Thursday 20 December 2012

Christmas Cookie Jars

If you are looking for a quick last minute gift this one is great! I found this idea a while ago and wanted to give it a go for Christmas gifts this year for some of our family and friends . I know there are lots of Chirstmas Cookie recipes out there, but after testing this one numerous times I have found it works best for me :) (I had hoped to have this post up earlier but as we all know some times things just don't go to plan.)

Just a few gifts ready to go under the tree!!
So the idea with Christmas Cookies in a jar is that you put all the dry ingredients in a jar, prettie it up and all your recipient has to do is add the wet ingredients, mix and bake! Easy!

This is my recipe for the Christmas Cookies:
(They are listed in the order they should be put in the jar)


* 3/4 cup  Plain Flour
* 1/2 cup Self Raising Flour
* 1 cup Oats
* 3/4 cup Christmas M&M's
* 3/4 cup choc chips
* 1/3 cup brown sugar
* 1/3 cup caster sugar.

I got my jars from Kmart and at $2 a jar they are a good buy, especially if you plan on making a few. The other up side of using a glass jar is that is can be re-used for storing some of the cookies if your recpient wants to have a few out on show...if they last that long! ;)

Make sure you really pack each layer in as you go, or else not all the ingredients will fit. 

I attached a lable to the back as well with the instuctions on how to put it all together.

Back of jar with baking instuctions.
As pictured, all that needs to be done from here is to mix the dry ingredients with:

* 1 egg

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 tsb milk
* 1 tsb vanilla

Roll them into balls, place on a baking tray and pop into a pre-heated oven at 180°C. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

You can prettie up the jars how ever you like. I used some material I picked up from Spotlight, ribbon and twine (from Whimsy Farm Twine) and the lables I made.

If you'd like a copy of the lables so you can make your own jars, feel free to send me an email (leegirlpretties@hotmail.com) or leave a comment with your email address under this post and I'll email it to you completely FREE!! :)


I hope you all enjoy this idea and recipe, and even if you don't do the jar idea, making up some cookies and wrapping them in some cellophane with ribbon would be a great little gift idea too!! 

I hope you all have a wonderful and magical Christmas and stay safe during the festive season!

Stay Prettie

Jodie-lee xx






Wednesday 12 December 2012

Alfie Snowflake


For the month of December we have a little house guest visiting from the North Pole. Her name is Alfie Snowflake.

I chose to steer away from the traditional Elf On A Shelf, instead making my own from a Gingermelon pattern (you can purchase the pattern here). I wanted a bit of freedom with what our Elf would look like, so she has blonde hair like my daughter and next year I intend to add another Elf to our tradition that will represent our unborn baby (so if its a boy we'll have a little boy elf and if its another girl we'll have another girl friend for Alfie)

The response to Alfie's arrival has been just great! Kirby was amazed when she saw her for the first time and every morning is the same 'Where is Alfie Snowflake this morning?...Lets look for her!'

Some of what Alfie is found doing relates back to our Advent Activitiy Calendar, this makes it easier for me, especially on the days when I have to work or have worked the night before. (read about our Advent Activity Calendar here)

So here is what our little Elf has been up to so far.



Alfie Snowflake's arrival...with Elf hat and all ;)

Hangin out in the navitiy set.

Alfie was found in the Christmas tree, with a little
note saying that she had a gift for Kirby.

Chilling out in a bowl of Christmas M&M's; Having a rest in
Santa's secret Letter Box (we wrote our santa letter that day); Playing in
the craft box (christmas craft day); and hanging out with Barbie watching
Christmas video's on YouTube.
Alfie relaxing in daddy's baseball glove with a little present so Kirby can talk
to Santa; Alfie came along to our Santa photos and jumped in too; Hanging out in the Advent Calendar with a little chocolate; and reading some new Christmas stories with Big Bunny.
Making snow angels in cotton balls by her special door tothe North Pole; Doing
some colouring in a new Christmas colouring book; and hanging around off some tinsel with candy canes...as you do ;)

Alfie has been a great new little addition to our family and will definately be coming back next year. I'm planning on making a little photo book up once Christmas is over, so that we can look back on the adventures that Alfie has had at our home.

