12 Days of Christmas Cookies--Candy Cane Blossoms

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies.  

Today kicks off our Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies, although I really meant for this to start yesterday--oh well life just gets in the way some times.  :)

First up~~Candy Cane Blossoms.  Aren't these the prettiest cookies?  And they are so quick and easy to whip up.

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Fruity Candy Popcorn (Jello popcorn)

Here is another fun popcorn recipe.  J-E-L-L-O popcorn!  This popcorn tastes fruity and delicious, and again, it makes a fun gift and/or just a yummy treat.  Because if you're making this as a gift who could resist making more for them as a treat?

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Caramel-Nut Popcorn #Recipe

This delicious popcorn is a perfect blend of sweet and salted.  It's a great treat for a Friday night while watching a movie or it even makes a terrific gift; to neighbors at Christmas, a friend recuperating from an illness, or a last minute birthday gift to the person who has everything!  So easy to make and it's something the whole family can help with.

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Peanut Butter Truffles

We had sort of a snow day yesterday.  It began snowing snowing Saturday night and didn't stop until the following morning when we woke to a Winter Wonderland.  Both my mom and stepson and daughter-in-law's homes lost power for a while during the storm.  I had planned on having my granddaughter, 8 year-old niece, mom, daughter and D-I-L over to make gingerbread cookie pops but the foul weather prevented our gingypop day.  So instead I made Peanut Butter Truffles.

2 cups sugar,  1 5oz. can evaporated milk,  1/2 cup butter,  2 cups mini marshmallows,  3/4 cup creamy peanut butter,  1/2 tsp vanilla,  12 oz. dark chocolate,  2 tsp shortening,  finely chopped peanuts

Butter the sides of medium heavy saucepan.

In the saucepan, combine the sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. 

Cook and stir over medium high heat until mixture is boiling. 

Reduce heat to medium; continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove saucepan from heat.  Stir in marshmallows,

peanut butter, and vanilla

Transfer mixture to a large bowl.

Chill for 45 to 1 hour or until mixture is thick and can be molded.

Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper.  Shape mixture int 1-inch balls; place balls on the prepared baking sheet.  Freeze balls for 15 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, combine the chocolate and shortening. 

Cook and stir over low heat until melted. 

Dip balls, one at a time, into melted chocolate.

Let excess chocolate drip off balls.

 

Place on a wire rack set over wax paper. 

If desired, sprinkle truffles with peanuts or drizzle with milk or white chocolate.

Let stand until chocolate is set.

Peanut butter truffles for gift giving or a yummy treat!

Will keep in an air-tight container in the refrigerator up to two weeks.

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Little butterball

While surfing the net one October day, I came upon a blog where the blogger had made a cute pumpkin plaque.  She had three pumpkins staggered in size, painted, distressed,  and then glued together large to small with a cute bow tied around the middle.  I visited a few more blogs that day and lo and behold I saw the same pumpkins.  At least the ideas were identical, the projects all turned out differently.  Each had their own unique shapes, they were painted in various colors and of course none of the ribbons were alike, but they all stemmed from the same idea, which gave me a great idea.  Why not do that with a turkey for a Thanksgiving project?  And my little butterball came alive.  So, I looked for a picture of a turkey that I liked that day and took it home to my hubby.   He told me to make him a pattern.  I did in three sizes.  And then I tried to wait patiently to him to find time to cut them out.  That was the hard part!

This is what I started with.   Three pieces; large to small.  Plain wood, thick enough to make it stand once they are stacked.

Base the two bottom pieces with brown, except for his shoes and hat which need to be painted black. 

The top piece I painted to match the picture (at least as much as I could).

Distress the edges slightly with sand paper and scuff the top of the paint.

Using a hot glue gun, glue each piece together.  Make sure the bottom of the feet are even so he will stand up.

Pick a fun fall ribbon and tie around his middle.

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Mother Goose Popcorn

This is a childhood favorite, introduced to me by my grandmother.  She made this popcorn every Christmas.  Soon we made it throughout the year, changing the color and flavors for different holidays.  I changed it up by drizzling chocolate (milk and white) over the top.  It tasted great!


RECIPE

1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp butter
dash salt
1 1/2 tsp desired flavoring
Food coloring
Popcorn

Ingredients

Mix sugar, water, butter & salt.

Bring ingredients to a boil.

When it reaches the soft ball stage, remove from heat.

Add flavoring and a few drops of desired food coloring.

Pour over popcorn and stir until it becomes sugary and cold.

Drizzle with chocolate (if desired).

Voilà!  Yummy popcorn, great for gift-giving! 

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Dangly earrings

What little girl doesn't look through her mother's or her grandmother's jewelry box and dream of the day when she will have her own sparkly diamond ring, strand of pearls, or dangly pair of earrings to wear?  I know as a small child I was constantly combing through my mother's jewelry box.  She had an old fashioned jeweled hair comb that belonged to my grandmother and I absolutely loved it.  I pretended it was my princess crown.  To this day, I still love jewelry especially dangly earrings.  I sat down before work and whipped up this pair.

Selection of beads.

Pieces I chose.

Finished earrings.

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Pumpkin Door Hanger

My niece Jen and her daughter created this one.  They were not able to join us so they did their pumpkins on their own.

Saturday was our "family craft day", which I'm very much enjoying.  This month, we all made our own individual pumpkin door hanger.  My dear, sweet hubby cut them out of wood for us.  As you can see, each one came away with it's own personality.  It was a lot of fun.

Supplies needed:
wood
wire (for the hanger)
hot glue gun
scissors
buttons--variety
orange paint
white paint
sand paper
paint brushes
raffia
fall flowers
ribbon (Halloween colors and/or variety)

Cut the pumpkin shape and nose piece from wood. 

Paint all the pieces.  I wanted to make my nose look like a piece of candy corn, but when I opened my yellow paint it was dry.  :(    So, we just did variegated oranges. 

My sister's pumpkin

After the paint dries, sand to make it look a little distressed.  My daughter took her's to the garage and also beat it with a hammer (but be careful not to break it!)  ;)

Hot glue your eyes and nose in place.  Sam gave her's rosy cheeks. 

My niece Sam's pumpkin

Add the handle and some ribbon, flowers, etc.  

This is my sister, Paula's pumpkin.



This is one my niece, Tiffany and her three-year-old daughter, Chloe made.



This is another one Jen and her daughter made.

My daughter, Courtney's pumpkin, mine, and my d-i-l, Amber's pumpkin

Some placed their noses upside down, which I thought looked much cuter.  Courtney added eyeshadow to her's (a row of colorful buttons above her eyes).  We all had fun designing our pumpkins.

I will try to add the pattern but it is a little big for my scanner, so I have to scale it down first.

pumpkin pattern

Remember this is scaled down, so you will have to size it up a little bit in order to get it back to the size we used.  Have fun creating your pumpkin faces!

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