MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

My, oh my! We've made it to day twelve on our "12 Days of Christmas" blog hop with My Creative Time. If you've come here from Trell's blog, you're headed in the right direction. If not, swing by Emma's blog so you don't miss ANY of the awesome projects featured today! Oh, and while you're there, check out her awesome new blog design (created by yours truly).

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You've probably seen a lot of "Subway Art" around lately. It's very trendy right now and is SO FUN! There are lots of tutorials on the web on how to create your own Subway Art if you feel inclined to do so. But as I see it, there's no need to re-invent the wheel.

I went 'a-Googling' to look for a fun, vibrant Subway Art print for Christmas and found quite a few really nice ones. But one definitely stood out for me! (free download for this print here) It was almost perfect! I re-colored the sage-y green letters to a more lime(ish) green and re-sized it to 8x10. The red frame was a Salvation Army find ($2). It was originally a dreadful brassy gold color, but I knew just how to change that! Enter: spray paint!

After spraying my frame with a couple coats of red spray paint, I adhered my freshly printed art onto my aqua striped background paper, slid it in the frame and called it done.

That was until I looked at it a bit longer.

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It was cute. I liked it. But it was missing something. What was that something? A big ol' floofy bow and accent piece! I stamped the sentiment and snowman (MCT All Around Christmas), colored it with my Copics and punched it out with my 1-3/8" circle punch. I popped that up onto my red card stock (cut with the Stitched Circle Die) and popped that up again onto my scallop circle (Scallop Circle Die). After threading my new 'medallion' with linen thread, I tied it into my big bow. The bow is hot-glued onto the frame. Easy peasy focal point for my foyer table!

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thank you so much for stopping by for our "12 Days of Christmas". I know I can speak for the entire MCT Design Team when I say that we are SO happy you joined us for this hop and can't wait to share more fabulous projects with you! There's ONE MORE stop on this fabulous hop - Miss Kelley!

I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Eleventh Day of Christmas...

Hello and welcome again to another installment of My Creative Time's "12 Days of Christmas"! If you've come here from Trell's blog, you're on the right track! If not, check back at Emma's blog to start from the very beginning.

We've got a bit of snow here in Michigan. Not too much - just a dusting over our yard - nothing sticking in the roads (yet). I'm not much of an outdoor gal. I like to stay inside where it's comfortable and warm. Even as a little girl, I wasn't too fond of playing in the snow. It's cold! But there was ONE thing that got me to go outside to play: my big brother, Dan.

I'm blessed to be the youngest of four kids. My oldest brother, Donal, is 14 years older than me. My sister, Stacey, is 11 years older. And Dan is just 3 and a half years older than me. When I was 6 or 7, I had a beautiful pink wooden playhouse in our backyard. During the summer, it was a fun spot to play with my friends when the family was barbecuing. But in the winter... it turned into a safe house where I would wait - alone in the 'woods' - for my big brother, Dan, to come and rescue me. We'd play for hours in that little pink house - coming in only for bathroom breaks and hot chocolate refills.

When we weren't playing "Rescue", Dan and I would have snowball fights. Since we only had one proper 'fort' (my pink playhouse), we had to decide who was the lucky snowball fighter to use it as his or her battle station. Naturally, age before beauty prevailed in this discussion and I was stuck hiding behind a mound of snow for safety. As Dan started whipping snowballs at me, I was feverishly packing snow to make little bullets of my own (And they sure were little! Tiny hands = tiny snowballs). Once I'd start throwing my little hand fulls of snow, Dan called a 'time out' in the action. He told me that he wanted to be sure that I didn't accidentally throw snowballs that had ice in them, so I should throw the snowballs at the fort itself, and not directly at him. If the snowballs proved to be safe, I could then throw them at him. It took quite a while for my little brain to figure out that if I threw these so-called "Snowballs of Doom" at the fort first, I'd NEVER be able to throw them at him - they weren't snowballs anymore! Of course, Dan continued slinging snowballs at me without any concern for MY safety regarding the 'iceballs'. What are big brothers for, right?

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In honor of my snowball fights with my big brother, I've created these (totally safe, non-icy) Snowball Pops! They were so easy to make and are YUM-MY! To add a bit of pizzazz, I wrapped them up in clear treat baggies and tied them shut with silver twist ties. Hanging on the twist ties are my cute little tags that I cut out with one of the dies from MCT's Build a Banner Kit and stamped with Mixed Holiday Sentiments. I punched a hole in the point of the tag with the small hole punch of my Crop-a-Dile and slid it on the twist tie before I tied them closed. These delicious treats would be perfect for sending over to neighbors to spread some Christmas cheer or could be put out at your Christmas celebration as a dessert for your guests!

