Happy New Year to each of you! It’s not too late! There are so many cute and wonderful ideas that can still be pulled together for a fun and enjoyable New Year’s Eve. Don’t feel like everything has to be bedazzled and glittered from the ceiling to the floors, a few simple touches will bring it all together and can be fun.

First of all I love to go to “The Source” AKA Pinterest for amazing ideas on New Year’s Eve parties and printoffs. Pinterest is a treasure trove and you’re sure to find the perfect little touch to add to your celebration whether a big party, or fun time at home with the family tonight. Here’s the link to my own New Year’s Board on Pinterest – have fun and please follow me, I’d love that and I love to follow you back!

Another great source for New Year’s ideas is our dear friend Megan over at Brassy Apple! All week she has been sharing awesome ideas for a festive New Year’s, and she knows her stuff. Memory packets, New Year’s Surprise Bags, shakers, time capsules and more! Go check it out – you’ll love Brassy Apple.

I LOVED this free printable from Simply Creative Insanity (don’t you love the chevron??!!) Print this cute saying off and throw it in a frame – you can use it anywhere in your home tonight for a little New Years fun.

Whatever your plans I hope you have a safe and fun New Year’s Eve. Take care and enjoy the relationships and make some memories. Be sure to snap those pictures tonight and preserve those moments in a creative way. Thank you for all of your ideas and involvement with Boutique Cafe in 2011! Happy New Year to all of you! – Daria

Dear Boutique Cafe Readers, thank you all for a wonderful fun-filled year! I hope you have enjoyed our Christmas Festival of Traditions & Tutorials – thank you to each of our special guests for making it happen! I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and Holidays filled with the love of family & friends. I know many of you are rushing around getting the last minute things done on your checklists, don’t forget to take a moment to soak in what really counts when you gather (and give yourselves a pat on the back!).

May you all feel the joy of the season, and your cups of couture will be overflowing with creativity in the New Year! From my family to yours I wish you the happiest holiday. XOXO - Daria

Today we are featuring an amazing project from my talented sister-in-law Elizabeth. Liz has a wonderful blog, be sure to check it out Lizzy Anne here>>

“I try to be true to myself in any holiday decorating. Keeping my personality even in the face of Christmas glitter. I fell in love with a banner at Anthropologie. But did not fall in love with the price tag! Every year I feel like I have to decorate before I start on my other Christmas projects. So this year I did this one for myself before anything. A treat to me for all the hard work I’m about to embark on to pull off Christmas once again. It has been the perfect touch at our front entry and I love walking past it everyday! Merry Christmas to me! You can give yourself this gift too! Here is what you need.” – Liz

Supplies Needed:
-15 Sheets of Felt various colour ( you might want to buy a couple extra to allow for matching options)
-Cross stitch Thread ( I bought this huge pack at Walmart for $10 ‘craft thread’)
-Yarn 3 colors
-Needle
-Printed Letters I used Arial in Bold and outline size 160
-Sewing machine
-Mat and Cutter
-Safety Pin
-Elastic band

Make your cuts. You should be able to get 2-3triangles out of each sheet with salvage
You will need 2 triangles per letter in the banner.

Save your salvages. If you only need 2 out of the color, stop cutting. The Salvage will be used for your letters and circle details.

Next print your letters, cut and trace them onto the felt salvages. Then cut out. Use any extra felt to cut out free hand circles of various sizes.

Line up 2 triangles of the same color. Sew ¼’ seam around all edges. Center and pin letter of contrasting color and sew as close to edge as you can.

Use your floss (craft thread) and needle to do a blanket stitch around the triangle. I doubled my thread for a thicker detail. Pick a thread of a contrasting color yet again for this look. Repeat on your circles as well. This part is what takes the most time, but the look is so worth it!!

For the braids use your colored yarn. I chose a variegated to save on money and still get a variety of color. Cut your full length of both Merry and Christmas and enough to hang, about 4.5 m. I used 2 length per section of the braid for a total of 6 strands. Tie ends in a knot and put a safety pin through the knot. Attach to carpet or somewhere you can anchor it.

Before braiding wrap up each section and put a rubber band around to make it easy to manage and easy to pull more length as you braid. Braid, braid, braid! Then repeat with second color way.

