Buzzy as a Bee!

I love the holidays. It gives me a little extra "umpf" to get going and get things done. I have been working on my Christmas ornaments. I only made ten of them but would like to make more.

I am STILL working on the popcorn chain. It is so darn cute but extremely time consuming, not to mention that Jeff ate the entire last batch of popcorn before I was able to string it. Geez.

I think I may end up making a bunch of these ornaments with various fabric throughout next year so I will have enough to decorate the entire tree with. Oh...and might I say...thank goodness for pre-lit Christmas trees. One of these days I will go to the tree farm and purchase a real tree. Depending on where I am living years from now I may even be able to walk into my back yard and cut a Pine tree down like my sister can but....for now...the pre-lit artificial tree will do!

The other night when I was cooking dinner, I realized that I had like 20 apples. I am not quite sure how I ended up with so many apples but I figured I may as well use them before they go bad so...I made little individual apple crisps.

They were yummy and took care of the winter dessert craving I have been feeling since the temperature has dropped. It was actually a little icy this morning. Who would have thought in Texas we would have ice this early? We are expected to have even more cold and wet weather. I can't wait!

Also around this time of year I feel like bringing out the bread machine. I love the way it fills the entire house with the sent of fresh baked bread. Oh how I love my bread machine! There are so many different things you can make with it. I have made pretzels, pizza dough, dinner rolls and all types of bread with my trusty bread machine. You can even make pasta with it! That is something that I have yet to try. But, this is my little whole wheat loaf I made the other day. You can't beat the taste of homemade bread!

I have also been working on a few Christmas projects for my mother. I am making a few criss cross coaster sets for her to give to her friends as gifts this year. They are so easy to make and are such a sweet gift for someone. I have a few sets of my own that I use at home.

For the past several years my mother and I have been getting together to make "cookie in a jar" gifts that we give away to co-workers and friends. This year my mom thought it would be fun to change things up a bit and make hot cocoa mix instead. We took piping bags, filled them with 2 packages of hot cocoa, about 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips, a handful of marshmallows and tied them up with a little candy cane. It is a really cute gift idea and makes about 20 or so.

They are all currently sitting under my Christmas tree waiting to be given to friends. It has been rather tempting to grab one for myself!

The candy cane can be crushed and added to the hot cocoa or can be used to mix up the cocoa. Mmmmm!!!!

Cheers!