Butter Christmas Cookies

My daughter and I made these Christmas cookies for her to bring to her class on the last day of school. Since we were moving she wanted to share the cookies to say goodbye.

When we went shopping for supplies it went something like this:

Me: Do you want to make Christmas cookies for your friends or just all different kinds of cookies?

Daughter: I think Christmas cookies

Me: Okay, then lets get green and red sprinkles for your cookies.

Daughter: I want the star sprinkles. Lets just make all different shapes of cookies for my friends.

Me: Are you sure?

Daughter: Yes, I want to star sprinkles.

Upon arrival home......

Daughter: Lets make our cookies Christmas shapes!

So here are our Christmas cookies with birthday star sprinkles:

Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp talk 
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and mix until a putty-like consistency is obtained. 
• Refrigerate for a couple of hours
• Roll dough out and cut out with cookie cutters
• Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees, until edges are brown. 
• Cool, then frost if desired. 

I used this recipe for icing from All Recipes.

A Homemade Christmas

A few days ago I questioned my little on what she wanted for Christmas. Her initial response made me melt. She said, "I just only want a picture of mama, dada and me for my room. I just already have lots of things, I don't need anymore things". 

Upon further reflection, she decided that she would indeed like some "oven puppets" (oven mitts), a real kitchen that works and is the right size for her, a balloon and a flower for Christmas. I think Santa can make 3/4 of those happen. Easy bake ovens just aren't made for 3 year olds I have decided. In addition to those gifts I'm planning to get her some new watercolor paints, coloring books and some underwear.

We got some Christmas/Advent decorating done thanks to my mom who supplied most of the decorations. We made the rest.

Our Advent wreath

Beautiful trees my mom brought over, and a gingerbread train station my daughter and I made from a kit my mom brought us.

Our snowman display

Our coffee table center piece

I strung some plastic ornaments on some twine for the windows (please excuse the poor picture quality- they really did turn out cute)

More plastic ornaments used

Our Christmas tree (please ignore the fact that it is badly leaning) We are limited in our ornaments so I made bows and hung cheap candy canes on the tree!

I also put up a Christmas count down santa, a wreath outside and a picture of an ornament I painted. The camera didn't make it to them... One day I'd love to also get a Nativity Scene, but I want a nice one and they are too expensive this year!

I'm linking up with NFP and Me.

How have you decorated? What are you planning to get others for Christmas?

Clay Angel Ornament

When I was younger I loved sculpting things out of oven bake clay. I often made small animal figurines and beads. This year I decided to rekindle that old love of mine and make some ornaments for Christmas. I chose to make an angel because angels are so important to remember during Christmas, as well as everyday life.

Here is how I did it:

Sculpt about 1/2 a block of sand colored Sculptey clay into a head with a long flowing blob underneath it. (mine is about 6 inches in height) Then attach 2 long rectangles in the center of the back and have them meet in the center of the front of the body to make the arms.

Then free form the wings. Mine were about 3 1/2 inches in height.

Attach the wings to the back of the angel

Make a rectangle with rounded corners the same height and width of angel's body that extends below where the hands meet. Pinch the top of one end to make pleats.

Attach the skirt just underneath where the hands meet.

Make a small heart out of a piece of colored clay and attach it to the front where the arms meet. 

Make 4 long "snakes" out of brown (or whatever color you'd like) clay. Twirl them around a pen to make curls. Then attach them together at the top with 2 on each side.

Lastly I cut the top of a paper clip off with wire cutters and pushed it into the top of the angel's head to make a hook.

Then bake at 275 degrees F for about 30 minutes (or whatever the directions say). If you don't want your clay to show any finger prints in it, then I recommend lightly rolling over each piece with a rolling pin prior to attaching the pieces. I chose not to do this because I liked the handmade look.

These make perfect Christmas gifts or can be used in your own home on your tree.

The Holiday Marathon

As we were driving home last night from dinner, I noticed something I hadn't seen in quite a while. It was the twinkling of Christmas lights that the door to a bank was so beautifully donning. I sat in the car in slight disbelief, as Halloween just passed only a few days ago. I love the Christmas season, but perhaps it is still a little bit too early to decorate for Christmas. We haven't even had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving yet! I say this, being a firm believer in decorating for Christmas much before Christmas.

I still remember the very first Thanksgiving my husband spent with my family. The day after we all had stuffed ourselves with turkey we sat around the living room talking. I stood up and announced that I wanted to put the (fake) Christmas tree up. I was looking for volunteers to help me out! My husband sat there, shocked. I think he was seriously offended that I would instigate decorating for Christmas so early. He didn't expect that kind of behavior from me. He insisted that decorating that early made Christmas commercial, and took away the real meaning of Christmas. He explained that his family put up the Christmas tree MAYBE one week before the holiday. I couldn't comprehend why someone would want to wait that long.

This is a conflict that often many Christians face. Does it take away from the meaning of Christmas to decorate for Christmas so early? I am convinced that the real answer is: it depends. If it gets a family in the mood to only talk about presents and thinks about all the things they hope to receive Christmas morning, then yes it takes away from the true meaning of Christmas. But I still maintain that decorating (even a month) early can be a good thing.

After thinking about this dilemma a little too long, I have come to decide that decorating early can help a person prepare for baby Jesus to come and it can help a person become enthusiastic about spreading the meaning of Jesus' love. I know it gets me in the spirit of giving!

I once read this scenario:

If a you were to receive news that the king and queen of England were coming to stay in your house, you wouldn't wait until the last minute to scramble together some resemblance of hospitality. Most people would begin planning a menu, cleaning the house and making sure everything looked its best. There is no reason that the coming of Jesus, the greatest King of all time, needs to be any different. 

Now, I try to taper my excitement for Christmas at least until the first of December. Then I break out the advent wreath and petition my husband to agree to go get a tree. I make lists of carefully chosen items that I want to purchase as gifts for the ones I love. My mind often wanders to ways I can help others out. My excitement over flows when I get to fill my daughter's shoes with goodies on St. Nicholas Day. This year I am entertaining the idea of a Jesse tree. Mentally and spiritually I prepare myself for this amazing story that is the birth of God! And I also find the legend of Santa a fun one.

Both my husband and I now are better able to see that different people do things differently, and neither way is necessarily wrong. I like to show my enthusiasm for the birth of Jesus outwardly with decorations, as it helps me prepare. Still others find it easier to mentally and spiritually prepare for Christmas with out the distraction of decorations.

When does your family begin decorating for Christmas? How do you help keep your focus on the true meaning of Christmas?