oreo balls

Image found on Google image search.

A co-worker brought these treats into work for us to enjoy the other day, and enjoy we did!  I had never heard of such a thing until that day, and I have to say, they are completely amazing.  And really easy to make too!
 
Oreo Balls
1 package of Oreos
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese (softened)
1 package of white chocolate bark
toothpicks

* Crush up your Oreos.  You can do this in a food processor or a Ziploc freezer bag with a hammer.  Mix together crushed Oreos with your softened cream cheese.  Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet (that will fit into your freezer) lined with parchment or wax paper.  Freeze the balls for a half hour.  Next, melt your white chocolate.  Pull out the Oreo balls and dip them into melted chocolate using a toothpick.  Place them back on your lined cookie sheet.  You could customize your balls by adding food coloring to your white chocolate, and/or using milk or dark chocolates, and/or sprinkles or candy bits.

These things are so cute, creative, and delicious.  They would be perfect to give as a gift, to bring to a holiday party, or just to enjoy yourself!!!

make your own Christmas Crackers

 What is a Christmas Craker you say?  A Christmas cracker is a prettily wrapped tube filled with little trinkets.  They sit at your place on the Christmas table, and everyone pulles their cracker open (they make a fun cracking noise), and see what kinds of surprises they find inside their cracker.  Usually there is a paper crown inside each one, which will have to be worn for dinner of course.  This is a fun little tradition that has been enjoyed overseas for a long time.  I think it is a fun idea.  You can read a full description about Christmas crackers here and an awesome tutorial here on how to make your own!

Keepsake Cookbook

For this Handmade Holidays post, I wanted to share with you a recipe scrapbook that my mom gave me for Christmas last year.  It was by far the best present ever!!!!!  She scrapbooked the first few pages, and the rest is filled with hand written family recipes.  It is the sweetest thing.  If you spend the time and put in the effort to make something creative, it will always be a better gift than anything money could buy.  Here is what it looks like....

She purchased a pretty recipe book with divided sections for different categories of food.  Then added scrapbook pages (in page protectors) and wrote in all the recipes.  My dad even wrote in a few too.  This would make a really special gift for your loved ones for the holidays.  You could also do the entire thing by hand, or look into your local copy shop to get something printed/bound.  Online photo shops like Snapfish offer photo books as well, which you could easily customize by adding in pictures of your drawings and hand written recipes....with photos too!!!  You should totally do this for Christmas this year...your family will be really proud.

candy cane marshmallows

 Last year I made peppermint flavored marshmallows for friends & family for Christmas.  I had sort of forgotten about them until my grandma requested them again for this Christmas.  I don't remember which recipe I used, but the ones in the photo above were from Martha Stewart (I made the tops of mine all swirly like that), and I remember being inspired by this video I found over at Design Sponge.  Marshmallows are one of those things that are so fun to make because you don't always think of making things like that.  "What, you can make your own marshmallows?!"  So fun.

gingerbread man soap

 So, do you wanna make soap for Christmas gifts?  Have a look at this cute video...........
 

You should definitely check out this Gingerbread Man soap making kit  from BrambleBerry.....you could make 8 soaps for $20!  It looks like so much fun....and easy too!!!

How to make Poloroid ornaments......

 So, I wanted to share with you an awesome ornament tutorial.  I found this tutorial for Felt Poloroid Photo Ornaments through an old blog post by Elsie.  The tutorial is found over at the KatieCupcake blog, which by the way, is super cute.  You should definitely check this one out.....these ornaments are sooooo adorable....I love them a lot.  See....

 ...aren't they just the cutest things ever?!  I for sure am planning on making some of these for my tree this year.  Go click on the tutorial link to find out how to make them for your tree.  Oh, and they would make the sweetest gifts....and would look super cute as gift tags!!!!

homemade amaretto recipe

Are you looking for a unique gift for a friend or family member, but can't really pin down the perfect gift for them?  If they drink, this might be perfect.  Everybody likes a handmade gift.  Making homemade alcohol seems like so much fun, and almost naughty.  I imagine recipes like this popping up all over in the days of prohibition, where bootleg moonshine flowed freely in speakeasies  all over the United States.   Try out this recipe for homemade amaretto this Christmas, and have fun!
p.s. You'll want to allow 4 weeks of curing time, so start this recipe now!!!

handmade holidays

I am loving this class format to share my creative world with you.  I am so excited to be announcing my next class......handmade holidays!!!!  As I had mentioned before, I plan on sharing a ton with my terrific readers over this holiday season.  All this time I thought I liked fall best, but you know......I think my favorite season is actually winter!  I absolutely adore snow.  Ice is actually fun.  Scary at times, but fun.  I love the coziness of the season.  The icy cold air makes you feel so alive and then you can come in and grab a hot cocoa and put on warm jammies.  Baking is a winter staple.  Warm food soothes the soul.  And the magic.  Oh the magic.  It is such a comforting thing, winter.  And there's no bugs.  
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Of course I will keep posting daily in November for my Thanks A Lot class.  Coming up with all these prompts is really fun......I hope I can find time to journal them all!  And listing the things I am thankful for each day has helped me tremendously in staying positive.  It is such a great practice.  I think it might just inspire me to keep a simple notebook in my bedside table for this daily thanks only.  No art journaling.  Nothing fancy.  Just words.  Something I can read through when I have a rough day.  In Handmade Holidays I won't post as much journal prompts (though I will share my Christmas journal) ... because I want to focus more on food and gifts.  Oooh, I can't wait!!!!!
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.....Homemade Holiday buttons will go up in my sidebar soon.  Please grab one for your blog so you can tell all your readers what you're up to!!  How excited are you all for the holidays??!