Chocolate Peppermint Poke Cake

This is a seriously good cake. I saw the picture of this cake on pinterest and pinned it right away but didn't think about it again until we were invited to a party and asked to bring a dessert. I knew this was the dessert I wanted to try and I was so happy to find out how easy it is.

This is the perfect cake to make for a holiday party or anytime.  Reed and I would have been happy to finish off the entire pan ourselves after putting the girls to bed.

In the original recipe she used these ANDES Peppermint Chips, which I saw at Walmart at the beginning of the Christmas season but I couldn't find any last week when I made the cake. I used this Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Bar that I found at Walmart in the holiday baking section. The original recipe also mixed in some of the candy into the pudding. I left this step out but I'm sure it would be good that way.

Chocolate Peppermint Poke Cake

Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
All Ingredients to make Cake Mix (Oil, Eggs, Water)
4 oz Package Chocolate Instant Pudding
2 C. Cold Milk
1/4 t. Peppermint Extract
1 Cups Andes Peppermint Chips or Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Bar Chopped
8 oz Container Cool Whip, Thawed


1. Prepare and bake cake according to package directions in a 9 x 13 pan.
2. When the cake comes out of the oven use the end of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the cake.
3. Mix the pudding, milk and peppermint Extract for two minutes and then pour the pudding all over the cake while it's still warm.
4. Put in the fridge and chill until completely cooled.
5. Frost with the Cool Whip and then sprinkle on the Candy.
5. Leave in the fridge until ready to eat.
6. Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted from I Wash You Dry.

Strawberry Santas

These are my new favorite Christmas treat.  Addie and I made them for a little party and they were so much fun to make and eat. We ended up making them again the next day just for us.  

Fist you cut off the top of the strawberry so they can sit flat. Then you cut off a little bit of the point to create the hat. Squeeze a dollop of whipped cream on the strawberry for a face. I put the whipped cream in a ziploc bag and squeezed it onto the strawberry but you could just use a spoon. Then decorate with sprinkles. I used mini chocolate chips for the eyes and red sprinkles for the nose. 

First seen on Leanne Bakes. 

Easy Christmas Treats

 

Remember when I posted about these Pretzel, Reese and M&M bites? They happen to be a perfect little Christmas gift. One that I would eat up in about two seconds. 

Homemade Gift Bow

This is a repost from a post I did about 2 years ago. I still wrap all of my presents this way so I wanted to post this again with better pictures. 

Have you been wrapping all your gifts? I've started and I'm about half way done, now I just have to wait for the rest of them to arrive. My favorite tip about wrapping presents is making your own bow for the top. My mom has made these bows for as long as I can remember and her mom before that. It is one of those things I just kind of thought everyone did, until people started asking me how to make them. So here is the easy bow tutorial.

 Wrap your box.

       Find a scrap of wrapping paper.  I usually just cut off a rectangle and fold it in half.

Now just start cutting strips, you can make them as wide or as thin as you want. Making them thicker or thinner will change the look of the finished bow. I usually cut them about 1/2 inch wide.

When all of your strips are cut, open the scissors up and glide the paper across the blade. I always start in the middle and go in opposite directions. As you glide the paper it should curl the paper. You may have done this with ribbon, its the same thing. Don't push to hard because you could rip the paper.

Now group all of the strips in the middle along the fold line. Secure with a peace of tape with the edges hanging over the paper to attach to the box.

    

Tada! You're done. Easy, beautiful, and inexpensive. Admire your cute festive bow then start on the next one. 

Linking up to some of these great sites. 

Easy Visiting Teaching or Friend Gift and a Download

I wanted to make an easy little gift for my visiting teachees. If you don't know what visiting teaching is it's basically assigned friends that you visit every month.  

 

In each bag I put a package of popcorn, a package of Extra gum, a little bottle of hand sanitizer, and a Christmas candle. 

Then I added a little tag that says:

"Popping by to wish you an Extra special Christmas. May it be clean and bright."

These could also be a cute little friend gift. 

If you want to download and print these gift tags just click here.  I just cut them out using my large circle punch and then glued them on some cute striped paper.

Faux Porcelain Reindeer

 I found these two Paper Machie reindeers at Michael's last week. I loved how big they were but wasn't crazy about the gold finish they had. They were 50% off so I decided to get them and see what they looked like painted white.

This is what they looked like when I brought them home from the store, very fancy with the gold finish.