Keep your eyes open for more Elf goodness as Alfie Snowflake's adventures continues!

Stay Prettie


Jodie-Lee







Sunday 2 December 2012

Our Christmas Advent Calendar

Every December as a child I loved the count down to the big day...especially the chocolate advent calendars we used. Last year was the first Christmas that Kirby kind of understood what was going on, and instead of doing chocolates every day I made our first Activity Advent calendar so that we could have a little Christmas cheer every day! 

It was such a success, and Kirby loved opening a new bag each day to see what activity or little gift she would be getting. So it has become a definate on the Christmas Traditions list for us.

As we moved house earlier in the year, I knew that the space I had would be limited, so I went against using the same set up as last year and did a little something different....it definatly took longer to make, but I'm so happy with the out come that it was worth while :D

*please excuse the quality of the photos, I took them on my phone* ;)


Our Activity Advent Calendar
The calendar is made up of 25 mini stockings that I machine and hand sewed and each one contains either an activity or little gift. Last year I used the activity cards and planner from the A Little Delightful blog (they are available as a free printable, just follow this link and you'll find them).

This year I decided to make my own activity cards as I could personalise them for Kirby. They include activities such as reading Christmas stories, having a movie night, doing some Christmas craft and baking and also popping a gift under the wishing tree. As you can see some of the gifts correspond with the activities and Kirby will have to find these hidden around the house!

I still used the free planner as it saved me some time from making my own, but it also doubles as our Elf planner too...Elf planner...yep, keep reading to find out more ;
)


Some of the little gifts that will be used this year, our planner
(so I can keep track of what we are doing and when), and activity cards.
The display features a few other things, including the 'Santa Claus is coming to town ' print I designed for this years Christmas range. It is also the home of our 'Santa's (secret) Letter Box' which will be used for sending letters to Santa and also recieving them!
The little display under the advent calendar.
But I can not forget the most important feature... a special little doorway which our cheeky little house guest for the month will use to get to and from the North Pole!

Please meet Alfie Snowflake. She is our little Christmas Elf that will be popping up here and there and taking part in some of our Christmas activities and keeping an eye on Kirby and letting Santa know if she's being 'naughty or nice' ;) (if you have Instagram you can see what she's been up to by looking for #alfiesnowflake)

I decided to make our own elf rather than buy one of the traditional 'Elf on the Shelf', as it gave me the opportunity to create something special for our family, allowed for me to personalise her a little bit, and it also means that I can make a matching one for our new little baby next year, and they can get up to mischief together!

I will be doing a post about Alfie's arrival and first week in our home very soon so keep an eye out, but she is already very popular!!

What are some Christmas traditions you and your family have?

Stay Prettie


Jodie-Lee ox



Monday 19 November 2012

My Last Week Was 'SEW'full!!

I have had an itch for quiet a while now that I haven't been able to scratch....a sewing itch!! But I wasn't going to scratch it until I had tidied and sorted through my craft area of the house...and with that done the week before last, I unleashed the machine and actually went 'SEW' crazy!loL!!

Here is what I created last week....with more to come this week!

The First dress in 8yrs!! (I shared a post on this one last week!)

The 'Princess' tutu!! So fun and soooo easy!!
A bit of Christmas Grinch-y-ness with a bunting
and matching bib (another first!!)....made my own template and all! ;)

My obsession with babushka's continued (hasn't ever stopped really!lol!)
when I found this Christmas material....now a bunting hanging near our front door!

Little Christmas rattle sofies...presents for some of the younger kids we buy for
and also for the Wishing Tree :)
 "SEW" they were my sewing adventures last week, with more on the cards this week...but I did find some time yesterday to put together two new Christmas Prints!! :) I have a soft spot for this one and would love to share it with you!!! So read on ;)



I will be giving one lucky person one of these prints in the 4x6 size, just to share the Christmas cheer!! All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post telling me what your favourite thing about Christmas is and I'll draw a random winner on Thrusday night at 8pm (VIC time)!!

