Christmas Baking 2018

I love to bake. 

It's relaxing and fun for me to make sweet treats for friends and family. 

In fact, I started this blog (many years ago) to post recipes (and there are tons on here). 

I inherited the love of baking from my sweet mama who was an INCREDIBLE cook. 

At Christmas time each year we would spend a weekend making

 tons of treats and it was one of my favorite weekends of the year. 

As I bake now I miss her so but try to remember all the fun times 

with her and now am lucky enough to have my sweet girl join me sometimes. 

This week I made a few goodies and thought I would share the recipes in case 

you are looking for some yummy treats to whip up this week. 

Some are super simple and all are super yummy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles: 

These are a HUGE hit every single time I make them. 

Recipe HERE but you can take a short cut and make them using refrigerated cookie dough. 

Peppermint Cookie Dough Truffles: 

I made these using the refrigerated peppermint sugar cookie dough and almond bark. 

YUMMY and super easy! 

Betty's Ginger Cookies: 

This recipe came from my sweet friend Betty and they are delicious!

They are a super soft cookie- which is my favorite kind!

Recipe HERE. 

Grinch Cookies: 

These are cool whip cookies that are super yummy and soft. 

I got the recipe my very first year of teaching (25 years ago) and for Christmas 

just added green food coloring to make them festive. 

Recipe HERE. 

Snickers Fudge: 

This is a time consuming candy but it is soooooo worth all the effort! 

It really does taste like a Snickers candy bar!

Recipe HERE.

Texas Trash (aka Chex Mix): 

This was a Christmas staple in my house and so I make it every year. 

I'm a traditionalist and believe two things: 

It must be made in the oven and you should double (or triple) the seasonings/butter mixture!

Recipe HERE.

White Chocolate PB Clusters: 

These are a staple in my house at Christmas time. 

They are super easy and make a ton and they are gluten free! 

Recipe HERE. 

Merry Mix: 

Super yummy and makes a ton!

Recipe HERE. 

And a few MORE CUTE GIFT IDEAS WITH FREE PRINTABLE TAGS

Buying little gifts for lots of people can quickly add up to lots of $ so I decided to come up with a few cute and inexpensive ideas that won't break Santa's bank! 

This time of year everyone is super crazy busy & hurried so it's nice to have 

a few things wrapped up and ready to give when you realize you need them-

for teachers, co-workers, friends, neighbors, etc.

For the past two years I have posted some CUTE & QUICK CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

HERE and HERE for gifts that are great (& inexpensive) 

to give to co-workers, teachers, or neighbors

or just to have around during the Christmas season.

I've already post a few new ones this year that you can find HERE

and below are some new ones I recently came up with 

that are super easy and super inexpensive!

Idea #1:

I usually have several Sonic and Starbucks gift cards 

on hand just in case I need a quick, easy gift. 

I decided it was time to create a little printable tag to go with them!

For a bigger gift you could even add a gift card and tag to a cute cup or mug.
(Cute bag found in dollar spot at Target)

Total Cost= $5+

Idea #2:

Flair pens are the BEST and every teacher I know loves them so!

This little printable is perfect to go with a set of Flair pens.

They come in tons of sets, in tons of color 

so you can purchase either a large or small package!

Total Cost= $6.29 on Amazon or $11.45 on Amazon

    

Idea #3:

I saw this idea late one night on Pinterest

and knew I had to make some for folks in my office. 

Because sometimes, you just need chocolate, right?

I purchased the containers at Hobby Lobby for $2.99

and the candy at Wal-mart. 

This could also be done with seasonal candy

 (Valentine's Day, Halloween, Christmas)

but I made mine generic so it could last all year. 

I purchased 6 small bags of candy 

and that amount filled all 6 of my containers 

with a few left pieces of candy left over.
I also added a $5 bill so they could get a
Sonic or Starbucks drink when needed. 

Total Cost= $7.99 + cost of candy

Idea #4:

I love our mailman and decided I needed to create a little printable 

to add to some cookies so I could leave him a Christmas treat. 

