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Easy & Inexpensive Christmas Snowman Party Favors



Isn't this an adorable party favor?
It would also be a very clever hostess gift during the Christmas season.


You can make it in about five minutes if you have all of the materials on hand..

Here's what you will need:

  • Sturdy large paper or plastic plates (if making more than one.)
  • Large plastic plant liners to invert as domes.
  • A mini colander for each gift. (They come in red, white, green, and blue at World Market for $2.00 each.)
  • A variety of small to medium ornamental snowflakes  (The larger ones are too big)
  • Real or artificial greenery.  (I used small round artificial pine circles purchased from an online craft store.)
  • Pine or cinnamon candles from The Dollar Store.
  • Snap-on snowmen, or whatever other type of embellishments you might want (Santas, reindeer, elves,  or owls, etc.  You could use nests, birds, and flowers for Christmas or other occasions. I wanted mine to resemble snow globes.
  • A measure of coordinating ribbon to tie around the colander.
  • Glue dots


Arrange as shown.
If you use the dome and plates, which you don't have to, place rolled glue dots on four sides of the bottom of the dome  and secure it to the plate.  

Your done!  

Can you tell me about a clever party favor you have seen or made?  
What made it special to you?

I love to hear from you!

Debbie
 
 





Easy To Make Melted Snowman Cookies


Are you ready to make a really fun Christmas cookie? 


These cookies are sure to bring a smile to the faces of those you serve them too.


 This is what mine looked like just after being frosted and decorated. :-)



I placed them on individual plates and sprinkled some cake glitter over them and the plate 
to emphasize the snowy effect.
 
Below is the recipe I used.  I am also going to share with you what NOT to do! 

I used Betty Crocker's Sugar Cookie Mix in the pouch. Yep!  They weren't from scratch, but, they tasted good, and most importantly, they worked! 

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Follow the directions on the back of the package.
  • Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper,
  • Form the base of the cookie into the shape of a golf ball. 
  • Place the cookie balls on the paper and press them down without trying to have perfectly rounded edges. (Remember, it's supposed to look like it is melted.) 
  • Next, form the rest of the dough into balls about the size of large grapes.
  • Leave them in that shape, don't press them down.
  • Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes until edges start to turn golden brown.
  • Check  for to see if they have thoroughly cooked.
  • Remove the cookies on the parchment paper to a counter top service and let cool, .
  • When the cookies are cool, mix together one bag of powdered (Confectioners) sugar with about 1/3 cup of milk.  Mix together with a mixer.  Add milk if it is not thin enough.  You want a consistency that you can drip over the cookies.
  • Frost the bottom cookie by spooning frosting over the cookie to cover it.  Let it drip over the edge.  It adds to the melted effect.
  • Add the baked smaller balls which have flattened somewhat to the top of the cookie and off to  one edge.  Cover it with frosting too. 
  • Decorate as you wish.  I used small gold candy balls placed fairly close together for the eyes,  two M & M's for buttons for buttons, a purchased holly candy embellishment and the first time, the orange part of a   piece of candy corn, trimmed.  It looked great, however,  because I had to make them two days in advance, they melted and spread into the cookie.  I had to completely dig out that piece of candy and the frosting, and re-frost it with a firmer frosting I had on hand for cupcakes I made.  Then I cut orange M & M's in half and laid then   on the top, right before serving.  I think the candy corn noses looked better.  I would use them again next time, but I wouldn't put them on until just before serving.
  • Sprinkle the cookie and the plate with cake glitter.

Have fun!  I know the people you serve these  to will be delighted. 
XOXOX, Debbie
 



CHRISTmas Snowman Dinner




The table was set with the utmost of care, 
in anticipation of the wonderful friends that soon would be there. 



 

My royal friend, Shannon, with her Christmas cracker surprises.  Notice the crown made out of tissue paper!  We all received one of those inside!  What GREAT sports my friends are!  They actually wore them...for a long time. Everyone received a different color.  We had so much fun reading and laughing at the fun jokes that were included.  I thought this gift would bomb, but surprisingly, we all had a lot of fun with it.


 
Some of the party girls!  



I love all of these woman so much.  THEY are gifts from God to me!


