Sparkling Cranberry Punch

Whether you're finished with finals or just want a drink this weekend you have to try this punch! It is so delicious and it's only 80 calories per drink. Done. Get rid of your leftover cranberries as a garnish for this drink.

Ingredients
1/2 can Diet Sparkling Cranberry
2 oz Crystal Light Pink Lemonade (made from powder)
1.5 oz Bacardi Rum
Fresh cranberries

Honey Butter Popcorn

Around finals I'm always craving whatever snack I can get my hands on. Popcorn is one of my go to snacks because it's a whole grain and easy to eat while studying. I had some leftover Cranberry Honey Butter from Thanksgiving (it lasts for forever) and thought, "Hey! I can make my own version of sweet and salty kettle corn." Yum. It takes about 3 minutes to transform plain popcorn into the perfect study snack. If you want to get fancy you can make your own popcorn, but it's totally fine to use the kind that comes in a bag.

Ingredients

1 plain popcorn bag

2 tablespoons Cranberry Honey Butter

1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

1. Pop a bag of popcorn according to directions. Dump into a large bowl. 
2. Melt butter in a microwave safe dish for 30 seconds or until melted and drizzle over the popcorn. 
3. Add sea salt and toss to combine. Enjoy!

Winter Moisturizer

'Tis the season for dry skin. Fortunately, I love my moisturizer and I rarely have any issues with dryness. It is so important to take care of your skin and have a favorite moisturizer. Aveeno Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer is my go to. Every day after I shower I put this on and I don't have to worry about my face feeling dry. At night I use Aveeno Clear Complexion Foaming Cleanser to cleanse and then I put a dab of moisturizer on again before I go to bed. Once a week I like to use a peel for good measure. I use the Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Sensitive that I discovered from Birchbox. The peel is quick and I can always find time to do it at some point in the week. If you don't have a skin routine then you need to get to it and make yourself one. Don't regret it later!

Hot Chocolate Mix

Making homemade hot chocolate mix is so much better than store bought. You can make is so much more decadent and you can make a big batch to keep all winter. This mix is one of my favorites. Add some chocolate chips, extra marshmallows, peppermint, or even a little Bailey's to change it up throughout the season.

Ingredients
3 cups powdered milk
1 cup powdered coffee creamer
1 cup Nestle Nesquick powdered chocolate milk mix
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 box instant chocolate pudding mix
Marshmallows

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients (except for the marshmallows) together with a whisk. Store the mixture in an airtight container. 
2. To make hot chocolate use 1/3 cup of mix with 1 cup of water.

DIY: Santa Ornament

This weekend I was invited to an ornament exchange event. It got me thinking about what kinds of cute and easy homemade ornaments I could make. This adorable Santa ornament is the perfect addition to any Christmas tree. I haven't decorated yet (oops), but hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to in between studying. I really like the "ribbon" I used for this ornament that I found at Michael's. It's not actually ribbon, but it reminds me of Santa's beard. If you have kids around they can help you stuff the ornaments once they've been painted. I seriously love the holidays. Check back for more little homemade gifts!

What you need:

1. Clear glass ornament
2. Red paper crinkle or beads
3. Festive ribbon
4. Black paint
5. Yellow or gold paint
6. Black glitter

Instructions

Remove the top silver part of the ornament. Paint a gold buckle in the center of the ornament, let dry. Paint a black stripe all the way around the ornament connecting at the buckle, let dry. Paint another layer of black paint over the stripe and add black glitter before the paint drys. Warning: black glitter gets everywhere. Once dry stuff the ornament with red paper, add the top back on, and tie a ribbon to the top.

Tip: To let the paint dry without it getting everywhere place the ornament upside down. It should stand on its own because the silver top is off!

Sweet Potato Casserole

My grandmother liked to call this recipe Mallow-Whipt Sweet Potatoes, but I always just refer to it as a Sweet Potato Casserole. Some people prefer not to have marshmallows with their sweet potatoes except in my family we have to have them. Thanksgiving may be over, but this is still a delicious sweet potato dish and Christmas dinner is right around the corner! You can use fresh sweet potatoes for this dish if you would prefer - about 6 medium size, cut up, cooked, and mashed. Sorry for the awful picture... I was a little occupied cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Anyways, this dish is sweet with a touch of cinnamon so it's perfect for the winter season.

Ingredients
2 17 oz cans sweet potatoes, drained, mashed
2 cups marshmallows
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. In a large bowl, stir together sweet potatoes, 1 cup marshmallows, margarine, orange juice, and cinnamon. 
3. Spoon into one quart casserole dish. Bake 20 minutes. 
4. Sprinkle with remaining marshmallows and broil until lightly browned about 1 minutes. Be careful not to burn the marshmallows!

Thanksgiving Break

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! J and I had a great time in Pennsylvania on Wednesday night and the first half of Thanksgiving. Then we made the trip back to Maryland to enjoy another Thanksgiving dinner. Yum. Friday was filled with shopping and checking things off my Christmas gift list. On Saturday, J and I made the spontaneous decision to go see Brett Eldredge at the 9:30 Club in DC and it was one of the best decisions ever. He was amazing live! The Railers also played and we met them after the show. Thanksgiving break was so much fun and obviously I have so much catching up to do now. Oops.