Nose to the Grindstone

I admit it... I've been really lax of late with my blogging. What with all the Christmas activities, family parties and (of course) naps, my plate has been full. But, now that Christmas is done, every single lego set is put together, and I've had some time to reboot, I am ready to get back to it!

Now, you are probably not quite ready to even think about it, and I sure don't want to stress you out, but there is a super fun holiday coming up (in February) and we here at Paper and Cake are burning the midnight oil to bring you some fresh party sets and maybe even some (super cute) photo props to help you celebrate.

In the meantime, I have some returns to do, (I'm sure you do too) and of course I should probably take down the tree? Enjoy your week!

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P&C Real Life Party: Holiday Photo Props

Holiday photo props in action! Last Sunday night, my family had our annual "Barter Family Christmas Party" (Barter is my mom's maiden name). This first photo prop photo is of my sister and her three cute kids - it pretty much cracks me up.

This next photo was sent in from Denecia of Seester's Stationery... adorable. And I love that background!

Send in your pictures...I would LOVE to see what you have done with your holiday photo props!

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A Holiday Bake Sale

Last Thursday night, the kids had their annual Holiday event at school. All the students - Kinder through 8th grade - took turns singing and dancing with their class. Of course there is also an auction and buffet to raise funds for the end of the year. What did I bring? Why pumpkin muffins of course! Easy, and slightly more healthy than lard frosting with sprinkles, I baked my little heart out.

After making about 70 cupcake size muffins, I had this sinking feeling that my "slightly healthier" choice might sit in a box as if sprinkled with the plague. After careful consideration, I decided to add a frosting drizzle and that I would need a little cupcake stand.

Frosting Drizzle: start with powdered sugar, add a little bit of water or milk and mix. add a little vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon. mix until you have drizzly consistency. (I know, its not super precise, but with this one feel free to experiment!)

Cupcake Stand Criteria: A) it would need to fit all 70 muffins without having to refill, B) it would have to cost less than a million dollars, C) it would have to be something that wouldn't really matter if I broke/lost it and D) it had to take less than 45 minutes to shop for.

This is what I came up with: 3 cake boards and 2 plastic ice cream dishes, and a little hot glue = $15.

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Cool Like Dannielle Kyrillos

How nice is this? DailyCandy's editor-at-large Dannielle Kyrillos did a fabulous spot on abcnews.com all about her favorite inexpensive Holiday decor. Guess what she talked about?

printable partyware by PAPER & CAKE!!

ahem. sorry. If you want to be cool, just like Dannielle, stop by the shop and pick up our Vintage Ornament printable party.

see the segment here, be patient, we are at the very end - partnering with plumparty.com!

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The Seasons Greetings Card You've Been Waiting For

Thanks to my sister Missy, we had our first official family portrait - in years! There are SO many photographs to choose from... but this one really caught my eye. Notice how we are all wearing matching outfits?

And we got a pretty silly Christmas card to boot.

Click to enlarge

Inspired to make your own funny Holiday Card? Stop by the shop for a quick and easy set of printable Holiday Photo props!

See cards of Christmas Past here!

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Seasons Greetings

I really do enjoy sending out a humorous Holiday greeting card. I think it's probably in my genes -  from my dad's side of the family. When I was young, I remember him signing our family holiday greeting cards with as random a name as he could come up with. There were fairly tame signatures like, "Mickey and Minnie Mouse", and then there was my all time favorite - "President and Mrs. Carter" (back in the day that was some cutting edge stuff!).

I only bring this up because on Saturday my sister will be taking our family portrait, and I'm guessing it won't look like what you are picturing in your head. Why? Well, let me show you a little "History" of Barnes family cards...

2006 • "May your home be filled with the joy of family and friends this holiday season."

2007 • "Thinking of you this BUSY holiday season."

2008 • "Wishing you visions of dancing sugar-plums this Holiday Season."

2009 • "Wishing you a Picture Perfect holiday season."

So stop by next week, and I'll give you all a little preview of our 2010 silliness. I can't wait to see what I come up with???!!!

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How To: Painted Cookies

Easy and artistic, "painted cookies" are a big hit in our house (even if the Christmas cookie cutters are still in the attic). For this batch, the kids chose their favorite animal shaped cutters, and even mixed up a batch of black frosting for a realistic touch.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Chill for 1 to 2 hours
OR
Take the freshly made dough and place a chunck between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Re-roll leftover dough and repeat the process!

Paint
Mix up some milk, powdered sugar, and a bit of food coloring to the consistency of paint. Use a new or very clean paint brush to paint on the frosting. Add sprinkles if necessary.

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Paper Gingerbread House

I couldn't help myself. My daughter asked me if we could make one - and once I started I couldn't stop! Even my mom worked on it, see the smoke coming out of the chimney? All her idea. Can you even stand it?

Even if you are thinking, "what if it's too complicated?" it's not. Just print out the template for the house, and glue it to a cut open brown paper bag - I used one from Trader Joes. Cut, score, fold, tape. All the little bits and pieces - candy roof, trees, doors and windows - are really fun to work on assembling, do this together with the kids. My daughter had a blast! See those beads? They were her idea, and she even glued them all on.

Everything you see on the house is included in the printable pdf, ready to go for a rainy day, a snowy day, even for Christmas eve to entertain the guests while they wait for presents.

Printable Paper Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House template
Doors and Windows
Chimney and Smoke
Candy Trees
Wreath
Tiny Holiday Signs
Snow
Candy Cane Picket Fence
Peppermint Candy Roof decor
House Columns
Full Patterned sheet
Step by Step instructions

The glitter, beads and imagination are all up to you.

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