Category — Christmas

So. . . are you ready?

Ugh, my pictures have been rare and poor since my point-and-shoot camera broke. I'm really hoping that Santa comes through with a replacement!

I’m doing pretty well, actually. I’ve done all of my shopping except for my last pre-holiday grocery shopping, which will be tomorrow.

We’re mostly ready except that I have to sew a couple of Ewok cloaks. You heard me. No, I’m not kidding.  Remember that I said that J has become interested in Star Wars because of her recent Baby Ewok adoption? Well, Baby Ewok needs a couple of new cloaks, and believe it or not, this is a difficult-to-find item. So I’ve got some lovely patterned felt made out of recycled plastic bottles, and I’m going to have to get crafty. We’ll see how it goes.

I’m trying to work like crazy, crazy, crazy so that I can relax beginning Christmas Eve Eve. Cute W’s taking the day off from work and I have this fantasy that we’ll cuddle up on the couch in front of a fire and watch It’s A Wonderful Life together. I watch it every year and cry like a baby every time. And this makes me sound horrible, but I don’t really like watching movies with my kid. Either I think it’s boring, and I desperately want to get out my little Netbook computer and work on blog stuff but feel like it’s too rude, or it’s a movie that I like, and then I have to stop and answer questions along the way, thus ruining my movie fun. I realize that this makes me a bad, bad person. Also, as long as I’m confessing: it’s just so much more relaxing to eat a meal all by myself with a good book. There. I said it.

But, anyway, I want to check everything off my list so that I can live out this glorious fantasy of sitting around and doing nothing with my husband while my children are in school. If we pull this off without breaking down and doing some last-minute shopping trip or having–I don’t know–a household crisis of some sort, then I’m going to shoot for this to be a new holiday tradition. Meanwhile I’ve completely blown off Christmas cards (hello? I blog practically every day) and the buttermints this year (when both kids ranked them 5th on the Christmas Cookie Favorite list, I lost all motivation).

How’s everyone else doing? Did you blow off any old stressful traditions this year, or are you starting up anything new?

So, I’ve had a somewhat emotionally exhausting day with a teacher conference that I feared would be contentious scheduled for smack dab in the middle of my day. The conference actually turned out quite peaceful and cordial, but my jaw is still sore from night-time stress teeth-grinding for the past two nights. I’d told myself that I’d treat myself to the reward of actually making my dang wreath after the conference. It didn’t happen. Instead, I’d forgotten that I’d promised to proofread something for Cute W’s work, and then J came down with a killer case of writer’s block. She was only supposed to come up with a few spelling sentences, but she imposes excessive demands on herself and wants to come up with clever sentences that  incorporate 3 or 4 of her spelling words in a single sentence. After much moaning, hand-wringing, and (more!) teeth gnashing, I called it after two sentences and wrote the teacher a note instead. Meanwhile I was late for making dinner.

The rest of the evening has melted away in a similar fashion. So, sigh, I’m just not going to get a chance to tell you about another cool giveaway coming up (tomorrow!).

Instead, I’ll share two links with you

I liked this iVillage article with suggestions on how you can prove that Santa exists.

I also recently passed along a local holiday shopping list over on All Over Albany. Alas, Instead of using photographs of the lovely wares, like this one with cool stuff from Divinitea  . . .

Or some of these lovely little trinkets from Northeastern Fine Jewelry. . .

the editors chose to forgo them and instead publish an unbelievably enormous photograph of me. Wow. . . that’s big. Thanks to my friend who took the picture: I would have made sure that you got credit if I’d realized that the picture itself would be so big. And prominent. And also big. Not like it’s a bad picture. You know, it’s a good picture. But also, awfully big.

Click on over  if you want the details on these lovely items and other local holiday gift ideas. But you might want to squint a little bit so I don’t scare you.

So I mentioned that a couple of weekends ago I was helping out with some craftiness at my church. I had organized two crafts:  felt ornaments , which we’ve done before, and wire-wrapped ornaments. I got the idea for a wire-wrapped star from this Family Fun how-to, but it was not as easy as it appeared. Basically, I was supposed to wrap 18-gauge wire around a star cookie cutter, and then kids could use lighter-weight wire to wrap around the star and make it pretty. Wrapping the wire was a pain in the neck, especially since I wanted to make a bunch for lots of kids to do. Cute W helped by putting some nails into a board, which made wrapping a bit easier, but it was still labor-intensive, and the stars weren’t too pretty.  Of course, I was figuring all this out the night before the event. Ugh.