*please note only open to Australian residents. Giveaway ends 8pm (VIC time) Thrusday evening, no entries after that will be taken. Winner will be drawn at random using Random.org

I look forward to reading your comments!!



Stay Prettie


Jodie-Lee xx

**COMPETITION NOW CLOSED**


Thanks to all who took the time to comment, I loved reading them all, and I love the sense of how important family time is to everyone during the festive season!

I used Random.org to get the winner.....and he winner is....



Sarah!!! 

Congrats Sarah, I will be in contact with you soon to get your postal details. Thanks again to all those who entered and also read the blog :)

xxx
 

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Pushing My Creative Boundries

A few months ago I decided that rather than buying a special dress for my little girl to wear on Christmas day, I would make one instead. I had a few styles in mind, but after her nanna made her a dress I decided that I liked the same pattern and would give it a go.

The only thing was, that although I have sewn buntings and blankets and a few other different things over the years, I haven't actually read a pattern or made a piece of clothing since I finished Yr 12...a good 8yrs ago!! My MIL assured me that it was a fairly easy dress to make and I shouldn't have too many problems.



The book the pattern is from is called Happy Handmade Vol 2 by Ruriko Yamada and was purchased at Spotlight. Its a beautiful book and the clothing in it looks just as beautiful!

The only thing I didn't like about the book, was how confused it made me! lol! I found the instuctions were hard to follow as it had me going from one page over to the next then back to the first page again, and the actual instructions were all over little pictures that at times I found hard to follow too. But luckily I knew someone who had made the dress before and was able to help me understand the pattern ;)


Once I understood what was going on, it didn't take too long to put it all together and have a finished product that I was very happy with!!





I wasn't the only one who was happy with it though...as soon Kirby saw the dress she put her hands to her cheeks and exclaimed 'I so love it mum, its just beautiful!' She couldn't wait to get into it and was very happy to be my little model ;)




Now the next step is cutting up and putting together the dress for the main event that is taking place in only 40 days...yep there are only 40days until the big man in the red suit visits!

Keep an eye out for some Christmas themed blog posts about some of the other things I'm making and doing this festive season and you may even find some ideas that you can use too!!

Stay Prettie,

Jodie-lee ox

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Diva for a day

Our Diva invites with BLING detail
Designed by LeegirlPretties
Do you remember seeing this sneak peek a little while back? Well last weekend was the big Diva Party, and I helped Ava's mum organise and put it all together.

In true Diva tradition, the little birthday girl was in on the organising and had some specific requests when it came to the activities and food she wanted, which gave a great personal touch to the day.

The party activities included painting plaster moulds, decorating pink princess wands and the must have at this Diva's party was decorating Sand Art Cards! A massive THANK YOU to the wonderful owners at  'The Party Girl' for helping us at the last minute with some sand art cards, after we were let down by another company. We will definately be keeping you in mind for up coming parties!! You can find 'The Party Girl' here or here. :)


These are the little goodies that my little girl decorated! 


Another request from the birthday girl was a giant cupcake cake. Her Aunty made the cake (under the watchful eye of the birthday girl) , and it was placed in the centre of the table. The little guests loved the pink and purple cake on the inside!


The sweets table.
Styled by Leegirl Pretties

 The sweet treats choosen by the birthday girl included: Fruit Sticks, Chocolate Truffles, Cupcakes, White Chocolate Crackles, Jelly Pots, Fairy Bread, Caramel Tarts and Chocolate Dipped Marshmallow Pops! The little guests washed this all down with Strawberry Milk Shakes in mini glass milk bottles and pink stripey straws.

Marshmallow Pops, White Chocolate Crackles,
Cupcakes with mini butterflies and Jelly Pots...with wooden spoons and a little BLING! ;)

The girls filled there favour bags with Sherbet Lolly Pops, Strawberry Sour Straps, Sherbet Cocktails, Mini Pink Musk Sticks, Mini Strawberry Jelly Beans and White Chocolate Whirls.

Yummy sweets, including the birthday girls favourite, Sour Straps!



