Saturday Spirits: Chocolate Peppermint Martini

December 6, 2014 5 Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

This post is the sixth in my series of the 12 Days of Christmas DIYs for A Well Crafted Party. Check in each day for the next 12 Days for new DIY posts. There will be LOTS of free printables to boot! (Check out yesterday’s post: “DIY Branch Holiday Card Display“)

Chocolate Peppermint Cocktail

Anyone else a little obsessed with the chocolate-peppermint combo during the holiday season? No, just me? Well, I’ll take two of these then…

Last week I was wondering around the Clackamas Town Center (aka The Mall) and ran across the most amazing thing in the whole world. There is a East Side Distilling storefront IN THE MALL. Can I tell you how much better holiday shopping is after tasting some Burnside Bourbon? SO much better. One of my discoveries while there was a delicious Holiday Peppermint Bark Liqueur. Chocolate. Peppermint. Liqueur.

As soon as I bought it I thought of re-doing a nice chocolate martini to make this tasty rendition. But, first… my DIY for today!

DIY Peppermint Cocktail Rimmer

I love a good rimmer. Bud um dum.

This candycane sugar rimmer is super easy to make. You can rim your martini glasses or hot cocoa mugs by simply dipping the glass into chocolate sauce and then dipping it into the sugar. If you don’t want the glass to have the chocolate on the rim (it does look a little messy) then you can dip it into simple syrup and then into the rimming sugar.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Candy Canes

Directions (with a food processor):

Put all into a food processor and process until similar sized grains.
Put onto a plate for rimming!

Directions (without food processor):

Put candy canes and sugar into a ziplock bag. Double bag it. Hit with a hammer or meat mallet until all of the candy canes are broken into small bits. Mix well.
Put onto a plate for rimming!

Note: I used organic candy canes and they stuck together quite a lot… it still worked wonderfully, but need to be broken up with a fork if you store it at all. Store in an airtight container or baggy.

Chocolate Peppermint Martini

Ingredients:

1 oz of Holiday Peppermint Bark Liqueur by Eastside Distilling
1 3/4 oz of Vodka
2 oz of Half & Half
Dark Chocolate Syrup
Shaker with ice
Peppermint Cocktail Rimmer

Directions:

Take your martini glass and rim with chocolate syrup and peppermint cocktail rimmer.
Swirl chocolate syrup around the inside of your glass.
In a shaker pour the Peppermint Bark Liqueur, Vodka, and Half & Half over ice. Shake well.
Strain into the martini glass.

You can garnish with a little candy cane and enjoy!

This post was not sponsored. I really did find this stuff in a MALL. And, I will be going back… soon!

Christmas

DIY Branch Holiday Card Holder

December 5, 2014 12 Comments Christmas

This post is the forth in my series of the 12 Days of Christmas DIYs for A Well Crafted Party. Check in each day for the next 12 Days for new DIY posts. There will be LOTS of free printables to boot! (Check out yesterday’s post: “DIY Wood Chargers“)

I love receiving (and sending) holiday cards. The problem is figuring out where to put said cards each year. Sometimes I display them on a cabinet. Other times of fridge gest covered. This year, I’m displaying them more promenitely… giving them the attention they deserve! This do-it-yourself project is super simple… the hardest part involves finding a branch!

DIY Branch Holiday Photo Holder Supplies:

(Affiliate Links Below)

Gloves
Copper Spray Paint (I used Krylon Premium Copper Foil Metallic 1070)
Clear Sealer ( I used Krylon Crystal Clear)
Sanding Sponge
Branch
Curtain brackets or nails for mounting
Ribbon of your choice
paper clips of your choice

How to make a Gilded Branch Holiday Photo Display:

1. Find a branch! This might be the hardest and easiest part of this whole ordeal. Before I lived in my house with a gigantic tree out in the yard I wouldn’t have been able to tell you where to find a branch. This branch literally fell into our yard after a big wind storm. Other ways to find a branch besides waiting on mother nature include trimming a tree or finding tree pieces ready to go out with the garbage. Please note that you should either be doing these things with your own trees or asking first… otherwise it might be a little difficult to explain to future employers that you got arrested for trying to make a holiday card display.

2. Trim off small branches and foliage. Our branch fell from a very large and old evergreen tree. It was covered in pine needles. My husband so graciously took the time to take off the offshoots for me, leaving me with a bare branch. (It is completely easy enough to do yourself, I just happen to be allergic!)

3. Sand down stumpy parts and dangerous edges. Don’t want to get splinters when putting up your holiday cards!

4. Spray paint! This is the fun part. You can totally leave your branch bare if you’d like… you can even take the bark off and sand down the branch for a beautiful bare branch look. I wanted my card holder to be gilded though! So, I sprayed the branch with the Copper Metallic spray paint until it had a pretty sheen. After drying I did a layer of clear sealer to try to prevent the paint scuffing off. (I should have probably done two layers as some of the paint scuffed up my friend’s walls during this photoshoot. EEK.)