I decided to wing it and go a little bit more free-form with the craft. First, I Googled and found directions for making these awesome and pretty word ornaments.  Luckily I had a variety of wires to use for the craftiness. I ‘d bought the thick, sturdier 18-gauge wire, but I also had 22- and 24-gauge wire. If you’re looking for wire like this, you’ll usually find it near the jewelry-making section at craft stores. Basically, the lower the number, the thicker, sturdier, more difficult to bend, and  usually more expensive the wire will be. Here are some of the ornaments that we made:

For me, the 22-gauge wire was great for just tooling around with shapes, but it probably wouldn’t have been able to have another wire wrap around it–you’d need a thicker “base wire” for that.  It was fun to just play around with it. Like, that little silver shape next to the heart seemed like a pendant for a necklace that I might buy.

A grown-up added beads to make this Christmas-tree-shaped ornament in just a few minutes:

Cute, right?

I had some leftover wire, and since then, the girls have been delving into it some more.  In fact, I had all of my leftovers set aside, because I planned to make a couple of extra-nice ornaments for the blog. But I didn’t share this plan with girls, and before I knew it, they’d commandeered the leftovers for their own craftiness:

Here are a couple that they made all on their own:

M made the musical note with craft wire, and the bird and matryoshka dolls are made from cut-outs that I’d prepped for the crafting event. They came from this unbelievably adorable  book, Fa La La La Felt, which will make you yearn to craft immediately. Many of the crafts are ambitious, but luckily, they can be taken down a notch to accommodate the patience and skills of children. And/or this blogger.

In fact, I feel a bit guilty, because in the book there are these bee-you-tee-ful matryoshka ornaments that are sewn together with a little batting to give them body, and I did a modified version, and then my kids stole the pieces and modified them some more.  Same deal with the bird: in the book, it was a lovely dove with a coordinating floral-patterned wing piece that I’d planned to make, but one of the kids just had a rick-rack and button party all over it. So these are cute, but the ones in the book are gorgeous.  And absolutely do-able, just not do-able for me right now when I’m also working on Christmas shopping and helping kids with homework and  keeping up with the blog. I was sad that there wasn’t one of those “Look Inside!” options so that you could see the Many Splendid Crafts in the book, so I poked around a bit and located the author’s blog, which is going into my Google Reader.

The wire crafts are going to be part of this year’s Crafty Girl Party. The book is on my Christmas list (hint, hint).

We’ve got our Christmas tree. We cut our own at Bob’s Trees this year. This was a departure for us–we’ve been to Ellm’s Family Farm for the past two years. And we do like Ellm’s (here’s the post from last year). But last year the choices seemed a little sparse, so we thought that we’d venture out.

Bob’s is a farther drive away from us than Ellm’s, but not by much. Both places have lovely extras, like reindeer, Santa, and food to buy. All the cut-your-own trees cost $45, while at Ellm’s, prices vary by height, but they’re generally higher.  The selection at Bob’s was better, absolutely, but I’d also say that Bob’s was a bit more challenging. At Ellm’s, you park, and then ride on a trolley through the farm to get close to whatever bunch of trees that you like. They provide saws as well as little drag-your-tree-around carts. You bring your tree back to the trolley stop and the staff remove the trees and bundle them up for your convenience. At Bob’s, you drive in and park so that you’re somewhat closer to trees, but you’re likely to do some hiking in your hunt for the perfect tree. They provide saws, but no carts. So you walk back to your car carrying the tree, then you place your own tree onto the car. Really, you could get help by carrying or driving your tree down to the sort of “base camp” at the bottom of the hill, but that’s not super-convenient. Cute W and I agreed that at Bob’s, it felt more like you were tramping through the woods on your own looking for a tree, which feels more fun and authentic. But that’s because we don’t have little kids anymore. If I had toddlers or preschoolers, it might feel like a death march. And I’d definitely bring a red wagon.

J & M ponder our tree's worthiness.

Oh, but here’s one bittersweet custom that I appreciated at Bob’s. You can claim your tree early: people actually tagged their future Christmas tree and decorated it in some cases. Cross-country skiing is available, so you’re encouraged to scout out next year’s tree. And I say bittersweet because of course the pre-claimed trees were the most awesome trees around. We’d see one, head for it, and then notice that someone had already added tinsel. Dang.

