Valentine’s Day is almost here. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that. You’ve probably been stewing over what to do for days.  If you’re still looking for that perfect idea to make that certain special someone feel loved and appreciated, look no more because I have just the thing for you.  Personalized Fortune Cookies! And let me tell you, someone’s gonna be super impressed with this  fun, unique, and easy Valentine’s Day idea.

Personalized Fortune Cookies

It’s surprisingly simple and uses store bought fortune cookies. You just take out the lame-o fortunes that are already inside, and replace them with your own unique messages. It’s a great idea for your spouse, your kids, your significant other, your best friend, or whomever you’d like to make feel special.

How to make personalized fortune cookies

1) Buy a package of pre-made fortune cookies and unwrap cookies. I usually get the La Choy brand.

2) Prepare your messages either by handwriting them on small strips of pretty paper, or by printing them out on a  computer printer and cutting them into small strips (about 1/2″ x 2″ at the largest)

3) Take a damp paper towel (not dripping, just damp) and wrap it around one of the fortune cookies so that it completely covers the cookie. Do this one at a time.

4) Microwave the wrapped cookie for about 15-40 seconds (time will vary, depending on microwave and dampness of the paper towel… experiment with it. I would start with 15 seconds and then increase the time in small increments if necessary.)

5) After microwaving, the cookie will become flexible a for about 20 seconds or so…  QUICKLY  take the paper towel from the cookie. Gently  open up the cookie and remove the old  message,  and put your new message in.  Fold the cookie back up. It will naturally fold back into the original fortune cookie shape.  Then let the cookie sit to cool and harden.

6) If you’d like, you can then dip the cooled fortune cookie half-way into melted chocolate and add fun sprinkles to the chocolate before it hardens. Let cool on waxed paper.

Put personalized fortune cookies in a fun, cute container. It’s a great way to show someone special that you love them.

See, easy peasy and sure to impress. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day.

~Kate…Enjoy your Coffee Break!

Anywho, this week, I wanted to bring you super simple project to adorn the Thanksgiving table. Not sure what else to call them, so we’ll just call them Veggie Candles.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Desired number of candles

• Green beans (about a half-pound per candle)

• One bunch asparagus (that will do one candle, as well)
• Rubber bands
• Ribbon of choice

Making the candles:

• Wrap rubber band around candle
• Slip the veggies under the band. You can cut the veggies to same height for uniformity if you want.
• Tie with ribbon

And we’re done. Talk about an easy way to bring the harvest to the table! Not to mention a sure fire way to serve waxed green beans I’m JOKING!

Kate and I hope you enjoy this project – and that your creative juices are starting to flow. Because next Friday, our 2nd Annual Craftdown to Christmas returns! And it’s not too early to send us your favorite crafts, recipes and homemade gift ideas! Just leave your ideas as a comment or email lizandkate@live.com!! We’d love to see the photos, too! We’ll be waiting…

It’s really a great craft for kids – and requires a relatively short list of supplies.  Chances are,  you already have everything you need on hand.

What you’ll need:

• One paper grocery bag
• One small paper bag
• Old newspaper for stuffing bags
• Duct tape or other wide tape
• Glue (whatever you have on hand)
• Scissors
• Construction paper in colors of choice

Instructions:

1. Begin by stuffing the large (body) and small (head) grocery bags with wadded up newspaper. You can gather the bag as you stuff to get a feel of how full you’d like the turkey.

2. Once the turkey is “stuffed” to your likings, insert the open end of the small bag into the open end of the large bag. Using duct tape or other wide tape, secure the two bags together.

3. Now that the body and head are ready, get out the scissors and construction paper, and cut out feathers (as many as you’d like), eyes (I used a large yellow circle and a small black circle), bow tie, feet, beak, and gobbler (not pictured as I forgot it until I began assembly

4. Assemble the feathers onto the back side of the body. As I was creating this, I realized the easiest way to do this is by gluing the feathers onto an oval-shaped piece of paper. Then you can glue the oval onto the bag. Trust me on this one.  Allow glue to dry a bit if using white glue, and attach feathers to back of turkey. In the future, I may be tempted to use a hot glue gun for this project – watch out for the little ones if you go this route!

5. Lay turkey on its backside. Glue on eyes, beak, gobbler and bow tie. Once these parts have dried, turn right side up. Tilt turkey-lurkey back and glue on feet.

6. Done! Ours now holds a special spot on the fireplace hearth. Trust me, it’s an attention-getter!

I think you’ll really like this project. And start to finish is less than an hour! So what are you waiting for?!? Go make a turkey!!

