12 Days of Christmas Day 8: Crock Pot Hot Chocolate Bar

I have been seeing hot cocoa bars left and right on Pinterest lately, and decided to make my very own! I pulled together the best treats from all of the different ideas I found and this list is what I came up with!

Chocolate- Mint spoons for stirring- homemade, find the post here.
Crushed mints- I just bought some mints at the store and smashed them in to little bits.
Homemade marshmallows- There were also made by me. So easy and so delicious! Post here.
Caramels- They melt at the bottom and give you a chocolatey-caramel flavor. Store bought.
Homemade chocolate chip marshmallows- Made with the regular ones, sooo good!
Pirouettes- These are store bought and they are perfect for stirring as well! They’re also so good you can just eat them plain:)
Peppermint Schnapps- Not pictured, but this is great for the adults at the party. It’ll warm you up real fast!
It’s A Marshmallow World In The Winter printable- found here.
Hot cups
Paper straws- Mostly for show, but you can stir with them too:)
Cotton balls- For fake snow of course! A little decoration goes a long way:)
Hot Cocoa- of course! The recipe for this amazing kind I made is below!

Ingredients:

1.5 Cups heavy whipping cream
6 cups milk
1 bag Nestle chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
Hershey’s chocolate syrup

Directions:

Put all ingredients into your slow cooker.
Cook on low for 4 hours. Make sure that you stir it occasionally to help melt down those chocolate chips!
Put into your favorite mug, top with homemade marshmallows, use a peppermint-chocolate spoon, or stir with a pirouette!

We are going to have one of these for our family Christmas Eve festivities this year because I loved how it turned out SO much! The hot chocolate was fantastically rich and homemade marshmallows are my new favorite treat!

Want to see the other 11 days of Christmas? Check them out here:

Day 1 // Day 2 // Day 3 // Day 4 // Day 5 // Day 6 // Day 7 // Day 8 // Day 9 // Day 10 // Day 11 // Day 12

Gold Dots Tee

The moment I saw this gold dot tee on Groopdealz I KNEW I needed it! It’s comfy and it’s casual, but you can dress it up like I did here with no problems! If you can’t tell from this post earlier in the week, I am ALL about dressing up casual items right now! I’m slowly beginning to realize that there really is no such thing as a “non-versatile” item. The trend these days is to wear those graphic tees with skirts, blazers, heels, anything and everything you can think of! I like this trend…

Get The Look:

Forever 21 Midi Skirt (Similar) // Lucy and Lyla Gold Dots tee viz Groopdealz (Similar) // Payless Pumps (Similar) // Rebecca Minkoff Mini MAC via Bloomingdales // Necklace via Rocksbox // Steinmart Sunglasses // Charming Charlie Bracelets

Shop Midi Skirts:

I love how this outfit turned out and that last photo with the snow. My favorite:) I really wish it was real snow, but there is no snow in Austin. I guess I should clarify…..I wish that I had traveled somewhere and blown real snow at the camera, not that there was snow in Texas, lol. I am perfectly happy with my 60-70 degree days right now thank you very much!

This outfit would be adorable for a holiday party or for a Christmas Eve dinner, but it would also be amazing for a classy New Years Eve outfit as well! So many options! What would you wear this one to?

Linking uop with: Threefer Thursday, Mix & Match Fashion, I Feel Pretty, The Pleated Poppy, Tucker Up

12 Days of Christmas Day 7: Snowy Light Wall

I wish I had thought of this idea 10 years ago when I was in high school. Today’s Christmas DIY would have been PERFECT for my high school self’s room. Why? Well, first it is freakin’ cool looking. Second, it’s no mess and won’t tear up your walls, my mother would have ACTUALLY allowed this! High impact, no damage. Who could ask for anything more really? I told my sister that she needs to do this behind my 16 year old niece’s bed, I think it would look amazing as a faux headboard or just behind a regular one!

The walls you see in those pictures are from our company holiday party. It looked like glowing snow falling on each end of the room, and it was SO cool! I really want to do this in our dining room for Christmas some day when we finally have Christmas at our own house!