Voila!!

Now your ready to string your banner. Take your cream Yarn on a tapestry Needle and pull through the top portion of each triangle. This is also the time to randomly string your circles on between letters. To attach the braided portion you will need to cut small slits at the bottom portion of the triangles through only the back layer and feed through. If you use the safety pin at one end, it’s easier to pull through.

Once you have everything spaced how you like on the strands of yarn, pull your top and bottom strands together at the swag you are happy with. Do a simple slip knot to attach the strands, as well as create a loop to hang it from. You can either trim or let the ends dangle like I did. YOU DID IT It’s beautiful! Hang it and feel the Christmas spirit! Of course you could spell anything for any occasion in any color way and it’s sure to light up your day!

At the end of it you have this incredibly festive banner to love for years to come! Enjoy and Merry Christmas to you all!

Hi this is Gina from Quilter’s Buzz! This is a family favorite for many many years. What’s a party without some “throw up”? Not a good party, that’s for sure. (wink)

This simple and quick “chili con quese” dip is so easy to make, we let all the kids and grandkids help. Plus, it is a tasty treat for those in our family that are “gluten intollerant”. You can even make it a couple days before the party.

Why the name? Because it looks like “throw up” after you make it!

One recipe is great for 12-15 people. Easy to double the recipe for a bigger crowd.
We add an extra 4-5 more bacon strips to our dip, ‘cause we LOVE bacon. (My personal favorite meat!)

Gramma Halladay’s Throw Up Dip

1- can chili (without beans)
2- cans stewed tomatoes, drained
3-5 pieces of bacon
1 large onion-diced
1 lb processed cheese (Velveta)—cut into small chunks

Fry the bacon and crumble into small pieces. Add diced onions and cook until onions are soft and translucent.
Drain the stewed tomatoes and add to the bacon/onion mix. Stir and simmer for a few minutes. Add the chili and the cheese chunks. Cook over low heat until cheese melts.
(I transfer the dip to a crock pot and let it simmer until party time!)
Serve warm as a dip with tortilla chips.

Save the leftovers and reheat the next day—sometimes it even better!

Its the best “throw up” you have ever tasted!

Gina Halladay
www.QuiltersBuzz.com

IT’S BACK!! I’m reposting our original podcast filled with Christmas Music. This was such a popular show, play it while you are wrapping up those gifts and enjoy! We wanted to give our listeners a little gift this year, so we’ve compiled some of the best podsafe Holiday music and rolled it into one Big Boutique Cafe Holiday Music Show. Hosted by Daria, all of the music played in our Holiday Show can be found on the Podsafe Music Network. Boutique Cafe loves to support independant musical artists, and we think you’ll find a little bit of everything in our first Holiday Music extravaganza.
Podsafe Artists All Wrapped Up in a Boutique Cafe Bow are : Natalie Brown, Gidgets Ga Ga, Beatrice Ericsson, Geoff Smith, Joel Kopischke, Jill Parr, Tresa Street, Ayla Brown, Larry Seyer

Big Soft Ginger Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

You can find more great recipes on my blog:

www.pinkfigdesign.blogspot.com

Under the Pink Fig Recipe Collection Tab on the right side bar.

Here is the link to the cookie recipe on my blog:

http://pinkfigdesign.blogspot.com/2008/12/on-first-day-of-christmas-my-true-love.html

“Daria, Thanks so much for asking us to be a part of your special Christmas blog. We created a really awesome pink tree for our studio a couple of weeks ago and we have gotten so many questions as to how we made it that I thought this would be the perfect project to share. Since my assistant, Emalee, was the mastermind behind this fun and crafty project I will let her tell you—in her own words—how the tree came about. Enjoy the tutorial and several pictures I captured on assembly day. As you will see, we had lots of “helping hands” in the form of a group of local college students from the Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising.” Patty Young

Instructions by Emalee Grambo. Photography by Patty Young.

Our pink tree, while a fun experience, was definitely a group effort to put together. So find your friends and neighbors to help you put this beauty up.
For starters, you will need some sort of small round object for the tip top of your tree. Being a sewing studio, we had plenty of sewing embroidery hoops lying around and we chose one that was 4” in diameter. Anything similar to this will work great. Just be sure there is no chance whatever you choose can crack… the first item we used—a clear plastic plate—cracked when we tried to put the tree up. This tree ends up heavier than you think.

