the glittered nest

Merry Christmas

 
Reindeer feeding time

Our ritual every year is to feed Santa's reindeer some special food:

We sprinkle it out on our front yard:

oatmeal for energy, glitter to help them fly and cocoa for a treat!

 
 
Abby was a little excited throwing it up in the air!

 
The kids made some special cookies for Santa...loaded up with frosting and sprinkles!

Now for Christmas morning:

the favorite present this Christmas for my girls were two Dwarf Hamsters.

You can't see them here b/c they are hudled together in a corner...it might take a day or so to

get used to the Hinojosa Household!

 
My son Brock was in Toy Story Heaven all day:

 
Is this a happy boy or what?

 
Good night Santa...thank you for my friends...

Good night Jesus...Happy Birthday and thank you for our lives..

Good night mom and dad...I love you!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Gingerbread Houses and Happy Girls!

 
   16 girls

laughter

memories

Lots of holiday spirit!!!!!

 
We made gingerbread houses, ate some dessert and made mixed media art!

Here's the gingerbread setup:

two tables, plastic table cloths and lots of supplies on hand. 

16 orange juice cartons(use as the bones of the gingerbread house)

3 boxes of graham crackers

2 bags of mini marshmallows/1 bag of large marshmallows

sprinkles

7 cans of frosting

Ask each child to bring one bag of candy!

Cake circles(makes a nice little area for their gingerbread house to go)

I covered the tables with plastic cloths so clean up was easy...just wrap everything up inside and toss!!!!

 
One great way to dress up your chairs if you don't have chair covers is to simply take two yards of fabric and tie around the chair in a bow.  I used a muslin type of fabric here so it is see through.

To make the girls' places stand out a little...use 12x12 scrapbook paper coordinating with the season as their placemat.  It Keeps their area their own and they love the look of it(and it is inexpensive).

 
I found it easy to cut the graham crackers with a heavy duty knife.  Just hold up the graham cracker to the orange juice box and decide the height you should cut to.  You will have 4 sides, 2 pieces of a roof and two little sides to go under the roof.

After the girls made their gingerbread houses they went in groups of four to the dessert table. 

Next up...art activity.

You will need canvas paper, holiday scrapbook paper, gesso, acrylic paints, paper bowls, lots of paint brushes and a little creativity.  It always helps to have  an example to show them first.

The girls made some of the cutest paintings in an hour! 

How cute is this painting and creative!!! I was so impressed because I didn't give the girls any scissors...they tore the paper for an edgy look!

 

 

Thank you Lily for the special gingerbread house you brought us.  We had a blast decorating it.

Thank you girls for sharing this day with Madi and Abby!  The memories we will have!!!! 

Please email me if you have any questions about incorporating these ideas into your own parties.  I love to hear what you do.  Happy Holidays...Terri

 
 

 

 

 

Pink Winter Wonderland Dessert Table

 
I had the best time creating this gingerbread house making party for my girls and their friends.  Not only was it fun and pretty...it was semi homemade!!!!   I had different plans a week ago as you saw in my previous post.  I decided to throw some of those beautiful ideas out the window when I had a pile of gifts to wrap and things around the house to get done!

The week before Christmas is hectic and impossible to do all of this baking from scratch without unecessary stress.  With three kids anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa this party was so easy to pull off.  You can use simple Christmas decorations around the house and jazz up some desserts you can buy from the store!

The dessert table:

hot chocolate with peppermint sticks

Campfire Marshmallows dipped in vanilla candy coating and sprinkles (marshmallows purchased at Walmart)

Powdered donuts

Mint oreos dipped in candy coating and peppermint candies

mini vanilla cupcakes with store bought frosting tinted pink with food color

cotton candy (Walmart)

rock candy (Walmart or Michaels Craft store)

 
Fun Winter Theme ideas for this table:

Add snow to the table to give it a soft and wintery feel.  The pink ice tree was purchased at Michaels and added a nice girly Christmas touch to the table.

