Oh, you shouldn't have... but you did.

You guys ALL have that gift you give.  You know the one... the person who always brings you something even though you tell them not to.  They're the sweet people in your life who genuinely don't expect anything in return, too, that's precisely why you should do THIS for them... like I did.  :)




Oh yes. It's a gift basket with burlap, go on & pinch yourself. Just wait 'til you see what's inside...



Onto the goodies...



I'm a HUGE fan of repurposing everyday containers. In this case, a peanut butter jar. PS - you can totally remove that pesky "use by" date on your jars by using just a tiny bit of acetone (or maybe regular fingernail polish remover, too, though I've always just used acetone because I know it works for sure).

Here's how to make the cocoa mix:

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

Mix all your ingredients in a large bowl and then transfer to your container.

Just for the record, I had to triple the recipe for my large peanut butter jar.  That filled it to the brim & we had enough mix left over for the kid to give it a test drive... he gave it an 8 on a scale of 1-10.  That's pretty good, if you ask me.



Type up a little "recipe" for your cocoa mix...



Make some treats.  For mine, I just melted almond bark and added in things... crushed candy canes, heath bar pieces, pretzel pieces, and peanut butter (hey, I had to empty the jar somehow).  I then spread out each on a sheet of wax paper & let it harden before breaking it into chunks.  For what it's worth,  I have a TON of these little kraft paper treat bags if any of you guys want a few...





Print tags (or hand-write them, I'm not a fan of my own handwriting, so I went the printed route) and label everything! Labeling everything makes it fancy. I like fancy.

To add another splash of fabulous, I also included "toppings" in small plastic baggies that I then tied around the lid of the cocoa mix.  I think that's cute.  And since it's my gift, then I get to call the shots on what's cute & what's not.

Tomorrow, I'll try to upload a printable PDF for the cocoa mix label & little tags... if you guys want it, that is! 

Go forth.  Make gift baskets.  Be merry.

Christmas Cookie Share - Potato Chip Cookies

This one's from Terrah!

Potato Chip Cookies

1 lb. butter
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3-1/2 c. flour
1 c. crushed potato chips

Mix well. Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Christmas Cookie Recipe Share - Another From Lori Anne! :)

This MY grandmother’s cobbler recipe…

1 C sugar

1 C milk

1 C flour

1 stick margarine

Favorite fruit (canned or fresh)

Melt margarine.

Mix all other ingredients together. (except fruit)

Pour melted margarine onto the top of the mixture, but do not stir.

Add fruit, but do not stir.

Cook at 350* until brown.

Christmas Cookie Recipe Share - Pralines from Lori Anne's kitchen!

Submitted by Lori Anne:

This is my husband’s grandmother’s recipe for pralines…..YUMMO!!!

 

3 C brown sugar

¾ C canned milk

¼ C water

1 ½ C pecans

1TBS butter

1 pinch baking soda

 

Mix sugar, butter, milk, and water in a saucepan. 

Cook over low heat until a small quantity dropped into cold water forms a soft ball.

Add a pinch of baking soda.

Remove from heat.

Add pecans.

Stir and cool slightly.

Drop by the spoonful onto wax paper and let cool.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookie Recipe Share - Gigi's No-Bake Cookies

This one is my absolute FAVORITE to make anytime of year, but I try & confine myself to the holidays because, well, otherwise I'd be eating them every day. :)  Everyone makes no-bake cookies, I know, but I assure you that my mom's (aka - Gigi) are THE BEST, hands-down.

Gigi's No-Bake Cookies

2 c. sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa*
1/2 c. milk
1 stick margarine
1/2 c. peanut butter*
3 c. oats
1 tsp. vanilla extract*

1. Mix sugar, cocoa, milk & margarine in a large saucepan.  (Don't turn the heat on just yet).
2. Pre-measure your oats and peanut butter so they're ready for use after your boiled mixture is finished. Keep your teaspoon & vanilla extract close by these ingredients (and a hot pad to set your saucepan on, that's helpful).
3. Spread your wax paper out on a dry surface next to your pre-measured ingredients.
4. Turn on the stove!  Stir your sugar/cocoa/milk/margarine mixture continuously over heat until it comes to a rolling boil.
5. Allow this mixture to boil for one full minute.  This step is important for ensuring that your cookies actually harden - trust me, I've learned the hard way.  I find it helpful to set the timer on my microwave for 1:00 prior to starting the stove.
6. Remove from heat and quickly add peanut butter, oats, and vanilla extract.  
7. Stir until all ingredients are mixed and drop quickly onto waxed paper.

