easy Christmas projects and recipes

I’ve been contributing to Country Sampler Farmhouse Style for more than 6 years now, and today I want to share some of my favorite Christmas projects and super yummy recipes with you.

First up is this hot cocoa bar that was in the 2023 Winter issue. I wanted to create a sort of campfire vibe for this shelf in my kitchen. I gathered several vintage spice tins and plaid accessories as the start to this whole look.

My secret to delicious and easy hot cocoa is to just buy your favorite carton of chocolate milk and then keep in nice and warm in a small crockpot or “slow cooker” as they now call them.

 

If you don’t have the room or the budget for even a small Christmas tree, then this project is for you! It starts with a fun vintage crock, but any similarly shaped container would work.

The secret is to add a little pyramid shaped piece of floral foam, the wet kind, to the crock. Water it, and then add small little branches and cuttings of foraged evergreens and winter berries. I like to start at the top with a strong leader branch and then fill it in from there.

 

Covering a small crate with festive plaid wrapping paper is another fun project. I decided to create a little farmhouse winter scene in mine, complete with a cheery red barn and lots of bottle brush trees. A little moss around the bottom of the landscape finishes off this idyllic scene. 

Now for a couple of non-Christmas projects… they both involve thrifted treasures. The first one is a little lamp made from a small ironstone pitcher. 

The bottom of this lamp is actually a spare metal chandelier medallion that I had on hand in the garage. It was the perfect size for the base of the lamp. I bought a lamp kit online and put this little beauty together. The shade was an extra little chandelier shade I had left over from another project. 

During the pandemic, I found a whole box of Fiestaware on the curb that someone had set out for free. I took a long wooden board and decided to glue the cups and saucers on the board for a fun and colorful utensil holder.

 

A few little “s” hooks do the trick for holding whisks, wooden spoons and other kitchen gadgets.

 

recipes

I'm currently working on four more projects for the Autumn 2025 issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, and then we head straight back into some winter and Christmas projects and more recipes for 2025.

 

What a surprise it was to have my picture selected for the Winter 2024 issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style...

 

Did you read this one? I have several projects and recipes in this one too! I’ll share those with you all in a few weeks’ time.

 

ciao fabiana

 

For lots of fun extras, follow me on Instagram!

 

 

 

You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials” 

 

 

 

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