Neighbor Gift Giving

Christmastime is sweets time! Whether you enjoy baking something up in your kitchen or fill a jar with your favorite candies, these goodies make delicious gift for your neighbors!

 I filled this Ball jar with home-baked snowballs, otherwise known as pecan balls. These irresistible powdered sugar dusted cookies are a household favorite! And I love how easy they are to make, requiring just a few ingredients!

Pecan Balls

1 Cup Butter

4 Tbsp. Sugar

2 Cups Ground Pecans

2 Cups Sifted Flour

1 Tsp. Vanilla

Powdered Sugar for Dusting

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together butter and sugar. In a food processor or blender, finely grind pecans and add to butter mixture. Mix in flour 1/2 cup at a time, being sure to scrape down your bowl. Add vanilla.

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop balls onto a lined cookie sheet then roll gently in palms to make round. Bake for 11-12 minutes, until slightly browned. Cool for about 10 minutes before rolling in powdered sugar.

Doodlebug's Home for the Holidays glittered snowflake paper and the 'let it snow' tag matches my snowball cookies perfectly!

Here's the lid. Cute, huh? Love the badges!

Some years I make ornaments to go with my treats...something to hang on the tree and enjoy year after year.

Using the same papers and snowflake theme as the goody jar, I decorated this star shaped cookie cutter. I simply used a foam brush to apply a thin layer of Aileen's craft glue around the edge of the star and applied a strip of patterned paper. Then came the decorations...tag and snowflake die cuts along with a sticker, rhinestone, baker's twine and jingle bells. That's it! Super simple!

Thank You

Now that I've managed to chase our kitty, Oreo, out of the Christmas tree, I can share with you a thank you card I made recently using Pebbles' beautiful Front Porch collection. 

Wouldn't this be great to send to your Thanksgiving hostess? Actually it could be used any time of year...that's what I love about Front Porch...it's versatility. I've been using it a lot for Christmas themed projects too that you will be seeing soon.

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The card's is pretty simple, just a couple patterned papers, a couple die cuts, a pretty flower sticker and jute. A quick question for you...do you prefer clean and simple designs or my more layered with lots of goodies? Or both?

Since I began my post telling you about Oreo climbing the tree, I thought I'd share this photo. It was taken last Friday when we put the tree up. It's currently Oreo's favorite holiday activity! He lays on the branches as if perched comfortably on the sofa! Notice the Hallmark ornament? Kitty trying to reach the mistletoe? It's from the Mischievous Kitty series! ;)

I wouldn't know a thing about mischievous kitties now, would I? ;)

Christmas Countdown

The countdown to Christmas is on! Christopher's been enjoying his Advent calendar and last night I hung our stockings by the chimney with care! ;) Over at the Bella Blvd. blog there's a challenge for you this week to create a project inspired by the quote, "Don't be afraid; Just believe" Mark 5:36.

Here's what I came up with, a couple cards created with the Christmas Countdown collection.

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How about these bright colors and the adorable penguin and elf?

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I love how each card has it's own color palette yet they were created with the same line, very versatile! One of my favorite Bella Blvd. accents are the buttons! There's always a few styles and colors that match each line!

So how are your holidays shaping up? I'm beginning to feel a little overwhelmed so I plan to sit down this morning with pen and paper and create a plan of attack! ;) There are so many things I want to accomplish and I want to enjoy it all too! I always feel better when I have a list that I can start working on and checking off.

Here's to a successful and enjoyable day for all of us!

Let it Snow!

I've got it bad for snowflakes lately! They're appearing on just about every wintry Christmas project I've made in the past couple weeks! And my favorite snowflakes are these I've been creating with the Top Dog Dies' Snowflake Trio Die Set. 

They're my favorite because of the gorgeous detailing and varying sizes. I started this card by making negative snowflake shapes and then filled them in with the die cut snowflakes.

I love the texture and dimension this technique creates!

The soft colored patterned papers I used are from Pebbles' Front Porch collection.

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I finished the card with a few glittered snowflakes accents, some baker's twine and a couple jingle bells.

The weather in North Carolina has been below normal for days now so this card is quite fitting, don't you think? Each morning we've been waking up to a blanket of frost. It's so pretty when the sun comes up and makes everything sparkle!

Thanks for dropping by! :)