I know, I know. Christmas season just ended. We're only a little over a week into the New Year. How can I be thinking about another holiday?

You may or may not remember from posts past that I LOVE Valentine's Day.

This year it's looking more and more definite that hubby will not be home for it. We are so thankful for his current job, especially in this economy... but boy is it rough. I never expected for him to be gone this much, or for it to be this hard. I mean, I survived 13 weeks of bootcamp, you'd think I could handle three to four weeks intervals. I suppose then I didn't have a toddler. It definitely makes a difference.

Sorry for the tangent.

I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY.

Everyone says it's a card holiday. A day to promote chocolate and love and depressing for those who don't have a significant other. Well, if you remember my first post and second post from last year, Valentine's Day has always been much more than that to me.

I was trying to find a specific craft to do and share with you, but the truth is Pinterest is overloaded with some fabulous free DIY Printables. I couldn't pass up sharing them with you first. I'm promising a craft for later, but for now, here are my favorite ideas/printables from Pinterest. (You can also follow my Holiday Specials and Me & My Love boards for more ideas to come!)

Candy Bar Wrappers from the former Anything But Perfect, now Hello Cuteness!

Valentine Party Circle labels for bags of treats and such. From Anything But Perfect/Hello Cuteness.

S'More Friends Like you! Adorable idea to bag up some marshmallows, chocolate, and grahams and give them to friends. From Domesticated Lady.

Heart Seals from Ms. Martha Stewart.

I hope these put you in the mood to share the love come February 14th! Remember, it doesn't have to be Valentine's Day to let others know you care!

Hello again, Newfangled Housewife Readers!

I'm Diana and I guest-posted on Emily's blog back in November to show you some budget-friendly nursery art. Today I am here to offer a giveaway from my etsy shop; but first, I want to share a fun Christmas idea I found recently around the web and on pinterest.

 

This Christmas Tree Bread is a fun and delicious recipe from Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke. I made it last week to take to Andrew's work Christmas party, and it was a big hit. I didn't use maraschino cherries on mine because they aren't my favorite, but the bread was excellent without them. Cute, tasty, and festive!

If you want some more great ideas, follow my Christmas board on pinterest.

Now on to something even more fun. I am very excited to give away a $10 credit to my etsy shop, Diana Meredith Designs! In my shop, you'll find beautiful and unique crocheted gifts, including - to-go cup and ceramic mug cozies,
baby hats and headbands,
coaster sets, and ladies' headbands.
You can use your credit on existing merchandise, or toward a custom order of your own design. Click on over and take a look.

Here's how to enter:

1. Be a follower of the Newfangled Housewife or like the Newfangled Housewife Facebook page
2. Like Diana Meredith Designs Facebook page

How to add your name to the pot a few more times:

1. Follow Newfangled_Wife on Twitter
2. Follow Diana Meredith Designs with bloglovin'!
3. Follow Diana on Pinterest
4. Follow Newfangled Wife on Pinterest

Leave a comment on the post letting us know what all you did. This giveaway is open until New Year's Eve. We'll start 2013 off by announcing the winner! Good luck!

These were so easy and fun to make. I hope you get a chance! I can't wait to use them to bedazzle (like that word? bedazzzzzzle) some gifts, not to mention our Christmas tree! I imagine these would have been extra fun if Michael was old enough to help me. These days I have to wait until he's asleep to do crafts/baking.

Here's what you need:

- 1.5 C cinnamon (I bought a large container at our local Sam's, but you should check dollar stores as well!)
- 1 C unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tsp (1 tbsp) ground cloves (or more... and this is *optional*)

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 200.
- Mix together 1 C applesauce and 1 C of cinnamon. You really have to push and fold the mix to get it all together. Feel free to use your hands. Prepare that they will smell like a candle for a while if you do, no matter how much you wash them!

- Once the two cups are thoroughly mixed, add your next 1/2 C of Cinnamon and ground cloves.
*Note: Pictured is me adding the cloves with the initial first mix. I think it would work either way, but I have a feeling if I had waited to add the cloves their smell would have been a little more noticeable.*

- Next, sprinkle cinnamon over a surface (as you would flour, and I put wax paper down to help with the mess). Roll out your dough until it's about 1/4 inch thick or so.
*Add cinnamon or applesauce to reach the right texture. You don't want it too dry or too damp. It should be just right!*

- Use the cookie cutters that you would like to make your ornaments!


