Hershey Bar Personalized Santa Letter

Give your child a personalized Santa letter wrapped around an extra large 7 ounce Hershey candy bar.  You can add personalization and print at home for a quick gift!

So Christmas is only a few days away!  Are you ready?  I am TOTALLY not.  I don't know why it seems that the holiday sneaks up on me every year.  It's not like it changes dates or I don't know that its coming.  It just seems that life happens and before you know it Christmas is here.

In case you're like me and are looking for a few last minute gift ideas to make the holiday a little extra special, I have been playing with a personalized Santa letter for Mini Me and I'm sharing it with you today!  You can add your child's personalized information to the letter and leave it in his or her stocking so it looks as if Santa brought a candy bar with a sweet letter just for them.  Or you can drop it in the mail today and have it delivered to your house to suprise your little one.

To make this letter for your child, go here and download the Personalized Santa Claus Letter in pdf format. Open the letter in Adobe Acrobat and find the personalization fields.  There are places to add your child's name, hometown, siblings' names, school, teacher's name, and friends' names.  Just click on the text area and add your information.

Print the letter out.  I like to use a thin photo paper (Kodak Glossy Photo Paper is my favorite) because it's nice and glossy, but you can use regular paper too.  I'm not a fan of cardstock because it can be hard to fold around the candy bar.

Once you're done, cut off the white edges and glue around a 7 ounce Hershey candy bar. (I think it will fit any extra large candy bar, but I'm not 100% sure, so let me know if you try.)

Now slip the candy bar into your child's stocking or into the mail to be delivered to your house!

If you have more than one child and don't want them to have the same letter, I have other candy bar letters available in my shop.  You can find another Santa Claus letter, a Letter from a Christmas Angel (religious theme), and a letter from your Elf on the Shelf!

Do you have any last minute gift ideas?

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Pink Peppermint Parfait Bars-12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

We have finally arrived at the last week of 12 Week's of Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda from Menu Planning Magic.  Unfortunately I missed last week due to being down with a respiratory infection.  I wasn't cooking or baking at all last week.

The bar cookie I am sharing this week is another versatile one, as the filling can be varied by using different flavorings and food colorings.  Besides peppermint, some good fillings are mint with green food coloring, cherry with pink food coloring, orange with orange food coloring, lemon with yellow food coloring and almond with no food coloring.

These are very pretty on any cookie plate.

Pink Peppermint Parfait Bars
1 sq. unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened
1 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 c. hot water
4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c butter or margarine, softened
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 to 1 t. flavoring extract
2 to 3 drops food coloring
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 T. butter or margarine, softened

Combine butter and melted chocolate and mix well.  Stir in sugar until well blended.  Stir in flour to make a stiff dough.  Press dough into a foil-lined 10x15-inch jelly roll pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Soften gelatin in hot water, mixing well.  In large mixing bowl, combine gelatin, 2 c. of the powdered sugar, margarine, shortening, flavoring and food coloring.  Beat 1 minute at medium speed or until smooth and creamy  Blend in remaining 2 c. powdered sugar, beating until smooth.  Spread evenly over cooled crust.  Chill.  Place the chocolate chips and margarine or butter in a 2 cup glass measuring cup.  Microwave at 70 per cent power for 1 minute.  Stir well.  Microwave in additional 10 second increments at 70 per cent power, stirring between heatings if necessary.  Spread evenly over filling.  Chill till set.  Cut into bars.  Makes about 36.  Although it is not mandatory, these are best kept in the refrigerator.

Check out the links below to see what other bloggers have made this week.


Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Tek Recon Gift Idea and Review

I have three boys in my home who are ALL BOY when it comes to toys and games.  Our house is filled with wrestling, crude jokes, lots of laughter, sports equipment, and play guns.  So when I got the chance to review the new Tek Recon Advanced Battle system, we were all very excited!

