Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

I made this holiday pin out of a match box. I love making things with small boxes. The small china doll fit perfectly inside.

I added Sculpey around her legs in the shape of a full skirt and baked it for 15 min. and then wrapped mini garland around her.

I lined the inside of the matchbox with some red paper and then glued glitter around the outside. I added other embellishments: gold bow filigree, twine bow, black striped border and pearl drop.  I think I might have to make more things out of small boxes.

And lastly, pictured below is my Christmas cards for this year. I only made a few of them this year, as I got a late start and ran out of time to make more.

Thanks to Catherine Moore for designing the beautiful stamp from her Paris Flea collection.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Artful Box Girl

This morning I decided to make this girl made from a small box.

I used random pieces of scrap paper that was sitting on my desk and glued the box to an old tag.

 The face is taken from an old doll making book.

I found like 50 of these mini boxes at East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse about 2 years ago and today I finally made something from one of them.

It would make a great way to wrap something very small like a charm or ring in one of these boxes. I can't wait to make more...or it could be an activity to make at our next family gathering. :-)

Happy Christmas Eve!

I Won Best In Show - Annual Cookie Contest

Our office has an annual cookie contest during the holidays and this year I won best in show! I made these cookies, I called: "Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice".

I adapted the recipe from a cookie I found on-line called: Laura Bush's Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookies. Although, I don't personally like coconut or cranberries, I do love these cookies.

 Mix the dry ingredients.

 Chop the dried cranberries into small bits.

Mix the dry ingredients with the butter, sugar mixture.

Flatten the dough slightly before putting them in the oven, if you like to have cookies on the thinner side.

Important tip is to let your cookies cool on the baking sheet before removing them to cooling rack. Enjoy, I hope you try them!

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1 T baking soda
1 T cinnamon
1 t salt
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown Sugar
3 eggs
1 T vanilla
3 Cups chocolate chips
3 Cups old-fashion oatmeal
1 Cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 Cup chopped dried cranberries
2 Cups chopped pecans

Preheat over to 350 F

In a large bowl, whisk together: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.

Stir in flour mixture, blending just until combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut, cranberries and pecans.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes.

They make great little gifts to give to your family and friends.