-Liz

Unless you’ve been in solitary confinement in Azkaban for the past few months, you know that we are mere hours away from the release of  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

At my house we are counting down the minutes until the magical moment.

(It’s no secret that I have some Harry Potter fanatics in my family. You can check out the party we had a few summers ago to celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince here.)

Anyway, we found a fabulous craft to keep ourselves occupied, and to help us while away the hours until the big event at 12:01 on Thursday night. (Unless of course you’re lucky enough to be me this week. I get to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at 8:00 on Thursday, thanks to a friend who has rented out two theaters for a corporate showing.)

So without further ado…

How to Make Harry Potter Wands

Supplies:

Construction paper
Elmer’s glue
Chop sticks or small dowels cut to the size of a chop stick
Glue gun and glue sticks (You’ll need about 3 glue sticks per wand.)
Craft paint
Marbles or small stones
Scissors

Directions:

Step 1 - Spread a generous amount of Elmer's glue on a piece of construction paper, paying special attention to the edges.

Step 2 - Place chop stick at corner of paper and begin to roll paper securely around stick.

Continue rolling paper around chop stick, wrapping tightly.

Make sure to have plenty of glue at the end corner. Let dry completely before continuing on to Step 3.

Step 3 - Cut off both ends of rolled up construction paper roll, to desired size.

Step 4 - Put hot glue into both ends of roll, making sure to fill up each end until the glue is even with the end of the roll.

Step 5 - Place marble or stone at one end of wand, using a large amount of hot glue. Once attatched, add more glue around where the marble meets the paper.

Step 6 - Put generous amount of glue on the handle end of the wand, being careful to keep hot glue from dripping onto your hand. As it begins to set a bit, add another layer of glue if you'd like a thicker handle.

Step 7 - Use glue gun tip to shape the handle, making grooves, lines or squiggles, whatever you think fits your own personal wand style. During this shaping step, DO NOT add more hot glue, merely use the tip to shape while glue is still pliable.

Step 8 - Once glue is set and cooled on the handle, add hot glue to wand end of paper roll. Be creative. There is no right or wrong way to design your wand. On this one, I simply made a thin vine around the wand end.

Step 9 - Once all hot glue has set and cooled, paint a base coat of black on the entire wand. Let dry completely.

Step 10 - Now it's time to paint your wand using craft paint. Let dry completely before moving on to next step.

We like to use metalic paints for a more magical looking wand. Gold, silver, copper, brown and bronze work well as the overall color. Brighter shades are good for the accent color.

Step 11 - Now comes the black-wash step, which makes your wand look antiqued. Simply mix a few drops of black paint with a small amount of water. Mixture should be thin. Test it out by putting the wet brush at the inside top of the cup. The mixture should run easily down the cup, but still leave some black color as it goes.

Step 12 - Standing wand on end, quickly apply a generous amount of black-wash over entire wand. It's okay if it runs down the wand.

Step 13 - Using a dry paper towel, lightly wipe off the excess black-wash, leaving black in the nooks and crannies. Let dry completely.

And viola…your own magical Harry Potter wand. (FYI…they are surprisingly sturdy because of the chop stick  and the hot glue and paint. Definitely sturdy enough for plenty of spell casting.)

Here are some other wands we’ve made, in case your creativity needs a jump start.

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break…and your Harry Potter wands!

Here’s the trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Related articles

• Harry Potter Stars As Children: Look Back At Years of Magic (huffingtonpost.com)
• Harry Potter World Cup: Snape Vs. Ron For The Win! (moviesblog.mtv.com)
• ‘Harry Potter’ Fans Camp Out At Lincoln Center For U.S. Premiere (newyork.cbslocal.com)

We’re down to the wire here, Christmas lovers. The big event is only days away. Here’s a super cute 5-minute craft that makes a great treat you can give to your neighbors, or that your kids can give to their friends.  Or you can just make some to keep for yourselves.

Candy Sleigh

Supplies:

full size chocolate bar

mini candy bar with a picture of Santa on the front

assorted mini candies

paper to wrap the chocolate in

2 candy canes

glue gun

Directions:

First,cut the paper to fit the candy bar. Then, wrap the bar with the paper and attach with hot glue.

Put a bead of glue on the back of the bottom of the Santa candy and attach to the wrapped chocolate bar.

Prop the Santa up by gluing a few candy "presents" right behind him.

Add the rest of the candy packages and allow to cool before moving on to the next step.

Apply hot glue to the candy cane. Make sure it looks like this or your runners will be upside down when you attach them to the sleigh.

Attach candy cane runner to the bottom of your sleigh.

