Peppermint Fluff Candle

Last year I saw some cute little candles inside tin cans at a craft show and I decided it looked like a good DIY project!  

 I bought wick and candle squares at a craft store, and then I saved a can from a meal, used some peppermint essential oil for a scent, and a washer.

 To prevent my can from having a sharp edge I used one of those openers that removes the lid/rim and all.

 I tied the wick to the washer and placed it down at the bottom of the can.  This wouldn't work if the can wasn't metal (fire hazard), but it works for this case and made a nice weight.

 I tied the wick to a straw and placed it across the can in the middle so it would stay (sort of) straight.  The candle wax suggested a double boiler, but I just stuck it in the microwave for about 5 minutes until it was melted.  I dropped in a few drops of essential oil and then poured it into the can.

 It goes in clear, but when it was starting to harden, just to jazz it up, I added some crushed peppermint.

I added a label and then bagged it up with some mints.  I don't think I'll go into the candle making business, but....it was a fun little gift to give a few friends and different from my norm!

Wooden Candy Canes

 I made a bunch of these quite a few years ago.  I cut circles out of wood and painted them up.  I added a layer of glue spray and then glitter. I covered the whole thing in cellophane.  The cellophane has held up surprisingly well and it protects the glitter and paint.

Easy enough for less skilled painters (like me) and the layer of glitter is very forgiving!

Peppermint Cookies

 Every year I say I'm going to mail cookies.  No year have I actually done this because my time and good intentions never match.  This year I did a mini cookie delivery to a friend I wanted to try out my favorite cookie recipe.  For the red, instead of using food coloring, I actually just bought a tube of red and added about a tablespoon of clear karo syrup so it will harden and then put it in a ziplock to pipe out the red stripes.

I tied the cookies up in cellophane with some twine on both sides and then found a tin to match at the store and shipped them.  I'm sure you are supposed to put the tins in a box, but...I just smacked the address on top and send them on their way.  Easy and cute.  :O)  I love these cookies....and with little tins of four....even my time wasn't stretched.

Mason Jar Lid Peppermint Garland

 I recently did a fall craft recently using the rims of old mason jar lids...which left me with the lids.

 I decided to paint them and make them looking like peppermints.

 I glued them back to back on twine.

 I used old cellophane from a gift (I knew those hoarding tendencies would come in handy) and tied each side with twine to complete my peppermint look!

I created a string of seven of these little guys.  They hang flat against a wall, but do like to spin some when dangling, thus the two sided approach.  

Legend of the Candy Cane Cookies

 Last year I hosted a cookie decorating party with some of the gals in a bible study I met with.  I made a bunch of candy canes to bag up for friends.  Here is a free downloadable printable I created to attach to the cookies.  I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe (it doesn't spread while baking).  This time for the red, instead of using a dye, I had one of the girls bring some already mixed in the decorator tubes you find by the cakes.  We squeezed it out, added Karo syrup (about 1 T per tube) and then put it into bags for piping.  The karo syrup helps the icing harden enough for bagging.

Ornaments: Peppermint Bath Salt Ornament

 I made this scrub last year and scented it with peppermint oil.  I added it to jars in striped layers and a few other packaging options I'll post about in a few weeks, but I also added it to one of my favorite Christmas vessels....the empty glass ornament.  I used a funnel to layer the dyed salt. 

 I added a little slip of foil to the top so it wouldn't spill out the holes.

 Insert the top 'thingie' and bejewel, beribbon, betag, it beaffordable for a b(e)iggroup.....

Chocolate Dipped Candy Canes

 I shared my not so secret homemade hot chocolate recipe yesterday.  I made jars of this stuff last year for friends.  I also bought design-a-mugs for my friends to let their kiddos decorate, and I made some chocolate dipped candy canes to add for stirrers.  I mean, the best accessory for chocolate it more chocolate....right?  The most complicated part of this whole process was taking the pictures.  I just grabbed some candy candes, chooclate morsels (I just happened to have some that were mint flavored left over from a week's worth of peppermint projects I blogged about here), and sprinkles....because sprinkles are to food like glitter is to crafts....magic. 

