Happy New Years!

Hello Everyone! 

We hope you have had a wonderful holiday! We are so excited to share with you what we have planned for the new year. For 2018 we are going to continue our Mario Mondays! This time we are making a Super Mario Bros. 1 Blanket with all these graphs! Instead of Crochet Along Tuesday, we are going to go with a different type of CAL and do a Colour Along! We will be colouring Creative Haven's Four-in-One Geometric Designs Colouring Book.

Wednesdays are going to get a small makeover, instead of Reviews we are going to do recommendations on Wednesday. We hope you share with you some of our favourite things, including, books, yarn, hooks, paint brushes and much more. We have something special and new starting on Thursdays! We are entering the Lord's Lounge. We will welcome a new Artist/Streamer/Blogger to our website TheLordJames and he will have tech talk every Thursday. 

Fridays will remain Freebie Fridays and we will do our best to share a little of everything from our website so you can sample everything our artists have to offer! Saturdays again we are going to leave open for now. And Sundays are open for something very exciting. This year we are going to do a book club on each Sunday, discussing one chapter a week. We have decided to start with a book called Cinder by Marissa Meyers. You can comment on our blog post or join our Facebook Page, we will have an Event going on there especially for this book club! 

Wednesday Review - Geometric Designs

We have touched on Adult colouring books a lot already so this post will be relatively short. This book is a great starter book because it has four books in one. Each book has a different theme and it will help you figure out which you like best. Examples some are just lines, some are just shapes others are actual designs (pictures). This way you can see what you enjoy and what you don't and you'll have that knowledge when you try to buy other books. At Michael's this book sells for $15.99 (CAN) plus tax. You can also find them on Amazon (American here, Canadian here). 

Youtube

Everyone has heard of youtube. Everyone uses it for their own purposes and it's not surprising that you can find almost anything on there. One of the biggest things youtube is known for is their motto: "Broadcast yourself". Which is a huge hit and a lot of people are becoming "Youtube Stars". Which is an art form in it's self. 

Along with that many people are showcasing their talents and offering tutorials on many art forms. You can find help learning almost anything on youtube. Including how to crochet, how to knit, how to create stain glass, how to cross stitch, and many many more forms of art. 

No matter what you are looking for or looking to try Youtube is a great resource to look at. 

Flame Painter by Peter Blaskovic

Flame Painter is a unique paint software that can be used for a number of different purposes. It can help you create original artworks, add light effects to a photo or create a beautiful background for a photo you already have. 

Peter Blaskovic created the algorithm for the Original Flame Painter within the 'I am an Artist' project of 2009. He believed that "Everyone can be an artist, we just need the tools which become the inspiration for creativity." 

It is a wonderful program to play around with and create wonderful artworks. You can print them off and frame them for yourself or a friend and you can tweak them to your desire. Below is just one example of the beautiful creations you can make (to see more of the ones we have made check out our Instagram). 

Character Creation - Part 5

This week is the last week of our Character Creation series. Today we are going to talk about the last two pages that come in the set to create your character (they can be found at the back of the Player's Handbook also).

This page (above) is the spell page. This is only for spell casting characters. Depending on your level (and class in some cases) you get a certain number of spells per day (a day being time between long rests or each session, depending on in game play). As a Cleric we get three Cantrips at first level (this is the top box). We also get to choose a number of Cleric spells using our Cleric level plus our wisdom modifier. In this case our wisdom modifier is +3 and our level is 1. This means we can prepare four spells. This means you can choose four but it does not mean you get to use four. The number of spells you actually get to use is dictated by a chart on your character page. For level one a Cleric gets two spell slots. So they can write four spells down but can only use two (or one twice). 

Clerics are known for worshiping their specific deities. Once you have picked a God or Goddess to worship, you will be able to find the spells you have to choose from to star. In teh Cleric table it says (under features) spellcasting, Divine Domain. This means you can pick spells that your God is known for (they go on to give examples). For this example we are going to choose Apollo, god of Light, music and healing. This means our Deity's domain is Light, Knowledge or Life. 

Once you know what domain your Deity has you can look up those sections in your class and see if it effect you. In our case it does and it lists the spells in that domain we can choose from. Read each spell and choose the ones that you think will be most helpful to you. (Write them in on your spell sheet, there are small dots on each line so you can tick off which you have used.)