If you’re thinking of cutting your own tree and need a little help on your tree hunt, you can check out the post I wrote last year on All Over Albany or the list available on KidsOutAndAbout.com.

As you may remember, I recently hosted what I call the annual Crafty Girls party.  I started doing this party a few years ago because I liked the idea of getting the girls excited for holiday stuff beyond the presents on Christmas morning and because I like slightly-too-ambitious craft projects. We do it after school, and some kids come straight home with us while others show up a bit later.

Many of the entertaining elements are the same year after year. There’s the obligatory punch bowl. I got this at a garage sale and it might be the best $3 I’ve ever spent. I highly recommend acquiring one if you’re a parent of daughters. The first year I served real punch, but it was too exotic for the youngsters, so now I just serve pink lemonade with frozen raspberries thrown in to make it extra fancy. This year I had a brainstorm and put wine charms on the punch cups, which was festive and functional. 

Then there’s a big platter of vegetables. This is the only food that’s always available, but–oh yes–pigs in a blanket, mini-pizzas, cheetos, and cookies are also served.

But the food isn’t the main event. It’s all about the craft. In past years we’ve decorated gingerbread houses, decorated mini-trees, and made ornaments.  This year, I took a commenter’s advice and went with Snow Globes. This can be a simple craft, and if you Google it up, you’ll see lots of directions using jars and florist clay to make a nice little snow globe. That would have worked great, I’ll bet.

But once again, I was too ambitious. See, I like to do a really nice craft. And so when I saw that National Artcraft sold real, snow-globey snow globes, and that they were cheaper by the dozen, I thought it was a terrific idea. I’d have enough for the girls, plus extras for each set of grandparents, possibly even my neighbor Mary and teachers, depending on my RSVP rate. Of course, the problem is that I had unwittingly taken my craft from the good-enough, cute-for-a-little-kid level and raised it to something that was more fabulous but also labor-intensive. So that, days before the party, I was freaking out over my serious craft problems .

Here’s why. I started off with the idea that I’d follow basic directions like these or these, which would have had me cleaning out a jar, sticking some figurines onto the lid with clay, screwing the lid on, and sealing it with hot glue gun. No problem-o. Or so I thought.

First, Cute W told me that the hot glue gun just wouldn’t work. It’s not flexible when it’s dry, so it would end up cracking and leaking. He came home with silicone sealant, which requires a caulk gun, a big metal apparatus designed to intimidate people who are not handy. Seriously: I’m still congratulating myself over getting over my fear of the glue gun. I managed to avoid handling the equipment almost completely by delegating this job to my ever-helpful friend C. But not before busting a pair of scissors trying to get the sealant tube open.

The next problem was the florist clay, which I was suspicious about from the start, because doesn’t it seem like those figures would fall out if kids are shaking them to get snow to fall?  It turned out that the clay absolutely wouldn’t work for my project because instead of a rigid jar lid, the National Art Craft people provide have given me a much more appropriate and professional flexible rubber stopper. So when I tried to put the stopper on a globe, the whole thing clay-and-figurine thing tumbled into a heap, like this:

Now, that’s discouraging enough. But having such delicate globes meant that I had to be extraordinarily careful about releasing the air as I placed the stopper into the globe so that the water and air pressure together wouldn’t break the glass. Apparently I was only ordinarily careful.

It’s difficult to tell in the picture, but one little penguin flipper went right through the glass. So that water, mixed with greasy silicone, glitter, & small shards of glass, spilled all over my living room table as my daughters looked on in horror and I cursed myself for doing this craft in particular and the stupid party in the first place. It was challenging putting the lids on, and my plan was to put together eight of them while children were flinging themselves around my house.

Do you see, here, that I’m crazy? That it’s better for me to spend too much time writing a blog because at least it prevents me from wreaking more havoc around the house?

Anyway, we gave up on doing the complete craft. Instead, we had the guests choose figures and place them in silicone the way they liked them:

The silicone didn’t just work better than the clay: it also looked more like real snow. Incidentally, the figures are all from Oriental Trading Company. They’re ornaments, but you can just rip off the hooks and you have cute little water-resistant figures. We set those aside.

Then we had the kids just choose their glitter and put them into the globes, which I kept in their styrofoam cases so that nothing would break.

