Day 25, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

25) Give your time
Did you know that helping organizations such as Meals on Wheels still run on holidays? The normal volunteers often ask for some time off for Christmas. When we were in high school, my parents started a tradition. We would wake up early Christmas morning, pack a bunch of freshly-baked breakfast goodies (cinnamon rolls, muffins, biscuits, etc.) and a couple of thermoses of Christmas coffees and head downtown Dallas. We would spend Christmas morning helping Meals on Wheels deliver Christmas dinners to house-bound individuals, usually senior citizens with no family to help take care of them. It was a treat and such a great way to start the day with the focus on something other than presents. Since it's a little late to start this tradition this year, here's something to do first thing in the morning before the stockings and presents are torn to shreads. Read the Christmas story together. Here it is for your reference:

Luke 2
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels 8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

God bless you and yours this Christmas. I have truly enjoyed compiling this list of Christmas tips. I will be taking a brief break (not sure how long) from this blog, but I'll be back soon with more crafty, baking goodness. =)

Merry Christmas!

Day 24, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

24) Cookies for Santa
Around here, Santa loves a variety of cookies. So surprise him this year with something special that he probably did not just have at the house next door. These cranberry-lemon sandwich cookies are well worth the trouble...for Santa, of course. =)

Cranberry-Lemon Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened 1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar 1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp grated lemon peel ½ tsp salt
¾ cup dried cranberries

Filling:
2/3 cup butter, softened 2 ¾ cups powdered sugar
¼ cup milk 1 ¼ tsp grated lemon peel

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening, and sugars. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, peel and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the cranberries. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll into 1-ince balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar.

Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Combine filling ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Spread on the bottom half of the cookies and top with remaining cookies.

Note:
This recipe make a bunch! It’s easier if you try to make the cookies all the same size. Also, I rub the bottom of the glass with the sliced lemon before dipping it in sugar to press the cookies flat. It adds a hint more lemon flavoring which I love...I mean, which Santa loves!

Day 23, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

23) Reuse

I saw an idea to string packing peanuts on thread to use as a Christmas tree garland. It looked really cute on a casual tree with hand-made ornaments (maybe a kids' tree). Then these arrived, and I knew the perfect pink tree to hang them on. I haven't finished stringing them yet, but it's been a fun job to work on in front of the TV in the evenings.

Day 22, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

22) Reading
Books are a big part of our life in our little house. This is a little late in the 25 tips, but these are a little scattered and really just for reference for me for future years as well. So hopefully it's not a total loss for you.
I saw the cutest idea (and I can't remember I where I saw it). Put a Christmas basket near the Christmas tree. Put a different Christmas-themed or winter-themed book inside after the kids go to bed each night. Then each evening as the day is winding down, read that book by the light of the Christmas tree with your family snuggled close. Doesn't that sound like a great tradition for the kids to look forward to during the holiday season?
Such a sweet idea, I think.

Day 21, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

21) Angel Kisses

Here's another cute idea for a quick, inexpensive gift. This would be cute for teachers, neighbors, or secret santa gifts.

What you'll need:

Hershey kisses, sparkly pipe cleaners, wooden beads, glue gun, markers (black and pink).

Directions:

Bend a pipe cleaner into wings that would be an appropriate size for the kiss.

Also bend a pipe cleaner into a circle. Glue the circle onto the wooden bead. Decorate the bead to look like a face. I just did two black dots for eyes and two pink dots for cheeks. My marker ran terribly, so please pardon the pictures, but you get the idea. Glue the bead to the top of the kiss and the wings on the back.Attach a ribbon to the back to use as an ornament. Or you could fill a cute coffee mug or bowl with Hershey kisses, add a few of these angel kisses to the top, and attach this tag. I actually got this as a gift years and years ago. It was given in a tiny clay pot with this poem printed on cardstock and glued to a popsicle stick stuck into the pot of kisses. It was so cute.

Day 20, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

20) Storybook Crafts, Part Two

The Legend of the Christmas Spider is a cute story of German origin that explains a fairytale reason behind why we decorate our trees with tinsel. Read this story with your kids before making spider ornaments. My mom has a gorgeous gold beaded spider in her ornament collection that we used to love to see on the tree (I still do!). This would be easy to make, and I'm making one for my tree, so you can follow along.

