Christmas Goodies and Decorations!
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing great!
(Just a little note on the blog title change. Not to fear, I am still and will always be a do it yourslefer! But, I believe this blog title describes me better. For those of you who don't know me personally, I get very excited easily and love so many things. So I only found it apropriate to name my blog My Favorite Things because I have so many and would love to share them with you! From my favorite recipies to decorating and of course you will see quite a few D.I.Y's popping up! So to my loyal readers I apologize for the change, but hope that you still find my blog one of your favorite to read!
Thank you!)
It's the most wonderful time of the year!! Can you believe there is only 12 days until Christmas!
I am so excited, I have been excited for Christmas since November 1st! lol Christmas is my favorite holiday! Now I know your probably thinking, didin't she say that about Halloween? Well , maybe I did, but for me Haloween and Christmas are my two faves! But, Halloween comes in at a close second to Christmas! I am a sucker for anything and everything Christmas! And try to go the whole nine yards to get ready for it!
So today I am bringing you some yummy goodies you can make for your friends and family, along with some festive decorations you can use in your own home!
So lets get started!
Lets start witht the goodies shall we!!
Candy Cane Puppy Chow!
So simple and so yummy!
Perfect for a snack or a great gift for a friend or neighbor!
Ingredients:
- 5 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 10 ounces melting white chocolate OR vanilla flavored Almond Bark
- 1 cup crushed candy canes
- 1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
Directions:
Pour 5 cups of Chex Cereal into a large bowl. Melt white chocolate/almond bark according to the package directions. Pour melted chocolate over cereal, stirring and folding until the cereal is completely covered. Fold in the crushed candy canes.
In a large zipped top bag or covered container, add the powdered sugar. Pour the chocolate covered cereal/candy canes into the large bag or container. Seal the bag or container and shake until all the cereal is coated with the powdered mixture.
Discard excess powder. Store at room temperature up to 2 weeks, if it lasts that long!
Ingredients
Yields 2 1/2 dozen
Yields 2 1/2 dozen
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup finely chopped Pecans (I just used Pecan cookie chips so I didn't have to do any chopping, just poured them in right from the bag).
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar, for coating
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter on medium speed until creamy, about 20 seconds. Blend in 2/3 cup powdered sugar and salt. Mix in vanilla. Sprinkle cornstarch over mixture (just so it doesn't blend into one area) then with mixer set on low speed slowly add in flour and mix just until combine. Stir in Pecans. Scoop dough out 1 Tbsp at a time and roll into a ball, then place balls on Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake in preheated oven for 16 - 18 minutes, until bottom edges are lightly golden (these are a cookie that I think are best when they aren't moist in the center so I'd say don't under bake them. These actually are a cookie that are meant to be dry. Dry but a melt in your mouth kind of dry). Remove from oven and allow to cool several minutes then while cookies are still warm, pour 2 cups powdered sugar into a bowl and roll cookies in powdered sugar. Transfer to a wire rack to cool then once cookies are cool, roll in powdered sugar once more, this time to generously coat (I pressed it into the powdered sugar to give it a thick coating. Store cookies in an airtight container.
My Mom use to make these every Christmas! They are so good and a nice change from rice cripsy treats.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 5 heaping cups miniature marshmallows
- 1 tsp green food coloring
- 6 cups corn flakes
- Handful of red cinnamon candies
Instructions
- Measure corn flakes into a large bowl.
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Once melted, add the marshmallows and stir continuously until completely melted. Stir in food coloring.
- Pour melted marshmallows into the large bowl with the corn flakes. Stir until well coated.
- Lay out a piece of parchment paper on your kitchen counter. Dollop spoonfuls of the cornflake mixture onto the parchment paper. Grease your (clean) hands with butter or cooking spray. Use your fingers to shape each spoonful into an individual wreath. Top each wreath with cinnamon candies
On to the Christmas decorations and gift ideas!
Christmas Sock Exchange!
When I saw this idea this year I thought this was perfect for anyone!
To Do:
Buy a pair of festve Christmas sock and fill them up with stocking stuffers for your friends and family! This would also work great if you have a gift exchange at work and are not sure what to give the other person! lol Or you could do the oposite and fill the socks up with all the favorite things the recipiant of the socks loves! There are so many options!
Wrap up a pillow with some beautiful ribbon!
This adds a gorgous accent to any room!
Jingle Bell Garland!
I saw this one day and fell in love with it! So while I was at the store I picked up a 12 pack of bells for three dollars. I already had the twine.
And then I just strung on the bells one at a time making sure to tie them on the twine and then threading on another. I spaced mine out about 4 inches apart, but you could place them closer together or farther apart depending on how long you want your garland to be.
I strung on all 12 bells and it turned out amazing! All together my garland is about a yard long, give or take a few inches.And I hung mine up on an old window I repurposed with chicken wire. It looks so nice and I love to walk up to it and jingle the bells! They sounds just like the Santa's reindeer bells!
I can only imagine making a garland long enough to wrap around a tree, that would be absolutly beautiful!
Well that is it for today!
I hope you all enjoyed it, but don't worry there is more Christmas ideas to come!
Thank you for reading and until next time, Take care of one another!
Angela
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