Gracie's Gifts

This year we gave a few Gracie-inspired gifts to family members.

My dad is enjoying his Grampa status. He's been getting many compliments on his new t-shirt!

Visit my Zazzle Store for a growing selection of Family Alphabet t-shirts.

Gracie created this artwork (with a little encouragement and the absence of the black and brown crayons)...

Which I cropped... 

And used to create mugs for the Auntie and Uncles...

And had printed on this 5x7 canvas.

The custom gifts were well-received and are being enjoyed!

Gingerbread Play Dough

Gingerbread Play Dough, all wrapped up with a bow and a cookie cutter attached and ready for gift-giving.

The recipe and presentation idea were inspired by Sweet Sugar Belle.

It smells good but supposedly doesn't taste good. I didn't try it, but Gracie did and kept wanting to nibble at it. She's watched me make so many cookies that she thinks that something yummy always comes from dough!

Christmas Cookies!

It wouldn't be Christmas without home-baked cookies!

This bear was part of a birthday present for our friend Jack who turned 5 just before Christmas.

These initialed bears were for the kids on our list.

This one was for my Sweetie.

And this guy has presents!

Chocolate Trees (recipe from LilaLoa) decorated with royal icing and white sprinkles.

I was inspired by these cookies I saw at Starbucks. Thanks to Mom for discovering them!

Glazed Peppermint Stars (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle) sprinkled with crushed candy.

Shortbread and Chocolate Shortbread Cookies. The basic recipe is from Got Milk? The Cookie Book which I adapted for the chocolate shortbread. I've had success with every recipe I've tried in this book.

There was more baking on the agenda when we visited my parents.

Mom made the Glazed Lebkuchen Stars from a recipe my brother got in his high school German class. Danke schön, Herr Reuss!  It's a family favorite and we look forward to it all year. She also made Pecan Balls, Orange Sugar Cookie Trees, and Gingerbread Snowflakes. My sister Jill brought red sugar sprinkled Sugar Stars. Gracie and I baked Gingerbread Boys.

This is how I decorate Gingerbread Boys.

This is how Gracie decorates Gingerbread Boys.

Our cookie assortment usually includes Spritz, Jam Buttons and sometimes Pfeffernusse, but time and energy were in short supply this year. We had plenty to enjoy, though!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Elmo & Cookie Monster!

Liam and Peyton are turning 2!

Their party theme is Elmo and Cookie Monster, so I put together these shirts for them. They look bigger than they are in this photo, they're size 2T. Lands' End had the perfect colors of T-shirts! I ordered the patches from Amazon/Glo's Collectibles and bought the iron-on letters for their names on the sleeves at JoAnn.

Happy Birthday, Boys!

Pumpkin Pie Apple Pie

Two sugar pie pumpkins...

yield a lot of pumpkin puree! Much more than I needed for one pie so I'll make soup from the rest.

The Thanksgiving pies. I meant to take a photo of the beautiful apples for the apple pie, Cameo and Granny Smith. Both were delicious!

"J" is for Birthday Cookies

My Auntie Janet and my friend Jennifer have birthdays in the same week, how convenient for these initial cookies! They're sugar cookies with a simple glaze, all packaged up and ready to mail. I hope they travel well!

Happy Birthday to you Both!

Toddler Peasant Dress

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I bought a yard of this fabric at my favorite local shop, Buttons 'n' Bows, a few months ago. I've been wanting to make Gracie a dress and finally decided on this peasant dress pattern. And how perfect that I had just enough fabric! I made version C with some slight variations including shortening it two inches. I think it could be shorter still, but it might fit her for a while this way.

I enjoyed making it, she likes wearing it, and it looks very cute on her. A successful sewing project completed!