What I really wanted to do last night was bake a batch of cookies that I received a few of in the cookie exchange. They were so good! But I was getting tired and I am still behind on my Christmas cards! These stamps are by Elzybells and I was anxious to use them too so the decision was made….I was getting some cards done!
I really like the simplicity of the snowflake on the Cuttlebug Bow Frame embossing folder here, so I wanted to do some cards similar to that one. Since my Elzybells Bethlehem scene was too wide for the frame, I needed to mask off the sides with a post-it note before stamping the main image. Next I stamped the image again onto a clean post-it note (make sure part of the image is on the sticky part) and cut it out. Then I placed the post-it with the town cut out overtop of the town that was stamped directly onto the cardstock. I carefully cut the center out of another embossed frame and held it in place on top of the first one. Then I added some color to the sky with a stipple brush. The masks were removed and a tiny bit of Stickles was added to the star. This was very quick and easy but I love the results!

stamps- Elzybells
paper- white
ink- Not Quite Navy
accessories- Cuttlebug Bow Frame embossing folder, stipple brush, post-it notes, Stickles

I made a double batch of these yummy cookies yesterday for a cookie exchange. I ended up with 9 1/2 dozen. I bagged 6 dozen for the exchange and froze some. I love to have a variety of cookies in the freezer for Christmas and be able to pull out a few at a time! This is the first time that I can remember of participating in a cookie exchange, so I am curious to see what everyone else is making. Here’s the recipe….very easy to make and oh, so yummy with the cinnamon sugar on them!

Snickerdoodles

1 cup shortening or margarine
1 ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt

Beat shortening & sugar. Add eggs & mix well. Add the remaining ingredients. Roll into balls the size of walnuts.

Mix 2 Tbsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon in a bowl.

Roll the balls in the cinnamon & sugar mixture. Place on a cookie sheet and bake @ 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Yum! One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is bake cookies! But I bet you figured that, huh? This is a new recipe I tried this year. I didn’t have the white chocolate chips on hand that it called for so I used milk chocolate instead. I modified the recipe and added a note at the end. They turned out pretty well, though and I will definitely make them again!

Triple Chocolate Yule Logs

1¾ cups flour
¾ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup white chocolate or milk chocolate chips
1 cup chocolate sprinkles (jimmies)

Beat butter and vanilla. Gradually add flour, sugar, cocoa and salt. Mix until well blended. * see note below. Cover & chill dough.
Form dough into 1 inch balls. Shape balls into 2-inch logs about ½ inch thick. Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake @ 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes and then remove from the cookie sheet to cool.
Place chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave until soft (45 seconds to 1 ½ minutes depending on microwave). Stir until completely melted.
Place chocolate sprinkles in a separate small bowl. Dip each end of the cookie into the melted chocolate and then into the sprinkles. Lay onto waxed or freezer paper and let stand until chocolate is set. Or place the cookies and paper onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate until set.
* I had a few cookies break in half when I dipped them into the chocolate, so I added a tiny bit of Crisco shortening to the chocolate to thin it down a bit. Next time I think I will also add an egg to the cookie dough to help bind the dough together and hopefully break less easily.

I have to admit….I really struggle with simple cards. Not that my cards are usually elaborately done, but I always feel that I need to add “more”. These are cards that I am preparing for the ladies at my church to make. We are having a day of card-making and a cookie exchange. Most of the ladies are new to stamping so I wanted to keep it simple, fun, and not over-whelming. The card on the lower left is unmistakably JulieHRR’s design. I just cut the ornament out and popped it up for dimension. The card on the top right is one of the designs that my friend Linda made when she held an event to stamp cards for the troops. I love the simplicity of it with the Cuttlebugged frame!
I have a couple hundred cards almost ready. I’m curious to see how many we make!

stamps- Miracle of Christmas, Wonderful Words II, Snow Flurries, Snowflakes, Sidekick Sayings, Dawn Houser ornament, Halloween Hedgehogs (stars)
paper- non SU!
accessories- Cuttlebug, ribbon, pop dots

Recently I made Cambria’s peppermint patty boxes for a quick make-n-take. I didn’t realize just how tiny & cute they are! The Punch Pals set worked perfectly for them too. I was going to decorate the front side of the boxes but I haven’t decided yet how I want to do that. Maybe I’ll leave them as they are. They really don’t need a lot of decoration to be cute!

stamps- Punch Pals
paper- Red, White, non-SU green, Dashing dp
ink- Black
accessories- ribbon, hole punch, Scallop punch, circle punch, colored pencils