Marshmallow Candy Cane Fudge Truffles

Yesterday was one of those days that I really tried to do more than I could handle.  Well, lately, most days kind of go that way, but yesterday especially.

I knew I needed to do a test run on some two-ingredient fudge to decide if it was going to be added to my holiday baking list.  So, after lunch, I settled Grace down to watch a Christmas special and I whipped up a batch of fudge.

Of course, leave it to me to run into a jam while preparing such a simple recipe.  I needed to line to my dish with foil and I had just used up the last of our roll when I wrapped up the leftovers from lunch.  But I had already started to melt the chocolates, so there really wasn't any turning back.  I decided to just give it a go without lining the pan.  Figuring if it didn't come out of the pan nicely, it didn't really matter since it was just a test-run and really only Joe and I would see the ugly mess.  This was more of a trial to test out the taste and texture which, in the end, were perfect!

Since I was having a heck of a time cutting and serving pretty little squares of fudge from the dish, I decided to just scrape some out and roll into balls to form truffles!

What a perfectly delicious solution to my kitchen mishap!

Marshmallow Candy Cane Fudge Truffles 

Ingredients: 

• 12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• tub of chocolate frosting 
• handful of mini marshmallows
• crushed candy canes

Directions: 

• Melt your chocolate either in the microwave or double boiler.  
• Stir in marshmallows if using.  
• Remove from heat and stir in the frosting. 
• Spread the mixture into an 8x8 pan.  
• Sprinkle the crushed candy cane over top and press slightly into the fudge.  
• Allow to set in fridge for 1/2 an hour to an hour.  
• Using a spoon, spatula, or ice cream scoop, scrape the fudge from the pan and roll into balls about an inch in size, then roll the balls into more crushed candy cane.   

Frugal Kids: Handmade Greeting Cards

Whether it's birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, or whatever special occasions you may celebrate, gift-giving can get really expensive.  Not only do we have the actual gift to worry about, we still have the added expense of gift wrap, tissue paper if needed, and the greeting card.  It all adds up and can really hurt the wallet!

Today, I share a crafty idea from my super-frugal cousin Wednesday.  Knowing her kids wanted to give out Christmas cards to their friends at school, she gathered up some craft supplies and allowed her kiddos to create handcrafted cards.  Perfectly customized to match the personalities of both the creator and the recipients!  All while repurposing those old Christmas cards you received in the mail last year and packed away with your Christmas decorations!

In addition to the saved cards, you'll also need scissors, school glue, glitter and whatever other embellishments your kiddo wants to add to their cards.  You'll also want to gather some card stock or construction paper.

Let your child start by choosing the greeting card he/she would like to repurpose and have them cut out the design from the front of the card.  Depending on the age of your child, you may need to help them with this step.

Once they have their design, they can choose coordinating card stock and fold in half to create the card form.  With some school glue (or glue dots), they can attach their greeting card design to the front of the card stock.

Then they can embellish however they wish!  As you can see, M chose to use purple glitter to customize her greeting card!  She traced the outline of the recycled card with some glue, then sprinkled with glitter.  She then shook off any excess glitter and allowed to dry.

Having fifteen or more cards to give out in class, this project can keep your kiddos happily occupied for quite a while.  And you get to save a trip to the store to pick up those expensive store-bought cards with whatever character brand is popular at the moment!  Not to mention those card packs never have enough to cover the whole class, so you end up having to buy multiple packs.  And if you have more than one kiddo giving cards to their classmates...look out!  It gets way to costly!

Oh, if you're not the type to hold onto cards from Christmas Past, you can still do this project with your kids on the cheap.  Just pick up a box of assorted Christmas Cards from the dollar store!  The kids can still cut them up to create their custom cards and you won't have to search your home office for envelopes!

This is not just limited to Christmas.  Once your kiddos reach school age, the invitations to birthday parties start rolling in!  Some friends have multiple parties on the same weekend!  Sometimes even the same day!  Adding up to several in the same month!  Again, the cost of birthday cards alone can really break the bank!  Start saving old greeting cards and let your kids create homemade cards to attach to their gift to the birthday kid!

I want to thank my cousin Wednesday for allowing me to share her idea and photos with y'all today!  xoxo

Wordless Wednesday ~ It's a Wonderful Life with Elf on the Shelf

Last year, I was telling Joe about Elf on the Shelf over dinner.  While I was familiar with the elves and their antics, I was sure Joe didn't know what I was talking about one bit!

