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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Mrs. Diana's Sugar Cookies - A Family Favorite

Well, here we are. Only three days until Christmas.

The stockings have been hung.

The gifts have been wrapped.

And while I had planned to show you pictures of the fabulous time my granddaughters and I had decorating cookies, I was having so much fun that I forgot to take any pictures.

However, I can show you some of the fruits of our sugar-induced labor.

Okay, so I was given this recipe for sugar cookies some 33 years ago when I was a young bride. And I've made them every year since. This year, though, I found another recipe that was very similar, except that it had a lot more sour cream which would equate to a fluffier cookie.

So I tried said recipe. It said to refrigerate for at least an hour. I waited two before attempting to roll out the dough.

Ugh! Talk about a kitchen fail. It stuck to everything, even the floured surface. 

Frustrated, I wrapped it back up and stuck it back in the fridge--overnight! 

In the meantime, I whipped up a batch of my tried and true recipe. The dough was much stiffer, though definitely not suitable for rolling yet. And would you believe the dough even tasted better?

The next morning, I pulled out my usual recipe, rolled it and cut out my cookies without issue. Then I pulled out the new recipe. After all, it had been in the fridge all night. 

It still stuck to everything! No matter how much flour I added. (insert frustrated scream)

I managed to eek out a few decent cookies before tossing the rest of the dough in the trash. 

Were they fluffier? 

Yes. But they didn't taste near as good as my tried and true recipe. And I am here to tell you that I will never switch again.

Mrs. Diana's Sugar Cookies

1 ½ C Sugar

1 C Butter

2 Eggs

2 T Sour Cream

1 t Baking Soda

3 ½ C Flour

½ t Nutmeg

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add remaining ingredients. Chill in refrigerator 2 hours to overnight. Roll to ¼ inch thickness on lightly floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake @ 350, 8-10 minutes.

There you have it. Short and simple. 

Some things just shouldn't be messed with.

Each of the girls got to take home their own plate of cookies. And they weren't limited to simply red and green. We had pink cookies, purple cookies, yellow and blue. 

Best of all, they went home with memories. 

When I was a little girl, my great-aunt Gladys used to invite us kids to her place to decorate Christmas cookies. She had a very small kitchen and one year I bumped into my cousin, sending his plate of unadorned cookies careening toward the floor where they promptly broke.

Aunt Gladys, a retired school teacher, looked at me very matter-of-fact and said, "Mindy, you'll just have to share your cookies."

I can still feel my bottom lip quivering. I didn't want to share my cookies. I'd waited all year for those cookies. Sniff, sniff.

Of course, there was no arguing with Aunt Gladys, so Jeff went home with half of my cookies.

To this day, I can't tell you what those cookies tasted like. But I have memories of decorating those cookies. 

And isn't that what the holidays are all about. Sharing memories and making new ones. 

By the way, one of the girls' plates did fall to the floor. Luckily, we were able to save most of them. And those that were lost got replaced from Grammy's stash. 

In closing, I'd like like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very merry Christmas. May your stockings be stuffed and your cookies unbroken. :)

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Festive Thumbprint Cookies

Tonight is my friend Drenda's annual cookie swap. However, the recipe I'm going to share with you today is not what I'm taking. No, our Sunday school class had their Christmas party Saturday night, so it was an opportunity for me to make one of my favorite cookies without worry of eating every single one of them myself.

There are several reasons I love these cookies. First, the dough is buttery, so it has a nice texture. Second, they're coated in pecans and I LOVE pecans. Lastly, the little dollop of jelly is such a festive and delicious addition.

Here's what you'll need for these yummy treats:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 tsp. almond extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Red currant jelly (if you can't find red currant jelly, seedless raspberry is a good substitute)

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well.

Add egg yolks.

And almond extract, 

beating until blended.

Next, combine your flour, salt and cinnamon.

And gradually add to the butter mixture, 

Blending on low speed until fully incorporated.

Cover and chill dough for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shape chilled dough into 1 inch balls.

Lightly beat your egg whites, then dip each ball into the egg white

And roll in pecans.

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Now, press your thumb into each cookie to make an indentation.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Cool 1 minute on baking sheets. Press centers again while cookies are still warm.

Fill center of each cookie with jelly.

I've had this recipe for at least a dozen years, but haven't made them in a few years. In the past, I was never able to find red currant jelly. This year when I went to grocery store, as soon as I lifted my gaze to peruse the plethora of jellies, I spotted a jar of red currant. Go figure. 

I have to say, I do like the flavor. A little more tart, but still plenty sweet.

Hubby loved them, the remaining boy at home loved them... In my world, that's a two thumb's-up. :)

So after a year of feeling overwhelmed, I finished the edits on my June release and turned in my next proposal in November. Then I determined to take off the rest of the year to focus on the holidays and family. Not to mention catch up on the many things I've let go. Funny, I never imagined I'd be quite so busy. But it feels good to finally be able to tick those things I haven't had time for off of my list. 

What has your year been like? Tough? Uneventful? Crazy? How have you handled it?

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Chocolate All the Way

Well, it's that time of year again. Time for me to decide on the best cookie recipe to take to my friend, Drenda's, annual cookie swap next week. But while I'm doing that, I thought it would be fun to revisit one of the recipes I've taken in the past. 

Triple Chocolate Knock-Out Cookies have so much chocolate, you can't help but sigh with holiday bliss.

For these scrumptious cookies, you will need:

• 2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 ½ tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground chipotle pepper
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used the Ghirardelli 60% cocoa)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping sides occasionally. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix to combine.

Sift dry ingredients together. Including the pepper. I promise, it won't be hot. It'll just give it a little kick. But if you don't believe me, simply increase the cinnamon by another 1/4 to 1/2 tsp.

Now add the dry ingredients in small amounts to the butter/sugar mixture, mixing after each addition until blended. 

Gently stir in the white and chocolate chips. 

The batter will be VERY stiff, so consider it an upper arm workout.

Now, drop by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet (I used a cookie scoop for this). 

Bake 8-9 minutes. Cookies should be done, but still soft.

Let cool on baking rack and enjoy!

All right, gang, here's where I messed up. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product!!
But there in here somewhere.

I guess I was busy singing Christmas carols or simply so eager to get them on a platter and over to Drenda's that I forgot. But envision a chocolate chocolate chip cookie. 

I love these because A) of all the chocolate and B) they're a nice twist on standard chocolate chip cookies. Not that there's anything wrong with chocolate chip cookies. No way, no how. But one of these with a cup of coffee, tea or milk... Mmm, mmm, mmm!

I can't think of a better way to ring in December. After all, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

Now it's your turn. Have you started your holiday baking? What's your favorite thing to make?