Naughty or Nice Cake Balls

Sunday, December 22, 2019 No comments
 I have been looking forward to making these for the last few years, but I never had time.  Finally, this year, I made time.
 I bought this little jewel mold on Amazon and I put some of my cake balls inside and placed it in the freezer overnight for the cake balls to harden.
 I dipped them in black colored melting chocolate, and dusted them with Sanding Sugar.
 I also made squares and dipped them in green, and added red molded ribbon (I used a chocolate mold to make the bows, but you could also use red melting chocolate and create a piped bow).

Nativity Cookies

Friday, December 20, 2019 No comments
 I have been wanting to do this for several years.  Gingerbread Nativity Cookies.  I bought a pkg of nativity cookie cutters...and I lost them.  Finally, this year, after going through my garage-I bought a different set on Amazon.  Oh well.
 I used this gingerbread recipe-they are soooo good.  Soft and flavorful.  And I used this icing recipe.
 I iced the cookies by simply creating a border, letting it harden.  I added about 1/2 T to the rest of the icing and flooded the cookies and then let them dry.
 I packaged them up individually and put them in boxes with crinkle paper with a star ornament on the outside.

Gingerbread Cookie Decorating Kit

Wednesday, December 18, 2019 No comments
 I did this a few years ago, and I decided to do it again-gingerbread house cookies with diy decorations.
I used my favoriting soft gingerbread cookie recipe.
 I got some little jewelry containers and filled them with candy.  For the packages I mailed.  I secured the sprinkles in a little baggie so they wouldn't shake around.
I added icing, individually packaged cookies, a plastic knife and all the decorations and mailed or boxed them up

Christmas Popcorn

 I decided to make a bunch of different treats for my gifts this year.  For the ladies in the office, I made this chocolate drizzle popcorn.
 I bought some super cute sprinkles (Sweet Tooth Fairies) from Michael's.  I also got some red and white melting chocolate and popcorn.  I found a little gingerbread mold and melted my red chocolate in advance.
     I laid the popcorn out, but the white chocolate in a ziplock and heated it in the microwave.  I 'squished it around' every 45 seconds until it's melted. I found that about 1/3 of a bag took 2 45 minute segments and one last 30 second segment (don't overheat it or it crystallizes).
    I snipped a corner of the bag and drizzled it back and forth over popcorn I had laid out on wax paper and tossed on sprinkles before it hardened.  Drizzle more than you think.
I added some cake balls with matching sprinkles and rolled these out.

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Friday, December 13, 2019 No comments
This past week was the annual cookie recipe exchange at my work.  More on that soon, but in the meantime, I made these cookies to take this year (original recipe is from the PioneerWoman).  They were a little drier than my usual cookie, so underbake if you like a gooey cookie.
BUT they were good, and the subtle chocolate and mint went so well together, and they sure were pretty!
Here is a free printable for the recipe.

Christmas Garlands

Wednesday, December 11, 2019 No comments
 I made a few garlands to go with some white trees in my room.
 I cut out the word MERRY with my Cricut and then sandwiched the letters and scrap paper between some twine.
 Next, I tied some little bottle brush trees to string.  I saw these on Target, but they were sold out at my Target, so I bought mine on Amazon.
 The ten pack of trees as 6 dollars, so it ended up being half the price to make my own.
I'm all about layered garlands these days.  My pom poms are from Hobby Lobby.  You could easily make that too, but....I'm OK with some store bought pieces for the collection.

Pom Pom Ornaments

Monday, December 09, 2019 1 comment
 I've been collecting these little plush ornaments for the last two years.  I recently found a few hanging on a tree next to some adorable little ornaments with pompoms inside.  They cost way more than these little plastic ornaments I had floating around my craft room for the last year (I don't even remember their original purpose).
 I pulled out the top, and grabbed a bag of pom poms at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon (originally 6.99, and it's a lifetime supply).
 I like the plastic ornaments b/c they won't shatter if they fall.  My plan is to collect some more on super clearance in late December.  I sent my craft through quality control, and now I have one more thing for this future tree.

Santa Ornament

Wednesday, December 04, 2019 No comments
 This is just a quick little project I put together.  There is an instagrammar I follow who makes these adorable Santa's.  She sells them, I just wanted to try out some painting and hang one or two.  I found these precut, wood Santa's at Michael's.  I added some scrapbook paper to the hat, and made a white pom pom, and then painted.
There is so much potential for different designs, but....I'm just excited someone else did the wood cutting so I could create my own little guy!

Silver Wreath

Monday, December 02, 2019 No comments
 I'm taking a bunch of wreaths to GMT today, but this is the wreath I'm taking....and then brining home to hang.  Actually, they had a very similar wreath at Sam's, but....by the time I went to get it, it was gone.  I hardly ever 'buy' a wreath, so you know I like it if I went to purchase instead of make the wreath.  I was bummed, but then, when they asked me to come share some wreaths, I thought, hey, I can make that wreath I didn't get!
 I switch my outside decor back and forth, but this year, it's back to silvers and whites, so....it goes perfectly with the rest of the decor outside.
It was 36 dollars at Sams, but I was able to make it for less than 20.  I bought ornaments at the dollar tree, and a few at the craft store on major discount.  I bought a little 'church' ornament for $2 something at Walmart, and some bottle brush tress (again, half off-about $3.50? at Hobby Lobby).  I got a foam wreath at the dollartree, and then some tinsel.  The tinsel is the only thing even remotely pricey.  They have a ton of different colors, but I wanted this particular garland from Walmart, which cost about 5 dollars. Normally, I'd use a coupon at the craft store, but....it was a lot of tinsel.  You need about 18 yards to wrap a dollar tree size wreath.  A bigger wreath, maybe grab two of these.  I hot glued it all on, and now....once it has it's television debut, I'm ready for Christmas, well, my door is ready.  I've got a lot of projects left to do!

