Cookies Up The Whazoo!

Hi All,

I baked/decorated/packaged cookies & candy from 8:15am - 2pm and 5pm - 9:45pm yesterday.  Made a couple of deliveries, too!  Still more to do but made a huge dent.  Tonight the Amaros will be having pasta with homemade marinara sauce & meatballs (aka "gravy") for dinner which is currently thawing because it was made ahead for nights just like tonight will be; I'll see if I can wrap it up (pun intended, haha) before it's time to call it a day.

Here are some photos:

Snowmen sugar cookies.  White royal icing "thinned" to flood, eyes are black confetti sprinkles from Halloween and the nose is an orange chocolate covered sunflower seed.  I can't take credit for the materials used; check out www.bakerella.com which I came across to help fuel my snowman addiction.  (Future winter post will be all my snowmen that don't get put up in the attic until spring)

Peanut butter blossoms

Chocolate dipped butter spritz

Pointsettia butter spritz

Bag to take to the office for some of my coworkers.  Some I swung by my office last night during my baking break because they were heavy! (see the snowmen tags?)

Some for the teachers...

All in all I ended up making (so far):

• 4 pounds of plain chocolate fudge
• 4 pounds of chocolate walnut fudge
• 10 dozen chocolate chip walnut cookies
• 12 dozen peanut butter blossom cookies
• 20 dozen butter spritz cookies - 1/2 poinsettias 1/2 trees
• 2 dozen sugar cookie snowman faces (love!)
• 8 dozen chocolate covered preztel rods (white and dark)
• 4 dozen butter spritz dipped in chocolate on one end
• 2 dozen red velvet cake balls dipped in milk chocolate
• 1 dozen almond clusters with milk chocolate

PHEW! Needless to say there won't be a photo of anything stitched today for obvious reasons.  Stitching related though I can tell you that ABC is having a large clearance sale on their website... don't ask me how I know or if I'm having anything sent to me for my stash, haha!  I've been to their actual shop and it is GREAT -- it was a 3+ hour drive round trip for me when my younger daughter Mary and I went a few weekends ago and well worth the trip.  You can check them out at www.ABCstitch.com (click on specials on the left hand side off the main page).  :)

Short lunch break almost over--have a great rest of the day everyone!  ~Nicole

Woolen Feather Tree Completed

Good Morning!

I mentioned in a previous post that I took a class last weekend at Yankee Cross Stitch to make a woolen feather tree taught by Donna from By The Bay Needleart.  LOVED it and finally had time to finish the tree -- just needed to put the red berries on and did that last night.  See? 

It came out great, took about three hours start to finish and I plan on making some of Donna's "Stich an Inch" as ornaments to hang on the tree.  I ALSO plan on making more trees in different colors and already made a stop to Joanne's for some wool felt in various shades of green.  Most likely after Christmas but I want to make a large tree to put on a tabletop at fairs next year to hang ornaments for sale. Both Yankee's and By The Bay's links are posted on the right hand side of the page if you'd like more information.

Today is "Christmas Baking Day Part 2" for most of the day (yes, I'm stalling a bit by posting this blog post) where my girls and I bake and decorate to get gifts together for teachers, neighbors, friends, coworkers and family.  Last night I was up very late and made fudge (with nuts and without), chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate chip walnut cookes and some butter spritz cookies dipped in chocolate.  Today will bring more butter spritz cookies colored pink for poinsettias, more plain and dipped in chocolate, more pretzels, peanut butter blossoms and sugar cookies -- snowmen of course! :) Don't worry -- tomorrow's posting will be photos of everything baked and boxed up and I'm happy to share any recipes if anyone is interested.   Housekeeping will have to wait until during the week when I will get the house ready for my parents and brother on Christmas Day!

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone! ~Nicole