I discovered a great winter decorating tip this year, and just HAVE to share! It's difficult to see in the picture (click the picture for a larger view), but the Snowball Pops are sitting in a bed of 'snow' in the dish. You might be able to get a better view of the 'snow' in the ornament-filled vase in the background of the photo. How did I bring the outdoors in (where it's nice and warm)? Epsom salt! It makes for a GREAT accent to your winter decor and really looks like snow! The best part? It's cheap! I purchased a quart of Epsom salt at my local dollar store!

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thanks so much for joining us on our hop today - I'm your last stop! Drop by again tomorrow for our LAST day of the "12 Days of Christmas" hop. I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

Wow! I can't believe we're already on Day 10 of our "12 Days of Christmas" with My Creative Time! If you've come here from Trell's blog, you're on the right track! If not, mosey on over to Emma's blog to start this hop from the beginning!

For the last eight years, I've sent out handmade Christmas cards to my friends and family. Every year, I start the design process with the intention of making a simple card with a bit of pizzazz! And every year, I'm glued to my craft room table for DAYS as I painstakingly hand-glitter hundreds of paper circles (2009) or meticulously color a kitty wrapped in hand-drawn Christmas lights (2010). Sometimes my creativity gets away from me.

But this year, I opted to order my Christmas cards. *pause for gasp* After creating my photo guest book for our June wedding, I had credits left over with Picaboo and needed to use them ASAP after the wedding (they expired at the beginning of July). With no real idea of what I wanted to do with my leftover credits, I bit the bullet and designed/ordered printed Christmas cards with one of our wedding photos. They've been sitting in my craft room closet for months now - waiting to be addressed.

But here's my dilemma: what WILL our friends and family think when they open up our card to find that it's been... PRINTED?!?!?! I can only imagine the SHOCK they will feel and all the dirty looks I'll get at our Christmas gatherings! *giggle* Of course, I'm just teasing. But I really got to thinking about how I could spice up our printed cards and give them a handmade flair...

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Adding a few embellishments to our Christmas card was just what it needed for some extra personality! I set two silver jumbo eyelets to string my red satin ribbon through. Linen thread ties the sentiment (Mixed Holiday Sentiments, MCT) and felt heart (Heart Die included in the 100% Sweetness stamp set, White Felt from Papertrey Ink) to the bow. The sentiment was cut out using MCT's Curly Label Die and I hand-cut the green layer behind it. I added a couple of blue rhinestones to the heart to finish it off.

It looks like this year I've finally followed through with my plan to NOT spend the entire holiday season working on our Christmas cards. But with my added embellishments, I can rest easy knowing that our friends and family will receive a hand-crafted Christmas card from us - a tradition they've come to know and love.

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thanks for stopping by on our hop today. I'm your last stop. Come back again tomorrow for more fun Christmas ideas! I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by for another day of My Creative Time's "12 Days of Christmas"! If you came here from Trell's blog, you're headed in the right direction! If not, take a swing by Emma's blog to start this party from the beginning!

This year, we're adding a few 'newbies' to our Christmas Eve Eve Celebration. Two of the newcomers are our oldest nephews' girlfriends. I know what you're thinking: Why, Veronica - you look MUCH too young to have nephews with girlfriends!!! Thank you. I appreciate that.

Truth is, I'm the baby of my family and became an Aunt at the young age of eight. Fun fact: My 3rd grade teacher, Mr. Avoledo, is the one who first told me when my first nephew, Mitchell, was born (my Mom called the school to have me notified). Eight years later, Mitchell had Mr. Avoledo as his 3rd grade teacher! Pretty neat, huh?

Our oldest nephews (Mitch, 17 and Chris, 14) have now been 'dating' their girlfriends for about a year. They come to family functions at my oldest brother's house (Mitch and Chris' Dad) and are really sweet girls. The Hubs and I talked about it and decided that they should definitely be invited to our Christmas Eve Eve Celebration! But we can't invite them without having something special for them to open!

