Cranberry Infused Vodka

Tags

cranberry, drink, Entertaining, gift giving, gift ideas, Holiday, infused vodka, personalized gifts, postaday2011, recipe, vodka

I tried this a few years ago with a citrus infused vodka. I’ve been meaning to try more flavors, I just never got around to it. This is so easy, I can’t wait to make other holiday flavors!

Cranberry Infused Vodka

Ingredients:
750 mL of vodka, 1 lb. cranberries, splash of lemon juice, 1/4 c. sugar

Directions:
Wash and sort cranberries. Add cranberries, lemon juice and sugar in a sauce pan. Simmer over low heat until berries burst. Using back of the spoon, burst any reluctant berries. Place cranberries and vodka in glass jar (I use a larger carafe). Stir, cover and set aside for one week. I give mine a shake once a day. Stain and discard berries. Make sure all particles are removed from vodka. Pour infused vodka back into original bottle.

Add a few drink recipe cards and this makes a fantastic holiday gift.

What’s in your glass tonight?

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Ninth Day of Christmas – Bottle Cap Magnets

Tags

12 Days of Christmas, 9th day of Christmas, bottle cap magnets, bottle caps, Christmas, Christmas cheer, Christmas craft, Christmas gift, Christmas magnets, Christmas party, gift, gift giving, gift ideas, happy holidays, Holidays, ninth day of Christmas, personalized gifts, present, stocking stuffer, thank you gifts, twelve days of Christmas, XMas, Xmas craft, Xmas gift, Xmas present

On the ninth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Bottle Cap Magnets, Fleece Sphere Ornament, Button Wreath Ornament, Christmas Mouse Cat Toy, Melted Frosty Ornament, Crocheted Fan Bookmarks, Crocheted Snowflake Ornaments, Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…

Whether given as a stocking stuffer, part of another gift or on their own, this is a super cute gift that you can customize infinite ways. Perfect craft for adults and kids. To create custom  high school student, paint front of caps in bright colors with funky patterns, favorite logos, and icons to reflect the recipients personality. Do the same for a college student to use on their message boards or mini-fridges. For the drinker, collect international caps as well as micro-brews. Use Coca-Cola caps for an avid Coke drinker. For the home-owners, paint caps in the same colors and theme as their kitchen. If home-owners have a beer on tap or wine cooler at their bar, paint icons of beer steins and wine glasses. Some people change their magnets seasonally, so customize the magnets to reflect the seasons and the holidays (Winter = Christmas ornaments and snowflakes, Spring = daisies and kites, Summer = starfish and beach balls, Autumn, leaves jack-o-lanterns and turkeys).

"Pub Style" Bottle Cap Magnets

How To:
Heat up glue stick in hot glue gun. Lay bottle caps face down on a cutting board of pot holder (metal will get warm when glue is added). Dot a bit of hot glue to inside of cap and center button magnet.

Approx. Cost:
bottle caps = free (if you don’t have them at home, most local bars will give away the caps), pack of 50 button magnets = $4, glue sticks = $2 a bag, small bottle of misc. paints = $2    A set of 5 magnets would cost about 80¢, and a set of 10 = $1.60

Teen Girl Bottle Cap Magnets for Locker

Don’t even start me on the decoupage possibilities…

Christmas Ornament Bottle cap Magnets

2009′s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudge, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles, gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudge recipe…

Fifth Day of Christmas – Melted Frosty Ornament

Tags

12 Days of Christmas, 5th day of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas cheer, Christmas decor, Christmas gift, Christmas Ornament, Christmas party, Christmas snow, Christmas tree, craft, custom ornament, easy craft, fifth day of Christmas, funny ornament, gift giving, gift ideas, handmade ornament, Holiday, holiday spirit, homemade ornament, kid craft, melted frosty, melted snowman, Ornament, party favor, personalized gifts, quick craft, snowman, snowman ornament, twelve days of Christmas, whimsical ornament, winter, winter craft, XMas, XMas ornament, XMas party

On the fifth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Melted Frosty Ornament, Crocheted Fan Bookmarks, Crocheted Snowflake Ornaments, Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…

Today’s gift idea is a whimsical ornament surely to delight children and adults the same. This Melted Frosty Ornament is quick and simple to make. This is a great craft for older kids, supervised with the glue gun of course.

