Christmas tags to download

Hello,
because I've a new friend from Swap-Bot, 17Papergoddess, here's something she could like. Personally I'm in love with those adorable tags. Hope you'll enjoy it it. Marie Claire Idées is always amazing me. if you have better ones, email me and I'll post them.
You can download the first four here and the second four here.

Christmas Room Decor

Almost 1 month to Christmas and it’s time for a bit of Christmas thinking. I’ve thought to post Christmas theme subjects but before looking for nice projects I’ve decided to look for inspirations.

First of all I’d like to share some tips from Interior Dec on how to make your home look festive and special and create the wonderful Christmas holiday atmosphere.
If you have great pics to share email me and I’ll be happy to add them to my posts.

1. Decorate Everything With Bows
• Tie generous ribbons to chair backs, candlesticks, picks in plants, wreaths, garlands, basket handles, drapery tie-backs, stair railings, and doorknobs.
• Bows look festive and the ribbons you choose should tie together with the rest of your decorating. Choose ribbons in colors and patterns that coordinate with your decorating scheme.
• You don't have to stick with red and green. Choose plaids or florals that tie in. If you can't find anything that looks quite right, then choose metallic silver, gold, green, or red.
• Choose a ribbon that you can untie and re-tie each year. This will save money in the long run, and you'll end up with a good collection.
• When the holidays are over, untie the ribbons and press them lightly. The bows won't get crushed and the ribbons will be ready when you want to take them out the next year.


2. Use holiday tableware for every meal in December.
• Look through your cupboards and get out any dishes that look festive.
• Discount stores often carry seconds of name brand china, as well as fun designs that are not so common.
• Start a set of holiday dishes with dinner plates that coordinate with your everyday dishes. Add new pieces each year, like salad plates and mugs. Note: Be sure the pattern you select will be continued from year to year.
• Buy 1 or 2 place settings each year. Before long, you'll be able to serve a feast.
• If you're adventuresome, choose a different pattern and one place setting each year. Arrange the different dishes around the table and get lots of comments and rekindle memories. When they're not in use, the dishes can be displayed around the room.


3. Turn off the lights.
• Arrange lots of candles on the dining table and dine by candlelight, even if you're just having leftovers. Every meal will feel special.
• Burn a fire in the fireplace each evening and encourage family members to gather around and read, do homework, write Christmas cards, or snooze.
• Arrange pillar candles in your bathroom, on the sink or around the tub. Take time to soak and enjoy! If you have little children in your home, you should be very careful with candles around the house. Always have an adult in the room.


4. Hang holiday wreaths.
• Put a wreath or swag on every door you have. Of course, start with the front door to welcome guests.
• Go on to the back door, inside and out. Remember over the mantle, and in all your front windows. Don't forget bedroom doors, inside and out.
• Use real pine, holly, or grapevine, decorated with bows, berries, fruit, pinecones, raffia, ornaments, birds, photos, or candy.
• To keep wreaths year after year, buy artificial wreaths that will last. Remember, you'll need room to store them!


Enjoy some more photos found via Room Envy, Country Living and Happy loves Rosie… and I’m sorry but I can’t remember where I found the others. If you know, let me know.

Simple Sewn Bird Ornaments

Here's a great idea for your Xmas ornaments if you have fabric scraps. You can use them as door hangers and as place tags too. I've found them on PurlBee.

Download and print bird template here.

Material:

• Nine 1/4- yards of assorted prints.

• A craft size package of high loft cotton batting

• 100% cotton thread

• Valdani Embroidery Thread in Magenta

Cut Fabrics:

Download and print the templates above.

To make 12 birds:

Pick out two fabrics, one for your bird body and one for the wings. Press the fabric and fold each piece right sides together. (In the picture above I am using the Pomegranate Kona Cotton for the bird and the Meadow in Beige Leaves for the wings.)

Using a fabric marker or a pencil to trace the bird template onto the doubled body fabric and trace the wings twice onto the doubled wing fabric. Make sure to transfer the markings from the templates as shown above.

Trace the body template once and the wing template twice onto a single layer of your batting.

Repeat for the remaining 11 birds.

Cut all the pieces out. You will have: One batting body, two batting wings, two fabric bodies, and four fabric wings.