You'll also notice on this page that there are three boxes on top. One is Spellcasting Ability, the other is Spell Save DC and finally Spell Attack Bonus. Wisdom is the spellcasting ability for clerics, so they use their wisdom modifiers in this case. A cleric's spell saving DC is 8 + proficiency bonus (which is two in our case) + the wisdom modifier. In our case it would be 13. To figure out the spell attack modifier (in the cleric case) is the proficiency bonus (+2) + the wisdom modifier (in our case it would be a total of 5). 

This page is just an added bonus. The top has a place for your character's name, for his/her age, height, weight, eye colour, skin tone, and hair colour. You can fill these in on your own and the race page gives examples and ranges for you to give you a hand.

There is a box for Character Appearance you can sketch a picture of your character or use one from online. There is a section for character backstory, you may want to write a long story for your character. If so this section would be great to put notes in.

The top large section is Allies and Organizations. This is anything you are or become a part of. Example if you are a royal you can write the name of your family or your title and put a picture of the family crest in the designated area. You also write hear any groups you become part of or associated with.

The middle section is Additional Features and Traits, this is anything you think is interesting or important to your character. Or notes that keep you in character as you play (this is especially useful if you're character isn't similar to you in nature). 

Finally the bottom box is for your Treasure. This is anything you have on your person (you may need a larger page for that as you go on). 

Character Creation - Part 4

This week we are going to finish off the first page of the Character Sheet. We have about five boxes left to fill in and they are going to be the last few pieces of our character. Below is what your character sheet should look like.

We are going to start with the box on the very far left. This says Other Proficiencies and Languages. For these parts you will be flipping back and forth between your class and your race so marking those pages to make them easier to find may help. First we will write languages. Your race determines what languages you know. We picked a Half-Elf so our languages are Common (which mostly everyone speaks), Elvish, and another language of our choosing. You can pick any other language you want, however keep your character's background in mind. How did they come to learn this language or why. You can pick any Standard Language or with permission from your DM you can choose an Exotic Language. If you can justify why your character would know this language the GM should okay it. Since we are just doing an example here, we picked Undercommon since it has Elvish Script in common with the other language we know. (Languages are available on page 123 in the Player's Handbook.)

Other proficiencies you will find in your class features. These proficiencies will be Armor, Weapons and Tools. As a Cleric our character is proficient in Light Armor, Medium Armer, and Shields, we are also proficient in simple weapons. (Cleric's aren't proficient in any tools.)

Here is what our example looks like. As you play your game, your DM can give you other proficiencies as your character evolves. For example, if you travel with a Dragonborn (and put the time into it), your DM may allow you to add Draconic to your list of languages.

Next we are going to tackle the two boxes in the middle. These are for equipment and the stats that go with them. Under Class Features, there is an Equipment section. For  a Cleric they offer us: a mace or a warhammer (if proficient), scale mail, leather armor or chain mail (if proficient), a light crossbow and 20 bolts or any simple weapon, a priest's pack or an explorer's pack, a shield and a holy symbol.

We are going to use the above box to help us make our choices. When you are proficient in a weapon it means it will be easier for you to use that weapon and is usually what you want to go for. Since we are proficient in Simple Weapons we are choosing the mace (Warhammer is a Martial Melee Weapon and not something we are proficient in). We're going to skip armor for now and keep going with the weapons while we have that page open. We also picked the Light Crossbow. You will want to add these to the Attacks and Spells boxes. The same page with the weapons (page 149) will tell you what damage they do. Example a mace is 1d6 bludgeoning damage. You will write in the damage/type section this information (because it is so small of a box we just type the dice here and write the damage type below). You will want to do this with all the weapons you have. If you are proficient in the weapons you add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll. (In this case we are to both, so each of our weapons gets a +2 to attack.)

Next we are going to talk about armor (page 145). As a Cleric we are offered Scale Mail, Leather Armor, or Chain Mail if we are proficient in it  (which we are not). Scale Mail added 4 to our AC (it is 14 + dex), so we choose that one. Keep in mind we already wrote 10 + dex in our AC section, now we will be adding 4 to that. Write this information where your equipment is. (You will want to keep in mind the numbers because if you take this armor off your AC will decrease by 4). Since we also have a shield, we looked up the stats for the shield while we were on the armor page (a shield gives you +2 to your AC). All together this brought our AC from 10 to 16. 

