. . . Cookie Time Tuesday-Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies . . .

With my stationery business consuming most of my time right now I am just too busy to do a lot of baking this month.  Just like last week I have another friend helping me out with Cookie Time Tuesday.  This recipe comes from Sarah--she isn't a blogger but she loves baking and when a group of us were recently out to dinner I asked if she'd be interested in sharing one of her cookie recipes.

  

Sarah says:  "Baking these cookies is part of my family tradition I guess you could say. My mom started baking them (I think she got the recipe from the back of a Blue Bonnet Butter box) along with her various other cookies like the Peanut Butter and Hershey Kiss Christmas classic! So continuing with the tradition I make them every year now."

So without further ado here is her recipe for Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies! 

Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies 
1 ¾   cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter (one stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate; melted and cooled
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
½ cup powdered sugar

1.      Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 
2.      In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended. Beat in eggs. Add melted chocolate and continue beating until mixture is smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate morsels. Cover and chill 1 to 2 hours or until easy to handle.

  3.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar to coat generously. Place balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.    

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set and tops are crackled. 

Cool on a wire rack.

Thank you so much, Sarah!

. . . Ribbon Wrapped Door for Holiday Cards . . .

Every year we get lots of wonderful Christmas Cards and I always struggle to find the perfect spot to display them.  I have a coat closet that is central to the house so I usually put them on that door with a little sticky tack but it just never looks great.  This year thanks to Pinterest (and Greener Grass Blog) I decided to wrap the coat closet door with some pretty ribbon.  The original pin showed the ribbon wrapped around each of their kitchen cabinets and I thought that was brilliant so I logged that idea in my mind for this season's holiday cards.  I was going to do it in my kitchen but then decided the closet door was still the spot to best display my cards so I just wrapped the whole door.  I didn't use anything but some tape on the back side of the door and it's holding beautifully.  **I just hope I don't peel off all the paint when I take it down but at least it's on the back side of the door so no one will see it and paint can be touched up pretty easily.  You could use a flat tack placed on the top and bottom of the door to hold your ribbon in place if you are doing this on a wood door.

I like that if I get more cards than what my two strips of ribbon will hold I can just easily add more ribbon to accommodate my cards.  So simple!

 We haven't received too many holiday cards yet but hopefully these ribbons will be totally full by the end of the season!

I just purchased mini clothespins from Target's dollar bins and have been attaching my cards that way.  I really would like to have a second to paint them white but tis the season to be busy so I may not get to it this year.

 This is such a simple but pretty way to display your cards.  I had a houseful of people this weekend and everyone was oohing and ahhing about how great of an idea it was so thank you Greener Grass and Pinterest!

 Easy Peasy!

Happy Holidays!!

Polly Want a Crafter

Brassy Apple

Metamorphis Monday

Made by You Mondays

Just Something I whipped up Monday

Making the world cuter Monday

Market yourself Monday

Motivate Me Monday

Mad in crafts

Craft

Craftomaniac

Menu Plan Monday
Lines Across My Face 
The DIY Home Sweet Home Project 
Bedazzle Me Monday 
Cherished Bliss 
Sweet Anne Handcrafted Designs
Cherished Handmade Treasures
How to Nest for Less

Get Your Craft On

Take a look Tuesday
A Bowl full of Lemons

Not Just a Housewife 

Tip Junkie
The Winthrop Chronicles
Ladybug Blessings
Reasons to Skip the Housework 
Homework 
Chef in Training
Crazy for Crust  
Uncommon
 The Kurtz Corner
Romance on a dime  
Clean and Scentsable
Topsy Turvy Tuesday 

. . . Sick Day for our Elf . . .

All week long my son has been sick and yesterday I came down with the same symptoms so this morning when we woke up we shouldn't have been surprised to see our elf was sick too!  Poor Roy!  He is having a sick day and is going to hang with me and watch tv and rest. 

Yesterday Roy was hanging in the marshmallow hot tub with his Santa Rubber Ducky.  He even had his towel to dry himself off with.  This got a huge laugh from my son.  The worst part was that our Maggie Girl (dog) tried to eat the marshmallows from the hot tub.  That was even funnier.

Just hanging around feeling rotten...

 

 I guess it was contagious!  Even Roy hates taking medicine but Santa says he has to so he can feel better soon.

 I want to be snuggled up in this cozy set up he has going on!

Poor little Roy!

That Roy sure gets around...

 Come on in!  The water is fine! 

 

Looks like fun!

. . . More Elf on the Shelf Fun . . .

Our Elf on the Shelf has been very busy the last couple days.  It is such fun to see my son's excitement every morning when he sees what kind of trouble Roy has been up to.  I love how strong his belief is in this little elf!  He is such a rule follower so as long as Roy is hanging around he is on his best behavior!  I'm thinking that I need to have an Elf all year long!  Wouldn't that be something?  I could have a Cupid Elf, an Easter Bunny Elf, a Memorial Day Elf, etc. and he would behave all year long...I could become rich if I created something like that don't you think?

Marcus kept saying he was hoping Roy would sign his cast and sure enough he woke up with a signature on it!  That tricky little Roy must have snuck in his bed and signed it while he was asleep.

