St. Valentine's Day Gift Cone with Tutorial

I love St. Valentine's Day...it is just what the month of February needs. And for some reason this is the time of year I feel like getting crafty, especially with paper!

So today I made these sweet little gift cones for Mr. Rosemary Lane and the kids.

The items you need to do this craft includes...

4 1/2 feet of 1 1/2 in ribbon

4 1/2 feet of one inch ribbon

color tissue paper

To start, fold your craft paper on the diagonal and make a firm crease. Smoothing out the paper, glue around the perimeter of the paper at about a 1/4 in from the edges so the glue doesn't leak out. Holding the paper with the creased side up, fold the paper on itself to create a conical shape and secure it with a paper clip. (You will have two ears poking up at the top.)

Next glue the outside edge of the paper onto itself so that the cone shape stays in place. This is where you will need your hole puncher. Hold you cone looking at the back side, slip your hole puncher in on a diagonal and punch 2 holes close to one another to create a nice size hole, about 1/3 to 1/2 inch. It will need to be wide enough to thread two pieces of ribbon through. repeat on the opposite side.

Lay your ribbon  out on a flat surface and then place one piece on top of the other. Thread both pieces through the hole starting on the inside of the cone through to the back and then thread it through the next hole from back to front.

Making sure your ribbon is even on both sides, tie a bow approximately 5-6 inches above the cone. You may need to fiddle with the ribbon a lttle bit to make it looks nice. Finally tuck in a quarter of a sheet of tissue and you are ready to fill your cone with your gift(s).

Surprising the hubtser and kiddies with gifts of candy for the boys and a pretty little heart necklace for Grace.

Only 9 more days until St. Valentine's day...what do you have ready to shower on your loved ones?

XO

 Note: Found this craft at the website Insightful Nana

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Elizabeth & Co.

Coastal Charm

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StoneGable

Have a Cup of Mrs. Olsen

FRENCH COUNTRY COTTAGE



Chasing Away the Winter Blues

Well here we are at the beginning of February and I don't know about you but I am ready to leave this deep freeze we have been in and escape on a tropical mini-vacation. So let me take you on a trip to an island where there are swaying palm trees, pink sand beaches, and more golf courses per square mile than any other country in the world. Where is this dream isle, why Bermuda of course!

From just about any airport on the east coast, beautiful Bermuda is a hop skip and a jump away. In terms of flight time, we're talking just two hours or less!

The only real way to get around this 21 mile long 3 mile wide island paradise is...you guessed it...on a moped.

Miles of coastline are surrounded by tranquil tones of turquoise waters.

There are even underground caves to explore at the Grotto Bay Hotel right by the airport.

 I think this area is the prettiest part of the island. It is a small channel lying between the island's capital of Hamilton and the town of St. George, which joins Harrington Sound to the Atlantic Ocean.

And it is known as Flatts Inlet.

The island is filled with history. Below is the unfinished church, a protected historic monument in Bermuda's northern most parish of St. George.

Bermudian homes are the colors of jelly beans with their lime washed rooftops designed to catch the rain water and funnel it in to cisterns below.

We love Bermuda...to me it is one of most intoxicating places in the world. I hope you enjoyed this little getaway...now it's back to another 6 weeks of winter weather until we begin to see the beauty of Spring's return.

XO

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BeColorful

Cedar Hill Ranch ~ Cowgirl Up

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Common Ground

No Minimalist Here

The Tablescaper

The Grown Up Brownie ~ Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownie

 

I found this recipe on the Internet today and was determined to make it. The first attempt was tasty but didn't quite turn out with the right consistency...my fault because I under cooked it. The recipe also called for the baking dish to be lined with parchment paper...I didn't have any so I used wax paper...big mistake because the brownie was completely stuck to the paper despite the liberal coating of cooking spray I applied. Also on my first attempt I did not use enough red food coloring so my red velvet brownie was more of a brown velvet ...not the right color. No worries...my kiddies will gladly scarf down my "oops" brownies.

 

Luckily for me I had more of the ingredients needed to create this wonderful treat so I made a second attempt and I AM SO HAPPY I DID!!!

 

These are really wonderful because they are not too sweet like your regular brownies can be. They have a bit of elegance about them...must be the Red Velvet!

 

Anyhow this is what you need...

 

For the brownie layer...

 

10 T. butter softened

3 0z. dark or semi-sweet chocolate (I used semi-sweet)

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

red  food coloring (enough to make the egg mixture very red)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2 T unsweetened cocoa powder

 

For the cream cheese layer...

 

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare and 8 X 8 baking dish by spraying it generously with cooking spray.

 

In microwave soften butter is microwave safe dish and set aside. Do the same with the chocolate and then whisk the two together and let cool slightly.

 

In separate bowl, mix together the 2 eggs, sugar, vanilla and red food coloring until well blended. Slowly add the chocolate mixture and blend well again.

 

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt and slowly add to the batter, being careful not to over mix. Pour batter into prepared dish and set aside.

 

To make the cream cheese layer mix all ingredients together until smooth. Pour over the red velvet mixture and with a butter knife swirl the two together.

 

 

Bake in oven for one hour and ten minutes, remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting.

 

 

Enjoy!!

Recipe from this website ~ Doughmesstic

 

 

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It's Overflowing

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Home Tour Feature Over at Debbiedoo's

 

Good morning all!

 

So very excited because today my home tour is being featured as part of the home tour series over at the wonderful blog...

 

Yes this is a full on home tour of which I have never done before...so I am a wee bit nervous.

 

I met Debbie when I first started blogging because she hosts a Monday link party for Newbies. I loved her Newbie party and was thrilled to find out that over the past several months she has opened the party to Newbie graduates! So of course I was back partying with Debbie.

 

 

Dosen't she look like a fun gal to party with?

 

Debbie also hosts a magazine copycat challange link party where you are invited to re-create something, anything you've found in a magazine, Pinterest and so on. Always a super fun party loaded with all sorts of inspirational copycat ideas!!

 

So if you have a minute or two today hop on over to Debbiedoo's to check out my tour and her fun and creative blog. You can do this by clicking here. I truly hope you'll enjoy both!

 

Wishing you all a super-duper weekend!

XO