Attach the other candy cane runner and allow to ool completely.

And voila...your super cute Candy Sleigh is complete. And please, for at least one day,try to resist the urge to take it apart and gobble it up!

~Kate

Enjoy your coffee break!

]]> http://www.coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com/kates-escapaes-candy-sleigh/feed 0 http://www.coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com/candy-crackers http://www.coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com/candy-crackers#comments Mon, 20 Dec 2010 07:03:38 +0000 Kate http://www.coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com/?p=5900 I guess you realize Christmas Day is days away. Well, not me. I’m in denial. Still a ton of things to do. Like craft some more creations.

This week, we’re featuring five crafts or edible ideas so let’s get to it!

• Susan’s Chicken Tacos
• Holiday Wassail
• Candy Crackers
• Pine Crafts
• Bowls made from vinyl records

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My cousin Susan has been quite an asset to our craftdown. This week, she sent in a recipe that sounds great for those busy holiday nights. It’s perfect for the family, or a dinner party:

Susan’s Chicken Tacos

1 cup frozen corn

15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

16-ounce jar mild salsa

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 1 1/2 pounds)

Place first 3 ingredients in a slow cooker and stir to combine.  Arrange chicken on top.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.  Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with a fork.  Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and stir to combine.

Serve over rice, in warm tortillas, or with tortilla chips with some of the following garnishes:

• Sour cream
• Shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
• Salsa
• Chopped green onions
• Chopped red, yellow, and green peppers
• Sliced avocados or prepared guacamole
• Shredded lettuce
• Chopped tomatoes
• Sliced black olives
• Sliced jalapenos
• Hot sauce

Set up buffet-style and let everyone create his or her own meal.

Leftovers freeze well. Serves 8-10.

When Susan sent this recipe, she also asked for a long-time favorite drink recipe. No dinner would be complete without a beverage, so here’s a little holiday cheer:

Holiday Wassail

1 c. fresh lemon juice

2 c. fresh, frozen concentrate, or packaged orange juice

2 c. unsweet pineapple juice

½ gallon apple cider

1 t. whole cloves

1 stick cinnamon

¼ c. sugar

Pour all juices into large pot or crockpot. Place cloves and cinnamon in cotton or cheesecloth bag and add to juices.

Bring to a simmering boil over medium heat. Cover and simmer one hour. Dissolve sugar in hot wassail before removing from heat. For an extra kick, add one pint of Apple Jack or hard cider. (Don’t boil after liquor is added) Makes about 4 quarts. Reheats nicely, assuming it lasts…

Let’s finish off the meal with a treat for your sweet tooth, Candy Crackers submitted by reader, Karen Smith-Morganti.

CANDY CRACKERS

2-3 sleeves of Club Crackers (regular or whole wheat, your choice)

1 ½ cup granulated sugar

2 sticks butter

3 tbsp. white corn syrup

2 tsp good vanilla

1 large package fresh Pecans – (chopped or pieces, your choice)

Line jelly roll pan with non-stick foil.  Spray foil with non-stick spray (just in case).   Spread out your crackers evenly, covering the bottom of the jelly roll pan (you may have to break a few crackers here and there).

Combine first 3 ingredients (sugar, butter and corn syrup) in sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Pull from heat and add vanilla.  Stir.

Pour over crackers and spread as evenly as possible.  Quickly sprinkle on pecans.

Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let cool and break apart.  Store tightly covered.

No need to calorie count or watch fat.  They’re too good for anyone to care!

I don’t know what’s overcome me, but I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time creating over the past week. Saturday, I decided I needed a wreath for the front door, but didn’t want to pay for one. So I dusted off one of those wreaths made of twigs and set out in search of decorations.

Pine Crafts

After a good deal of time searching in vain for something to put on it, I happened to glance out the window. To the pine trees. Eureka!

Pruners in hand, I scalped several branches and turned to come back inside – until I noticed a bush underneath my daughter’s bedroom window, loaded with clusters of red berries. Enter the pruning shears – again.

I don’t own a glue gun, so I decided to just weave the pine branches and berries into the twig wreath and hope for the best. So far, so good. I’d gone a little crazy with my pruning, so I started looking around for other uses for the leftover berries and branches. Next thing I knew, I’d created four more Christmas decorations – and it didn’t cost me a penny. Hooray for me.

And now for the grand finale…so easy you won’t believe it!

