Personalized Ornaments

My sis sent me a picture of ornaments that had names on them that someone had done with their cricut machine - yep, good idea and I immediately made some using plastic balls that were in my pile of things to either get rid of or make something with hahaha. Perfect!

Picked a font, sized it for the 2" balls, and ran the names thru the machine. The names are then stickers that I stuck on the balls. I made one for everyone who will be at family Christmas tomorrow, I'll attach the ornament to their snowmen gift towers instead of tags. Super cute!

to keep the balls from rolling around while I was applying the stickers 
I found this roll of wire with a small hole in the package, the balls
sat perfectly stable in the hole. 

use transfer tape to remove the name from the backing, stick
it on the ornament (or whatever you are applying the sticker to)
and then remove the transfer tape. 

 

12.20.23: wreath ornament

12.20.22:TT wrapping paper idea

12.20.21: felt gift card holder

12.20.19: caprese bites

12.20.18: cheeseball wreath

12.20.17: chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies 

12.20.16: tiger fudge (although I think it should be called Buckeye Bars!)

12.20.15: corn bread with jalapeños and cheese mini muffins

Cookie Cups

I made these super easy cookies the other day using a chocolate cookie mix - mix up the dough according to package directions, scoop out equal sized amounts and lightly press into greased mini-muffin tins. Bake at 375' for 8-10 minutes, while still hot push down the center using a wooden spoon handle creating a little indent/hole. Remove from the tins and cool completely. 

Note: the inspiration recipe I found at Betty Crocker said to make the intent with a wooden spoon handle before baking, and then repeating after baking - I didn't notice much of a dent after they baked so I'd just make the indents while the cookies are hot out of the oven. 

Put buttercream frosting in a piping bag with a medium #5 star tip, pipe into the divot and on top of the cookie. Easy!

For the above cookies I put chocolate frosting in one side of the bag and topped with white, when squeezing the frosting out the colors swirl together.

I decided to make more for Christmas cookie gift boxes and did the same thing using a tube of sugar cookie dough. Using my small cookie scoop so they would all be roughly the same size, I portioned out dough into greased mini-muffin tins. This time I pressed the dough lightly using the bottom of a k-cup which fits into the mini-muffin tins perfectly. After baking I pressed the wooden spoon handle into the center of each cookie, remove from tins and cool completely. I finished them with white buttercream frosting piped into the center and on top of the cookie cup and added silver sanding sugar and stars.

12.19.23: Christmas Cookies and Pumpkin Bread

12.19.22: grinch rice krispy treats 

12.19.21: 🔥 week 51

12.19.20: candy cane bag closure 

12.19.19: grinch fruit kabobs

12.19.18: curled paper wreath 

12.19.17: making a holiday newsletter and printing labels

12.19.16: snowman shadowbox

12.19.15: melting snowman cocktail

12/18 ~ Thru the Years

A look back at other posts from this date thru the years (aka: I got too busy to come up with something new LOL):

 12.18.23: crochet and bead bracelets re-run

12.18.22: 🔥 week 51

12.18.21: cherry pecan chews

12.18.20: candy bows by B

12.18.19: how to make gift bows

12.18.18: melting snowman chocolate bark

12.18.17: stabilized whipped cream

12.18.16: cocoa snowballs

12.18.15: gift paper wrapping bag

Tip-sy Tuesday: Easy Snowman Cookies

I saw these cute snowman cookies and thought I'd share for today's Tip-sy Tuesday - less of a tip, more of an idea. Frost round sugar cookies white. Add a face using M&Ms and a piece of orange gummy candy, the earmuffs are a thin twizzler and 2 peppermint candies. Easy!

12.17.23: 🔥 week 51

12.17.22: hoop driftwood Christmas tree hanging 

12.17.21: grilled shrimp tacos

12.17.20: cork gingerbread man by B

12.17.19: TT: powdered sugar (how to turn granulated sugar into powdered)

12.17.18: wine cork angel ornament

12.17.17: cream of mushroom soup

12.17.16: chocolate dipped pretzel rods

12.17.15: homemade dog cookies

 

Snowman Gift Wrapping Idea

My sis sent me this picture of a cute wrapping idea - I didn't copy it exactly but used it as inspiration for wrapping gifts this year. Hardest part was coming up with boxes that stacked into a snowman shape but at this stage of Christmas shopping I have a lot of boxes to choose from! 

inspiration photo

my interpretation - note the front snowman with only 2 boxes
is incomplete, I'm still waiting for 1 more gift to arrive

I used cardstock paper shapes for the faces and buttons, added gems
here and there, bows, ribbons, curly ribbon, and a small scarecrow hat
from the dollar store that was in my craft supplies. 

curious Sarge...