The next day, he surprised me...um, I mean Grace...with her own Elf on the Shelf.  We took a couple of days trying to pick a name.  Grace wasn't liking any of the Christmas-y names we suggested.  One of us suggested Maggie and Grace agreed that it was the perfect name for our visitor!

Both this year and last, Maggie has been a tame little elf.  She doesn't get into all the trouble that I've heard some of the other elves get themselves into!  She simply perches high up on the shelves, curtain rods or the hanging light in our dining room.

I suspect she is worried that Grace won't obey the rule about the elves losing their Christmas magic if touched.  But I'm sure next year, Maggie will be feeling a little more comfortable at our house and start being mischievous like her buddies at the North Pole!

Minted ~ Holiday Card Collection, Party Decor, Photo Gifts and More!

I just recently found out about about a wonderful website!  Perfect for everything that I am into at the moment!

With photo gifts, typography art and customized party decorations being so hot right now, Minted is the perfect website to check all of those items off your list.  Whether it be for your holiday shopping needs, birthday party or just something to spruce up your walls.

Minted has recently launched their 2013 Holiday card collection and their selection is out of this world!  Keeping with today's trends but in a way that still remains classic and traditional.

You can create a beautiful custom Christmas cards using your own photos or if you're a bit behind (like me) in getting your family photos taken there's also a wonderful selection of greeting card designs to choose from.

Customizing the cards to your needs is very easy!  Not only can you choose between flat or folded cards, you can select the shape of your card and also personalize the inside and back of the card  as well!

If you are way ahead of the game and you've already sent out your Christmas cards this year, you should still check out Minted for any last minute gifts you still need to get or even just to treat yourself!

After checking out their Christmas cards, I decided to look around the rest of their website.

I'm so in love with their party decorations that now I am trying to figure out how to incorporate them into the theme of Grace's next birthday party!  Which reminds me, I still haven't told you about her 4th birthday....boy, I sure am behind!

Okay, back to Minted and their great stuff....

Cherry Red Paper Straws

Krafty Holiday 2.5" Scalloped Circle Stickers

A Season For Stripes Table Runner

As far as party decor goes, Minted has thought of everything!  From the invitations,  to the photo backdrops, Minted has it all!  The hardest part will be deciding on a theme!

Since my mind is still in holiday mode, I am loving these photo back drops!  How great would they be for getting photos at a Christmas or New Years Party?  Also, I think the one with the skyscrapers could work great for a super hero party!  Don't you think?

Really, I could go on and on telling you about all the great items that Minted has available, but I won't!  But I will tell you to click on over and take a look for yourself!

Oh!  Wait!  I just have to show you one more thing!  This is probably my favorite thing on the entire website!

How great would this be to take all of the photos taken from a special year and put them in this collage?  Or this would be a wonderful first anniversary gift for a special bride and groom using favorite pictures from their special day!  Or even a perfect graduation gift using photos taken from kindergarten, school trips, dances and proms, all the way through graduation!


Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post.  While I was compensated for this post, all opinions and thoughts are honest and my own.  I only recommend products or services that I would use personally and believe are a good fit for my readers.

I Caught Santa! Review and Free Code

Wanna have a little fun with your kiddos this Christmas?

Thanks to iCaughtSanta.com you can catch Santa in the act right in your own home!  I don't know about your kids, but I know Grace will just flip over seeing a photo of Santa putting presents under our tree!  Or Rudolph in the driveway waiting for the big guy to finish his milk and cookies so they can move on to the next house on the list!

In just a few simple steps, you can add Santa (or Rudolph) to your photo and create a wonderful surprise for your child!

Believe me when I say it's simple!  I created our photo in just a few minutes and that was with a million distractions going on around me!  The most difficult part was choosing a photo.

Browsing through the different Santa poses, I decided to have Santa help decorate our tree!  But there are so many great poses...you can really play around with it and create something perfect for your photo! Maybe Santa eating cookies or napping on your couch before heading back to the North Pole?

To celebrate their 5 year anniversary, and to thank the tens of thousands of visitors and customers that have "caught Santa" using their website, iCaughtSanta.com is inviting you to catch Santa for FREE until December 10th, 2013!  All you have to do is use the code #SantaShare at the check out after you've created your I Caught Santa keepsake photo!

The best part?  You can use this code as many times as you want through December 10th!  Pretty awesome, huh?!


iCaughtSanta.com is also celebrating their milestone with a giveaway!  Go to their website  (link provided above) to find out more about the iCaughtSanta.com 2013 Customer Appreciation Contest via Rafflecopter (iPad Air + Amazon, Visa or Starbucks Giftcards) Over $1,500 in prizes!




