DIY! New Year's TP Firecracker Treat Holders

At midnight on New Year's Day, I hear a lot of my neighbors setting of fireworks. I am too cheap and lazy to stand out in the cold setting them off myself, but I thought my kids would get a kick out of making these "firecracker" candy holders to tear into on New Year's. They are super easy to put together because they are made with items you probably already have laying around the house.

All you need is empty toilet paper rolls, scrapbook paper, tissue paper, ribbon and candy. 

Start by cutting a sheet of tissue paper in half. It will now be the perfect length to overlap on the tp roll. Wrap it around the roll, cutting it where the ends meet. Tape to secure. Tie one end of the tissue paper closed with ribbon. Fill toilet paper roll with candy. Secure other end with additional ribbon. Tape colorful scrapbook paper around the roll, and Voila! Cheap and easy firecrackers for New Year's celebrations!

 

These would also work great for July 4th crafting too!

Do you light fireworks for New Year's?

Christmas 2014~ Week in Review

Did everyone have a great Christmas? I admit, I am at that phase where I am kind of bummed the holidays are over, but am washed in relief too. The month of December is so busy around here, I can hardly catch my breath, but with all the people we saw this past week, I've had my breath almost completely knocked out of me. I ended up catching a nasty bug, and it's been hell trying to recover since the 26th. I know I have some giveaways that have ended this week, and I am asking you all to bear with me for a few more days in winner selection. It's going to take a little longer than normal for me to go through and verify the entries, as it's difficult for me to stare at a computer screen for more than a few moments at a time. So, today's post is short and sweet, with a little week in review from our busiest time of the year.

Not only did Jason and I have birthdays, Allison celebrated her 11th birthday. Her sister was sooo excited, because that meant she finally hit the age where she could attend Hogwarts. Allison came home to her acceptance letter that arrived via Owl Post:

We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's with some of my favorite peeps:

Santa stopped in for a Christmas Eve visit before finishing up his toy delivery:

And Mariah was hit with a little puppy love...

What were the highlights of your holiday?

Strawberry Champagne Cooler

*Disclosure- I received the above mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.  
 

Now that the holidays are over, I can start planning out my New Year's festivities! I am not a big drinker, aside from a glass of wine on special occasions, but I insist on buying a bottle of champagne every New Year's Eve. It's more of a running joke though, because I always take a few sips, say yuck, then make my husband finish off the bottle. This year, though, I am serving up a new recipe that I found from Golden Blossom Honey. It combines the goodness of honey + strawberries mixed into champagne, making for one scrumptious cooler. I predict this will be the first year that I finish off an entire glass of champagne, and return for seconds!

Strawberry Champagne Cooler

Ingredients

2 cups strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1 bottle champagne
extra strawberries for ice cubes

Directions

Place sliced berries in a medium bowl. Drizzle with honey. Let sit 30 minutes at room temperature. Place berries with their juices in a blender and process until smooth. Drain through a fine sieve to remove seeds. Refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to serve mix strawberry puree with champagne in a large bowl. Ladle into glasses. Add a few ice cubes to keep chilled.

Yields: 4-5 glasses

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey! 

What are your New Year's Eve plans? 

Skip the Spa! Pamper Yourself At Home With Borghese!

*Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items. This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my Policy tab for more information.


Hundreds of Christmas cookies, tons of gift wrapping, 3 birthdays, 2 holiday parties, hosting a family breakfast, and a partridge in a pear tree. All of that has been checked off of my "to do" list for this month alone, and Christmas isn't even here yet! There is still much more to get done before the 25th, but today is my birthday (the big 3-5!) and I am doing something totally out of character. I am making time for ME! All week I have fantasized about a day of luxury, maybe even a trip to the spa, but reality is, even though it's my birthday, I just can't indulge in a full day of pampering this time of year no matter how wonderful it sounds. I do fully intend to fix my manicure, draw up a relaxing bath, and prep my skin for a lovely holiday glow. Even though I can't whisk myself away to the spa, I am going to treat myself to pampering and luxury in the comforts of my own home with Borghese!

