Chocolate Covered Strawberries Arrangement

Happy February everyone! I love February, I always feel like the month is super busy and I get really crafty :)  Tomorrow I am celebrating my boyfriend's birthday so I decided to make him chocolate covered strawberries.  I wanted to make it like edible arrangements where they put them in a little tin basket, I was able to find a really cute robot tin at Target for only $1.  This project is pretty easy to do, hope you guys like it! 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Arrangement!

Things You Need: 
1-1/2 cups of melting chocolate ** You can use regular chocolate it just takes a little longer to dry.
1 carton of strawberries (about 16-18 strawberries)
2 dozen skewers  ** I used plastic ones but the wooden ones would work well too
1 small basket
1 small piece of foam, large enough to fit snuggly in the basket
Easter basket grass
OPTIONAL: Fondue pot or Little Dipper Crock Pot, to melt the chocolate.  If you don't have either you can melt it in the microwave or in a double boiler over the stove.

Step-by-Step How To:
 

Get your melting pot and chocolate ready.

 

Melt 1-1/2 cups of chocolate.




Stir the chocolate every so often until it has all melted.



Wash and dry the strawberries then place in the fridge. You want them to be nice and cold before you dip them in the chocolate so that the chocolate dries quickly.

Get your skewers ready! I used plastic ones but wooden ones will work too.

Stick the skewers into the strawberries.



Dip the strawberries into the melted chocoalte!



Stick them into a piece of foam until they dry.



This part is optional: melt 1/4 cup of white or dark chocolate, place it into a ziploc bag, next cut off the tip of the bag, this makes a very simple piping bag.

 

Using the chocolate piping bag you just created pipe designs onto the strawberries and let dry.

 

Cut-up a piece of foam so it fits snuggly into your tin.

Stick the strawberries into the foam, you can arrange them anyway you like, just make sure you balance them out.

 

Get some easter grass and stuff into the tin, so that the foam is completely covered.

Time to eat!

Brown Sugar & Chocolate Chip Icebox Shortbread Cookies

I love shortbread cookies! They are crispy, light and yummy! My favorite shortbread cookies are the ones that have brown sugar on the outside.  The basic icebox shortbread cookie recipe comes from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/icebox-shortbread.  Hope you like these as much as I do!

Yummy shortbread cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling

Mix in 1/2 cup mini chocolate, peanut-butter chips, dried cranberries, raisins, etc.

1/8 cup of brown sugar

Directions:

1. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt with a mixer until smooth.
2. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour, mixing just until the dough forms.
3. Divide the dough in half
4. Take half of the dough and stir in the chocolate chips or peanut-butter chips.
5. Roll each piece of dough into a 1.5-inch-diameter log.
6. Spread out the brown sugar on a flat surface and roll the log without the chocolate chips on the brown sugar, until the outside is completely coated (press the sugar on gently to help it adhere).
7. Wrap logs tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, 1-1.5 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Unwrap logs and slice dough 3/8 inch thick, if the dough crumbles, leave it at room temperature 5-10 mins.
10. Place the slices 1 inch apart on a baking sheet.
11. Bake until lightly golden around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes.
12. Cool on the baking sheet 1-2 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Shortbread cookie ingredients.

Cream the butter, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla.

Slowly add the flour.

Divide the dough in two.

Spread about 1/8 cup of brown sugar on a cutting board, roll the dough into a log, roll the log of dough on the brown sugar so the outside is completely covered, next wrap it up in plastic.

Get some mini-chocolate chips (you can use cranberries, raisins, etc.)

Add the mini chocolate chips, roll it and wrap it up in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for 1-1.5 hours.

Slice them 3/8" thick and place on a cookie sheet liined with parchment paper.

Slice and bake in the oven 12-15 mins!

Eat them up!

Package them up and give them as small gifts.

Craft #4: Tinsel Glass Ornament

Christmas time is full of lights, glitter and things that sparkle and shine :) This ornament is very sparkly and easy to do and involves one of my favorite things, TINSEL!  Not only is it simple to make but cheap too! Hope you guys like it!

Ornaments!

Things You Will Need:

Tinsel *I got mine at the Dollar Store, a whole lot of it for just a buck!
Glass Ornaments
Glitter Alphabet Stickers (Optional, $1.99 for a pack at Michael's)
Scissors
Ribbon (Optional)
Thin Pencil

Step-By-Step How To:

Supplies!  I would recommend using a 12"-14" piece of tinsel for a medium sized glass ornament. It's up to you how much you want to fill it up. 

Take the cap off the ornament.

Poke the tinsel inside the ornament with the pencil.

Put the cap back on.

Get some stickers and ribbon!

Tie the ribbon on the ornament.

Place the stickers on the center of the ornament.  I spelled out some common holiday words but you can also put someones initials on there to personalize it.

That's it! Easy enough right!?

Craft #3: Glitter Ornament

I am in full Christmas ornament/decoration mode.  This is my favorite time of year to make crafts for around the house or as mini gifts for people.  Glass ornaments are pretty cheap and can be customized in a lot of ways, this is a simple way to make a pretty glamorous looking ornament.  I found this fun project at Michael's but I will warn you it takes about 3-4 days for this ornament to dry but it is definitely worth it.  If you plan on making them for yourself or others do it a week ahead of time.  Don't let the dry time scare you off this project is extremely easy, quick and fun to do, you just add the paint, shake and let dry!

Glitter Ornament!

Things You Will Need:

1 2fl.oz bottle of Folk Art Extreme Glitter Acrylic Paint (In any color you wish: gold, silver, green, blue, etc., price:$2.49 per bottle)
Clear Glass Ornaments (I found mine on sale, $2.50 for 6 at Michael's but they usually cost $4.99 for 6)
Ribbon ($0.50)
Rubbing Alcohol
Small Funnel (optional)

Step-By-Step How To:

Things you will need.

Remove hanger and place a funnel on top (funnel is optional).

Pour 1 tsp of rubbing alcohol inside the ornament, place thumb over opening, swirl and shake it around.

Pour alcohol out and let dry.



Squeeze some of the Extreme Glitter paint into the ornament.  Place your thumb over the ornament opening and shake, swirl and tap it until the inside is completely coated.  If you feel you did not add enough Extreme Glitter add more until the ornament is completely coated.  If you added too much paint, over a trash can turn the ornament over and shake out excess paint.



Place the ornament back in its box and let it dry completely.  Rotate the ornament occasionally so it dries out evenly.  My house was pretty cold so my ornament took about 3-4 days to dry.

Once your ornament is dry cut some ribbon and tie it on the hanger of the ornament.

Seal the ends of the ribbon by putting them close to the flame of a candle in order to melt the ends slightly so they won't fray. Be very careful when doing this, if you put the ribbon too close to the flame it will shrivel up and burn away.

Glitzy Ornament :)