We were fortunate enough to recieve three guns, which worked out perfect for my three boys.  No one was left out during play.  We recieved the 

Tek Recon™ Havok

The Tek Recon™ High-Performance Blaster features 72 round capacity with quick-flip cartridge, retractable shoulder stock and smartphone mount for live action online gaming. Includes 36 NRG Rounds.

and the 

Tek Recon™ Hammer Head Battle Pack

The Tek Recon™ Hammer Head Battle Pack includes 2 Hammer Head Blasters, each with 25 round capacity, 2 exploding targets, 2 smartphone mounts, 30 NRG Rounds and 1 scannable flag for capture the flag game play.

As soon as we opened up the package, the boys were anxious to get started.  Just like other "boys" in my house (ahem, no names there Dear Hubby), there was no waiting or asking for directions.  It was nice that the guns were so easy to load and figure out so they could get started immediately.  Our Blaster gun was a little rough to actually fire at first and would only shoot every fourth or fifth pull of the trigger.  I'm not sure if it was the gun or the long trigger.  The boys just kept firing though and didn't complain too much about it.

We did find out rather quickly that it was easier to keep the play in one area of the house, since the "bullets" went everywhere and had to be searched out as soon as the boys needed to reload.  I found these little rubber "0"s everywhere over the next week.  They were under the couch, down the stairs, even in my shower. (Still not sure how that one happened.)  I'm not sure how you'd play with these outside unless you had a never ending supply, or maybe painted them with glow in the dark paint.

It took the boys a little longer to download and play with the Tek Recon app, but once they did, they were super excited and we found them hiding behind corners and couches all the time.  The gun play got a little wilder and the excitement kicked up a few notches.  They loved the heat sensor part of the app and ran around trying to find each other in the dark.  There is talk of going down to the local park and playing Capture the flag with a group in the wooded area, so I guess the app made the guns go above and beyond the other play guns we have in the house.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Chocolate Malt and Cherry Cookies-The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap-2013

Recently I participated in the third  annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  This is hosted by Lindsay from Love and Olive Oil and Julie from The Little Kitchen.   Last year and this year the swap has been sponsored by Oxo, and the participants have been asked to donate $4 which goes to Cookies for Kids Cancer.  This year $13,778.40 was raised.  Additional sponsors this year are Dixie Crystals and Grandma's Molasses.

Participants received some very nice gifts from the sponsors.  Oxo sent these great spatulas which will see a great deal of use in my kitchen.

Dixie Crystals sent a Bake-It-Forward Tin.  The idea here is to fill the tin with some baked goodies and pass them on to someone who could use a lift and ask them to pass it on to someone else.  I think this is a great idea.

  

I received wonderful, spicy Gingerbread Eggnog Puddles from Nena at Eat-Bake-Blog.  My hubby is a spice cookie fan, and he really loved these.  Des from Life's Ambrosia sent chocolate chip cookies that hubby and grandson really enjoyed on a recent 4-wheeling day. Ali sent peppermint cookies that were so suitable for this time of year.  I have managed to misplace the recipe so don't remember the name of her blog. I am sorry, Ali.  If you read this, let me know the name in the comments.  Edited 12/14/13  I found Ali's blog.  It is Ali Damron, who would have guessed?  I don't know where my mind was as I didn't think to take photos of the cookies I received this year.

I sent cookies to Eleana from Chou Down, Christina from The Dough Will Rise Again, and Kara from Kara in the Kitchen.  

For this year's cookie, I decided to adapt a favorite cookie recipe from my childhood so I added some chocolate malted milk powder and chopped, candied cherries to make it festive. My mother baked these often when I was a child.  I believe that the recipe originally came from Betty Crocker.  Because I was shipping the cookies, I omitted the frosting.  I highly recommend frosting the cookie if you are making them at home.

