Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men

I attempted the reindeer cookies I talked about in THIS post.

I didn't think about doing them until I was already home from the grocery store, so I used what I had on hand (meaning the pretzels aren't chocolate covered and the candies are a little different than the ones they use in the original recipe.) I think they still turned out pretty cute. I also used gingerbread dough instead of peanut butter like the original poster used.

This is the recipe I used:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons ground Ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions

1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

I found the recipe HERE.

I also made "Ninjabread Men." My husband bought me cookie cutters for my birthday last month. They turned out pretty cool, right? :)

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving weekend and that you enjoy this coming Christmas season.

For some more holiday inspiration, check out these other holiday posts on Craft Rookie:
"Can't Get Enough..."

"It's That Time of Year"
"Christmas in August"

"Sugar High"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

Christmas Cookies

Today I invited my friend Eliza over to help me make sugar cookies. My mom gave me these cute cutters for my birthday that you fill the little holes in the cutouts with crushed up Lifesavers. The end result is supposed to look like stained glass. I'm not sure that ours turned out quite like they were supposed to...but they weren't awful.

(Before they went in the oven)
When they came out:
After those cookies were done, we moved onto traditional sugar cookies. My mom warned me I should probably not double the batch...but I did. :-/ Hours and hours later, and 200 or so cookies later, I was done. I gave up frosting them after about 175, and threw the rest of the unfrosted ones in the garbage. I couldn't look at another cookie.Oh, I also had these cute sugar printed peel-off stickers that you can eat. They turned out really cute. :)Even though it took literally all day, it was all worth it because they turned out pretty cute.Then I put a variety of cookies into some cute Christmas tins, and took them around to my neighbors.What are you doing for your neighbor gifts this year?

For some more holiday inspiration, check out these other holiday posts on Craft Rookie:
"Can't Get Enough..."

"It's That Time of Year"
"Christmas in August"

"Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Christmas...or Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Gumball Machines"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

Colors!

Okay so I know I've been moved-in for a couple of weeks now, and have still failed to produce a substantial post. I am a failure.

In fact, I've just been very busy. Being unemployed takes up a surprising amount of time. There's all the sleeping in...followed by catching up the latest episode of the Bachelorette....followed by lunchtime...then I have to shower and get ready for the day...pick up some groceries and leisurely start cooking dinner. So see? No time to blog. NOT. I'm just lazy--and haven't had a lot of access to a car. Can you believe I've only been to Hobby Lobby once in the past month? And that was to buy some cooking spray of all boring things!

Well I vow to make something crafty this week. I'm not sure what it will be yet, but it will be crafty. :)

In the meantime, I have been blog-stalking everyone else:

Make It and Love It.

 I Dig Pinterest

 Casa de Carmelo

Be Different, Act Normal
Umm...colorful furniture? Yes please?!?

Christmas Cupcake Apron

I don't have a tutorial for this...but I could make a tutorial if anyone was interested?

This is the final apron in my apron-making-trilogy for the holidays. My mom's birthday is this coming Monday, and she has been admiring this fabric from Hobby Lobby...so I decided I was going to make her an apron out of it. :)
My husband (who, by the way, is taking the GRE today so wish him luck!!!) says it looks like a Strawberry Shortcake apron...which I hadn't even thought about... :S
I guess between the polka dot edging/ties and the cupcake pockets...it does sort of have a Strawberry Shortcake "feel" to it...but I swear that was not my intention.
Notice the snowflakes on the cupcakes? It's CHRISTMAS fabric, I tell you! CHRISTMAS!!! (Do you think my mom will mind that she looks like Strawberry Shortcake?) Maybe I should make her a matching hat to go with her apron:

For some more holiday inspiration, check out these other holiday posts on Craft Rookie:

"Can't Get Enough..."

"It's That Time of Year"
"Christmas in August"

"Reindeer Cookies and Ninjabread Men"

"Personalized Christmas Gift Tags"

"It's December WHAT-teenth?!?"

"Gumball Machines"

"If You Google Stockings, Make Sure You Specify 'Christmas Stockings'"

"Decorate for Christmas With..."

"Framed Scrapbook Page"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like..."

Halloween Treats

Well, Halloween came and went. I spent most of my day cooking (which was fine, because we have no kids...so it gave me something fun to do.) I ended up making candy corn cupcakes, blonde brownies, spider cupcakes, and candy corn cookies. There were so many cute candy corn ideas this year! Click HERE for the link to the recipe for these cute cupcakes.
I saw these cute blonde brownies on MarthaStewart.com. Then I found these awesome Halloween M&M's at the grocery store that were even better than the "Fall" mix they usually have. So I HAD to make them. But I was super-sad that once they got cooked, they sort of sunk...
and looked more like....this. :( Oh well...they tasted pretty good.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Dang, before I got online today, I had my Halloween Treat Menu all lined up. But thanks to Be Different, Act Normal who featured these awesome candy-corn cupcakes made over at Our Best Bites, my menu may have changed a little... These are just SO cute! (I guess I'm a sucker for candy-corn items...which is funny since I'm not really a fan of candy corn itself...)

Haunted House Cake

Talk about ambitious. If I had sweet cake decorating skills, I might give this a try.
This Haunted House Cake from Martha Stewart.com is IN. CREDIBLE.
Click HERE to check it out.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I made a delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake last night. I added crumbled gingersnaps and caramel to the top, just like they do at the Olive Garden.

It's delish!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Two 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 c pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of ground cloves
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed (you don't need this until you are ready to serve it.)
Two 9-inch prepared graham cracker crusts (I like Keebler)

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2) In large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.

3) Blend in eggs, one at a time.

4) Remove one cup of batter and spread into the bottom of the crusts.  Set aside.

5) Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well-blended.  Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.

6) Bake 35-40 minutes, or until center is almost set.  Allow to cool, then refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

7) Cover with whipped topping before serving.  Add gingersnap crumbs and caramel sauce as garnish.

ENJOY!

Halloween Brownie Pops

I want a Wilton Brownie Mold just so I can make these:

Now head on over to
and check it out!

Candy Corn Cookies

Sugar cookies dipped in white and dark chocolate? Count me in!
Head on over to Be Different, Act Normal to check out this great idea. :)