Sunday, December 16, 2012

My first decoupaged plate

I am making a decoupaged dinnerware set for my sister for christmas and decided to do a trial run on one of my own plates. I think I did a pretty good job.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Wonderful Stocking Stuffers ideas

For all you parents out there with little girls who love to accessorize their hair with their outfits, I have to best stocking stuffer idea for you. Help support a local home business. My cousin makes hair accessories, hats, little purses for kids, etc. There is plenty to go around. Shop Button Up 3 this holiday season.  

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Decoupaged Block Shelves

Well I almost completed the block shelves for my niece. I hope she loves them as much as I do. All I have to do is seal them and they will be good to go.


If anyone is interested in making these block shelves yourself at home, I bought the blocks at my local Micheals Arts and Crafts store. They were fairly cheap. I painted the box with acrylic paint and applied 2 coats to the blocks. 
I used scrapbook paper I had laying around the house for the inside of the box and applied them to the box by using Mod Podge glue Matte (also purchased at Micheals). I cut the paper to fit each side of the box. Make sure you cut the paper to the inside not the outside since the inside is a smaller dimension. Once I cut the paper, I applied the Mod Podge glue to the back of the paper and  put it on one side and used a straight edged tool to remove bubbles and then I applied the glue again to the top of the paper. Apply 2 coats to the outside of paper. 
At the end I carefully applied my ribbon to the outside of the box using Mod Podge glue as well.  I would Mod Podge the whole box to avoid change in the paint color. Add the embellishment of your choice with a glue gun. Once everything is dry, seal with a spray sealer. 

Good Luck! Any questions please contact me. 

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Block shelves for my niece

Well my niece's block shelves, I am giving her as one of her christmas presents, has officially been started. I painted them and now they are ready to be decoupaged. I cannot wait to see how they turn out. Ill keop you posted on my progress.

Holiday treats

With the holidays right around the corner I am sure you are wondering what yummy treats will be best for your holiday party. Well here are a few of my all time favorites:  


One quick and delicious recipe that is guaranteed to be a winner is Food.com's Canoli dip recipe.

Canoli Dip

2 cups ricotta cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips
waffle bowl or cone (for dipping)

Mix all ingredients together except the waffle cone or waffle bowl
Chill
To serve -  I put the canoli dip in one of the waffle bowls and broke up the rest for dipping

Tastes just like a Canoli!



Another family favorite and wonderful treat that is bound to makes mouth smile is Taco Cupcakes which can be found on Emily Bites



Taco "Cupcakes"
Source: Emily Bites Original

Ingredients:
1 ½ t chili oil (found near the Asian ingredients)
½ lb 95% lean ground beef
1 T taco seasoning
¾ c canned black beans, drained and rinsed
16 wonton wrappers (found in the produce section)
5 T + 1 t of queso dip or salsa con queso (I used Wholly Guacamole Queso Blanco)
1 c chunky salsa (I used Wholly Guacamole Medium Salsa)
1 c reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese (I used Weight Watchers brand)

Directions:
1.    Pre-heat the oven to 375. Lightly mist 8 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
2.    Heat chili oil in a sauté pan or large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and taco seasoning and brown beef, breaking it up with a spoon. Add black beans and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until warm.
3.    Push a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each of the eight sprayed cups in the muffin tin. Spoon a teaspoon of queso dip into each wonton wrapper and spread across the bottom. Follow by spooning some of the meat/beans mixture into each cup (using about half the total mixture) and then splitting ½ cup of the salsa evenly into each cup. Sprinkle about half the shredded Mexican cheese evenly over the top of each cup. Press another wonton wrapper on top and repeat the layering steps with the remaining ingredients.
4.    Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin.

Yields 8 taco cupcakes. Weight Watchers Points Plus: 4 per cupcake (P+ calculated using the recipe builder onweightwatchers.com)
Nutrition Information per cupcake from myfitnesspal.com: 164 calories, 12 g carbs, 7 g fat, 12 g protein, 1 g fiber


It is a party must have and will be at my holiday party for sure. 

Happy Holidays and Party on!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Decoupage Ideas

If anyone is looking for wonderful Decoupage ideas, I have come across many new ideas on Youtube. Yes Youtube! Who would of thought. I definitely did not think Youtube would be a useful search tool for decoupage, but apparently many people post their tutorials. In my search, I came across decoupaged canvases, wood transfers, decoupaged tile, etc.

  

Decoupaged Plates..Love this!

I hope you all find these ideas as useful as I do. Happy Decoupaging!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Mental Road block

I have been trying for days to think of the perfect Christmas gift for my sister and I cannot come up with any gift worthy craft ideas. She told me to make her anything as long as it was not pink. In my point of view everything is great in pink.

After watching a tutorial on how to decoupage plates, I decided maybe I could buy a set of clear dishes and decoupage them with Christmas themed paper napkins. Now I am not sure.

Tutorial for Decoupaged plates

I will keep you updated on what I finally decided.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Rivito Family Christmas Tree 2012

The tree is up and decorated. I love it! I believe this is the biggest Christmas tree I have seen, in any house I have lived in, in a long time. I decorated our tree by myself, which is fine with me since I am picky. I would have liked my three year old to help, by the hubby wanted "Santa" to decorate it after my son had gone to bed. This tradition will not last long if I have anything to say about it.


Decoupage Notion

I recently decided to start decoupaging. I have always shown an interest, but never knew where to start. I created my first project last night when I was bored by using an empty wine bottle and some Christmas tissue paper. Oh my, I am shocked at how well it turned out.

I am not sure it is exactly finished. I want to turn it into a lamp (suggestion by my mom). I think it would make a wonderful lamp.
Any suggestions on improvements would be appreciated by anyone who is skilled in decoupage.

More projects to come.