Christmas Cookies in a Jar

We are so very blessed to have teachers in our kids' lives that care deeply for them and do a great job of teaching them. At Sunday School, the boys have 3 teachers who work diligently and passionately to teach them about the love of Christ and His life. At preschool and kindergarten, they have 4 great teachers who are kind, fun, and all around great! As Thank You gifts for our Little Men's teachers at school and for Sunday School, we decided to make Cookies In A Jar this year. Their everyday school teachers are getting another gift, too, that I'll touch on another day. I wanted to give gifts that were handmade and, hopefully, useful and special, too.

This project was very quick (under an hour) and totally kid friendly, with the exception of a bit of cutting.

To start off, I got 1/2 a yard of Christmas fabric at Wal-Mart. I love that I can go there to pick up fabric, chocolate chips and (if I needed them) truck tires. I am a big fan of only getting in and out of the car once, especially when it's -2 like it was when I ran out the other day!

I wanted to cut circles of fabric to go over the finished jars. In true Mostly Mom style, though, I had to mess up 2 times before I found the right size for the circle. The final product ended up being a circle about 6" in diameter. I cut as many as I needed, and 1/2 yard was the perfect amount for 9 circles.
I used a regular pair of scissors, but pinking shears would've been even cuter!

Next, gather your recipe ingredients and quart sized jars, spoons, etc. You'll need granulated sugar, brown sugar (light or dark), all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips. For spooning/pouring ingredients, I grabbed a flexible deli container (to mix and pour the flour, salt, and baking powder/soda), a spoon, my espresso tamper, and a wide-mouth funnel for canning.

We just did these assembly line fashion, with everyone (even Little Miss Pink) chipping in. They loved it!

Layer in the white sugar and tamp it down with an espresso tamper, or use a small ladle.

Then add the packed brown sugar and tamp it down again.

Next, in a flexible (ie bendy, so your kids don't dump the ingredients when they try to pour it in the jar!) container--like a clean deli container--mix the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Tamp it down. Gently, or flour will poof in your kiddo's faces! This step takes the longest. If you were super efficient, you could pre-measure and mix each portion of the flour mixture and have it ready for your kids to dump. But I think learning patience is a virtue. And I didn't think of that first!

Now comes the really fun stuff! Add in the oats, followed by the dried cranberries (try to keep your kids from eating most of them!).

Finally, the white chocolate chips go in!

Doesn't that look lovely?

 Place the jar lids on top and then the fabric circles. Next comes the labels with the instructions for baking. Don't be like me and realize the labels need to go on before the rings! Or skip the labels I did and do a separate tag.

After the jar lids and fabric were on, I placed this cutie pie label on top, listing the mixing and baking instructions for the cookies. I used Post-It Shipping labels, but you could easily print on cardstock and tape the circle to the fabric, too. If you'd like me to email you my PDF, post your email in comments.

So, lids, fabric and label are on, then come the rings. And voila!

Hello, Holiday Cuteness!

I added some ribbon for a final touch, and am thrilled with how they turned out. The boys love them too. And hopefully, their teachers will enjoy these tasty treats, along with a handwritten thank you from the boys. I hope they know how grateful we are to send our Little Men off to teachers who care for them so much! THANK YOU TEACHERS!!!

Christmas Cookies in a Jar, adapted from Taste Of Home (makes ONE quart-sized jar)
18 Servings

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup dried cranberries (I used Craisins)
1 cup vanilla or white chips

Additional ingredients (list these on a tag, or email me for the PDF of the label)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Using a quart sized glass jar, layer (use a canning funnel!) the white sugar, followed by the brown sugar. Tamp down between each layer to create a clean line. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour gently into jar and tamp down gently. Layer in the oats, cranberries, and white chocolate chips, tamping between the oats and cranberries. Cover and store in a cool place for up to 6 months.

To prepare cookies (provide these instructions to the recipient!): Preheat oven to 375. Pour cookie mix into a large bowl, stirring to combine. Beat in the butter, egg and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2" apart onto un-greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes until browned, cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

A Simple Christmas- Gift Tags

Remember this post about paring down the extravagance of Christmas and weeding out the excess?
I've been so psyched about it!

In case you missed it, this little Irish Norwegian family is going to simplify Christmas and focus more on the real meaning of the season. So, we are giving the kids (and each other) only four gifts: one WANT gift (LEGOS, a baby doll, etc), one NEED (Little Miss Pink is getting socks and tights...don't tell!), one WEAR (item of clothing, shoes, etc), and one READ gift (a book, duh!).

I designed these tags to attach to the presents

I will cut them out, mount them on simple brown butcher's paper, punch a hole and attach to the presents! Easy as pie. I didn't put names on the tags because I will differentiate between recipients with different types of wrapping paper. I got a four pack at the big W(al-Mart) of coordinating paper. I will get brown butcher paper. So, we all will know which fabulous gift is ours!

If you'd like a copy of this PDF to print out for yourself, comment or email me (nmfoley1@hotmail.com) with your email address and I'll send it your way!

Merry, Merry, Merry!

Dear Santa and/or Birthday Fairy....

I really, really think I've been a good girl this year.

I only dyed a few loads of whites pink in 2009 and I hear that real men like to wear pink boxers and real Little Men like the background of their GI Joe undies to have a whisper of pink to underscore the manliness.

I didn't accrue any late fees at the library.

I worked out more than 10 times this year and finally lost all that pesky baby weight.

I didn't get any speeding tickets or moving violations of any kind.

I'm sure there are loads of other reasons I could detail that would further illustrate my good behavior in 2009.

So, pretty please, can I have this sewing machine?

I can't decide if it's a want or a need. But I'd really LIKE to have it. I have big plans for crafting and sewing all kinds of projects on it, but it's hard to bring said plans to fruition without that pretty girl.

With warmest regards and my cutest smile,
Mostly Mom

P.S. If you know my favorite Irish hubby, could you print this post off and mail it to him?
XOXO!

A Variation on a Theme of Gift Giving

photo courtesy: http://www.freefoto.com

I know that Halloween has yet to come and go, but, unless you're living in a bubble (or stuck at home with your sick kidlets!), Christmas has arrived in full force. The retail world is already overloading us with reminders of the fact that we are behind when it comes to Christmas preparations.

Over the summer, I discovered a fantastic idea for Christmas gift giving on a blog I love--Dandee. She revamped her Christmas gifting to include four, and ONLY four, gifts for her kids. I realized that I needed to do the same thing. We have SOOO many toys around here, so many that they are often unappreciated, overlooked and mistreated! In fact, if the toys in this Nursery came alive (see this previous post for more on that!), they would certainly be working to form a union to protest unfair work conditions, gross abuse, and overall malcontent.

photo courtesy: andrea reubens

Check out Dandee's idea here, but it boils down to this. She and her hubby give their kids four gifts, one from each category:

• Want - duh. An item your child desires to receive, like a light saber or a babydoll.
  
• Need - Maybe this could be athletic equipment, like new soccer shoes or perhaps a new duvet cover for his or her bed
  
• Wear -  Captain Obvious again. We too have a tradition of giving pj's and shoes.
  
• Read - I think this calls for a search for a fantastic book, not just Star Wars or Scooby Doo.

What a fantastic idea, no? It's a great way to slimline the shopping process, make us appreciate what we receive and find time to discover the true meaning of Christmas, which involves the best gift of all.

I will be formulating my list of "want" and "need." I think it would be fun for my fave Irish hubby or darling kidlets to pick out the other things!

I hope you'll consider paring down the crazy of Christmas and getting back to what is most important. And think how much easier your shopping will be! I'm looking forward to it.