Borghese is a classic Italian brand that specializes in high quality skincare and cosmetics, and their muds are some of the best I have ever used! There is nothing that I love more than smearing on a good mud mask. We have a natural mud spring not too far from my house, and during the summer months I like to dig a little up to use at home. The problem is, it dries out and has to be used quickly, and I can only get it about 3 months out of the year. But Borghese offers me year round mud to beautify and purify my skin. Their signature Fango Active Mud is a must have! Derived from traditional Tuscan treatments, it exfoliates to bring clarity to skin, hydrates and firms to reduce fine lines and improve texture, and tightens skin to minimize pores. Infused with Sweet Almond and Avocado Oils, Borghese Fango Active detoxifies and leaves skin radiant and refreshed!

Because I am a girly girl, my favorite has been the pink Fango Brillante Brightening Mud Mask For Face & Body. It is also infused with Sweet Almond and Avocado Oils, as well as Citrus Unshiu Peel Extract to minimize pores, even tone, correct imperfections and promote a smooth, clear luminance. It smells really lovely too, having an almost a slight, floral fragrance.

Mariah, my teen daughter has very delicate skin, so the Fango Delicato Active Mud for Delicate Dry Skin, available in the green tint, is what she likes to use. It contains Aloe Vera, Oat Protein and Mango Butter that helps to hydrate the skin. Olive Fruit and Chamomile Extracts soothe and alleviate dryness, leaving the skin feeling enriched and refreshed. I really like the way this one smells also. It has a slight minty fragrance that seems to help wake up the other senses too!

And what's more, the glass containers are just adorable! I think they look great displayed in my bathroom!

For those traveling this holiday season, you don't have to worry about toting along a heavy jar of your favorite Borghese mud mask with you. They offer convenient travel sized pods to tuck away in your luggage. A package of 6 will get you 3 Fango Active Mud and 3 Fango Delicato pods, weighing .88 oz each.

If you are feeling as frazzled as I am from the holidays, I suggest picking up a jar of Borghese Fango Mud, and steal a few minutes to give yourself a little pampering. I promise, a little "Me Time" is good for the soul!

Not only does Borghese offer these quality muds, they have an extensive line of creams, serums, cleansers and cosmetics. If you would like to learn more about all the fabulous products Borghese has to offer, be sure to visit their website.

Do you like to use mud masks in your beauty care routine? Which Borghese Fango Mud do you think would work best for your skin type?

HOLLYWOOD SPY'S GUESTPOST: CHRISTMAS MAGIC WITH DEZZY'S STRAWBERRY CAKE

Guys! I am so excited to have one of my most favorite people guest posting here today- my dear friend Dezzy! If you don't know him (and you really should!), head over to Hollywood Spy and say HI! Dez and I have been blogging friends for the past few years, and he has been my go to for all of my movie and t.v. news. While he is the king entertainment, he also has a talent for creating Ah-mazing cakes, and today he is going to share his scrumptious Strawberry Cake recipe with us all. Make sure you PIN IT, then hop over to Dezzy's for some more magic :)

DEZZY'S STRAWBERRY CAKE

Greetings, minions! The spy is taking over sweet sister Theresa's palace today, but do not despair, I do bring cakes with me :) And not any cake, but DEZZY'S STRAWBERRY CAKE to celebrate the upcoming holidays and also Theresa's birthday this week! So take a piece of cake and don't forget to visit HOLLYWOOD SPY's headquarters too for latest movie & TV news!

FOR THE SPONGE
3 cups of yoghurt (butter milk or sour cream work too)
2 cups sugar
2,5 cups flour
1 cup ground roasted hazelnuts
1 cup vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil)
vanilla, baking powder

HOW THE MAGIC WORKS:

 Mix sugar, vanilla with yoghurt and oil, then mix in flour, baking powder and hazelnuts. Pour the batter into a big baking pan and bake for about 12-15 minutes at 200*C. The sponge should be soft and moist, so do not overbake it, use the toothpick test. When the sponge cools down after baking, cut out a nice rectangular base for your cake. Finely crumble and mash the rest of the sponge left after cutting into a bowl and mix it with a few tbsp of strawberry jam to get a spreadable mixture.

