Don't throw away those Christmas Cards!

Do you look forward to going to the mailbox around Christmas time? Do you love seeing how friends and family members have grown? Well a friend of mine had a wonderful idea. After you take down your cards put them in a file folder. Keep the folder by your phone and take out one card/picture a day or week. This will remind you to pray or think about that specific family. I am excited to start doing this in 2010!

Ho Ho Ho win yourself a new baby wrap

Here is the link...these are the BEST wraps!!!!

5 Minute Fudge!

How could I end the Holiday season without a yummy food recipe. Here is one from Rachael Ray. I LOVE this recipe. It's so easy. I leave out the currents and candied cherries. I add marshmallows and nuts though. You can add anything to this...peanut butter would be so yummy!

Ingredient

• 1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate morsels
• 9 ounces (3/4 of a 12-ounce bag) butterscotch morsels
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (8-ounce) can walnut halves
• 1/2 cup (a couple of handfuls) currants
• 8-inch cake pan, lightly greased with softened butter
• Candied cherries, red and green, for garnish, optional

Directions

Place a heavy pot on the stove and preheat it over low heat. Add chips and milk and stir until chips are melted and milk combined. Save the empty condensed milk can. Stir in vanilla and remove fudge from heat. Add nuts and currants and stir in immediately.

Cover empty condensed milk can with plastic food wrap and center it in the greased cake pan. Spoon fudge into pan around can, making sure to recenter can if it drifts.

The fudge will set up almost immediately. Garnish can only be added in the first minute or 2 the fudge is in the pan, so work quickly. Decorate your wreath with "holly" made from cut candied red and green cherries. A wreath left plain can be garnished with a pretty fabric bow when serving. Chill covered in the refrigerator and slice fudge very thin when ready to serve, a little goes a long way

Christmas Keepsake

I love making keepsake ornaments around Christmas time. I am hoping to make these hand print ornaments until the boys are at least five. They make wonderful Grandparent gifts. I make 6 sets and keep one set for the boys to keep when they move away..eeekkk. I don't even want to think about that!

Here is the recipe. I found it on the Internet last year.

Salt Bread Dough

¼ Cup Salt

½ Cup Boiling Water

1 Cup All-Purpose Flour

¼ Teaspoon Vegetable Oil (optional)

Food Coloring (optional)

Pour boiling water in a bowl and add salt. Add remaining ingredients.

Knead dough to desired consistency for crafting. If coloring dough with food coloring, work it uniformly into the dough as you knead the craft dough. Keep dough wrapped in plastic when not in use.

Form the dough into a circle and place hand in the dough until you get the desired print.

Poke two holes before baking. This will be where you will thread the ribbon.

Bake at 300 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. Ornaments will puff a little when baked. It may take a little longer to bake. Completed ornaments may be painted, or brush with beaten egg and water mixture prior to baking or a darkened, shiny appearance.

I love how they turned out. We even made cards to go with them. The boys used their handprints to make trees and then used their fingers to paint the ornaments. The were so cute!

The Card

Traditions!

A couple of years ago I was shopping after Christmas with my mom. We went into Macy's and to our surprise all of the Christmas items were 90% off. I stumbled across this box

and thought I could use it in my classroom. I was sure with 25 little cubbies I could do something for my students. Well, the box never made it to school..it stayed in my basement. This year I stumbled upon it again. I stuffed each box with a treasure for Big G. As we count down to Christmas he gets to open a box.

Keep an eye out for these treasures after Christmas. The box I got was only 50 cents..such a deal!

Save some time!

In honor of the holidays I thought I would post some quick time saving tips.

Make address labels for your Christmas cards.

I use these year round. I have every one's addresses saved to a word document. When I need to mail out Christmas cards all I have to do is hit the print button. I try to update my addresses once a year. After the list is updated I print out a hard copy. I can refer to my hard copy throughout the year when I need to send out cards and such.

More labels

Do you need to label your child's cups, bottles, shoes, or clothes for childcare or school? Check out Mable's Labels.

They are the BEST. they don't budge and come off with minimal stickiness when you no longer need them.

Hosting a party or meal?

I am in love with the disposable aluminum baking pans. I mix, bake, serve, and store all in the same pan. It makes cooking and clean up a breeze. You can find them in the baking isle at your local grocery store or at Costco...in bulk!

One more thing

Take all of your kiddos Christmas gifts out of the packages before wrapping...you know the twist ties and such. Fill the toys with batteries and then place BACK in the original box. Wrap up the gift. When your kiddo opens the gift they get to play with it right away and you get to enjoy watching them open more gifts instead of working on taking everything out of the packaging.