Vinyl Record Album Bowl

I ran across this nifty retro idea that looks like the perfect thing to make for one of my brothers. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Vinyl record album (available at most thrift stores)
• Oven
• Bowl

Heat the oven to 200 to 250 degrees. Invert an oven-proof bowl of choice and place on a cookie sheet. Place album on top of bowl and bake for 5-8 minutes. The album will begin to warp over the bowl, making it pliable for shaping.  Once it gets good and warpy, remove from oven and work quickly to shape it to the bowl. The album will be warm, but  you’ll be able to use your bare hands on it.

There are two ways to do this. If you shape the album around the outside of the bowl, you’ll get a larger interior.

You can also flip the bowl upright, push the album into the bowl, and shape that way. Albums are so cheap that you can try several of them. I couldn’t really find a way to screw this one up, so I think however you do it will be fine.

That’s it! Can you say simple? The bowl is perfect for fruit, candy, whatever your heart desires.

And I think it’ll be the perfect fit for Vespa Lexington’s show room.

Old albums can also be made into wall clocks, by simply adding a clock kit (you really only need the hands, but could likely come up with cool ways to add the numbers around the perimeter). I may try a clock, too. I think the kits are less than five bucks.

Okay kids, that’s it for week five. Hope you enjoy the delicious recipes from today’s craftdown.

~Liz & Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break

This first craft is so simple, I almost feel guilty. Operative word being almost. I’d seen the idea somewhere – it required getting small wooden trays and blocks, painting them as desired, and assembling in the same fashion, ending up with tiered serving plates. Well, guess who couldn’t find the plain wooden trays and blocks… (that would be me).

So I figured the same thing could be achieved with Dollar Tree plates and candlesticks. I was right. And I really like the finished product! For about 5 bucks and 15 minutes, you, too, can create a tiered candy/nut/appetizer dish for Christmas or any occasion! So without further ado, I present:

Tiered serving plates

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Dinner sized plate
• Salad plate or shallow bowl
• saucer or flat candle holder
• Two candle sticks
• Glass and bead glue (which is not pictured. But you should already have on hand if you made the mosaic light).

How to complete:

• Place a bead of glue around the bottom perimeter of  one of the candle sticks and position on the center of the largest plate. Allow to set a few minutes. You’ll have a little wiggle room to re-position, but act fast.
• Put a bead of glue around the top perimeter of the candle stick, and position the medium plate or bowl and allow to set.
• Repeat with second candle stick to adhere it to the medium plate, then add the smallest plate last.
• Once the glue has completely dried, fill the tiered servers with your favorite goodies and enjoy!

How easy was that? So easy, we have time to move on to craft 2!

Popcorn Wreath

Perhaps the most difficult part of this craft is not eating all the popcorn! But the end product is really cute, and worth it even if you have to make more popcorn to complete. It’s a little more time-consuming, but very therapeutic at the same time!

What you’ll need:

• Popped corn (I used less than one batch, popped in an air popper
• Paper plate
• Waxed dental floss – about 10 feet
• Needle
• Ribbon of choice

How to make it:

• Cut out the center of the paper plate. The finished/presentation side will be the back of the paper plate.
• Tie one end of the floss to the plate.
• String the popcorn onto the floss. Fun, and a bit messy I started with about 4 feet of dental floss, which wasn’t anywhere near enough. When I ran out, I simply tied the end around the plate, pulled out some more floss, tied a new end to the plate and started stringing again. If you want to start with enough to finish the wreath, I would suggest using 12-15 feet of floss, which could end up tangling. (Trust me.)
• Begin looping the  popcorn around the plate as you go, adjusting individual kernels so there are few discernible gaps if any.
• Once you’ve covered the entire wreath, you can fill in any small gaps with a glue gun and popcorn.
• Attach a ribbon to the wreath and hang.

How cute does this look on the kitchen cabinet? After Christmas, you can place the wreath outside to feed the critters.

So what are you waiting for?? Christmas eve is TWO WEEKS AWAY!! Get Crafting!

-Liz

Cookie Cutter Wreath

Supplies:

• metal cookie cutters, about 16 – 20. (I used 18, which came in a little tub from Walmart.)
• glue gun and glue sticks
• a ribbon or bow to put on top

Directions:

Arrange the cookie cutters into the general size of circle you’d like your finished wreath to be.

You will have to spend a little time re-arranging the cookie cutters to get them to fit together like a puzzle.

I discovered as I started to glue the cookie cutters together, the pieces would shift and need to be re-positioned constantly. Solution: Trace an outline on the inside of the wreath onto a piece of posterboard or large paper. (I pulled the cookie cutters away from the outline so I could take a picture to show you.)

Notice where the cookie cutters touch each other and apply hot glue to those spots.

