Last Minute Gift Idea + FREE Printable!

Ever get down to the last minute and realize you haven't bought gifts for your child's teacher?  This has never happened to me.  Truth: It happens every year.  Seriously.  I hope none of my children's teachers are reading this.  I feel like I should throw myself a party when I remember everyone in my family, so trying to remember teachers on top of it all...*whew*!!

Thankfully we only have 4 teachers to gift this year!  But to make it simple, we're giving them all the same thing...a hand-painted ornament with bath salts and this gift card with cute printable!

Merry Christmas!

So a very merry Christmas to everyone out there!  I know I am a few days behind, but you know how the holidays are!  Plus, we have been dealing with some illness here in our household, so I was unable to get to some posts I promised (sorry!).  Hopefully all will be forgiven??
Any-who, I did make a gingerbread house, but unfortunately, due to me feeling under the weather, I will only be posting the finished product with a few tips, instead of a tutorial.  It took all the effort I could muster to just put the darn thing together.  I just wasn't in the mood to document the whole thing, also.  If you want the recipe and full directions, visit http://www.marthastewart.com/.  That's where I got my recipe.  So here we go!!

All of my pieces baked and ready to go.  I actually used half of the recipe and it made a decent sized house.  I'm not into constructing a large house, so this worked perfectly for me.  Also, I had plenty of dough left to make plenty of gingerbread men for dunking in hot apple cider (since the dough is dense, they can be pretty hard).

Instead of icing to "hold" the house together, I followed Martha's idea for using a sugar syrup.  It works really well, though it hardens soooo quickly, I had to be really quick to assemble the pieces.  But once they are together they don't move.  Just be careful...it's HOT!

And the finished product:

I used almond slices for the roof (starting at the bottom to get the "stacked" effect), and added batting for the snow, though you could use cotton candy to make the whole thing edible! 
I was pretty happy with the results and it looks cute on our little shelf, especially at night when I stick a little electric candle inside and the light glows out the windows!
I hope next year you can be inspired to make a creation of your own.  And I hope I will be feeling better and can get even more creative!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I love cookies with jam...

Carousel Cookies

Though I can't take credit for the recipe (not sure where my mom got it from), I love these cookies!  Love might not be a strong enough word...I am blown away by them!!  I make these cookies every year and they would be eaten up in about a day, if I let that happen.

1 cup butter (and real butter makes all the difference)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, seperated

1 tsp real vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Preserves-whatever flavors are your favorite

Preheat oven: 375

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy

Blend in egg yolk, vanilla, and salt.  Add flour; mix well until dough is stiff, but able to be formed into balls.

Beat egg whites until frothy:

Shape dough into teaspoon size balls.

I like to shape all of the dough instead of doing each step individually.  That way nuts and egg whites don't mix into the dough.



After rolling the dough, dip each ball into egg whites and roll in nuts.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Indent centers using your thumb::

Fill with preserves and bake 10-12 minutes, or until slightly brown.  They will not get very brown, but the nuts will become toasted.

Enjoy!  I hope they become a favorite in your house as much as they are in mine!