After everyone went home, we let the figures dry for 24 hours, then set up an assembly line to add water and seal them. Which we were doing on Thursday night, the night before Christmas Eve. Like a couple of idiots. Or, really, like one chick who’s an idiot and one unbelievably helpful and accommodating husband.

After my penguin-flipper-bust-out fiasco, I was afraid to do the actual assembly, so I left it to Cute W. He had to gradually and carefully easy the rubber stopper on, letting excess water spill as he went.

On Christmas Eve morning, we used more silicone sealant to attach the globes to their wooden bases. And then we delivered them to our guests who were still in town. I was never so relieved to get rid of a craft. Except that when my friend C was unexpectedly out, I left it on her porch. And then arrived home and Cute W was like, umm, it’s going to freeze and burst. Oh, yeah. It’s a good thing he’s around. I jumped back into the car.

Here he is after a shake-up:

Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend this project for a group party, but the results sure were cute if you wanted to make a gift for someone. I bet that those ornaments are on sale at Oriental Trading right now, too. Some of our glitter appears to float no matter what, which hadn’t occurred to me. So if you wanted to try, do a “float test” with your glitter, or try egg shells as one of the linked directions above suggests.

The girls were happy with the craft, and we supplemented with felt ornaments and fairies, since I had supplies for those. I still aspire to get snow globes made for each set of grandparents, but I need a chance to gather some steam before I can think of facing the project again. Right now I’m still trying to catch up on my post-trip laundry.

The children are nestled all snug in their beds, and so begins my favorite part of Christmas Eve: hunting down all the stashed-away gifts and stuffing the stockings. Then a snack and a glass of wine.

One funny thing about this Christmas season: for some reason, neither of my children has been able to remember the word “nativity”. So when they see figures kneeling around a baby in a manger, they point out “the Jesus set-up”.

Merry Christmas!

Before I forget, a local blogger recently took a little trip down to NYC, and she gives you a little walking tour of its holiday loveliness, in case you’re pondering a visit. Her blog is Just One Foot.

For those of you who read about my rice debacle, I thought that I’d give you a Paperwhite Update.  Here they are!

Pretty, right? The ribbon is to keep them together and upright, because they’re very tall.

They’re also quite fragrant. Which is too bad, because I just don’t like the smell of paperwhites. In fact, it’s been a debate in the household. For example, I would prefer to smell silicone sealant than paperwhites, but Cute W thinks that’s crazy. Nevertheless, he brings a scented Christmas candle along when he’s in the same room as the paperwhites, presumably to ward off the scent. Today M declared that the flowers smelled like cauliflower. That seemed far-fetched to me. J thought that was wrong, too. She knew what they smelled like. “They smell like delicious cheesiness!” she declared.

Now that, I understood. It was because I was making Spicy Cheese Sticks.

They’re based on a recipe that my Mom found in Southern Living magazine. They are super-delicious with a glass of wine. Yes, indeed. Anyway, I vary the recipe a bit. The first time I tried to make them myself, I accidentally doubled the cheese. This was even more fabulous, but several of them dissolved into a puddle of oil. Now I overdo the cheese by maybe 1/3 cup.  I also change the nut delivery technique, because I’d rather have chopped pecans scattered throughout instead of pecan halves on top.

Besides, the pecan halves on top contribute to The Problem With This Recipe. The problem, if you follow Southern Living‘s recipe, is that you end up with these little biscuits that look like cookies. Which doesn’t seem like it would be a big deal, except that it’s tough to convince people that they aren’t cookies. I took them to a holiday party and set them on the appetizers table with a little name tag, and someone tossed aside the tag and moved them to the dessert table. And even if you tell someone ahead of time that it’s not a cookie, it almost seems like people are simply not emotionally prepared for their non-cookie-ness. The shape and texture sends some sort of signal to people’s brains so that, when no sugar is detected, their  subconscious is convinced that Something is Horribly Wrong.

So this year, instead of doing biscuit shapes, I measured out scant teaspoons of dough, then rolled them into 4-inch long worms. I also like to add a final dusting of half-and-half cayenne and salt, although I like salty & spicy. Then I baked them for about 7 or 8 minutes.

All that rolling is more labor-intensive, but at least it’s mindless. And these are super-yummy, and a little bundle of these tied with a ribbon make nice change of pace from the tin of cookies (although I absolutely respect the tin of cookies, believe me).  These are, of course, even more delectable right out of the oven.

