Hot Chocolate and Hot Apple Cider Bar

November 16, 2015November 14, 201521 Comments

Jingle bells, jingle bells! Sorry! We are already practicing some our Christmas stuff at school. We have our Christmas program just 10 days after we come back from Thanksgiving! Things are getting pretty hectic! So I could take some time to slow down and enjoy a hot drink, I set up a hot chocolate and apple cider bar! Have you done one of these too? My kids love it! Whenever we have guests over, they love to ‘fancy up’ their drinks.

We have no snow here, just cold and fog, but I loved this saying and added it to my chalkboard. I enjoy being able to change the sayings on it for each season or celebration.

I added some evergreen branches from my yard to the top along with a sparkly white triangle banner.

I found this World Market wine holder at a yard sale, and just had to bring it home. I used it to hold mugs instead. I have to find a few more that will fit! I layered some faux and real greens on top along with some wooden beads I spray painted white #whatapain!.

Next to the mugs I have some mason jars filled with some goodies to add to your drink. There are cinnamon sticks to stir with, chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. I found the cute little tags here. I used baker’s twine to tie them on.

On the other end of the bar, I have a big glass jar of hot chocolate, some chocolate syrup and some fun chocolate sprinkles and some cinnamon. I would like to add a bottle of caramel sauce too.

Right in the middle I have some hot apple cider, the marshmallows and spoons. Peppermint sticks will be on my list the next time I go to the store.

It is really nice to have everything out and ready to go when friends come over. No digging around in my cupboards trying to find all the supplies! You could easily make this a coffee or tea bar too.

Don’t forget we have a giveaway going on until Wednesday. If you haven’t entered already, you can go to this post!

https://homeonthecorner.com/2015/11/11/we-received-a-blogger-recognition-award-plus-we-are-doing-a-giveaway/

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanksgiving will be here soon and then on to Christmas!

Holiday Ornament Exchange Link Party!

November 14, 2015November 13, 2015Leave a comment

Welcome everyone!

I am helping host my first ever link party! Remember the pinecone ornament I posted earlier this week? It was part of an ornament exchange and now you will have the chance to see all the ornaments and link up your own homemade ornament!

Welcome to the first 2015 Holiday Ornament Exchange!

Want to see all the amazing ornaments we have shared?

We are linking up all of our ornaments in the link below so everyone can see all the beautiful handmade and/or store bought goodies we came up with!

Let’s all get inspired this season!

The Hosts of the Exchange~

We want to say a huge “Thank You” to all the blogs that shared the exchange announcement on their sites, we could not have done it without you! Hugs!

Make sure to visit all the other wonderful bloggers of the 2015 Ornament Exchange! All of their incredible creations are linked in the link party below.

We want to see your ornament tutorials too! Show us your creations by adding your post to the party below! Please add only ornament tutorials to the party. Thank you!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Paper Pinecone Christmas Ornament-Ornament Exchange

November 10, 2015November 10, 201551 Comments

Hi everyone! I have something special to share with you today! I know it’s a little early to be sharing Christmas ideas, but Erlene at My Pinterventures is hosting a 2015 Ornament Exchange. She has partnered 80+ bloggers to exchange ornaments and we want to share our creations or special finds with you! So, if you’re looking for some holiday ornament craft tutorials or ornament inspiration, you’ve come to the right place!

2015 Ornament Exchange

Today is Day 10. If you want to go back and start at the beginning and see all the great ideas, click here. I was so excited to receive an email from Erlene about who my ornament exchange partner would be. I was even more excited to learn it would be Erlene herself! She wrote to me that this year her tree will be a deep rich red, gold, and white. There isn’t a theme, just a variety of ornaments in those colors and she likes unusual ornaments. Well, I love the white and gold idea, so I went with that. Lauren picked out the idea for the ornament and then I went shopping for the supplies. Here are the papers I chose: a gold glitter, golden stripes, clear vellum with gold hexagons, and I had white sparkly on hand.