I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Bear River Photo Greetings Review

We're into the second week of December and Christmas isn't too far off!  As usual, I'm running way behind!  There's still baking to do, gifts to buy and I haven't even started my menu plan and shopping list for Christmas brunch or dinner yet.

In the past, this is the point in the holiday planning where I would decide if I'm going to send out Christmas cards or not.  I would debate on if I had time in our schedule to go look for cards at the store, fill them out, and would I still have time to get them out in the mail.

Since Grace was born, sending out Christmas cards has gotten much easier and I have Bear River Photo Greetings to thank!

It all started when I was checking out birth announcements on Etsy.  I found the perfect one at an affordable price.  This was my first time ordering photo cards and the owner of the shop, Angie, was really friendly and helpful.

Once I decided on which of her beautiful designs I wanted for our announcements, all I had to do was email Grace's photo to Angie and she created the perfect card for us.

Within 48 hours, our design was ready and the file was emailed back to me, all ready for me to have printed...at my convenience!  I could order as little or as many copies as I needed at my favorite photo lab!  At the time, I used a couple of online photo printing sites (such as Winkflash, Shutterfly, and Snapfish) but I also find that one-hour photo options (such as Walmart, Target or CVS) work well when in a pinch for time!

I knew right then, that I would be using Angie's shop for all of my future orders.  I will admit that we didn't send out cards last year since I was unable to get a decent Christmas photo of Grace.  She just wouldn't cooperate at all!  But Angie did create a wonderful invitation for Grace's birthday that year!

This year, I was able to pair one of Angie's beautiful cards with the talents of my favorite local photographer for a really great holiday card.  One that I'll share here closer to Christmas when I'm done sending them out to our family and friends!

So, if you are running behind schedule and are still in need of purchasing your Christmas cards, check out the holiday selection in Angie's Etsy Shop.  Angie suggests placing your order by December 14th at the latest, to allow time to get your cards printed (at your favorite overnight or same day photo printer) and get them in the mail on time!

Also, I want to mention that 20% of all Bear River Photo Greetings sales will go to "Hands at Work in Africa", an organization that helps Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Africa. Please read Angie's Profile to find out more.

You can find them on facebook, too!

Wordless Wednesday: Santa Photo 2011

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a trip to the mall to see Santa.  Every year, we plan to go the first Monday in December.  We go in the morning and never have to wait in line.  The experience has always been great! 

This year, Grace was excited when she spotted Santa and waved the entire time we were getting her ready to sit on the big guy's lap.  But as she and Joe moved closer, a rare moment of shyness showed through! 

The staff was great!  They were very patient with us and gave Grace some time to get comfortable.  Since there wasn't a line, we didn't feel rushed. 

Nine photos later and they snapped the perfect photo! 

Grace with Santa 2011

Here are the photos from the two previous years.  

Grace with Santa 2009

Grace with Santa 2010

Oh my!  She's growing up so fast!


This post has been linked to the following blog carnivals and linky parties: 

• Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom
• Wordless Wednesday at Wordless Wednesday
• Wordful Wednesday at Parenting by Dummies

Koziar's Christmas Village ~ Our New Family Tradition

Although, Joe and I have been together for nearly 2 decades, we really didn't have many traditions to call our own.  Now that we have Grace, we've been trying to get more into creating traditions for our little family.
When I was a little girl, I remember my parents taking us for walks around our neighborhood to see everyone's Christmas decorations.  I specifically remember the house on the corner, the yard was filled with those wonderful, plastic figures with the lightbulb in the back!  Santa, his reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and always a special spot for the Nativity scene!  I also remember looking out the windows of the car when we would drive somewhere after dark.  I loved looking at all the twinkling lights and decorations.  I looked forward to doing this with my kids someday. 

Last year, Grace was still a little young for looking at the lights out the car window.  I couldn't seem to get her to look out of the side windows, she would only look straight ahead, missing all of the beautiful holiday lights.  And since we're not in the city anymore, walking around to see the neighbors' decorations isn't a really good idea, considering we don't have sidewalks in our neighborhood. 

I remembered my parents telling us about Koziar's Christmas Village many years ago.  At the time, we didn't have kids and I really didn't pay all that much attention.  So, when I saw a friend of ours post pictures on Facebook of their family at Christmas Village, I knew right away I wanted to take Grace to see the wonderful Christmas displays. 