I was grouchy when I posted last night, and after I hit “publish” I had an attack of remorse that I was whining when I have a cozy, warm house and a healthy family and a gift-buying budget. I’m a lucky girl, even if I’m occasionally too irritable to appreciate it.

But today, oh today, I took Christmas 2010 by the tinsel and bent it to my will. First I discovered that it looks like our planned party craft will be possible, then I shopped at four different stores, finished my stocking stuffers,  got new contacts & had my favorite sunglasses fixed, wrapped 5 presents, did 3 loads of laundry, made another batch of magic cookie bars, made and chilled batter for some other cookies, and delivered a shortbread.  I also oversaw piano practice, multiplication drilling, and the cleaning of two kid bedrooms. Oh! And I finally noticed and watered a dying-of-thirst houseplant, corralled all of our ice skates and much of our ski-wear into bags, and made some tacos. Yay, me!

Seriously, I feel like I’m finally in control of Christmas. And just in the nick of time. Woo, hoo! Of course, when you have a day that productive, something has to fall by the wayside. In this case, there was neither a workout nor a shower today. So I apologize to anyone who saw me on my errands–we all know that I can look better than that. I mean, I usually look better than that, right?

But enough about me, me, me and my world. Are you starting to think about December break?  I did a December break preview post over at All Over Albany. Go check it out.

Also, several places do special camps over December break, and here’s a smattering of them (because I was only up for locating a smattering of them at this time). If you know of others, or if you’ve got feedback on these, please tell the world. Or, you know, the people who read this blog.

• The Arts Center in Troy has a Winter Break Camp that 9 am to 4 pm, designed for 6- to 11-year-olds.
• The Children’s Museum of Science and Technology has a December break camp.
• Afrim’s Action Camp is running over December break.
• Tumbling Tykes has a Winter Break Camp from 9:30 to 12:30 all week for kids ages 3 to 7, and two days for 2-year-olds. Price is $25/day.
• Schauber Stables has a vacation camp.
• In Clifton Park, they’re doing a Circus Theatricks Camp for kids ages 5-14 from 9 am to 3 pm, Dec. 27 to 31. It’s $225.

Finally, I’ve been working ahead on gathering information on what else is available over December break. Some of the items are by reservation only and might fill up, so I’m passing these along early. They’ll be included in the complete list later–I’d usually post on Sunday, but since this week is special, I’m likely to post a complete listing on Friday just so you can plan.

Monday, December 27th:

• Steamer 10 has magician David MacDonald at 10 am & 1 pm.
• Kids 5 and up can learn about The Science of a Snowflake at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. Pre-registration is required, and it’s $2/non-member.
• At the Voorheesville Public Library, there’s an American Girl Tea from 3-4:30 pm. It’s for kindergarteners and older, and registration is required.
• At 4:30 and 7 pm, Proctors will be showing a film of the Nutcracker. Tickets are $15/adult, $10/children 17 and under.

Tuesday, December 28th:

• The Albany Institute of History & Art has three days of classes to take a Vacation Art Break. Classes are 9 am to noon for kids ages 6 to 8, or 1-4 pm for kids ages 9-13. They’re $20 each for non-members. Today’s theme is Egyptian Gods & Goddesses.
• At 10 am, Peebles Island State Park is having a program called Lost in the Woods to teach children basic survival skills. There’s a $2 participation fee.
• Steamer 10 has Catskill Puppet Theater presenting The Willow Girl at 10 am & 1 pm.
• Kids ages 4 to 8 can learn about Tracking the Trail at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. Pre-registration is required, and it’s $2/non-member.
• At 2 pm at the  Colonie Library, there’s a Checkers Tournament for 2nd graders and older. They have to pre-register in person.
• Grades 6 and up can participate in a Chocolate Factory activity at 6:30 pm at the Bethlehem Public Library. Pre-register.

