My Christmas Cookies

I make a few varieties of cookies for Christmas each year, a couple standbys and then I try something different to keep it interesting.

This year, a few pictures and recipes for you to check out!


Dipped Gingersnaps
(got this out of Taste of Home years ago)
2 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 C. molasses
4 C. flour
4 tsp. baking soda
1 T. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
Additional sugar
2 packages vanilla baking chips
1/4 C. shortening

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in molasses. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape into 3/4 inch balls and roll in sugar. (I use a cookie scoop for this so that the cookie will be uniform in size). Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until cookie springs back when touched lightly. Remove to wire racks to cool. Melt chips with shortening in a small sauce pan over low heat. (I use the double boiler method or have found sometimes this can scorch. I don't have a double boiler, I just use a bowl that is slightly bigger than the sauce pan and get that going with a rolling boil of water and that melts everything nicely for dipping). Dip the cookies halfway; shake off excess. Place on waxed paper to harden.


Cream Cheese Finger Cookies - (this is the exact recipe, I always double it)
(another winner from Taste of Home)
1/2 C. butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 C. flour
1 T. sugar
dash salt
1 C. finely chopped pecans
Powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in pecans (dough will be crumbly). **I have found if the dough is just a bit to dry/crumbly to shape, I will keep the mixer going on low and add a bit of water until the consistency seems right.**
Shape tablespoonfuls into 2-inch logs. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar; cool on wire racks.


Best-Ever Turtles
(from Gooseberry Patch Christmas book 6)
2 1/2 C. pecan halves, toasted
1 C. sugar
3/4 C. corn syrup
1 C. whipping cream, divided
4 T. butter
1 1/2 C. chocolate chips, melted

On a baking sheet, arrange pecans in sets of 3; set aside. Combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup whipping cream in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until mixture reaches full boil. Slowly add remaining cream and butter; heat, stirring, until mixture reaches soft-ball stage or 236° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; still until caramel is creamy (about 5 minutes). Spoon about 1 tablespoon caramel over each set of pecans; cool. Spoon 1 teaspoon chocolate over each; let stand to harden.

Also did some sugar cookie cutouts the kids decorated - I think they do great work!!


Hope your Christmas is also this sweet!

Scrapbook Layout

One of the nice thing about hobbies, is that sometimes other people can’t do them and they want you to do it instead. For money! Woot!

I have been making 9×9 scrapbooks for baby gifts and will start work on the 4th one, for hire, in the next week or so. I create 32 pages of baby’s first year moments, do delivery room and newborn photos to get the album started for the new parents, and do layouts leaving room for them to add photos at a later date of those special milestones.

Here is a page I did in a book I just completed of mom and dad with their new baby boy on a page. The nice thing about the 9×9 size, you can do a couple photos on the page or one larger one, they are quite fun!

World's Softest Baby Blanket

My BIL and SIL just had their 3rd girl at Christmas. Making a baby blanket for her was how I spent November and part of December. I cast on 110 (give or take, can’t remember now) and just did straight knitting of each color before the skein ran out. I used 2 skeins of each and, hold on to your hats, it’s pajama yarn and was the SOFTEST blanket in the history of babies, I kid you not!

1950s Felted Bag for Gina

My friend Gina needed a pick-me-up. So, I attempted to make a felted bag, a bit bigger in size than my usual “purse”, more of a carpet bag size. As I was working on it, my MIL remarked that the colors and the buttons I had chosen reminded her of the 50s. I didn’t choose them that way on purpose, I was just very fond of the way it was coming together. My add-in yarn didn’t felt the way I had hoped even after two washings ,but Gina said she didn’t mind.

Pattern:

CO 50, knit 20 using double yarn to make the bottom more solid and sturdy.

When I started working in the round, I only used one yarn. Six rows of brown, six rows of blue, twelve rows of brown, then I used the entire skein of the Austermann novelty yarn with the pink Cascade. I repeated the pattern for the top of the bag and made I-cord handles.

