Holiday Archives – Tastebud Travels

{DIY} Sugar Scrub

Tiffani — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 19:58:00 +0000

Like ~~all~~ most women, I love a good body scrub for the shower. For the last two Christmas’ I’ve gifted these jars of Lavender body scrub to family and friends. It is so simple to make and always feels and smells so great.

Ingredients(To fill 8 mason jars):

8 pounds of sugar
22 ounces of coconut oil (depending on how oily you want it- I like mine oily)
Scent of your choice
Measuring cup
Jars for storage
Stirring utensil
Bow for mixing
Cover for your work area

Directions:

Cover your work surface (Oily spills and sugar make for a hard cleanup)
Pour desired amount of sugar into large mixing bowl
Heat coconut oil (Microwave works just fine on high for 2 minutes)

4. Pour coconut oil over sugar and mix generously (It should be 2 parts sugar to one part oil)

5. Add scent. I use an ounce of scent for every 2 cups of sugar.

6. Mix scent oil with sugar and oil mixture generously

7. Add sugar and oil mixture to jars. I created a funnel with paper because it allows for me to decide how large the spout is, with a normal funnel the spout is often too small.

8. Once filled, cap jars and enjoy!

This batch was given as Christmas presents! With how easy they are to make, I’m keeping this recipe but modifying the scents as the seasons change and making them for many different occasions this year! Enjoy!

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Cloud Nine Christmas Cookies

Tiffani — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:36:00 +0000

Every year I search and search and search some more for the best recipe for Christmas Cookies, and every year I end up with a mediocre cookie that probably could’ve just as easily come out of a box. But this year was different. The recipe I found put all other cookie recipes to shame!

I’m calling them Cloud Nine Christmas Cookies, well, because they taste how I’d imagine cookies on cloud nine would taste!

I forgot the Red & Green Sprinkles, but I think the rainbow ones looked pretty cute!

Ingredients:

-8 ounces unsalted butter
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-1 large egg yolk
-2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions:
1. Beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
2. Mix in the egg yolk until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once.
3. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.
4. Scrape onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times, just until the dough smooths out.
5. Turn onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a log, wrap up and freeze for a few hours. (This is crucial!)
6. Before baking, preheat the oven to 325°F.
7. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.
8. Slice the dough into slices about 1/8″ thick and place them on the sheets about an inch apart (they won’t spread very much, but they need room around each cookie).
9. Bake until JUST beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 16-18 minutes.

10. Let cool for at let an hour then decorate

There are so many possibilities with these cookies! With the given recipe, you will get about 10 cookies, so if you plan to serve them at a party or to family, I’d suggest doubling or tripling the recipe, because they are that good! These could definitely be decorated for any season or occasion. ENJOY!

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It’s looking a LOT like Christmas!

Tiffani — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 02:41:00 +0000

Normally, the saying goes “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” but clearly, it’s been looking like Christmas around here for a while!
I started decorating the day after Thanksgiving, but between finals, chronic migraines (every other stinking day) and life, I was slow to get everything up! But, it has finally happened.

This table is always my favorite to decorate. My BFF’s boyfriend made this for us, and it has definitely become one of my favorite pieces in our home! I stole the apothecary jars idea from none other than Pinterest of course.

I found a giant bag of beaded, red necklaces one day at my local resale shop.They came fastened with little lobsters on them, but as you can see in my tallest vase, the lobsters were no more. The remainder of the apothecary jars were filled with jingle bells, fluffy show, bright red ornaments and of course a sparkly red candle!

I love this glass plate my mom gifted me last year.

Last Christmas was my “last” Christmas living at home, so it was certainly an emotional one. This along with a few other Christmas-themed gifts were a special treat last year. I’m so thankful for the love of Christmas that my mother instilled in me.

When Fall rolled around, I posted my DIY Framed Chalkboard Tutorial, which was a perfect brown and yellow color combo, but that chalkboard just didn’t cut it for Christmas. I turned this baby from shitty to chic and made it just right for The Most Wonderful Time Of Year!