 The favour bags were decorated with hand made mini white glitter pom poms, which also doubled as a little bracelet. These were also a hit! As well as filling their bags with sweets, the girls also recieved a mini lip gloss, mini nail polish, stickon earrings and a little butterfly ring...everything a little diva needs! ;)

Mini Milk bottles filled with Strawberry Milkshake.
The favour bags with the handmade mini pom pom bracelets.
Pom Poms made by Leegirl Pretties


Each guest also recieved a Mini Thank You chocolate bar, which also featured a little bling!

Mini Thank You chocolate bars.
Wrapper desinged by Leegirl Pretties


 Over all it was a great day, and all the girls had a lovely time, including a very lucky birthday girl. One little guest was even heard saying, 'This is the best party I've ever been to!!' which just makes all the hard work worth it! Thank you Ava for letting Leegirl Pretties be apart of your special day!!

I hope you've enjoyed looking through the photos, I'd love to hear any questions or comments so feel free to post below or email me at leegirlpretties@hotmail.com

Stay Prettie

Jodie-Lee ox

Saturday 1 September 2012

The Organised Housewife Pre-Challenge Week

The Organised Housewife

As you may have seen during the week, I am taking part in a challenge being run by The Organised Housewife. It's aim is clear from the title, '20 Days to organise & clean your home.'

When the challenge pop up in my newsfeed I was excited, as my house has fallen victim to neglect due to my overwhleming need for sleep... it seems pregnancy, part time work, running round after a three year old and housework don't mix very well and can make you very, very tired!! (well for me anyway!)

I decided to take part not only in the hope of getting the house organised and clean, but in the hope that I could kick start and find my motivation again, and enJOY the time I have with my little family of three before it turns into a little family of four!

So, the pre-challenge tasks aimed at organising yourself with a binder for your upcoming tasks/challenges, making a 'cleaning kit', establishing morning and evening routines to suit your home, setting some goals of what you want achieve by taking part and also organising some tubs for the de-cluttering that I plan on doing. 

I most enjoyed establishing morning and evening routines, especially for Kirby. I made her  two charts of her own that we popped up on the fridge and as she completes each task she gets a sticker....stickers are great for getting things done it seems! ;) 

Here is our week in Instagram pics (you can link up your own photos to the challenge by using the hashtag #toh20challenge)

my binder


my 'cleaning kit' in my $9 clean tin from Kmart
(I had this at home already under the sink, but now it serves a better purpose ;) )


my morning routine and Kirbys morning routine

this is now how her bed looks after she helps make the bed

getting all her stickers!
I made a similar chart for the evening

setting goals!!
 Just by establishing these two routines in the morning and evening I can already feel AND see the difference they are making. I can't wait to see what following month brings!!

I plan on writing a post at the end of each week to see what differences it is making in our home and I would love to hear if you are also taking part in the challenge, and how it is making a difference in your home. 

Until next time,
Stay Prettie

Jodie-lee xo

Sunday 12 August 2012

A Prettie Pink Affair



During the time when I was a little M.I.A due to early pregnancy, I helped my sister with my niece's first birthday party...do you remember the sneak peek of the invite?




I thought it was about time to post some pics of what I put together...you will have to forgive me though, I am no professional photographer, so some of the photos don't depict the true colours (like the light pinks).
The bunting used in the display was also the same bunting I made
for her mummy's babyshower before Olivia was born.


Milk bottles for the little guests.

These little favor boxes were filled with a few sweet goodie, but they also contained
a 'Heidi' bow clip from Two Little Bubbles for the girls and sticker packs for the boys.

The specail girl of the day, Olivia!

This wonderful (and very heavy) cake was made by one of my wonderful
friends! I was a pink ombre layer cake on the inside!

Strawberry bon bons from Perth Lolly Buffets
Warning: they are delious and highly addictive!! ;)

Strawberry Jelly Beans!
We also had marshmallows, musk sticks and milk bottles.
The birthday girl blowing out her candle.
Wearing a custom designed hair piece from Two Little Bubbles.