5. Mount your branch. For this photoshoot we actaully just tied ribbons around the branch and nailed the ribbon to the wall. This is not the most sturdy solution. For day to day use I’d actually suggest mounting curtain brackets and placing the branch in those. You’d have to find brackets large enough to fit your branch, and then secure the branch by tighting the brackets around it. I like using the Ikea brackets on my wall throughout the year and changing out wall hangings for parties!

6. Hang ribbons on the branch to attach your holiday cards. Use a slip knot to tie on your ribbon. That way, at the end of the holiday you can easily pack away your branch. (Check out my ribbon backdrop wall for pictures of ribbons with slipknots!)

7. Hang your cards! As you receive your holiday cards and photos secure them to the backdrop using a paperclip, staple or glue dot!

More Holiday Goodies:

Do you want to see another awesome holiday card holder DIY? Check out my Rain Or Shine’s Gilded Popscicle Stick Snowflake. You seriously have to see this!
No holiday cards yet this year? Check out Suzannah’s MINTED giveaway!

Do you want to see more from this Holiday Styled Shoot?

Photos from this project was from a recent Holiday Styled Shoot collaboration between myself and Suzannah of Create/Enjoy and Macey from Motormouth Studio. Check out my main post with links to DIY projects & recipes: “Natural Green and White Holiday Party + Free Printables” A big thank you to Orchard Supply Hardware for providing a couple of the supplies to make this DIY happen!

A Well Crafted Party

DIY Wood Chargers

December 4, 2014 19 Comments A Well Crafted Party

This post is the forth in my series of the 12 Days of Christmas DIYs for A Well Crafted Party. Check in each day for the next 12 Days for new DIY posts. There will be LOTS of free printables to boot! (Check out yesterday’s post: “DIY Copper Dinnerware”)

When working on the tablescape for the natural holiday collaboration with fellow Portland Blogger Suzannah of Create/Enjoy I really wanted to bring in more natural elements to the table that I hadn’t seen everywhere before. We discussed creating a natural linen table cloth or place mats. But, I wanted the pretty dark wood of Suzannah’s table to show through with the greenery, so I didn’t like either of those ideas. Then, suddenly, it came to me in one fell swoop while walking the aisles of Orchard Supply Hardware in Tigard, Oregon…. WOOD.

We had already used a big tree round as a stand for candles in the party. And, had I the right saw I might have taken the time to cut thin rounds from the tree to use for these chargers. Never to make things too hard on myself I decided to get a 1/4 inch thick piece of wood from Orchard and cut them into 12X12 squares. I liked the difference in shapes on the table, the wood had a darker side and lighter side so I could choice what looked best for the table, and they could double as platters for decor, food or drinks!

After a quick sanding, lacquer and copper edging these made for simple and beautiful holiday chargers. Plus, they’ll look fabulous on the table all year long!

How to Make Wood Chargers:

Supplies: (affiliate links below)

Latex Gloves
12X12 Wood “squares” cut from your choice of wood that is 1/4 of an inch thick*
Fast-Drying Polyurethane – I used MiniWax in Clear Satin, but a nice glossy one would look good too! I got a brush on style of polyurethane rather than a wipe on style. If you choose a different poly than I just follow the directions on the can rather than my instructions below!
Copper Leafing Pen
Sponge Paint Brush
Sanding tool of your choice (You can use paper or a small sander. You don’t need much to get this job done. I used a 180 Sanding Sponge.)

*Wood cutting tip: We got a large sheet of wood for less than $10 at Orchard Supply Hardware. The wood can then be cut down into the 12X12 squares. To cut, measure your wood and draw your lines using a straight edge and pencil. This will make cutting the wood MUCH easier. Cut on the side you’d prefer to have up because the other side may splinter a bit. Follow all safety instructions from your cutting tool of choice. You may also be able to find wood pre-cut at crafting stores. The cost will be more however!

Directions:

Take your wood squares and sand them lightly. Pay extra attention to any splinters that may be poking out and the edges of the boards.
Wipe down the boards to get all dust off.
Edge the boards with your copper leafing pen or a paint color of your choice. I used copper to go with the copper dinnerware I made for the tablescape.
Put on your latex gloves and use the sponge paint brush to brush on a layer of the polyurethane to the top of your chargers in a well-ventilated space. The smell is CRAZY. Go ahead and get the sides while you are at it. Follow the directions to the polyurethane to dry your chargers. Mine took about an hour before I could touch them and get the other side. Once dry, brush on a layer of poly to the other side. Repeat these steps until you feel like your chargers are to the sheen/protectability that you’d like. I did 3 coats.

NOTE: These are not food safe. Do not put food directly on these boards. Do not cut food on these boards. These are merely a decorative item for a table. I like the idea of using these as a tray for a buffet table by setting a pretty platter or plate of food right on top!

Do you want to see more from this Holiday Styled Shoot?

Photos from this project was from a recent Holiday Styled Shoot collaboration between myself and Suzannah of Create/Enjoy and Macey from Motormouth Studio. Check out my main post with links to DIY projects & recipes: “Natural Green and White Holiday Party + Free Printables”. A big thank you to Orchard Supply Hardware for supplying the tools and supplies to make this craft. Check them out on Facebook!