As holiday season falls upon us, the festivities begin and the decor comes to life. Here are a few ideas to make your time off a bit more special! These crafty ideas are easy to make and mostly consist of household items.

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Included here are a variety of fun Christmas themed crafts that are easy and inexpensive. For example the light reflecting CD ornament shown above. Take a blank CD and carefully cut it up into triangular and square pieces. Then take glue and paste the pieces onto a clear ornament. After take a piece of cloth with the color of your choice and fill the sphere with it. Another good craft idea is the paper plate snowman. Simply take two paper plates to form the body and head. Place two chocolate wafer cookies as the eyes and a carrot for the nose. Then take some seasonal wrapping paper to form the hat and scarf. The craft makes an entertaining plate setting that is festive and simple to create.

30 Irresistible Fall Desserts

(Pumpkin Tiramisu Layer Cake)

What makes this dessert special is that it takes a familiar fall flavor and makes it into something new and interesting. The recipe maybe a bit of work, but the results are sure to be exceptional.

http://www.hgtv.com/entertaining/fall-desserts/pictures/index.html

Ingredients

Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1 cup canola oil

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 15-ounce can pumpkin pie filling (includes all the spices)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

Almond Syrup:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup amaretto

Filling:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

pinch of cream of tartar

2 cups mascarpone

2 vanilla beans, seeds only, pods reserved for another use

2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur

1 bag of amaretti cookies, crushed (found at many grocery stores or at any Italian market)

Yield: Serves 12

Instructions

For Cake:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch cake pans. Spray with cooking spray, then line bottom of pans with parchment paper; spray again, and dust pans with flour. Sift flour and next three ingredients into a bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat both sugars and oil in large bowl until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Add pumpkin pie filling, vanilla and orange peel; beat until well blended. Add flour mixture; beat on low just until incorporated. Divide batter between prepared pans and smooth tops.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool cakes completely in pans on rack. Run knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto racks; remove parchment paper. Turn cakes over, rounded-side up. Using serrated knife, trim rounded tops of cakes to level, then divide cakes in half horizontally to make 4 thin layers.

For Syrup:

In a saucepan combine water and sugar. Bring mixture to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Strain into a sealable container, allow to cool, then cover and store in refrigerator.

When ready to use, mix in amaretto.

For Filling:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and cream of tartar, then beat until stiff peaks form.

Meanwhile, combine mascarpone, vanilla beans and amaretto in a small bowl. Beat with a whisk to combine, then fold into whipped cream.

To Assemble:

Brush a couple spoonfuls of amaretto syrup onto the cut side of each cake layer.

Put the first layer, uncut-side down, on a cake stand and spoon a generous layer of mascarpone filling over the top. Sprinkle a layer of crushed amaretti cookies over the filling. Repeat this process until all cake layers are used, ending with a thick topping of mascarpone filling and a generous sprinkle of amaretti cookies. Drizzle a little extra syrup over the top of the cookies and serve.

Store in the refrigerator — it’s great the next day!

Fresh Strawberry Upside Down Cake

Fresh Strawberry Upside Down Cake takes a twist and turn on a classic and makes it a delicious and festive dessert that is sure to delight the crowd. The recipe consists of only four ingredients and takes less than an hour to prepare. The dish is easy to single serve or present as a whole.

http://m.allrecipes.com/recipes/934/christmas-baking

Ingredients

• 2 cups crushed fresh strawberries

• 1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored Jell-O® mix

• 3 cups miniature marshmallows

• 1 (18 ounce) package yellow cake mix, batter prepared as directed on package

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Spread crushed strawberries on the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking pan. Evenly sprinkle strawberries with the dry gelatin powder, and top with mini marshmallows.

Prepare the cake mix as directed on the package, and pour on top of the marshmallows. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the pan to loosen the sides, and turn the cake out onto a serving tray. Store cake in the refrigerator.

Speedy Christmas Decorating

This beautiful and elegant centerpiece may look hard to create, but the process is actually very simple. All that is required is a bowl, candles, silver beads, and a hot glue gun. Arrange the candles and beads around the bowl and glue away. The centerpiece makes a lovely addition to a traditional Christmas dinner.

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