FOR THE ICING
You can use just some whipped cream, or you can go Dezzy style and prepare some instant strawberry flavoured pudding (sweetened according to your taste with sugar) and mix it with the same amount of whipped cream after it cools down. 1 litre of pudding and 1/2 litre of whipped cream should be enough.

HOW THE MAGIC WORKS:

 Spread the jam mixture over the base sponge (it should be about finger thick), spread a bit of pudding cream over it and arrange fresh strawberries over that (I usually cut the strawberries into halves and when I feel a bit naughty (which is more often than not) I sprinkle them with some cherry brandy or strawberry liquor) and then spread the rest of the pudding cream over that layer. Decorate the cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

DEZZY'S EXTRA ADVICE  
If you want to, you can cut the sponge into two smaller rectangles and then you can have two sponge layers, two jam layers and two cream ones for a smaller cake.If you don't have strawberries you can use apricots and apricot jam, bananas (with mashed bananas in the jam part).

Walnut Crescent Rolls! Perfect for Christmas Breakfast!

*Disclosure- I received the above mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items. 

One of my absolute favorite Christmas traditions is hosting a family breakfast every year. Jason's entire family comes to our house for homemade blueberry waffles, as well as many other breakfast fixings, and we get our grub on! This Sunday will be our annual breakfast, and in order to keep things fresh, I like to throw in a new recipe each year. Of course, Golden Blossom Honey has been my go to for recipes, so I knew I was going to find an amazing recipe to toss into the breakfast mix. If you hvaen't checked out the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page, I highly encourage you to go now. They have tons of delicious honey recipes for every possible occasion! I was nearly drooling thinking about these Walnut Crescent Rolls, and ended up making them for Jason's birthday last night. "OMG! These are good! These are really good!" He kept saying. My entire batch was gobbled up in no time, so these are definitely going on our Christmas breakfast menu this year!

The crescents are so simple to make! The sweet and crunchy center is close your eyes and chew good!

Ingredients

1/4 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
4 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cans refrigerator crescent rolls
2 Tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.

Heat ¼ cup honey and butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat.

Separate rolls according to package directions. Place on wax paper. Brush each side with honey butter.

Mix together remaining 2 tablespoons honey, nuts and cinnamon and sprinkle on rolls. Roll crescent style and place on cookie sheet.

Brush tops of rolls again with honey butter. Bake for 8 minutes.

Yields: 1 dozen

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey!

What is your favorite breakfast food? What would you like to have served at a family Christmas breakfast?

A Christmas Story In Hammond, Indiana

Last year we went to Hammond, Indiana. The visitor's center there had a fun, and free A Christmas Story window display set up. They had about 6 window displays up, all featuring different scenes from the movie. 

If you would like to see them all, you can go to last year's post HERE. We liked it so much, we decided to go back again this year. While we love the displays, we were there to visit Santa's Mountain. 

It's free to visit Santa, but Warner Bros. decided to be real Grinch-like and not allow you to take personal photos with Santa on the mountain. If you want a picture, you have to pay $5. I figured it was reasonable enough, so we went ahead and had a family photo made. It comes with a really cute A Christmas Story frame, but my scanner sucks and was doing a crummy job scanning it properly.

The best part is getting to go down the slide! What kid didn't want to ride down that awesome slide (minus the face kicking elf) when watching the movie!? This one was a smaller version, but fun all the same. 

 No visit is complete until you recreate the famous flagpole scene!

A Christmas Story window displays and Santa visits go on every day, through the rest of the year at the Hammond, Indiana visitors center. If you are in the area, I highly recommend stopping in for a visit!

Do you watch A Christmas Story every year like my family does?

Hesston Steam Museum Christmas 2014

Last year we went to the Hesston Steam Museum at Christmas. It was a very cold and miserable day, so the trip wasn't one we were wanting to repeat in the winter again. Sunday was shaping up to be a nice day, so we thought we'd give it another shot. We rounded up my niece and nephew and headed out to check out the old steam trains.