12.16.23: words

12.16.22: royal icing 

12.16.21: melting snowman cupcakes

12.16.20: peanut butter kiss cookies by B

12.16.19: felt poinsettia napkin rings

12.16.18: 🔥week 50

12.16.17: reindeer cupcakes

12.16.16: candy cane mice

12.16.15: sea salt body scrub

🔥 Around the Campfire (week 50)

Dear Campers ~ 

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at camp last week:

Posts ~

12/8: 🔥 week 49

12/9: Christmas tree optical illusion 

12/10: TT candy cane cake 

12/11: gingerbread contest: nakatomi tower 

12/12: gingerbread contest: Buddy's journey to NYC

12/13: gingerbread contest: carnival 

12/14: words (Groot/Christmas)

Mickey sent this Georgie craft (she's 16 months old) with the caption
"Not quite old enough for crafts from hobby lobby 😂😂😂"

That's it for this week! See you next week for more projects, crafts, recipes, whatever we can think of to make at camp - bye :)

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

12.15.23: Christmas cupcake wreath

12.15.22: P's fried chicken

12.15.21: hambone, bean, and veggie soup

12.15.20: TT: holiday phone case by Brooke

12.15.19: 🔥week 50

12.15.18: rolled paper Christmas tree

12.15.17: Brooke's homemade ice cream/shake

12.15.16: sugar and spice mixed nuts

12.15.15: travel jewelry pouch

  

12/14 ~ Words

 

I love Guardians of the Galaxy and Groot 😂 Happy Saturday! 

12.14.23: button ornaments 

12.14.22: confetti gift wrap #2

12.14.21: snowman poop 

12.14.20: plant pot bells by B

12.14.19: caprese chicken

12.14.18: Christmas pinecone wreath

12.14.17: bacon jam

12.14.16: Georgian cheese bread

12.14.15: Christmas bell door hanger

Gingerbread Contest: Carnival

Here's #3 of the entries in the gingerbread contest my sister's work held and she shared with me - I've shown you the Nakatomi Tower (seriously, did you see how tall it is?!) and Buddy's journey to NYC, today's is a carnival and just wait til you see how much work went into this one! They have it all and it's incredible - roller coaster, ticket booth, merry-go-round, ferris wheel, bumper boats, fun house, tunnel of love, arcade games...and more! This was the winning entry - congrats to some very dedicated crafters, this had to have taken days and days to put together and is very impressive. If you're out to win your contest and have enough time consider a carnival theme, here's some pics for inspo:

Note: to save yourself some frustration if you try to build any of these I will say that there was some glue involved and these aren't completely edible - the rules for this contest did not specify it had to be edible so it was still eligible to win. If you're entering a contest make sure you know if glue is acceptable! 

That reminds me of Brooke and I making gingerbread houses when she was little - we tried and tried to stick our walls and roof on with frosting only to keep having it fall apart, that's when aunt Jill got out the glue gun and solved that little problem. Does anyone actually eat their gingerbread houses?!

click here to see how to make hot chocolate spoons if you need an easy food-gift! 

12.13.23: paper snowflakes

12.13.22: tt - muffin tin drink holder 

12.13.21: nantucket cranberry pie

12.13.20: 🔥 week 50

12.13.19: candy cane reindeer

12.13.18: felt Christmas trees

12.13.17: wood reindeer and snowman

12.13.16: glass block winter scene

12.13.15: cinnamon roll sugar cookies 

Gingerbread Contest: Elf's Short Story of a Tall Tale

Yesterday I shared that my sister's work had a gingerbread contest and she sent me pics 'cause she knew I'd want to see how creative these people got - and how much work went into each project. No simple gingerbread houses here, they are so elaborate and you can tell people took this very seriously - don't know what the prize was but maybe bragging rights was enough to warrant going all out! Today I'll show you this super fun and creative walk thru Buddy's journey from the North Pole to New York City looking for his birth father. 

Depicted in gingerbread are these places he traveled from/thru/to:

North Pole

Candy Cane Forest 

Sea of Swirly-Twirly Gum Drops 

Lincoln Tunnel

New York City 

click here for yesterday's gingerbread Nakatomi Tower. 

click here to see how to make felt candy cane mice, which has nothing to do with gingerbread but I came across the post from '16 and thought I'd refresh your memory if you're looking for a fun craft to do before Christmas! 

12.12.23: plastic hanger snowflake

12.12.22: Christmas lights cupcakes 

12.12.21: 🔥 week 50

12/12/20: how to make a looped bow

12.12.19: santa gift card holder

12.12.18: Mary's painted ornaments

12.12.2017: coincidentally, I posted the adorable pillow Mary me one year ago today!

12.12.2016: marquee letters  (using paper mache letters and christmas ornaments)

12.12.2015: fireball hot toddy

Gingerbread Contest: Nakatomi Tower

My sister's work held a gingerbread contest and she sent me the top 3 winners - this one made me laugh out loud and I had to share - they built a Nakatomi Tower replica hahahahah. In case you don't know - Nakatomi Tower is from the movie Die Hard, people are held hostage in the tower during a Christmas party and John McClane (Bruce Willis) saves them. It's got some r-rated language but it's one of my favorites and has become a Christmas movie must-watch, which some people don't agree with that but I think it's awesome LOL. 

Anyway - the gingerbread tower didn't win (I would argue the decision but no one asked me haha) mostly because it was built from graham crackers and not gingerbread. Technicality. But still amazing and deserves a shout out in my book, mostly for making me laugh, and check out how tall it is! Whoever made this was committed to the tower theme. They have a cop car and 'dead' body laying at the bottom of the tower and a helicopter on top - too funny. 

If you're going to a gingerbread contest this is one very good idea: 

12.11.23: tiered Christmas tree skirt 

12.11.22: 🔥 week 50

12.11.21: sheet pan sausages and grapes

12.11.20: gingerbread cookie hugs by B

12.11.19: cucumber ranch salad dressing

12.11.18: bath salt ornaments

12.11.2017: tinsel wreath

12.11.2016: chicken marsala

12.11.2015: tomato cage Christmas tree