I also like to use pedestals with my desserts and different shaped  plates and candy holders.  You want to show the beauty of the rock candy with a glass vase. 

Add little houses to bring some whimsy to the table.  I found these gorgeous houses at World Market.

 

How about these oreos!!!  The easiest and yummiest part of this table:

Recipe for oreos:

One package mint filled oreos

1 package vanilla candy coating(find it at your grocery store in the baking isle)

1 package of crushed candy canes ( or crush some yourself)

Melt the candy melts in a microwave safe bowl for about 1 minute 30 seconds.  Lay out some parchment paper on your counter for the oreos to dry.  Dip on side of the oreos and lay on parchment.  Sprinkle crushed candy cane or any sprinkles you would like.  Package up in your favorite tin, bakery bags or box and tie with a pretty ribbon!!!!

North Pole goodies: (campfire marshmallow with candy and sprinkles)

The kids thought these were so cool because of their size and the peppermint stick!

 
First melt your candy melts in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds.  Take a marshmallow and dip one end.  Stand the marshmallow up with vanilla candy on top and add your sprinkles to the top.  Add the candy cane while the vanilla candy is still soft. You could make these as treats to pass around to your neighbors...just add a packet of hot chocolate and put in a pretty bag!

 

Mini Cupcakes with tree picks(trees found at Hobby Lobby)

 
These little cupcakes were the only thing I baked.  I used Betty Crocker's white cake mix.  I also used Betty Crocker's white frosting and tinted it with Americolor's deep pink gel food coloring.  The key to jazzing up your own cupcakes is the way you frost the cake.  I used Ateco's jumbo tip 847 and added little paper tree sticks from Hobby Lobby.  Little pearl sprinkles make them look snowy.

Using two tiers of pedestals really add dimension and make your cupcakes a centerpiece. 

 
The candy : pink rock candy sticks(Michaels Craft Store) and Pink Cotton Candy (Walmart) 

I added sugar to the bottom of a square vase to look like the rock candy was sitting in snow.

 
I used a beautiful white antique tray from Pier 1 to serve the hot chocolate.  I added whipped cream and sprinkles along with a candy cane.

How simple is it to stack powdered donuts on a beautiful pedestal? 

 
 

Here is one happy girl!

 


My next post will be on how to put together the actual gingerbread party!

Advent Tree

Countdown to the birth of Jesus!!!!

This is called our little Charlie Brown Xmas Tree.  I had Elyse from Tinkered Treasures make these cute little decorated match boxes for our Tree. You must visit her Etsy shop...she is so talented and creative. 

 
I put a little note inside of each box telling the kids where to find their treat somewhere in the house.  So far the have found little ornaments for their trees that are in their room and some candy OF COURSE! Here is an example of a note in day 5!

Their treat today was placed near our nativity.
Have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Maple Sugar Deer cookies

A Cookie brushed with pure Maple Syrup

and dazzled with sugar crystals....this is the best one I have ever had!

W 
If you haven't picked up the latest Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies Mag...you must.  She has some beautiful pics and great recipes.  I found this Maple Sugar Cookie recipe and made them with my girls.  This will definitely make our holiday cookie list for years to come. 

Maple Sugar Cookies(adapted from Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies 2010)

3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

3/4 cup maple syrup, preferably grade A

1/3 cup sanding sugar

vegetable cooking spray

1.  Whisk to combine flour and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat butter and both sugars with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 3-4 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium-low and add egg yolk, then 1/2 cup maple syrup, beating well after each addition.  Add flour mixture, and beat just until incorporated.  Divide dough in half, and shape into disks.  Wrap in plastic, and chill 2 hours or up to 2 days.

2.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  On a lightly floured piece of parchment, roll out 1 disk of dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out deer shapes(or any shape you would like) place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment.  Chill for 15 minutes before baking.  Repeat with remaining dough.

3.  Bake for 14-16 minutes until edges begin to golden.  Turn baking sheet halfway through baking time.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.  Dividing evenly, brush cookies with remaining 1/4 cup maple syrup, and sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.  Enjoy!