Treat Day- Christmas Is Almost Here

After a mini-meltdown last night over cleaning, Christmas, and wrapping, I regrouped, and slept. Today, I jumped right into the last of the wrapping, which was for extended family. On Thursday, we'll make the 90 minute trek up to Mount Pleasant for Christmas with Nick's family. On Saturday, we'll make the 70 minute trek over to Sparta for Christmas with my dad & step-mom, then with my step-mom's family.

I had to get everything wrapped and sorted still for all those get togethers, so I turned on a Christmas movie and got to work. As soon as that was done, I tackled Christmas treats. Oh, boy, did I tackle them.

Today,  I made Christmas Crack, Peppermint Crack, and so far, 4 dozen mini-muffin Chocolate Chip Cookies, complete with chocolate melted into the center. I still have Turtle Cookies to make, more chocolate chip cookies, and then, both peanut butter & gingerbread cookies.

 

I love warm gingerbread cookies, all soft and squishy straight from the oven. Oh, so delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night, before my melt down, I made Christmas snowflake coasters, inspired by Jessica's over at Mad in Crafts.  I found the snowflakes in blue, though, not white. Luckily, I had plenty of white glitter felt on hand to use with it.

This morning while I was wrapping, I was trying to decide what to do with them, and decided to turn them back into ornaments by adding blue ribbon loops to each one. From there, I added a small bath & body item to the front, and wrapped them up for the younger girls on Nick's side of the family. He has a younger sister, and 2 girl cousins who are in their early 20's. These made great gifts for them, and were frugal- I had all sorts of samples on hand that I picked up at Bath & Body Works for $.50 each months ago. The ornaments cost about $1.50 to make 6 of them, so each gift cost me less than $1.00!

 

So, while I was in a Christmas funk yesterday, I've decided to just go with the flow. I will finish up what baking I can today, and that's that. It will be enough. What baking I'm doing today will be split up for taking to the various parties, and another small plate to my neighbor across the street. He's such a helpful neighbor- he's used live traps to get animals out of our backyard, he fixes our cars dirt cheap, lends us tools when we need them, and helps when we need help.

I sent over a plate of goodies earlier this month, and he told me it's the only time he gets homemade goodies, when I send them over to him. So, I decided I'd send another plate over there.

Merry Christmas, everyone! May your sanity stay in tact, along with mine!

Christmas Treats: Rice Krispie Trees

I was on Walmart.com looking at several of the Christmas baking recipes they have. A photo caught my eye- 3 Christmas tree shaped treats with candy cane trunks. I was immediatly in love with the visual.

To me, they looked like Rice Krispie treats cut into Christmas Trees, and decorated. However, they are actual cake. I'll post the recipe below. For me, though, I do believe we'll be making these as Rice Krispie treats that the kids can frost & decorate. I just love the candy cane trunk on it!

Sparkling Tree Cakes

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans; set aside. Prepare cake batter as directed on package; tint with food coloring. Pour evenly into prepared pans.
   
   
2. Bake as directed on package. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.
   
   
3. Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Stir in whipped topping with wire whisk. Spread onto tops and sides of cakes.
   
   
4. Cut each cake into eight wedges to resemble Christmas trees. Insert peppermint stick into curved side of each cake for the tree trunk. Decorate with remaining ingredients. Store in refrigerator.

All in all, the cake recipe is pretty easy, but I just can't get it out of mind with rice krispies instead of cake!

Homemade Christmas Treats: Stocking Stuffers!

As a mom with 3 kids, I know well how to stuff a stocking. Stockings are one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I love them so much, in fact, that last year, I decided to start collecting them. I hung them all over the living room. This year, I plan to dig out some suction cups, and hang a stocking of some sort in every main room window.

One thing I've been interested in, though, is making stocking stuffer treats from scratch. Something the kids will enjoy, and that doesn't come from the store. In my extensive blog, forum, and website browsing, I've come across a few interesting ideas.

Now... to limit myself to just a few, so I'm not fattening the kids up for 2010!

Fast & East Peppermint Marshmallow Kabobs- These are simple to make, and sound great. I know my kids and Nick will love these! Skewer mini-marshmallows on a wooden kabob stick (found in big packs at any department store for around $2), then cover them in melted chocolate, and sprinkle with crushed candy canes! Freeze immediatly so the marshmallows don't melt. Wrap individually, tie with a bow, and pop them into the stockings!

You'll Need:
Mini Marshmallows
Wooden Skewers
Meltable Chocolate (baking chips work)
Peppermint candies or candy canes
Cello bags
Ribbon

Candy Bar Snowman- So simple & easy, though the treat isn't homemade. The idea shows it using a Hershey's bar, but I think this would be cute with other candy bars, as well, such as a Twix bar. Wrap a candy bar with white paper, and add a cheery snowman face. Add a fleece scrap for a scarf, and make a tiny hat out of fleece scraps. These would take a bit more time with the small amount of sewing, but would be just adorable!

You'll need:
1 Candy Bar per person
Fleece Scraps
Markers
Sewing Machine


Rice Krispie Treat Pops- Simple & cute, and of course, easy to make! Make the treats according to the directions, then cut into squares. Add a popsicle stick to them, and dip them into melted chocolate. Add sprinkles to the top, then wrap in cello bags, and tie with a ribbon!

You'll Need:
Rice Krispies or Generic cereal
Marshmallows
Butter
Popsicle sticks
Meltable Chocolate
Sprinkles
Cello bags
Ribbon

Snowmen on a Stick- This is one a friend of mine on Gather did last year, which I thought was adorable! I even helped by giving her an idea on what to use for the scarves (fruit by the foot!). The link also gives other ideas on what she made to put into stockings. The article does not give instructions, so they are listed below the ingredients.

You'll Need:
Large Marshmallows
York Peppermint Patties
Reeses Bell's (These are a Holiday specialty- bell shaped Reese's cups)
Black piping frosting, thin- not gel!
Orange piping frosting, thin- not gel!
(The gel melts and runs)
Wooden skewers
Cello bag
Ribbon

What To Do:

Skewer 3 large marshmallows, leaving about half an inch of space on top. Skewer 1 Peppermint patty on top of the marshmallow, and pipe a tiny bit of frosting to the top, to help 'glue' the Reese's bell to the patty. Skewer the bell into place, making sure not to poke it out of the top of the bell.

Using Fruit by the Foot, cut a length off, and cut the edges to fringe, then wrap it around the 'neck' of the snowman, and knot it into place if you are able.

Lastly, pipe the arms, buttons, and face onto the snowman. Wrap in cello & tie with a ribbon!

Christmas Candy Train- Perfect for the little train lovers in your family! These have been around for a long time, and are pretty easy to make. If you would like, you can wrap the longer pieces in construction paper to hide the logo's and candy wrappers. Keep all candy wrapped up! Using just a small dab of hot glue, you can glue these into place without melting the wrappers, or having glue seep into the candies.

You'll Need:
1 package of stick gum, small, such as Juicy Fruit or Big Red. No Plen-T-Packs!
1 roll of live savers or breath savers
1 Hershey's kiss
1 wrapped Caramel
4 Round hard candies, wrapped
Glue

I hope you enjoyed these Christmas candy treats, and hope you'll share any ideas you have made in the past or for this year, as well! Comments are loved & appreciated!