Christmas! :)

[Nikole]

Ok since Im unemployed I have too much time on my hands! Been looking around at various crafts and hobbies and thinking about what I can make for Christmas!

Are you making anything this year?

 

[grover]

How about a gift album for a close family member! I am going to make my first attemp at it this year!
Grover in Winnipeg

 

[piratesmate]

MsSocks & I just took a local community ed class on baskets. We're looking at getting together to make some baskets along with cookies & ???. I like to make various ornaments. I do tin punch (if I can get unmarked frozen lemonade lids) & painting wood cut-outs. DD is going to make candle rings out of miniature wreaths & hot glue various things on it. (small lights, candy canes, birds, etc)

I've also been working on a recipe box for my almost DIL. I'm collecting great recipes from this site as well as DS's favorites. I've formatted using a couple of Disney fonts, added clip art & am printing on card stock. I'm having a great time! The Avery index cards were too expensive, so I just printed on some colored card stock DD had for a school project & am cutting them out using my Fiskars rotary cutter. Collecting old family recipes could be a fun gift for someone.

I'm also planning on doing a couple of rag wreaths. (You take a straw wreath & insert squares of fabric with a screwdriver. I usually either tear the fabric into 2" - 3" squares, or cut with a pinking shears.) I haven't decided what else I want to do.

 

[yummy72]

Those layered cookie mixes in a jar are usually a big hit! I made about a dozen a few years ago...Bought the 12 quart jars, layered the ingredients, topped off the jar lid with some scrap fabric and tied on a cookie cutter and the recipe...Very simple and very cute and great for folks who are too busy for baking that time of year. Here's a link for a few, I have many more. Let me know if you need them

Good Luck,
Candi

http://members.hmcltd.net/kmrowe/recipes/giftjar.html

PS: I usually make almost all of my gifts, but I haven't decided what to do this year! I'd better put my thinking cap on

 

[Nikole]

A few things I've been thinking/looking at posted this on the IB as well:

I always do a ton of cooking at Christmas and give away a lot of food gifts. I've also been
looking at some various craft sites and books and been thinking of making a few things.....
Martha (yeah yeah I know) has a gorgeous velvet leaf wreath that you can make. I also like the
small jingle bell wreaths...those could be attached to a gift basket. Thinking of baskets for
people with things like various cookies, candy, fudge, maybe some bread, hot cocoa and/or
coffee blends and/or Tom &Jerry mixes. Also could sew some holiday placemats/napkin/table
runners? hmmmm so many choices

Do the layered jar mixes go over well? I was wondering about those but wasn't too certain if people would like them?

 

[piratesmate]

Hey Nikole - I just noticed you're from West Point - just a stone's throw away! (We're not really IN Telford - we're just outside Harleysville.

Question for you . . . . what's a Tom & Jerry mix???

Thanks,

d

 

[chessie]

Here are a few things I'm planning:


Hot spiced tea mix. I'll put it in a pretty mug.

I'll use a glass pedestal coffee mug and put a plastic bag inside filled with calgon milk bath. Then secure one of the small bath scrunches on top. Cut a tiny straw and insert it down the side and I'll have a cappuccino latte bath.

I don't know how this will work but I am going to try it to go along with the cappuccino latte baths. You take a loofah sponge and stand it up in a glass. Then you pour a craft soap mixture into the loofah. When it is set you slice the loofah.

I usually always get a Christmas amaryllis for each family. The kind that are in the box with the pot and planting medium. I always get calls when they bloom to tell me how beautiful they are and how wonderful it makes them feel to see something growing in the dead of winter.


Chessie

 

[hercamore]

I am looking for xmas ideas, too. Could you all post your favorite craft websites? I've never looked for craft info on the web. It's going to be a long, snowy winter here in Mn!

 

[pas2]

I like to dabble with silk ribbon embroidery and like to dress up padded hangers with a cheap lace doily and a few flowers in cordinating colors. I give them in pairs to my kids teachers. I have even sold a dozen or two! Your could substitute sewn flowers for premade ribbon flowers from the craft store and glue them on or hand stitch. I found packages of 5 hangers in CVS rather than use the more expensive hangers from the bed & bath store.

Chessie would you pass along the spiced tea mix recipe? And let us know how the sponge soaps turn out...I have been wanting to try them.