Wednesday, December 29th:

• The Albany Institute of History & Art has three days of classes to take a Vacation Art Break. Classes are 9 am to noon for kids ages 6 to 8, or 1-4 pm for kids ages 9-13. They’re $20 each for non-members. Today’s theme is Superhero Shoes.
• Steamer 10 has Andy “The Music Man” Morse at 10 am & 1 pm.
• At Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library, there’s a program from 11 am to noon for 3rd to 5th graders called Science Matters-Chromatography. It’s a messy one, but kids take home a dyed t-shirt. Registration is required, and you should do it soon.
• CMOST members ages 6 and up only can learn about and make a Kaleidoscope at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. Pre-registration is required, and it’s $5/participant.
• Use old scraps of paper to do some Papermaking at the Albany Pine Bush. $2/person, $5/family. Call to reserve a spot.

Thursday, December 30th:

• The Albany Institute of History & Art has three days of classes to take a Vacation Art Break. Classes are 9 am to noon for kids ages 6 to 8, or 1-4 pm for kids ages 9-13. They’re $20 each for non-members. Today’s theme is Walk this Way: Puppets with Attitude.
• At 10 am, kids ages 2 to 5 can read a story and do a simple craft because W is for Winter at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. Pre-registration is required, and it’s $2/non-member.
• At 10 am, learn about Birding for Kids at Five Rivers. Pre-register by 12/27.
• Steamer 10 has the Dan Foley Juggling Show at 10 am & 1 pm.
• Learn about The Life of Eagles at 10 am at Peebles Island State Park. Call to reserve a spot.
• From 11 am to noon, it’s Scaredy Squirrel’s Not So Rockin’ Almost New Year’s Eve Party from 11 am to noon at the Guilderland Public Library. It’s for kids ages 4 to 8, and registration is required.
• Learn about Feisty Fisher Cats at the Albany Pine Bush. There will be indoor and outdoor learning, so dress warmly. $2/person, $5/family. Call to reserve a spot.
• At 1:30 pm, Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library is presenting a program for the K to 2nd grade set called ABCs of the Sky with Planetarium Adventures. Registration is required, and you should do it soon.
• At 2:30 pm, Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library is presenting a program for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders called Constellations with Planetarium Adventures. Registration is required, and you should do it soon.
• At 6:30 pm at the Colonie Library, there’s a Family First Night including a magic show. You must register in person.

Friday, December 31st:

• At 11 am, do a CSI: Critter Scene Investigation at the Albany Pine Bush. $2/person, $5/family. Call to reserve a spot.
• At 2 pm, the Wood Theater in Glens Falls is presenting Laura Roth’s Family New Year’s Eve, which is designed for “those people 8-100 who want their New Year’s entertainment early.” Tickets are $20.
• First Night Saratoga begins at 5:30 pm. Don’t forget to visit the Children’s Museum.

Oh, the pretty shortbread!

This is another family Christmas tradition. We’d snack on shortbread first thing in the morning while the bigger, more elaborate Christmas breakfast was still being prepared. Not that this should in any way count as breakfast. But it’s tasty, and if you have a gorgeous shortbread mold, it’s also beautiful as a gift.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (½ cup) butter
• ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ t. vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• pinch of salt, if the butter you used was unsalted

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 325°.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until it’s blended well.  Add vanilla.  Gradually add flour (and salt if necessary) and keep mixing.  Don’t freak out if it seems way too dry—it will eventually turn into a pretty firm but moist dough.
• Spray the shortbread mold with cooking spray.  I usually smear it around with a paper towel to get into the nooks and crannies.
• Put the dough in the shortbread mold and press it in well (for aforementioned nooks and crannies!).  Prick the surface with a fork all over (if it starts puffing up while it bakes you can always pierce it a little more).
• Bake at 325° for 30 to 35 minutes, until it’s golden all over and a bit brown on edges.
• Let it cool for 10-30 minutes or so, then use a butter knife around the edges to loosen it and flip it onto a surface.
• If you cut it while warm it won’t crumble as when it has cooled.

A couple of years ago I had a terrible time finding a lovely shortbread mold like my mom had, until I finally stumbled on  Brown Bag Cookie Molds.   They have a bunch of products and recipes, but take a look at these super-pretty shortbread pans. In fact, I meant to make and post about shortbread earlier,  because I think that the pans make a great gift for a baker (or aspiring baker). You can see, close to the bottom with that second link, the oh-so-nice box for the pan. But, um, sorry. My baking is behind schedule this year, so I’m just getting around to it now.

I braved the mall today. I am almost completely done with my shopping, but there are always a few things that elude me, or that I think of at the last minute. So I made a list, checked it twice, ate some extra protein, and left for the mall. Without my list. Luckily, since I’d checked it twice, I remembered everything.

