2012 in Review. . .

Some of my most favorite moments from this past year. . . Hope you are enjoying this final day of 2012! Happy New Year.

E is for Elephant. . .{9}

My DIY for today is this little stitched elephant that I made for King for Christmas. . . I wanted to inspire you to make something handmade as this new year is right around the corner. New opportunities, ideas, and thoughts are so close to being real and you have to be the one who makes them happen. I had always thought of making a little stuffed whimsical elephant and FINALLY decided to make one. Hand-sewn. It was such a sweet experience, stitching every stitch knowing that the result was worth it. . . and it was. King loved the elephant, I was so overjoyed! And I also decided that since I enjoyed doing it so much, I am going to put some for sale on Etsy. Woo hoo! So in the next couple of days, I will be letting you know where to look for them, can't wait to begin this exciting journey. Just had to share. Hope you are having a lovely Sunday soaking in our Savior's glory, we serve an awesome God. So thankful He created things like creativity, inspiration, and beautiful moments.

Simply Smitten tags. . . definitely a favorite!!!!

And, I couldn't resist. Had to add a little something above the tail! I love how it turned out.

The Curious King. . .

So, I just couldn't resist putting this up. The picture had so much feeling and sweetness. I love how his little hands were pressed against the window!  Little King was watching me during a shoot with my cousin two days ago. . . I think he wanted a picture too! Just amazed me of how much he has grown up in the past couple of months. He is now standing and never stops babbling oh so joyfully. There is such a big world outside, and his little eyes were just gazing on the excitement outside where I was. I love this kid. So thankful that he has taken a special little place in my heart. Never take for granted these small simple moments.

Office Label Wrapping. . .{8}

I hope you had a VERY Merry Christmas this past week. This DIY is for those who still have a couple extra gifts to give away. I don't know about you, but I know I always have those friends that I just didn't get a chance to see by Christmas, but still wanted to give them a gift. Here are some fun wrapping ideas to do with office labels! Yes, office labels. Super easy way to make a brown gift look extra amazing.

On this I used the circle colored labels that look like this:

and cut them in half to make my design. And then I took regular shipping labels and cut triangles out of them to make the design in the middle. Add some string and tie the bow to make your beautiful creation!

On this one, I took the shipping labels and cut triangles to make the trees, but took fun tape from Target to get the base.

This design sort of came by accident. I thought it looks like abstract snowy mountains. . . Maybe not, but hey, it's all about being creative! This was made from the scraps of my shipping labels. Have fun, and do something different!

Stitched Journals. . .{7}

Here is another DIY for today. . . Journals. Just wanted to inspire you to be creative as this next year rolls around. What will you make? Here is an easy start. Take paper and sew fabric to the front. . . YES this is allowed. I used to think it was weird that people would put paper through their sewing machines, but I was very wrong. It is not weird at all, and you just have to experiment to see what you can come up with! I then hot glued paper in so that my friends could write inside of them, and stitched on a twine string to secure them with a button. Super easy. I'll let you know a little secret. . . some of these were made out of Goodwill clearance shirts that I washed several times and cut up to make designs. Shhh, no one will ever guess. You don't have to spend a ton of money on fabric. Find a way to make it work. Hope this inspired you!!!!! Let's craft.

Cranberry Bliss Bars. . .{6}

If you are anything like me, I am ALWAYS last minute searching for an amazing recipe to serve at the next holiday party. With the New Year coming up in less than a week, I was so excited to find this recipe and thought I'd share. So here it is. Cranberry Bliss Bars. They taste like the ones you find at Starbucks in the winter. . . amazing. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

For the Bars

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)

1 large egg

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried cranberries, loosely packed

1/2 teaspoon orange zest, optional and to taste (edited to add this on 12-9-12)

For the Frosting and Topping

1 cup white chocolate chips, melted and divided

4 ounces cream cheese, softened (whipped or light may be used)

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups+ confectioners' sugar (I used about 2 3/4 cups)

1/4 cup dried cranberries, loosely packed (optionally, roughly dice them if the pieces are larger) 

For the Bars

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 90 seconds. To the melted butter (allow it to cool slightly so you don't scramble the egg), add the egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and stir to combine. Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix or the bars will be tough. Fold in 3/4 cup white chocolate chips, 1/2 cup cranberries, optional orange zest, and stir to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife if necessary.

Bake for 18 to 21 minutes, and center is set and golden or until edges begin to slightly pull away from sides of pan, or a toothpick comes out clean; do not overbake. Allow bars to cool before frosting them. While they cool, make the frosting.

Frosting and Topping

In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate on high power, about 1 minute, reheating in 10-second intervals, or until it can be stirred smooth. White chocolate is notorious for scorching so melt it very carefully, and slowly, heating in quick bursts, and keep a watchful eye; use a double boiler if that's easier.

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine cream cheese, about three-quarters of the melted white chocolate (about 3/4 cup, just eyeball it), 2 cups confectioners' sugar (I don't sift it because any tiny lumps will be covered up by sprinkled cranberries and white chocolate drizzle), vanilla, and beat until smooth and fluffy. Start by mixing on low speed so sugar doesn't spray, and then beat on medium-high for about 3 minutes. Mixture will seem stiff at first but will loosen and fluff up after 2 to 3 minutes of beating on medium-high; stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add additional confectioners' sugar (I used about 2 3/4 cups, I like it on the thicker side) based on taste preference and desired frosting consistency. Frost the bars; if you have excess, it will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 1 month.