To Piratesmate and Nicole...I live in Allentown, do you have good scrapbooking stores down your way?

 

[MinnieMe2]

Last year I made gingerbread lanterns - they came out sooooo nice. And it was fun. I'm not sure what this year's project will be....

 

[Nikole]

Wow a few of us close by!!! Very cool!
Scrapbooking...not one myself so my opinion may not be as good as some others on the subject....but there is a Michael's Craft Store in Montgomeryville that seems to have a good supply of materials.

T&J is similar to a Hot buttered Rum Mix or an Alcoholic Eggnog.
HEre's a T&J Mix but not the one I'm looking for. The one I'm thinking of can be frozen.
12 eggs, separated
Beat yolks till white. Beat white till stiff. Fold together. To these ingredients fold in 1 lb. bag powdered sugar,
shifted & 1/3 teaspoon cream of tarter. This can be refrigerated up to 2 days. Mix each time that you serve it.
Add to mug half boiling water, 1/2 shot of Brandy and 1/2 shot Rum. Top with 2-3 spoonfuls of mixture.

Trader Vic's also has a bottled mix of it.


Hot buttered Rum Mix
Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 (16 ounce) package confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 pound light brown sugar, packed
1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened
Directions

1 In a large bowl cream the butter and the sugars together until smooth. Add the softened ice cream and mix until a creamy consistency is obtained. Transfer this to a freezer container with a tight fitting lid. Place in the freezer for up to 1 month.
2 To Serve: Place a heaping 2 tablespoons of the frozen mix in a highball glass or coffee mug. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons dark rum. Pour over the mix 6 ounces of boiling water and stir until the mixture is melted. Sprinkle top with cinnamon or nutmeg and serve forth!

 

[Nikole]

Ok....links...here are some things I have found in my searches.

www.christmasrecipes.com
www.marthastewart.com (she has some message boards exclusively for christmas crafts)
www.michaels.com (some good christmas craft ideas with instructions)
http://dmoz.org/Home/Cooking/Gifts_In_A_Jar/ (more jar recipes)
http://members.tripod.com/~HeresPoo/ (gift jar recipes
http://christmas.readersdigest.com/home_made_gift/home.html

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hi everyone. I thought I would traverse over to your neck of the woods since I have been thinking about Christmas already. I usually try and make ornaments for family out of foam sheets. Even little ones can do this. Of course my 5yo is constantly doing projects. Disposable bowl, tacky glue, and a Q-tip.
Anyway, I am really want to make ornaments in Rememberance of Sept. 11. So I will probably do something with a patriotic theme.

 

[babylisa4]

Could you tell us how you make the Gingerbread lanterns?

 

[chessie]

pas2,
Here is the link for the thread for hot spiced tea .I like the idea of adding the red hots.

chessie

 

[hercamore]

Thanks to Nikole for the craft links!

We are freezing up here in tundra land!

 

[MerryPoppins]

Try out www.recipegoldmine.com!

They have a craft area as well as wonderful recipes. I noticed the other day that there is a "gifts from the kitchen" section under recipes. They have lots of recipes for gift jars, etc. I thought I'd do a bunch of those this year for gifts. The kids can help me, since I am recovering from surgery and will have another surgery in December. I need easy stuff to make this year. Any other ideas would be welcome.

I have been working quietly on an album for DS and another for DD for Christmas. They love our family albums and I thought it would be nice to give them each an album from birth to the present time. I've made a lot of progress and since they are used to seeing me scrapping, they don't suspect a thing! It has been a nice diversion for me as I recover.

 

[hercamore]

merrypoppins, you have found a great hobby for yourself as you recover. Good luck and thanks for the craft website adddress.

 

[dizfamily]

I'm making sentiments albums for my grandparents for christmas this year. we went on vacation with one set of grandparents (and most of my mom's side of the family) and my sister got married during that trip. I'm going to do my one set of grandparents' album with pics from the trip. the other set of grandparents i'll do with pretty much just the wedding and pretty much our family, my sisters, etc. i'm using the snap packs, so hopefully they will go pretty quickly and easily.

i also got calendars from someone a while back where i can "scrap" on the top part of each month and i'm going to make those for people too. i just don't know when i'm going to get all this done!