Fun Christmas Facts

 Go to our Facebook page to see some fun Christmas Facts and make sure to "Like" us on Facebook!

Merry Christmas!


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paper-so-Pretty/88815494298

Superbowl Party!!

Start your BIG DAY party planning with these Paper so Pretty invites! 

Super Bowl XLVI is around the corner! Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of 
the Indianapolis Colts, will serve as the home of Super Bowl on 
February 5, 2012. So pick an invitation, invite your friends, grab 
your jersey and PARTY!

It's National Cupcake Day!

 

It's National Cupcake Day! Satisfy your sweet tooth with these free
offers. Maggie Moo's Ice Cream and Marble Slab Creamery are giving
away free ice cream and cupcakes today from 4-7pm!

And for all the cupcake bakers out there, here is a yummy Applesauce
Cupcake recipe for you to enjoy!

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup finely chopped, peeled apple (I prefer to use Granny Smith or
Jonagold apples for baking)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Add eggs, butter,
and applesauce.  Mix for 2 minutes at slow speed.  Scrape bowl.  Mix
at medium speed for 1 minute.  Scrape bowl, and stir in chopped apples
and walnuts.

Your oven should be preheated to 350 degrees.  spoon cupcake batter
into cupcake pans lined with paper or foil cupcake liners.  You should
fill each cup approximately 1/2 to 2/3 full making sure you have the
same amount of batter in each cup.

Bake your cupcakes for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted
into the center comes out clean.  Remove the applesauce cupcakes from
the pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.

Top with caramel topping or frosting and enjoy!

Christmas Reindeer Cookies

 

Reindeer Cookies

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup shortening

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

Chocolate-covered mini pretzels

Mini brown M&Ms

Regular-sized red M&Ms

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg; beat until just blended.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Form dough into 1-inch balls. To make reindeer-shaped cookies, pinch the bottom of the ball slightly to form a point, then gently flatten with your hand. Space cookies about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until set or just beginning to brown. 

Remove from oven and immediately (and gently) press two mini pretzels into the tops of the cookies for the reindeer's antlers. Press two mini brown M&Ms in for the eyes and one red M&M for the nose (or any other color... some of mine ended up with green noses. They might be South Pole reindeer.). 

Allow to cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack or paper towel to cool completely. 

Makes about 40 reindeer cookies.

Source: Peanut butter cookie recipe from Jif.

Gobble Gobble!

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• Pumpkin Cupcakes 
• Simple Chocolate Buttercream 
• 18 coconut-covered marshmallows
• 36 chocolate sprinkles
• 90 mini gummy fish (orange, red, and yellow)
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut on a small baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, until just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool.
2. Ice cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. Dip top of each cupcake in coconut to cover; set aside.
3. To make the turkey heads: Stick the point of a wet toothpick into the side of a marshmallow in two spots, about 1/2-inch apart. Fill the holes with chocolate sprinkles to resemble eyes. Cut a small triangular piece of gummy fish from the head of a fish, to resemble a beak. Cut a small slit in the marshmallow below the eyes, and insert the beak. Place marshmallow head on cupcake. Repeat with remaining marshmallows.
4. To make the tail feathers: Insert 4 gummy fish, tails first, into each cupcake across from the heads.
   

Christmas Sale!!!!

New Designs!!!

Halloween!

Whether it's ghosts, monsters or witches, there is definitely no 

shortage of Halloween inspired ideas! And since Halloween is one of 
our favorite holidays, here are a few of our favorite treats.
To make the cute green Frankie cups, all you need is vanilla pudding 
dyed green, topped with crushed Oreos. Use small clear cups and a 
marker to make the faces. So simple, and so cute!

Halloween Sale!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

 

 October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Let's do our part in the fight for breast cancer by spreading the word and by simply 'liking' the following companies that are in support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.

For every like, Yoplait® & Kroger will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® up to $150,000:
http://www.facebook.com/SharingCourage?sk=app_148968778527770

Boar's Head will donate $1 for every new 'like' to help reach their goal of $10,000:
http://www.facebook.com/BoarsHead?sk=app_281619048516539

For other ways to donate to end breast cancer:
http://ww5.komen.org/donate/donate.html
 

Pumpkin time is approaching!!!!

 

PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS, and more PUMPKINS!

Who doesn't love Fall and anything having to do with Pumpkins? Here are some delish recipes to try for the upcoming fall season! 

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a medium bowl.
2. Whisk together the milk, pumpkin, butter and egg in a separate bowl. Fold this mixture into the dry ingredients.
3. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
4. Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake and cook approximately 3 minutes per side.
5. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

Don't you just love this time of year?

* Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

 

Pumpkin Pull-Apart Monkey Bread with Maple Glaze
yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

for the dough-
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup warm milk
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 2/3-3 1/3 cups bread flour

for the coating-
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

for the glaze-
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons half & half {or milk}
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In large stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, stir milk, water, yeast and sugar together. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to proof yeast. If mixture is foamy, then you can continue. {If nothing happens, then odds are your yeast is no good, or you killed it with hot water and milk! Try to get your water and milk to be warm to the touch, like baby bath water.}

Stir in salt, egg, butter, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, and half the flour and mix. With mixer on, pour in remaining flour bit by bit until dough pulls away from the sides and is sticky but when touched doesn’t really stick to your hands. {For me, that was 2 tablespoons shy of 3 cups of flour.} Once you reach this stage, turn mixer on for 4-5 minutes to knead. Lightly grease dough and bowl and cover to rise for 1 hour. Stick it somewhere warm and draft-free.

Lightly grease a bundt or angel food cake* pan with non stick cooking spray and set aside. Create a coating station by placing sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and melting the butter in another bowl. Punch down dough and remove from bowl. Cut dough into small pieces about 1 tablespoon in size. Roll in butter, coat in cinnamon sugar and place into prepared pan. Repeat until no dough remains. If there is extra butter or sugar, pour over the top of the dough pieces in the pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let rise another hour in a warm spot in your kitchen.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake monkey bread for 25 minutes or until the top begins to brown slightly. Remove from oven and cool 20 minutes.

While monkey bread is cooling, prepare glaze by mixing powdered sugar, maple syrup, half & half and vanilla together in a small bowl until smooth.

Remove warm pull aparts onto serving dish and drizzle with glaze. Serve warm.

 

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies

Yield: 24 small brownies

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Line an 11″- x 7″-inch pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs and oil until smooth.  Set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and brown sugar.  Add to the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until passes toothpick test.  Cool completely before cutting.

Source:  Small Home Big Start

Halloween Is Just Around the Corner!!!!

Labor Day!!

Hi everybody! Another holiday is fast approaching... Labor Day! It's 
time for grand parades, big fun, and time to spare with family and 
friends. Celebrate the historic holiday that commemorates the huge 
contributions the workers have made to the strength, prosperity and 
well-being of our nation. Time to take a break, feel the real spirit 
and travel to the eventful past of the American labor movement and pay 
a tribute to the great labor force.

Enjoy this yummo Labor Day recipe we found in Food Network Magazine.

Ingredients
     2 tablespoons unsalted butter
     4 ears corn, kernels cut off
     Kosher salt
     6 scallions, chopped
     3 to 4 cups leftover chili
     1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack (about 6 oz)
     1 18-ounce tube precooked polenta, cut into 12 rounds

Directions
(Use leftover Slow-Cooker Texas Chili.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Melt the butter in a skillet over 
medium-high heat. Add the corn and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until 
tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the scallions and cook until soft, about 1 
minute.

Spread the chili in an 8-inch-square baking dish. Top with half of the 
cheese followed by half of the corn mixture. Lay the polenta rounds on 
top, then sprinkle with the remaining corn and cheese.

Bake until the casserole is heated through and the top is golden, 
about 20 minutes. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Back to School

Yep! It's that time again. School has started, and for some, it's the 
very FIRST day of school! This is an important and exciting milestone 
for your little one. We snapped a photo of Kaelan on his first day as 
we are sure you all have done as well! So to all the parents out 
there, send us photos of your little ones. We'd love to see them!
Best wishes for a wonderful school year from everyone at Paper so 
Pretty!

"Pack" Your Bags for Back to School

It's that time again! It's Back to School and time to pack your child's backpack with fun snacks, lunches, and school supplies to get back in the swing of the school year!

Sunglasses Day!

 

Today is Sunglasses Day! Summer is also in full swing, so what better 
way to celebrate than to rock our sunglasses for an entire day? Here's 
a little history on how sunglasses came about.
In prehistoric times, the Inuit peoples wore the first pair of shades 
when they wore flattened walrus ivory "glasses", looking through 
narrow slits to block harmful sun rays. By the turn of the 20th 
century, silent movie actors wore them while filming to shield their 
eyes from bright stage lights. Then in 1929, entrepreneur Sam Foster 
mass-produced the modern version.
So, enjoy today and don't forget to wear your favorite pair of 
sunglasses!

It's A Girl Baby Shower Ideas

It's almost the Fourth!

In honor of the 4th of July, I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite recipes, decorations, past times, etc. Below is one of the easiest, tastiest, and cutest things you could do if you need to take something to a party, want to make something patriotic for the kids, or simply want a sweet treat.

Simply cut up angel food cake and layer the bottom of your baking dish (rectangle). Then, spread a layer of whipped cream and put another layer of angel food cake on top. Now you're ready for your top layer of whipped cream. Spread it on and get your strawberries ready to make your stripes. I cut the strawberries in half and line the up. Some people like to use raspberries! Now, use your blueberries as the stars part of the flag and you have the tastiest flag there is! So easy and no baking!!!!

Here's another favorite food idea for the Fourth that is sooooo easy and fun! Patriotic Pancakes! Yum..

All you have to do is separate your pancake batter and add red food coloring to one batch! Super easy and cheap!

