Double Duty: Guest Blogging at Hill City Bride

Today, you're getting two doses of Home Confetti! In addition to my post on fun hot chocolate ideas, go to Hill City Bride here where I share this cute packaging idea! Use it to package a small gift or as a party favor box.

Coo-Coo For Hot Co-coa!

Now that the cold weather has set in, one of my favorite things to do is to just curl up on the couch with the girls with a big soup mug of hot chocolate. If you saw the "Hot Chocolate Lab" I did for Halloween (here) you know we love to have fun with our hot chocolate! I try to make each cup a little different each time. Here are some fun ideas you can use for a holiday brunch, to serve to a special guest, or even give as a gift. Everyone loves a good cup of hot cocoa!

Left: Everything's more fun when it's on a stick! Create a block of chocolate and even homemade marshmallows and stir it into a nice cup of hot milk! Makes such a cute treat and presentation. Get the recipes here. Right: How many variations can you come up with for these chocolate-dipped spoons??! The coconut one is looking pretty yummy to me! To find out how to make these, click here.

Left: What a fun treat for Christmas morning! Stir your hot chocolate with a candy cane, giving your chocolate a refreshing peppermint taste. Click here to make these easy dipped candy canes. Right: Everything a person needs for a good cup of hot chocolate in one cone-shaped bag! Pair it with one of the chocolate dipped spoons--and it makes a great neighbor gift! Click here for more info.

Left: If you have houseguests over the holidays, it would be worth putting together a hot chocolate "bar" like this to let guests pick their own flavors and toppings. Photo source here. Right: And for that someone special, give him/her a little surprise in their cup with a stenciled message. Get the how-to here.

Handmade Ornaments

For most people Thanksgiving weekend is all about shopping. I completely avoid retail during Thanksgiving weekend. Instead, I use the weekend to get my craft on for the Christmas season! This past weekend I put together our advent calendar (which I'll post on Facebook later this week) and made my neighbor gifts. Last year I made peppermint striped soaps (from Martha Stewart here), but this year I decided on an ornament. Here is just a sampling of some of the ornaments I found while looking for one to make. Make one as a gift, or to adorn your own Christmas tree. The one I ended up making is at the end, with some how-to info.

Here are two from 7 Layer Studio, both using music sheets but in different ways. I love the glittery finish she uses on each one. To make the "JOY" ornament click here. To make the "Hallelujah" ball ornament, click here.

These are so adorable and the kids will love them. At left, I Heart Naptime offers fun variations on "snow-covered" ornaments. Click here for directions. On the right is a cute rendition of Santa's belly! It would look really cute using a ball ornament! Click here for the original post at Nap Time Crafts.
Inspired by nature, this pinecone ornament made of paper would be a beautiful addition to any tree. From the Hybrid Chick, click here for directions. Next is an ornament you can hang on a tree outside. From Country Living, attract blue jays and goldfinches during the winter with this pretty ornament made with bird seed. Click here for the how-to.

And finally, here is the one I ended up making. (Sorry for the blurry photo. I took it at night--not the best lighting conditions!) I followed the directions from Martha Stewart here.

The felt, trim, tassles and felt poinsettia stickers were all purchased at Hobby Lobby. I already had the cord for the loop. I followed the directions but needed to make some adjustments. I used 3" styrofoam balls, but using their template at 100% I found I only needed four pieces to cover the entire ball (not 6 like their directions state). I got a lot of gaping so I needed to pin everything down. Then I just used my trusty hot glue gun and glued the trim to cover the seams, the tassle on the bottom and the loop on top. The felt poinsettias have an adhesive dot on the backs, so I was able to just stick those on. Not too bad! Some look better than others, but overall I'm pretty happy with them!

I hope these inspire you to add a handmade touch to your own tree, or to make a special gift.

Participating in

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Snow Much Fun!

On this day last year, I hosted an ornament-making party for some of the kids in the neighborhood. It was great to see the kids creating their own contributions to the Christmas tree. When I saw this adorable snowman tablescape from Shindig Parties TO GO showcasing their Let It Snow party collection, I just thought, "How cute would this have been for that get together?!"

So colorful and fun, plus lots of DIY ideas like the snowman centerpiece that you can easily assemble using styrofoam balls and buttons. Plus, cute treats like these sugar crystal covered snowmen.

Amanda of Shindig Parties TO GO gives you plenty of great ideas in this tablescape, plus ways to use her Let It Snow collection. See the rest of the showcase and her entire collection here.

Playing With Ice

Here in suburban Colorado, we've already seen a little bit of snow. It didn't last long enough to really enjoy though. But, it reminded me of how much I love to wake up to that first-fallen snow, when everything is beautifully covered.

Doilies are very reminiscent of snowflakes–as this project so beautifully portrays. How gorgeous is that?! I don't remember how I stumbled upon this, but so glad I did. You can find the how-to here. If you wait until it gets colder to do this, it will hopefully last a couple of days or so, and you can create a wonderful winter scene on your front porch, too.

This has inspired me to do a post on wintery projects using doilies and lace, so stay tuned!