The Cookie Thing

Isn't it fun to bake cookies this time of year? Filling baskets and tins for teachers and friends and family and friends of family with beautifully decorated made-from-scratch pieces of fine art...

I can't even say that without gagging. Last year, I made a huge mistake. I tried to be perfect. I tried to make Martha Stewart-complicated cookie recipes that required too many steps and strange ingredients, and I was out of the holiday mood before the end of the first week of Advent. I was so frustrated in January that I left myself a little note to remind me to keep it simple so that I could enjoy the season this time around instead of drowning in eggs and flour. My gift to you is a short list of ideas to impress others without driving yourself crazy.

1. Don't bake, embellish. The lovely morsels in the picture at the top of this article are actually Amaretti cookies that I purchased. I dipped them in chocolate, and they became yummier and prettier. Had I wanted to really impress, I could have sprinkled them with holiday sprinkles or slivered almonds. The Amaretti cookie company makes their cookies far better than I ever could, so why not let them do it? Besides, technically when I added the chocolate I created ownership in the cookies, so I think saying I made them is not completely false. ;) So, find a good dipping chocolate and some fancy cookies, and dip away! I won't tell if you won't!

2. People who bake from scratch are great, but I don't have time. I also don't want to wash too many dishes. When I was grocery shopping the other day I noticed the holiday baking aisle agrees with me--they have a mix for pretty much everything these days. Snowball cookies, peanut butter ball candy, every cookie imaginable...it's impressive. These great mixes are a sanity-saver when I really just have time to dump and stir, not measure. Once baked, I recommend going back to tip #1--embellish, embellish, embellish. This Thursday is our MOPS Cookie Swap meeting, and my plan is to make sugar cookies from a mix that I have, dip them in white chocolate, and sprinkle crushed candy canes on them. Sure beats the from scratch Black Forest Cookie fiasco of last year, they will probably taste much better, and it's going to cost a lot less, too. (Also, I am making the sugar cookies from a mix because I already have it. I would totally get refrigerated sugar cookie dough for this otherwise!)

Enjoy the season this year, and take it easy on yourself! Got any tips for me? The easier the better!

* SNOW *

"Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says. "I'm going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that's tough. I am going to snow anyway."

~ Maya Angelou

"To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow."

~William Faulkner

"The future lies before you, like paths of pure white snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show."

~ Unknown

"I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines."

~ Henry David Thoreau

"Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside."

~ Stephanie Meyer (Twilight)

Advent Calendar Craft, Cheap and Easy!

I know I already did a post about Advent calendars, but I wanted to share the one I just made this weekend (hey, better late than never, right?). The Advent banner I was using was really hokey and had very tiny pockets. I thought I could make something better...it just took a trip to the local dollar store. This Advent calendar cost me $4 to make:

I found the little boxes in the party favors aisle (in the baby section, no less!). They are mint green with white plastic handles. They came 8 to a package, so those cost $3. I found a bag of "Christmas Table Scatter" with glittery green foam pine trees which made a perfect box decoration ($1), then I added the numbers 1-24 using red and green permanent markers. KID 1 decided an A-B-B pattern would look nice (red-green-green) for the numbers, so that's what we did. I tied the boxes onto a length of wide red and green plaid ribbon using strips of fabric and various ribbons (all of which I scrounged from my craft closet). You could also just hang the boxes on the Christmas tree and let the kids hunt for the box of the day.

I think it turned out pretty nice! Here's the whole picture:

And a close-up:

I'm pretty happy with my dollar store Advent calendar! Now those little boxes are just begging to be filled! Our dollar store had small bags of chocolate coins and wrapped Christmas chocolates that will be perfect treats, and I've already got my list of daily Advent activities written on slips of scrapbook paper to stuff into each box. We're having so much fun with our Advent countdown!