Now for a little entertainment! This is a great game for kids and adults! This game has been a tradition for a long time on the Fourth for some of us and is still so exciting and fun. It's called Steal the Bacon and here's how to play. Be careful, it can get competitive :)

Steal the Bacon is a very simple game but takes a little explaining. It is worth learning, a lot of fun! You need a Caller (who runs the game and doesn't play), and two even teams. Each team assigns numbers to their players starting with #1. We usually start with the smallest (or youngest first). Player #1 on team A will be playing against player #1 on team B. You also need the "bacon" which can be any object (a small ball, stick, etc). The players line up with their team facing the player they will be competing against, with the "bacon" in the middle (teams about 5 -10 feet from the bacon) (See Diagram)

Team A	CALLER	Team B
1,2		1,2
3,4	Bacon	3,4
5,6		5,6

The caller calls out a number. If he calls our #3 then both #3 players come and try to get the bacon and take it back to their side without getting tagged. So if team "A" #3 grabs the "bacon" and gets back to his/her spot (you can use a hose line in front of the team that they have to get past, or markers, whatever) before getting tagged by Team "B" #3 then team A gets TWO points. If Team B #3 tags him/her then team B gets ONE point. Sometimes a player will run up fast and grab it, and sometimes both players will walk around it waiting for the other person to grab it. If someone fakes grabbing and touches it, then they CAN be tagged and lose a point. Also, the caller can call out more than one number at a time (Even all the umbers) This is good if one set of numbers is taking to long. The caller continues calling out numbers until a team reaches the agreed amount and that team wins.

Oh so much fun! Maybe we'll play at the office sometime! Hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July and spend it with family and friends! Happy 235th Birthday America! 

New Catalogs are Here!!!!!

After lots of hard work and some new changes and updates, our newest catalog is here and being sent out to all of our wonderful customers as we speak!! You'll notice a different look to our catalog and also a Sale catalog that is being sent out with our everyday and holiday collection! This is the last chance to stock up on some of our classics before they are locked away in the Paper So Pretty vault! :) That handsome little guy that is gracing our front cover would be Mr. Kaelan Alexander Wolfe (the "boss" and soon to be BIG brother to a little sister at PSP!) This little guy keeps us all on our toes and always has some inspiration for us (hence the name for our fabulously fun BaBU fill-ins)!!

2011 Everyday and Holiday Catalog

As for the rest of us, some of our team will be heading to Dallas tomorrow for the trade show and hope to see many of you there! You can find PSP products at the Paper Trends booth (look for all of the tropical decorations!).  Along with our latest promotion (see earlier blog post), we are excited to release our latest and greatest (in my opinion) May release! This has brand new Halloween, Christmas, and several everyday items to celebrate any occasion! Below is an office favorite of each category:

DP1099 Halloween Ghost

ISN1089 Ornaments on Blue

IV1102  Dinner Party

How fun is the fork and knife? Love it!!! Check back often to see what's happening around PSP! Have a great weekend!

Don't Miss Out!!!!

It's June 1st! Only 24 more days to enter into Paper So Pretty's Get-A-Way!

http://www.papersopretty.com/getaway-2011

Memorial Day Fun!!

Memorial Day is approaching and what better way to celebrate than with a BBQ? Our festive invitations and Designer Papers go GREAT with any party theme, especially a BBQ for Memorial Day! So grab your family and friends, light up the grill, slice up a watermelon and enjoy Memorial Day 2011!!!

May Release Sneak Peek!!!

Here is a sneak peek of what we've been working on for our upcoming May Release...

 ISN1113 Spooky Pumpkins

                                                 

   DP1094 Gingerbread House

 IV1092 Dancin' Snowman

  ISN1116 Chandelier on Damask

  IV1119 She's One

Check back with us for more updates and to see what's new!!

Mother's Day Gift Idea

Mother's Day is just around the corner! Daisy Doodles make a great gift idea for Mom's of any age!

Cinco De Mayo!!!!

Celebrate Cinco De Mayo with this fun and colorful invitation!

Here are some more fun ideas for a Cinco De Mayo party to coordinate with this invite!

 Tasty Margaritas

 A fun and festive table!

 Flower arragements from paper!

 Colorful DIY decorative flags

Check back for Mother's Day Ideas!!!!

Something Blue....

 

Paper So Pretty's Get-A-Way!!!

What better way to start off our blog than with information  about our latest Get-A-Way!?! We want you to pack your bags for a summer Get-A-Way on us! Here's how you can chart your course...

*For every $350 order your store places, you are entered for a chance to win! For each additional $350 added, you will be entered again, and so on! The more orders you pack into your bag, the more chances you have to win!! The Grand Prize???? A $2500 travel voucher!!! But that's not all, there are a total of 13 prizes! So don't get discouraged if you don't win the Grand Prize, you could still win the following:

                    *2nd prize: $1000 travel voucher

                   *3rd prize: $500 travel voucher

                    *4th prize: $100 Target gift card (5 winners)

                    *5th prize: $50 Target gift card (5 winners)

Log on to www.papersopretty.com for details or give us a call to start packing your bags at (866)996-9060!