Pin together the fabric body pieces together right sides together. Pin each pair of wings together, also right sides together.

Cut twelve 1/4-inch X 7-inch strips (six from each color) from the wool felt. This will be enough for twelve birds, so you can put eleven of them aside for now.

Saw Fabric:

Staring at one of the transfered marks sew around the body with an 1/8-inch seam allowance stopping at the other mark thus leaving a little opening as shown above. Repeat for wings.

Turn all the pieces right sides out. You can use a small knitting needle to poke out the corners of the beak, the tail and the wings.

Stuff and finish:

Take your wing batting and fold it in half lengthwise and slip it into the wing. Make sure the batting piece is oriented in the same direction as the wing.

The batting should fit snuggly inside the wing.

Repeat for the second wing and close both with a slip stitch.

Slip the body batting inside the fabric body tail first.

You might need to use that small knitting needle again to get the batting in every corner.

Fold a wool strip in half and place the ends into the opening.

Use cotton thread which matches the body fabric to close the opening with a slip stitch. Sew the wool strip into place as you do.

Thread an embroidery needle with the magenta embroidery thread and tie a knot. Pull the thread through the backside of one of the wings at the point where you'd like to attach it to the body.

Place both the wings where you want them on the body and pinch all three pieces together as shown above. Push the needle through the wings and the body as shown above to attach the wings to the body. Sew through all the layers again, making a "X" stitch on either wing and pulling very tight.

Once both wings have these little "X"s pull your needle through a wing but not the body and tie a knot where it will remain hidden in-between the wing and the body.

Repeat for the other eleven birds and you'll have your own beautiful flock!

Halloween Cupcakes Recipe

It’s almost Halloween and I couldn’t resist posting this great idea. Lucky my colleague Paola suggested it! You can find this and more Halloween recipe on Country Living or on Delish web site.

First of all, to make this luscious dessert, use the Classic Chocolate Cake recipe (see below for the complete recipe). You can also try substituting your favourite cake recipe, or if you're short on time, a boxed mix — one box yields 12 Mini Pumpkin Cakes.

To get the look of these single-serving pumpkin treats, trim the bottoms of cakes baked in mini Bundt pans. Join two cakes so that the fluted tops are at either end, then drizzle with Chocolate Glaze or Vanilla Glaze and sprinkle with coarse colored sugar or nonpareils before the glaze sets. Top with a marzipan stem. After the recipe there is a picture on how to make it.

Classic Chocolate Cake recipe

Ingredients
• 2 cup(s) flour
• 1/2 cup(s) cocoa
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1 teaspoon(s) salt
• 3/4 cup(s) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup(s) sour cream
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup(s) milk


Directions


1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour three 6-cup muffin pans (for filled cakes), two 8-inch-round cake pans (for layer cake; pictured), or 2 mini Bundt pans (for Mini Pumpkin Cakes). Set aside. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugars together in a bowl using an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Beat in the eggs. Reduce speed to medium-low. Stir the sour cream, vanilla, and milk together and add it in thirds, alternating with the flour mixture. Beat until batter is smooth, about 3 more minutes.
3. Divide the batter equally between the prepared pans and bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center tests clean. For layer cake, it should take about 25 minutes; filled cakes, 20 minutes; and Mini Pumpkin Cakes, 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
4. Trim cooled cake layers, if necessary, to make level and frost and decorate as desired.
Tips & Techniques

Mix ingredients at room temperature. To quickly take the chill off eggs, run them under warm water.


Chocolate Glaze
Ingredients
• 9 ounce(s) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 1 1/2 tablespoon(s) butter

• 1/2 cup(s) heavy cream

Directions


1. Place the chocolate and butter together in a heat-proof bowl; set aside. Heat the heavy cream until it just begins to boil and immediately pour over the chocolate. Stir gently until smooth. Let sit until slightly thickened before using to glaze cakes, about 3 minutes. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes to set the chocolate.
2. For filled cakes: Pour chocolate on each filled cake and smooth over the cake to completely coat. Place the cakes in the freezer until chocolate sets. Remove and store in a cool area.


Tips & Techniques

Place cakes on a wire rack set over a baking pan to catch any glaze drips.

Marzipan stems: from a ball of marzipan make a snake and twist it as shown in picture