- Use a skewer to poke a hole in the ornaments, very carefully. Make SURE it goes all the way through. If it doesn't, that will make it rather difficult to string them up!

- Bake in the oven for at least an hour. I checked on mine and they seemed to be in excellent condition, but yours may need to bake longer depending on the climate of your home. It's also suggested to just leave them in the oven overnight (so... it's easiest if you make them at night), just to be safe and make sure they completely dry out.

- String works best, but ribbon works, too! Make your ornaments a little more glamorous by adding decorative string/ribbon!



Some of mine did come out a little cracked. I think my dough may have been just a TINY bit dry. Luckily, I only made about 1/3 to 1/2 of the mix, so I have some left over to fix! I would suggest doing this... unless you're doing this as an activity with kids... in which case, make them ALL!

The original idea for these came from the fabulous mind of: Katy Elliot.

And don't forget to enter the fabulous giveaways going on from Exquisite Crafts and Atkinson Drive! Only a couple days left! Don't miss out.

Although I've been beyond focused on sticking to a budget, there come times when you need to just splurge a bit. Live a little. Ya know?

I wanted to put together a care package for my little sister (who is a freshman at the University of Kansas this year!), and I wasn't about to do it half-heartedly. Although buying name brand, specific things can be pricey at the grocery store-- sometimes you do whatcha gotta do.

Since it is Autumn (just about), I thought what better way to celebrate than to make this adorable treat I found on Pinterest (which, actually, my little sister initially pinned-- so I knew it was a keeper/winner for the care package).

Ingredients:

- Hershey Kisses
- mini chocolate chip morsels
- Nutter Butter (bite size)

Directions:

- Melt about 1 C of mini chocolate chips (about half of the bag) in the microwave or over the stove top.

*Never add water. I learned this the hard way once while making chocolate covered strawberries.*

- Carefully dip the flat end of a Hershey Kiss into the melted chocolate and bind it to a Nutter Butter. Do the same with a mini chocolate chip (see the picture).


- Repeat as many times as you like. Careful leaving these lying around, though! Many of mine kept mysteriously disappearing and I would have to make more.

Great for goody bags, too (like pictured below)! The bags and leaves I bought at our local Dollar Tree, so they clearly didn't break the bank!

I also gave in and bought three cans of pumpkin today. Needless to say, there's going to be some serious pumpkin recipes coming!

Oh, it's that time of year again. The time when it starts getting cooler, the leaves start to change, and everything just feels so perfect.

Needless to say, this is my favorite time of year.

(Please don't pull a Clark and tell me that every season is my favorite season. I may always want the next season... in spring I want summer, in summer I want fall, in fall I want fall....)

I wanted something that was appropriate for Autumn, but not something that made me feel like I was diving into Thanksgiving. But what could I make...

The great thing about Pinterest is it always seems to have something for me to be interested in. The bad thing about Pinterest is I now longer have to get super creative anymore, I just get on there and I can find ANYTHING. Of course, the internet is like this, anyway, but somehow Pinterest makes it worse.

So, I found these on Pinterest.

Ingredients:

- Apples (I used three Gala Apples)
- Cinnamon

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 275. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
*Aluminum foil also works, just make sure to spray it!*
- Take the cores out of your apples. I don't have a tool that makes this easy, but it wasn't that bad doing without!
- Slice your apples as thin as you would like. *I couldn't quite get the right thickness with these. Sadly a few turned out burned, and others weren't crispy enough. Please share any tips you have if you've made these before or something you find while making them yourself!*

- Sprinkle your apples with cinnamon on both sides.
- Cook for two hours, flipping them at the one hour mark.
*Do check on them once you flip them. They seem to cook quicker on the second side, so I'd say set your time for 30 minutes and go from there!*

Enjoy them! And beware: while they're cooking your whole house smells of apples. I was positively drooling waiting on them!