New Valentine's Day items at Mama Matryoshka!

I don't know why, but Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the glittery pink hearts and cheesy romance. It's more of a fun, silly holiday around here. This year Cayden will get his first Valentine's box which is a tradition between Mando and I. We decorate a shoebox and fill it with candy and small gifts for each other. Just simple and fun and I'm so excited to include Cayden this time! Expect to see yummy dessert recipes around here and maybe even some Valentine's Day crafts!

I just added some new Valentine's Day decor over at Mama Matryoshka including garlands, cupcake toppers, and even some fun new photo props! I'm always accepting custom orders so if you have something in mind that you don't see let me know! Now until February 14th you can take 10% off any custom order using code 'HOLIDAYLOVE' at checkout! Enjoy and spread the love! XOXO

My Favorite Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

If there's one thing I love to bake around Christmas time, it's gingerbread. For the past few years now I've been making this recipe from Food.com and it has become an absolute favorite. If you like traditional, classic gingerbread cookies then this is the recipe for you. This year, I made cookies and a gingerbread house and they were both incredibly delicious. This isn't my recipe, but I wanted to share it with you guys so you can use it, too!

You will need:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbl ground ginger
• 1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 6 tbl unsalted butter at room temp
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. In a separate large bowl beat the butter, brown sugar, and egg until well blended. Add molasses and vanilla and continue to mix until blended. Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth. Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.

Preheat your oven to 375°. Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place half of the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough 1/4-inch thick. Use more flour to avoid sticking if needed. Cut out cookies with whatever cookie cutter you prefer. Bake for about 7-8 minutes and then allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Once completely cool, it's time to decorate! I just used store bought vanilla frosting but homemade buttercream or royal icing would be great too!

I hope you all give this recipe a try this year! They would make great cookies to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve night. Just sayin!

Quick note: As you can tell, my blog posts have been fewer lately. I'm not posting as much due to the holidays and spending time with family, but I will be back to my regular posting schedule after the New Year. I have a ton of fun giveaways planned for you in January so stay tuned! XOXO

Christmas cards!

Last Thursday we took our annual Christmas pictures and as usual, I've waited until the last minute possible to order our Christmas cards! This year I'm ordering from Tiny Prints and I'm kind of obsessed with their selection. I looked through all six (yes, SIX) pages of their holiday cards and chose a few favorites ones!

find it here

find it here

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find it here

Cute, right?! I love the variety, too. They have everything... elegant black and white cards, Hello Kitty Christmas cards, pet friendly cards, and colorful, modern cards. In the end we decided to go with this one which was the very first one I saw and I love it! It had a spot for all 3 of our photos and I love the colors. They'll go perfect with our peppermint hot cocoa handmade Christmas gifts!

If you haven't ordered your holiday cards yet, make sure to check out their selection of cards here. Right now they have free expedited delivery to arrive by 12/23 or you can pay a little extra to have them rushed to you even faster! Happy holidays everyone! XOXO

Handmade gift idea: Peppermint hot cocoa

I love handmade gifts, both making and receiving them. For as far back as I can remember I've been making my own Christmas gifts, whether they be silly crafts for my mom when I was a little girl or more sophisticated gifts as I grew older. I think there's something really special about a gift that someone took the time to make versus just buying at a store. It can also be a great way to save money if you're on a tight budget! Now with my family, Mando's family, and our friends we have a lot of people to shop for so for the past 3 years I've been doing mostly handemade gift for our loved ones. This year I decided to do something that I knew everyone would love... peppermint hot cocoa! It's super simple to put together and who doesn't love to cozy up on a cold day with some hot cocoa? Here's what you'll need to put this gift together yourself!

• 12 pint sized mason jars
• 1 bag mini marshmallows
• 2-3 lbs hot cocoa (this will vary depending on the type of hot cocoa used)
• approximately 40 candy canes, crushed
• ribbon and gift tags to decorate (optional)

First, wash and dry your mason jars. Then, fill the first layer with your desired amount of hot cocoa. We used Starbucks hot cocoa found at Costco and I wanted 4 servings per jar so I did 8 tablespoons (2 tbl per serving). Next, fill the second layer with mini marshmallows. Lastly, fill the last layer with crushed candy canes. You can use a food processor or just put them in a ziplock and crush with a rolling pin. When your jars are filled, seal them and then put some ribbon and a gift tag for the perfect finishing touch!

