A fun gift idea

My cousin Meghan is really into Justin Bieber, like most other girls her age. For Christmas I decided to make her a hat box with cut out images of Justin Bieber from magazines. I was able to get ample material from only 3 magazines. Once I cut out the images, I used rubber cement to put them in place on the box. After the entire box was covered, I used Mod Podge to seal the images to the box and prevent them from getting messed up or ripped. When the Mod Podge was dry, I used an acrylic sealer to give the box a shine to it. That took 24 hours to dry. This is the result:

Meghan loved it. It's a simple gift idea that you could do virtually anything with. And all it takes is a plain hat box, a few magazines, and some glue. Happy gifting!

Gift Wrapping Theme

Every year I use a gift-wrapping theme for my gifts that makes them unique and easy to distinguish from other presents. It's always fun to hear the phrase, "Obviously that present is from Abby." This year, I did something a little more on the simple side, but it was a huge hit with my family. I wrapped each present with brown paper and put a single picture of the person for whom the gift was for on the outside. There was no questions as to who they were for, and who they were from.

Another great thing about this idea is that it can double as a decoration in your home. It was a lot of fun having these boxes set up against the wall. I think next year I might even do something along these lines but with a specific shape in mind.

{A Christmas tree of photographs perhaps?}

I loved the reactions that the younger kids would have to their face being on the outside of their gift. It was heart warming, and they get to keep a photograph of themselves. Everyone things I've set the bar too high for myself though, so we'll see what theme I can come up with to trump it for next year!

Snowflake Pancakes

This year I got a little creative with my breakfasts for Christmas. I decided to try and make pancakes in the shape of snowflakes. It was a very messy process, but I was finally successful.

The most important part of making this work is thinning out the batter. I did this by just adding extra milk than what the recipe called for. Water will work too, but it won't taste as good. To pour the batter into snowflake shapes, I used a ziplock bag with a small hole cut in one corner. Ideally I would have liked to use something they use icing for to make those intricate designs on cakes and such.

The most difficult aspect of this project is in flipping the pancake once you've designed it in the pan. I used two skillets and flipped the completed snowflake into the other pan once one side was cooked. A better idea would be to have a flat skillet that you could put on top of the un-done side of the pancake and just flip them both over together so that you don't have to play any guessing games with the flip.

But there you have it. A fun and easy way to create something a little more festive for the holiday season. Enjoy!