How to Fold Christmas Tree Napkins – A Festive Holiday Tablescape and Place Card Idea

Are you ready for the holiday?  If you’re hosting a Christmas party this year, I have a wonderful tablescape and place card idea for you.  I promise, it’s quick, easy, and festive!  After all, we don’t want to spend all day fixing/setting the table while we have a feast to prepare, don't we?  On a side note, my kids are into origami (art of paper folding) and therefore they totally enjoyed folding these Christmas Tree Napkins.  So, you might want to put your little helpers to work as well!  Yes, it’s so easy that kids can do it too!



See how festive this table setting is?  In addition to the visual, I wish you can smell it too.  Because I added a cinnamon stick to mimic the tree trunk and the whole plate simply smells wonderful.  I think cinnamon is one of my favorite aroma for the holidays!  It’s warm and earthy.  I feel so relax and calm sniffing it in!   



I tied a little bow tie with Christmas colored ribbon on the cinnamon stick (or you can use kitchen twine as well) so that your guest can take it home and hang it on their Christmas tree after the party!
  


The step-by-step pictorial above give you an idea of the steps.  But since I created a video tutorial for you, I think it’s even easier to just watch the video and follow along.  Have fun with this little project! And below are the materials you’ll need for this Christmas Tree Napkin!  Stay tuned for more festive recipe next week!


Christmas Tree Napkins:
Makes: 1 tables setting (simply multiply with number of guests/settings needed)

1 square green napkin  (Click here for more information)
1 cinnamon stick (Click here for more information)
1 (12-inch) long ribbon or kitchen twine (Click here for more information)
1 Gold star sticker (Click here for more information)
1 Christmas Berries sticker (Click here for more information)
1 small holiday post-it (Click here for more information)
Green Handle Flatware (Click here for more information)
White Dinner Plates (Click here for more information)
Silver Charger (Click here for more information)



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How to Decorate Easter Eggs in 1 Minute

Are you ready for Easter?  I certainly am and can’t wait to go Easter Egg Hunts with my Kids!  If you’re having a party or gathering, you've got to check out my video tutorial on "How to Decorate Easter Eggs in 1 minute!" video clip.  Aren't these decorated eggs gorgeous?  Let me tell you a secret (or 2)!  These beautiful decorated eggs are super easy to make and there’s no real eggs involved!  Shhhhh….no one has to know that they are so easy to make.  Hey, I always say I’m not a crafty person!  But if I can make these gorgeous eggs, so can you!



So, here are a few things that you will need for this project.  First of all, the Dyeable Craft Eggs, of course (see picture below).  I got them from a local craft store and they are super realistic!  The shells’ texture really feel like the texture from the real eggs!  Honestly, I thought of making these decorated eggs with the real eggs by emptying the egg whites and yolks from the shells, clean up, dry out, etc.  But, the real eggs shell are so fragile and probably won’t last as long as these craft eggs.  So, craft eggs win!  Also, you’ll need a few floral printed paper napkins, a pair of scissors and some decoupage glue.  The decoupage glue that I used already comes with a brush attached inside the cap, so convenient!  You can also get a nest from the craft store to put the eggs in, but that is totally optional.  These eggs will look just as beautiful in your Easter baskets, or anywhere, really!



One more tip, when you choose your floral paper napkins, try to get one that has the white background.  They will come out seamlessly when you put them on the egg shells.  Here we go, check out my video tutorial below on how to make these gorgeous eggs!





Super easy, isn't it?  My Kids also helped me to decorate some of the eggs.  We had so much fun.  I can’t wait to make more with them over the weekend.  I hope you enjoyed watching my video tutorial.  If you haven’t done so, please subscribe to my Youtube channel here.  You’ll be the first to know when I have new video tutorials published.



I want to wish you and your family a fun and blessed Easter Holiday!  Stay tuned for more fun recipe, crafts, video tutorials and giveaways!


Tools used in this post:
Decoupage Glue (click here for more information)
Floral Paper Napkins (Click here for similar product)
Natural Twig Bird Nest (Click here for similar product)

How to Make Flower Garden Cookies with Video Tutorial

I adore spring.  It’s one of my favorite season of the year.  I love seeing my newly planted herbs starting to sprout; the longer day light extended till after dinner; the cute (or more often creepy) Easter Bunny at the photo booth in the Mall; and the excitement in my Kids’ eyes when they go for the Easter Egg hunt!  It’s a season to play, enjoy and celebrate.  So, to celebrate this lovely season, I created these Flower Garden Cookies to share with you.