We are also given the choice of a priest's pack or an explorer's pack. If you are playing in a group, it doesn't really matter which you choose, chances are someone will have the explorer pack also. If you are playing alone, or with a few people that didn't choose the explorer's pack you may need what it offers. (You may also want to keep a lined piece of paper of what you have with you, this will come in handy when you collect more items You can also write more detailed notes for the items that way.)

This is our example all filled out. As you can see we left the small boxes in the Equipment box empty. Those boxes keep track of how much money you have (Copper Pieces, Silver Pieces, Electrum Pieces, Gold Pieces, Platinum Pieces). On page 143 of the Player's Handbook, there is a table to tell you just how much gold you start off with. We recommend adding that number in with pencil since it will change often. 

Finally Features and Traits, this area is for everything else you know about your character.  This will be part of your race Traits. For a Half-Elf it is important to write That you have dark vision in dim light within 60 feet, and that you are Fey Ancestry, which gives you advantage on saving throws against being charmed and magic can't put you to sleep. (You would also write any other advantages like this you may get as you play along.) Anything else that gives you advantages would go in this section. 

This is what our finished page looks like. There are two other pages also that can be filled in but for the most part, this is the important page for your character. 

Next week we are going to talk about the other two pages and fill them in as best we can.

Character Creation - Part 3

This week we are talking about the Character Traits. These are the two boxes on top. They will give you a little more information about your character's mindset and it will give you more information that will help you while playing the game.

To help us fill these sections out you will want to go to your race page and class page. Since we made a Half-Elf we are looking at their Traits. This will be the same place you found your Ability Increases and Skill Versatility. For a Half-Elf the walking speed is 30 feet (this will go in the speed box). 

Now looking at the Hit points section your Hit point is how much life you have. Once you hit zero hit points you are knocked unconscious (we will talk more about that later). To figure out our Max hit Points you want to check your class features. Since we picked a Cleric it says: "Hit Points at 1st Level is 8 + Constitution modifier. We have a modifier of  +2 so our current hit points are 10 (this is Max hit points also for now). It also says that we get 1d8 (an eight-sided die) per cleric level (this is our hit dice). In the part that says hit dice you will write whatever the hit dice is for your class. In the total, you will mark one, this changes with every level.For now, this also means your Hit Point Maximum is the highest number on your hit dice (This just means you cant have more health than your hit dice, this will change level to level). 

Temporary Hit Points stays empty for now. This is something that will come in the game, You would fill it out then. Initiative also stays blank, it is an in-game thing. (Initiative is the order in which you take your turn in a battle.) Death Saves stays blank also. Once you have been knocked unconscious these come into play. 

Next is Armor Class (or AC), you can leave this blank for now because it will change later or you can start with the base, which is 10 + Dexterity modifier.

Moving on to the next section (right side). These boxes get filled in based on what background you choose. We choose noble so we will go to that section of Chapter 4 in the Player's Handbook. You will notice beside each title there is a d#. This means they want you to roll that die (for Personality Trait it is a d8 for the rest it is a d6. Whatever you roll is what you type into the boxes. If you don't find what you rolled suits your character you can always change it for something that does (talk to your GM and fellow players about this first). For personality Traits you will roll twice, for the other three you will only roll once. 

This is what our example looks like. As you can see because we have no dexterity modifier our AC stays at 10 for now. But since we have a constitution modifier of +2 we get 10 for our hit points. 

Next week, we are going to be finishing up this sheet and filling in the remaining areas!

Character Creation - Part 2

This week we are talking about the Abilities or Stats of a player. This is the section to the left of the page. These are the most important parts of character creation because your character depends on these for literally everything. 

We are going to deal with the large box column first and then worry about the rest. These are the abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Strength is pretty straight forward, it comes into play when you need to be strong (moving a large boulder is one example). Dexterity is like being athletic (can you jump far or climb a rope type things). Constitution is willpower. Intelligence is book smarts (have you read about this subject type checks). Wisdom is like street smarts (do you naturally know this; is it common knowledge). Charisma is your characteristic (are you charming and believable).

Different classes have different needs when it comes to abilities, you are going to want to keep this in mind when filling out this section. 

There are many different ways to figure out exactly what numbers go into these sections. You will want to discuss with your DM (Dungeon Master) which way he/she uses. There is no right or wrong way to do this, however if you are playing with a group of people you will want to all use the same way so everyone is on even playing ground. 