Here are the supplies you'll need:

craft wire, one large bead, seed beads, wire cutters, glue gun

Directions:

Cut 4 3-inch sections of wire. This does not have to be accurate at all. Just make sure that they're long enough to go through the large bead and have plenty of length left for legs. Curl one end of each of the wires to hold the beads on like this:

Thread seed beads onto the wires until you reach a little less than halfway.Thread all four of the wires through the large bead. It may be helpful to use the glue gun to help hold the wires in place once they're threaded through the large bead.Thread the remaining wire with seed beads leaving enough room to curl the ends like you did before. Bend the legs to look spider-like. There's your Christmas spider! Give her a special place on your tree. =)

Day 19, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

19) Storybook Crafts, Part One

The Christmas Mouse, which I've had a lot of trouble finding (and I'm not quite sure this is the right one) is a sweet tale of the story behind the Silent Night - from a mouse's perspective. This craft is straight from my preschool years. My teacher read this story, and we made these little mice. The body is glued into half of a walnut shell. The body is made of two pom poms - one large, and one small. The eyes are seed beads, the ears are pinecone pieces, and the tail is leather. There is a pipe cleaner glued to the bottom to twist it onto the tree branch. Of course, you could make these ornaments, or you could make some yummy treats like these instead to tie into the book. So cute. Directions are here.

Day 18, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

18) Since today's my birthday, I thought I'd stick with the birthday theme

With all the glamour and lights, presents and festivities, the birth of Christ can easily get lost in the celebration of Christmas. So why not start the day with a birthday party for Jesus to put things in perspective and to direct the focus on Him? My sister-in-law shared this recipe years ago and has started a tradition of baking it as a birthday cake for Jesus each Christmas. Not only is it absolutely delicious, but it's seasonally-appropriate and aptly named. =) Hope you enjoy.

Santa's Favorite Cake

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
3 egg whites
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (9 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup margarine, softened
2 (16 ounce) packages confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans.
In a large bowl, combine white cake mix, 3 egg whites, 1 1/3 cups buttermilk, and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Mix with an electric mixer for 2 minutes on high speed. In a separate bowl, combine yellow cake mix, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 egg, cocoa, red food coloring, and vinegar. Use an electric mixer to beat for 2 minutes on high speed.
Spoon white batter alternately with red batter into the prepared cake pans. Swirl batter gently with a knife to create a marbled effect.
Bake in preheated oven for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Let cool in pans for at least 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and margarine until smooth. Gradually blend in sugar until incorporated and smooth. Stir in peppermint extract. Spread peppermint cream cheese frosting between layers, and on top and sides of cake.

(recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com - can be found here)

Day 17, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

17) Handmade ornament
This is such a cute idea. Why not make a dozen or so and string them together hand-to-hand to use as a garland in your kitchen or on your tree?

Day 16, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

16) Frohliche Weihnachten
Here's a yummy German recipe to add to your Christmas stash. It's for Beirocks, or Runzas. They're little dough pockets stuffed with cabbage and beef. Even if you don't think you'll like them, believe me - you will!

Ingredients:

1 (1-lb) loaf frozen bread 4 C shredded cabbage
1 small onion, diced ½ tsp salt
½ lb. ground beef ¼ C butter

Directions:
Divide thawed bread dough into 6 pieces and roll into balls. Sauté onion in a large saucepan until browned; add beef and cook until beef loses its red color (do not overcook). Stir in cabbage and salt. Cover and steam until cabbage is wilted. Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll each ball of dough into a 5x5 inch square. Fill the center with about ½ cup of beef mixture. Bring opposite corners of dough together and seal. Place the smooth side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and butter top of each pastry. Serve with mustard.

Day 15, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

15) Homemade hot chocolate
I am NOT a going-through-the-motions type of person. I like to know the reason behind why we do certain things. And I do not like to get caught up in the hype of things and just follow the leader just because. For this reason, I do not celebrate the 'hustle and bustle' of the holiday. Instead our focus is on Christ's birth during the holiday. We have certain traditions, but so far in the 6 Christmases Chris and I have shared since our wedding day, we have not gotten attacked by the holiday stress. If we don't accomplish something, it matters not - our expectations for the holiday season is to enjoy time with family and to relax and reflect. I am not a procrastinator in the least, so I'm never running around last-minute for gifts. THAT would stress me out for sure. So I just refuse to do it. All this to say, life still happens during the holidays, so I like to have a few tricks up my sleeve to bring everything back down a notch and to enjoy the simple things as a family. Yesterday (which was actually Thursday - I write these posts ahead of time and schedule them - see, not a procrastinator =) was a CRAZY hectic day around here, and I couldn't just go to bed without winding down. So as Chris drove home from work at almost 10:00 last night, I put some homemade hot chocolate on the stove. I can remember my grandma doing this, and it truly hits the spot and warms the soul. Caution - this is extremely rich, and a tiny little bit goes a long way.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