The base cookies themselves are similar to the texture of sugar cookies, and I flavored them with dried and grounded lavender buds, lemon zests and rose extract.  They are packed with the elegant floral aromas with a hint of refreshing citrus.  I top the cookies with some white chocolate mixed with Matcha green tea, which acts as “glue" for the bunny as well as mimicking the “meadow in the garden”.  Then, I decorated each cookie with a dressed up chocolate bunny, a chocolate egg, lavender buds, a dried tea rose, and some rose tea petals (broken apart from the tea roses).  Please see the ingredients list at the bottom of the post for more details and where to buy these ingredients.



I packaged these Flower Garden Cookies individually and shared them with some of my my Baby Girl’s classmates as a way to say thank you for their kindness.  The kids loved them and I was so happy that they enjoyed these cookies so much!  You can use these gorgeous cookies as party favors, center piece for your spring party, a place card holder (between the bunny and the egg) for your next Easter gathering, or just because.  These cookies are great for desserts and afternoon tea.  Interested to see how I made them?  Here’s the video tutorial with the step by step instructions.  Check it out!





Pretty easy, isn't it?  I hope you enjoyed my video tutorial.  If you haven’t done so, please subscribe to my Youtube channel here.  You’ll be the first to know when I have new and exciting video tutorials published.  I added a list of ingredients and tools that I used at the bottom of this post.  You can leave me a commend if you have any other questions.  I hope you enjoy today’s post and video tutorial.  Stay tuned for more fun recipes and giveaway.




Props, ingredients, and tools used in this post:
Lindt Mini Chocolate Bunny (Click here for more information)
Dry Lavender Buds (Click here for more information)
Dry Rose Tea Buds (Click here for more information)
Matcha Green Tea Powder (Click here for more information)
White Chocolate Chips (Click here for more information)
Easter Candy Coated Chocolate Eggs (Click here for more information)
Daisy Flower Sprinkle for Bunny (Click here for more information)
Rainbow Nonpareils (Click here for more information)
Flower Shaped Cookie Cutter (Click here for more information)
Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat (click here for more information)
Calphalon Baking Sheet Pans (Click here for more information)
Oval Shape Wood Board (Click here for more information)

How to make a 3-tier Diaper Cake

Yay, I made my very first diaper cake for a very special Baby Shower.  I think I could be just as exciting as the expecting parents, almost.  The theme for the Baby Shower was hot pink and leopard prints, so I made the diaper cake decorated to match the theme.  I hope the Mommy and Daddy-to-be are happy with this cake.  




As I was making the diaper cake, I attempted to take pictures every single step of the way so that I can post a pictorial to share with you.  So, the key word here was “attempted”!  Somehow, I don’t know where some of my pictures went.  I’m such a terrible tutor!  I guess I must had been too excited and forgot to take some pictures!  Anyway, you’ll get most of the basic steps and techniques that you need to know to make this cake.  And I know you’re such smart learners that you’ll figure the “missing” steps out!   So, here we go…


1) Attach the paper tower roll, with a hot glue gun, onto the center of a cake board.  (The detail material list and sizes are at the end of the post.)



2) Roll the diaper up tightly.




3) Secured the rolled up diaper with a mini rubber band (place on the upper  one third of the diaper, you’ll know why in just a minute).  I used my Daughter’s Rainbow loom rubber bands, shhhhh….don’t let her know.  I promise I’ll return them in just a moment!



4) Repeat step 3 for 59 times, because you’ll need 60 diapers all together!



5) Place 6 rolled up diapers in the center, with rubber bands towards the top.



6) Tie the diapers with a thin ribbon with a double knot.



7) Remove the rubber bands!  Now, you see why you want to place the rubber bands towards the top, right?  See, I promised I’ll return the rubber bands, safe and sound!




8) The picture above is the first layer or the bottom tier.  The second layer required 12 diapers to go around the first 6.  Repeat the steps in tiding up the diaper and removing the rubber bands.

9) Then, the outer layer of the bottom tier needs 18 diapers, to wrap around the second layer.  Again, tie with thin ribbon and remove rubber bands.

10)  if you’re still with me, we’re moving onto the 2nd tier.  Similar with step 5, just that we’re one tier up.  Tie those 6 rolled up diapers and secure them with a thin ribbon.  Then remove the rubber bands.

11) The 2nd tier only gets 2 layers of diapers only, and the outer layer consisted 12 diapers.

12) Finally, the top tier got the remaining 6 diapers.  Same steps, secured with a thin ribbon and remove rubber bands.




13) Last but not least, I wrap around the middle of the 3 tiers with decorative ribbons.  They are secured with double sided tapes.



14) Finally, you can add a paper flower, baby shoes, baby bottle, and pacifier, etc.  to decorate the cake.  I hope I didn't confuse you too much with my missing pictures pictorial.  I promise, I’ll make it up to you, somehow, in my future posts!  Wish the parents-to-be all the best with their new bundle of joy!