To be honest, I'm not quite sure exactly what we're going to give them as a gift. I figure a gift card or perhaps a cute jewelry piece (have you heard of Charming Charlie? LOVE). Nothing too extravagant that would make them feel awkward (or make us feel broke! *giggle*). Just something to let them know that we thought of them. Whatever we get them, it has to be fairly small now that I've made these ADORABLE boxes!!!

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These gift boxes are made using 4x4 coasters as the top and bottom bases. I made a simple card stock box that is adhered between the bases and will hold whatever (small) item we buy for the girls. I used card stock and patterned paper that coordinates with our Christmas decor (can you say Matchy, Matchy?) and tied them each with a big bow! The bow is only on the top base, so you can open and shut the box without destroying it. I just LOVE a big floofy bow! If you get a chance, check out this great video that shows you how to get the high-end looking bows without the big ol' knot on the back of the package.

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I used Keepin' It Classy by My Creative Time for the girly silhouettes. The "For You" sentiment is from the Small Talk (MCT) stamp set and the "To:" is from XL Label Borders. I stamped a red heart from Anyday Bingo & Crossword for the "Love". I cut the tags out using my MCT Curly Label Die and hand-cut the green and blue borders around them. The present and Christmas Tree are both from my Stretch Your Imagination Cricut cartridge. As always, I Stickled and pop-dotted to my heart's content. *giggle*

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thanks for swinging by for today's hop! I'm your last stop. Come by again tomorrow for more awesome ideas by the My Creative Time Design Team! I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Eighth Day of Christmas...

Hello and welcome again to another FABULOUS day of the "12 Days of Christmas" with the My Creative Time Design Team! I'm sure you've hopped here from Trell's blog, but if you haven't - take a detour over to Emma's blog to make sure that you don't miss a thing!

Christmas is quickly drawing near and I am SO excited for my family's Christmas Eve Eve celebration! Even as a little girl, I remember dreaming of one day hosting my family's Christmas party. I envisioned all the beautiful decorations I would put up, all the wonderful desserts I would make and all the laughter my family would be sharing. Christmas is such a magical time of year for me! This year, my family has decided to focus on the children at Christmas (my nieces and nephews - no kids for us yet!). Instead of swapping presents with my parents and siblings, we'll spend our attention (and our money) on the kids.

But who doesn't love to open SOMETHING for Christmas, right? To make sure that NO ONE goes without a special surprise this year, I've whipped up these fun Christmas Crackers! They'll be set at each place setting (duel purpose: adorable table decor + fun surprise!) and our guests will get to *crack* them open to reveal the treat inside.

Inside each cracker are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses, Hershey's Mint Chocolate Kisses (Yeah... they make those! Yum!), some ribbon for added flair and a corny Christmas joke. I can't help myself - corny jokes are just kind of my thing! They're fun to tell and appropriate for everyone!

Here's one for ya: What's Godzilla's son's name? Ponder that for a bit and see the answer at the end of this post.

These crackers are VERY easy to create! All you need to make them are tissue paper, ribbon, fillers, paper/embellishments to decorate the outside and... toilet paper rolls! Fabulous, right? Hint: Ask your relatives to save their toilet paper rolls for you. I can't BELIEVE how many I've been able to score!
This is NOT my original idea! I saw this project done my Ms. Jinger Adams of Provocraft. There's even a video you can watch which will walk you through the steps!

To make my crackers EXTRA cute, I used My Creative Time's All Around Christmas stamp set for the embellishment in the center (colored with my Copics). I punched the stamped center out with my 1-3/8" circle punch and layered it onto coordinating card stock cut with MCT's Stitched Circle Die.

I can't wait to see the looks on my guests' faces when they see their surprise crackers! If you're interested in trying this project out or just LOVE corny jokes, you can download a file for the Christmas Jokes here. (These jokes are not original to me. I found them on various websites and compiled a .PDF to print for my crackers. I used the font "Mountains of Christmas" for the jokes.)

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thanks again for stopping by on our hop today - I'm your last stop. Come by again tomorrow for more fun Christmas ideas!

I hope you were inspired!

Oh, and Godzilla's son's name? JESUS-zilla!

I know... HILARIOUS, right? That one gets me every time! Share it with your friends!


-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Seventh Day of Christmas...

Welcome to another installment of "12 Days of Christmas" with the My Creative Time Design Team! If you've come here from Tracy's blog, you are headed in the right direction! If not, mosey on over to Emma's blog to enjoy the full experience of this awesome Christmas hop!