And here they are after one coat of primer spray paint and two coats of glossy white. I love how they turned out! When I spray paint anything I hate it after the first coat and wonder if I've ruiend it.  The second coat starts to look better but by the third coat I'm usually in love. 

They look so elegant on top of my hutch and fill the space in nicely. 

Linked up to some of these great parties.

Dollar Store Berry Wreath

I wanted to make a large red berry wreath to put on my wall. I had heard that the dollar store had some cute berry branches, so I headed there today to get some. But when I got there they only had two green berry bunches left. I didn't know what I wanted to do with them yet but I snatched them up anyway before someone else could take them. 

Here is what I used to make the wreath. Everything for only four dollars. 

I pulled the berries off into bunches and broke up the silver plant.  Then I just started gluing them on.  Next time I use my glue gun someone needs to remind me it is a HOT glue guns.  Every time I use that dang gun I burn something. This time I burned three of my fingers. So be warned. 

This is where the finished wreath is going to go. I've wanted to find something to fill this space over my stove and I think this is the perfect fit!  

I taped the wreath onto the tile just to see how it will look and it fell off after about an hour. I'm thinking I'll just use one of those 3M hooks or sticky putty.  Anyone have any other ideas?

Linking up to some of these great sites!

Christmas Activity Game

I found these cute activity cards last year on Oopsey Dasiy. Addie loved playing with them last year and when she saw them last week in one of our Christmas tubs she got really excited to play with them again.

Last year I just printed off the cards and glued them on card stock for more stability. This year I laminated them using my favorite toy because some of the edges had bent.

We take turns picking out a card and then acting out the action. Addie really loves it when I start acting goofy. Grace has also had a lot of fun doing this game. She doesn't understand what's going on but she tries to imitate us.

   

Click Here to download your own copy of the cards.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Roll

These are seriously so good. I saw them last year on one of my all time favorite blogs Made, and I knew that we would love them. They are as easy to make as the traditional Rice Krispies but with just a few added ingredients to take them over the top.

We gave these out to some friends and neighbors last year for Christmas and they were a big hit. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Roll

Slightly Adapted from Made

1 package Mini Marshmallows ( I used a package or Large Marshmallows this time)
1/4 cup Butter
1/4 cup Peanut Butter

6 cups Rice Krispies

1 1/3 cup Chocolate Chips

3/4 cup Peanut Butter Chips

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray.

2. In a large bowl, microwave the marshmallows, butter, and peanut butter for about 2 minutes or until melted.

3. Add in the Rice Krispies and stir to combine. 

4. Smoosh the Rice Krispie mixture onto the cookie sheet until it covers the bottom.

5. In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips until melted, about 2 minutes.
    - Watch them carefully and stir around the one minute mark, they burn easily.

6. Spread the chocolate goodness over the Rice Krispie layer and then roll up like a jelly roll starting from the short end until it's in one log. I like to then squish it and roll it a little more until it has stretched into a skinny log.

7. Put in the refrigerator until firm. Slice and serve. 

This is how all of my photo sessions end when I'm taking pictures of goodies. Notice how she got away with two of them. Smart girl. 

Free Christmas iPhone Wallpaper

I love trying out different wallpapers and prints on my phone. Reed doesn't understand it; he can't see the cuteness in it. What can I say, I like my phone to look good. Anyway, I tried my hand at designing some winter iPhone wallpapers for my phone and thought I'd share.

I made these wallpapers to fit both the new iPhone 5 and older versions. They should also work for other smart phones. My husband has a Samsung Galaxy phone and the wallpapers work for his phone (He may not understand it, but I've made his background cute too!). I've also included the plain background design for the home screen. I like my lock screen and home screen to match.

I'm really happy with how they turned out.

To download the picture to your phone follow these easy steps:

1. Click where it says "Click here to download"
2. Download the picture to your computer.
3. Email the image to yourself.
4. Open the Image in an email on your phone and click "Save image"
5. Open the Image on your phone and click "make wallpaper"

You can also just look at the site from your phone and save the images from there.

What are some of your favorite backgrounds to use? Does your background change to fit the season?

For iPhone 4 or earlier

               

 

                 Click Here to download                                  Click Here to Download

                                   Click Here to download                                                                Click Here to download 

           

         Click Here to download                                                       Click Here to Download

iPhone 5

              

                 

                      Click Here to Download                                       Click Here to download

                        

     
                            Click Here to download                                        Click Here to download

      

         

                       Click Here to download                                       Click Here to download

                                   I've linked up to some of these great parties.