The other morning we woke up to have Roy bungee jumping with a slinky.  He was bungee jumping off of our loft so he was at the entrance to our kitchen which made for lots of fun every time we walked in and out of the kitchen.  I think he did it just to annoy me.I hit my head on him every single time and Marcus kept getting upset that I was touching Roy...I told you he is a rule follower--no one is allowed to touch him according to Marcus.

 

 Well, look at that Elf now!  He's a superhero in action.  He's riding a bike that I have sitting out and he loaded up the baskets with superheros.

 It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's Super Roy!

He even has a cape on! 

What kind of trouble has your Elf on the Shelf been up to?

. . . Cookie Time Tuesday-World's Best Cookie . . .

Today I am happy to have Kelly from Food, Fun and Fitness here sharing her recipe for her Grandfather's World's Best Cookies.  I love a family recipe because they always bring back so many memories when you smell it baking and when you take that first bite.  It sounds like this one is very special to her so I'm honored she's sharing it with all of us!

• • •

 Hi!  I'm Kelly.  I have (almost) two year old boy/girl twins. I started baking when I was pregnant and didn't care about the calories I was consuming! It is my outlet! Now I bake and give them away to friends or the kids' teachers so I don't eat the whole batch!  Cookies are my favorite and most of my favorite recipes I have gotten from Cookie Time Tuesday!  This recipe was one of my Grandfather's (Papa).  Last night was my first time making his recipe and the smell brought back so many wonderful memories!  I hope y'all enjoy them as much as my family does!

World's Famous Cookie - My Grandfather's recipe

Preheat oven to 345*

Ingredients

1 1/3 c butter

1 1/2 c sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbs hot water

3 1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 c pecan pieces

1 1/2 c raisins

Instructions

1.  Cream sugar and butter

2.  Add eggs one at a time and beat in well

3.  Dissolve baking soda in hot water, then add to mixture

4.  Sift flower with salt and cinnamon and add gradually (I never sift!)

5.  Add pecans and raisins

 Bake 12-15 minutes.   I found that 12 min 30 seconds was perfect!  You do not want to overcook!

Stop by and say "HI" to Kelly over at Food, Fun and Fitness!  I know she'd love to have you visit.

• • •

I can't wait to give these cookies a try!  Might be a new holiday go to cookie because they sound delicious!

Be sure to add your cookie recipes to the Holiday Cookie Exchange Linky Party going on until Christmas Day!

. . . Mod Podge Christmas Tree . . .

This is my busiest season for stationery orders so my crafting time is very limited this time of year.  That being said I made time to do a really cute project for my table centerpiece.  I'm so excited to share this with you.  I love how this turned out thanks to all the amazing products Mod Podge has to offer!

I was sent an amazing package of goodies from Mod Podge and I used several different items from that package for this project--Mod Podge Gloss and Mod Podge Antique (this is an awesome finish) and then some Mod Podge Rub On Decals.

You will need:

 A tree form--mine came from Hobby Lobby

Wrapping Paper or any paper to cover the tree

Washi Tape

Buttons

Baker's Twine

Mod Podge

Acrylic Paint of your choice   

 • Gather your supplies

• I used red and white polka dot wrapping paper to cover my tree.  I laid the tree on top of the paper and traced and then cut out my triangle.

• I used white acrylic paint to paint the base and the sides of the tree

 

 • Once the pain has dried you will take your paper that has been cut to fit and get ready to glue it to the tree form.  I used a coat of Mod Podge right on the tree

• Place the cut paper onto your tree form and smooth it out.  Let the Mod Podge dry 

• I used Antique Mod Podge to cover the red and white paper so it had more of an antique look to it.  I did two coats of this making sure to let it dry in between coats.

• Once the Mod Podge was completely dry I used a nail file and sanded the entire surface.  I went over certain areas a little heavier to create more of a distressed finish.  I then coated the entire tree form with Mod Podge Gloss Finish.  This looks so pretty now that it's done.

  

 • I used a rub on decal from Mod Podge that says "Merry Christmas" and put that on the base of the tree along with two styles of washi tape then went over the entire area with Mod Podge Gloss Finish

• I then wanted a little something extra so I coated the sides of the tree with more Mod Podge and then attached Washi Tape to the entire circumference of the tree.  I then covered the tape with another layer of Mod Podge Gloss finish to guarantee it would stay on.

 

 • I then used E6000 Adhesive and attached lime green buttons on the finished tree. 

• On top of the buttons I then added little bows made from red and white Baker's Twine.  So simple but a really cute added detail

• I didn't want the back to look the same as the front so I used red and white polka dot Washi Tape and covered the entire surface then went over it with a coat of Mod Podge Gloss Finish.  Fun!

  

 I added my finished tree to a tray full of green split peas and then added some fun colorful ball ornaments to the mix and put it right in the middle of my table and tada-I have a fun and festive centerpiece.

 I love how the back of this tree looks with the washi tape!

 fun and festive!

easy peasy!

For more Mod Podge  inspiration check Facebook,  Twitter and Pinterest.

I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with Mod Podge and Blue Print Social.  

The opinions in the post are mine.