If you are playing alone or are organizing a game yourself you can choose from these options. Option one: take the suggestion from the Player's Handbook. The stats in the book are 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. Depending on your character you can place these where they will be more beneficial to you. If you look at page 45 of the Player's Handbook it gives you a small chart that tells you what the Primary skill is and whatever that is should usually be your highest. There is also a chart on page 19 that shows you what is most important to what race.

Option two: you can roll a D20 for each box. Some people choose to do this in order (example roll one is what your strength will be, roll two is what your dexterity will be and so on) or you can choose what number placement best suits your character. 

Option three: You can roll 4 d6 and take the highest four rolls, add them together to get the number.(six sided die) for each box (Again like above you can do this in order or select what is best for you). If you find that is too low, you can keep all four die and add them together. 

There are risk and reward for all systems when it comes to picking Abilities. If you stick with the book recommendations the highest number you can get is a 15 but the lowest number you can get is an 8. If you go with the D20 option the hightest number you can get is a twenty but you can also get a one.

Once you have your six numbers you need to find the best place for them. You want to look at the Ability Scores and Modifiers table on page 13 of the Player's handbook and you will get the modifiers for your numbers (the higher the modifier the better).

On page 12 it gives you an Ability Score Summary, this will tell you what is most important to your class. When you find which Ability is most important to you, you want to put the highest number there. Once you have that chosen you can head over to the pages dedicated to your class. There will be a section called Quick Build and it will give you guidance as to what else is important to your class. 

Above is our example. We rolled 16, 9, 10, 14, 9, 10, using the 4d6 method. These aren't bad rolls and you can work with them. If you find a number so low you don't think you can work with it feel free to roll again (making sure this is okay with your DM). Now since we are creating a Cleric the most important stat to us is Wisdom so we put the 16 there (this gave as a +3 bonus). Next the Quick Builder told us Strength or Constitution is important. We picked Constitution above Strength simply because it will give us higher hit points (so the 14 went to Constitution and the 10 went to Strength). Next we finished filling in our numbers keeping in mind our race features. 

You will want to look under Traits on your races page to see what it gives you. Being a  Half-Elf gave us an increase of 2 to Charisma and an increase of 1 to two other abilities of our choosing. This is why we choose to give the 9 to charisma because the plus two bonus will bring it to eleven ultimately changing it from a -1 to a 0. We also decided to give a +1 to dexterity to bring it to a 10 (with a 0 modifier) and to give the other point to Wisdom. 

Next you want to deal with your saving throws (top box) and skills (bottom box). For saving throws you want to look at your class features. They will tell you right away what you are proficient in. Whatever they list you want to mark off on your list. For a Cleric they have proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saving throws. Now to figure out the modifier to each of these you will add your proficiency bonus (which is always +2 when starting) plus the ability modifier. In our example our Wisdom saving throw would be 2 + 3 so our Wisdom saving throw would have a modifier of +5.

Onto skills, will be on your Class Features again. As a Cleric our example gets to choose two skills to be proficient in: History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, and Religion. We picked two options that we felt fitted our character, you can do the same or choose something you personally think will help you along in the game. You also want to keep in mind that your proficiency modifier is effected by your ability modifier so choose an option that a lines well with your ability modifier. 

This is what our finished section looks like. You'll see we made all the changes to abilities and modifiers and added up our proficiency bonuses and added them in. You'll also notice we left the top box empty. This box is for Inspiration, that is handed out in the game or by the GM later one. 

Next week we are going to talk about the top two boxes. This includes: Armor Class, Personality, Ideals, Bonds, Flaws, Initiative, Speed, Hit Points, Hit Dice and Death Saves. 

Character Creation - Part 1

First you will want to get your Character Sheets. These can be printed off from the internet or found in the back of the Player's Handbook. There should be three pages to fill out. How much you depend on these pages depends on the character you make and choices you make. The most important pages is the first page, which is what we are going to start with. 

This is what the first pages looks like, as you can see there are many different sections to fill out. We are going to start at the very top. Working from left to right, we start with a Character Name. This can be anything you want. If you have a hard time finding the perfect name you can skip it and come back to it. They do have name generators for certain characters. Once you pick your class and race you can put that into a name generator and it will give you some ideas on a good name.

