What Santa Drinks

Well, when he's not drinking Coke :)

He drinks homemade hot cocoa!

Yes, in fact, I DID make that delightful, creamy holiday favorite...

What did you say? HOW did I make it?

Well, let me tell you!

This is the world's easiest recipe. It takes literally 10 minutes (including gathering supplies), is virtually fool-proof, and accurate measurements are not necessary.

Yup, I like all of those things!

Homemade Hot Cocoa Recipe

(Courtesy of allrecipes.com ... with some personal modifications)

For 8 people

Ingredients:

2/3 c cocoa powder

1 c sugar

pinch of salt

2/3 c boiling water

7 c milk

1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 c half and half

1) In a saucepan, mix cocoa powder, sugar, and salt.

2) Add boiling water and mix. Turn on burner to heat mixture to boiling - should take about 2 minutes. IMPORTANT: Make sure to stir constantly so it doesn't scald! (This is the one potential "uh-oh" part...)

3) Add milk. Heat mixture until hot - but don't heat to boiling.

4) Remove from heat. Add vanilla.

5) Divide hot cocoa between mugs and add some half and half to each mug to cool the cocoa... and make it rich, creamy, and generally yummy!

Sooooooo tasty!!

But you can't keep this kind of goodness all to yourself... so I set up a hot cocoa bar for some friends!

Yum,

yum,

extra-yum!

Hot Cocoa Bar Ingredients

Candy cane stir sticks

Whipping cream

Caramel sauce

Marshmallows

Crushed Heath bar

Cinnamon

Cayenne pepper

White chocolate chips

Red & green sprinkles

And, of course, hot cocoa!!

Small Moments

Recipe for a Great Day:

Close the curtains. This is essential for creating that cozy feel. Even better if you can hear the sound of rain outside the window... but we can't control this :)

Favorite mug of coffee with a little French Vanilla creamer.

Snuggly quilt... high school grad present from Mom!

A pile 'o pillows

GREAT jazz: Standards/Vocal Jazz on Pandora

A great book. For book club, we're reading "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez... SO good!!

How To: Mail Station and Memo Board

Okay, here's a close up of that mail station from the previous post... and some actual, functional tips!

Why a mail station?

Confession: I'm terrible at mail.

Here's my current mail station: I read all the interesting cards. Everything else I shove into the back of my cubby... until I find it months later when I do my annual cubby clean.

Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. Otherwise my bills would never get paid.

BUT I saw this great mail station idea and thought: I could be more efficient with my mail management. I could learn to recycle things from the back of my cubby. I could keep my cubby tidier so there's room for, you know, food.

So, here we go: Mail Station!

I modified the mail station idea a little and put my own low-budget twist on it. Buy something from Pottery Barn? No, thank you!

Buy something from Target that's equally cute and functional - in addition to budget-friendly? Yes, please!

To make a Mail Station:

• Get 1 letter organizer for your desk - I got one from Target that's like a little box so my mail won't tumble out the sides

• Grab some Command strips

• Stick your letter organizer to the wall

• Optional: Write "Mail Station" on an address label and stick it to the front of your mail station. In case you forget what it is...

It's great 'cuz the large slot in the back is where I put the incoming mail:

The tiny slot in the front is for the Memo Board pens and eraser:

And the medium slot in the front is for outgoing mail and for my 12-pocket receipt organizer - one pocket per month!

Pretty nifty, handy, functional, cute, and cost-efficient!

Except I still want to decoupage it with some scrapbook paper (Target, $1 for 8 sheets... yay!) because the color doesn't really go with my color scheme. I know: picky, picky!

To Make a Memo Board:

• Get a picture frame (Target, $1.50 for a 2-pack... yay for clearance!!)

• Remember that 8-pack of scrapbook paper? Grab a sheet of that.

• Put the scrapbook paper in the picture frame (behind the glass, of course).

And what do you have? A handy dandy Memo Board! Write with white board pens. Erase with anything. A washcloth. A sock. A rock.

(Maybe not a rock...)

There you go!

Just a Taste...

You can all thank my coworker Sara for this blog. Yes, she is the one who coerced me into chronicling my adventures in... life, I guess! Well, mostly just crafties and great ideas from my new fav site: pinterest :)

That was also Sara's fault.

So here's a little treat for today:

That's the back of my door!

This is gonna be an exciting blog, no?

But... for reals. Cute clothespins on ribbon for notes? Check! Mail organization system? Check! Inexpensive, functional, and adorable homemade memo board? Check!

Stay tuned for all of this plus much more! Sewing! Cooking! Organizing! Baby clothes! (Not for my babies... for my friends' babies...) Good books! Other stuff!

It's gonna be great! Or at least practical. And cute. We're all about that.