A Giving Get-Together

I haven't had much time in the last couple of days to look for worthy causes, but rest assured, I'm still trying. Meanwhile, I started thinking about "Operation Christmas Cards" that I talked about yesterday, and I'm really excited about it. So on my list of things to do...

Day 69 - Plan a "Giving Get-Together".  I want to have a little party to make Christmas Cards to send in! It's always more fun doing arts and crafts with friends and family. Even people who wouldn't normally do that sort of thing will be more inclined to do it in a group. Come up with a few easy designs that anyone could put together, give everyone instructions and then, have at it. Be creative!   Then brainstorm about things to write on the inside. It's hard sometimes to come up with something to write to someone you've never met, but again, if it's a group endeavor it becomes fun. Have some coffee and cookies (or for you healthy people:  water and veggies).  If you have any old Christmas cards that you can recycle, or other items that can be reused, all the better. One person's scraps of colored paper might be just the accent on someone else's card. It could be a challenge: to avoid any leftover materials!

 

So make a plan to give this Christmas in anyway you can, and invite your friends to join you!!


Merry Merry!!

Care'n Presents

Sometimes I Need a Few Practice Shots

Day 75 - I know it will sound suspicious if I say that I need to practice making cookies and candy but the truth is, it's not as easy as it looks. Have you ever noticed that the cookies and other baked goods always look so beautiful in magazines and advertisements. Do your cookies ever come out like that? (If they do, I don't want to know.) Mine don't. They aren't ugly usually, but they aren't, by any means, perfect little uniform sized or shaped, and inevitably a batch or two gets burned or dropped on the floor. This being said, if I want to try out something new to give as a gift, it's not a good idea for me to wait until I actually want to give them away.
 

Case in point:  I got this really cool mold to make candy Christmas trees. Think about it, what better treat would a Living Christmas elf want to make?  The tree part is made with green colored white chocolate and then I add a big pretzel stick as the trunk. So I decided to make some this morning to take to The Workshop for a meeting we were having. First, the chocolate didn't really melt very well, then the pretzels broke, then I spilled coffee on a couple of them. They ended up lumpy, and I broke a few more "trunks" off getting them out of the fridge. Memo to me: these will have to be made well in advance, with back up pretzels on the side. The finished product wasn't too bad, although I had to trim off the excess chocolate that spread on the outside of the mold and a few of the "branches" broke off. On the upside, no one complains about having to eat the rejects. For that matter, no one complains if they aren't perfect either. Heck, unless they taste horrible (another good argument for practice) no one cares what they look like at all for the most part.

So have fun practicing your baking, and candy and treat making. Share the mistakes.  And even if the final batch isn't perfect, don't sweat it. It's a gift that comes from your kitchen and from your heart, and that will make it all the better.





What they are supposed to look like (Wilton)



And these are mine  :)

Merry Merry!!

Care'n Presents

Time to Party!

I know that it's still early in the season for many of you but sometimes things just must be done early. Take today's list item for example:

Day 76 - Are you having a Christmas party? Seasonal get-together? Ladies Holiday Tea? Whatever shindig you are planning, now is the time to pick a date (if you haven't already). Then make sure you give your friends and family, at the very least, a "heads up".  If at all possible send out a "save the date" email, or Facebook notification.  We all know how busy things get once we hit December and if you wait too long, everyone will have made other plans.  I know I want my little soiree to be a big splash.  Another thing you might consider is your Living Christmas tree. When will it be delivered? You'll want to show it off to all your party guests, right? I like to get mine early enough to decorate too, of course, and make sure it's in just the right place. That's one of the cool things about The Living Christmas Company. Not only will our elves and reindeer deliver your tree, but we will even try to set it where you want it! I am so happy now not to have to fit my Christmas tree into one of those stands with the water tray and all that. No matter how hard I tried, the tree was crooked, or the water spilled out, or I ended up with needles EVERYWHERE! Not fun. Believe it or not, I'm a bit allergic to pine, so the less I have to handle, the better. (By the way, as much as it might be easier to get a fake tree...I shudder...our trees are worth the ichies. Besides, I can usually get Lauren Peace to decorate, hee hee).

So, plan your festivities, rent your tree at http://livingchristmas.com/ and have a wonderful day!



Merry Merry

Care'n Presents