I kept the printable fairly generic so you could add anything you'd like to it- 

candy, cookies, a gift card, etc. 

Total Cost= $4

Idea #5:

I love Gingerbread house kits and think they make a great gift for a family!

I purchased this one at Wal-mart for less than $9 and they 

had TONS of different versions- both big and small. 

Total Cost= $9

Note: 

I printed my tags on white cardstock- sometimes in wallet size and others in 4x6 

but they are all in JPG format so you can print them in any size you'd like!

You can find all of tags from this year and last year in the folder  HERE. 

More....CUTE GIFT IDEAS WITH FREE PRINTABLE TAGS

Buying little gifts for lots of people can quickly add up to lots of $ so I decided to come up with a few cute and inexpensive ideas that won't break Santa's bank! 

This time of year everyone is super crazy busy & hurried so it's nice to have 

a few things wrapped up and ready to give when you realize you need them-

for teachers, co-workers, friends, neighbors, etc.

For the past two years I have posted some CUTE & QUICK CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

HERE and HERE for gifts that are great (& inexpensive) 

to give to co-workers, teachers, or neighbors

or just to have around during the Christmas season.

Below are some new ones for this year I came up with 

that are super easy and super inexpensive!

Idea #1:

Who doesn't love a super cute mug? 

There are so many around for $5 and under. 

I found this cute one at Hobby Lobby and it was on sale for half price. 

I added some mints (but you could add hot chocolate too!) and 

had a super cute gift for less than $5. 

Total Cost: $3.99

 Idea #2:

This idea is an one I'd see on Pinterest and absolutely loved! 

I created a tag for it last year but made a new one this year.

I purchased some super cute Christmas paper plates and napkins. 

All of those pictured below were purchased from Hobby Lobby and were half price. 

Total cost= $10

 Idea #3:

I use a Yeti (or Yeti-like) cup every single day all day long. 

When I found some super cute Christmas ones I knew I had to create a tag for them. 

If you wanted to add another little something to it- 

you could add either a Sonic or Starbucks gift card to the cup. 

Total cost= $10

Idea #4:

One of my favorite little gifts to give are socks from the fabulous Notes to Self Socks. 

I LOVE their socks- they have a pair for just about

 anyone you could want to buy a gift for!

This tag could work for any pair of socks but I added a pair 

of the Notes to Self I am joyful socks!

Aren't they adorable? 

Total Cost= $12.99

Idea #5:

I love to wrap gifts and there are so many cute kinds of wrapping paper 

out there that I thought it would make a fun gift. 

Total Cost= $8.99

Note: 

I printed my tags on white cardstock- sometimes in wallet size and others in 4x6 

but they are all in JPG format so you can print them in any size you'd like!

You can find all of tags from this year and last year in the folder  HERE. 

1 Corinthians 13, Christmas Style

I love the month of December as it leads up to Christmas. 

I love all the Christmas decorations and decorating my home for the holidays. 

BUT........as I look at Pinterest and Instagram and Facebook, 

it's super easy for me to feel overwhelmed and lacking. 

To feel that my decor is too simple and not elaborate enough. 

To feel that my tree is not full of perfect coordinated ornaments. 

To feel that my home doesn't compare to all the beautiful ones that I see on social media.

To feel that I need to make a million perfect cookies and decorate 

everything from my mailbox to my dog in color coordinated 

Christmas decor from Hobby Lobby. 

To feel that I needed to purchase every single item shared 

as a gift idea for my friends and family.

A sweet friend shared a newspaper clipping of this

 precious Christmas poem with me the other day. 

I absolutely loved it because it is EXACTLY what I needed to read. 

And maybe you do too. 

It is so very easy to get caught up in the crazy hustle and bustle of the holiday season- 

worrying about decor and gifts and parties

and forget both Christ and those we love the very most! 

My prayer for you (and me!) today is that we are able to keep

 our eyes on Jesus this Christmas and focus on

loving and serving those God call us to love and to serve.

If you'd like to print out a copy you can get a PDF HERE. 

(The copy I was given didn't have an author listed but 

I did a little searching and found that it was written by Sharon Jaynes.