The picture above shows how I gazed upon my table for days before my guests arrived.  The colander with the candle was to be their party favor to take home, so I had to remove them, and set them aside to give them to my friends towards the end of the evening. I'm pretty sure they were ALL delighted!

That the colanders were not only cute but also a practical gift was a good idea to me.  How many times do you wish you had a small colander to rinse berries, etc.?  The cinnamon scented candle can be used anywhere.  The rest of the items were simply, but whimsically, embellishments to make it look CUTE!  See the finished version below towards the end of this blog post.


I could hardly wait for my guests to arrive and partake! 
The anticipation is part of the fun for a hostess who wishes to delight her guests. ;-)



Large snowflakes were strategically place around the table and hung from the chandelier with care.  Be careful of hot bulbs when hanging snowflakes though! I burned my finger not keeping this in mind.



Do you notice the red striped theme blending with the snowman theme?


When my guest arrived I had placed the snowflake name tags on their ruby red plates to welcome them to the dining table. The napkins were placed inside small snowman stockings found at Home Depot.


Cream of Christmas Tree Soup 
(AKA Cream of Asparagus Soup) with bell pepper Christmas tree cut-outs.


This was a really delicious salad made with Romaine lettuce, avocado slices, pomegranate seeds, candied pecans, and snowflake and star jicama cut outs.  Served with Brianna's Real French Vinaigrette Dressing, the one with the artichoke artwork on  the label.
I served my guests an almost authentic Swedish Meatball dinner.  It was absolutely fabulous, if I do say so myself.  It was sooooo easy to make.  Did you know in Sweden they mix all of these ingredients together and eat it that way?!  I had this very dish  in Stockholm this summer.  It was amazing there and I duplicated it very easily.  Accompanying the mashed potatoes and meatballs were  pickled cucumbers and lingonberry sauce.  So good!  I've read the Swedes add those two ingredients to many of their dishes.



After our main course, I gave each lady a melted snowman cookie and a copy of a poem I read about how the world makes us feel deflated, but God makes us  feel elated.  My friends seemed to like it.   In case you missed it on my previous post.  Here it is again.





Here's a close-up of the melting snowman sugar cookie.




I was beyond excited to serve them their Grand Finale Snow Globe dessert of an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) coconut cupcake with a snowman cheese spreader inserted into the cupcake. I then topped it with a snow globe dome and wrapped a ribbon around the base.  I saw similar ones on Pinterest, however, they were fashioned with gelatin, which I wasn't brave enough to attempt!   I opted for a sure bet and less time.  That's about the cutest darn dessert I have ever seen. 




So last, but not least, is the domed colander party favor. I hate to admit it but it was so inexpensive to make.  The colanders were $2 at World Market, the cinnamon candles came from the Dollar Tree store. I ordered the mini pine artificial wreaths from an online craft store and purchased the medium and small snowflakes at Hobby Lobby.  I believe, all in they cost me about $5 each to make, but oh what a unique take home gift to remember the theme of our party. 

Upon washing all the dishes, glassware and flatware, I  re-set  my table for my niece and her husband and two daughters who will be coming on Christmas Eve with a slightly different look as we don''t need name tags.  For this table, I used my whimsical snowman plates
.


  This was so much fun!  I'm ready to do it again!
So tell me, what are your  plans for Christmas celebrations this year?

What is your favorite Christmas memory? 

Let me hear from you.  I'd love to know what you are up to. 
 I love it when you comment on my blog.  Makes this all worth the effort.

God bless you as you celebrate our Saviors birth.  

Warm hugs, Debbie 

    

The CHRISTmas Snowman



I am very excited to  share the details of a CHRISTmas party I hosted on Saturday for seven very dear friends. I really do wish I could invite all my friends, but it was not possible this time.

It was my desire  to feature a snowman theme as I have a set of the cutest snowman plates and props purchased from Pier 1 Imports in the last few years.  Then, I found the most spectacular dessert to serve that tied in with my theme and I was on my way to eating, thinking, dreaming, seeing, and every other sense of pursuing snowmen, snowflakes, and snow-look everything!

Before I begin to show you the tablescape, menu, and various other elements of the evening, I want to start out by focusing  on the meaning of CHRISTmas with a poem I wrote to share the gospel in a clever way.  Here it is!




I pray your Christmas celebrations are filled with delight.  Warm Christmas hugs, Debbie