Homemade Cannoli Dip Recipe #TargetWedding #spon

If you love this recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target. All opinions are my own.

On Thursday, Pete jumped onto our bed. "Happy first married Thanksgiving," he said, before tumbling down. It was the cutest thing ever. And it's the truth, too. This year was our first married Thanksgiving. It was also the first Thanksgiving that I didn't spend with my parents. I just went up to New York in September for a wedding and decided I would go up for my cousin's baby shower so I would save my money and not go up for Thanksgiving. Plus, we'll be up for Christmas anyway.

So instead of spending Thanksgiving with my family, I spent it with Pete as our new family, and we split time between two different friends' houses. I knew we were heading to one for the beginning of the day and one for the end of the day, so I made an appetizer for one and dessert for the other. I made caprese dip and cannoli dip. And then, of course, I laughed at myself. Not only did I unintentionally decide to make two dips, I also unintentionally decided to make spins off two Italian classics -- and I'm not Italian. But hey, Pete is, so our nationalities are fused together now. And so are our tastes, since items we scanned for our wedding registry were ones that we liked, not just ones that I liked or he liked.

And speaking of registries, did you know you can register at Target for a ton of different items? Check out my recipe for homemade cannoli dip and a bit about Target registries below.

Homemade Cannoli Dip Recipe

What You'll Need:

• One 15oz. container ricotta cheese (part-skim)
• One 8oz. block of cream cheese (regular)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

What You'll Do:

• Mix together the cheeses and vanilla until smooth. (Mixture will be thick.)
• Add in half sugar. Stir. Add in second half. Stir. (This thins it out.)
• Fold in half the chocolate chips. Then fold in the other half.
• Chill until its time to serve.

I brought waffle pieces with us (waffle bowls that I crushed). I wanted to actually crush cannoli shells but down here, people don't know what those are so I didn't bother to look for them. Making this dessert was super easy -- just as easy as creating a Target Wedding Registry.

What I actually really like about Target's registry is the variety of items. You're not restricted to just kitchen items. I mean, you can get stuff for the kitchen, like the Threshold Bistro Ceramic 16-Piece Dinnerware Set or Calphalon Stainless Steel Cookware, but you're not restricted to those types of items. Love a home that smells nice? Register for some candles. Need to keep the bathroom tidy? Register for a plunger. Love music? Register for the SONOS PLAY: 5 Wireless HiFi System. No one is gonna stop you.

And, if you really like the sound of cannoli dip for your next family gathering, register for a chip and dip plate so you can make it. And register for a bowl and spoon, since you'll need those to make this (actually, though, I originally made this in a plastic storage container because I was transporting it. You can register for those at Target too).

BRIDAL BABBLE: Cannoli dip merges me (chocolate and sweets) and Pete (Italian) perfectly. What's the Thanksgiving recipe that merges you and your significant other?

Five Things To Do With Your Wedding Flowers After Your Wedding

Wedding flowers can get really expensive. There's your bouquet, your bridesmaids' bouquets, petals for your flower girls, corsages for your moms and grandmas, boutineers for your groom, his groomsmen, any ring bearers, and the fathers, alter flowers, pew markers, and anything you decide to have for the reception.

Most couples allocate 6-percent to 8-percent of their budget for flowers (you can find a full wedding budget broken down by percentages here). We were really lucky that our venue had centerpieces we could borrow so we didn't have to spend for floral centerpieces. Plus, the flower shop we used was so reasonable (it was nearly half of what another shop quoted us for nearly identical packages). We ended up spending 4% of our budget on flowers, which is half of what I had estimated so I was happy.

But what about when the wedding is over? What should you do with your wedding flowers then?

Five Things To Do With You Wedding Flowers After The Wedding

1. Donate them

We had two large arrangements for the church's alter, plus four pew markers (so that people knew to leave those pews open for immediate family and the wedding party). When we had a meeting with the priest before our wedding, I asked what we were supposed to do with the flowers after. "Most people donate them to the church," he said, before adding, "But you can take them if you want." So we left them. We actually also donated my toss bouquet because no one thought to grab it before we left the church (which is exactly why a toss bouquet is on my list of things you can skip at your wedding).

As far as wedding bouquets, you can donate those too. You'll be taking them with you to the reception, so you won't donate to the church. But, pre-wedding, call a local nursing home or hospital. Ask them if they accept floral donations. Many of them do, so just put a bridesmaid in charge of collecting flowers (bouquets, centerpieces, decor) and driving them to donate the next day. Just be sure to keep the flowers hydrated overnight so you're not donating wilted and half-dead flowers.

2. Preserve them

I am a big supporter of using silica gel to preserve your wedding flowers. It's a time-consuming process (and most of that time is waiting) but you can do it at home. And the flowers come out absolutely amazing, especially compared to drying them. The colors are so bright and vibrant. I have an entire post on how to preserve your flowers at home, so definitely take a look at that.

If you don't care about colors, you can always just dry them. Instructions for that are in the link above also.

I actually did what I could with silica gel (you need a container for that and mine had limited space) and left the rest of the bouquet to dry on its own. I actually have the dried bouquet sitting on my work desk. 

3. Create a shadow box from them

After you've preserved them, you'll want something to do with them. You can be like me and leave them sitting on your desk or you can create a display. You best bet is a shadow box. You can purchase them in a variety of sizes. If you've never seen one, they're basically plump frames. Instead of having room only for a thin, flat paper like a frame, these are wide so you can fit a bunch of stuff between the glass and the backing. You can pin your flowers to look like your arrangement or just add a few petals along with other wedding mementos.

