Deck the halls with boughs of holly, but why not try trimming a wreath with dozens of festive ribbons instead.
HERE’S HOW Hang a plain wreath on the door. Using scraps of ribbon in different colors and widths, tie a bunch of bows and randomly glue-gun them close together on the wreath.
This year put your green (and red and pink) thumb to the simple task of cultivating a multicolored topiary forest that you’ll never have to water.
HERE’S HOW
Cut tissue paper into 2-inch squares and gently crumple. Starting at the top of a Styrofoam topiary form, attach each piece with Styrofoam glue. Working around the form, affix the pieces close together, mixing up the colors
as you go. Place your topiaries in ceramic flowerpots. Use a circle of cardstock, crimped at the edge, as a lid.
Gingerbread Men
3 cups flour
2 tsp. McCormick® Ground Ginger
1 tsp. McCormick® Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. McCormick® Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup (1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
l egg
MIX flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
ROLL out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE in preheated 350°F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just beginning to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate as desired.
Makes 2 dozen.
snowman cake
MAKES 24 servings
prep 15 minutes
BAKE at 350° for 43 minutes
EQUIPMENT
2 8-ounce ovenproof glass bowls 2 12-ounce ovenproof glass bowls 2 4-cup ovenproof bowls or
metal ball pans (such as Wilton) 9 foil cupcake liners
Chopstick or wooden skewer
INGREDIENTS
2 boxes (18.25 ounces each) yellow cake mix
8 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 bag (14 ounces) flaked coconut
1 roll strawberry fruit leather (such as Fruit by the Foot)
2 cans (16 ounces each) vanilla frosting
1 orange fruit slice
12 mini chocolate chips
2 cream-filled chocolate cookies (such as Oreo)
1 thin chocolate cookie (such as Famous chocolate wafers)
Heat oven to 350°. Coat bowls with nonstick cooking spray; coat with flour. Place foil liners into muffin-pan indents.
Combine cake mixes, eggs, buttermilk and oil. Beat on low speed until just combined. Increase speed to high; beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Spoon 2V2 cups batter into each of the largest bowls, 1 cup batter into each of the medium bowls and Vi cup batter into each of the smallest bowls. Divide remaining batter among the 9 prepared cupcake cups.
Bake at 350° until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean: about 17 minutes for the cupcakes, 22 to 25 minutes for smallest bowls, 30 minutes for the medium bowls and 40 to 43 minutes for large bowls. Transfer cakes to a wire rack and cool completely.
Meanwhile, place the coconut in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl. Cut fruit leather into a 6-inch and an 8-inch length. Fold each in half, pressing to secure, to get 3-inch and 4-inch lengths. Use scissors to cut fringe on short end of each piece.
Invert cooled bowl cakes onto work surface. Trim flat sides to make level.
Place one of the large bowl cakes, flat-side up, on a platter. Spread top with vanilla frosting. Place the other cake layer on top, flat-side down, to create a ball. Spread a thin layer of the frosting all over cake. Gently press the coconut all over to cover.
Repeat with the remaining cakes to make 2 smaller balls.
Place the medium ball on top of the large ball. Insert a trimmed chopstick or wooden skewer for support. Place the 2 pieces of fruit leather as the scarf on top of the middle cake. Add the small ball cake on top. Add more coconut, if necessary.
Cut the orange fruit slice into a %-inch triangle for the nose and attach in the center of the small cake. Add the mini chips, pointed-end in, as the eyes and the mouth. For the hat, attach the 2 cream-filled cookies to the flat chocolate cookie with some of the remaining vanilla frosting. Arrange hat on top of snowman.
Spread remaining vanilla frosting on top of the cupcakes, sprinkle the tops with the coconut and serve with snowman.
PER SERVING 530 calories; 25 g fat (8 g sat.); 5 g protein; 73 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 463 mg sodium; 73 mg cholesterol
Supplies
Glitter – Gold, Silver, Peridot
Clear Glass Ornaments
Coordinating Ribbon
Rubbing Alcohol
Instructions
Step 1 Remove hangers from ornaments.
Step 2 Place a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol inside each ornament, swirl, and pour out. Let ornament dry completely.
Step 3 Pour a bit of glitter into an ornament. If you are making a multi-color ornament, add a second color. Place your thumb over the ornament opening, and shake and swirl until the inside is coated completely.
Step 4 Turn ornament over and shake ball over a trash can to remove extra paint.
Step 5 Place in ornament box to let dry. Rotate the ornaments occasionally so they dry evenly.
Step 6 Replace hangers and tie with coordinating ribbons.
Country & Victorian Times 