DIY Holiday Gifts in a Jar

Hey loves!!!

I uploaded a DIY Holiday Gifts in a Jar video and wanted to share the full details and instructions with you here. This is a great gift idea that is super simple and inexpensive to do. Plus, when you buy the needed ingredients you can usually end up making two jars from, for example, one bag of mini chocolate chips, etc.

Anyway, I will plug in the video here so you can watch how it's done and how I decorated my jars. I'll also add photos and full instructions below. I'm wishing you all a sugar wonderful holiday season and a happy and very healthy New Year!!!

Love you guys!

Rudolph's Red Velvet Waffle Mix

To prepare your jar:

Add 1 package of (Betty Crocker) red velvet cake mix into your 32 oz mason jar and pack it down. On top layer 1/2 cup of red sprinkles, followed by 1/2 cup of white chocolate chip morsels and finally 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips. Seal tightly.

Instructions to attach to the jar:

Heat waffle maker. Separate 3 eggs. Empty contents of jar into bowl; stir. Add 1 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil, and egg yolks; stir with spoon until blended. In separate bowl with mixer beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Spread 3/4-1 cup batter over waffle iron. Close lid and bake until done, 2-3 minutes. Makes 6-7 waffles.

Mrs. Claus's Cookie Mix

To prepare your jar:

Combine 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl and mix with a spoon. Add this mixture to a 32 oz mason jar as the bottom layer. On top, layer 2/3 cup light brown sugar, followed by 1/2 cup m&m's (I like the special red and green holiday ones), then 1/2 cup chopped pecans and finally 1/2 cup coconut flakes. Seal tightly.

Instructions to attach to the jar:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On medium, beat 3/4 cup room temp. butter until fluffy, 1 min. Beat in 2 eggs, 1 tbs vanilla extract. On low, beat in jar contents until blended. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2" apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake 12-15 min. Enjoy!

Best Ever Hot Cocoa Mix

To prepare your jar:

Combine 1 cup + 1 tbsp instant nonfat dry milk powder and 1/4 tsp cornstarch. Pour it into the bottom of a 24 oz or 32 oz mason jar. On top, layer 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, followed by 1/3 cup granulated sugar into the jar. On top off that add 1/3 cup coarse red decorating sugar, and finally a layer of 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Seal tightly.


Instructions to attach to the jar:

In large pot over medium-high heat, stir together cocoa mix, 6 cups milk and 1 1/2 cup water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer, stirring occasionally, until smooth, creamy and slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes. If desired, garnish with whipped cream and red sugar crystals.

28 Days of Style: Day 3 Dark and Glamorous

Hi Beauties!!

Today I'm sharing with you my outfit from last night. I had hoped to get it up yesterday but I got back home too late to prepare this post. In the end, it worked out perfectly because today I've just been home in pj's all day. I woke up feeling under the weather so I decided to take it easy today and gather back my strength. So unfortunately I have no stylish Day 4 outfit for you guys but I hope you enjoy what I wore last night.

I received a last minute invitation to a Brooklyn Nets basketball game last night and had to rush to pull together an entire look in about an hour. Being a Brooklyn girl born and raised, missing the game was not an option. To cut corners I stuck with quick messy top knot for my hair and a simple smokey eye with a bold red lip. For my outfit I was feeling dark and glamorous as I attempted to channel my inner Beyonce. Overall, I was happy with the final look. What do you guys think? What did you wear yesterday to start off your week?

                                                

Outfit Deets:

Sweatshirt: www.GiaMonae.com

Jeans: PacSun

Knee High Boots: Guess

Jacket: Calvin Klein

Clutch: DIY made it my darn self! heehee

Have an amazing night my loves!

xoxo,

Rocio Laura

Snow Queen DIY Crown

Eeeekkkk! This post is extremely late! I had hoped to get it up in conjunction with my snow queen makeup tutorial... but then... life happened. It's too late for Halloween but maybe next year, or for a different event, this will come in handy.

Anyway, I hope you still enjoy this fun DIY and let some of these techniques inspire you to add your own twists to future projects. xoxo


What I used: (pretty much everything was from Michael's unless otherwise stated)
Glue Gun, Bendable Jewelry Wire, A work mat (from Joann's), Sticks and Twigs (from my back yard)

Snowflakes, Beads, Decorative Pipe Cleaners

Start by creating a loop on one side of your wire. Size the wire to your head in the shape of a head band and create a second loop at the other end. (These loops will help us secure the headband on with bobby pins later). DO NOT cut the wire yet! 

Wrap the wire back and forth about 3 times to add some thickness. Cut the end and use pliers to fold and tuck the wire edges so that they don't poke into your head. Ouch!

BEgin to add your twigs and sticks in between the layers of wire. I used a hot glue gun to further secure them in there. Try to look for twigs that have a shape to them, not just straight ones.

On a work surface I glued down some "icicles" and let them dry. They're pretty easy to peel off once they are dried. Add these into your crown as well in the same way we added the sticks. For more dimension add some in front, in between, and behind the wire. This will make it look more 3D and also more realistic.

With the glue gun I placed a layer of glue completely around the wire. This will further help to stick everything into place, seal up any edges so you're not poked, and also give it an overall icy look.

Then I wanted some extra sparkle so I decided to wrap decorative pipe cleaners all the way around the base of my crown.

Next, with some stringed beads I added more decoration. This was a little time consuming because I had to hot glue each bead to the other and create my stack (since they were loose once I took the string off). I then glued the stacks around the crown.

What Snow/Ice Queen is complete without snowflakes??

Finally with some white paint I painted all the high points of the crown, where snow would normally land and stick, to give it an authentic winter wonderland look.

For a better look at the crown be sure to check out my makeup tutorial video below: