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Etsy Finds Friday

12-18-09

Letterpress & Silkscreen Calendar, $22 from ilee papergoods.

Blank DIY Printable Calendar from A Little Hut, $5.

Color It Yourself Calendar, $25 from Daisy Janie.

Letterpress Calendar with Ribbon, $24 from delphine STUDIO.

Letterpress Calendar, $24 from Paisley Tree Press.

Letterpress Calendar, $28 From seesaw designs.

Seasonal Lettpress Calendar, $22 from Becca Heuer.

2010 Letterpress Calendar, $42 from Ink + Wit.

Printable Calendar from Sweetbeets, $6.

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Gumdrop Tree

gumdrop-tree

This is one candy tree that I wouldn’t be tempted to eat. I find gumdrops totally unappealing, but once they’ve been glued with a hot glue gun onto styrofoam, they are even less so. Candy is a theme around here right now as we are planning for my daughter’s Willy Wonka birthday party. (Is it a good idea to invite an entire class of first graders to your house and give them a bunch of candy?)

Anyway, I looked at a few tutorials, but decided to go with the trusty glue gun after reading this one. I found gumdrops to be scarce and the ones I found weren’t very pretty. And man, these things are like sandpaper on your hands. But I made two of these trees, using two big tubs of gumdrops for each tree (about 18″ tall).  Hopefully I can just spray these down with polyurethane and store them in an airtight container to use again, but that sort of grosses me out. We’ll see.

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Sweet Holidays

sweet-holiday-box

peppermint-bark

I had never made peppermint bark before, but found it to be simple and the kids had great fun smashing candy canes. When I went to the store yesterday, I discovered that the white chocolate bark had some questionable ingredients, so I headed to Whole Foods and bought white and milk chocolate chips, which I think worked out really well. Here’s the recipe for one cookie sheet of peppermint bark. This made enough to send to four teachers and both of our neighbors.

I am including a downloadable page of labels so you can have instant gifts! Click on the image below and print the sheet of labels on card stock or sticker paper.

sweet-holiday-label

Peppermint Bark Recipe

  • 24 ounces white chocolate chips
  • 24 ounces milk chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 20 candy canes
  1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
  2. Pour the milk chocolate chips onto the pan and spread them around. Bake for a couple of minutes until they look a bit melted. Then take the pan from the oven and spread the chocolate around with a spatula. Put the pan in the refrigerator to cool and harden for about 30 minutes.
  3. Next open the candy canes, place them on a cookie sheet under a clean dishtowel and crush them with a hammer (this part is fun for kids). Sort the larger candy cane pieces from the candy cane dust.
  4. Melt the white chocolate chips in a double boiler (I used a smaller pan in a bigger pan), stirring constantly. Add the peppermint extract and stir in the candy cane dust which will color your chocolate a light shade of pink. Let it cool a bit, then pour it over the top of your milk chocolate layer.
  5. Sprinkle with candy cane pieces and press them down gently so that they stick.
  6. Refrigerate for several hours, shake off the excess candy pieces, then break the bark into chunks. Best kept refrigerated.