Evenly sprinkle 1/2 cup cranberries over the top of the frosted bars. Evenly drizzle bars with remaining melted white chocolate, reheating for a few seconds in the microwave if it has set up. Allow bars to set up for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Twig Stars. . .{5}

Looking for a super easy DIY decor idea? Go outside, find some twigs, and hot glue them together to make a star!!!! It was so easy to do, and such a beautiful addition to my room decor for this time of year! Happy Crafting.

Although its been said many times, many ways. . . Merry Christmas to you. . .

Merry Christmas from my family to yours. . . I hope that you had an incredible time with your family today. I sure did. My dad's entire side of the family was in town today, and that was so fun. I loved visiting, laughing, and spending time with each of my siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents, and boyfriend today. It was so lovely. Hope you also got to spend some time reveling in our Savior's birth, what an amazing gift of God. "Born that man no more may die. . . born to give us second birth.""Oh, COME, let us adore Him!!!" These words really reminded me of Who my Savior is. He is most wonderful. King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and worthy of all worship and praise. Hope you enjoyed praising Him for what He has done for us. Here are some moments captured today. . .

And THESE are the amazing people that I call family. I love them all so much. So incredibly thankful for them. Have had so much fun spending time with them during this special holiday season.

This is my nephew Kingston. Ah, isn't he a cutie?! Little santa baby. Lots of love.

Cinnamon enjoyed today too, her and Shelby have so enjoyed playing with all of their new toys today!!!!

Jason was a big part of today too. He was so sweet, got me this BEAUTIFUL red coat from a cute boutique and a much needed lifeproof case for my poor iPhone. Somehow it manages to get dropped more than I expect, so it was much needed. He knows me well!!! So thankful for his sweet, giving heart. He is an incredible guy that's for sure, I am so lucky to have him in my life!!!! So enjoyed spending time with him, it definitely was one of my favorite parts about today.

. . . And merry wishes to you on this beautiful Christmas day.
"Although its been said many times, many ways. Merry Christmas to you."

"Merry" Sign. . . {4}

Today's DIY was one of my favorites that I did this season. I thought it would be cool to use my sign that said "fall" from my part back in October, and turn to the other side and paint "merry" for Christmas. It was so simple and easy to do, that I couldn't help but share with you! Plus, it is AMAZING decor, I love it. Enjoy! Hope you are enjoying these last few days until Christmas. . .

First, you will go into Microsoft Word and type out "merry" in VERY large font. (**Notice I had to do two pages..**) It depends on how big your 2x4 board ends up being, so adjust the font size accordingly.

Then, you will cut out the letters and trace them onto your sign. I made my sign by sawing a 2x4 segment into half, and nailed it together!

The next step is a little time consuming. I used snow paint to paint inside of the traced letters. Be careful, it is easy to slip and mess up! I LOVE snow paint so much. Click on the link to get some from Amazon.com! And then finally you will have completed a very lovely sign. I love how simple this is. Happy Crafting!

Here are some ways I incorporated my sign into some of my shoots for Christmas cards!!!!! Tis the Season.

Cranberry Orange Biscotti. . . {3}

This morning I was most certainly in the mood to bake. I decided that biscotti sounded amazing. So here is a very simple treat to make for your friends and families during this wonderful time of year. It turned out so delicious.

Cranberry Orange Biscotti

1/4 cup light olive oil

3/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup slivered almonds

3 tbsp. orange zest

Directions:

1.	Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2.	In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in cranberries, orange zest, and almonds by hand.
3.	Divide dough in half. Form two logs (12x2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.
4.	Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
5.	Cut logs on diagonal into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until dry; cool.

Handmade Christmas Cards. . . {2}

Today's DIY  was one of my absolute favorites to do. It was time consuming, but I think that it turned out lovely. Since this is the first Christmas for Simply Smitten, I thought it would be fun to do cards for all of my clients this past year. I was trying to think of something creative, and I was suddenly inspired. I decided to draw out Christmas cards. This design was very simple. I drew some trees with Sharpies, and then sketched out a design of a snowflake. I then took pictures of my sketches with my Iphone, and sent them to my computer to upload into Photoshop Elements 10. Thats where the hard work came in. I took the selection tool and carefully selected, and erased the image until I felt like it was perfect. For the snowflake, since I drew it in pencil, I had to use the bucket tool to dump black paint into my selection. I then created a "tiff" format of each, and pieced them together onto one document, yay! It turned out perfect, I loved it. I just got my cards at Hobby Lobby. Have I mentioned how much I absolutely love shopping there?! Go. Shop and craft. Hope you are enjoying these weeks leading up to Christmas. Can't wait to share some more DIY ideas!

 Sketches. . .

 And, here is the result!!!!!

Hand-Stitched Bows. . .{1}

Today's DIY idea is very simple and low-cost. Make little itty bitty bows for your solid gloves. I just took scrap fabric and stitched a rectangle (9"x1.5"). Then, fold it once, and then again. Pinch in the middle and stitch a single stitch. Wrap a different color ribbon (or I did scrap lace) around the middle and stitch a single stitch in the back of the bow to hold. Then, carefully handsew the bow onto your glove. It looks darling, I love how they turned out. Definitely a good stocking stuffer!