Work quickly to attach cookie cutters before glue cools and set. Continue gluing until wreath is complete.

Let glue dry completely and attach a bow to the top.

Hang and enjoy!

Just when I’m ready to give up faith in humanity, you guys pull through with another splendid idea for the Christmas season. I knew I could count on you guys.

This week’s fare features both edible and non-edible goodies. I recommend making the eats first, so you have something to munch on while completing the other project. A glass of that Cranberry Wine could be a nice touch, too. Anyway, on to the craftdown.

My cousin Susan submitted this great idea for personalizing Christmas cards. Her idea reminds me of Sandra Lee’s cooking show – both of these fine ladies know the art of taking store-bought goods and making them their own. Thanks, Susan!

Low Cost Christmas Cards

To me a Christmas card without glitter is just not worth sending. Fancy glittered boxed Christmas cards are way too expensive. I tried making my own on the computer and then adding touches of glitter, but these end up costing just as much for expensive ink, paper, envelopes and craft supplies.

My solution is to search for inexpensive plain un-glittered boxed cards and add touches of glitter to them. Study them carefully before you buy to decide where you can easily add glue and glitter to jazz them up. You don’t want to choose a very complicated design.

I’ve also done this with Valentines and birthday cards.

Be sure to shop after Christmas sales to find inexpensive cards for next year.

Now for the food. This is a staple around our house every Christmas season. To say this stuff is addicting is an understatement (just ask Kate, who made a batch of her own last weekend). I have no idea where this recipe originated. Mom has been making it for years and years, though. It is my humble opinion that once you’ve tried these Nuts and Bolts, you’ll never go back to a bag of Chex Mix.

Nuts and Bolts

Ingredients:

• 3 sticks butter or margarine

• 1 T. garlic salt

• 1 T. onion salt

• 1 T. celery salt

• ¼ c. Worcestershire sauce

Melt in saucepan, but do not allow it to boil. Stir frequently.

In a large roaster or dutch oven, pour in:

• 1 box Rice Chex

• 1 box Cheerios

• 1 bag pretzel sticks

• 1 can mixed nuts

Pour butter mix over cereals, etc very slowly, stirring thoroughly and often (this is really a two-person job, although I do it by myself when I must).

Bake, covered, at 225 for one hour. Remove cover and stir. Return to oven uncovered and bake another hour, stirring about every 20 minutes.

While I do like them right out of the oven, I really like them once they’ve cooled for several hours. After they’ve cooled completely, move them to an air-tight container like Tupperware. They keep for a few weeks, easily. Assuming they last that long…

OH – and for any of you who may have missed it (shame, shame) Kate got into the spirit this week too, when she posted this. Sometimes I have to wonder if she’s secretly scheming to undermine the craftdown, heehee. But I’ll let her explain herself…

OK – that’s it for this week. Be sure to get your ideas in for next week ASAP! Just send us an email (lizandkate@live.com) or leave a comment (which will also register you for this week’s giveaway!).

Related articles

• Decorating the table: Veggie Candles (coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com)
• Liz’s rant: Fast and Festive Fall Centerpiece (coffeebreakwithlizandkate.com)
• Holiday-inspired crafts and treats for kids (wplkids.wordpress.com)
• Christmas Glitter (otomys.wordpress.com)

So here’s a little different take on the glass block. Use sea glass or stained glass pieces to make your own work of art!

What you’ll need:

• Glass block – available at arts and crafts stores and home improvement stores NOTE: if you purchase a a solid block, make sure you or someone you know can drill a hole in it, so you can get lights inside!
• Sea glass or stained glass pieces – available at craft stores
• Glass glue
• Small strand of holiday lights (I used a strand of 15 for this 6-inch block)

How to assemble:

• Lay glass flat on newspaper
• Start gluing
• There really wasn’t rhyme or reason for our pattern. Colton and I just started gluing pieces of sea glass onto the block, rotating out colors.
• Be sure to allow glue to dry before standing upright.
• Once the front is finished, you can decorate the sides and top, as well.
• Insert the strand of lights into bottom of block.
• Turn on the lights and enjoy!

This project took about 30 minutes. I was amazed at how quickly it came together. The block could be used as a nightlight, or simply to set a more romantic mood in any room. The light strand I used is actually battery powered, making it perfect for placing just outside the entry to a home.

For those quilters out there (or anyone else so inspired), I suspect it would be fairly easy to make a pattern for a small quilt square or other design. You’re only limited by your own imagination.

So that’s it for this week – hope you like it! Meanwhile, we’d sure like to hear from you guys! Send us your favorite holiday crafts, foods and decorations today!