Melted Frosty Ornament

How to:
Heat up glue gun and set aside. Using black fleece or felt, cut small top hat. Cut small piece of ribbon and glue across hat. Cut a 6″ piece of silver yarn and knot ends together, trim excess. Cut a small triangle from the orange felt and set aside. Place foil or wax paper on cutting board, baking tray or rotary mat. Place silver loop on the foil, knot face down. Take glue gun and drizzle glue on top of the knot and downward to create a dripping face. Quickly press felt hat into place, add carrot nose, place two bead for the eyes and begin to arrange the remaining beads for the mouth. Try to keep the number of bead for the mouth odd, 5 or 7 looks better than 6. Allow glue to cool completely. Tear Frosty off of foil and make sure edges that are stuck to the ornament are smoothed out.

Customize your Frosty :
Make your Frosty smile or make your Frosty frown. Use small foil holly leaves and three red beads for holly berries added on top of the satin ribbon. For a shimmery Frosty, sprinkle a bit of glitter dust over the wet glue. Cut out a small pipe and glue to the mouth.  Have fun with it!

Approx. Cost:
1 square of black fleece = 50¢, 1 square of orange fleece = 50¢, hot glue sticks $2 a bag, small beads = $2 a tube, 1 sheet of tin foil 25¢, small skein of silver yarn = $2  Melted Frosty Ornament = under 30¢ each

Once again this ornament makes a great party favor for any holiday party, attach the to gifts in place of a box or give them out to students before break.

2009′s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudge, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles, gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudge recipe…

Fourth Day of Christmas – Crocheted Fan Bookmark

Tags

12 Days of Christmas, book club, book lover, bookmark, Christmas, Christmas gift, crafting holiday craft, crafts, Crochet, crocheted, crocheted gift, fourth day of Christmas, gift giving, gift ideas, gift tag, gifts, handmade, homemade, literature, personalized gifts, present, reader, reading, twelve days of Christmas

On the fourth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Crochet Fan Bookmarks, Crocheted Snowflake Ornaments, Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…

With eReaders becoming more popular, bookmarks may become a thing of the past. I haven’t giving in yet to the craze. There’s just something about the weight of the book in my hand, the texture of the pages on my fingertips and the aroma of the ink that just seems to allure me. With the amount of time so many of us spend on the computer, I can’t justify more time staring at a screen. This gift is for the book lovers like me…

Crocheted Fan Bookmark

I had the directions for this crochet fan bookmark, bookmarked on my computer for years. I had yet to make it and I thought now that I had started to crochet with thread, I’d give it a whirl. It took my a while for my to get started, unsure if I was following the directions correctly. You can customize the bookmark to the recipient’s favorite color, using multicolored thread is a nice touch. For easy blocking, I suggest you lay the bookmark flat in a book for a few days, remove it and spray it slightly with fabric starch.

How to:
Follow the directions in the link above, remembering to block it and starch it when you’re done.

Approx. Cost:
Spool of crochet thread about $5.  It you already have a hook, it’s about 20¢ a piece.

The perfect gift with a book, or alone, whatever the occasion. Attach a bookmark as a gift tag to the outside of a wrapped book. Give bookmarkb to the members of your book club at your holiday meeting.

Even Rory liked the bookmark so much that he pounced on it once it was finished and ran off with the prey in his mouth…

What book are you reading right now?

2009′s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudge, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles,gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudge recipe…

Second Day of Christmas – Wine Glass Charms

Tags

beverage, beverage charm, Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Christmas party, cocktail charm, cocktail hour, cocktail party, craft, drink charm, food, frugal, Frugality, gift, gift giving, gift ideas, handmade, handmade gift, Holiday, holiday menu, holiday season, holiday traditions, homemade, homemade gift, hostess gift, party, party favor, party favors, personalized gifts, second day of Christmas, stemware, thank you gifts, vino, wine, wine charm, wine glass

On the second day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…

Simple and elegant as a gift or party favors. Make them match your holiday decor and give them to guests to keep as party favors. Customize them with a monogram and give them as a gift to the wine lover. Create a festive set and bring them to a party as your hostess gift. Kids can help  create this simple craft.

