Peppermint Dessert Coffee

I have a great recipe for Peppermint Dessert Coffee that comes in handy for thank-you gifts during the holidays. 3 heaping tsps. of this mixure in 6oz of hot water is delicious.

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup powdered creamer
1/4 cup instant coffee
2 Tblsp Cocoa powder
4-6 crushed peppermint candies

Christmas Cookies

It is hard to run away from the memories of Christmas past. It means that I have to be the one to carry on the tradition of making all of the cookies. I don't remember a time when my Mom or my Grandmother did not make these Chocolate nut drop cookies for the Holidays. That was the only time of the year that we had them, it made it even more special. I'm not sure when I picked up this torch to carry, but it is alot of work. My family ( as well as other benefitiaries) assures me it is well worth it
These are my husbands Christmas memories, they are his Grandmothers Date Nut Drop cookies. These are the cookies that have to be hidden. My kids have developed a fondness for them as well.
I make 5 or 6 different kinds of cookies each year (my children will love me for this someday when they have to make them all,to settle thier hunger for Christmas pasts!) I make Chocolate Nut Drops, Date Nut Drops, Grandma's Suger Cookies, Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Buck-eyes, and Pinwheel cookies. When all of the baking is done, I package them up and send them out to family members who don't cook, or as a thank-you to special people in out lives. Then the feast begins. My family goes on an all out cookie and milk binge. I takes me 2 days to make them and they would eat them all in one day if I let them.
These are the "Buck-eyes" that have become one of our favorites for Christmas. They are peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. By the way I am sick of cookies, and cannot wait to start taking off some Christmas pounds. And the reason I do this all in the first place is...?
oh yes, Christmas memories. Funny I don't remember all the extra weight when I was a kid!

Rice filled neck pillow

My husband has been having problems with his neck, so I used a large bowl for a template and made a rice bag that he can hang around his neck, I wasnt sure how to make a removeable outer case for this so when it gets to dirty I may have to make a new one. I am not aware of anyway that it can be washed other that spot cleaning.

Rice Bags

okay this is one of my favorite and easiest gifts for Christmas! I love them myself , and I get requests for them every year. I have to chuckle when I go to the mall and they try to stop me to buy one of the expensive herb/grain filled bags. I can make one for a dollar fifty! My kids heat them up and put them at the bottom of their beds under the blankets to warm thier feet. I buy cheap 20lb bags of plain white rice. Herbs of every kind can be added. This year I made some peppermint eye pillows that you put in the freezer and pull out when you need to "chill out"
I also scan the fabric and print out matching instruction tags, this year I made use of some ribbon that I found at a yard sale back in august. I fill the inner bag with rice and sew it up. The outer bag fits like a pillow case and can be washed frequently.

Handprint Christmas Tree

This is fabulous project I did with some kids at our church. I did not come up with the idea, I copied it from someone else. A friend and I traced around lots of little hands, and cut them out in two differant colors of construction paper(cut multiple layers of each hand at a time). I believe it took around 200 handprints to make this tree.
I used a mixture of elmers glue and shaving cream (around half/half of each) to make the snow that the kids painted on thier handprints. We glued pinecones on and also wrote down the kids quotes about what they would give baby Jesus for Christmas. The possibilities are endless as to what you could do with this.

Rag Quilt Finished

okay , I thought that when I got to this part that it would be easy! Well it was simple, but time consuming. It took me over 3 hours just to snip all of the edges about 1/4 inch wide. My hand cramped up. I would invest in a nice pair of spring loaded scissors if I made another one of these.
This is the part that my mother would not approve of. The quilt is not finished until it has been washed and dryed. This loosens the fibers and causes the snipped ends to fray and look raggety. As I pulled it from my washer, I had a vision of my mother scolding me for treating my washing machine in such a way. I think it is well worth the mess :)
This is what all the hard work was for. The only problem now is that I need to make some more throw pillows to match.