happy holiday treat for you.

happy holidays to everyone!!  hope you're handling the lack of snow/over piled snow at your houses well! :)  i thought i would give you all a little treat...blog links to make you happy.   there's a little bit of everything below and i know i will use this post as reference for own use next year.  i hate not being able to find my favorite posts and my bookmarks tab is extremely full at the moment. :)  hopefully, i can help lead you to some great holiday ideas.  ENJOY!


cheap ways to make people happy: through the tummy.
(aka 'easy ways to pack on the holiday weight')


oreo balls- my sister in law, heidi makes these every year.  though i don't know if this is the exact same recipe, jocelyn at 'inside BruCrew life' has never led me astray when it comes to recipes.
reindeer bites cookies- these are on my 'new recipes to try this year' list. :) i look forward to them.  this again is from jocelyn's blog. she has a ton of delicious recipes on her page. go check them out.

cinnamon almonds- i have not done these, so these are on the list for next year!

butterscotch haystacks- our neighbor across the street would make these every year for us. now that those neighbors are in thailand, i am going to have to start making them.  they are justin's fave(as his aunt katie use to make them for him when he was stationed a couple hours from her house).  this recipe doesn't mention but a few ingredients, but we've had them with marshmallows and nuts.  very good!!

the rest of these are recipes via pioneer woman.  her recipes make tummy's happy everywhere. :)

enchiladas- these, along with french breakfast puffs(below), are my favorite thing to make by pw.  they make people happy.  i make them in large batches, place in smaller containers and share with others or just freeze.
i leave out the cilantro and chiles, though.  i don't do that kind of spice very well.  instead, we bring in spice by using an authentic enchilada sauce from wal-mart.  makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

all the christmas goodies you need- this link will take you straight to the pioneer woman's holiday assortment of desserts.  it's a very happy place.  just make sure you eat before you go visit the link.  trust me.

french breakfast puffs- these are great to make and freeze.   we use mini muffin pans for them. perfect little treats for christmas.  makes about 48(some of my cups are filled up pretty high! :)), but with one bag of flour, you should be able to make 3 batches of them if you're needing a lot of goodies.
i had spray painted some mini loaf pans red, so i put one to good use and rolled up 2 puffs in wax paper, placed them in the tin, and then cellophaned it to give to our mailman.

pw cinnamon rolls- i started making these last year after i received my pw cookbook from rachel.  justin's family tradition was to always have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on christmas morning.  so now we make these.
however, this link takes you to an assortment of cinnamon rolls.  i've done both recipes from cinnamon rolls 101 and the orange marmalade.  i prefer to make mine with no cinnamon(as my brother in law, jason, is allergic to cinnamon) and use sugar, brown sugar and chopped pecans, while skipping the coffee/maple icing and using orange juice.  it's not as sweet tasting.  these recipes make about 40 rolls!  last year we served rolls to our family, the whyte side, my side, and our neighbors, my friends, with rolls to spare.  that was with one batch.  you'll want to stock up on foil pans.  be prepared to make A LOT of people very happy. :)

diy tutorials- one full page of photos with links to their diy's.  there's food and crafts.  love it.
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easy ways to make mommy's happy: easy diy gifts

the majority of these ideas came from 'under the sycamore'.
i bookmark a lot of her diy projects.  this christmas has been a major diy christmas.  i really like that, too.  i think i will try to do that more often from now on.


decorated dishes-making these soon. (made: 12/18)

snowmen ornaments: making very soon!!

stocking hat ornaments-made these--you may get one for christmas if you're related to me(or if i like you a whole lot).  the blase niece and nephews don't know it yet, but they'll be making some with aunt susie next monday. :)

art box- made these.  these are my new favorite project.

ashley's box above.

mine below.

diy shadow box- have the box, just need to get my vision together and make it!

hairpin vase- made these.  i will remember to find a different shaped bottle next time, since i changed up the design a bit.
i used different types of clips to hold photos on the jars.

magnetic polaroid frame

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and to make sure you're in the christmas spirit, my fave christmas blog posts.  some have gorgeous photos, others have beautiful words to share.  check 'em out.

sparkle--meg at 'whatever' (12/14/10)
around the house today--meg, again (12/14/09)
what i want to give: meaning--'under the sycamore'(12/13/10)
diy holiday treats--'a beautiful mess' (12/7/10)
home for the holidays: ashley campbell's family tradition-- ashley campbell's guest post on smile and wave (12/3/10)
a winterishy post--vol. 25(12/9/10)
holiday--grey likes nesting(11/8/10)
winter 2010--amy frazee(flickr snow shots 2/8/10)
inside bru crew's whole december posts have been very christmas'y :).  for my reference for next year, i will pick one link ... 12/2010



way cute stuff:(i'll be adding to this list!)

mae: reusable wall decals

okay, that should give you a good start. :)  happy holidays!!