If there is one thing I could change about our house it would be to add a fireplace to our living room. Sadly, we don't have a mantle to hang our stockings on at Christmastime. Even worse, how is Santa supposed to get in to deliver all of my our presents? Enter: the Santa Key.

Now there's no need to worry about how Ol' Jolly Saint Nick will get inside! And even better yet - now the puppy I'm hoping for this year won't have soot all over him from the ride down the chimney! Phew!

This little key ornament is so magical-looking, isn't it? I purchased it from Walmart a couple of years ago. I printed the poem (a Veronica original - thank you very much) on my computer (font: Mountains of Christmas), stamped a row of tiny Christmas trees across the middle (MCT's Anyday Bingo & Crossword) in green and layered it onto my red and teal card stock. After stamping and coloring the Santa suit (All Around Accessories, Copics), I glittered the 'fluffy' part (Star Dust Stickles) and DOUBLE popped it up on my poem. That's right - pop dots...times two.

I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch the hole for and set my silver jumbo eyelet, added my ribbon and tied the tag to my magical key. All I have to do is add the key to the door and Santa will take care of the rest!

Here is what the poem says:

We do not have a chimney

down which you can slide.

But we wanted to make sure that

you could still get inside.

This very special key

works just for you alone.

Just sprinkle with your magic

to enter our humble home.

And in the spirit of giving, I have a FREE download of this original poem for you right here. Just download the .PDF, add your own image between the 'stanzas' (thanks, Mrs. Linden, for teaching me all about stanzas in English class!), and VOILA!

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thank you for hopping along with us today - I'm your last stop! Come on by tomorrow for more fun Christmas ideas!

I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

Wow! We are half way through our "12 Days of Christmas Hop" with the My Creative Time Design Team! Time sure does fly fast! If you've arrived here from Trell's blog, you've come the right way! If not, take a moment to stop by Emma's blog and start the hop from the beginning! I say a 'moment', but truth is - with all the wonderful projects you'll see on today's hop - you'll be awhile! Why don't you grab a cup of (insert favorite drink here) before sitting down?

It's no secret around 'these parts' that I'm a bit of a snacker. Chocolate is definitely a weakness of mine. I've been known to devour a bag of Reese's Pieces in one sitting. Oh, no. Not the single serve bag. Not even the "share-able"-size bag. I mean...the BAG. I have absolutely no will power. If it's there - it's mine. Many a tummy ache have been had due to my little 'problem'.

Today's treat is PERFECT for someone like me! Sometimes, you really only need a little taste of the chocolaty goodness, but you know that once you open that bag - there's just no turning back! This treat gives you the yumminess you require WITH the satisfaction of polishing off the WHOLE bag - sans tummy ache!

These "Chocolate Reindeer Noses" are perfect for an office/classroom treat and give you just the right amount of sweet without all of the guilt! With every reindeer accounted for, kids young and old are sure to love receiving this goodie bag! (No reindeer were hurt in the creation of this delicious treat.)

You could use any brown and red candies for this project: Whoppers, Red Hots, M&Ms, etc. If you plan on making several treats, I'd recommend you get more bang for your 'buck' by purchasing Hershey's Special Dark Pieces (as I've used here). The only colors included in the bag are light brown, dark brown and red. Perfect for reindeer noses!

The base of the treat topper was cut using My Creative Time's XL Label Die. I cut my adorable little reindeer with my Cricut using the Create a Critter cartridge. The postage stamp-like layer was stamped using MCT's My Journaling and I printed the title with my computer (fonts: Wendy Medium, Pharmacy).

Tip: To 'punch out' the notched edges of the 'postage stamp', use the small hole punch of your Crop-a-dile or any small circle hole punch you have on hand.

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

I'm so glad you were able to hop with us today! I'm your last stop. Hop with us again tomorrow as we share more fabulous Christmas projects with you. I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Fifth Day of Christmas...

Welcome to the FIFTH day of Christmas in our "12 Days" Hop! If you're arriving here from Trell's blog, you're on the right track! If not, take a swing by Emma's blog to start the hop from the beginning.

'Tis better to give than receive. That's a given. But after you've given: 'tis better to receive a gift with adorable packaging - am I right? Okay... so it's the thought that counts and you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, and all that jazz. But really: cute packaging is a lot of fun to receive! It shows that extra bit of effort.