Chocolate Malt and Cherry Cookies

11/3 c butter or margarine, softened

2 c. sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

2/3 c. buttermilk

2 t. vanilla

3 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1/2 c. chocolate malted milk powder

1 c. finely chopped candied cherries

1 c chopped, toasted walnuts

In a large mixing bowl beat butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and malted milk powder.  Add to wet ingredients and mix until well blended. Stir in candied cherries and walnuts.  Cover and chill at least 1 hour.  Drop by rounded teaspoonsful about 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees 8 to 10 minutes. The dough needs to be kept very cold or the cookie have a tendency to flatten out when they are baked  If this begins to occur, return the dough to the refrigerator to chill again.  Frost if desired.  Makes about  7 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Malt Frosting

1/2 c. butter, softened

2/3 c. chocolate malted milk powder

1/4 c. cocoa

4 c. powdered sugar, sifted

1 t. vanilla

pinch salt

2-6 T. milk or light cream

In medium mixing bowl, beat with malted milk powder until creamy.  Add cocoa, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and 2 T. milk or cream. Beat well. Add more milk or powdered sugar as necessary to get desired spreading consistency.

  

If you missed this year's swap, but think that you would like to take part next year, you may sign up to get notifications regarding next year's swap by going to this page.

Stop by either of the hosts blogs on Monday to see all the great cookies that were exchanged in the swap.  

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Easy Christmas Cocoa Gift Idea

A quick and easy gift idea using hot chocolate and this religious Christmas printable poem.  So easy!

With the Christmas season upon us, it seems to be there is never enough time to make all the gifts for everyone on our lists.  At least I find that happening.  All too often, I'm thinking about our sweet bus driver who waits for my kids in the snow so they don't have to stand outside in yucky weather; the mailman who always has a kind word even when bringing those nasty bills, and the ladies at my local dry cleaners who know me by name and ask after my dad's health scare.  I have great intentions of making these great Christmas gifts for them, but run out of time and energy.


So I'm starting before the "last minute" this year and plan to have a bunch of these Easy Christmas cocoa gifts in my purse.  That way, I won't forget anyone as I'm out and about running errands and remember someone else who has made my day a little brighter.

In case you feel the need to say an extra Christmas Merry Christmas too, all you need is:

4" x 10" Candy Treat Bags
Starbucks® Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix
Emerald Green Curling Ribbon
Christmas Cocoa Printable

Start by printing out the Christmas Cocoa poem at the bottom of the page onto good card stock.  You will need to right click on the picture and save it to your computer.  Then you can print it out using your computer's print program.  There are three Christmas cocoas to a page.  I wish I could take credit for this beautiful program, but I don't know who wrote it as I've had it for MANY years.  So if anyone knows, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

I used some good Starbucks® Hot Cocoa Mix in peppermint and toasted marshmallow flavors.  I found this brand at my local grocery store, so you can probably pick it up anywhere or even at Amazon.

Simply add the hot chocolate to a 4" x 10" Candy Treat Bags and then the Christmas cocoa poem.  I tied mine with a bow using Emerald Green Curling Ribbon  to accent the green in the poinsettia leaves on the poem.  Now you have some easy Christmas cocoa gifts for everyone on your Christmas list too!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

November Reading List on Off-Topic Tuesday

I love to read.  To escape into a book and enjoy the trials and ultimate success of the characters is my favorite way to spend an afternoon.  I read so many books each month that it's hard to keep them all straight in my memory when I want to go back and revisit some of my favorite characters.  So I've decided to start a list of each of the books I read each month and share them with you.  Maybe you will want to visit my new friends too.

Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris

I enjoyed the sequel to Unraveling so much that I had to pick it up mere days after finishing the first book.  It was a little slow getting started but I guess we has to see the consequences in full force of societies melt down after the end of the first book.  I admit I spent much of the book thinking there would be a way to fix the deaths and results of the first book and was a little sad when that didn't happen.  So I guess I shouldn't have been too suprizes to see it happen at the end of this book too.  But work a happy ending coming a little like an ads on, I'm okay with it and glad I read it.

The Forgotten Locket by Lisa magnum 

This was the final book to the Hourglass door series.  I struggled in the beginning to get into it after reading so many other books between the series.  Once I did, I read almost straight through trying to discover the happy ending when there was so much chaos in the timeline.  I didn't see the end fight coming, although really I should have if you think about it.  I guess that was a sign that I wnjoyed the book too much to worry about trying to figure it out.  The was that Abby and Dante fixed the time line was a little strange bit if you're willing to just go with it, it was a sweet ending.  I will miss the characters in this series and hope that someday Leo will get his happy ending and we can meet up with the characters again.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

I spent the first half of this book trying to decide if I liked it or not.  It was such a different form of romance than what I'm used to reading that it took me a while to get into it.  But once I decided it was good and the plot started to reveal itself, I enjoyed it.  The "romance" scenes were totally skipped over so much that if you weren't catching it clearing, you would probably not have guessed what had happend.  I am a fan of historical fiction and so enjoyed that aspect of the story.  It wasn't my favorite of all the books so far this month, but I'll probably pick up the second "Dark Triumph" and third book before long.

The False Prince by Jennifer Neilson

This book is the story of 3 orphans chosen to impersonate the lost prince.  Or at least I assume so.  I got about 10 chapters in and just didn't enjoy the story.  I'm not sure if it was the slow pace of the book or just that I didn't really enjoy the story at all.  I finally put myself out of my misery and returned the book.  Then I moved on.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

This book really caught me by suprise.  I had put it last to read because I just didn't think I'd like it.  But I really, really enjoyed it.  In the beginning of this book, Mia and her family are in a car accident.  Everyone dies but her.  While she decides whether she's going to fight to live or give up, the story tells about her past and her family.  It was very well written and despite the fact that it all happens in a hospital room with flashbacks, I loved it.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

I enjoyed "If I Stay" so much that I ran out and got the sequel right away.  This book happens 4 years later and is from Adam's (Mia's boyfriend in the first book) point of view.  It tells of the results of Mia's choice and Adam's struggle to let go.  I'm not going to tell you too much since I don't want to ruin the first book, but I will tell you that there is a happy ending and a very good story to be told.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

This is the third book in the Divergent series.  I was super excited to read it when it first came out since I absolutetly loved Divergent and like Insurgent.  But after seeing all the one star reviews on Amazon about it, I got nervous so did a little searching and read some spoilers.  Knowing what happend in the end of the book, made me very leary to read it, but knew I had to finish the series.  I enjoyed it for the most part and am sad about the way it ended, but it's good to remember that one life can make a big difference if we just keep moving on despite the hard sacrifices and troubles of life.

I think the book was worth reading just for one quote that stood out to me above all the others.  "I fell in love with him.  But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or dissapoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me."  (Allegiant, p. 372)

Entwined by Heather Dixon

From Amazon review: "Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.  The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late."

This was a simple yet sweet book about healing and the power of love.  I was unsure at first and almost put it down a few times.  Yet something kept me coming back until the end when the story picked up, then I couldn't put it down.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

From Amazon review: "Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one. But she is also the younger of two princesses. The one who has never done anything remarkable, and can't see how she ever will. Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king--a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior, and he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn't die young. Most of the chosen do."

What I loved most about this book what that Elisa wasn't the perfect heroine at the beginning of the book.  She's not considered beautiful. She's not strong.  She's not sure of herself.  But through the trials of the book, she learns to become an amazing heroine and we can see the changes as they happen. I enjoyed this book and am glad to see there are a few sequels to add to my reading list.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

From Amazon review: "What if you could see how your life would unfold--just by clicking a button? 

It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM. Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what their destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out."

I read this book in about 5 hours and must say I enjoyed every one of them.  I found it pretty funny to see these two kids try to understand and figure out Facebook from the past.  It really makes you realize how much our way of life has changed with the interenet, facebook, and blogs being such a prominet part.  But it was also interesting to see how these two kids tried to change their futures based on small snipets of our internet posts.

Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin Trilogy)

From Amazon review:  "Sybella's duty as Death's assassin in 15th-century France forces her return home to the personal hell that she had finally escaped. Love and romance, history and magic, vengeance and salvation converge in this thrilling sequel to Grave Mercy."

While the first book in His Fair Assassins trilogy had a good deal of focus on the problems facing the realm, Sybella's book is a more personal story withtthe problems being on the edges of the book. I did like that as you got to see the trials that went into making her the hand of justice that she is.  It wasn't an amazing book, but as part of the trilogy, I enjoyed the read.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad