Christmas Crafts Continued

Shocking I know, another post! I have been so terrible about blogging this year but I am making up for it a bit with all of these crafty posts. Well, these little guys were another craft from this month's Martha Stewart Living and they've been a big hit with all of their recipients; my boyfriend's parents, my mom, my boyfriend and myself. They are so easy to make and the result is darling, I tied strings around them to make them into Christmas ornaments and put tinsel pipe cleaner trim on their hats for a vintage feel. My crafting supplies are a bit limited (since I am visiting family) but all this project took was scraps of felt and a couple of pipe cleaners. I found the toppers for their hats while looking around my mom's house, I snipped a couple of red and white "berries" off of her Christmas garland. It's not noticeable that they're missing and the elves appreciate their berry toppers.
Here's the tutorial to make these jolly elves.

Candy Cane Lane

This post has nothing to do with candy canes but it is all about candy of some sort. I saw this lovely little cupcake ornament tutorial and had to go out to the craft store and pick up all of the necessary items for these little confectionary snowballs. Mine did turn out a little bit overstuffed but I like them like that.

I just hung them up on the Christmas tree and they are quite cute.

I like to find inexpensive craft supplies, these foil liners were only $0.77!

I lined the walkway to the gingerbread house with cuppity cakes. My sister had the idea to put shredded wheat on the roof of the house to make it look thatched and the gumdrops on the front are surrounded with icing grout to look like a cobblestone front. I have been having a merry time around here in my crafting/baking paradise.

New Discoveries

I have been wanting to make Thai Coconut Lemongrass soup for some time now, but I was having the hardest time finding lemongrass stalks. Yesterday my manager at work told me about Allgreen Market, a grocery store that sells Asian and Latino groceries. Well, I certainly had fun in there yesterday! Not only did I find lemongrass stalks (for $0.39!) but I found an entire houseware section full of Asian goodies, the things they sold reminded me of my time in Korea. The soup recipe I made with the lemongrass turned out so delicious that I have decided to post it.

Tofu Coconut Soup with Lemongrass
4 cups chicken stock
4 slices peeled fresh ginger
1 large lemongrass stalk, cut into 2 inch pieces and crushed
Grated zest of 1 large lime
2 (14-ounce) cans unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon red chili paste
1 package of firm tofu, cut into bit sized pieces
1/2 pound fresh enoki mushrooms
5 small fresh green or red chilies, sliced crosswise, paper-thin
Fresh cilantro leaves
1 Package of rice noodles

In a large saucepan, combine the stock, ginger, lemongrasss and lime zest. Place over medium heat and slowly bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, add the coconut milk, stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Add the lime juice, brown sugar and chile paste. Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tofu, mushrooms, and rice noodles and simmer until tender.
To serve ladle soup into warmed bowls. Float the chili slices and cilantro leaves on top.
Serves 4 to 6.

Yum!

I saw this cute little bunny bowl at Allgreens (it has a plastic cover for it too, for delicious leftovers) and dearest D. bought it for me. :) Isn't he nice?. I couldn't wait to put my soup in it, somehow that bowl made it just that much better.

These little Hello Kitty containers are also from Allgreens, they're the perfect size for my Healing Bar face soap from Union Street Soapworks

Christmas Crafting Extravaganza

I know I have been terrible in updating this blog but due to the copious amounts of crafting I have been doing, I have decided to create a mega-post. It has been a long time since I've made so many crafts and I thrilled that I have found myself making all of these cute projects in between working and going to school. The latest issue of Martha Stewart Living has been the source of inspiration for many of these projects. Martha Stewart carries a whole line of craft supplies at Michaels, her glitter is one of my favorites! Here my sister and I bought some clear ornaments from Michaels and covered them in glitter and hung them up with solid colored balls from her candle holder in the kitchen. The sparkle mixed with the solid is a nice mix. Here is another from the study, we added a wreath around the light fixture. This is starting to sound like a post about Michael's but since they accept competitor's coupons I was able to get this $$$ paper punch for 1/2 price! Christmas cards to add with all of our Christmas cookies that my sister and I give away. One of my favorite crafts from two years ago is this little ginger boy, I made him out of felt, used rick rack as icing and gave him little buttons with glittery pom poms. Another favorite of mine is this vintage inspired holly brooch out of the latest Martha Stewart Living (here's the simple how-to), they are easy to make and very cute. I've been having so much fun crafting this Christmas season and I'm not done yet, I plan on making these little elves too when my boyfriend comes down this weekend.