(Since I serve the hot chocolate in mugs, I also use those mugs to measure so I don't have to dirty up measuring cups)

2 mugs of milk

2/3 of a mug of chocolate chips

1/8 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

Heat the milk on the stove until hot, but not boiling. Add sugar and chocolate chips stirring frequently until everything melts together. When it is heated through and all melty, remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla. Serve piping hot while snuggling on the couch listening to Christmas music. =)

You can also add a cinnamon stick or a candy cane to the pot to spice it up. Or, it you're extra daring, add an eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Yum!

Day 14, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

14) It's a little late in the month to start advent, but this is a great idea
Make, collect, buy 25 tiny stockings labelling them with the numbers 1-25. String them in order on a piece of twine or ribbon, or hang them along the fireplace. Put a treat inside each one for your children (or husband =) to discover each day on the countdown to Christmas.
Here is a great pattern for this idea.
And here is a cute one to buy if you're not wanting to be crafty.
And here is a great idea of something to put inside of each stocking to celebrate the true Spirit of the holiday.

Day 13, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

13) Be a blessing
One of our Christmas traditions is to get all bundled up in our pajamas, pile in the car, play Christmas music, and look at Christmas lights together. My family did this for as long as I can rememer, and Chris and I have continued every Christmas since we were married. There are some special houses that we always make sure to visit each year. I heard an idea this year that we are definitely going to add to the tradition. Since the people who decorate those incredible houses go out of their way, and since we always enjoy looking at all of their incredible decorations, why not show them our appreciation? We're going to pack up a few extra boxes of Christmas cookies this year (and when I say boxes, I really mean decorated empty formula cannisters! =), and stick them in the car to take with us while we look at lights. We'll drop them off at the houses that we frequent every year along with a thank-you note.
Other ideas for being a blessing to someone this Christmas:

• drop of cookies or candies and a card to your local fire station
• hand-deliver your Christmas cards to your neighbors this year
• grab a group of outgoing friends, and go caroling around the neighborhood
• gather your plastic grocery sacks, and deliver them to a local preschool with a sweet note - they use these for everything from dirty clothes to painting projects
• donate a handful of books to your local library
• clean out your closets and take your old clothes to Goodwill or Salvation Army
• volunteer to wrap gifts for an elderly neighbor (hey, you could also volunteer to do their shopping!)
• gather your old towels and rags to donate to your local animal shelter

Day 12, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

12) Thrifty Christmas Cards

I saw this hilarious idea on Regis and Kelly the other morning. To save money on Christmas cards, cut or tear a cardboard box into postcard-sized rectangles. Address one side, and add a stamp. On the reverse side, write or stamp, or apply a label that reads,

Money is tight

and times are hard,

so here's your darn

old Christmas card.

(Of course, instead of 'darn old', you could write thrifty.) This idea cracked me up and made me wish I hadn't already gotten all of my cards signed. =)

Day 11, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

11) Toddler Art
I'm borrowing inspiration today from other crafty folks on the Internet. Here is a great list of things to do with your toddler's scribbles this Christmas season. My favorite idea is here...so precious!

Day 10, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

10) Reindeer Food
Another Christmas tradition we had in my classroom each year was to make food for the reindeer to go along with the carrots. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, raisins, and red and green sugar. On Christmas Eve, have the kids sprinkle it outside for Santa's reindeer.
[Helpful Hint: Since the point is that reindeer will eat this food, it might not be a good idea to spread it in the grass. Instead, spread it in the driveway so you can easily sweep some up once the kids go to bed so it's obvious the reindeer have been there when they wake up. It sure would be a pain to have to go out and painstakingly pick oats out of your grass. =)]

Day 9, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

9) Charitable Gifts
Instead of buying meaningless trinkets for friends and family just to check them off your list, consider donating to a charitable organization in their name. Or you could support stores that support the disadvantaged. My grandmother used to buy a Christmas decoration for me every year when she was alive from Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade store that empowers artisans from disadvantaged countries. The work is all hand-crafted and amazingly beautiful. In fact, I keep some of my Christmas stuff up all year from them because it's just too unique to hide in a box 11 months out of the year. I hope this becomes a Christmas tradition for all of you!

