Wordless Wednessday

 

 



How Santa Gets In Without A Fireplace

Not unlike many others, my family and I live in a home without a fireplace. We don't miss it one little bit. The exception to that statement was last week when my beautiful 4 year old daughter had a bit of a meltdown when she realized that the chimney was the entry point for Santa.

In her mind without a fireplace there could be no Santa. No Santa? No presents.

I promised her we would leave the door unlocked so Santa could use the front door and all was once again right with her world. Until bedtime, when she was clearly rethinking the whole thing. As a natural worries she decided that if the door was unlocked for Santa, what was to stop a bad guy from also entering and stealing all those gifts left earlier by the big man?

You see, not only is Roo a worrier she's also famous for being a drama princess, daughter of a self confessed drama queen. So you see, she comes by it honestly.

"Ok honey, we'll figure it out tomorrow, I promise." Once again she seemed appeased at my answer and off to bed she went.

I started Googling and found that you can buy special Santa Keys like this one. Well ok, but it's now too late for me to order and frankly by the time I pay for it and shipping it's going to be an outrageous price that I'm not willing to fork out. That's when the wheels of my crafty brain begin with a squeaky start. I know I've seen cool keys like this before in frames at the dollar store.

I knew it was going to become a neat mother daughter project. Simple and sweet not to mention inexpensive! I found our perfect key, and some holiday ribbon. A thin band of glue around a decorative section then Roo sprinkled glitter to give it just a touch of sparkle! We tied the ribbon into a hanging bow and we were all set! Here is a close up of the detail.



Can you tell she was totally impressed with herself after knowing we'd be safe with Santa having a key. Frankly it never dawned on her that the "bad guy" could also use the key, but we'll cross that bridge if the need arises. Fingers crossed it doesn't because I truly have no further plans.

This is what it looks like on our door! Cute, festive and best of all it didn't cost me a small fortune!

If you are like us, and lack a fireplace you can make your very own Santa Key! How does Santa get into your house? Roo and I would love to hear!

Mint Chocolate Crinkle Cookie Recipe

 

Every year I take part in a cookie exchange. I have a love hate relationship with it to be honest. I love getting all my holiday goodies by spending only one day actually in the kitchen, but I dread actually finding a recipe that is affordable, not labor intensive and most importantly; delicious!

 

Every year it starts off the same way. I spend ages scouring the Internet for something I haven't yet made. It has to appeal to my family because they will be my guinea pigs. This year I found a cake mix recipe that sounded pretty good but nothing about it said "Christmas cookies" so I altered it to suit my needs.

 

It began as a simple chocolate crinkle cookie and ended ans a mint chocolate crinkle cookie. I really enjoyed them as did my family. In fact my son (Aussie-15) asked me if I would bake him a couple dozen to take to his friends the next night. It passed the teenage test but then they are human trash compactors. The real test was in how they would be received at the cookie exchange.  From the comments of people who I witnessed eating one, it seems they were a great choice.

 



The ingredients were very simple!



Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, but the recipe was so easy my four year

old (Roo) was able to do it on her own. Only asking for help once the

dough got too stiff for her little arms to stir!



Learn from my ignorance. I actually enlisted my daughter to help me smash them by hand.

What a mess! I can safely tell you that I have since learned that you can buy

crushed candy canes seasonally at bulk food stores.





This was a HUGE mistake. In theory it was a fun idea, but once we began

we realized it hurt, and it was messy!



The finished cookies, Festive and yummy!

Ingredients:

1 Box of Devils Food Cake
1/4 Cup Oil
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Crushed Candy Canes
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F
Mix crushed candy can and powdered sugar together in a medium bowl
In a separate large mixing bowl mix eggs and oil together
add cake mix to egg/oil mixture and stir with a wooden spoon, forming a stiff dough.
Roll into 1.5" balls
Dredge balls in the candy cane/powdered sugar mixture.
Place balls about 2" apart on a cookie sheet

Bake Time: 12 minutes.
Yield: 36 Cookies

Do you participate in a cookie exchange?

What are your favorite holiday treats?



Win a Dress From Olivia Rose

Who doesn't love seeing their little girl all dressed up and playing princess? I am no different. After raising a boy for so many years I am really enjoying all the girliness that comes along with my daughter. She plays dress up constantly.The trouble I have is that once she's dressed up she doesn't want to take off her costumes if we have to go out. Nothing more embarrassing that being at No Frills doing groceries with a mini-bride. Yikes!

Wouldn't it be nice if the outfit they chose was something that people would think was just part of their outfit? That's exactly what happened to us when we had to pop to the doctors unexpectedly and Roo refused to take off her tutu. My only saving grace was that it was her new tutu from Olivia Rose. It's not a flimsy, cheaply thrown together tutu. It's really beautiful, the materials are of great quality and it looks very high quality. We have the black one that is topped with satin. So all I did was pop a pair of pants under it and she was good to go. No one looked at her as if she was in costume but rather they complimented her on her cute outfit!

She gets a lot of compliments on her fashion sense but wearing this tutu brought more than usual. She was really quite proud. Of course she's been wearing it non stop since she got it.

I think I need to plan her holiday outfit around it, since I can assume its the new wardrobe staple!

 

 

 

 

Since we love the outstanding quality and customer service  from Olivia Rose we thought we'd share it with YOU! Their products or very hot right now, being featured in the Oh Baby! Holiday gift Guide 2012. They were even at the Golden Globes Gifting Suite! Which means the biggest celeb kids are wearing Olivia Rose! Your kids can too!

Do you have a little girl in your life who would love a new beautiful dress?

We are thrilled to be pairing with Olivia Rose to giving this adorable original satin ruffle dress!!

 

Perfect for any little girl and occasion! The winner will get to choose from red or green!

Giveaway Rules:

• All you have to do to enter is go visit Olivia Rose and leave me a comment below to let me know what you like!
• Be sure to leave your email address if you are not a registered or I won;t be able to contact you if you win. 
• Contest will be open until Sunday Dec 9th 9:00pm
• Open to Residents of Canada (excluding Quebec)
• Winner will be announced on Dec 10th

Good Luck!!