I hope you've all been inspired to have a handmade holiday this year! Even if you lack the time/skills to make something yourself, try buying at least one handmade gift from a site like Etsy and support the handmade business! I don't know about you, but I'd rather give my money to a local business owner or work at home mom over a big corporation anyday! Happy Holidays everyone! XOXO

Advent Calendar Days 5-11

I'm back for days 5-11 of our advent calendar! We had a loy of fun getting the house ready for Christmas this week. I swear, every December I have a perma-smile on my face until the New Year. I just love this time of the year... everything is so magical! Doing these activities as a family has really gotten us all in the holiday spirit and we couldn't be more excited for Christmas! I definitely think the advent calendar is a new tradition that we will be continuing year after year!

Day five: We did a few small things around the house to get ready for Christmas! We hung our snowman sign on the front door, put our poinsettia on the porch, and finished our Christmas mantle!

Day six: We baked chocolate peppermint cookies together! Man, these cookies were absolutely delicious. Dark chocolate, espresso powder, and crushed candy canes. We all gobbled them up! Cayden had so much fun helping daddy stir the batter!

Day seven: Can you tell this is when I got my new iPhone? YAY! No more scratched camera! That day Mando and I made our handmade Christmas gifts. We make something handmade every year for our families and this year we made peppermint hot chocolate in a mason jar. This Starbucks hot chocolate is amazing by the way. I've had about 5 cups since then!

Day eight: This was one of my favorite days just because it was so cozy. We are lucky enough to have a fireplace in our room and I love taking advantage of it! We played a few games of Uno by the fire and listened to Christmas music. By the way, I got my ass kicked at all 5 of those Uno games! Who knew I was so bad? Haha!

Day nine: Finally! We got our tree! I was so excited to bring that fat little tree home and I spent the rest of the night huffing our Douglas Fir. There is NOTHING better than the smell of a fresh Christmas tree!

Day ten: The next day we decorated our tree. Every year we pick out a new Christmas ornament and this year I got the little matryoshka, the big C is for Corona (Mando's last name), and Cayden got an ice skating cow because he is OBSESSED with cows right now! I still need to get a tree topper... can't find ours from last year!

Day eleven: My mom's neighborhood always has fun holiday events, and we never miss the Christmas festival. Santa comes to take pictures with the kids, there's hot cocoa and cider, a horse drawn carriage, a band, and they even bring in a ton of real snow for the kids to play with! Last year Cayden was only a few months old, but this year he was all over the place dancing and playing. He had a blast! I'm so proud of him for not freaking out when he saw Santa. He was actually really excited!

That's all for now! We have lots of more fun activities planned for this week and I can't wait to share them with you all next Monday! What are you all doing to get into the holiday spirit? Hopefully this Christmas season is as magical for you as it has been for us! XOXO

Advent Calendar Days 1-4

I've been meaning to do an advent calendar for years now. I have this cheesy store-bought Christmas tree made out of felt that I use as a countdown and I can't stand it, but I can never find the time to make one myself. This year I thought would for sure be the year... I even found the perfect one on Pinterest that I wanted to replicate! Then I got caught up in handmade markets, wedding planning, and you know, raising a toddler, and once again I just didn't get around to it. I wasn't going to bother doing the advent calendar at all since I didn't have an amazing handmade one, but at the last minute (literally on December 1st) I decided what the heck, I'll use the cheesy felt Christmas tree and do it anyway.

My sister, who DID find the time to make an amazing handmade countdown (see hers here) was kind enough to send over her list, and with that, some of my own ideas, and the help of Pinterest I came up with 24 advent activities. I really wanted activities that we could do as a family to get us excited for Christmas although some are more for Cayden and some for Mando. I'm going to share our activities here once a week through my Instagram pictures but  just to warn you, the camera on my iPhone is scratched (I have to wait until Dec. 7th to upgrade to the 4s, boo!) so you'll have to forgive the quality of my pictures until I get a new one!

Day one: Shop for Christmas decorations. We didn't need all that much this year, but we hit up Target anyway to see what we could find! We each picked out a new Christmas ornament, some stocking hangers, a candle, a poinsettia, and a new snowman sign for the front door! You can also see my cheesy Christmas tree countdown in this picture!