I hope you enjoyed looking though a few of our photos from the day. Feel free to leave a comment if you like :)

Stay Prettie

Jodie-lee




Thursday 9 August 2012

Easy Dinners ~ Tandoori Chicken with Mint Yogurt Sauce.

I love nothing more than a simple, but oh so tasty dinner dish... and sharing them with loved ones of course!

This recipe comes from The Biggest Loser 'Best Recipes' cook book...and its my favourite recipe in the whole book!

I brought this book a few years back I don't think I'll ever
grow old of this recipe!
So, for all your taste buds, here is the recipe!

Tandoori Chicken with Mint Yogurt Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients:

500g chicken tenderloins
1/4 cup tandoori paste
1/4 cup Light & Creamy Coconut Flavoured Evaporated Milk
200g low-fat natural yogurt
2tbs chopped mint leaves
1tbs lemon juice
1/2 teaspoons sumac, plus extra to serve
2 cups steamed rice, to serve

Method

1) Mix together tandoori paste and evaporated milk and pour over chicken in a shallow dish. Turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to marinate. (if you are struggling for time, 20min usually does the trick too)

2) Meanwhile, place the yogurt, mint, lemon juice and sumac in a bowl and mix well.

3) Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the chicken for 3-5 min on each side (or until browned and cooked through), basting regularly with the marinade.

4) Sprinkle the chicken with a little extra sumac and serve with steamed rice and yogurt sauce.

NB:  
* I actually use chicken breast for this recipe and just cut the pieces down to the right size.

*When I first made this recipe I had trouble finding the 'sumac' at Coles, but I ended up finding it in Woolworths with their own brand of herbs and spices.

mmmm it really is just so good!!

I'd love to hear how you go with it.

Stay Prettie

Jodie-lee

Saturday 4 August 2012

Prettie Yummy ~ Baked Toblerone Cheesecake

After yesterdays facebook post about my day of making and baking I had a few people ask me for the recipe for the Baked Toblerone Cheesecake, so I thought I would share it all with you! (you'l have to forgive my lack of photos as I only saw these requests this morning after most of it had been eaten!)

The recipe comes from Janelle Bloom's Fab Food for Family & Friends cook book. I find Janelle's receipes are easy to follow and although I have only used a few from this book so far, each of them has worked really well.

Janelle Bloom's Fab Food for Family & Friends
So if you are entertaining or heading to a friends for a get together give this cheesecake a go, its definately a winner in my books, and its pretty easy too!!

Baked Toblerone Cheesecake
Serves 10.

Ingredients:

750g cream cheese, softened
1 cup of caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs room temp
2 tablespoon of plain flour
300ml sour cream 
2 x 100g toblerone chocolate, broken into pieces
250g mascarpone cheese
cocoa powder and double cream to serve (cream optional, I didn't think it needed it)

Base:

150g Nice biscuits
100 grams butter melted


Method:

1) Preheat Oven 180C no fan. Grease and line base and side of spring form pan (23cm) with baking paper.

2) For the base, break biscuits into large pieces and place in food processor. Process till finely chopped. Add butter and process until well combined. Using a large metal spoon, press mixture into base of the pan.. Refrigerate until firm.


3) Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until just combined (don't over beat or the mixture becomes too aerated). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sitr in flour. Fold in sour cream until just combined.


4) Pour the cream cheese mixture over base, top with toblerone pieces and carefully press them into into cheesecake mixture (they will burn if left exposed). Place pan into a baking tray and bake for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours, or until just set in the centre. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar, and allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the oven. Refridgerate until chilled.


5) Spread top with mascarpone cheese and dust heavily with cocoa powder to serve.

PS. Don't worry if you get any cracks in it (as I did with my first go) because the mascarpone cheese and cocoa cover them all up ;)

As I said earlier I don't have any photos of the whole finished cake, but here's a pic of what didn't get eaten...which means I get to eat more ;)

the left overs...which means more for this mumma!!
I'd love to know how you go with the recipe if you give it a go!

Stay Prettie and ENJOY!

Jodie-lee