You will also need:
1 Hula Hoop (at least 3-feet wide)
Colored duct tape or spray paint to cover the Hula Hoop if you wish
Clear fishing line (a bit on the stronger side)
180 shatterproof ornaments in glittery pinks (or the color of your choice)
Clear tape and a hot glue gun to reinforce areas of your tree

We decided we wanted our tree to be about 10 feet tall with ornaments placed every 6.5”. So:

1. Mark your hula hoop and embroidery hoop with ten evenly spaced marks around the circumference.
2. Cut 10 strands of fishing line at 12 feet each.
3. Starting at one end, measure a foot and mark with a permanent marker. From this point measure every 6.5 inches and mark with a permanent marker. About a foot should remain at this other end as well. This will allow room to tie each strand to the top and bottom hoop. All 10 of your fishing line strands should be marked in this way.
4. Proceed to string your ornaments onto each strand and tie three knots at each mark you made. On 5 of the strands, leave the very last mark empty. On the other 5 strands, leave the second to last mark empty. These will be the “top” of the strands. This will keep the very top of the tree from getting too congested. If you have the space, spread each completed strand on your floor to keep it from tangling up with one another. (Trust me on this!)
5. Once you have all ten done, spread them out as best you can in a circle around the object you have for the tippy top of the tree.
6. Tie the top of each strand, alternating between strands with the last mark empty or the second to last mark empty, to each mark on your tippy top tree piece. From four evenly spaced marks on this tippy top piece string fishing line to create a loop to hang your tree.
7. Now this is where you will need all the helping hands you can find. Have each person grab two strands as you lift the center of your tree up. If you don’t recruit these lovely friends, you will be spending the majority of your afternoon untangling these ten strands and your pretty pink tree won’t be looking pretty anymore.
8. Once you have your tree hung, you can proceed to tie each end to your hula hoop where marked. We found it most helpful to place the hula hoop onto a flat surface at the level where we wanted our tree to fall and then tie each end to the hoop.

Lisa’s Christmas Confessions:

Christmas Confession #1: I’ve never let my kids decorate MY tree. They can put their handmade ornaments on their smaller trees in their room. I know, I’m a bad mother.

Christmas Confession #2: Even though your Santa may wear a RED suit, mine doesn’t. I loathe RED. There is not a speck of RED (or Christmas Green) in my house during the holidays or any other time. My Santas have Gold, Cream, White, Silver, and Aqua robes…LOL!

Christmas Confession #3: I like getting Christmas cards with pictures of your adorable kids. Except the ones that include those annual summaries of their overachievements.

Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas! Lisa – The Domestic Diva’s Disasters Blog

Lisa’s Glamorous Lined Christmas Stocking Tutorial

Materials Needed:

• 1/2 yard outer fabric
  
• 1/2 yard lining fabric
  
• 1 yard fusible interfacing
  
• Sewing Thread

Print out a template or trace an existing Christmas Stocking.

Stocking Templates:

Tipnut’s Stocking Template

Martha Stewart Hankerchief Stocking Template

Martha Stewart Quilt Stocking Template

Martha Stewart Remnant Stocking Template

About.com Stocking Template

Woman’s Day Stocking Template

Fuse interfacing to the back of both your outer fabric and your lining fabric..

Layer both outer fabric and lining fabric right sides together. Trace template and cut out layers.

Sew one top of outer fabric to one top of lining fabric. Repeat with second outer fabric and lining fabric.

With right sides together, place outer fabric/lining piece on top of other outer fabric/lining piece. Sew together …

leaving a 3 inch opening on the lining (for turning).

Clip your curves.

Turn right side out and press.

Stitch Lining Opening closed.

Stuff lining inside outer fabric. Fold over lining to outside to create a self-cuff.

Make Cuff

Measure the circumference of the top of the stocking (mine is 16 inches) and add 1 inch to that measurement. Now take that measurement (for me it’s 17 inches) to cut the width of the cuff fabric with a height of 7 inches. My cuff fabric is 17 inches by 7 inches. You following this?

Fuse interfacing to the back of your cuff fabric.

Fold in half width-wise, right sides together.