Day two: Date night. I wanted to reserve one night for Mando and I to do something alone so date night was born! We were supposed to go Friday, but my mom (who was going to watch Cayden) didn't get home until 11pm so we re-scheduled for Saturday. We went back and forth on what to do and in the end we decided to go to the movies. We are probably the most boring couple on the planet... we even saw a kids movie, haha! But it was nice to get out and spend some time together, and definitely needed!

Day three: Make a Christmas craft. Since day two was all about Mando, day three was all about Cayden! We busted out the fingerpaints to make a Christmas tree craft. I gotta be honest, Cayden was interested for about 30 seconds before running off, but he still gets excited whenever he sees the finished project hanging on our fridge! Hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

Day four: Have a special Christmas breakfast. Sunday morning I made some red and green pancakes for breakfast and cut them into Santa and Christmas tree shapes. It wasn't anything fancy, just a fun silly way to get into the holiday spirit! I love me some pancakes, yummy!

Anyone else doing an advent calendar this year? They are so fun! I'll be back next Monday to share days 5-11! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Peppermint Treats!

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Happy December everyone! Holiday season is upon us, and just like apples are for September and pumpkins are for October/November, December is all about peppermint! I'm normally not a mint lover, but I won't say no to the magical combination of spicy peppermint and sweet chocolate! This time of the year is when I bake the most, so I've been hoarding some of my favorite chocolate/peppermint treats on my Pinterest board to share with you! And don't forget, some of these would make lovely last minute Christmas/hostess gifts!

If the peppermint mocha from Starbucks is your go-to holiday drink, you might want to whip up a batch of these peppermint mocha cupcakes from Bakers Royale immediately. Peppermint extract and Starbucks via instant coffee are the delicious base for this cupcake and it's all topped off with some peppermint infused buttercream. YUM!

If coffee isn't your thing, how about trying these delicious chocolate cupcakes with a sweet peppermint cream cheese icing from Glorious Treats?  She'll also tell you how to do that candy cane stripe effect for the frosting! Fun!

Here's something to make with all of your leftover candy canes... Chocolate peppermint cookies from My Baking Addiction! There are crushed candy canes inside the cookies and then they are dipped in melted chocolate and embellished with even more crushed candy canes for double the peppermint goodness! It's almost like peppermint bark in cookie form!

If you're a chocolate lover like me, you may appreciate these double chocolate peppermint crunch cookies from Sweet Pea's Kitchen. With dark chocolate, espresso powder, and peppermint extract, these cookies are sure to satisfy any Christmas craving!

Christmas isn't Christmas without a hot drink to cozy up with! Martha Stewart doesn't disappoint with her recipe for peppermint hot chocolate. Throw some in a thermos and go look at Christmas lights for a festive night with the family!

For once Miss Paula Deen isn't talking about butter, ya'll! Instead she's bringing us a delicious recipe for peppermint chocolate coffee. I don't know about you, but this is something I would definitely get out of bed for! She mixes a pot of freshly brewed coffee with chocolate and peppermint syrup and tops it off with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Can you say YUMMY!

I hope you all enjoy at least one of these fabulous concoctions this Christmas! We are busy over here with our 24 days of advent calendar activities (more about that later) and have a weekend packed full of winter fun! Have a great weekend everyone! XOXO

Mama Matryoshka {3 DAY SALE!}

Mama Matryoshka is having a 3-day sale for the biggest shopping weekend of the season! Stock up now on photo props for holiday pictures, garlands for the fireplace, and cupcake toppers for your Christmas desserts! I've lowered the prices temporarily on several items and I will have a new deal for the next 3 days! It applies towards custom orders as well which is perfect for a birthday party or bridal/baby shower you may have coming up! Support handmade for the holidays!

Black Friday: Use code 'BLACKFRIDAY' at checkout to receive free shipping on ALL orders!

Small Business Saturday: Use code 'SUPPORTHANDMADE' at checkout to receive 30% off ALL orders!

Cyber Monday: Use code 'CYBERMONDAY' at checkout to receive free shipping on ALL orders! Also, all orders $15 and up will receive a 3 piece mustache photo prop set as a free gift!

Happy shopping everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - My Favorite Pins!

We're back for another edition of my favorite wedding pins! I actually had an entirely different post planned for today, but I didn't quite finish it on time so I'm saving it for next week! Instead, I'm going to show my favorite Pinterest finds of the week!

 You know by now that I've been planning on doing my own florals for the wedding, but when I saw this fabric flower bouquet on Etsy my jaw dropped. She mixes all different fabrics and textures based on your wedding colors and adds in these amazing vintage brooches. Isn't is just stunning? I may or may not be re-thinking my bouquet right now. I mean, how could I not??

I've been looking for cost and eco-friendly ways to display my floral centerpieces on our tables, and I L-O-V-E the idea of painting coffee cans. I am obsessed with the copper metallic colors, they look so pretty in the sunlight. Perfect for an outdoor wedding in the woods!

I still don't know if a dessert table will be in our budget (crossing my fingers!!!) but if so, I have my heart set on mini pies. How sweet is this little display? I just love pie, it may be my favorite dessert ever!

We've been going back and forth on how we want to display our seating chart, and after Mando rejected about 10 of my ideas we decided on a chalkboard sign. I think this one is really cute and would definitely go with our vintage/rustic theme.

Right now, I have all of the bridal party's outfits chosen except the flower girls. I fell in love with a dress that was WAY too pricey, so my very talented sister may be making them instead. (By the way, we really need to get started on all these sewing projects, Jess!). I love this fluffy champagne dress and it's definitely one of my inspiration photos!

Another sewing project in the works are my table runners that my sister is also making for me. (I know, I owe her big time!)  I'm doing an ivory table cloth and the table runners will be a strip of burlap and a strip of ivory lace like the one above. I also love her flower arrangements, how cute are those vintage glasses?!

I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving tomorrow! We are actually having 2 Thanksgivings, one with Mando's family tomorrow, and my family on Saturday. Double the pie, sweet! I'll be back Friday with some awesome Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for Mama Matryoshka! You don't want to miss it! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Thanksgiving Love

I love Thanksgiving. I don't know when the whole 'let's skip Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas' thing started, but I am just not okay with it! What other holiday is it perfectly acceptable to stuff your face with turkey and pie and then lay on the couch watching football for the rest of the day? None I tell you! We need to preserve this sacred holiday. This week, Friday Favorites is dedicated the best holiday of the year in my opinion. So unbutton your pants, grab a fork and let's get started! 

If you're not familiar with Rifle Paper Co, get familar! I love this artist and her illustrations always make me happy. These Thanksgiving cards are so sweet and can double as placecard settings as well!

If your looking for a handmade hostess gift, look no further! How fun are these turkey pops and jar full of turkey toes? Simple, inexpensive, and a great way to tell your hostess you appreciate her slaving over a hot stove all day! And if you're the hostess this year you can always give these to your guests as favors!

I have such fun memories of making pilgrim hats and turkey handprint crafts at school. And I distinctly remember getting to play Queen Victoria in our Christopher Columbus play making all the other girls in the class very jealous! This feather headpiece would be super fun for a young child to make and wear Thanksgiving day and I love the idea of writing what you're thankful for on the 'feathers' of this yarn wrapped turkey. Both are fun projects and can help educate your little one on how Thanksgiving started!

I'm also running a Thanksgiving special over at Mama Matryoshka! I have a ton of Thanksgiving/Fall garlands, banners, and cupcake toppers available and you can get 15% off using code 'DOMESTICATEDDELIGHT1' at checkout! Also, if you order today I can guarantee arrival by Thanksgiving anywhere in the US!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday week filled with lots of food and pie! I personally can't wait to get some shopping done on black Friday! Have a great weekend everyone! XOXO

Happy Halloween + Pumpkin Pie Bites

Hello everyone! I just wanted to pop in quickly to wish you all a safe and happy Halloween! Being that this is one of my favorite holidays, I decided to whip up some delicious pumpkin pie bites late last night to share with you all! I was inspired by Miss Bakerella's pumpkin pie bites, but I didn't love her ingredient list so I made up my own pumpkin filling. These are super fun and yummy and perfect for your Halloween get together!

Ingredients:

• 2 frozen pie shells
• 15 oz can pure pumpkin
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cloves

First, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and thaw out your frozen pie shells. When they feel soft roll them out on a floured surface with a rolling pin until flat and thin. Using a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut out circles about 4 inches wide until all of the dough is gone (depending on size, it should make about 20 circles). Spray a mini muffin tin with baking Pam and insert dough circles. Don't worry about making them look perfect; the dough should scrunch up around the edges naturally.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, salt, and spices. Whisk together and then add eggs one at a time. Mix until just incorporated. Slowly add in pumpkin and stir. Spoon pumpkin mixture into your pie shells and fill about 3/4 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Immediately transfer to a wire cooling rack and then cool for about 20 minutes. Top with melted chocolate, whip cream, or enjoy them as-is!