The next question is Class and Level. Level is easy everyone starts at level one. Class is a little different. We encourage you, especially if you're new, to pick something you're comfortable with. The class you pick tells you what abilities you will have, a Cleric can use magic while a Barbarian is a fighter. As you read the descriptions of each class you should get an idea for what their nature is and which you would be more comfortable playing.

Barbarian

A fierce warrior of primitive background who can enter a battle rage.

Bard

An inspiring magician whose power echoes the music of creation.

Cleric

A priestly champion who wields divine magic in service of a higher power.

Druid

A priest of the Old Faith, wielding the powers of nature - moonlight and plant growth, fire and lightning - and adopting animal form.

Fighter

A master of martial combat, skilled with a variety of weapons and armor.

Monk

A master of martial arts, harnessing the power of the body in pursuit of physical and spiritual perfection.

Paladin

A holy warrior bound to a sacred oath

Ranger

A warrior who uses martial prowess and nature magic to combat threats on the edges of civilization.

Rogue

A scoundrel who uses stealth and trickery to overcome obstacles and enemies.

Sorcerer

A spellcaster who draws on inherent magic from a gift or bloodline.

Warlock

A wielder of magic that is derived from a bargain with an extraplanar entity.

Wizard

A scholarly magic user capable of manipulating the structures of reality.

(All information is taken from the Dungeons and Dragons Player Handbook)

Next is the Race selection. This is what kind of creature you're going to play or you can choose to be human. The races of D&D are Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Human, Dragonborn, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Ore, or Tiefling. Each race has it's own good qualities that will help you in the game. You will need to read up on each race to find their advantages. 

Now some people prefer to know their attributes before they pick their race and class. That is perfectly fine, it's a safer approach so to speak because you will pick your class and race based on the roles you make. (This will become clearer when we talk about attributes later). Certain things make certain classes better, example when your character is strength based it is better to have high strength. This works if you don't care what class you play; if you do it is better to pick your class and then pick the attributes you need to make that class the best it can be. 

Once you  have chosen your race and class read the pages dedicated to them in the Player's Handbook, it will help you fill in the blanks of your character sheet.

Getting Started with Dungeons and Dragons

The first step in getting started with Dungeons and Dragons is getting all the supplies you need. We recommend starting off with a DnD Starter Set and the Player's Handbook. (We recommend starting with the 5th Edition, you can start with any edition you want as long as the people you play with are all on the same page.) Once you have these two starting points, you can start making your characters!

Creating your own DnD character can be very intimidating at first but that is something that gets easier with time. In the starter set, they give you five good examples you can play with to get a feel for the game. It also shows you good examples of how to fill out your own character sheet. 

In the starter set, there is also a basic character sheet to help you create your own character. This is just a basic one that gives you most of the things you need to know to play the game. You can also print off copies off the internet so you can create multiple characters. There is a great Youtube video (here) that helps explain how to fill out these sheets and it also gives links your a zip file with Character sheets you can fill in yourself and print off.

Critical Role

Dungeons and Dragons has been around for some time now and used to be enjoyed in the 80s and had somewhat faded away from popularity. Granted some still enjoyed it but it wasn't in its prime anymore and very rarely did you hear of anything new and exciting coming from the world of D and D (or DnD).

That was true until a few years ago when Dungeons and Dragons got a new breath of life. People around the world have quickly taken an interest in Dungeons and Dragons again, all thanks to a group of "Nerdy-ass Voice Actors" and their show, Critical Role.

The cast of Critical Role gathers every Thursday night on Geek and Sundry's Twitch channel to play out their weekly installments. The group of friends started by playing Pathfinder (a different role-playing game similar to Dungeons and Dragons) and was approached by Geek and Sundry to make it a weekly thing on their Twitch Channel. The amazing cast has put in countless of hours of work to make Critical Role truly shine, including making an intro video for their show and creating a video to better explain their adventures pre-stream (before they brought their game to the internet).  

The cast is a group of friends including Matthew Mercer as Dungeon Master (DM), his girlfriend Marisha Ray as Keyleth a Half-Elf Druid. Liam O'Brien as a Half-Elven Rogue named Vax'ildan who has a twin sister Vex'ahlia a Half-Elven Ranger played by Laura Bailey, her husband Travis Willingham plays a Goliath Barbarian named Grog Strongjaw. There is also Ashley Johnson, who plays a Gnome Cleric named Pike Trickfoot, Taliesin Jaffe who played Percival Frederickstein Von Mussel Klossowski de Rolo III a Human Gunslinger adapted from Pathfinder and last but definitely not least Sam Riegel who plays Scanlan Shorthalt a Gnome Bard, in love with the beautiful Pike. All the players are amazing voice actors and do an amazing job of bringing their characters to life every week. (They used to be joined by Orion Acaba who played Tiberius Stormwind a Dragonborn Sorcerer; he left the group to explore other adventures.)

The group forms something magical and the chemistry is something you can't help but love. Whether you love DnD or have never played a day in your life. Critical Role is much more than just a game, its entertainment, its a story and it is great fun to watch. The stories told and the adventure you get taken on is truly a work of Art. 

Frosty's Christmas Sweater by DROPS Designs

For Christmas, we are trying to share projects for everyone. This is our first time sharing a knitted pattern but we hope to share more beautiful ones in the new year. This beautiful sweater was shared to Ravelry for free by DROPS Designs. It looks very simple to make and the end result is gorgeous. You can find the adult pattern here and the children's pattern here. 

Christmas Tree Skirt by Donna Mason - Svara

This week we are sharing a crochet pattern uploaded to Ravelry by Donna Mason-Svara. This Christmas Tree Skirt is amazing! It is breathtakingly stunning and easy to make. You can customize this skirt to any colour to match your holiday decor and it is a beautiful piece to add to your holiday decorations. 

Charitable Givings

During the Christmas season, many people get wrapped up (no pun intended) in the excitement and stress of the holiday that they forget about the charitable opportunities around them. Charitable giving is a great way to help those in your community and around the world. 

Some of the charities that I personally believe in are:

Hope Mission:

Hope mission is based in Edmonton, Canada and serves 1000 meals over 3 meals a day to the homeless community in the area. In addition to meals, Hope Mission offers a 24-hour emergency shelter that sees up to 700 men, women, and youth spend the night with numbers increased over the freezing winter months. Hope Mission also offers Men and Women's addiction recovery programs, transitional housing. Hope Mission offers lunch programs to schools in the Edmonton, Calgary, and Central Alberta inner-city schools in addition to after-school programs and summer camps. 

In addition to financial donations, Hope Mission accepts clothing and small household goods.

For More information please visit: www,hopemission.com. 

As part of the Association of Gospel Rescue Mission, Hope Mission has affiliate missions across North America. Find your local mission here.

Operation Christmas Child (Samaritan's Purse)

Operation Christmas Child is a program as part of The Samaritan's Purse International Relief Canada. The concept is simple. Get a shoe box, pick an age and gender, fill the box with toys and gifts from the list found at www.samaritanspurse.ca, and drop off the completed shoe boxes at one of the many drop-off centers across Canada. The Samaritan's Purse then takes the completed shoe boxes and uses them to provide supplies to children around the world living in poverty. 

Shoe boxes can also be filled out online by making a financial donation here.

Your Local Children's Hospital

One way you can help locally is to donate toys to sick children at your local children's hospital. With the stress and financial burden of having children in the hospital, many parents either forget to purchase or cannot afford Christmas presents for their sick child. Check out your local Children's hospital today to find out how you can help!

Leftover Makeover -Mashed Potatoes

Leftovers are inevitable! Especially around the holidays, so we have come up with a few different ideas for using up our Mashed Potato leftovers! 

1. Fully Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole 

This recipe has been featured on our blog already, but it is a great way to use up mashed potatoes! Very simply, we added bacon, cheese, sour cream and cream cheese to regular mashed potatoes to make them into a casserole! You can find our full blog post to that recipe here.

2. Herb and Garlic Mashed Potatoes 

This is another recipe we've shared on our blog before. This is plain and simple, all we did to leftover mashed potatoes was add a container of Herb and Garlic Cream Cheese to the heated potatoes. Its simple to make and the results are delicious! (You can find that full recipe here.)

3. Potato Perogies 

Perogies are basically a Potato filled Dumpling. They are very delicious and can be made at home! This recipe by Best Recipe Ever is ironically, one of the best recipes for Perogies we have found! 

4. Mashed Potato Pancakes

Though we do not have a recipe like this on our website, we have seen many great recipes out there that sound absolutely delicious. One of the best ones we have seen is by Natasha's Kitchen.