I like to think of myself as a crafty girl. I'm no stranger to ribbon, paper, glitter and the like. But gift wrapping is not my forte. My Mom is a tremendous gift wrapper! Not only does she create beautiful, crisp packages, but she does it in no time flat! I did not inherit the 'wrapping gene' from her.

To hide the fact that my 'wrap-jobs' are less than perfect (much, MUCH less), I like to dress my gifts with big bows and fun little extras for some added oomph. This year, I've created adorable gift tags in our Christmas colors to attach to the presents under the tree.

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I plan on keeping the wrapping paper patterns pretty simple - red/white polka dots, lime(ish) green/white swirlies - to let the gift tags and ribbon SHINE!

The bases of the gift tags were cut out using MCT's XL Label Die (my fave) and then stamped using the coordinating XL Label Borders stamp set (also used for the "To:" and red heart). I used two different Cuttlebug folders: Wood Grain for the kraft colored bases and Bricked for the red bases. It doesn't really matter if you emboss or cut your shapes first, but I prefer to emboss them after they've been cut out.

The cutie-patootie gingerbread man is from Peachy Keen's Winter Peekers and Phrases (I used all three 'peekers' on my tags, but only am showing a select few tag designs here today). The Santa suit and snowman are from MCT's All Around Accessories. All of the images were colored using my Copics. I used the Build a Banner Kit for the shapes on the '25th' and 'Joy' tags. The "25th" number comes from All Around Birthday Time and the "JOY" letters are from Anyday Bingo & Crossword. Of course, pop dots were used on these tags as though the world would crumble around me if I didn't use enough of them. I LOVE pop dots!

Here's a tip to add some flair to your projects: Consider hand cutting strips for sentiments like I've done here for the "To:" and "heart" strips. The uneven angles add a fun and interesting element to projects and really give a handmade feel.

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thanks so much for joining us on this 5th day of Christmas - we're all so happy to came hopping along. I'm the last stop, but be sure to come back tomorrow for another round of AMAZING projects by the My Creative Time Design Team. I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!

Come check out these Reindeer Cake Pops that I'm fixin'!

They're just so YUMMY and best of all...

They're easy to make! In love you will fall.

Welcome, welcome to the fourth day of My Creative Time's 12 Days of Christmas! These twelve days are flying by so fast, Christmas will be here before you know it! If you've landed here from Trell's blog, you're on the right path! If not, take a trip to Emma's blog to start the hop from the very beginning.

Cake Pops seem to be the latest craze in baking and I just had to jump on the bandwagon! First of all, they're absolutely adorable. And second... umm... they're DELISH!

Imagine with me...Cake...mixed with frosting...dipped in chocolate. Are you KIDDING me?

Now, I'm a cupcake kind of girl. They're cute, they're yummy, and they're a small canvas to decorate. You can't really go wrong with squirting some frosting on top of a cupcake and calling it a day. But when you go to eat that cupcake... it can be difficult. It's hard to get the perfect bite that has the right cake/frosting ratio, isn't it? And what a mess! The only way for me to eat a cupcake without getting crumbs all over my shirt and frosting all over my face is to shove it in my mouth whole. And that's not very becoming for a lady, is it? With Cake Pops - problem solved!

I wanted to make some Reindeer Cake Pops to send in to my husband's work (gotta keep those Developers happy!). While browsing Pinterest, I found this adorable reindeer. PERFECT! I gathered my supplies and got to work!

One Betty Crocker French Vanilla boxed cake made 40 cake pops. I sent 25 into work with the Hubs and they were a big hit! The VP of his company even asked for the recipe so he could make them with his kids (insructions at the end of this post)! We kept 6 reindeer to share with friends (yum!) and brought 9 to our next door neighbors (a full team of reindeer, if you will. Each one was accounted for - including Rudolph!).

To dress up the treats for next door, I put them in a tissue paper lined basket, wrapped it in cellophane and added a simple, but festive tag. The base of the tag was cut out using MCT's XL Label Die (hmm...where did I get so many red XL Label Dies from? I LOVE recycling!). I stamped the snowflake border (MCT's XL Label Borders) in Versamark and embossed it in white. After adhering the blue striped paper to the base, I popped up my green Stitched Circle and added the Fancy Frame on top of that (also popped up). The sentiment is from You Had Me At Chocolate and was so fitting for this gift of goodies! I added a silver eyelet to the tag and tied it to the package using my favorite green ribbon (which I am now completely out of) and linen thread.