Rustic Wreath

Saturday, November 30, 2019 No comments
 I made this wreath to take with me to GMT on Monday.  I'll post a link to the segment on facebook, but in the meantime, here's a visual step by step.
 I bought a few picks with rusty bell, and then I used my 'stone' Krylon to make these silver bells 'rusty'.  I've tried a bunch of other techniques, and this is, by far, the most effective.
 I bought some larger picks with evergreen stems, and cut them apart.  I literally just poke and bend them into the wreath.  You can dab a little hot glue on the stem, but they stay really well regardless.  Please notice my helpers foot in the above photograph.
 I also wanted a large candy cane, but all I could find were sparkly canes, so I took some fabric I had and hot glued it over that glitter.
For less than 15 dollars, I have another new wreath.

White Wreath

Friday, November 29, 2019 No comments
I'm headed to GMT on Monday with some simple wreath ideas.  I'm trying to pull out some simple ideas. I saw this idea originally on pinterest.  Wreaths are one of the rare crafts where you can almost always save a ton of money b/c even at a discount, they cost a lot more than their parts.  This wreath cost me 9 dollars to make total, and it was really simple.
 I bought some loopy yarn (it was an 18 yard skein and it was enough to cover my wreath with some left over-$5 on sale).  I bought a foam wreath at the dollar store, and some bottle brush trees at Joann.  Everything was on sale.
 I tied it to the foam wreath, but you could also use push pins or straight pins to hold it in place.  Then I just wrapped around....and around...and around and tied it off at the end too.
Last up I glued on my bottle brush trees.  And....it's ready.  It looks like a little snowy field with trees.

Friendsgiving and All Things Food at Work

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 No comments
 I'm a part of one of the leadership teams at work, and one of my favorite things is to come up with fun treats for the staff.  I try NOT to do the same things over and over b/c.....that's dull, and if you don't do whatever it is every year, you disappoint people, BUT if you do different things at different times...it's always fun.  There is one exception I've made the last few years....the pie cart.  I think this is her 3rd or 4th round.  Basically, each person from the team brings two pies, and we roll it around the building and let teachers pick their slice of pie.  Nobody complains.  This year I added a basket of apples and caramel/peanut butter b/c of some dietary restrictions.
 Another work tradition I started at least five years ago was a Friendsgiving meal after our school's Turkey Trot.  About 15 of us spend our entire day outside with no real breaks until 2 pm.  We are in charge of watching students run around the school during their specials.  After wards, I started inviting the folks helping back to my room to share a meal.  This year, our Turkey Trot got rained out, so it will be a Jingle Bell Run, BUT....I didn't cancel the meal.
I tried out PioneerWomans Sweet Potato Casserole.  There is a reason that lady has a cookbook (or 4)!  I even had some troubles b/c I wasn't able to bake my sweet potatoes long enough before cutting them up (I was supposed to mash them, but had to leave for an event when I was making them and mistimed the baking), but after cooking a second time under the crust, it was still delicious.  It's probably my favorite sweet potato recipe to date.

Citrus Pecan Thumbprint Cookies

Friday, November 22, 2019 No comments
Just a quick little recipe I tried this week in my quest to cook through a cookbook (with a ten year window), these Christmas Cookies gone fall.  I used the pioneerwoman's recipe and took a suggestions at the bottom of my page to press pecans into the cookies instead of candied cherries, and it was a great substitute.  It's a really subtle cookie with a hint of citrus, thanks to the orange and lemon rind.
In case you are looking for a non pie dessert that will please the pallet.  Here she is, the pecan thumbprint cookie.

Thrifting 101

Thursday, November 21, 2019 No comments
Maybe I should say, the remedial course for thrifting, but....I got this crock bowl for less than 4 dollars.  I want to say it was somewhere in the two dollar range.  It was on the top of a rack with a bunch of sparkly skirts.  It was out of place, and therefore...overlooked.  I've learned a few things over the last few years, and in case I hit my head tomorrow, here are few things that have really helped me out.
1.  I've found the less put together the thrift store, the better the deals.  The same goes for antique malls-if there are booths of 'new' items-flea market type booths, the booth rental rates are usually cheaper, so the people who are selling antiques usually sell them for less.
2.  I've found a few stores that I frequent.  I strike out most days, but every fourth time or so....success!
3.  I also know if I find old things, really old things, someone probably just made a large donation, and I look even harder.  I dig deeper, and I come back the next day in case all the 'things' that were donated aren't out yet.
4.  When I go to antique stores, I usually pick up some items I generally know the price of (Mason Jars used to be my thing, during Christmas, knee hugger elves).  I know about what they run, and so I know when I've found a deal....and if I've found a deal-there are probably more deals in that booth to be had.
5.  I google search things I'm not sure of the value when I pick them up, and I've found out that I've discovered some real treasures, or...duds by searching what the items are selling for, BUT the price listed doesn't mean the value, just what people think they can get.
6.  The smaller the town, the harder I search out the Salvation Armies and antique stores b/c the further you are from the big city, the less competition.
7.  Sometimes, when I want something really specific, it's worth letting go of the search and paying a little more at more expensive antique stores or online, or I'll spend three times that 'hunting' for that item and finding a bunch of other stuff.