Dinner for a Holiday Decorating Party That Almost Didn't Happen

In past years, we've had a family tree decorating party, where I make a dinner of snack-y foods, and we all help decorate the Christmas tree. This year, we decorated the Christmas tree immediately after Thanksgiving dinner with our son and daughter-in-law. But my household was missing having that special snack-y dinner, so we planned on doing the house decorations along with this special meal. Our house holiday decorating consist of hanging a garland, putting artificial poinsettias out, setting up the caroler figurines, getting out the Christmas tablecloth, etc. We did this on Monday after work. And we ate in the family room with the Roku set on the Yule Log via YouTube.

The menu

sliced summer sausage
sliced cheddar cheese

homegrown carrots sticks

cheese-yogurt dip

hummus dip

black olives

dried apricots and cranberries

rye crackers

mixed nuts

orange segments

two kinds of holiday cookies

and that perennial party favorite -- roasted turnips

Monday morning, I wasn't sure we were going to do this. I was tired and not feeling it. I thought the dinner would entail me making a special shopping trip to pick up a few foods. And that made me want to do this even less. So I began getting foods out for a normal dinner and set carrots and turnips to soak before scrubbing the garden dirt off.

Both daughters really wanted us to decorate the house soon, so I began to nudge my thinking into the possibilities using what I had on hand. I had already bought the summer sausage at Grocery Outlet back in November with the plan to use it when we decorated the tree and house. But I didn't think I had much else. After rummaging in the fridge and pantry I came up with everything else on the table. The vegetables were washed and then cut. I oven-roasted the cubes of turnips and we used toothpicks with them. The cheese-yogurt dip was yogurt I strained then mixed in salt, black pepper and cheese powder. My family said it was quite good (I can't eat any of it, due to dairy). To drink, my husband and daughters also made themselves some hot cocoa using the homemade cocoa powder I keep in a jar on the counter this time of year. I'm a water person when it comes to meals.

The meal came together once I adjusted my thinking.

A Pair of Mittens, a Chocolate Bar, and a Little Bit of Crafting for an Inexpensive Gift

When I saw this craft, I thought it was too cute to not do. And as it turned out, it was so quick and easy and very, very thrifty (the cost of dollar store mittens and 1 regular candy bar). I usually give my daughters a pair of dollar store mittens each year anyway, which made this an easy "yes" on my list. I know my daughters will be tickled by these cute little snowmen.

The original idea comes from Amy Latta's blog, in this link.

Supplies:

• a pair of knit mittens, thinner mittens work better than thick bulky ones (mine came from Dollar Tree)
• one normal size, flat chocolate bar (I used regular Hershey bars)
• a black felt pen
• crayons for color, orange (for the carrot nose) and any other color (to fill in the buttons), pink for smile tips
• a long, narrow strip of felt or scrap of colorful fabric to make the scarf (about 1/2-inch by 9 inches)
• 1 small rubber band
• 1 sheet of white paper
• clear tape
• scissors

1) Wrap the sheet of paper around the packaged chocolate bar just a little bit loosely (so you can slip the candy bar in and out for decorating). Trim off the excess paper. The ends of paper are not sealed over the  ends of the candy bar. Tape the back side closed.

2) On one of the mittens, invert (tuck in) all of the fingers and the thumb so they are on the inside of the mitten. Roll the other mitten up tightly and tuck inside the first mitten. This bundle of both mittens will become the hat of the snowman.

3) Slip the candy bar out of the white paper "tube" for coloring purposes. Use the black felt pen to draw the facial features, outline the carrot nose, and draw round buttons with cross-stitching inside each. Use the crayons to add color to the carrot nose, buttons and add pale pink cheek circles to the snowman's smile, if desired.

4) Slide the candy bar back into the now decorated paper sleeve. Pull the mitten "cap" over the end of the wrapped candy bar, leaving the rolled up mitten on the back side of the snowman inside the first mitten.

5) After adjusting the snowman's cap, secure the rubber band around the top of the mitten "cap" about 1 inch below the very top. This creates the illusion of a pom pom on the top of the cap.

6) Tie the felt or fabric scrap around the "neck" of the snowman as his scarf. Voila, you're done!

These took me about 15 minutes each to make, from start to finish, including some practice time drawing the features on scratch paper and redoing one snowman face, as I didn't like how it turned out. But they're not meant to be perfect.

Just a couple of cute, yummy guys for my two gals.

Perhaps it's my inner child, but I think "kids" of all ages would find these adorable. But I especially think this would be a great gift for the littles in your circle. Very inexpensive, includes some chocolate and mittens, and is wrapped in a cheerful presentation.