Day 8, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

8) Homemade Seasoned Salt

I saw this idea on Rachael Ray and thought it was a great idea for a small, inexpensive homemade gift. I try to have a handful of these types of things on hand for those last-minute gift needs (hostess gifts, unexpected guests, etc.).

Basically just add one tablespoon of any spice (paprika, smoked paprika, garlic-herb seasoning, cayenne pepper, chili powder, etc.) or a total of one tablespoon of combined spices to one cup of kosher salt. You can also used dried herbs like chives, cilantro, basil, parsley, etc. at a ratio of two tablespoons of herbs to one cup of kosher salt.

Stir the mixture to combine, and package it in a plastic bag, a cute jar, a small bowl, label it with what type of salt you made, then add a gift tag. I made one for you to use if interested.

Let me know if you try this. I'd love to hear your ideas for combinations.

[You can also do the same with sugars, mixing them with nutmeg, cinnamon, a vanilla bean, or any other yummy comination. You could include a note saying that it would be good sprinkled on toast, yogurt, oatmeal, or in cider or tea.]

Day 7, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

7) Reindeer cookies
To make cookies shaped like reindeer heads, take your favorite cookie dough (I always use store-bought for this), and roll two balls - one 2-inches, and one 1-inch. Place the balls on a cookie sheet making sure they are touching very closely. Stick pretzels into the larger balls where the reindeer antlers would be. Bake according to the directions. When they come out of the oven, decorate them to look like reindeer faces.

Day 6, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

6) Here comes Santa Clause:

We are definitely left wanting in the snow department down here in sunny, warm Texas. But Santa gets snow all over his boots on Christmas night delivering gifts all over the world. Sometimes he accidentally leaves snowy footprints on the floor as an indication of his presence while we were sleeping.

How to: Trace around a shoe on a piece of scrap paper, and cut out the print only leaving a shoe-print stencil. Place on the floor somewhere in between the fireplace and the Christmas tree, and dust with baby powder, corn starch, or flour leaving a white, snowy boot print in its place. Clean-up is as simple as a broom or a vacuum followed by a wet rag on hard-surface floors.

Day 5, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

5) Got someone naughty on your list? Fill a clear plastic bag or a small clear jar with mini marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles, and attach this note:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Update

Ironically two people mentioned tonight that they made the chocolate chip cookies recipe that I posted. And both commented that their cookies came out flat. The only reason I can think that they'd be different is the altitude and humidity. We have no humidity here, so that could be the problem. Shortening makes cookies cakey-er =), so I would try using half shortening, half butter. If you like the butter flavor, Crisco makes butter flavored shortening.

Let me know if you make them again and if this helps!

Day 4, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

4) Grandma Trudy's Snickerdoodles
My grandma was an amazing woman with an equally amazing life story. She grew up in Nazi Germany and met and married my grandpa when they were 16, and he was fighting with the American Resistance in WWII. He brought her back to the US on a Navy ship when the war was over, and they lived in New Buffalo, MI from then on. Much of her household had a German influence from her cooking to her decorations to her traditions. One of her favorite things to do was to bake cookies. My aunt made a cookie jar in an art class for her when she was in high school which my grandma proudly displayed on her kitchen counter. And it was ALWAYS full. Even when she got sick, she made sure that there were at least store-bought cookies filling that jar. At Christmastime that jar was filled with dozens of different kinds of her special Christmas cookies. She made thumbprints, snowballs, snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, sugar cookies, etc. She even made traditional German Apfel Kuchen and stollen each year. A few months before she passed away I called her and asked her for her recipes since many of them were not written down. It is absolutely not Christmas without her snickerdoodles in my heart. I have had them every single year since I was born, and I am so blessed to have the recipe to continue to bake them every year. I thought it would be fun to share it with you.