4. DIY a Christmas ornament

If you're even a little bit crafty, you can put together a Christmas ornament with your flowers. Just purchase some glass ornaments and put pieces of your wedding bouquet inside. These is really great if you have any sort of jeweled embellishments on your bouquet. Plus, you can use the tulle from your handle as the ribbon for the top. You can check out my DIY Christmas ornament tutorial, but this is pretty self explanatory. 

This is a great thing for people who aren't too sentimental and don't want to see wedding flowers displayed 24/7. This goes on your tree during the holiday season and then it goes back in a box for another year. You're sentimental, but not year round (plus, if you need a constant reminder that you got married, just turn around and look at your groom).

5. Throw them out

Oh my heart hurts at that suggestion, but that's because I am the most sentimental pack rat you will ever meet. I can throw magazines away so easily because I don't need reminders of if Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber are on again or off again. But childhood toys or handwritten notes, I can't throw them away because I can't get them back. And that's how I feel with anything wedding related. The day comes and goes and you don't get a do over. But, honestly, you probably have tons of photos of your bouquet. If you want a reminder of how they looked, you can just go back to your wedding album. And that's a lot less clutter than the actual flowers.

But even with that photo above (and a ton of others that I took when my second bouquet came), I still couldn't bring myself to throw out my bridal bouquet.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What do you plan to do with your wedding flowers after your wedding?

Deciding on your wedding flowers?
Check out our Ultimate Wedding Flowers Guide post.

Free Money From Sears & Kmart (and how I was able to get snacks for our welcome bags for free)

When you have out of town guests coming to your wedding, it's customary to block a set of rooms at a local hotel for them. And then, it's nice to create wedding welcome bags for them.

We made our guests amazing bags that \cost us just over $2 each. And part of that was because I'm really good about spending free money.

Yes. Free money.

A lot of snacks we put in our bags were free from Kmart, thanks to free money. If you look, you'll see the chips and crackers all say zero. How? It's easy, but it takes dedication.

Kmart and Sears are sister stores (if you didn't know, they have the same parent company). They have a loyalty program called Shop Your Way. You can register, for free, and you'll earn points for every dollar your spend there. Points turn into credit you can use (1,000 points = $1).

But it gets better.

When we were wedding planning, Shop Your Way was giving new and existing members a free 3,000 points every month. You could use it on anything up to and including $3 and get the items for free (and just pay the difference if you spend more). So something like the Austin Cheese Crackers that are $1.49 for a pack of eight, we bought two for $2.98, used our $3 credit (although only $2.98 will apply) and that was 16 packs of crackers for free. Our guests loved the snack and we loved the price. And, if you pick "in store pickup," there won't be a shipping cost.

We did this constantly. Every time I got free points from Shop Your Way, I took a look at our wedding "to buy" list and figured out what I could cross off the list. It was so much better than actually paying for stuff. I mean, when it comes to weddings, the cost can really add up ... but so does the savings. Sure, a few dollars here and there doesn't seem like much, but I did it anyway. And when it came time to tally up my savings after our wedding was over, my gosh, it really did add up.

We got all the chips and cheese crackers for our wedding welcome bags (and we made just over 50 of them) completely for free.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What are you planning to buy with your free money?

DIY Wedding Bouquet Ornament

I knew I wanted to save my wedding bouquet, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to save it. I eventually decided that I would use silica gel to preserve my wedding flowers at home (you can check that post out here).

After thinking for a while, I decided that I would turn part of my wedding bouquet into a wedding bouquet ornament.

It was really easy and made me decide that I actually want to put together a series of wedding ornaments. I have a second made (and you can check out my wedding invitation ornament here). But for now, we'll focus just on this cute wedding bouquet ornament.

DIY Wedding Bouquet Ornament

What You'll Need:

• Glass ornaments (I used these 60mm Darice ornaments)
• Scissors
• Ribbon
• Silica gel preserved flowers 

What You'll Do:

Take the top off the ornament. Roll up a petal and stuff it in the ornament.

I had calla lilies in my bouquet and they wouldn't fit whole. so I had to break them to make them fit. It broke my heart, if I'm being honest. Here was a very limited amount of my wedding bouquet because I wasn't able to preserve it all in silica gel (although I did save the rest of it by drying it). I had a trio of calla lilies, which I had selected for my bouquet because it was Pete's mom's favorite. I almost nixed the entire project because it was too hard on my heart for me to pull it apart.

And then I decided that I would cut it down so it still looked beautiful, not jagged like tearing made it look. And I knew I had photos of my flowers that would endure forever. So it was okay.

Really, the further I get from our wedding, the more these little things become important. So it's important to preserve them as best you can.

Even though I didn't snap these in the original photo, I made sure to add greenery too. It was important to me to have a textured wedding bouquet, and the greenery is what made that happen. So of course, it was important for me to capture that in my wedding bouquet ornament.

When you're done filling it, just pop the top back on.

Cut a piece of ribbon. If this ribbon pack looks familiar to you, it's the same ribbon we used on our wedding favors. It was the perfect touch.

Tie the ribbon in a bow. This is what you'll use to hang it on the tree instead of an ugly hook.

I originally hung ours on the doorknob but I moved it to hang off the end of our CD rack. Because yes, I still have a CD rack. 

This is actually a really cute idea to make for your parents for Christmas. I think my mom would love one of these.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make this wedding bouquet ornament for your Christmas tree?