on the fifth day of christmas... and Toffee Tarts!

Inspiration Ring

On the FIFTH day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... five golden rings  ONE "Inspiration" ring!  Tag a Marni LuHu Facebook photo that inspires you, and you can win!

So go to FB and tags some photos!






The other day, I was talking about family Christmas traditions and how we always get ornaments to add to our tree for each member of the family (including the four-legged ones!) that represented the current year.  Another tradition I have been doing since the first year we got married is to make Toffee Tarts.  They are delicious, easy to make and you never have to worry about having any left over...they are a hit wherever you bring them!  I hope you set aside a little time to try these...

***Toffee Tarts ***

Ingredients:

36 Mini Tart Shells 

(you can make your own if you wish, but WHY?)

2 bags of MacIntosh Toffee 

(the kind we used to eat when we were kids that would pull your fillings out ;( )

1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk

Hershey's Mini Kisses

1) First, follow the instructions on the box and bake the mini tart shells until golden brown (about 10 min).

2) Unwrap toffee squares and melt in a saucepan on low, mixing in 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk.  This take a bit of time because it has to be gradual as if you heat it too fast, the toffee will get hard.  Eventually, it will look like this:

 

3) Pour toffee mixture into mini tarts carefully and tap your tray so you get all of the air bubbles out.

4) Before they cool too much, place a Mini Hershey Kiss on top.  Yumm!

Mini Kisses

5) Ta Da! The tarts are done.  I will usually freeze them to make sure they don't all get eaten up before company comes but also to set them.  they taste fantastic right out of the freezer too!  ENJOY!

Happy Friday Everyone!

on the 4th day of christmas...

Today a $50 gift certificate is up for grabs from THRIVE Landscape Design, from Regina, SK.  Share a favorite gardening tip to enter your name to win...

It is definitely winter in Saskatchewan, but now is a good time to be planning your yard AND it gives you something to look forward to...

on the third day of christmas...

On the THIRD day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

a pair of red Swarovski  crystal earrings

AND...

a custom photo ornament from Jennifer Enns Photography.  Check out her great stuff here.

Write a review about Marni LuHu Designs to WIN! (this is open to EVERYONE... even if you have never purchased from Marni LuHu!)

As it is nearing Christmas, it makes me a little panicky to think of all the things I still need to do...wrap presents, BUY presents, make some Toffee Tarts (a family fave), write Christmas cards (which will probably end up being New Year's cards), and the list goes on as long as Santa's!  In the midst of the panic, I started thinking about Christmas traditions...

One of the best family traditions we have is to each get new ornaments every year that represent something from our current year.  Most years, we find more than one and want to capture a moment in time.  This year, we were so fortunate to go to Hawaii for a dance competition of all things.  While there, we found ornaments for Dale and Sidney at the Dole Plantation and I chose not to get one because I had seen one I loved on a previous day.  Of course, when I went back to get it ...it was gone! 

So, I decided to make my own this year and I love how it turned out.  I used a starfish I brout back from Waikiki and had some shells and beads that I glued on.

What Christmas Traditions do you and your family have?

12 Days of Christmas - 2nd Day

One the SECOND day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

a $25 gift certificate from Prairie Lane Boutique 

 Have your favorite quote or words made into art for your home!  I LOVE these...

AND a personalized Christmas ornament from
Jennifer Enns Photography

Email Jennifer a photo and  she will create these special ornaments for you!

In order to win, go to my Facebook Fan page and become a fan and then post your favorite quote.

I  LOVE quotes and words.  Many of my jewelry designs are inspired by quotes and words.  Most people have their own special word that reminds them of a time or acts as a mantra.  We all need a little form of inspiration to keep us going....

What inspires YOU?

12 Days of Christmas

On the FIRST day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

a $50 gift certificate to www.marniluhu.com 

In order to get your name in for the random draw, go to our Facebook Fanpage 

and "Like" us.  

Have TWO of your friends do the same thing and post their names 

and you will have two more chances to WIN!

Fall is Here!

Officially, Fall is here!  Not just by the calendar alone, but by the drop in the temperature, the smell in the air and the colors of the leaves are changing.  I LOVE fall an here's why...

 

• the leaves are so pretty this time of year
• Pumpkin Spice Lattes are available at Starbucks, for a special treat
• I love to wear boots
• sweaters
• sleeping with the window open at night with a thick duvet on top ...cozy!
• my favorite t.v show  begin again (can't wait for Grey's Anatomy tonight!)

• I love wearing copper jewelry this time of year, the colors are so earthy and organic

Enjoy this beautiful day! Why do you love Fall?
Marla

Oprah's Farwell Season...

How many of you had the chance to catch the premier show of Oprah's Farewell Season?  I don't know about you, but I have been watching it as long as I can remember and yet, it hardly feels like it has been 25 years!

This is What I've Learned from Oprah...

1. Pay it forward and it always comes back to you.
2. Celebrities struggle with their weight too.
3. Never wear panty hose under a bikini (Kirstie Alley)
4. Always keep on top of your health.
5. Oprah has the best taste in her "Favorite Things" shows
6. The Dept Diet is like any other for me, I couldn't stay on it either!
7. We share the same birthday, January 29th
8. I now know what an "A Ha Moment" is.
9. Anything you set your mind to, you can achieve.
10. Every women should not live without Spanx!

What did you learn from Oprah?

Where to Begin...

Hello Blog World!  As you can probably tell, I am new to this so I am going to start by sharing a few interesting things about me.  I really have lived an incredible life thus far and by all accounts, I should have been a cat from the lives I have used up!  Some may consider me a medical miracle...

I was born with a congenital heart defect and at age 7 had open heart surgery to repair my Aortic Valve.  Two weeks spent in Toronto, Canada was almost a vacation for a small town girl from Northern Manitoba.  After a successful surgery and recovery period, my highlight was and still is to this day was to meet Lanny McDonald and Daryl Sitler who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. After the surgery, I was able to regain a normal childhood and haven't had any problems since!

My daughter Sidney, which I am sure you will hear more about in future blogs, was born on an air ambulance.  She was a footling breech and 6 weeks preterm and wasn't waiting for a major medical facility to be anywhere in sight before she made her Grand entrance! We had to make an emergency landing in The Pas, MB because she was born 15 minutes after take off...on a stormy September morning.  All worked out well, mainly because of wonderful medical staff and small town urgency.

I think I had used up a couple of lives by now but was once again challenged.  I really found out what I was "made of" when I was diagnosed with Cancer 3 years ago.  Not exactly what  a 35 year old women expects to hear, "We removed the tumor and it IS CANCER".  blah, blah, blah, blah...I didn't hear anything after that.  I was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma, a childhood cancer that was aggressive and left untreated, would have killed me in less than 6 months.  I underwent almost 5 months of chemotherapy and lived in a isolated 10x10 hospital room.  I can still smell the cleaning solutions they used,  hear the footsteps of the nurses in the hallways and remember the feeling of complete freedom as my husband wheeled me out of the hospital as fast he could, when I got the okay to return home.

Three years later, I am healthy and livin' life!  I have reason to love the life I have and look forward to sharing more with you in my future blogs.  I hope you stick around and follow me...I promise I won't bore you!

Marla