As they say, there is a kid in all of us. So if you have kids around or just like to do kid stuff this post is for you!
Christmas Cookie Tricks
The hardest thing about making Christmas cookies is transferring the cookies to the cookie sheet. The cute little things seem to always lose their shape and sometimes even get beheaded. I came up with a random way to avoid this! (Plus this method hardly makes any mess!)
You'll need:
A pkg. of sugar cookie mix and other ingredients required or pre-made cookie dough (my personal favorite).
A can of vanilla icing
Red, green and blue sprinkles
Christmas cookie cutters
Rolling pin and cookie sheet
Step 1. Mix up the dough just as the directions say unless you are using pre-made dough.
Step 2. Put the dough in the freezer for about 20 min. This makes the dough easier to roll out. Use only a portion of dough at a time and keep the rest of it in the freezer. Form a ball with the dough. (You almost can't get the dough to cold.) If it freezes, just microwave it for a few seconds
Step 3. Here's the biggy: Flip a cookie sheet over and roll the dough out onto the bottom of it rather than on a cutting board (see the picture above). This avoids any disfigurement that could happen when transferring the figures from a cutting board to a cookie sheet.
Step 4. Another biggy: Using a cookie cutter, cut into the cold dough, then peel the dough off around each shape. (see ex. above) I also use a small metal spatula to remove cookies from the baking sheet when they are done.
Step 5. Follow the directions for baking on the package. Take cookies out while they are a bit soft. (I also use a small metal spatula to remove cookies from baking sheet).
Step 6. For any of the cookies where you want to use only sprinkles, sprinkle them before you bake.
Step 7. After the cookies are cooled, add icing and sprinkle with sprinkles (Very little clean-up).
Step 8. Eat them
Non- Edible Houses
Every year for years, our daughter, Abbey, who is 19 makes a ginger bread house. Here are a few tricks that she has learned over the years. First of all, we always get the the deluxe kit (of course at Michaels). (If you are new to this and don't want to play with the big boys, start with the regular kit.)
Trick 1. To keep the walls and roof from caving in, use a hot glue gun instead of icing. Abbey says, " If we're not gonna eat the house anyway (the walls are literally hard as a rock) why not use a hot glue gun to keep the walls together?" Genius! It works beautifully!
Trick 2. After squeezing some of the icing onto the roof, smooth it with a spackling knife.
Trick 3. Put some of the frosting in a separate plastic bag and cut a super small hole in one of the corners. Pressing out the frosting from the bag is great for smaller detail work.
Don't be too discouraged if your house doesn't look like Abbey's. I myself have less than zero fine motor skills and still have fun making one. (Notice there's no picture of mine.)
* My friend, Margy Coleman, of Chicago soaks the edges of their house in tea and "The walls stay together perfectly." Her girls like to eat theirs!
Easy Peasy Homemade Ornaments
Every kid likes to see an ornament they've made hanging on their Christmas tree. Here is an easy way to make them smile.. (Some steps are better for adults to do, like cutting out the ornament).
Step 1. Take some card board (I like to use the cardboard from the underside of a legal pad) and a cookie cutter (the simpler the better.) Trace the cookie cutter, and cut it out.
Step 2. After that punch a hole at the top of the cardboard "cookie" using a hole punch.
Step 3. Thoroughly cover the ornament with glue stick and sprinkle the ornament with lots glitter.
Step 4. Repeat step 3 on the other side.
Step 5. Spray both sides with shellac to keep the gitter from coming off.
Step 6. Twist an ornament hook, so it will hang right. Hang it on your tree. Beautiful!
Light It Up
My kids and I used to do something really fun to make their rooms more Christmasee. We would put green and red light bulbs into their light fixtures. (I got them at the lighting store.) They just loved it! It gave their room a magical feel.
Happy Christmas Crafting!