Just under my favorite little table is my favorite little snowman. Unfortunately, I am really not happy with Bath and Body Works scent bulbs this year. They just aren’t doing it for me.

Originally, I had planned on decorating our entire apartment in Rustic Christmas Decor, but that changed as I fell in love more and more with the combo of bright red and green.

This Santa has been in my life for as long as I can remember. It was my Grandmothers, and it will one day be my grand children’s. I’m thankful to still have my grandmother be such a prominent figure in my life, and I’m even more thankful that she has passed on a strong willed sense of being to me!

Unfortunately, we don’t have a fireplace, which really really breaks my heart, so I had to get creative with our stockings.

Originally our tree was a little fuller, but after realizing the tree needed the weight distributed a little more evenly, we were forced to spread things out a little. Regardless, I love how it looks all together

These two ornaments were both purchased on one of the first river trips we ever took together

This Snow day candle from Bath and Body works really does smell how you’d think a snow day would smell! Not too sweet and perfectly light, I love it.

Scored these last year at Kohl’s for $3 when the season was over! They’re so cute!

Yet another end of the season find from last year purchased at Hobby Lobby.

Christmas is most definitely my favorite holiday all around. I plan on finishing our front porch tomorrow so I will finally be able to share that as well! I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to what really is the most wonderful time of the year!

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{DIY} Lighted Pallet Christmas Tree

Tiffani — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 14:42:00 +0000

I recently posted a list of the many Pinterest ideas I found that I was hoping to try out! One of my favorites was the pallet Christmas Tree:

So, I decided to try my hand at it.

My only problem was getting a pallet. I have a tiny little car, so getting a pallet home was going to be a challenge, but the even bigger challenge was finding a pallet (that I didn’t have to pay $30 for). I was picking up breakfast one morning, and there, on the side of the building was a pallet! Ask and you shall receive…. Needless to say, the pallet was mine!

My pallet is approximately 4.5ft x 3ft, its also a little beat up, but it’s a pallet, who cares?

Now for the fun part!

I first drew an outline of a triangle to resemble a Christmas Tree (DUH?). I wasn’t sure if i should put nails in the pallet because I might repurpose this after Christmas, so I opted for thumb tacks. I put one thumb tack at each corner of the tree.

The hardest part was winding the lights around the wood and getting the light strands to stay in place. I ended up adding a few more thumb tacks throughout the interior parts of the tree to better hold the lights in place. I chose to use icicle lights, mostly because I had some leftover from decorating. I think I really liked using the icicles because it made wrapping the strands around the wood fairly easy.

Next, I added a star to the top, which I believe I bought at Dollar Tree a few years ago. Again, I fastened the star with thumb tacks. I have a strong love for those little things!

I hit a small speed bump when I couldn’t figure out what to use as my tree stump, fortunately, it didn’t take long to pull out my can of spray paint, give a large note card a little spray, and voila!

I snagged some left over green light bulb type ornaments from my moms house and placed them on the tree. I think it turned out pretty darn great!

Overall, this project cost me nothing this year. All of the materials together probably cost left than $15, which makes it even more perfect!

XoXo-Tiffani

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{DIY} Gift Tags!

Tiffani — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 02:40:00 +0000

Every year I search and search for gift tags that don’t look cheap, and every year the ones I want are always priced at an outrageous amount. This year, I opted to make my own! It surprised me how easy it really was to make them!

The only materials I needed were red card stock, a chalk marker, letter stencils, hole puncher and scissors.
First measure out the size of tags you want, mine were 3in x 2in.
After cutting the individual rectangles out, snip the corners off of two edges to give it that “tag” type of look.

Next you’ll take your stencil the letter of your choice on to the tag. Depending on your stencil size, you’ll have to adjust your tag size appropriately.
Then on the same side that you cut the edges, give it a punch with the hole puncher so you are able to thread whatever ribbon type material to fasten it to the present.

Once I became comfortable cutting and tracing letters I began making tags in all different sizes with all different letters!

After adding a bit of tulle and tying it in a bow, the tags fit perfectly!

These tags are almost too easy not to make! I definitely plan to use different colors of yardstick and make tags fore every occasion!

XoXo-Tiffani

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Pinterest planning!

Tiffani — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 03:37:00 +0000

Long gone are the days of coming up with cool ideas on your own, and why would you bother when Pinterest is only a few mouse clicks away? Here’s a few of my upcoming crafts that I’ve borrowed from the wonderful world of Pinterest.

None of these images are mine- all are borrowed from Pinterest

I found a pallet recently, managed to jam it into the back of my tiny 2 door car, and brought it home. In the next few days, I plan to transform it from a bland old slab of wood, to this!

Tomato cage Christmas Trees! OMG! Such an awesome-cheap idea! Tomato cages are about $3 a piece, and the nice guys at Home Depot are always happy to help me find stuff! I can’t wait to get started on this one, maybe I’ll add some lights or garland to each one!

So I’ll admit, I’ve been working on this one for a while, I bought the wood a few weeks ago, painted and distressed it. After a few tries with some homemade stencils, I am almost finished with it. Hopefully I’ll have it done and have a tutorial up on how I did it all very soon!

Ive really gotten in to these Christmas word/tree things things year. I’ve seen a few at some various stores, but I want to try my hand making one! Taking this craft on tonight and hoping for the best!

I have 1/2 a million mason jars sitting in my storage closet from the last time they were on sale, this craft will be perfect to do with my girls. And who doesn’t love Olaf?

Last, but not least is this. I found some strands of gold beads and of course I have many Styrofoam cones laying in my craft bins. I think I’ll spray paint or maybe distress the beads a bit, and hope for the best!

I’m hot on the trail for tons and tons of Christmas crafts right now, so if you have any suggestions for ones I haven’t mention, I want to hear about them!

Follow me on Pinterest to keep up with all of my crazy decor, food and craft ideas!

XoXo-Tiffani

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It’s Fall Y’all! {Home Decor}

Tiffani — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 19:11:00 +0000

I refuse to allow the Texas heat to keep me from enjoying the start of fall! Here’s a few glimpses of my fall decor!

This is easily my favorite fall area of our apartment!

I did a DIY Framed Chalkboard that you can read about HERE! I really am loving this chalkboard more than I ever thought I would! I see many more being made in the near future.

Both large vases came from Marshalls, both, on sale for under $10! I really stocked up on pinecones and other small goods last year when all of the fall decor was going on sale. It definitely paid off in the long run, because I saved a TON! Thomas’ mom gifted us the Scentsy burner, and it goes ever too well with our decor.

I stole the idea of navy beans in a jar/vase from my boss, and managed to find a few small pumpkin vase fillers, topped it with a candle and tada!

These cute little fake pumpkins were a Hobby Lobby score!

Since we have no window treatments yet, mostly because we don’t get too much direct sun through them, I knew I wanted something to spruce them up a little. I bought the burlap flags on clearance at Hobby Lobby, and the scrapbook paper and stickers were leftover from last year. In totally, the entire banner cost less than $5 to make!

I recently rehomed our 3 Texas themed pictures to their new home above the TV.

I got the idea of an apothecary-type- jar filled with pumpins and gourds from pinterest (duh?), and of course, found the jar on clearance at HomeGoods and my lovely sparkly pumpkin was a Ross find!

Scored this awesome serving tray at Walmart for $8! Love it!

We have some awesome built in bookshelves that I loooove decorating

“Pumpkin Kisses, Harvest Wishes”

My most favorite fall candle “Harvest Gathering” from Bath & Body Works

I love the Texas shaped candle that I found at my favorite resale store!

Of course, both the wreath and pumpkin topiary were made by your truly!
I can’t believe it’s already October! I hope everyone is able to enjoy a delicious slice of pumpkin bread during their first week of October!
XoXo-Tiffani

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{DIY} Wine Bottle Candles

Tiffani — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 06:21:00 +0000

Christmas time is upon us Y’all! This year I opted for hand-making some of the gifts I plan to give! I got a little behind because I’ve had some major migraines lately, but nonetheless, I got them done!

1. Start with a couple wine bottles. I prefer the ones that have a straight body, the curvy ones don’t cut as well!

2. Soak the bottles in a sink full of luke-warm water with about 10 table spoons of baking soda for 45 minutes. This helps the process of taking the labels off much easier.

3. Normally the labels will peel right off! If not, I used my scrubbing brush from the sink, or steel wool to get the remaining label off. I let my bottles sit for about a week so they are able to dry completely.

4.Here are my main supplies to cut the glass. Yarn, Acetone, a small bowl and wine bottles.

5. Take the yarn, and wrap it around the bottle between 5-10 times, and tie a knot each time you wrap the yarn around the bottle. Make sure the yarn is not too tight on the bottle, if so, you won’t be able to get it back on to the bottle after soaking it in acetone.

6. Remove the yarn from the bottle and soak it in acetone.

7. Place the yarn back on the bottle, dry the dripping acetone off of the bottom half of the bottle.

8. Light the yarn on fire. Rotate the bottle constantly until the flame is almost out. You’ll know the flame is about to go out when all you see is a faint blue flame. At this point, dunk the bottle, neck down, into ice cold water. I normally use one side of my sink for the lighting side, and one side for the cold water.

This is how the bottles will look after you have dunked them in the cold water! The edges aren’t always smooth.

9. Measure your wick to the bottom of your jar, and wrap it around something that will keep it steady.

I bought soy wax from Michaels. It’s not too expensive, and with their coupon, it was an even better price!

10. Pack 2 cups firmly and place in microwave. I bought this wax because it could be microwaved, which was much easier than doing it on the stove.

Here is my wine scents. I ordered them from Nature’s Garden, along with my wicks and normally my wax as well. They have tons of different scents for candle, soap and cosmetic makings!

11. Once wax is melted and fragrance has been added, pour into mold (Wine bottle in this case), and let sit for about 3 hours.

12. I let mine sit overnight to be sure it is 100% molded. Once firm, trim the wick, and BAM! You’re done!

I wrapped mine in cellophane, and added a cute Christmas gift tag!

I also made lavender body scrub, which smells amazing! My entire house smells like a mix of wine scents and lavender, and I’m not complaining! This was such an easy and fun project to do, if you have any questions about it, feel free to ask!

Have a Merry Christmas Y’all! I hope Santa brings all of my readers exactly what they want for Christmas!

XoXo- Tiffani

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Gray Thursday, Black Friday, Sleepy Saturday!

Tiffani — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:56:00 +0000

Boy, oh boy do I LOVE shopping! So of course, Black Friday is right up my alley. Each year I wake up early, grab a coffee, the massive Dallas Morning news, and plan out my route!

This year, the coffee was swapped for a coke from McDonalds, due to the fact that Starbucks was closed and I had no intentions of making my own coffee that morning!

I normally have a huge list of things for me to buy, as well as a list compiled with what time each store opened and what I needed from each store. This year was a little different. Considering I’m almost done with my Christmas shopping, I didn’t really need anything, but somehow I managed to throw a list together of things I felt I needed! My top stops included Old Navy, Target, Bath & Body Works and Khols! We (My good friend Leah, Thomas and I) headed out around 6:30, and didn’t stop till around 1am, only to take a short nap and head back out at 5am!

After about 15 hours shopping, and only 3 hours of sleep, the only thing more exhausted than I was, was my credit card!

This year, a vast majority of my shopping was done on clothes, and things I can use in my apartment (not till July), and small gifts. In total, I saved over $600, and spent less than 1/3 of that! It was certainly a successful shopping day for me. After shopping, I helped Thomas & his mom decorate for Christmas, and then returned home to decorate my own house.

Here’s the tubs and boxes that were tossed all over my living room. I’m not much for neatness prior to my decorating, but the finished product is always neat and tidy!

Early Saturday morning, my friend Kaitlyn, her sweet baby girl Maddy, and I headed out to First Monday in Canton. If you don’t know, First Monday is a giant flea market, I use the term flea market loosely, because it’s not your average flea market. There is SO much stuff! Lots of western/ Texas themed housewares, small boutiques, and just about everything else you could imagine. When I was younger, we’d go to Canton a few times, I have such fond memories of riding around in my red wagon looking at all the cool stuff out there. Kaitlyn and I found tons of cool stuff, and lots of stuff we both wanted, but being out there in my Civic, and having Maddy’s stroller in the trunk, sadly, we both knew most of the stuff would never fit. Although we passed up on lots of stuff, I found a ton of cool things that I could buy. Mostly clothing, and a few house ware things, I was satisfied, and knew I’d be back again soon.

On the drive home, I got extremely tired and started getting a headache, probably from the huge lack of sleep. Once I got home, I headed straight to bed (at 4pm), and didn’t get out of bed until the next morning. Thankfully, my migraine medicine kicked the remaining headache I had the next morning.

After a long break last week from work, I am happy to be back at it today.

This week is going to be busy busy preparing for finals next week, but I know I can do it!

I hope everyone has a great first week of December!

XoXo- Tiffani

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10 Things to look forward to!

Tiffani — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 17:25:00 +0000

Happy November Y’all! That’s is strangely comforting to say, I LOVE November, but hate seeing time fly by so fast!

At the beginning of each month, I’m going to start doing 10 things I look forward to most this month.

10. Although I tweeted recently that I hated this- it was a lie. I LOVE the Starbucks red cups.. They make the 131 days until December all worth it, and the little drink inside it makes these cups even more enjoyable! I tried a chai tea latte today for the first time, and I REALLY like it. It was the perfect start to my cloudy, stuffed up, pre-test morning.

Excuse my UNmanicured nails!

9. Holiday Markets! Oh my goodness, how I love holiday markets. The jewelry, the housewares, the clothing, and everything else- I LOVE going to them! I’m way sad because I was planning on selling my crosses in a few shows this year, and the place I order my wood from for my classes had some issues with their machines, and they weren’t able to produce That being said, they’re back up and running now- So if anyone is in the market for a cute cross, let me know! I’m always trying to come up with cute new designs.

8. The Neiman Marcus Christmas Display + the lights downtown. This is always such a gorgeous set up, and it helps that it’s right across from my Mom’s office building. A quick lunch with her in November or December turns into a few hours checking out the Neiman Marcus displays as well as a little shopping.

7. Peppermints. I love peppermints, and at the beginning of November is when I start to see them all pop up. I make so many different peppermint related treats, and it’s the perfect time for me to start stocking up on them!

6. Christmas shopping. My goal each year is to have over 75% of my Christmas gifts by November 31st to try to alleviate some of the stress of the holiday season when it comes to gift giving.

5. Thanksgiving! I LOVE Thanksgiving! Enough said, right?

4. BLACK FRIDAY! Yes, I am one of those crazy people who gets up at the crack of dawn to get to the gas station in order to snag one of the few Dallas Morning News, not for the paper itself, but for the ads inside! I blame my mom for getting me hooked, we started doing this when I was still pretty young, and I’ve never missed a year.

3. This one couples up number 4 & 5- spending time with my mom & aunt. They are seriously two of my most favorite women ever, and due to all three of our schedules, we hardly ever get to just hang out together, and not to mention, I have an entire week off for Thanksgiving, PAID! How awesome is that?

2. Putting up the Christmas Tree. This has become something that happens the weekend after Thanksgiving, and it makes me so happy, because it means that Fall decorations start to come down.

1. Christmas decorations. This gets its own category apart from the Christmas Tree, because I have SO many different types of decorations for all over the house, from the front yard, to the bathroom, I have it covered.

Sophie and I are both hoping to have another white Christmas this year

What are some of the things you look forward to in November?

XoXo- Tiffani

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