When I dropped off the basket of Cake Pops, their youngest son took the basket right out of his Mom's hands - ready to enjoy a Pop! But his Mom said he'd have to wait: chocolate cookies had just come out of the oven. Guess who got to bring some home? This girl! The Hubs was very happy to accept a fresh, warm cookie when I walked back in the house. Oh the joy of having awesome neighbors!


***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Reindeer Cake Pop Recipe

What You'll Need

• One boxed cake and all the ingredients needed to prepare/bake it
• Frosting - homemade or packaged
• Lollipop Sticks
• Candy Melts
• Red/Brown Candies for noses hint: the Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate "Pieces" have only light brown, dark brown, and red - more bang for your buck than a pack of M&Ms!
• White Sugar Pearls (for eyes)
• Brown "Chenille Stems" (for antlers)
• Clear Candy/Treat Bags
• Foam Brick (to stick drying cake pops in)
• Optional: Tweezers and Toothpicks

Directions

1. Bake cake according to package (use directions for 13 x 9 cake). Let cool.
2. Crumble cooled cake into large bowl.
3. Mix in enough frosting to make a cookie dough-type consistency. (if using packaged frosting, one can should be more than enough)
4. Roll cake/frosting mixture into 1 inch cake balls. Place on waxed-lined cookie sheets.
5. Place cake balls in freezer for 15 minutes. You DO NOT want them to freeze! After the 15 minutes, you can move them to the refrigerator to keep chilled while you're melting the chocolate candy melts.
6. Melt candy melts according to directions on package. (I used the Microwave Method)
7. Stick lollipop stick about 1/2" deep into melted chocolate.
8. Insert lollipop stick about half way into a cake ball.
9. Submerge cake ball into melted chocolate. DO NOT stir the cake ball in the chocolate. You may tilt the stick and/or bowl to cover the entire cake ball, but moving the cake ball too much in the chocolate may cause excess chocolate to 'adhere' to the ball and cause a mess.
10. Lift lollipop stick straight up and out of chocolate. You now have a 'cake pop'! Allow excess chocolate to drip from cake pop (turning cake pop in your hand for an even drip). Tap stick LIGHTLY on side of bowl if necessary.
11. Decorate cake pop as needed (adding 'eyes' and 'nose'). Tweezers make adding tiny eyes much easier. I dipped a toothpick into the chocolate and 'dotted' the eyes for pupils.
12. Stick cake pop into foam brick to dry.
13. Once completely dry, put cake pop in treat bag.
14. Cut chenille stems in half and twist two halves together (leaving ends un-twisted for the antlers). Twist around treat bags to secure them shut.

I'm so glad you joined us for today's hop! Be sure to come back tomorrow for more Christmas ideas! I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Third Day of Christmas...

Welcome to the third day of My Creative Time's 12 Days of Christmas! We're moving right along in our hop of awesome projects! What's that? You haven't been hopping? If you didn't arrive here from Trell's blog, skip on over to Emma's blog to start at the top! Go ahead... I'll wait.

Today I'm sharing a card I made for a Christmas Card Shoe Box Swap I participated in. For those that don't know, a 'shoe box swap' is an event where card makers bring a project along with all of the 'ingredients' to make that project for everyone. Many put their projects/ingredients in shoe boxes. Then, we all swap boxes and make each other's projects!

For my card, I used MCT's Small Talk and the Penguin Doll die from Cottage Cutz (which come with those sweet Peachy Keen faces). Since my card has such a simple layout, I really jazzed it up with lots of colorful layers and texture. Of course, I popped up just about anything that wasn't already glued to the floor! *giggle*

The fancy icicles (covered in - you guessed it: Star Dust Stickles) were created using the Fiskars Grass Border Punch I won at Scrap Camp back in November. Right side up: grass. Upside down: icicles. Easy Peasy.

Sometimes I want to add ribbon to my cards for some extra flair, but don't want a bow or knot. A super simple and quick way to add a touch of ribbon is to fold a small piece in half and adhere it behind a layer - just enough to stick out. You heard it here first, Folks!


***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

I'm so glad you came along for this totally creative hop! I'm the last stop for today. Join us again tomorrow for more fun projects! I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the Second Day of Christmas...