Now fold height wise.

Stitch through all four layers of raw unfolded side. Turn right side out. You now have a cuff with the a raw bottom edge

Line up raw edge of cuff with finished edge of stocking. Stitch or serge.

To make a loop to hang your stocking, cut and interface a 2” x 10” piece of fabric.

Fold fabric in half lengthwise and stitch to conceal raw edges.

Fold finished loop in half right sides together. Stitch or serge together bottom edge.

Attach loop to inside cuff seam. Stitch.

Fold cuff to outside of stocking, add a fancy crystal brooch, and hang your stocking!

Any time someone wants me to review a children’s book, I’m all over it. We are definitely bookworms in this family and enjoy any opportunity to add a new one to the collection…especially if it’s one my kids love reading over and over again. And that’s what happened when we were sent a copy of How Do You Feed a Hungry Giant? by Caitlin Friedman (illustrated by Shaw Nielsen).

We have read this book multiple times in the few days we’ve had it. George and Livi love it and it’s easy to see why. The illustrations are fun and colorful, the writing is clever (“You’re seriously not going to believe it.”) and the addition of lift-the-flap-style fun seals the deal.

The book includes 8 fun recipes perfect for feeding a hungry giant, including the popular Pizza-Sized Cookie. We’re anxious to try the Ginormous Blueberry Muffin. (Perhaps that will be our Christmas morning treat!)

I love this Q & A with the author. If you’re still wondering if you should buy How Do You Feed a Hungry Giant, this will help you place it in your shopping cart.

Q: What was the inspiration behind the story?
A: Well…I would have to say my kids. They were six when I wrote this story…the age of the priceless questions. You know what I’m talking about…do your toes ever stop growing? Why do chickens have wings if they don’t fly? I am sure that there was some Saturday morning that Declan (Oscar in the book) asked me how much food a giant would eat.
...
Q: How can parents use Hungry Giant to talk to their children about the importance of charity?
A: The story is about a little boy helping to feed a lonely, hungry giant he finds sitting in his backyard. Oscar has a big heart and so does his mother…and at no point are they scared by the giant’s size. I used this story and Oscar’s instinct to help to talk to my kids about the opportunities they have in their day to help those around them. I also talked to them about thinking a little bigger…yes, you can help the boy in your class pour his milk AND you can help a boy you have never met by donating a can of food. If you are lucky enough to have what you need then you have a responsibility to help those that don’t.
...
Q: In what ways can families incorporate philanthropy into their {holiday} traditions?
A: Take a moment to talk to your children about the issue of hunger, take a moment to teach your children to be grateful for the food in front of them and the family around them. If you are lucky enough to have what you need then you have a responsibility to help those that don’t. You could even have your children start their own food drive. Little kids LOVE looking through cabinets and finding things to donate. If they feel a part of it and like what they are doing is making a difference they will experience the joy of helping others.

We love giving the kids books at Christmas time. In fact, each child will receive one book from us this year. How Do You Feed a Hungry Giant would make the perfect addition to your current collection of children’s books. The best part? You won’t mind reading it over and over again, which is a good thing because you’ll find yourself doing just that!

Martha, is a gorgeous Young Crafty Wife with a fun blog always brimming with great DIY ideas. She also has an Etsy shop that houses some of her fabulous creations. I’m very privileged enough to call her family, when I married Nathan I got Martha in the deal! She’s a darling cousin and I adore her creativity! Thanks so much Martha for your Ornament tutorial – XO Daria

Monogrammed Cranberry Ornament

You will need: – Some “Cranberries” I used little red foam vase fillers – Glue Gun – A Letter – Burlap – Wire

1. Glue the Cranberries around the boarder of you letter.
2. Continue to fill in the rest of the letter.

3. Make your burlap bow – above is how I made mine

4. Glue your bow right on top!

5. Take your wire making a little hook and glue it to the back as close to the centre as possible

6. Hang it on your tree!

I didn’t have a Christmas tree so I display it on – so my lovely barren tree outside our apartment will have to do! Merry Christmas!

The Dessert Darling’s Favorite Holiday Cookie!
While I critique and review desserts at DessertDarling.com, I’ve long since given up on baking to leave it to the pros. That said, there is one holiday treat for which I must roll up my sleeves and get down and dirty with lots and lots of men. Gingerbread Men, that is.

