As many of you know who have been reading my blog, I LOVE Pinterest for finding new ideas for projects, decor, and even fashion.

These are some of the pins that are inspiring me this week. I hope to try out a lot of these ideas over the next few weeks. Which ones are your favorites?

 Crafting and decorating

 Vintage-style maps                 Spray paint + Craft paper = LOVE

Source: modpodgerocksblog.com

Paper dahlias                               Such an adorable, casual bracelet

Source: the36thavenue.com

After the Christmas decorations go away for the year, I typically have a few days where I can take a deep breath and enjoy the lack of clutter in my house. Everything is neutral and "normal" again. Only thing is, I sort of like the red, green, and gold accents that fill my house during Christmas.

This year, I decided to challenge myself a little more by switching up my normal decorating. The mantel seems like a great place to start. It is small and manageable. Making some changes to the mantel also makes a big difference to our overall living room, since we keep our decorations pretty neutral.

So each month, I'm going to restyle the mantel. I may use some materials over again, but I'm hoping for a different look and feel each month.  This is our "standard" mantel that I find myself going back to. I thought it would be a good start to this series.


What's on my mantel in January (from left to right):
- Candle and candle holder--from Michaels store
- Picture of the little guy
- Yarn "O" that I made this fall. Click here for instructions. 
- Fishy--I bought it at Pier 1 a few years ago
- Vase from Pier 1
- Picture of me, my husband, and our dog on the beach
- Matching candle and candle holder

In the background, you see the tree picture holder that I bought a few years ago at Pier 1. Can you tell I went on a shopping spree at Pier 1 a few years ago?

Here's another full view of the mantel and fireplace.



What do you think? Any suggestions for upcoming mantels?

Here are some other mantels I've decorated in the last few months:

Christmas mantel
Race-car birthday mantel 
Fall mantel

I have one last Christmas dessert tutorial for all of you who have holiday parties extending into January. We had our last holiday party this weekend. The drink of the day was spiked hot chocolate. This was so simple to make and it tasted delicious!

Ingredients:
- Milk or water (I used milk)
- Hot chocolate mix*
- Whipped cream or cool whip
- Whipped cream vodka or Baileys Irish Cream
- Marshmallows
- Peppermint candy
- Sprinkles

* I went with a hot chocolate mix instead of making this from scratch. I've never made hot chocolate from scratch and wasn't really up for taking it on while hosting a party. I decided to put my efforts into "dressing up" the hot chocolate.

How to do this:
1. Prepare marshmallow snowmen before the party. Skewer three large marshmallows. Draw faces using a toothpick and black decorating gel.


These are the finished marshmallows. I kept my snowmen pretty simple, but I've seen some fancier ones online. I particularly like the ones on Dukes and Duchesses.



2. Prepare the peppermint candy garnish. Unwrap the candies and place in a quart-size Ziploc bag. Use a mallet to crush the candy into small pieces.

3. Heat milk in sauce pan, whisking it regularly to prevent scorching. Don't let the milk boil.

4. Mix the hot cocoa mix with the milk.

5. Add some whipped cream vodka or Baileys Irish cream, if you want to spike your hot chocolate. We made alcohol-free hot chocolate for the kids and they were still a big hit!

6. Add a dollop of whipped cream. Then garnish with the peppermint candy and some sprinkles. Enjoy!

We just finished up with our last holiday party this weekend. We hosted the Christmas party, so I had the chance to try out some of the ideas I've been swooning over on Pinterest. I ran across the JPEG of these, but I couldn't find an actual tutorial for doing them, so I thought I'd write my own.

Ingredients and supplies:
- Strawberries
- Cool whip
- Chocolate jimmies
- Knife and cutting board
- Strainer
- Wilton cake decorator

 How to make these:

1. Cut off the tops of the strawberries. Cut them straight across so the strawberries can rest on that surface.

2. Wash strawberries.


3. Cut off the bottom 1/3-1/4 of the strawberries. Keep the bottom and main parts together so you'll be able to match them up.

4. Using one of the round tips in the cake decorator, add about 1/2-1 inch of cool whip to each strawberry.

5. Replace the bottom of the strawberry to make a hat.


6. Add a dab of cool whip to the top of the hat and to the main body of the strawberry.

7. Add chocolate jimmies to the cool whip "face" to make eyes.

8. Enjoy!

I tend to make resolutions each year--and sometimes I even keep them. Last year's goal to learn to jog and run a 5K? Checkmate. My goals to knit and learn to belly dance? Not so much...I couldn't get into knitting and I never prioritized belly dancing into my schedule.

For this year's resolutions I decided to go back to the basics and to focus on what really matters--my little family. Here's what I came up with:

1. Cuddle, cuddle, cuddle. Cuddle every chance you get and give lots of hugs. It's hard to find anything that recharges you more than baby/toddler hugs--husband hugs aren't so bad either!

2. Play more. Sing, crawl around, line up cars, dress like a princess--whatever interests your kid. Be amazed by their imagination and how fast they can run and squeal when you're chasing them!

3. Eat good food. Eat healthy proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Most of us have the "lose weight" goal each year. Focus on good food that sets a healthy example for your little one and gives you enough energy to play.This is a tough one for me, but I hope to get back in the healthy-food saddle for my sake and my family's sake.

4. Put less pressure on yourself. My rule of thumb? If you worry about whether you're a good mom, you're probably pretty good already. Stop striving to be a "perfect mom." You'll never get there and will just put unnecessary stress on yourself.

5. Take some time for yourself. Remind yourself (as often as necessary) that being a well-rounded person is good for you AND your family. Even if you only get 15 minutes a day, after your babies are in Bed, guard that time and do something to recharge yourself.

What universal Mom resolutions did I miss? Any other resolutions that are on your list this year?