I hope everyone has fun taking their littles out trick-or-treating tonight! Happy Halloween from my family to yours! XOXO

Trick or treat banner + Halloween cupcake toppers!

 I just wanted to pop in quickly and give you all a sneak peak of some new holiday items I made for Mama Matryoshka and The Threadery! I meant to post this yesterday, however an angry, teething toddler kept me busy most of the day. I hope you'll forgive me!

I really wanted to make some fun Halloween items this year so I focused on a color palette of orange, purple, and lime green. I think these colors just scream Halloween and I love how it turned out. First, I made this 'Trick-or-Treat' banner which is perfect to hang at a pumpkin carving party or Halloween celebration! It features Frankenstein, a witch's hat, and a jack-o-lantern! I braided 3 colored ribbons together to hang it which gives it a little pop and texture.

And of course I had to do some cupcake toppers! I did the same theme of Frankensteins, witch's hats, jack-o-lanterns, and ghosts! These look so cute on cupcakes; I am obsessed! I think Frankenstein is my favorite!

If you're in Orange County, make sure to come see me at The Threadery on October 22nd! If not, you can purchase these Halloween items in my Etsy shop here.

I have a lot more new items to share coming up! I've been crafting it up over here! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Fall has arrived!

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I don't know about you, but to me September 1st means one thing... Fall has arrived! Which means it's time to whip out the pumpkin puree and get to baking. My favorite favorite time to bake is in the fall. I love pumpkin, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and all of the other delicious fall spices. Since I've been waiting ALL year to make this stuff, I am dedicating Friday Favorites to our favorite orange flavor... PUMPKIN!

I love making pies, but they can be a lot of work. These mini pumpkin pie bites from Bakerella are easy to make and even easier to eat. Perfect!

I think you guys pretty much understand by now that almost every post of mine will contain a cupcake somewhere. These cupcakes with a graham cracker crust and pumpkin pie frosting (!!!) are making my mouth water!

I'm not normally a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, but I have to admit, cream cheese and pumpkin are a match made in heaven. These pumpkin bars look soft and moist and the cream cheese frosting is the cherry on top!

I love whoopie pies. I love them in the summer, in the winter, in the spring, and most definitely in the fall. Especially if that means I get to make these pumpkin whoopie pies with... wait for it... MAPLE cream cheese frosting. Uh yeah, enough said.



I don't know why I never thought of making pumpkin snicker doodles, but I'm sure happy Recipe Girl shared them with me. These are the perfect fall cookies to share with friends!

Last year I made chocolate chip pumpkin bread (which is still my favorite pumpkin recipe to date) so this year I really want to try these chocolate chip pumpkin bars from Bake at 350. There's just something about the combination of melted chocolate chips that's unexpected yet delicious.

I don't know about you, but I'm off to the grocery store to stock up on pumpkin! Have a great weekend everyone! XOXO

Exciting Announcement! Mama Matryoshka will be at The Threadery!

With all of the craziness of birthday parties, moving, and vacations, Mama Matryoshka has been on vacation mode for most of the summer. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it did and I've missed it! I just love being creative and making pretty little things, and I always get inspired when the holidays roll around. This fall I really want to focus on trying new projects. One of my goals was to try and sell at a handmade/craft market and I'm happy to announce that on October 22nd, I will be! I've been accepted to sell at a booth at The Threadery! It's a new handmade craft market created by two lovely ladies (you can learn more about it here) in Orange County. I'm really nervous because this is my first time doing anything like this and I know it's going to be A LOT of work! I need to build a booth and backdrop completely from scratch and make a ton of inventory of both old and new items to sell! But mostly I'm super excited to put my product out there and interact with my customers face to face. I'll also get to hang out with Alyson of Eisley Rae Clothing and Heather of Happy Bee Boutique so I know we'll have tons of fun! If you're in the Orange County area make sure to stop by and say hi! I'd love to see you!

When: October 22nd, 9:00AM- 4:00PM

Where: 505 W. Lambert Rd. Brea, Ca 92821 North Orange County

I'll be sure to blog more details soon and keep you updated on all of the new products I'm making specifically for this event. I also have a giveaway coming very soon to say thank you for supporting my little Etsy shop for the past 5 months! Stay tuned! XOXO