Since it's mostly outdoors, we bundled ourselves up and drove out to see the village.  I'll never forget the expression on Grace's face as we drove over the hill and the spectacular display came into view!  Her eyes lit up, huge with excitement!  It melts my heart just thinking about it! 

If you'd like to see just what Grace saw as we passed over that hill, check out Koziar's Christmas Village website.  Don't skip the into...or you'll miss it!!! 

We couldn't get her out of the car fast enough!  She was so excited to see all of the pretty decorations! 

This sign greets you as you enter the village from the parking lot!
Much more magical in person!

We took a handful of pictures, but mostly just wanted to enjoy watching Grace take in the magic of the beautiful lights. 

Grace loved running up to the windows to see the festive displays inside! 

But I think her favorite were the little houses!  She really loved walking onto the little porches and knocking on the doors! 

Check out this HUGE Santa! 

Here's a photo of Joe and Grace standing in front of the HUGE Santa.  Joe is over 6 feet tall, to give you an idea of the height of that Santa! 

This was one of our favorite light displays:

And of course, they didn't forget the true reason for the season:

We're looking forward to taking Grace again this year, making it a new family tradition! 



disclosure:  I was not compensated in any way for this post.  I simply wanted to share our wonderful experience at Koziar's Christmas Village.   

Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of December 19th

I'm feeling like a disorganized mess right now.  There's still so much to do for Christmas and I'm running out of time!  I've already decided that Christmas cards aren't happening this year!  I struggled last week to get a Christmas-card-worthy photo of Grace and she just would not cooperate.  I decided instead, to make a card using a few of our favorite photos from the year and call it a New Year card!  That is, if I ever get around to ordering it! 

Dinners are going to be easy again this week.  I'll be grabbing a couple of pre-made meals from the downstairs freezer to help me out this week since we'll be running errands after dinner most nights. 

• Hearty Un-Stuffed Cabbage Soup, Salad, Baked Potato.  Years ago, I went to a little restaurant for lunch and ordered their special:  A cup of soup, salad bar and a baked potato.  Over the years, I've made this meal myself for lunch.  I have a small container of Hearty Cabbage Soup in the freezer.  Enough for each of us to have a bowl, but not enough to allow for seconds.  The salad and baked potato will make this meal a bit heartier. 

• Breakfast for Dinner.  Joe bought 3 dozen eggs the other day, since he saw them on sale.  I'll make some homefries, scrambled eggs, scrapple and toast for dinner one night this week.  Some fruit and yogurt on the side would be nice, too! 

• Spaghetti and Meat Sauce.  I never did get around to making that big crock pot full of homemade sauce a few weeks ago.  I'm thinking this week, I'll just doctor up some jarred sauce by adding some fresh vegetables and some additional seasonings along with some ground beef. 

• Hamburger Soup.  We love hamburger soup.  For some reason, whenever I make it, I lose my notes on what I put in it.  So, each time I make it, it's different.  Usually, it's a combination of ground beef, frozen vegetables, diced potatoes, beef broth, alphabet pasta (or other small pasta) steak sauce, worcestershire sauce, and an assortment of seasonings.  I will really try not to lose my notes this time, so I can share the recipe here. 

• Crock Pot Multi-Bean Soup.  A couple of weeks ago, I made a huge pot of this 16-bean Soup and put some in the freezer knowing that I would need some help with dinner this week.  I mostly followed the linked recipe, except that I added extra pepper, some turkey bacon and used a different brand of tomatoes.  I'll serve Corn Quesadillas on the side alond with iceberg lettuce wedges topped with peppercorn ranch dressing.   

• Braided Spaghetti Bread.  I've been wanting to try this recipe ever since my buddy Nicole told me about it!  That's the main reason we're having spaghetti this week!  So that we'll have leftovers to use to make this!  Mmmmm!  This will most likely be lunch on Christmas Eve. 

• Christmas Dinner.  I haven't fully decided on our menu for Christmas Day.  When I was growing up, we spent most of the day visiting family.  Party-type foods were usually served buffet-style.  Hot roast beef sandwiches, meatballs, potato salad, macaroni salad, etc.  I prefer that over a traditional holiday dinner.  Since everyone will be munching on holiday treats throughout the day.  Although, I was thinking of doing this on a much smaller scale. 

Here are a few of the desserts I'll be making this week: 

Cranberry Walnut Fudge

Gooey Butter Cookies

Easy as 1-2-3 Funfetti Cookie Dip

S'mores Bars

Are you looking for more links to recipes or menu planning inspiration?

• check out our past menu plans.
• follow me over to I'm an Organizing Junkie and take part in Menu Plan Monday.