Food

12 Days of Christmas~Day Six~Cookies {Event}

0 · Dec 6, 2010 · 14 Comments

On the sixth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me…

…six cookies because I deserve something sweet!

If you need all the fun details of our 12 Days of Christmas event, check back to day one, and see what’s it’s all about!

Click on the image to download Kristin’s free printable for today:

Whitney made these yummy cookies, and tells us how she did it:

These fun snowflake cookies are made using the same recipe as my airplane sugar cookies. I love this recipe for 2 reasons. The first is that the cookies hold their shape really well, which is perfect for intricate cookies like these. The second reason is that they’re just yummy. They really taste fabulous.

Sugar Cookies (via cakecentral.com)
6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups unsalted butter
2 cups sugar (white granulated)
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients, and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together. Chill for 1 to 2 hours.

Cut cookies and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Once your cookies are completely cooled, you can frost them. I like to ice a border of royal icing around the edge of my cookies first, so that I don’t have run-off. It gives the cookie a crisp, professional look.

Royal Icing
3 large egg whites
1 lb. confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until they reach the soft peak stage. Add confectioner’s sugar, a little at a time, until stiff peaks form.

To ice your cookies, fill a zippered sandwich bag with icing and cut a little off the corner. Frost your border and allow a few minutes for the icing to harden. Finally, you’ll want to fill in your cookie with regular icing. I put about 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar in a bowl and add a little milk until I get my desired consistency (not runny, but not stiff). Fill another sandwich bag with this icing, snip the corner of the bag, and fill the cookie. To get an even consistency, use a toothpick or your (clean) pinky finger to spread the icing.

The cookie cutters were bought at Williams-Sonoma last winter, but I was just in their store a few weeks ago and they still have them! I love the cookie cutters because you can be creative with how you design them. Every snowflake can be different.
I hope you’re enjoying our 12 Days of Christmas and check back for some more fabulous ideas. We can’t wait to see yours! -Whitney

I am so excited for our Link Party on the 13th, where we will see all of your creativity. There are going to be a lot of lucky recipients out there!

12 Days of Christmas~Day Five~Bows {Event}

0 · Dec 5, 2010 · 1 Comment

On the fifth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me…

…Five pretty bows to make my gifts lovely!

If you need all the fun details of this event check back to day one, and see what’s it’s all about!

Click on the image to download Kristin’s free printable for today:

Erin’s sweet Mom, Christi, volunteered (or was volunteered) to help with the bow tutorial. Thanks Christi!!

Bows are amazingly simple!! All you need are…

Ribbon {I like the wired ribbon because you can shape it better, but any will do.}
Some type of wire or pipe cleaners.
Scissors

Take the ribbon in your left hand (if you are a righty like me), and create a loop with the end of the ribbon inside the loop.

Take the ribbon, twist it so that the right side of the ribbon is up and make another loop to the side of the center loop.

On the opposite side of the center loop, twist the ribbon again to make sure the right side of the ribbon is on top and make another loop.

Continue to twist, turn and create loops until you have two to three on either side of the center loop.

Once all of the loops are created, take your wire and thread it through the center loop. Pinch the ribbon together and twist the wire to secure the ribbon. Cut the tail of the ribbon to the desired length.

There you go! An easy and inexpensive gift for your friends to dress up their packages, trees, wreaths or what ever they like. What wouldn’t look better with a bow anyway?

Happy Merry Making! Can’t wait for everyone to link up on the 13th with all of your fun projects. Don’t forget, we want to see what you have been up to.

12 Days of Christmas–Day Four–Hot Cocoa {Event}

3 · Dec 4, 2010 · 40 Comments

On the fourth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me…

It’s already Day Four of our special event:

The Twelve Days of Christmas!

If you need all the fun details of this event, check back to day one, and see what’s it’s all about!

Click on the image to download Kristin’s free printable for today:

On the fourth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me… four cups of cocoa to warm up my tummy!

Jamie shared her family cocoa recipe with us:

2 c. nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. non-dairy creamer
dash salt

Mix all ingredients and store in an air-tight container. For an 8 oz. serving, mix 1/4 c. of mix with 3/4 c. of boiling water. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather put together four adorable hot cocoa gift cups. She put individual portions of hot cocoa mix into cellophane bags, and tied them with bakers twine. She decorated the cups with more bakers twine and scrapbook paper.

She then made a custom stir stick using a metal skewer and homemade marshmallows.

Each cup is adorned with a beautiful nutmeg candy cane.

It doesn’t get much cuter than this!!

So how are you liking our 12 Days of Christmas event so far? Have you chosen a family to give to yet?

12 Days of Christmas–Day Three–Ornaments {Event}

0 · Dec 3, 2010 · 17 Comments

On the third day of Christmas my true friend gave to me…

Welcome to Day Three of our special event:

The Twelve Days of Christmas!

If you are just joining us, refer back to day one for all the fun details of this event!

Click on the image to download Kristin’s free printable for today:

On the third day of Christmas my true friend gave to me… three ornaments to put on my tree!

Jamie is sharing THREE ornament tutorials today:

Who doesn’t love a beautiful Christmas ornament? I must say, the Christmas tree seems to have elevated itself to a new level. Whether simplistic, or truly ornate, all other holiday décor is established according to the Christmas tree style. Following my heart’s desire, I decided to create our ornaments in this year’s surprisingly popular, yet fantastic, color scheme of black and white with just a hint of silver.

Ornament One—Silhouette Mini-Frame

Another rising trend seems to focus on facial silhouettes and various miniature photo frames. I took profile shots of my children, and my good friend Danielle (from Crafts by Danielle), transformed them into vinyl silhouettes. I framed the silhouette in a beautiful mini-frame, and finished it off with a ribbon hanger.

This is a lovely handmade, and also sincerely personal, gift to give—or if you’re like me, some I’ll give and some I’ll keep!

Ornament 2—Jeweled ball

It can’t get much easier than this! I spray painted a Styrofoam ball with black matte paint. I only gave it one coat because I prefer the textured look, but if you want a more solid appearance give it two or three coats. I secured silver jewels—in varying sizes—all over the ball with a hot glue gun. To attach the ribbon hanger, I stapled the ribbon onto the Styrofoam. To help secure the ribbon, I placed on a small dollop of hot glue just before stapling: then I tied a knot in the ribbon to hide the staple.

Ornament Three—Sparkle Bulbs

Oops, just when I said it doesn’t get easier than the “jeweled ball”, we outdo ourselves! These fillable glass ornaments are available almost anywhere. I simply removed the top and filled it with those same silver jewels I used before. Here’s that ribbon again that I used as the finishing touch.

We hope you’ll enjoy all the fun opportunities to simplify the ornament making this year, and save a little money as well.

Merry Christmas to all, and happy decorating!

–Jamie

Have fun making your ornaments, and check in tomorrow for Day Four!! I can’t wait!