Wine Glass Charms

How To:
Select a charm and several beads, slide on hoop in desired pattern. Make sure each wine charm is unique to help guest easily recognize their glass. Place a bead of clear drying glue under the last bead to hold them on the hoop.

Approx. Cost of Project:
package of 10 hoops = $1, assorted beads = $2-4, 2 sets of charms = $5, you can make a set of 10 for under $10!

*If you’re hosting a holiday party, hand out wine charms at the beginning as a party favor. Set up a wine charm craft station; arrange little bowls of beads, charms and hoops, then your guest can each make their own wine charm.

Unfortunately all my stemware is in our storage unit, so I couldn’t model the charms in the picture. Remember to check out my blog tomorrow to see what gift idea I’ll be sharing.

2009’s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudgerecipe, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles,gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudgerecipe…

Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends!
 

 

First Day of Christmas – Glass Globe Ornaments

Tags

12 Days of Christmas, children's craft, Christmas, Christmas Ornament, Christmas tradition, craft, figgy pudding, first day of Christmas, frugal, Frugality, gift, glass ornament, handmade, handmade ornament, homemade, homemade ornament, hostess gift, kid craft, Ornament, party favor, personalized gifts

On the first day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Glass Globe Ornaments…

This year for my twelve days of Christmas countdown, I’m sharing homemade gift ideas. Most are simple homemade gifts that the kids can even help assemble. I feel that homemade gifts are much more thoughtful, you can customize them to the recipient’s preferences.

Last year a student made this ornament for me, I thought it was a great idea for a kid to make for a Christmas present. I originally planned to make these with Pumpkin, but he was out hunting with Hubster when I made these. I had scanned the scrapbook paper isle at the craft store, looking over the papers that were printed on both sides. I chose colors that I thought were pretty but not the traditional green and red Christmas scheme, ironically the paper I chose was named Figgy Pudding. It was a sign that it was the perfect paper choice.

Glass Globe Ornament

How To:
Cut scrapbook paper into 1/4″ strips. Cut strips into varying lengths. Curl the strips and make sure some have the front side out and some have the back side out. Remove metal top from glass globe. Carefully slip the paper curls into the globe. Secure the metal top back on the globe. Cut a short piece of ribbon, loop through the metal top and knot the top.

Approx. Cost of Project: 6 Glass Ornament Balls = $5, 2 sheets of craft paper = $2, spool of ribbon  $1
At just over $1 per ornament, you decide whether to give one, or an entire set. Bring a set to a holiday party as a hostess gift. Hand out individual ornaments as a party favor at you holiday party.

Remember to check out my blog tomorrow to see what gift idea I’ll be sharing.

2009’s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas YoungWifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudgerecipe, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles, gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudge recipe…

Bridesmaid Earrings

Tags

bridal party gift, bridesmaid, brown chandelier earrings, brown pearls, chandelier earrings, crafting, crafts, earring making, earrings, gift, gift giving, gift ideas, handmade earrings, jewelry, jewelry crafts, personalized gifts, thank you gifts, wedding craft

One of my girlfriends is getting married today, Congrats Joshua & Best Wishes Brandi! While we are away today at her intimate outdoor lakeside wedding, I wanted to share something I made for the bridesmaids. Brandi let us pick out the dresses we wanted, as long as they were chocolate-brown (I have a cute tea length strapless). About a month ago, I found these beautiful chocolate-brown pearls and thought they would make beautiful earring for us bridesmaids. I love brown and look forward to wearing these again and again. I just hope the other bridesmaids love them just as much, and I have a feeling they do!

Chocolate Brown Pearl Bridesmaid Earrings

To create this look, I used chocolate-brown pearls, brown tinted bead wire, small clamps and silver earring hooks.

What are you creating now?