They didn't have as many trains and old cars out like they do in the summertime, but we came across a few for some fun photo opps. 

For the price of 1 donated toy, you could get a ticket to ride the train for free. They also have a meet and greet with the big man, Santa Claus, in one of the old cabooses, but we skipped it this year since it was so nice out the line was pretty long.

Overall, a much better day to make a visit than last year's!

Have you ever been on an old steam train?

Sweet & Sour Meatball Appetizer

*Disclosure- I received the above mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

To keep things simple, we split up our family holiday visits between families. We go to my mom's house for Christmas Eve dinner, then on Christmas Day, we go to my in-laws. While splitting up the days saves time, it does mean that I have to make 2 separate dishes to take to each house. Normally, I'd take a dessert, but this is the season of over indulging on all those cookies, I like to find an appetizer or side dish to add to the meal. I was browsing through the Golden Blossom Honey Recipes and when I saw these Sweet & Sour Meatball Appetizers, I was like Bingo! With all the hustle and bustle that goes along with the holidays, I do not want to spend more time in the kitchen than necessary. These meatballs are made right in the oven, and only take about 20 minutes to make. Best of all, they can be made ahead of time, then just reheat before serving!

 

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup chili sauce
1/3 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1/4 cup soy sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 500°.

Meatballs:
In a bowl combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and parsley. Mix well. Shape into approximately 48 1-inch balls. Place balls on a jelly roll pan and bake for 4 minutes. Stir and continue baking until meat is cooked through, about 4 more minutes. Remove from oven.

Sauce:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and sauté until just tender. Add remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes. Add meatballs. Simmer 3 more minutes stirring to completely coat meatballs and sauce thickens.

Yields: 48 1-inch meatballs

You can find this recipe, as well as many more appetizer recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions. 

Do you prefer to take an appetizer, side dish, or dessert to your holiday gatherings?

Wonderful Halos is Pure & Delicious Snacking! #PureGoodness

*Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was provided. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

What time is it? Mandarin Time! Even though I am not a fan of winter, there is one thing that I absolutely LOVE about this time of year, and that is mandarins are back in season! In holiday time, where cookies and pies are being consumed at every turn, I find myself pushing those away and reaching for a mandarin. I'll have one in the afternoon, then when I snuggle up with my husband to watch a little television in the evening, I'll grab 2 more. I would say that Wonderful Halos are my guilty pleasure, but since they are a pure and delicious snack, I feel no guilt at all when I eat them. 
 

 
California grown, Wonderful Halos Mandarins are a sweet, seedless and easy to peel snack that is a fabulous alternative to fatty foods. Each mandarin has about 50 calories, and packs in 45 percent of the recommended daily value of Vitamin C. They are all natural, contain no GMOs, and are the perfect size for little hands, lunch boxes, and for eating on the go. They are a snack you can feel good about serving to yourself and loved ones!

Not only are Wonderful Halo good for every day snacking, they are good for community outreach too! Every week, Wonderful Halos gives fresh fruit to food banks that service thousands of needy families in California's Central Valley, and have even partnered with Feeding America to help provide 1.3 million meals to children in need! That's incredible!

Wonderful Halos are in season November through April, so you have plenty of time to pick up this sweet, juicy snack.  Look for them in a 3lb bag, 5lb bag, or a 5lb box in the produce section
at your local grocers!

You can learn more about Wonderful Halos by visiting their website. 

WIN IT!

One lucky Theresa's Mixed Nuts reader is going to win a Wonderful Halos prize pack that includes: a Halos branded flashlight key chains, a light up cup, hat, lip balm, and drawstring backpack. Giveaway is open to U.S., 18+. NO PO Boxes will be accepted. The giveaway will run through 12/28/2014. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning email or a new winner will be selected.

**All entries are verified. Please make sure you are following all task guidelines you claim entries for. Failure to do so will result in your entries being removed from the form.

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