On the Fourth Day of Christmas

Santa brought an idea for a quick, last-minute gift!

We all know how busy it can get around this time of the year- obviously. And if you're anything like us, it always seems like you need to add one more person to the list. And then another. And another. (I definitely added three more to mine yesterday...) Whether it's a teacher at school or the letter carrier (two highly unappreciated jobs, especially around this time of the year, in my opinion) or you need a quick fix for one of those parties that sneak up on you (Secret Santa, White Elephant, etc), having something small on hand to give them isn't a bad idea.
Today's project is a little coffee mug with a few yummy treats included.

Obviously, there are a million ways to run with this project. Since we wanted the coffee mug to be used for more than just Christmas, but still with the holiday feel, we went with a wintery theme for our mug. We made a basic hot chocolate mix to put into the mug, which includes layers of crushed peppermint chips (you can use chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, other kinds of baking chips, too) and small marshmallows. The gift was finished off with a small plate of shortcut peppermint chocolate chip cookies with a mocha glaze.
The recipes we used for both the hot cocoa mix and cookies can be downloaded below. We've included some other ideas to add to a basic hot chocolate recipe, as well, to make it your own!

You can download the files here:
2016 Holiday Planner Insert & Recipes
"Cold Hands, Warm Heart" Studio File

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fantastic day!

Everyone Deserves Birthday Wishes...

...Even the Grouchiest of us all!! Who knew that today as Oscar the Grouch's birthday?! I found out yesterday and thought I would share! After wondering what a guy who lives in a garbage can would want for his birthday, I decided on cookies (don't tell Cookie Monster...) I had been looking on-line to find some recipes that would capture the "essence" of the Grouch. If you Google "garbage cookies", there are actually quite a few recipes. I know it sounds nasty, but they're very similar to "monster cookies". They are pretty much oatmeal cookies with extra mix-ins. You can make them with pretty much anything you have on hand. Here is my take on these. I don't know what to call them, since I'm not a huge fan of the "garbage cookie" name...

See how happy he is someone remembered his birthday?? And then he got all grouchy because he's older... These are an oatmeal-based cookie, with some peanut butter, chocolate chips, and some cereal. They are actually much better than they look, but since I thought I would be clever and add some mini marshmallows, it was a mess. They are actually really good...but then again, you can't really go wrong with oatmeal, chocolate and peanut butter. (Unless it's all mixed in together for breakfast and it's really dry..) I wonder if he'll share with his pal Slimey.

What is Cookie Monster’s Favorite Day of the Year??

Today! Today is actually National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Well, depending on what you read. It’s either a day celebrating the invention of the chocolate chip, or the cookie. Either way, you can’t really have one without the other! Before we get to today’s project, I was looking some stuff about chocolate chip cookies up, and some of it was interesting. Thought I’d share, since knowledge is power, even if it is only some party trivia…
     - The first chocolate chip cookie was made in 1937, in Massachusetts, at the Toll House Inn, by Ruth Wakefield
     - The first chocolate “chip” cookie was actually made using a chopped up chocolate bar
     - Nestle gave Wakefield a life-time supply of chocolate (that’s one lucky lady! I wonder if she ever got tired of chocolate…) in return for the right to her recipe. It is also on the back of all of their chocolate chip packaging
     - It was designated as the “State Cookie” of Massachusetts in 1999, thanks to a third grade class. (How cool would that be?!)

So, anyway, back to today’s project. There’s not much that’s more “American” than the chocolate chip cookie, so in my opinion, it fits well with this week’s theme! And you can’t talk about cookies without mentioning Cookie Monster!! (For those of you wondering how it’s all truly connected, it makes sense in my head, and that’s what really matters, right?!)

So,  as you can tell, Cookie Monster is really excited about today’s project! You can tell by the look in his eyes! It is a scrapbook layout dedicated to cookies. “C” really is for cookie! He is just so excited to show off the picture, on the second page. I love the photo corners- they’re piles of cookies! How cute is that?? I felt really clever when I figured that one out ;) And of course, the red, white, and blue goes along with this week’s patriotic theme. There is also a little pocket behind one of the photo mats, so I can store a recipe for safe keeping!

And, speaking of recipes, here is something to go along with the project. Yummy chocolate chip cookies, of course! And, yes, they too are in theme, with red and blue M&M’s and white chocolate chips.

Oh my goodness, are these good!! I wish I could say the same for my food-picture-taking skills... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! This was such a fun project to work on! Have a great day!

And some parting party trivia, other tidbits of information I found today:
     - Las Vegas is celebrating its 107^th birthday today. It was founded in 1905
     - Mickey Mouse premiered today in 1928
     - The first McDonald’s was opened today in 1940 in California

Cricut Cake- Amazing!

We were lucky enough to receive a Cricut Cake for Christmas this year. It is such an amazing product! We spent the afternoon making cookies and cutting them into different shapes. I love how it cuts the dough so neatly. I think there were only two or three cookies with frayed edges. Can't wait to use it for cakes! Here's a little picture of some of the cookies we made.

 

The recipe we used was adapted from another Christmas present. It was supposed to be a butterscotch cookie, but it turned out to be a chocolate chip cookie. They were so good!