I went to Colonie Center, where I had moderate success. I found an earring holder for J. But I couldn’t find an accessory for M. She is picky. And I’m bitter, because I wanted that bracelet that I’d seen at Bumble Beads back in the spring. But when I called to store the see if they still had any, the lady basically laughed at me. Oh, how naive! You think that we might stock the same item 6 months later? Clearly you don’t understand retail! What makes it even worse is that I saw the same bracelets when I went with Mary to the Sweater Venture. But I was afraid to buy it, because I knew that Mary would try to treat me to that, too. And I’m not going to schlep over to East Greenbush for one little bracelet. I thought that perhaps they’d have a similar bracelet in one of the many, many, many stores at the mall. Nope.

Anyway, I did enjoy my visit to the newish-but-not-completely-new Treasure Ayeland store. It has good toys, including these groovy MAKEDO Find & Make sets. They looked so fun that I was a little bit sad that I was done with my main toy shopping. Especially since my kids are constantly creating things like this, anyway.

As of late morning on Friday, the most insane stores were Christmas Tree Shops and Bath & Body Works. I almost broke out into hives trying to escape B & B W.

After Colonie Center, the bravery continued as I proceeded to the Target shopping center across Central. I made my first visit to Buy Buy Baby.  I have to say that I’m emotionally attached to BBB because it’s where I shopped for M’s baby things. Of course, that was back when there were maybe one or two stores in New Jersey, and now it’s been bought out by Bed Bath & Beyond, but it still holds a place in my heart. Anyway, my new nephew needs a baby book, and although I’d found an adequate one, I guessed (correctly) that there would be better options here. Speaking of options, how about this?

I turned the corner and saw this display of car seats and strollers and I had to laugh because it just looked way too overwhelming. Of course, this is coming from a woman who made a postpartum Target trip in which I burst into tears because I couldn’t decide which recycling container to purchase. I am not kidding. In fact,  moments later I actually wet my pants right there in the store. So if there are any new mamas out there who think that they’re not doing a great job of Coping with Daily Life, just think of me, leaking my way through the recycling-container aisle, and perhaps it will give you some needed perspective. You’re welcome.

Anyway, I made it home from the mall. Yay, me!

Then I got home and I felt like I needed a little break, so I scarfed down some lunch and started writing something. And I completely lost track of time, so that when my daughters arrived home, I had a pile of shopping bags still sitting out in the middle of my house. I realized immediately and panicked and had to fight them off as I ran upstairs and stuffed them in a closet, but it was like sharks that have smelled blood. Suddenly they were wild with the need to find and ravage the shopping bags.

I needed a diversion. And so I moved into my next Act of Bravery and declared it Gingerbread Village Time! Yeah, baby!

This was my first time doing this project with a kit, and it was absolutely so completely and supremely worth it. Is that emphatic enough for you? Am I making myself clear? It’s funny: on their website, it says that this kit is $17, but I got it at Wal-Mart, and I could have sworn it was $8 or $9. It absolutely wasn’t more than $12, for sure.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by the entire process. The gingerbread was cooked and stamped into the pieces, so you just had to break them up, make frosting, put them together, and decorate. Which could have been a nightmare. Because I’ve assembled houses like this in my day. But it was easy. First, I saw those crispy sheets of gingerbread and feared that they would break in the wrong places. But they didn’t, and I wasn’t that careful. Then the frosting was a just-add-water-and-mix thing. I can do that! They included two little pouches for squeezing out the frosting, but in a pinch you could use extra plastic baggies. The assembly was so easy that the 8-year-old did it with no help at all and the 6-year-old only needed me to hold pieces in place occasionally when she got bored.

After constructing the houses, you were supposed to wait an hour before decorating. My only problem was that I’d made both frostings at once. I should have waited on the red frosting until it was time to decorate. But I added some water and it was fine.

Here are the decorations that were included:

When I first saw the candy, I was afraid that this wouldn’t be enough, but we didn’t use it all. If anything, I might buy an extra bag of  candy. There was some minor conflict over rationing some of the gumdrops, but we didn’t feel deprived at all. Anyway, here is our glorious gingerbread village:

If you are looking to entertain some kids and/or kill some time on Christmas Eve waiting for bedtime, I highly recommend one of these kits.  All three girls had fun.