christmas ornament paper pinecone scrapbook paper

I also bought the egg shaped styrofoam ball. I had the circle punch already and of course, my glue gun. I started out by punching out the circles from each of the papers. I needed quite a bit, more than I thought I would. I kept running out!

christmas ornament paper pinecone supplies

I started at the narrow end of the egg. I glued on each circle, overlapping them as I went around. Then I added the next layer, overlapping the first layer too.

christmas ornament paper pinecone beginning

Here it is about half way done. I love how it is turning out!

christmas ornament paper pinecone sparkles

After all the circles were attached, I added gold twine to the top for hanging. I think this looks so pretty! It will look even better when the lights from the tree make it sparkle and shine!

I tried it out on white branches too.

Today, I’m excited to be kicking off day 10 of the Ornament Exchange, along with these other great ladies. Just click on their link to go see what they have made!

Displaying 2015-ornament-exchange-day-10.jpg

Love My Messy Messy Mess

Where The Smiles Have Been

I’m so glad I was able to make this for Erlene! Thank you, Erlene, for the opportunity to join in with all these talented bloggers. I have really enjoyed being a part of this exchange.

This will be just the beginning of the Christmas posts you will be seeing! I’m so excited to share some of my decorating, crafts and tablescapes ideas with you!

DIY Headboard to Faux Fireplace Reveal

November 9, 2015November 7, 201520 Comments

I’ve always loved the look of a fireplace. Unfortunately, I have never lived in any house, even growing up, that had one! I am so deprived :)! So after scouring Pinterest and all the blogs I follow, I decided I should try and make my own sometime. This past summer, Lauren and were at Goodwill and came across this headboard for only $3.99! Sold! There were two, and I probably should have bought both of them, but I was so excited to just find one! Then it sat for quite awhile. It always takes me time to think about how this is going to work and exactly how I want it to look.

We took off one of the pieces that was under the shelf. I found some more pieces of wood at another Goodwill that had scallop across one side and decided that would work too. Yes, they are bright turquoise, but everything will get a few coats of paint.

I added a little extra to the bottom too. I had these ornaments from last year that I never did anything with, so I glued them up near the top to add some interest to the piece.

After patching all the holes, I gave it a couple coats of paint.

We added a thin piece of plywood to the back which I painted black. We also added a board along each edge in the back so it would sit flush on the wall since we have 6 inch baseboards. So here it is!

I am so pleased with how this turned out!

It was different to decorate a mantle, but I am looking forward to all the different ways to style it.

Here are the Christmas ornaments I never used last year. I’m so glad I could find a good use for them! I made the acorn garland by hot gluing acorns from my yard onto a piece of twine.

My mom and dad found this box in a dumpster. Um, yes please! It’s perfect here for now.

It won’t be long until this is all decorated for Christmas. I am also wanting some kind of heater for inside so my doggies and I can cuddle up in front of it when it gets cold. It will be the perfect spot!

I hope you enjoyed the reveal! I’m so glad it is done and ready to go! Now on to the next projects!

Fall Cookie Decorating Tablescape

November 5, 2015November 5, 20152 Comments

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Where the cookies are baking and everyone’s telling you decorate! It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Props to everyone who just sang this tune.

Now, I’m not someone who jumps from Halloween to Christmas, but one thing that I love about fall is decorating cookies. And because my roommate Danielle loves to bake, and happened to bake a batch of cookies, I just had to decorate my table to decorate cookies!

So, here it is!

We had a pretty fall tablecloth that had leaves all over it, so I went with a very neutral theme. I had white plates and mugs and kept a knife on each plate so each person could decorate their own cookie.

I added chocolate and strawberry frosting to the decorating items and whipped cream, because you know cookies are the best with whipped cream! I also found some candy that was on sale after Halloween. They can be used for extras decor for the cookies.

So here is my table, I just need more items to decorate the cookies with! But, I love how it is simple and cute. Are any of you going to decorate cookies?