December 24, 2011 1 Comment

merry Christmas, love the Byers

I can’t believe it’s already Christmas Eve 2011. The babes, hubby and I are knee deep this morning in the Christmas spirit decorating gingerbread houses and watching Christmas movies. This afternoon we’re headed to a Christmas service at our church and then back home to open one gift {giddy with excitement}, eat cookies, leave a few for Santa and get to bed early!

I pray that each of you have a wonderful Christmas, remembering the true meaning of this precious holiday. And by the way, if you don’t get what you want in the morning, don’t get grumpy… you can always buy it next week. {wink}

Much love and Merry Christmas from the Byers Family!

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December 22, 2011 2 Comments

easy last minute Christmas crafts

With only a few days to Christmas and the boys out of school, we plan to host a cookie decorating party with a few close friends, make fun crafts, color in our coloring books, eat sweet things until our teeth hurt, etc. etc. {wink}

And these are a few of the fun ideas that we might try:

Reindeer ornament craft from Little Bit Funky; Winter wonderland snow globe ornament from Family Fun; Wishing spool from Family Fun; Construction paper wreath from Our Small-Town Idaho Life; Cork reindeer craft from Make The Best of Things; Print and build a printable nativity set via How About Orange; Straw Christmas tree craft from Reading Confetti

For more ideas, visit my Christmas ideas board on pinterest. As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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December 21, 2011 4 Comments

simple Rudolph cookies

I love to bake with my boys, especially at the holidays. After seeing these fun and super simple Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cookies on pinterest via Meet The Dubiens, I knew the boys would love being able to make cute cookies without a ton of icing work. See, they love the flour, the rolling, the cutting and eating the icing… but not necessarily piping the icing. {wink}

We prepped our area (I typically just flour our granite countertop) and pulled out a ton of cookie cutters.

Then my little one remembered to grab his apron… or maybe I reminded him as his cute stripe pjs from Target were getting slightly floured. I have pics of flour all over his cheeks too. He was trying to get low enough to see the thickness of his dough (so his cookies would bake evenly) and he put his face on his rolling pin!

Next we cut out all the shapes.

Then I reminded the boys that we had to chill the dough or our pretty shapes would come out of the oven as blobs. They understood and waited patiently… okay… they tried. Let’s face it, it’s not easy with the smell of gingerbread in the air.{grin} 

For the reindeer cookies we used chocolate (melted in 8 second intervals in a resealable bag and the tip snipped off) and Red Hots. A few lines and a few dots and we had adorable Christmas cookies!

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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December 19, 2011 2 Comments

coffee filter cookie sleeve

For my most recent Kellogg’s Snackpicks.com article I created a DIY coffee filter cookie sleeve. Here’s how:

Just simple folds, insert your Keebler Chips Deluxe cookies and close with a band of patterned paper. Done! Hop over to Snackpicks.com to see more ideas on hosting a Santa inspired milk and cookies bar for your Christmas party. And visit the shoppe for all of our printable Santa party decor.

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create! 

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December 16, 2011 4 Comments

frost bite & mistletoe cocktails

With so many holiday parties on the horizon (hosting and attending) it never hurts to have a few cocktail and mocktail recipes up my sleeve. These fabulous ideas are from Sierra Mist, a completely natural (made with real sugar and nothing artificial), beverage and natural mixer.

Frost Bite Cocktail ~ you’ll need: 3 oz. Sierra Mist Natural; 1 oz. Blue Curacao; 1 oz. Coconut Vodka; fresh mint; 1 oz. Pineapple juice; Fresh blueberries or pineapple garnishment (optional)

Directions: 1. In a shaker filled with ice, mix coconut vodka and pineapple juice 2. Add blue curacao, fresh mint and blueberries/pineapple (optional) 3. Shake all ingredients well and strain into a large glass filled with ice 4. Top with Sierra Mist Natural 5. Garnish with fresh blueberries/pineapple for a holiday twist (optional)

And for the kiddos (and designated drivers, which is usually me) Frost Bite Mocktail ~ you’ll need: 3 oz. Sierra Mist Natural; 2 oz. of White grape juice; Fresh blueberries; Fresh mint; 1 oz. Pineapple juice; And don’t forget the fruit garnish!

Directions: 1. In a shaker filled with ice, mix fresh lime juice and pineapple juice 2. Add white grape juice, mint and blueberries 3. Shake all ingredients well and strain into a large glass filled with ice 4. Top with Sierra Mist Natural 5. Garnish with fresh blueberries for a holiday twist (optional)

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And another idea, and I love the name of this one, Meet Me At The Mist-letoe Martini ~ you’ll need: 2 oz. Sierra Mist Natural; 1 ½ oz. Raspberry Vodka; 3 Leaves fresh basil; ½ oz. Fresh lime juice; 1 oz. Blueberry juice

Directions: 1. In a glass, muddle two basil leaves and lime juice, then add to shaker filled with ice 2. Add raspberry vodka and blueberry juice to the shaker; shake well and strain into a martini glass 3. Top with Sierra Mist Natural 4. Garnish with a basil leaf for decoration (optional)

Meet Me At The Mist-letoe Mock-tini ~ you’ll need: 2 oz. Sierra Mist Natural; 1 ½ oz. Raspberry juice; 3 Leaves fresh basil; ½ oz. Fresh lime juice; 1 oz. Blueberry juice

Directions: 1. In a glass, muddle two basil leaves and lime juice, then add to a shaker filled with ice 2. Add raspberry and blueberry juice to the shaker; shake well and strain into a martini glass 3. Top with Sierra Mist Natural 4. Garnish with a basil leaf for decoration (optional)

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So… are you a FROST BITE or a MEET ME AT THE MIST-LETOE?! I’d love to know in the comments below!

And by the way, I’m mixing up my own ideas for my Christmas party and I’ll be sharing them early next week along with a GIVEAWAY that will include a Sierra Mist Natural holiday gift pack (shaker, drink garnish/sugars, party glasses) plus a $50 American Express Gift Card to help you gather up all the ingredients! Yay!

Want more fabulous holiday cocktail ideas now?! The Sierra Mist Mixologists are sharing recipes on their facebook page! Join them!

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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{NOTE: This post was sponsored by Sierra Mist Natural, however, all opinions are my own. You guys know I don’t write about things I don’t like. That would be too much like work!}

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