Yarn used: Novelty yarn - Austermann Colada, color 5; Cascade 220 colors 8686, 7815, 9477.

Before felting, it was 18″ wide and 15″ tall.

Pink Oleander

Hubby isn’t usually about doing the “gift thing” for me, he’s more about the “get yourself something you want” thing. However, for our anniversary even though we’d agreed to do a few projects around the house instead of gifts or even, going out to dinner, the florist showed up with a pink oleander bush (is it considered a bush or a small tree?) Anyway, one day it was looking quite lovely with drops of water weighing down the petals, so I started snapping away.

Florida Gator Felted Bag

My pal Heather needed this. She’s a Florida grad and though my allegiances lie elsewhere, I wanted to make her something fun she’d really be able to show off!

PATTERN:

I used Cascade yarn in colors 7818 and 9441 and added in Gedifra Serano novelty yarn in color 4422.

Cast on 36 and knit 30 rows. I made the bottom of the bag orange then started making stripes 4 rows wide using the add-in yarn on the orange stripes. When finished, the bag was 13″ wide and 9″ tall. After felting, it was 10 1/2″ wide and 6 1/2″ tall.

I got Florida Gator novelty fabric to line the inside of the bag. To complete this obnoxiously bright felted bag masterpiece I added orange handles and big gator GREEN buttons!

I hope Heather likes it a lot, she sure is a great pal to have!

Teacher Gifts

I try to make and give things to my kids’ teachers all year round. Nothing extravagent or pricey, but something that I go buy a few supplies, give a little of my time and badda boom, badda bing, I’ve got something heartfelt that the kids can take to say “thank you” to those special teachers for making a difference in their lives.

Here was one of the things I did this year, I got plain old clay flower pots and painted them in various designs in our school colors and painted their names on with paint pens. It took me a couple hours to do several, getting a couple coats of paint on, then I got some nice little flowers to put in them. All the teachers loved them! I may do this again for some other small gifts to give somebody special, it was fun to do.

Bright and Happy Felted Bag

Angela’s had a tough year. So, when I realized that I was going to make her a felted bag for her belated birthday gift, I picked the brightest and most obnoxiously yarns and add-ins I could combine so that, no matter how dark her mood, the bag’s colors would perk up the most cloudy day. I really hope she likes it!

Pattern:
I can’t remember how many I cast on, I think 38. Then I knit about 30 rows, give or take. With these bags, I just keep knitting until I feel the urge to change things up a bit!

Bottom stripe: Cascade sapphire heather (9456) with Cascade Alma Cajun Spice (330) add in yarn which I knit until the novelty yarn ran out and switched.

Middle stripe: Cascade goldenrod (7827) with Trendsetter Joyspring (1194) which I, again, knit until the add in yarn ran out.

Top stripe: Cascade violet (7809) with Trendsetter Shadow Metal purple passion (70 .

I did the violet yarn in an I-cord for the handle. The finished bag (before felting) was 17 inches wide and 15 inches tall.

School Spirit Scarf

Since we were having so many weeks of “yummy” temperatures hovering around zero, it seemed, more than ever, a great time to churn out more scarves!

And, when there’s a special occasion or major or even minor holiday…well, I’m just a “giver” people, so I thought, hey, nothing says Valentines more than, um, orange and black????

Our school colors are orange or black, so I made four scarves for some of the teachers (not all, just picked a few to get some “extra” loot aside from the small heart full of chocolates I sent) between the four kids, they have sixteen teachers, people they take lessons from, etc…not including the 2-3 Sunday School teachers apiece either. Phew!

Therefore, I made two scarves for the two teachers at preschool where Em just started attending since we missed Christmas. I also made one for Zach’s 2nd grade teacher and Sammie’s swim lesson teacher because I knew they’d love the scarves and they really go above and beyond with my kids and what they do.

School Spirit Scarf - turned out big, chunky, squishy and soft…loved it!

