December 12, 2011 2 Comments

snowmouse ice cream treat

When I was a little girl my brother called me mouse… I won’t go into why… but let’s just say he said I squeaked. Ha! I guess that’s a big brother for you. {smirky grin}

This weekend I was playing around with the boys’ ice cream and instead of making the typical snowman, we came up with the snowmouse. Isn’t he cute!

We used a rainbow Twizzler for his scarf (tip: get it cold and it will stay in position), mini M&Ms for the eyes and nose, small black sprinkles for the mouth and the new Keebler Dark Chocolate Fudge Stripe Cookies for the ears.

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create. Happy Monday!

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2 Comments Filed under: brrr... birthday, christmas, cool treats, holidays, Kim's sweet treats, snow day Tagged with: , , ,
December 7, 2011 3 Comments

pretty DIY holiday packaging

My lovely friend Christi from Love From The Oven (fabulous blog full of oh so yummy ideas!) is hosting 12 days of holiday baking and not only is she baking, but she’s packaging, sharing free printables, hosting giveaways and more! Yay!

She made these White Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Oatmeal Cookies (I love every word in that name) and packaged them in these sweet little pails from Target with my FREE Mod Candy Cane printable tags. So pretty. My boys’ teachers may be seeing these in a few weeks. {wink}

And guess what?! Christi is hosting a giveaway for a Kitchen Aid Mixer!! If you don’t have one, you want one. Rush over and enter! It ends Dec. 13!

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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December 2, 2011 4 Comments

10 Santa snacks

I’m hosting my annual cookie decorating party this year and the theme is all Santa inspired (using my Santa printable collection of course)! Here are a few of my favorite finds from the fantastically talented bakers around the web.

1. Santa cookies from Bakerella, 2. Santa hat cookies from Family Fun, 3. Santa hat cupcakes from Luxe Finds, 4. Santa belly cookies from Tidy Mom

5. Ho Ho Ho roly-poly Santa from Sugar and Charm, 6. Santa hat party mix from Cookies & Cups, 7. Santa hat pretzels from Free Fun Christmas, 8. Santa on a stick cupcakes from Bright Ideas, 9. Simple Santa cookies from Pillsbury {love the coconut beard!} 

10. Santa strawberries from The Love of Food {I love that this one is semi-healthy and still oh so pretty!}

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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December 1, 2011 14 Comments

DIY snowman cello bag treats

I’m a bit excited to share my snowman cello bag treat craft with you this morning! I’m just in love with him and he will absolutely be making an appearance at school this season, at my Snowman party in January (the kids keep wanting to have a snow related party so they can have a snowball fight off the new tree house with friends) and maybe even at my annual Christmas cookie decorating party… I plan to use my Santa collection… hmmm… {note to self: make a Santa version! Update! Made Santa version!}. 

Here’s what you’ll need: white powdered donut holes, pretzel cello bags (I picked mine up at JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores), orange and black ultra thin point Sharpies, craft paper (the designs shown are from my Ice Cream Social collection) and tape.

Start by putting three donut holes in a cello to measure approximate height. Cut a strip of paper that length and insert it into your pretzel cello bag as a guide. Draw on your snowman’s carrot nose with the orange Sharpie and the eyes, mouth and buttons with the black Sharpie.

Punch a 1″ circle and a 2″ circle (my Fiskar punches came from JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores) for the hat brim and top. Cut a 1″x3.5″ strip for the hat and a 1/4″ wide strip for the scarf.

Assemble the hat with tape. (Note: Use your 1″ circle to make sure the diameter of your hat is correct. I allowed for overlap in the 1″x3.5″ strip.)

Trim fringe on the end of the scarf and attach just below the first donut with a touch of glue or tape. 

And if you like my snowman cello bag treats, make sure you hop over and check out my Halloween monster cello bag treats and my Thanksgiving turkey cello bag treats for next year!

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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14 Comments Filed under: baking, brrr... birthday, christmas, holidays, Kim's crafts, Kim's sweet treats, snow day Tagged with: , , , , ,
November 18, 2011 7 Comments

peppermint no-bake cookies

For the holiday savings article in All You magazine this month (download the free gift tags and recipe cards, learn how to craft the inexpensive holiday packaging) I made my families favorite no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies with a twist. Peppermint!

Let’s start with ingredients. You’ll need:

  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter (I often add a little less)
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup milk
  •  ½ cup cocoa
  • ½ cup peanut butter (I sometimes add more!)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (splurge for the real extract; it’s worth it)
  • 3 cups quick-cooking oats (I sometimes add a little less depending on how much peanut butter I use)
  • soft peppermint to taste (I used six, crushed into small pieces, for the batch and I got them at Cracker Barrel)

Quick and easy steps: Mix the sugar and cocoa together and blend until the mixture is smooth. You don’t want lumps of sugar in your cookies! 

Crush your soft peppermint in a resealable bag with a rolling pin. My kids like doing this part for me! And set aside until the end.

Move the mixture to a saucepan and add milk. Stir again until you have the consistency of chocolate syrup.

The rest of this process is very fast, so make sure you have all your ingredients and greased pan ready (or wax paper if you prefer to drop them with a spoon). Add low heat and butter. Allow butter to melt slowly and then bring mixture to a rolling boil for one minute, stirring it constantly (you want it hot enough to melt the peanut butter and cook the one minute oats, but not so hot that it burns).

Add vanilla and add peanut butter. Whip it quickly so that it melts completely.

Stir first two cups of oats in and mix well. Add third cup a little at a time. (Remember: The heat of the mixture is what cooks the oats so don’t go too slowly. Plus, they set very quickly so spoon them into a dish or drop them on wax paper as soon as the oats are mixed!) Fold in or layer your peppermint. And I like to sprinkle a bit on top.

Enjoy! And as always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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