Christmas Hot Chocolate Gift Jars!

     MERRY CHRISTMAS PEOPLE!!! I'm so excited about the holiday season! Christmas is just around the corner, and some of us (including me) don't have all our gifts ready to be dispersed yet. I was on the way to town the other day to pick up some new knobs for my dresser, when I remembered that I had seen this idea on Pinterest recently and had noted that I wanted to try it this year. I did a little price checking while I was in the store, and found that I could do a dozen of these adorable little jars for about $30-$40 dollars. I picked up some wide mouthed, quart sized mason jars(which they annoyingly sold separately, so I couldn't use my %40 coupon on the case), some ribbon and matching Christmas crafting paper for the lids. When I went to the grocery store, I got two giant hot chocolate cans, a bag of marshmallows, three bags of Hersey's kisses(which I pulverized in the food processor). On the way to the checkout, I saw a box of a dozen beautiful candy canes, which I added to the jars, and really made them look special! I put all the jars together in about an hour or two.

   I ended up giving the dozen to ladies at our church, and they all loved them! What a pretty, affordable, and easy gift to give out to family and friends!

Madam Mocha

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies!

brought to you by Jill Saunders on allrecipes.com

"Whenever you make these cookies for someone, be sure to bring along several copies of the recipe! You will be asked for it, I promise!" — Jill Saunders  

     These are seriously the best rolled sugar cookies on the planet! They are perfect for rolling and making cut-out cookies. They have a soft center and slightly crunchy edges. I am planning on making some snow flake cookies with this recipe for this Christmas. I'll be sure to post pictures, and tell you how they turned out.

Visit this link on allrecipes.com for a step-by-step video on how to make them.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Madam Mocha

Vintage Hair Tutorial

     This is an amazing vintage inspired hair tutorial that is fancy and fun! It is much MUCH easier though if you have a partner to do the side braid! I wish I could still do this on my hair, but I go it all cut to shoulder length recently(don't ask me why). Sometimes, like when I see medieval or vintage tutorials like this one, I wish it was princess-hip-length again! ;)

The Beauty Thesis

The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug

     I don't know about you guys, but I am ecstatic about the second hobbit movie coming out! J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are books I have grown up with. They were always my go-to books on a rainy day. So how cool is it that they are now movies!?

     The first hobbit movie was amazing! I watched the BBC's Sherlock series, so I love seeing Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch(we call him cucumberpatch in my house) play together, though Benedict Cumberbatch didn't really make an appearance in the first Hobbit movie. I also saw, several years ago BBC's Robin Hood, which was not nearly as good as Sherlock, but still somewhat entertaining. Anyway, my absolute favorite character was Guy of Gisborne, played by Richard Armatige(aka Arm Pit). So, I was screaming on the inside with every other girl who watched Thorin Oakenshield defeat the mighty Azog with only a Oaken stump!

     I remember writing a christian analysis of The Hobbit in high school English. Bilbo is just an amazing image of courage, loyalty, selflessness and perseverance. He goes through so much, but still he wants to help the dwarfs to regain their home land from the dragon Smaug.

I can't wait until The Desolation of Smaug comes out in just a few days on December 13th! I'll be there on opening night! :)

Madam Mocha

Strange Fire - Joni Eareckson Tada - An Amazing Testimony

     A few weeks ago, I started listening to the Strange Fire conference that Grace to You posted on their web site. You can watch and download them for free here: http://www.gty.org/resources/sermon-series/325. In my opinion, the best lectures were the one from Joni Earechson Tada and the Q&A sessions one and two.




     This is the amazing video testimonial by Joni that I hope you all benefit greatly from hearing. I did. It is the first message I ever heard from her, and her testimony is really amazing, and inspiring. She reminds us to always be content where we are, no mater where God has put us, and no mater how we think things should be.

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:11-13

Hope you enjoy!
Madam Mocha

The Glory of God in the Sunset

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~ Philippians 2:9-11

     I took this picture of the sunset recently. Amazing! What a wonderful and powerful God we have to have created this with his mighty words! The sky always reminds me that God has everything under control and like Romans 8 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." so with him we have nothing to fear in our lives, and nothing to be anxious about.

My God, I will glorify your name forever! Amen.
Madam Mocha

Hair Pastels - The Beauty Department

  













   
     This is the best hair chalk tutorial I have found, from The Beauty Department. This is so much fun to do! I have natural red hair, so I tried pink and purple around my face. It was really cute and the best part, it washed out really easily! I would highly recommend trying this. You can even hot-iron the part you color to make it stay another day. I have, however noticed that this does not work at all for black hair. (sorry black haired gals!)

http://thebeautydepartment.com/2012/01/chalk-it-up/ 

Have fun!
Madam Mocha

Madam Mocha

     This new little blog is for getting out creative ideas, and sharing my experiences with the world. I am by no means an intellectual, and I'm not even very good at grammar, but I have some things that I think you might find interesting and even helpful.

I'll be writing about ~

• My life and experiences as a Christian
• New recipes that I may or may not have already tried.
• Home remodeling and decorating
• Recommendations on books, music and clean shows.
• ...And probably a lot of other stuff too

      I love to cook. I bake cakes, cookies, and other little pastries for friends and family, and love to find a new recipe to try! I love to play music. I have been playing the piano for many years now and would love to teach one day when I have the time. I am also a self taught cellist. I like to play classical music and old christian hymns. I often like to garden when it is not too hot, and take great pleasure in keeping a fresh pot of flowers by the front door. I also love taking pictures with my handy-dandy little camera. I take pictures mostly of our God's marvelous creation!

Hope you'll drop in every once in a while and check out my new posts!

Madam Mocha