of the Season!

Just wanted to quickly pop in and share with everyone our Christmas Tree of 2011...Each year I collect new orniments that are special to me, but I don't do that until after Christmas is over, so I can get in on the fabulous discounts! LOL...So here are some from last year! I absolutely LOVE a Christmas tree, so I figured I could start of my 12 days of Christmas with one of my favorite things! Enjoy!

The snowman is an orniment I got for my son. We get an orniment for the kids each year and label the name and year on the back, so that when they are older and have their own family, that they have orniments to start them out.

The sleigh is a handmade orniment from a friend that I cherish.

The reighdeer orniment is one handpainted by me and is in a set of 4. I made one of santa, a snowman, a house, and this one. I really love how they turned out! Wish I had more patients to create more to hand out as gifts each year! Maybe when the kids are older! The glass Santa orniment is also part of something I handpainted, with a snowman, but the snowman this year took a fall and is no longer with us! LOL...The joys of a 2 year old running around cleaning house with a broom! Oh well, I can always do another!