Santa Approved Holiday Milkshake Recipe

Ello Ello

So it's almost Christmas can you believe it!? 

So this week I got this limited edition sugar cookie eggnog made by Hood. I was super excited to try it because I loved the limited edition pumpkin eggnog they had. Well let's just say I was not impressed with this one, it was good, and I can see where some people would like it but I personally didn't think it was anything great. So I decided to make some holiday milkshakes and they came out so good! So I thought I'd share the recipe. Here we go!

You will need: 

1 1/2 Cup Hood Sugar Cookie Eggnog

5-8 Ice cubes 

4 Big scoops of Friendly's Rich & Creamy Caramel Swirl (any Caramel ice cream will do)

A couple good squirts of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (to taste)

A handful of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits

Makes about 3 glasses

Put everything into your blender and blend until it's milkshake consistency. You may need to add more ice as your blending to help thicken it. 

Now put it in your favorite glass and enjoy!

 If you make these let me know what you think of it! Also I am sure you could make this vegan friendly by using alternatives.
This Weekend we're expecting a pretty bad storm, I might lose internet/electric, so I might not be around for awhile. But maybe we'll get lucky and we won't lose either. We shall see.
I hope everyone's holiday season is going well! My little ETSY SHOP has been rather busy over the last week and with holiday things and other stuff I've been pretty busy, but busy in a good way!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Lexi

What I Wore - Wise Owl

Hi everyone!

I have been so bad about blogging lately that it's not even funny. These photos are from like a month ago! I can't believe I never posted them because I love this outfit so much. 

The last week or so it has been bitterly cold and we got our first real storm of the year and they are predicting more for us all week, it's actually snowing right now. 

This is the time of year where my electricity and internet start to go out rather often do to the snow and ice, a couple of days with out internet is awful when you're stuck at home in a blizzard. But that's just winter in Maine for you, brutal in all ways possible.

Dress, Yard Sale, Vintage, 2.50$

Boots, Thrifted, Vintage, London Fog, 1$

Socks Kmart, 1$

Necklace, Estate Sale, Vintage, 1$

I love this dress! I'm normally not big into maxi dresses, but this one is just so perfect, Plus it is nice and warm so it can actually be worn in cool weather. I was lucky and snagged another dress very similar to this one at the thrift shop, it's a different print and slightly lighter fabric, but it fit's just as perfectly as this one. 

I got all my Christmas shopping done, now all I need to do is wrap it. Which I honestly LOVE wrapping gifts. Everyone in my family usually has me do their wrapping for them, I just love it. Anyone who has ever ordered from my ETSY SHOP knows that I even wrap my orders on there like gifts for the most part, pretty tissue paper and a hand written card. Everyone who watches me pack my Etsy orders laughs and asks why I bother and I always say "because I'd like it if I got this in the mail" and i have gotten nothing but good reviews on my wrapping. 

I can't believe that it's almost the new year! New years will mark one year since I started this blog and I am so excited! I'm trying to think of a special post to mark the anniversary/new year. If you have an idea make sure to leave a comment! 

Have a wonderful day!

Lexi 

What to Wear - Holiday Spirit

Hello!

Here is another week of what to wear, this time we're showing off our holiday spirit. I have to say I thought about putting a white sheet over my head and being the ghost of Christmas past, because you know that would have been corny and great but I tried to be a bit more Christmasy. And then when I realized my lighting in these photos was way off, I decided to over edit them and call it good. And then I got bored and took some liberties with the What to Wear banner, I hope no one minds, and if you want to use it for your own holiday spirit what to wear feel free. I'll probably use it for our next What to Wear Which is on the 26th and is What to Wear - Christmas Dinner, I you'll link up your Christmas dinner outfit with us then! 

Sweater, Thrifted, 1$

Jeans, Thrifted ???

Shoes, Marden's, Rocket Dog, 25cents

Pearl and chain necklace, Yard Sale

Red and white necklace, Yard Sale, Vintage, 50cents

I wore this outfit when I was decorating the tree, so I figured it was perfect for Christmas spirit. 