Size 19 needles

Yarn used: Plymouth Encore Chunky color 217 (black) and Gedifra Serano color 4422 (dark orange)

Scarf for Joe

I’ve written about my brother Joseph on my other blog here and here. He’s autistic. He’ll be 20 years old March 1st. And when he was here for a visit at Christmas, I told him (and my ex-stepdad and my other brother Sam) that I’d make everybody a very “manly” looking scarf if they gave me some idea of a color they’d like. I did actually finish those up a couple weeks ago and sent them off, but didn’t get around to posting it until now. I think Joe will really like his, quite wide, warm and snuggly with a very “masculine” yarn. And the color is lovely.

Little Girl Popcorn Felted Bag

This is the felted bag I made for my niece who turns 3 today. The only major difference being that using the popcorn made most of it end up on what is technically the “inside” of the bag. But once you felt them, you can’t really tell the difference anyway, so I made that the outside and put the I-cord handle on and she’s got herself a cute bag now!

Magnetic Memo Boards

This is one of the things I made for the kids gifts to teachers.

Go to your local sheet metal place and have them cut some pieces custom for you. I had them do, I think, about 9 x 11″. Then you bend back a couple inches on the bottom for it to stand up. Get your glue stick and some complimentary scrapbook papers, hot glue embellishments to a couple of magnet and voila! You’ve got a useful and attractive memo board the person can keep on their desk or work area. Everyone that got ‘em loved ‘em!

Mother Daughter Felted Bags

These are the felted bags I made for my SIL and niece for Christmas. I used the same yarn for each, the only difference is my niece’s bag is smaller and I made her I-cord handled. For my SIL’s bag I lined it and sewed on handled. I hope they have fun having matching bags!

Felted Bag # 1

I’m making six felted bags for Christmas gifts, and if I manage to finish up the last one, I’ll try to make each of my boys a scarf in their school colors (or something NOT girly, because that would NOT be cool).

Anyway, here is the first bag I got done. With before felting and after felting photos. I may put a button on it, haven’t decided yet.

Pattern

Cast on 36. Knit 16 rows. After I began the sides, knitting in the round, I knit 4 rows of Cascade black before I began adding Trendsetter Yarn Sorbet color 1027 every other row, then finished with 6 more rows of just the black. I made an I-cord 40″ long for the handle and the purse itself was 14″ wide and 10″ tall before felting. After felting, the bag was 10″ wide and 6″ tall. It turned out great and will be perfect for my sister-in-law who is not flashy or extroverted, she likes things simple and this bag is just that.

Notre Dame Scarf

Another day, another scarf. I am working on a ton of felted bags though, so I’ll post those, they’re coming out fantastic!

So, if you read my “regular” blog, you’ll know we are Notre Dame season ticket holders and make many weekend pilgrimages during the fall months to games.

We also stay with our very dear friends who live there (and are cheering on game day as well) and I like to make them my guinea pigs for some of my creations.

They have a 12-year old daughter who is not a girly girl, but she is a huge Irish fan. So, I told her mom I’d make her an awesome, not girly, scarf to wear to Notre Dame games. And I got it done this week to have hubby take to the last home game this season against Army and give to Brookie.

Notre Dame scarf pattern (such as it is):

size 17 needles

Cast on 9

Yarn used: Rowan Lurex shimmer (made in the UK) this gold yarn is supposed to replicate the Gold Dome. The blue yarn is schoeller/stahl Portofino Souffle in color 4719 marine (made in Germany).

Scarf for Kim

My friend Kim (of which I have many Kims in my life for some crazy reason) is a fabulous gal. And her birthday is the day before Thanksgiving, at which time, I will not see her. But I do have time to get together for lunch with her this week and wanted to give her her birthday present early.

Her favorite colors are lime green and pink. So, while this scarf may not be your cup of tea, it is totally up her alley and she will love it. I will have to try to remember my camera to take a picture of her wearing it.

I used 17 needles and cast on 10.

My yarn selections were Crystal Palace Squiggle Yarn Tulips and Cascade Yarn Venezia in color 115. These yarns were very easy to work with and I finished this scarf in record time. It was fast.