Grandma Trudy's Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 2/3 unsifted Pillsbury flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar + 2 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

In a mixer, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. (I always use Mexican vanilla and double the amount any recipe calls for) In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salk. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients mixing after each addition. Cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

When the dough is firm, roll into 1 1/2 inch balls, then roll in sugar and cinnamon mixture to coat. Place on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes at 375. Do not overbake! The cookies should be very lightly browned around the edges only.

I hope these become a Christmas tradition in your home too!

Day 3, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

3) Elves
If your kids are into the whole Santa thing, they are definitely aware that he sends elves to keep an eye on the kids and report back to him. Now there's actually a book along these lines, Elf on a Shelf. But the elf is a little creepy if you ask me (which you didn't, but I'm just sharing...). Anyway, when I taught pre-K, we had a couple of fun traditions that we'd institute at Christmastime that the kids LOVED, and I figured these might work at home too. We talked about how elves smelled like candy canes and sounded like jingle bells. We let the kids know that if they heard bells or smelled candy canes, it just might mean elves are near. And we all know elves are trickly little fellas who are hard to catch. So most of the time the only way we know they're around is if we smell them or hear them. Rarely will we actually catch a glimpse.

So we also used this to our advantage. We hung huge jingle bells on the outside of our classroom door with a sign that asked passers-by to ring them (especially if they noticed that our class was extra rowdy). We'd also carry 2 bells on a string in our class notebook (that had to accompany us wherever we went) that we'd ring at key moments. As for the smell? We filled a tiny squirt bottle with water and a few drops of peppermint essential oil. When the kids weren't looking, we'd spray some of the water in the air. I cannot even tell you how excited the kids would get when they'd smell that peppermint spray or hear the jingle bells. We'd always emphasize the good times way more than the not-so-good by saying things like, "Wow! We heard jingle bells, and you were all obeying exactly what you were asked to do! Do you think maybe an elf saw that?" We would never say anything like, "Did you smell that? When you were hitting your friend, I smelled peppermint. I'll bet that elf ran to tell Santa." =) We wanted to keep this as a very positive thing.

So grab a couple of jingle bells and a spray bottle of water and peppermint oil and see how your kids' eyes light up when they use their senses to detect elves.

Awesome Raffle Opportunity!

I've mentioned MckMama before on my blog, but this is huge and worth mentioning. A brief nutshell of her story is that they were given a fatal diagnosis for their unborn son at 24 weeks gestation. By God's grace, he is alive and well and just celebrated his one-month birthday. I posted asking for prayer for their family on his birthday. (This is also the recipient of my funky orange and hot pink quilt.) Anyway, she's having an enormous raffle that I cannot even begin to describe how badly I would love to win. If you're interested in donating to a great cause and, possibly, winning an amazing prize, head on over. If you're interested in another way to support String of Pearls, head on over to my etsy page and go shopping.

Day 2, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

2) Let's all make a new tradition this year and send a card to a recovering soldier. I got this idea in an -mail and wanted to share. While addressing your Christmas cards, add this address to your list.

A Recovering American Soldier

c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center

6900 Georgia Avenue,NW

Washington , D.C. 20307-5001

Day 1, 25 Days of Christmas Tips

1) Spiced cider is delicious and makes your house smell very Christmasy. I mix one jug of apple juice with 20 cinnamon starlight mints. Pour everything in your electic coffee urn or a soup pot and heat until the mints melt. Serve piping hot. Yum!

Also, I've replenished my stock of Quiet as a Chick and Quiet as an Owl bags in my etsy shop.

Merry Christmas

I made some Christmas gift tags this morning and thought I'd share them to you. To print, right click on the image, select "Save Picture As," save the tag, then insert them into a Word document (or the software of your choice). Print them onto cardstock, cut them out, punch a hole, and use them to label all your presents. Enjoy!

Etsy Update

I'll be back very soon with some craft ideas for the holidays (and a recipe or two). But I wanted to share an update on my Etsy store. I had a bunch of tag blankets listed on my site, but I was contacted by the Taggies company. They not only hold a trademark on their name, but they have a patent on their blankets. I had no idea. I had to take all of my tag blankets off Etsy. I feel very strongly about following the rules, but I also feel like my blankets are very different from the Taggies you find in the stores.