I still have yet to get any Christmas shopping done, but I'm hoping to get it all done Monday, when we make the two hour trek to Bangor, which is the closest mall, Kmart, Target, and the like. It's so ridiculous to drive 2 hours just to get to decent shopping. I mean we have to drive half an hour just to get to a Walmart and a grocery store, it honestly sucks being so far removed from civilization. 

Don't for get to go to Nicole's blog Gypsy in Jasper to check out the other ladies who are linking up this week, and you can add your own Holiday Spirit look to our link up! If you can't make it this time we'll be at it again on the 26th as I mentioned already, with What to Wear - Christmas Dinner. Hope to see you there!

Well I'm off to go work on a Christmas Milkshake, if it turns out I'll post the recipe soon!

Have a great day!

Lexi

How to Make Surprise Balls

Hi Everyone

Today I'm going to share a relatively simple DIY gift idea. Surprise balls were one of my favorite things to get as a gift when I was a kid, hey I'd still actually love to get these now. They are just a blast!

Now I know a lot of people don't know what a surprise ball is, basically you get a bunch of small trinkets, jewelry/candy/toys/etc, and you take crate paper streamers and you wrap all the little trinkets into a giant ball of goodness that the person then has to slowly unwrap one layer at a time. 

This Year I'm making them for my step nieces and nephews, the one I'm making in this tutorial is more girly. You could really make these for anyone though, kids and adults alike you just need to pick the right stuff to put in it. Anyways here we go!

You Will Need: 

 2-3 (or more depending on how big you plan to make yours) 81 foot roles of crate paper streamers.

An assortment of small trinkets, Toys/Candy/Stickers/Coins/Jewelry/Etc.

Something round and not slippery to build the ball around.

A glue stick

A sticker gift tag

You may need tape 

 

 For my base I got these metal Christmas ornament gift boxes and filled a draw string bag with nickles and dimes for inside them. When you shake the finished ball it makes a great sound and its heavy so it will make the person getting it wonder even more about whats in it. You could really use anything round though.

 Collect your trinkets. Take everything out of its big bulky packaging. This is also where you may need tape. I wanted to make sure the directions stayed with the watch and Chinese jump rope so I taped the directions to them.

I wrapped a pair of leg warmers around the Christmas ball box so that the streamers wouldn't slide around and it made the finished ball look way bigger because the leg warmers were such a thick layer.

 Start wrapping! Make sure to wrap the streamers nice and tight, but not so tight they rip. Completely wrap and cover your base with streamers before adding any trinkets. 

 Wrap in your trinkets. I personally tried to do at least 2 wraps between each prize, and make sure to vary the amount of wraps between things. Also make sure to evenly place trinkets all around the ball so that it keeps its round shape.

 When you reach the end of your first streamer use your glue stick to glue the ends of your first streamer to the end of the new role. Give it time to dry all the way before you keep wrapping. You could also tape them together. 

 Keep Wrapping!

And adding trinkets.

And wrapping

and wrapping...

Until

 You're done! 

Make sure that you have at least 4 wraps with out trinkets at the end, But i would suggest if you have enough streamer left to as many wraps without trinkets at the end as possible 8 seems to be the ideal number.

Now take your gift tag and stick half of it to the end of the streamer and then stick the other half to the ball, this will keep it from unraveling before you give it to someone. Make sure to write your message on the gift tag before you stick it to the streamers. I wrote "Open Here" on mine.

The picture with the tape dispenser is just to give you an idea of how big mine came out.

This is a relatively time consuming project, but it is super easy and you could do this well watching TV or something. And trust me the reaction of the person who you give this to will be worth all the work.

I hope maybe this helped some of you figure a gift idea out. This is also a relatively cheap gift to make especially if you are making more then one because a lot of the stuff you can get in bulk for cheap at party places and such. 

I'd love to see a picture if you make these yourself, so if you blog about it or share a picture through twitter, Instagram, or anywhere else leave your link in the comments bellow. 

Have a great day!

Lexi