Thank you Sharon for sharing these precious words! )

Hallmark Christmas Movie Bingo

I LOVE Hallmark Christmas movies. 

I seriously could watch them all day long, every single day. 

And during the holidays I pretty much do! 

I know that they are often super cheesy and crazy predictable 

but I don't care a single bit!

I absolutely LOVE all the Christmas decorations and snow, 

and truly I adore the fact that they are 

wholesome and positive and ALWAYS have a happy ending- 

because life is often crappy and sad

and I love something that I can count on to be happy!

And I can definitely count on Hallmark movies to be happy and festive and cheerful! 

I'm super lucky because my husband loves Hallmark movies too 

so they are just about ALWAYS on our TV during the month of December. 

We often joke about the things we see in just about ALL of the movies.

Things like.....

• a cute little town that LOVES Christmas
• a character from the big city who visits the little town
• decorating Christmas cookies
• a cute kid
• an adorable dog
• picking out/chopping down a Christmas tree

I started making a list of all the things we noticed and came up with a pretty long list. 

I decided it would be fun to use the list to make a game to play when 

watching one of the many fabulous and festive Hallmark movies

and decided BINGO would be perfect!

So the next time you are watching a Hallmark movie with your family or girlfriends, 

print out the 4 cards HERE, 

grab some candy 

(Hershey's kisses or M&M's would be perfect)

 and see who can BINGO first!

Christmas Baking 2017

I love to bake. 

It's relaxing and fun for me to make sweet treats for friends and family. 

In fact, I started this blog to post recipes (and there are tons on here). 

I inherited the love of baking from my sweet mama who was an INCREDIBLE cook. 

At Christmas time each year we would spend a weekend making

 tons of treats and it was one of my favorite weekends of the year. 

As I bake now I miss her so but try to remember all the fun times 

with her and now am lucky enough to have my sweet girl join me sometimes. 

This weekend I made a few goodies and thought I would share the recipes in case 

you are looking for some yummy treats to whip up this week. 

Some are super simple and all are super yummy!

CUTE Gift Ideas with FREE Printable Tags

Buying little gifts for lots of people can quickly add up to lots of $ so I decided to come up with a few cute and inexpensive ideas that won't break Santa's bank! 

This time of year everyone is super crazy busy & hurried so it's nice to have 

a few things wrapped up and ready to give when you realize you need them-

for teachers, co-workers, friends, neighbors, etc.

Last year I posted some CUTE & QUICK CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

for gifts that are great (& inexpensive) to have around during the Christmas season. 

You can find the printables for those items  HERE. 

Below are some new ones for this year I came up with 

that are super easy and super inexpensive!

Idea #1: 

The first idea is an one I'd see on Pinterest and absolutely loved! 

I purchased some super cute Christmas paper plates, napkins, and silverware. 

All of those pictured below were purchased from Walmart. 

Total cost= $5. 

I added a bow and this cute tag and turned it into a super cute, practical gift! 

This would be perfect for a teacher gift!

 You could even add a gift card for a local fast food restaurant! 

Idea #2: 

I purchased some super cute aloe socks and a bottle of red nail polish. 

Both items were purchased at Walmart. 

Total cost (including the box)= $6

 I added the tag and a bow and had another super inexpensive but useful gift! 

Idea #3: 

I purchased a bag of Gingerbread cookie mix, a cookie scoop,

 (If you don't use one- you should! They are the best cookie tool ever!) 

and a gingerbread cookie cutter. 

All items were purchased at Walmart. 

Total cost= $7

I added this little tag and some ribbon to make a cute and useful gift! 

Idea #4: 

I purchased a super yummy holiday smelling candle. 

I got this one at Walmart and y'all it smells AMAZING! 

Total cost= $4

Added this cute tag and a bow

for another super nice, useful, and inexpensive gift! 

Note: 

I printed my tags on white cardstock- sometimes in wallet size and others in 4x6 

but they are all in JPG format so you can print them in any size you'd like!

You can find all of tags from this year and last year in the folder  HERE.