Pinterest style Christmas Table Topper tutorial for under $10 and Stained Glass Window Cookies-- with new giveaway and WINNERS!!

Hello everybody! Mary Jane here with an easy peasy Christmas table top tutorial for UNDER TEN DOLLARS, a recipe for delicious Christmas cookies, a giveaway AND winners!! *whew* That's a mouthful! Good thing I'm typing...

                               

First of all, we have a kitty ornament thief!! We saw him stealing ornaments off the tree and found his stash! Rude.

                                               

We have had the most AMAZING snowfall the last week. It's so beautiful!

                                          

Oh, teens...

 Just walking to the neighbor's house is so beautiful.
                                          
My daughter went out to cut greenery. She looks like something out of a fairy tale.

"Your sword, my liege!"

                               
But of course, with teens, it devolved into this.

 We went sledding on the property where I grew up. It was sunset-- well, it was three o'clock but it was basically sunset.

So, first of all, the table topper. I don't know about you but I LOVE fresh greenery around the house. It's absolutely a must at Christmas. We always have an Advent wreath but at Christmas, we like to have a display during our big family dinner.

                                   

This is so, so, so easy. All you need is a pair of scissors, some evergreen bushes, five white pillar candles from the dollar store, a few fake poinsettia blooms (also from dollar store) and some ribbon (ALSO from dollar store- see how cheap an easy that is?) All in all, it cost about ten dollars! Look at this gorgeousness!

 Ha! Love my little guy's expression here. "Mom, stop taking my picture!"

                                

The paper punch snowflakes are a wonderful touch but if you don't have the paper punch (I got it at Walmart, Martha Stewart brand), then you can cut some little snowflakes out of paper... or skip that part. 

                                      

Lay out the candles first. I set them on upside down ramekins or bowls to make sure they were higher than the greenery. Then I gently placed the greenery around it. I put a few folded towels down on the table to keep the branches from scratching the finish because it's a very old family table from the early 1900s.

                                                  

I put in a silver snowflake ribbon and had another ready, but it just didn't look right to me.

                                                            

 You're welcome to put the ribbon on and it might look perfect just like that, but I decided to take it off.

                                              

 Here it is, all finished. Total cost? $10 of Dollar Store materials! I love Pinterest. It made it really so easy to find a look I wanted for the table. I just browsed through the pictures until I found one that I liked. And now you can see how to make your own!

                               

Thrift store candle holders for .50 and that awesome paper punch plus some mod podge = some pretty votives for my kitchen! I'm all about the teal right now.These keep me company when I set up to work at the counter in the middle of the night. 

                          

Have you ever put out luminaria? We use paper bags, votive candles inside, and line our walkway. It's a delightful way to welcome people to the house! (I turned off the outside light for this picture. Otherwise they really WOULD need the luminaria.)

So, on to the stained glass cookie recipe!!

                                                 

What you see there is 15 cups of flour, 12 eggs, 4 1/2 cups of butter, 6 cups of sugar, 3 tsp vanilla, 3 tsp salt, 3 tsp baking powder. 

Edna was watching with bated breath. She had never seen so many ingredients put in one bowl. 

Boris handled it like a champ.... except for one small incident. Apparently, he is ticklish. I had just put in the 12 eggs, the 4 1/2 cups melted butter and the 6 cups of sugar. I started him up, and thought it was a bit too high so I felt around his ribs for the little lever... He started to twitch and giggle, and I somehow pushed it all the way to the right.

Eggs, butter, sugar.... EVERYWHERE. Boris has power, no doubt about it. It took us 20 minutes to clean it all up. My daughter and I were laughing at how far we found globs of goo. A whole egg yolk was on the opposite side of the kitchen! Ok, once we changed, we started on the cookies...

 Stained glass window cookies are made by cutting out a regular cookie, then making another cut out inside of the first. Break hard candy like Life Savers or Jolly Ranchers and fill the hole. Bake as normal at 350F for 8-10 minutes, on a cookie sheet with tin foil.

When you take them from the oven, let cool on the counter for a few minutes. Then put them either in the freezer or leave them on the counter for ten minutes. Since we only have two cookies sheets, I put them in the freezer for 3 minutes or so to save time.

 OK, so now for this week's giveaway!

I'm offering one paper copy of Season of Hope

And one copy of Good Housekeeping's The Great Christmas Cookie Swap cookbook! 

Now for the WINNERS from last weeks Twelve Days of Christmas Treats!!

* drum roll *


Marilyn R. is the winner from Mindy's post! She wins the THREE mini recipe books, an inspiring Christmas book, and a woman's journal.  Congratulations, Marilyn R!

Debbie Rhoades is the winner from Jan's post. She wins a SET of Sherry Gore books, a cookbook AND a memoir! Congratulations, Debbie!

Jennifer Hibdon and Karen Varrichio are the winners from Ruthy's post. They BOTH win an ebook copy of Ruthy's new book, Silent Night, Star-Lit Night. Congratulations Jennifer and Karen! 

Lisa Hudson is the winner of a copy of Cate's Christmas book, A Winter in Hiding. Congratulations, Lisa !

Deana Dick is the winner of my Cane River Romance series boxed set

And Gretchen Garrison is the winner of the Taste of Home recipe book!

Be sure to stop by my facebook author pages at Mary Jane Hathaway or Virginia Carmichael, or my website at The Things That Last!

I want to wish you all the merriest of Christmases! I read this quote the other day and thought it was just lovely. May the peace of the Christ child be with you all. 

“And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans--and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused--and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.”  ― Sigrid Undset

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