• My blankets are made with solid-colored anti-pill polar fleece, minky fur, or dotted fur fabric depending on your choice. Taggies are made from patterned polar fleece such as white with yellow ducks or primary-colored squares. I have yet to find a color combination I like that they make.
• My ribbons are a variety of textures from silky to grosgrain to lace and ric rac. Taggies are made with satin ribbon only.
• All of my blankets are personalized with the baby's first initial. Taggies does not offer this option.

I just wanted anyone who is interested to know why my listings are gone from Etsy. But I'd be happy to take your order personally if you'd like. They are $25 each and include everything listed above. Shipping is $5, but I will waive the shipping on orders of two or more. See you soon!

For Your Little Turkey

I made a Thanksgiving turkey onesie for my little turkey this afternoon and wanted to show you all how to make one too. I saw the idea at one of my all-time favorite websites, The Crafty Crow. I changed it up a bit for my liking, and took pictures along the way. As always, feel free to ask questions if you have any!

1) Trace your child's hand. I have a tip for babies' hands. They are next to impossible to trace well since they're so wiggly. (Mine tried to grab the pencil the whole time!) Get their hand wet, then place it on a sheet of colored construction paper. It will leave enough of a print to trace around that leaving you free from their wiggly, tangly fingers.
2) Eat the paper - this step is totally optional

3) Gather scraps of fabrics. I have another tip. Go to your local fabric store and collect free samples of the fabrics on the big bolts. They will come in handy all the time. I have a handful of them always.

4) You'll want the piece of fabric to be a tad bit larger than your child's handprint. Since I only had tiny pieces of fabric, I pieced them together into a mini quilt (see below).

5) Position the handprint in the center of the shirt you want to embellish, and trace with a disappearing-ink fabric pen.

6) Place the fabric piece directly under the handprint (in between the front and back side of the onsie) right side facing up, and pin in place. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of this step. But in the end, it should be a sandwich in this order from top to bottom: shirt front with the traced hand, decorative fabric facing up, shirt back.
7) Sew along the tracing lines in a coordinating-colored thread. You will be sewing through the front of the shirt as well as through the background fabric. Be careful not to catch the shirt back in the stitching.

8) When you've sewn all the way around the outline, remove the pins. Using sharp scissors (I used my tiny Fiskars scissors, and they were perfect), remove the shirt fabric from the inside of the handprint to expose the background fabric as shown below.

9) Add embellishments like legs/feet, a gobble or waddle or whatever that hanging-down thing is called, a button eye, and a beak, and you're done! A custom-made Thanksgiving shirt for your little turkey.

Happy Crafting!

The Stink is Worth it!

I'm glad the weather is beautiful right now because I've got all my sliding doors and windows open to counteract my pre-Thanksgiving cooking. =) Curious? I'm making these. They are absolutely delicious, but they bake for 2 hours, and they make your entire house smell like smoked bacon for at least a day. So if you're wanting a perfectly sinful appetizer idea, go make these. But make them well ahead of time, freeze them, and re-heat unless you'd like your house to smell like smoky bacon when your guests arrive.

New in the shop

New items posted in the Etsy shop!

Quiet Bags

Custom Tag Blankets

As always, please feel free to make any custom requests. I accept PayPal through Etsy and can list anything you need! Also, for the next 3 months I will be sending 25% of all my proceeds to Stellan Supports String of Pearls.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever!

This recipe is cross-posted on our family blog, but I wanted to make sure it was documented here as well with the proper credit. I cannot say enough about this recipe. Since high school I have been on the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I've tried countless combinations and ratios of ingredients trying to perfect the cookie. This is definitely it in my mind. I love the fact that I don't have to use my mixer, the cookies are thick and gooey, and just basically everything else about this recipe. Yum! I'll post the recipe as I follow it with the credits below:

Jaay's Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

· 2 cups all-purpose flour

· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

· 1 cup packed brown sugar

· 1/2 cup white sugar

· 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

· 1 egg

· 1 egg yolk

· 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat (or grease the pan if you do not have either of these handy).

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk adding each ingredient one at a time and mixing until combined. Add the dry ingredients in thirds to the wet ingredients, and mix until combined. Over mixing will lead to tough cookies.

Using a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, drop the cookie dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet at least two inches apart. (My baking sheet only holds 8 cookies since they're so big.)

Bake at 325 for 15-17 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Let cool on the pan for 1-2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. (Or, as we do, you can eat them right off the pan!)

Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

[I saw this recipe on the baby board I'm a part of. The poster had seen it on someone's blog who had seen it on a baking website. ]

In Which I Reveal My Secrets

Lest you think I actually cook, clean, and decorate daily, I wanted to share with the Internets what we had for dinner at my husband's suggestion. We went to the grocery store, bought a rotisserie chicken, and paired it with a microwaved can of green beans and some instant mashed potatoes. Here's the recipe:

Buy a chicken, already cooked
Open a can of green beans, and heat in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes
Follow the directions on the side of the box of potato flakes

Ha! =)

Oh, and we had Taco Bell for lunch...

Cranberry Orange Scones

I was describing this recipe to someone the other day, and they immediately dismissed it as something they could never make. This totally stumped me! If I can do it, anyone can! I have no more skill than the next guy in the kitchen, believe me! Again, this just goes back to being able to follow directions. So I was going to just post this recipe, but apparently it's intimidating to some. I want to break it down to the very basics. Please just try it. You will feel great that you accomplished something in the kitchen, your house will smell delicious, and you'll be 5 pounds heavier after eating the entire batch. =) What motivation, huh? So I've decided that I'm going to post my recipes as-is at the top of the posts then explain some of the tips below. So, if you're proficient and not lacking any kitchen skills, you can just read the top. And if you want to dive further, read on.

Cranberry Orange Scones

(adapted from the Joy of Cooking recipe)

Ingredients:

2 Cups Flour (all-purpose)

1/3 Cup Sugar (white)
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
6 Tablespoons Cold, Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
1 Large Egg
1/2 Cup + 3 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
Zest of One Orange
Juice of 1/2 Orange
Sanding Sugar

Tools:

Baking Sheet, Ungreased

Whisk
Two Mixing Bowls
Wooden Spoon
Oven set at 425
Pastry Blender or 2 Knives
Pizza Wheel
Pastry Brush
Cooling Rack

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425, and make sure the rack is in the center of the oven.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the cold butter into cubes, and drop into the dry ingredients mixture. Cut in with a pastry blender or 2 knives. Work the butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs with the largest pieces of butter no larger than pea-sized. Stir in the dried cranberries.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, 1/2 cup heavy cream, orange zest, and orange juice. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the heavy cream mixture all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon just until the ingredients are moist and come together.
At this point, use your hand to knead the dough against the sides of the bowl until all of the pieces come together and the bowl is clean. Place the dough on a floured surface, and pat into an 8-inch round. Using a pizza wheel, slice the dough into 8 pie-shaped wedges. Place the wedges 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with the remaining 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, then sprinkle them with sanding sugar to coat.
Bake at 425 degrees for approximately 12-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Break it Down:

Cutting in the butter: Basically this means to cut the butter into teeny, tiny pieces that are completely coated in the flour mixture so that when the dough bakes, there is butter spread evenly throughout. A pastry blender looks like this:

It makes the job quick and easy. If you don't have one, hold a knife in each hand, and cross-slice the dough until you've broken up all of the pieces of butter into pea-sized or smaller chunks. It is important to make sure the butter is very cold when you put it in the dry ingredients. You want your mixture to still be dry at the end. So if you're working and working and it sits at room temperature for awhile, stick it in the freezer for a few minutes before adding the wet ingredients. If your scones turn out really flat, this could be the problem.

Kneading the dough: Think play-dough on this one. Remember how the dough would sometimes break into little pieces all over the table, so you'd use the ball of dough to pick up those pieces? That's exactly the point here. Your dough will be all crumbly, and you want it to come together. So you use the warmth of your hand to smash it (yes, that's the technical term =) all back together. You don't want to over-do it, though. I'd say pressing it into the bowl 5-8 times should do it. If you over-mix, your scones will be sort-of tough and chewy instead of flaky and melt-in-your-mouth.

Sanding your scones: The point of brushing the tops of the scones with heavy cream is to develop a rich, golden-brown, crunchy crust on top. If you don't have a pastry brush (and I'd highly recommend a silicone brush if you want to pick one up - this helps to avoid the bristles falling out on top of your scones - yuck!), you can simply spoon some heavy cream over the top and use the back of the spoon to spread it evenly. You can skip the sanding sugar altogether, but I love the extra sweetness and crunch it gives the scones. Sanding sugar is sold in the baking aisle (I found it at our Neighborhood WalMart grocery store, so I'm sure they sell it just about anywhere) where the rest of the sprinkles and colored sugars are sold. I always have the clear sanding sugar on-hand because it's more versatile. But you could use any color you like. The heavy cream will help the sanding sugar stick nicely.