How do you do it? So easy! You take these sheer curtains from Amazon ($5.99) and put them onto 36″ long wooden dowels (Hobby Lobby). Then you take two command strip hooks and you hang the dowel like you would a curtain rod onto the hooks. Once you have all of your curtains up, you take smaller command strip hooks and place one or two between the bigger hooks that are holding up the dowels. Then take your Christmas lights and string them up and down between the hooks. You can also use the big hooks that the dowels are on so that your lights are closer together and the snowy effect is even greater! For the snowflake cluster at the top, I used tissue pom poms, felt snowflakes (Dollar Tree), white paper lanterns, and made a HUGE snowflake with paper:)

If you have any questions about how this was all put together let me know in the comments below, or email me at allthatglitters810 at gmail.com.

Want to see the other 11 days of Christmas? Check them out here:

Day 1 // Day 2 // Day 3 // Day 4 // Day 5 // Day 6 // Day 7 // Day 8 // Day 9 // Day 10 // Day 11 // Day 12

Linking up with: Craft Frenzy

10 Tips For Staying Active During The Holidays

I can’t believe it is almost Christmas! Only 2 more weeks and it will be here….along with all of the delicious holiday food. <sigh> This is the time of year that so many people fall off the wagon and lose all of their goals in a few short weeks. I have been thinking long and hard of ways to make sure that I stay active throughout the season and I came up with these 10 tips to share with you!

Pack your work out gear- If you pack it and bring it with you, there will be no excuses. You won’t work out if you don’t have the means to, so make sure you have them with you!
Get your work out in early- Wake up early and go before the rest of the family wakes up. If you go early you will have the rest of the day free and it will be out of the way. I know, personally, I will think up a million excuses if I don’t go first thing!
Enter in a holiday fun run- There are usually 5ks a plenty around the holidays. If you sign up for one you have at least one activity planned!
Build your activities into family time- Take the family ice skating. Walk the family dogs. Go caroling at night. Walk the mall while everyone is shopping. If your activity is built in to your time with the family it will get done and you won’t even realize it:)
Walk around the neighborhood to see lights instead of driving- This might not work if it snows or is freezing where you live, but here in Texas our weather will be perfect for walking the neighborhood. Walking is much better for you than driving around in that car, and *bonus points* you won’t get stuck in traffic!
Plan ahead- Talk to your family members and see if they have any gym equipment you can use. If not, call local gyms to see if they allow guests. If you’re staying in a hotel, contact the hotel to see if there is a gym in the building. Get this out of the way before you head out of town and you will be much more likely to get it done!
Be prepared- Bring your computer and a workout DVD just in case. Check out some Youtube videos in advance that require no equipment. These might be your plan, or they might be a last resort, either way you are prepared for anything!
Offer to help with chores– Shovel snow, rake leaves, vacuum- all of these activities are calorie burning!
Play with the kids- You burn so many calories just acting like a child. Spin them around, go sledding with them, run up and down the stairs, have fun Even if there are no kids around, that doesn’t mean you can’t act like it!
Make it a group activity- You know your great aunt wants to lose 5 lbs! Invite her to come with you and be active as well! Hanging out with the family while you are working out can make it seem like less of a hassle. It will also make you feel less guilty if you don’t leave them.

I hope these help you plan your work outs and stay active this holiday season! Have something to add? Let me know in the comments below!

Linking up with: Be.You.Tiful Link up

12 Days of Christmas Day 6: Winter Centerpiece

These centerpieces are so easy to make and can be used for much more than just your party tables! After the office party last week, ours were put on the entry table to the office and they look super fun and festive! These can be made in any color you want for any occasion, which makes them even better! This particular one could be used for a winter festival, a Frozen party, or even a Hanukkah party, but you could switch out the ornaments for red and green ones and it would be a perfect Christmas party decoration!

I found the felt snowflake that went under the glass vase at the Dollar Tree (Yup, that’s right, $1). The other little sparkly balls and ornaments were all found at Hobby Lobby. The powder snow was probably the most expensive part, surprisingly, but you can find lots of different types on Amazon! I have to say, I am really proud of this one. My boss even told me that I had missed my calling in event planning after she saw them:) <This is me smiling really big!>

Want to see the other 11 days of Christmas? Here they are:

Day 1 // Day 2 // Day 3 // Day 4 // Day 5 // Day 6 // Day 7 // Day 8 // Day 9 // Day 10 // Day 11 // Day 12

Ingredients:

Directions:

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