This recipe was passed down from my Grandmother who’s ancestors used to run a bakery in Germany.

My little frosted men might look unassuming in their simplicity, but I assure you they are extremely delicious, addictive, and make for a wonderful family tradition!

RECIPE:

5 cups sifted flour1 cup shortening
1 tsp. salt1 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg1 egg well beaten
3 tsp cinnamon1 cup light molasses
1/2 tsp ground cloves1/3 cup water
1 tsp ginger1/8 tsp baking soda

Sift 1 cup of the flour with salt, spices, and baking soda. Cream shortening. Add sugar gradually to shortening beating till light and fluffy. Add egg and slightly warmed molasses. Stir in water. Add remaingin flour 1 cup at a time till dough is soft and moist. Chill for 6-8 hours. Roll about a quarter of it and cut with cookie cutters. Continue. Put on lightly greased cookie tray and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool and then ice with mixture of confectioners sugar and water beaten till smooth and colored with food coloring if you want to be creative.. Raisins can be used as decoration.

Jenny Alden Barth critiques and reviews desserts at www.DessertDarling.com with a 5-cherry rating system to guide you to the very best. She eats the good, the, bad, and the ugly so that you don’t have to.~

In kicking off our Boutique Cafe Festival of Traditions and Tutorials, I asked my Mom Sharon to share her recipe for popcorn wreaths. This is something we have made my whole life, and each year I know Mom will be making these. It’s always so heartwarming to see and smell the delightful traditions in my Mom’s kitchen each year. I love having a list of favourite things that she makes, and knowing that when I come home they are waiting for us to snack on. Thanks so much Mom for sharing your recipe and for all the beautiful Christmas’s you have given me over the years. Love, Daria

Hi this is Daria’s Mom. One of our family’s favourite Christmas traditions is making popcorn wreaths to give away to friends and neighbors (and teachers). It is an easy treat to make and tastes yummy!

I use an angel food cake pan to get the shape of a wreath, and then I also form my own candy cane shapes, which are also fun. If you want to be creative you could do star shapes or whatever else you can think of to make this fun and interesting. Our children still look forward to this tradition and now we are passing along to our grandchildren. Hope you enjoy as much as we do.

Here’s the recipe (I do up several batches)

Pop 1 ½ cups of popcorn (remove all unpopped kernels).

Syrup:
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
½ cup marjarine
1 pinch salt
Bring to a boil while constantly stirring. (Burns easily, watch closely)
Cook to almost soft ball stage in cold water. Remove from stove and add 1 tsp. Vanilla.
Pour over popcorn. Mix well.
Pour syrupy popcorn into well sprayed angel food or bundt pan. Press and leave about a minute to take form.
Remove from pan and decorate with jube jubes, and/or Christmas candies of all sorts.

Note: Prior to preparing the recipe I cut out cardboard squares big enough to hold the popcorn wreath, or rectangular ones to hold the candy cane shapes. Cover the cardboard with tinfoil and you are ready to go. Makes it easy to deliver your decorated treat!

We are huge fans of Gamewright games in our home. (For past reviews of Gamewright games, click here.) My favorite thing about these games is they’re fun for everyone to play. I can find Chutes & Ladders and Candyland a bit tedious, but I rarely tire of Dweebies and Take the Cake. The same goes for our latest two favorites, GUBS and City Square Off.

GUBS was definitely a game for 10 and up. It had a lot of different types of cards, and we had to refer to the guide quite a bit throughout the game. I’m not sure we’ll ever have everything memorized, but once we got the hang of it, we enjoyed the strategy and scheming. It’s definitely hard keeping those little GUBS safe!

As for City Square Off, this was by FAR our most favorite game…probably are most favorite game of Gamewright’s to date. Even George, our six-year-old, loved it! Granted, he didn’t quite of the strategic forethought as the older kids, but he totally understood how to play. Think of it as Tetris meets urban planning. We played this one constantly over Thanksgiving break. It’s definitely a must-have for the kids.

Both games are award-winning (as usual for Gamewright) and both are extremely fun to play. And both need to be under your Christmas tree this year. (At least make sure City Square Off is!)—Emily

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