The baking process: When you put the scones in the oven, you can pretty much leave them alone. Opening the oven often to check on them will make the temperature vary way too much. Check them at 12 minutes. If they aren't beginning to turn golden around the edges, set the timer for 2 more minutes. All ovens vary, so it may be closer to 15 minutes for you. Mine were perfect after 13. When they look like the picture at the top, pull the baking sheet out of the oven, and let it sit for a minute or two. Then, using a pancake-turner, gently lift them off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. Of course, you can just eat them right off the baking sheet as well. But the consistency should be solid enough for you to put them in a basket once they're cool without them falling apart.

Variations: I used the cranberries and orange zest to mimic my favorite scones at Starbucks and since they are seasonally-appropriate (and I thought these were leagues above Starbucks' scones). But you can change it up any way you'd like. Instead of cranberry orange, why not substitute white chocolate chips and raspberries, lemon zest and macadamia nuts, or milk chocolate chips and almonds? This is the perfect basic scone recipe to adapt to your taste.

Alright, I hope you enjoy these. They really aren't as complicated as all of these instructions imply. But I wanted to give you the baking basics because I'm sure they'll be used in future recipes. Please let me know if you have any questions, and also leave a comment if you make these. I'd love to hear about all the flavor combinations you try!

[Try pairing these scones with this recipe for a perfect Autumn combination. This was the menu for a coffee I hosted this week, and it was a huge hit.]

Let's start at the very beginning...

I have a post already started for tomorrow that is incredibly yummy and a must-try. But Jenny gave a great idea for a blog header how-to. I want to start by saying very clearly that I am no expert AT ALL in this area. I do not know HTML from WXYZ. =) But dear friends and sisters have taught me all I know, so my expertise is simply in following directions and being a copycat.

Do you know about Scrapblog? If not, don't say I didn't warn you that it's totally addictive. Scrapblog is an online, digital scrapbooking service that is 100% free. Visiting and setting up an account are the first steps. When you have an account, click the Create a New Scrapblog button to begin. From there, you can add all sorts of page elements like backgrounds, personal pictures, stickers, etc. To choose potential elements, just click on the button in the left-hand column, then click to add stickers, backgrounds, etc. When I started using Scrapblog, the amount of backgrounds and stickers was manageable to where I could actually scroll through them all to choose. I'd suggest you do a search to narrow down your choices. For example, if you want header with blue elements, do a search for 'blue.' I'm not impressed by their tags for their elements (when you search for something like 'dots' very few stickers are found even though they have countless stickers with dots), but it at least gets you started.

So play around with the system, design your header, then save your work. It will ask you if you want to publish your scrapblog. Click 'yes.' You do not have to choose to share your page, but it must be published in order for you to upload it to the blog. When it is published, go to File:Export as jpeg. It will bring up a dialog box with the pages of your scrapblog. Click 'download' underneath the page you want, then choose to save it. Remember where you saved it on your computer!

To make it your blog header, go into your layout section for your blog. Click to edit your header. Your blog title will appear followed by the description then image. Browse your computer for your scrapblog header. Then, make sure you click both the 'Instead of title and description' and the 'Shrink to Fit' buttons. Click save, then check your blog, and you're done!

I wrote this post quickly and off the top of my (tired, mommy-ified, decaffeinated, and non-showered) head, so it is very likely that I accidentally skipped a step. So try it out, and please feel free to ask questions. I'll do my best to help.

Happy Header-Making!!

Tiny Tidbits

Welcome to Tiny Tidbits. I have been compiling tons of ideas from other websites (to which I will ALWAYS give credit), easy and quick recipe ideas, and fun crafts that I have scattered all over the place. This will be my place to post and organize my thoughts and ideas. And if others are inspired along the way, great! I'm going to post tutorials, recipes, links, and quotes. If you ever see something on my blog or in my pictures that you'd like to know how to make, please feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to answer your questions. Also, if you have a great idea for a post, craft, meal, etc. by all means, please share!

Thanks for stopping in, and you're welcome back anytime.