Plays Well Funny Mug

Check out my funny mug. Plays well with self!

December 18th is Bake Cookies Day. Woo hoo, that means that Christmas is almost here. I love all the Christmas cookies. But I still have a few favorites. This is the official day to spend  making your Christmas cookies. My kids, who are older now, still love coming over and spending the day making cookies with me.

I featured one of my favorites in my blog entry Caramel Refrigerator Cookies. These are great cookies and easy to make. Another really good cookie (and easy) are Cranberry Noels. Try these, they will be a big hit.

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cream the butter and sugar using the paddle attachment. Add milk and vanilla. Beat until just combined. With mixer on low, gradually add flour, salt, cranberries, and pecans; continue beating until fully combined.

Shape each piece into an 8-inch log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut logs into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Check out my lens on Creative Gift Giving for ideas on packaging your cookies to give to your friends and family.

Chia Pet Rescue

We’ve all done it. Re-gift something. It has actually become an accepted practice. Dec 17th is a day to celebrate re-gifting. Bring those gifts you have out of the closet! “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…. Re-gift!” This holiday always falls on the Thursday before Christmas. Most think that is because many companies hold their Christmas party on that day.

Our team always has a “pink elephant” game at Christmas. Most people find the worst gift that someone has given them and wrap it up. It is a lot of fun because the game allows others to “steal” your gift. Last year I ended up with a Cyborg bust. Cool!

With our current economy, it is becoming more popular to re-gift.  Consumer Reports conducted a poll and found that 36 percent of consumers plan to re-gift this year. That is up from 31 percent last year.

I found a website that has re-gifting stories. Check out Regift.com. Some of the stories are hilarious.

Some of the key rules about re-gifting that you should remember are:

• Only re-gift something that you know the person will like (unless, of course, it is supposed to be a joke gift).
• Wrap it nicely
• Make sure there aren’t any tags on it with your name!
• If there will be a group of people, don’t give something one of them gave you last year (again, if it is a joke gift, this is OK).

What will you re-gift this year? I know that I’m not giving up my Cyborg bust.

Chia Pet Rescue

Geek Pride Mug

Celebrate your favorite geek with this Geek Pride Travel Mug. Check it out on my Zazzle Site

Clarence Cowboy

Clarence the Cowboy is looking out for his family. Guns don’t kill people. Dads with pretty daughters kill people! Check out this design.