Hello and welcome to the 2nd installment of "Oh My Goodness - Christmas Is Already Here!" 12 Days of Christmas with the My Creative Time Design Team! If you've arrived here from Trell's blog - you're doing great! If not - you're probably still doing well, but I'd recommend you take a trip to Emma's blog to start this awesome Blog Hop from the very beginning ("...a very good place to start" - or so I've been told *giggle*).

For my project today, I used MCT's Stitched Lollipop Holder to create a fun package for a gift for one of my nephews. Don't let the name "Lollipop Holder" confuse you - it's so MUCH more than that! Today - it's a gift card holder! Here's how it breaks down:

Stitched Lollipop Holder + Gift Card + Ribbon + Magic = Quick & Easy Gift Card Holder


Along with the Lollipop Holder, I used the MCT Stitched Oval Die and stamped "To" and "From" (XL Label Borders) in black ink. Instead of leaving the oval 'hanging off' the lollipop holder, I wrapped it around and secured it with my adhesive. You might notice that you don't see the scalloped circle top of the lollipop holder that you have come to know and love here on my project. To spruce up this gift card holder, I added a fun red shape that I cut using the XL Label Die (it's a 'leftover' from yesterday's window card - Yep - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!) and stamped with XL Label Borders in metallic silver ink. The super cute 'polar bear' is just a plain ol' regular bear from the Create a Critter cartridge that I cut out in white. The present is also from Create a Critter.

Add some Stickles (Star Dust - of course!), a big hunk of ribbon and POOF! It's ready to go under the tree!


***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thanks so much for joining us on our 2nd Day of Christmas! I'm the last stop on this Creative Train! I'll see you back here tomorrow with more Christmas cheer! I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT 12 Days of Christmas: On the First Day of Christmas...

Ho Ho Ho! Oh boy am I excited for Christmas! It's officially December and I am now allowed to get as crazy about Christmas as I want without my husband looking at me funny!

The house has been OVERHAULED with Christmas cheer over the last few days and I can't wait to get our tree! I grew up with a 'faux' tree, but the Hubs is a 'realist'. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. I may have lost the Real vs. Fake battle, but I won the "Oh yes we DO need Christmas cheer in the bathroom" battle! *giggle*

Today kicks off My Creative Time's 12 Days of Christmas! If you've arrived here from Trell's blog - you're on the right track! If not, you can go to the beginning of the hop at Emma's blog so you don't miss out on any amazing projects!!! Today I'd like to share my Kietzman Christmas invitation with you. This is the third time we are hosting my family's Christmas celebration in our home, but it's the FIRST time we're hosting as a married couple. A phone call or text just won't do this year - I'm sending out invitations! *que the Christmas music*

My husband and I like the aqua & teal color combination - a lot. We use it throughout our home and also had it for our wedding colors. For the last two years, we've had a very elegant aqua/teal/silver/white Christmas color combo - but this year, we're spicing it up! I didn't want to get rid of the ornaments and decorations we already have, so we're just adding red and lime(ish) green to our current decor. Let me tell you - it looks FAB!

Since I'm a matchy-matchy kind of gal, I created our Kietzman Christmas invitations to coordinate with our new festive color scheme. Our invitations are a basic A2 sized card (portrait orientation with a bottom opening). To get the 'window' effect, I used MCT's XL Label Die to 'punch out' the opening in my red card stock and then popped it up on my card base and first layer. The snowflake (MCT's Anyday Bingo & Crossword) was stamped in Versamark and metallic silver.

To make sure that the card was an invitation and not just a greeting card, I decided not to use a Christmas sentiment, but to use the date of the party instead. December 23rd. Christmas Eve Eve, as we call it. With my brothers and sister all married with lots of other family to visit, we decided a few years ago that the 23rd was the PERFECT day for us all to get together. No running off to another party or getting home early for Santa - we have plenty of time on the 23rd to enjoy EACH OTHER.

The "December" stamp is from MCT's Whimsical Calendar Days and "23rd" is from All Around Birthday Time. I stamped the date on my white Stitched Oval, added some silver eyelets and popped it up on the red card stock. Of course, the adorable snowman hails from All Around Accessories and I colored him with my Copics. Stickles (Star Dust - my favorite) help to finish the card with a little snowy shimmer.

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tuesday, December 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNERS! There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event and some SURPRISES to help celebrate My Creative Time's One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her FIRST set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I'm the last stop on the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop today. Join the hop again tomorrow (and for the next 11 days!) as the MCT Design Team whips up more fabulous Christmas cheer for you!

I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica