TheNicNacStop.com Blog

These clever “lamps” can give your table a chic, cheery feel — perfect for a Mom’s Day brunch. Gather wineglasses, scrapbook paper, LED tea lights, scissors, and double-sided tape. Cut out the shades at using our template; tape to secure. Pop a tea light into each glass, and assemble as shown.

Candle Lampshade Template
Print this template on a piece of 8.5″ by 11″ paper, then cut it out. Trace the shape onto your scrapbook paper to create the shade.

NOTE: You will need Adobe Reader to view this file. Click here to download it for free.

Read more: Candle Lampshade Craft – DIY Candle Lamp Shade – Good Housekeeping

Bird’s Nest Centerpiece

What You’ll Need:• Clay dish from a terra-cotta pot (we used a 12-inch dish)
• A long bundle of raffia
• Spanish moss
• Scraps of ribbon, feathers and small twigs or branches
• Two pots of mini-daffodils
• As many potted containers of pansies that will fit into the terra-cotta dish (we used four)
• Small brown or blue eggs (optional)

Directions:

1. Gather a bundle of Spanish moss and raffia, then pull and twist the two together until you form a bird-nest shape that will fit into your dish. (It should be three inches higher than the sides of your dish.)
2. Weave through the nest some long scraps of ribbon, feathers and small twigs or branches.
3. Remove all the potted pansies and daffodils from their containers and place them closely together in the nest.
4. For an extra touch, add small eggs to the arrangement.
5. Using a spray bottle of water, mist the flowers once a day so they stay moist. The flowers should stay healthy this way for up to two weeks. After that time, you can take them out of the nest and plant them in the ground.

Read more: Unique Flower Arrangements – How to Make Floral Arrangements – Good Housekeeping

Read more: Upcycled Crafts and Projects – Easy Upcycling Craft Ideas – Country Living

Read more: Upcycled Crafts and Projects – Easy Upcycling Craft Ideas – Country Living

If you are looking for an easy, inexpensive gift to give to family and friends, you can’t go wrong with homemade hot fudge sauce. Seriously, who doesn’t like hot fudge!?

You may already have everything you need on hand to make a couple of jars of hot fudge sauce. I figured that even if you have to go out and buy canning jars to put the hot fudge in, you are looking at less than $2 a jar for this delicious, homemade treat.

Hot fudge sauce is not just for ice cream…it can be put in chocolate milk, hot chocolate, even coffee!

Note: These jars need to be stored in the refrigerator.

Here is what you will need:

Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce

2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup baking cocoa
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan, stir together the dry ingredients. Add margarine and water, stirring well. Bring to a boil, and continue boiling for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat and stir in the vanilla. The hot fudge will thicken as it cools.

This recipe is very forgiving. I accidently put in 3 cups of white sugar and the sauce turned out very thin. I added another 2 tablespoons of flour and cooked it for another 10 minutes, and the sauce still thickened and turned out great.

This recipe makes enough for approximately 1 1/2 pint jars, so if you double the recipe, you will have enough for 3 pints.

This hot fudge sauce makes a very attractive gift. You can tie a ribbon around the jar lid, or add a scrap of fabric under the jar ring for decoration. Give the jar by itself or as part of a gift basket containing other items for ice cream sundaes. After your friends taste this hot fudge sauce they will never buy it from the store again!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. For more recipes, gardening, organizing tips, home decorating, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.

Quick breads are a quick, easy accompaniment to any holiday meal.

For the best-tasting holiday quick breads, here are some helpful hints:

- Only grease the bottoms of the loaf pans or the sides of the bread will pull away from the sides of the baking pan.

- Bake in the center of the center rack of the oven.

- When adding liquids to the dry ingredients, stir only until dry ingredients are moistened. Batter will be lumpy.

- Quick breads can be made ahead and frozen from 1 to 2 months.

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

2 eggs, beaten slightly
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup chopped cranberries
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, and pumpkin, mixing well. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the batter and add the pumpkin. Stir in cranberries. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour.

Cranberry Bread

2 cups flour
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup cranberries, sliced
1 cup sugar
1 cup nuts, chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
Juice and rind of 1 orange
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add water to orange juice to make 3/4 cup liquid. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Bread

5 cups flour
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 large can pumpkin
2 cups nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs. In another bowl, mix together flour and baking soda. Add flour and pumpkin alternately to the egg mixture. Add nuts. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour.

Apple Bread

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups oil
2 apples, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients until well blended. Pour batter into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for about 1 hour.

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For more holiday recipes, organizing tips, home decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.

Decorate for any holiday!

You will need:
1. Mason Jars
2. Rubbing Alcohol
3. Spray Paint – Satin Finish
4. Acrylic Stencil Paint
5. Paint Brushes
6. Painters Tape
7. Pencil
8. Clear Spray Paint
9. Ribbon or small accessories to hang from the jar.
The jars look cute with ribbon or small accessories to hang.
It adds a wonderful touch, and character to your mason jar.

How to Make it:
1. Tape the threads on the neck of the jar to avoid paint from getting on the threads. This is so your lids will screw on tight.
2. Clean the outside of the jar using rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. Hold the jar by the threads while cleaning to avoid touching the glass with your hands.
3. Spray a light coating of spray paint on your jars. You do not want it to be a heavy coating, but enough that you have nice even coverage. If you have a heavy coat, the light will not show through.
4. Allow the jars to dry overnight.
5. Remove the painter’s tape from around the neck of your jar.
6. You can now start decorating your jar.
7: Once decorating is complete, spray a coat

Some Helpful Decorating Tips:
1. You can use stickers to decorate your jar.
2. Stencils make your painting job easier.
3. Use a pencil to sketch your design, it makes it easier when you begin to paint.
4. For an added touch, you can tie ribbon or hang cute decorative accessories to the neck of the jar.