After de-cellophaning the canes, I melted the chocolate for about a minute (no more) at two 30 second intervals-stir-melt, and then dip. 

I

Plop it onto wax paper, and add sprinkles, or you could get really fancy and melt a second color of chocolate and drizzle lines. 

 I stuck with sprinkles b/c.....I have enough to get Texas through the next ice age. 

 Let it dry, bag 'em, bow 'em.  Add to the hot chocolate and mugs and call it a day. 

Saint Patrick's Day: Thin Mint Cupcakes

This cupcakes are super easy to put together, and really tasty if you like mints.  I don't know why mints are St. Patrick-ish, but they are...you are just going to have to trust me on this because I'm the expert on all things...ummm....on all things.  Period. 

I baked up some chocolate cupcakes.  I let Betty C use my favorite homemade recipe, and in exchange, she boxes up my mix, and so it's really simple to pop them out, stir 'em around and bake them up. 

I whipped up some mint icing-1/2 cup butter, softened, 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil is a recipe (from Southern Living).  I ended up adding another 1/4 t. of peppermint extract, and more powdered sugar until my icing was firm enough to hold up for it's hot chocolate bath. 

I decided to plop it on the cupcake becasue I believe in being lazy the natural look. 

I put the cupcakes in the fridget for an hour to get the icing harder enough to withstand a little heat.  Last, I melted some semi sweet chocolate, dipped.  Cooled. 

 Sampled. 

...and tried to buy the approval of friends at work that were forced invited to attend a meeting. 

Valentine's Day: Heart On-A-Stick

My friend Mary told me that she used to buy peppermints on clearance, and she and her girl scounts used to create hearts out of two of the peppermints to deliver to nursing homes for Valentine's Day.  I always wanted to try this, and I even bought candy canes anticipating this kind of project.  Then, last year this was featured  in Family Fun, the idea is originally from the blog The Idea Room.  A lot of pals tried it out, including Erin from Making Memories, and I knew I had to do it now so I could get some rest. 
How cute, how easy, and a stick?  Yes, please. 
A lot of the tutorials take two small candy canes, rest them down, and then pour white chocolate inside.  I decided to use the larger candy canes, heat the oven on low for about 5 minutes, and then mold my hearts together, and snip off the excess. 

Add a Stick...trust me, I have plenty of these on hand. 

Add melted chocolate and sprinkles, another thing NOT in short supply at my house. 

Wrap, and make friends. 

Peppermint: Peppermint Bath Scrub

I blogged about the life altering process of creating this recycled gift jar last Sunday.  I'm pretty sure it changed lives.  Now for the innards.  Last year, around New Year's I made up a batch of pink lemonade body scrubs.  With Christmas looming, and some mint scented oil on hand, I decided to use the same recipe for peppermint scrub (yes, I've seen it on the net as well, and there are about a million ways to make body scrubs, but three ingredients is about my speed, and it really does make your hands soft).  One of my favorites this year (where I got the idea to attach a stick) I've seen I'm linking to below from Malia's blog.   Basically, to make one enough to fill a jar that is 10 oz I mixed 1 1/4 c. sugar and 1/2 c. olive oil.  I added about 1/4 t. of peppermint oil (they sell it at the craft store, or even in the grocery store on the spice aisle...if it can go in your body, it can go on your body).  You can add less according to your scent-preference.  I divided it in half, and added some red food coloring to half of it until I had my desired color (a few drops at a time). 

 I layered in the jar to make it look a little stripe-ee like a peppermint. 

 I sa the idea for stamping a spoon on one of my favorite blogs Yesterday on Tuesday.....Melia mixes up some seriously cute stuff.  She attached spoons to a peppermint scrub she made, and she stamped a message, I fell in love, and followed suit.  Go check her out.  This is also where I should say when it comes to needing different colored inks, a lot of times I just color stamps with a marker to save on money, and additional ink pad storage case.  It works great. 

 Attach stick, attach tag.  Gift.