Ginabread Cookies.

[Hello gentlemen!]

Ginabread! Er... gingerbread cookies! Icing is hard. Luckily I gots a steady hand. Martha Stewart has a good gingerbread cookie recipe. Here's a helpful tip: Make sure baking time correlates to the size of your cookies (big cookies = bake longer, small cookies = bake shorter).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

[Peanut butter cup cookies via Glorious Treats]

As part of a holiday cookie medley I've been trying to put together, I found this recipe for peanut butter cup cookies. I knew I'd be baking lots of cookies so I tried to find things that were fairly easy and fun to make. I used Alton Brown's sugar cookie recipe. 

[Sorry OCD people!]

Chocolate+Caramel+Pecan+Pretzel

[I like this kind of math!]

Isn't this candy tin SO CUTE? JoAnns Fabrics had a 70% off clearance sale on their holiday items. This was the perfect size for chocolate caramel pecan pretzel bites. They are super duper easy to make. Put mini pretzels onto a cookie sheet. Place a caramel Hershey Kiss on top of each and bake for 5 minutes at 250 degrees in the oven. Then smush a pecan on top. Let cool or refrigerate. You got an easy treat in just a few minutes.

Banana Bread.

 [Banana Bread in Holiday Loaf Pan]

I like to handmake my holiday gifts when I can. My favorite banana bread recipe is by Emeril Legasse. A.C. Moore had these cute ceramic holiday loaf pans on sale for a dollar! Three were enough to use up all the batter in the recipe. I reduced the sugar down to 1/2 cup and added chocolate chips to balance the sweetness. I noticed if baked in smaller loaf pans for 40 minutes, the bread comes out lighter and fluffier.

I also bought fat quarter fabrics with holiday prints for a dollar each as well. I hemmed the edges to wrap the banana bread. Makes perfect gift on a budget!

Christmas Stocking.

 

I sewed Christmas stockings for my family. They've never had a real Christmas tree so I bought one this year. Figured I may as well go all out and make them stockings too.

 

Here's a couple I made for myself and my possible future dog, Lucy. I drew a pattern onto an empty cereal box and used cotton flannel. The monogram tiles were bought from Anthropologie and the little dolls were from Crate & Barrel.

origami star ornament.

 

I made another type of ornament! What can I say? Am pretty excited about the holidays! My boss gave away some origami star kits. This was a great way to use them. 

 

I used this entire packet and filled a clear plastic ornament I bought from Michael's for 99 cents. So cheap! 

 

Tie a sparkly ribbon and sprinkle in some powdered glitter. Voilà! Pretty origami star ornaments for holiday wishes!

Sock Snowman Christmas Ornaments.

I'm so very glad to have a personal holiday tradition. For this year's holiday ornament swap, I made little sock snowmen. I keep thinking I'll run out of ideas for baby sock ornaments. I'm glad I haven't run out just yet.

[The gentlemen are ready to party.]