Homemade Christmas: Photo Ornaments

I made this cool ornament from old Christmas cards. I am one of those people that can't throw away a card because someone sent it to me. But I do not have problem repurposing it! I will show you how to make one and if you add a photo of your child or family it makes it even cuter! : )

Here is what you will need:
Christmas cards
Big chunky beads
Paper cuter
Double sided tape
Wallet size photo (I printed mine on paper)
Twine or Ribbon
an Exacto Knife (not pictured... I tried my hole punch but it would not reach)

1.) Cut your cards in to 3X3 inch squares and group them by color. You need 6 squares for each ornament.
2.) On the back side of each square find mark the midpoint on each side (at 1.5 inches)

3.) Score a diagonal line connecting your midpoints. Do this on each square.

4.) Fold on your score lines. You should have 6 squares that look like this:

5.) Choose two squares to be your top and bottom. Find the middle (I drew lines to find mine) and use your Exacto Knife to cut a whole in the center.

6.) Use your double sided tape to connect your 2 of the corners of 2 of your squares

This is what the back should look like

and this is what the front should look like:

7.) Continue connecting until you have 4 of your squares together that make a "tube".

8.) Choose the bottom and sting your twine or ribbon through the hole and attach onto the bottom of your "tube"

9.) Pull your twine up through your tube and through your top piece. Connect your top piece to the rest of the ornament.

10.) Tie a loop on the top.

11.) And tie a bead onto the bottom.

12.) cut out your photos (about 2X2 inch square) and attach it to on of the sides.

SUPER CUTE!!!

Here is the blue one with a ribbon instead of twine.

I entered in a tutorial contest over at See Mommy Sew.

I entered my leg warmers, Monogram plate and Wine gift bag from my Fireflies and Jellybeans blog. So far, the leg warmers has the most votes (for me) so that is my best chance to win.

PLEASE vote for me... please please pretty please! Please support this Motley Mom! It would really mean a lot to me!

See all the tutorials HERE and vote Here

During this season of giving, I want to challenge you to give in even one more way - give your blood. 37% of Americans are eligible to give blood, but only 5% choose to do so. It's a very easy, mostly painless way to literally save another person's life and 1 pint of blood can help up to 3 different people.
I know, I know - you're squeamish. You don't like needles, you don't like hospitals, you don't like blood. But seriously, moms, don't we come in contact with a lot of stuff on a regular basis that makes us squeamish but we deal with it anyway? I am a major sissy when it comes to bodily fluids, and I can give blood.
It's totally safe. They only use the needles and other equipment once, so there's no chance of infection. You undergo a short medical screening to make sure donating blood won't be hazardous to your health. People who work at blood banks are usually phlebotomists who stick people all the time, so they are gentle and complications are rare. The worst complication is most likely fainting and that can usually be prevented by eating regular meals before you donate and hanging out for a few minutes after you give to get your sea legs back.
This is what will happen if you give blood: You'll answer some questions, fill out some paperwork, have your temperature, pulse rate, and blood pressure checked. The phlebotomist will prick your finger and put a drop of your blood in a solution to see if it sinks quickly - if it does, you're not anemic and can give. If it floats (which usually happens to me), she'll put it in a centrifuge and then check it. Then, once you've been cleared, you'll sit in a reclining chair and the donation will begin. (I'm not going to go into great detail because of those of you who really are squeamish.) I'm not going to lie - it hurts to have a needle stuck in your arm. But it's temporary and not that bad. After a few minutes, she takes out the needle and holds pressure on your arm, then bandages it up. You drink a Coke, eat some cookies, get a free t-shirt, and go home. You might feel a little woozy, so keep activity light for the rest of the day and make sure you eat a good supper. I like to eat steak or another red meat to help replenish the iron I lost. Speaking of replenishing, your body starts to replenish your blood supply immediately. All fluids are replaced within 24 hours and red blood cells are back within 56 days. I've found that the more often I give (every 8 weeks - the limit), the less tired I feel afterward.
There's another reason why I give. My dad was religious about donating blood. His blood type was O-, which means he could give to anyone. He even had some special thing in his blood that allowed him to donate to fetuses. He gave gallons and gallons of blood throughout his life. So not only do I get a free Coke and t-shirt, I get to help people and honor my dad's memory.
This is my challenge to you this Christmas - give. Give money, give food, give toys, give clothes, and give away a part of yourself, a part you don't even really need - give a pint of blood. You never know when you might need someone else to give a pint to you.

Daily Advent Activities

I'm just now putting together some activities for our Advent calendar and thought I'd share some of our holiday happenings that I wrote on slips of paper and stuffed into the little pockets:

Dec. 1st: Let's decorate the house for Christmas tonight!

Dec. 2nd: Secretly do something nice for someone today.

Dec. 3rd: Let's trim the tree tonight!

Dec. 4th: Let's bring pizza to Grammy and help decorate her house tonight!

Dec. 5th: Christmas at Pinewood is quite a sight - Let's go see it all decked out tonight! (Pinewood is the Spanish-style mansion at Bok Tower)

This adorable mitten Advent garland

would be easy to create at home.

Dec. 6th: A small gift awaits if you follow the clue - It rests in a place where you do, too! (Each gets a special ornament that represents them somehow...our 5-yr-old loves soccer and our 3-yr-old learned how to swing by herself. I found both ornaments at Hallmark, balked at the price, then paid it so I could be done...thanks for the advice, Liz!)

Dec. 7th: Make Pine Cone Ornaments: Spray with fake snow, dab with white, gold or silver paint, add glitter...there are lots of ways to dress up a pinecone!

Dec. 8th: Sing a Christmas carol for Daddy and Mommy tonight - be sure to practice together first!

Dec. 9th: Wrap up your presents for family
               And gently place them under the tree.


Dec. 10th: Bake some special cookies to share with our neighbors. (We'll do something easy like these Molasses Crinkles)

Dec. 11th: Let's make a Christmas pizza with RED, WHITE, and GREEN toppings to share with Grammy! We'll watch a Christmas movie, too!

Dec. 12th: Disney decks it's hotels lavishly for Christmas. Let's go ride the monorail and enjoy the decorations...I bet we'll find hot chocolate at the Wilderness Lodge!
 
Dec. 13th: A brand new Christmas book for Ben and Emma to handle

                Sits in a warm, cozy spot up on the _____________. (answer: mantle)

That's all I've got for now...I will plan the rest when we get a little closer to Christmas. As events pop up that I don't know about, I will just swap out that day's activity and replace it with the event (like on Dec. 12th...is that the day of the city Christmas parade?)
 
What sorts of activities do you do during Advent?

Note to self...

Seriously, that's what today's blog is about--writing notes to yourself. Let me explain...

Last year's holiday season nearly did it for me--by New Year's I wanted to throw every last piece of holiday cheer into the landfill. The season started badly with an overzealous cookie making campaign, and it ended with all of us so exhausted that we didn't even have our traditional New Year's Eve Christmas together. It was just too much.

After things had cooled down, I asked myself why I was so overwhelmed, and I realized there were several things I could have done differently. Of course, hind sight is 20/20 as they say, but I decided to give future-me a hand with this season.

We keep our family calendar on our Outlook software and it allows me to make appointments well into the next century. Last year I went to the key dates of this year (like the day after Thanksgiving when we decorate) and I left myself strategic notes that would pop up as a reminder. For the past few weeks I've been getting notes about keeping Christmas cookies simple, where to find the decorations I bought on clearance after Christmas last year, and tips on how to make things simpler. Not only is it just plain funny to get notes from myself magically delivered each day, but it's pretty helpful, too. I remember how exhausted-me was desperate to ensure this year was nothing like last year, and I appreciate her efforts. Just when I'm tempted to over-extend, I get a little note and it whips me back into reality.

So, whether you keep a digital calendar or a paper one, I encourage you to take notes this year to help with next year (or next week if need be), and be sure to put them in a place where they will be found. Enjoy the holiday season, and take care of yourself!

If you could leave yourself a note today to make the holidays better for your family, what would it say?