DIY Cooking at Home

Before you pack away those Christmas lights, check out all the ways you can use these strands to create projects that will let you enjoy their cozy glow the rest of the year! 11 DIY Projects Using String Lights I know, you probably haven't thought about using Christmas lights to decorate a room (unless you live in a dorm room!)  But I tried to round up the best ideas out there to change the way you look at them. I, for one, plan on creating a little reading corner for our 8-year old in her room, and I think those Dixie cup lights are the perfect thing to light up the space and make her feel cozy. Which is your favorite string light project  on this list?

Hi there! Today I'm going to show you how easy it is to make a wreath from a placemat. I found two round cork placemats at a junk shop, and got them for free! The owner wanted/needed to clean things out, and I guess she thought a set of only two placemats would be hard to sell. (They probably are.) So I snagged them up before she could change her mind, and knew just what I wanted to do with one of them. I hot glued some picture hangers to the back like so: Then I tied on a pretty red ribbon and voila! A "wreath" that cost $1.29 (for the picture hangers) and took all of 5 minutes. Now this is the kind of craft I have time for lately. So what's hanging on your door this Christmas? Find more Christmas decorations for your front door, check this out: Front Door Decor for the Holidays

I'm almost done with my shopping so now I've got to get about the huge task of wrapping it all up. I fondly remember the first Christmas I spent completely on my own as an adult in my own apartment. I turned on a holiday movie and spent hours making each package look pretty. Fast-forward 20 years...now most of the wrapping is done after the kids are asleep and my husband and I are already dead-dog tired. So while neatness still counts, I'm satisfied if it ends there. But we do enjoy some adult beverages and watching It's A Wonderful Life while we get the job done. I do love the idea of a pretty package, though, even if I probably won't be able to make ours look that way until after the kids have graduated. But I realize they don't have to be complicated, so I've gathered up a handful of simple ideas for you. Our Suburban Farm Real Simple Good Housekeeping The Haystack Needle How About Orange And if you liked this post, try this one: More Gift Wrappin

The countdown to Christmas is really on now and I can feel the heat, can you? Each year I try to give the girls' teachers something they can use up. I can imagine that the last thing a teacher needs is another tchotchke for their desk, so edible gifts are my favorite thing to give. This year, I'm giving Jingle Jars. No doubt you've seen cookie mixes in jars before; but, I dressed up my jars with some burlap and jingle bells, making the jar itself something they can reuse, either for their own gift-giving purposes, or possibly as a votive candle holder. I started with spaghetti sauce jars that I cleaned out after removing the labels. I simply wrapped a cuff of frayed burlap around each jar and secured it with a strip of hot glue where the ends overlapped. Then, I threaded a cluster of jingle bells onto a long length of variegated yarn and wrapped it around and around the center of that burlap cuff. I tied a knot in the back to secure the ends of yarn, and tucked it u

Oh, c'mon, we've all done it. (At least I hope I'm not the only one.) You find a bargain and pray the price tag comes off cleanly so you can pass it off as a gift that costs more than it actually did. I, personally, don't think you should have to go broke at Christmastime. Like most households, our family has to stick to a budget, and that means being a little creative sometimes, whether it's by giving handmade items, or shopping sales. If you put thought into choosing the gift, of course, and give a little extra effort in its presentation, it doesn't matter how much you spend. Here are some ways to disguise an inexpensive gift: Give Thought to the Gift Wrap --Don't just use some cheap wrapping paper and slap a pre-made bow on the thing. Try one of these gift wrap ideas instead for a more heartfelt way to present your gift. And for heaven's sakes, remove the price tag. No one needs to know you found that perfect item for $3.97 on clearance at Tar

Hi there! I looooove Christmas cookies, don't you? I'm excited to share a cookie recipe with you from Barb over at A Life in Balance . If you haven't visited her blog before, you totally should. She has tons of great, realistic ideas for busy families. Anyway, she and I both participated in a virtual cookie swap...I gave her my recipe for Candy Cane Cookies, and she shared her recipe for Peppermint Kiss Brownie Bites. (We had a peppermint theme going on!) Thanks for sharing this cookie recipe with me, Barb...they were absolutely delicious! Peppermint Kiss Brownie Bites 3/4 c. coconut oil 1 1/2 c. sugar 1 T. vanilla extract 2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder 3 eggs 1/2 tsp. salt 1 c. flour 48 Hershey's Candy Cane kisses, unwrapped Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray mini muffin pans with cooking spray. Mix together oil and sugar. Stir in vanilla extract, cocoa powder and eggs, then slowly stir in salt and flour. Scoop 1 tablespoon of batter into each muffin opening

Hi there! It seems hot chocolate stations are all the rage this year for the holidays, so I jumped on the bandwagon and created a mini version on a tray for our kitchen. We do, indeed, have a lot of hot chocolate this time of year, and I like my own (it tastes so much better than the packet variety!) so having all of the essentials close by does make it easier. I lined a wooden tray with some burlap, put some snowman mugs I bought at the dollar store on it, and added a ceramic Christmas tree dish (also from the dollar store) to hold some candy canes. Then,  I added some vinyl chalkboard labels to some mason jars I had, and since my wide-mouthed jars didn't have lids, I glued tin foil to some cute fabric, cut out two circles slightly larger than the mouth of the jars, and molded them to the jars' openings to use as makeshift lids. Here's the cocoa mix I made (it's based on my recipe for Hot Chocolate for One ): 2 c. unsweetened cocoa 1 c. sugar 1/2 tsp. salt To mak

Hi guys! Welcome to Home Made Modern! I'm so excited to be participating in the Home for Christmas blog hop hosted by Hometalk.com and CountryLiving.com! Today, I'm sharing my simple chalkboard advent calendar with you. A lot of you probably have a chalkboard and/or a chalkboard wall in your homes...they've been trending for quite awhile now. If so, you can create this simple look in your home in just minutes! We converted our pantry door into a chalkboard , and it gets a lot of use! I love the look of boxwood on the dusty, black background of a chalkboard, so as I was decorating for Christmas, I decided to hang our little boxwood wreath from West Elm in the kitchen. Then, I simply used a ruler and some sharpened chalk to draw a calendar underneath. I had this tiny green Christmas tree leftover from something, so since our chalkboard isn't magnetic, I just stuck some poster putty on the back of it to use as a marker. Voila! The kids love moving the tree each

Welcome back! If you visited me yesterday, then you saw our living room all decked out in red, blue and green Christmas decorations . Today, I'm showing you our family room, which has a different look this year. I wanted to create kind of a winter woodland look, so I used lots of earthy blues and greens and threw in metallics for some glamour. I hope you like it! I feel like this year, our family room has a modern but vintage look. For instance, I thrifted the oil painting from Goodwill, but hung a metallic letter garland on it for some sparkle. What do you think of all of these elements together? Let me know in the comments!  Merry Christmas! Here are some related posts you might like: Christmas Tree Jars Gilded Christmas Village Wood Slice Chalkboard