*For a more peanut-buttery variation on this recipe, add only 1 tbsp. cocoa and just a touch of extra peanut butter.  You can also add just an extra drop of vanilla extract for added yumminess.  These were a happy accident of mine, but we loved them enough to eat 'em all right up!

Christmas Cookie Share

Last night, I posted to our FB group last night about wanting to do a Christmas Cookie recipe share.  In case you missed it, here's the scoop:

• Email your 2 favorite Christmas cookie (or sweet treat) recipes to reclaimers@yahoo.com
• Deadline - Friday, December 18th
• Recipes will be compiled into an easy-to-search, saveable PDF document for us all to have/share!

 See, it's that simple.   I already have my two picked out (sorry, Mom, you may have to come up with something else...)

Whatcha waiting for?  Send those recipes now!

5 Cheap & (mostly) Easy Christmas Ideas

This morning, I was in a craft whirlwind.  You know the kind - where you're covered in tape, can't find your scissors, and the only hole punch you can seem to locate is the wrong size for your project?   Yeah.  You've been there.

And I got to thinking how maybe things should be less complicated.  So I thought I'd share with you guys 5 of my favorite cheap and (mostly) easy Christmas craft ideas!  Some of these can be given as gifts, some are just great for decorating.  All can be made for less than $5.  Some probably won't even cost you a dime.  How's that for amazing?

1.   Marshmallow Trees



These little guys make me happy. They're time consuming (yes, you do have to glue each individual mini-marshmallow to the cone... yes, I watched 3 separate television shows/movies to complete these yesterday) but so worth it. Typically, you see these left in their natural marshmallow-y state. I'm not a huge fan of your typical Christmas decor, though, so I spray painted mine. You can, too. It's allowed.

Tip - instead of buying styrofoam cones, make your own out of paper! Simply curl a posterboard or piece of cardstock into a cone. Use a stapler and masking tape to secure it, then get to work!

Here are mine atop my in-the-process-of-being-decorated mantle.  Remember, people, all good things come in 3's.




2.   Fun Thumbtacks



If you're anything like me, you have TONS of small buttons. I keep mine in a little glass jar, but I have been trying to think of ways to use them up lately. This idea was perfect because I made a bulletin board for my niece this year as part of her Christmas gift. These little candy colored buttons perfectly match it!

To make these little beauties, I hot glued my buttons onto a piece of cardstock.  Then, using a needle & thread, I sewed the buttons onto the cardstock (I wanted the finished tacks to look like they had been stitched).  After that, just dab a little E-6000 onto the backs and push in your tacks!  (Do yourself a favor & use E-6000 in a well-ventilated area.  Trust me.)



Another, slightly more expensive option is fabric-covered button tacks. These cover buttons can be found at Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, and if you're lucky your Walmart Supercenter might have them (Store #1 on Walnut in Rogers does, but Bentonville does not). Scraps of fabric put to good use. It's fab.





3.   Newspaper Flowers



I actually made an entire wreath out of these little numbers, but for today I thought I'd try making a few then spray painting them to use for gift wrapping. It was super easy. And these can also be used as tree/garland ornaments (and probably several other things).

To make these, cut a bunch of circles out of newspaper or telephone book papers.  Stagger the circles one on top of the other in a messy stack, then staple the center.  Start scrunching (wadding, whatever you want to call it) each layer of your "flower" beginning with the top.  Keep scrunching all the layers until you have what really resembles a wadded up paper ball.  Slightly open the "petals" of your finished flower and voila!   Now, you can spray paint it.  If you want to.  You don't have to.  I actually quite prefer them in their natural form.  :)

4.   Curly Paper Trees



This project is probably one of the easiest on my list. To make these, you'll need 4 sheets of double-sided paper (I used kraft colored cardstock for mine). Cut 3 of the sheets of paper in to 1" strips that are about 4" long. Using a pencil or pen, curl your strips of paper just as you would your hair with a roller. Use the last piece of cardstock to create your cone base (see idea #1 for tip). When all your curly-que's are made, start hot gluing them from the bottom up, until you reach the top!

5.   Notecards & Gift Tags



Another super duper easy one - use up all those paper & fabric scraps to create note cards, gift tags, and thank you cards! I'm a fan of sewing onto paper (yes, with my sewing machine) but no worries if you don't have one, just bust out the glue stick!

Whew.  That was one heck of a first post, right?

So... what are you guys making this Christmas?  Let's see those crafts!  Upload pics to our Facebook group & please email photos to reclaimers@yahoo.com so I can include them here, on the blog, for our geographically challenged friends.  :)

Keep craftin'!