Muddy Buddy Truffles

 

Every year for at least 15 years I've hosted a cookie RECIPE exchange at my work.  I've talked about it in the past, but the gist is that you bring two cookies and a recipe attached for each person.  We've had 25 people and 10 people.  You never know how wants to bake, and what they want to bake.  I always find a few new recipes this way regardless of the number, and this year was no exception, including the one I brought.  

These muddy buddy truffles taste exactly like you would expect them too.  The crunch of the chex and the pb, powdered sugar, and chocolate give them the delicious taste of a muddy buddy, but I thought they were easier to make (I can never shake my muddy buddies evenly).

The original recipe says they make 12, but I got more like 18 out of a batch.  It also said to wait for the chocolate to dry before rolling them in powdered sugar (double rolling), but mine got a little too hard b/c the powdered sugar didn't fully stick.  I think I'll try to roll when it's ALMOST dry next time, but that didn't impact the taste, it was just powdery!  

Dried Orange Ornaments

Is it even 2020 if you aren't making dried oranges for Christmas?  I don't know if I'm seeing these everywhere b/c I decided to do it, or if it really is just a popular craft this Christmas.  I ordered a feather tree (a new "old" style b/c I've been looking for years for a REAL old one, but no luck).  I decided I was going to do oranges, fake candles, and a popcorn garland, so....first up I used some oranges that were pretty soft to the touch thanks to good intentions and bad planning on my part a few weeks back.  

I sliced my oranges to about 1/4 inch thickness and I lined a pan with parchment paper...just b/c I didn't want to have to work to get out the orange flavor.  

I baked my oranges at 250 for about 2 hours.  When they look pretty juiceless, and felt firmer to the touch I pulled them out.  I didn't want them to get too brown.  

I had picked up these large needles in the yarn section recently for another project and they were perfect.  

I strung bakers twine through and tied off a loop for them to hang, but you could keep going if you wanted a garland instead.  

Now...I'm just waiting for my faux feather tree to arrive.  

Santa Grill Brush

 It's been awhile since I posted live every day.  I've also been cooking up a storm, but.....I haven't been taking photos.  So....meet, Santa Grill  Brush.  I dipped his end in paint and let it dry, painted his handle and flicked it with white, and added a wooden nose and some paint.  I also used the edge of a sweater to make a hat rim and I added a bell to the top.

I found this grill brush in my garage and I started to toss it, but then I decide to accept the challenge of repurposing everything I could.  Don't worry, I'm not keeping these things.  My mom has a booth at an antique mall and I usually throw in these little guys for a few bucks and everyone wins.  It'll be interesting to see if this trash bound guy brings a few bucks.

Sleigh Ride Sign

Another quarantine craft.  I had some old wood in my backyard I should have tossed a year ago, but...I decided to make a scrappy sign out of it.  I used my Cricut to cut out stencil using some old vinyl.  I used some left over quilt batting to make the gloves that I hung on the metal with a rope.  I tried to rough up the edges with a little sandpaper and I splattered white paint all over with a toothbrush because I always like how that looks!  I don't know why I'm stuck on Christmas crafts in March, but...there's nobody around to judge those decisions!

Christmas Card Album (Year 3)

I started doing this a few years ago b/c I just can't stand throwing away my Christmas cards.  All those precious pictures and stories.  I know I'm going to like this piece of me in 10 years. Here is a better look at the process.   

The basic process is to find two pieces of sturdy cardboard and measure the largest card and cut two pieces the same size. I covered both pieces with scrapbook paper.  Add the year and a few embellishments.  I punch two holes in both boards and all the cards and then put them all together.  

 Here are the last three years.  The goal is to flip through the books and pray for each family this year.

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

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

 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.

Santa Ornament

 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!

White Wreath

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.

Christmas Card Album

 A fear I have with the digital world is that so much of our personal history is going to be lost.  I have learned so much through photos I've found of family members from long ago, and letters they exchanged and kept.  With the digital world of texting and phone photos not being printed, I think there are going to be some pretty major chunks missing and not captured despite the fact that you live forever on the internet, who is to say the internet will live forever in it's current form.  So, I save letters.  In particular, Christmas cards have been a collection I picked up four years ago. I started b/c my friend told me how she kept hers in a box next to a chair and she picked one up each day and prayed for that person.  I decided to bind mine and keep them in a book.  I recently saw a friend who did the same and placed her family photo on top, which was adorable

Here is this year's collection.  I decorated two pieces of cardboard for a front and back cover, added a few decorations and then punched two holes in each card, letter, and photo that arrived in my box this December.

Chicago at Christmas

 My friend Kelly had some extra airline vouchers to use up and she asked me if I was interested in going to Chicago for the weekend to check out their Christmas.  I'm always up for an adventure.  I went to Chicago several years back during the summer (in the middle of a longer trip), but I can't say I really explored the city.  Let me just say, while half of my friends were posting from NYC, and the other were posting about their elves, Chicago has some (not so hidden) Christmas charm that is not to be missed.  I LOVED seeing Chicago at Christmas time and it far exceeded my expectations for what I would find!  Starting with the (above) airport. 

 I sat next to a lady who was a native to the land of Chicago, and she gave me some great advice, including pizza at Giordano's.  I had deep dish last time I was there as well, but I don't remember it being this excellent.  We were in a full restaurant at 11, and closed the place down.  I don't even understand how they make this so different and so delicious this was, but Kelly claims it was her favorite part of the whole trip and posting the picture made my mouth water. 

 We stayed at the Drake, beautiful decor, prime locations, and swanky rooms overlooking Michigan Ave didn't disappoint. Again, we got a steal of a deal (less than 200).  We debated several different locations, but this was a great choice.  It is listed an one of the historical hotels in America, which I always trying to explore when given the chance! 

Saturday we got up and we headed out to The Little Goat.  We were able to make a reservation in advance.  It was a super cute restaurant with a fun menu. 

 It's breakfast meets Asia with some funky flavors to try out. 

 After breakfast, we headed to the Christkindl Market.  It's the 'original' German market set that has sort of spread this tradition to other cities, but this is apparently the place to be....and all the people came. 

It opened at 11, and I heard some people talking about how it was better to come early b/c it was wall to wall people later.  We had the opposite experience.  We swung through later as well and it wasn't nearly as crowded as when we were there.  There was a wait to look at a lot of the boots.  It was cold, but it was still fun.  The key....just go with some patience b/c it can be a tight squeeze, which was actually OK b/c it was so cold....I'm not going to complain about body heat. 

 There were a ton of vendors with German foods, nuts, breads, a grocery store with candies, gingerbreads, and drinks.  Ornaments, ornaments, and more ornaments, and lots of German souvenirs. 

 Each year there is apparently a mug that you can purchase with drinks.  The big controversy this year (and last) is that it's not shaped like a boot like all the previous years.  BUT, I liked my first mug just fine, and the innards (hot chocolate). 

There was a place you could eat, but we didn't try that out, but they had tables set around you could munch at after purchasing food from the outside vendors.  

 Can I just pause and tell you my Chicago experience included a lot of cheese. 

 They had pretzels with all sorts of fillings, and these wheels of cheese they set under heat lamps until it bubbled, and then they scraped it off onto your sandwich. 

 After the market, we stopped at Garrett's popcorn.  Mainly b/c every single person who heard we were going told us we had to go here.  There was a line just to get in, but it as worth it b/c A)  It was warm inside.  B)  The popcorn really was good.  I had been told to get the Chicago mix (cheese and caramel).  All the people didn't lie. 

 That evening we took a trolley tour.  We didn't book as early as we should have because some of the most popular tours were sold out, but we still had a good time and were able to see more and hop off at the Zoo and at the Christkindle Market.  You only get 30 minutes at each stop, but you at least got to experience the sites and we went past the city tree on the trip, which was fun to see all lit up.  The other tours may stop for longer, but it was still cheaper than Ubering from place to place. 

 We ended the night in Little Italy at a little restaurant called Rosebud.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  The lasagna was to die for....I mean don't, because then you won't get to experience the rest of your trip, but it's last meal worthy. 

Sunday was our last day.  At the advice of more Chicago folks we went to The Walnut Room at 10.  We were told not to go between 11-4 b/c we would be in a big line.  We were also told breakfast wasn't the star, but....we really just wanted to experience the meal and the tree. 

 We got to sit right under the tree, which was a lot of fun.  The breakfast was good, what you would expect, but our waiter was really great and I'd do it again for sure. 

 The store was decked out inside....

 ...and out....

 The window displays were animated and worth the trip alone. 

 The iconic Chicago sign is also right down the street. 

 We then made the half mile walk to Cloud Gate.  They had an ice skating rink below.

 And I have to say, as a photographer (who did not bring her camera) this was one of my favorite spots. 

 It's worth it!  I had read to go early, and we were there about noon, but I'm OK with other people in my photo. 

We had a few hours before we needed to head out, and right down the road was the Chicago Art Institute.  

 We started out just going into the shop (art shops are some of my favorite places to find souvenirs), but the gal at the desk told us they had the largest collection of Impressionist work outside of the Louvre. 

 I don't 'know' my art like I should, but I know Monet and he was well represented.  If you have never seen a painting up close with the 'gobs' of paint you have never seen art how it should be seen. 

 I was surprised by the number of famous paintings they had on site, and at the risk of filling up this feed, these are a tiny sampling. 

 But my main reason for going was this couple.....

Seriously, how often after I seen this?  Worth it!  After walking around until our feet hurt we headed to the hotel and headed home.  It was a jam packed 48 hours, and I have no doubt that there are 10 great sites I missed, but I can honestly say I didn't really have an expectations, but having gone, I'd recommend it 10 times over, and it makes me want to explore other cities and their Christmas traditions b/c I realized how much I'm missing. But first, I'm off to finish up a few of my Dallas traditions before the clock strikes midnight on Christmas in Dallas.