FUDGE, homemade holiday gift idea #6

We are confessed chocoholics. We love it, yeah, we even go as far as to hide it from the rest of the family. (Shame on us.) We gotta tell ya, there is nothin better than good old fashioned FUDGE for the holidays! We look forward to it every year. Here is a recipe for you to share with your loved ones, or not (if you double your batch you can hide some for yourself).

2 cups confectioners sugar
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Holiday sprinkles for decoration

• Thoroughly beat all ingredients except sprinkles together in a bowl or thoroughly mash everything together in a gallon sized zip lock bag.
• When ingredients are completely mixed and smooth, spoon fudge out or cut a hole in the corner of the bag and squeeze it into an 8x8 square pan. Pat out evenly. Add sprinkles if you desire and pat them into the fudge. Wait 2 hours and cut into squares.
• Individually wrap them in colorful paper candy cups then put them in a holiday tin. Tie a bow and you have the perfect gift!
• The fudge will keep for one week.
  
  
  

Homemade Holiday Idea #5

We think this is perhaps the most thoughtful gift idea we have given you so far.

This image is from Wordle.net a place where you can create word clouds. Wouldn't it be wonderful to create a gift of words, perhaps describing your love for someone or their special attributes? You can do that here. Create it, design it, print it and then frame it for your loved one. Fantastic idea! (Shhhhh.... don't tell, we have created several for our gift lists.) You can find great inexpensive frames at the dollar store, thrift stores or garage sales. Paint them a color to match your design! We're talkin one of a kind gift here people!

Homemade Holiday Gift Idea #4

So many people enjoy working in their gardens, this mini gazing globe is the perfect gift for the person with a green thumb on your list. Take a visit on over to the Crafty Gardener to see how she makes these mini gazing balls for the garden. We love this idea, she also does it with discarded bowling balls! Way to recycle!

Homemade Holiday Gift Idea #3

Simple Sugar ScrubWe got this recipe from Recipe Zaar. It's a simple inexpensive gift that you can tailor to your own liking. Use your favorite scent of essential oil. We used coconut and lime for a tropical "take me away" sensation.
This scrub is good for exfoliating any part of your body and works well with sensitive skin. Use it twice a week to keep your skin super smooth.

Ingredients:

• 1 glass jar.
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of light olive oil.
• drops of your choice of essential oil

1. mix the olive oil and sugar in the jar
2. add any optional scents you like
3. to use: place some on a wash cloth and rub in circles anywhere you need exfoliation
4. after sitting for awhile the sugar may settle to the bottom, so it may be necessary to shake this up a little before using.

Homemade Holiday Gift Idea #2

Cupcakes in a jar! Not only are these cupcakes less messy to eat than the traditional kind, you can eat them on the go and they make people happy. On top of that, they are easy to ship. What more could you ask for?

Here is a link to a tutorial on how to make them.

Homemade Holiday Idea #1

The Funky Junk Sisters have made a pledge to try to keep our holidays as homemade as possible. For the next three weeks we will be sharing with you ideas to keep your Christmas homemade too. Dip these Christmas standbys in white chocolate and nonpareils

for something extra sweet.

Candy stix how-to:

• Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stir until melted. Let cool slightly.
• Dip peppermint stix in chocolate, spoon nonpareils over chocolate. Stand candy coated end up in a loaf pan filled with dried beans. Refrigerate until set.
• Package candy in cellophane bags. Cut rectangles out of card stock the width of the bags.
• Fold them over the tops of the bags, staple shut. Affix labels over staples. Write a short Christmas greeting with a gold paint pen to sweeten the package.

These are perfect hostess gifts or stocking stuffers.

Image and recipe courtesy of marthastewart.com

Santa baby....

The Funky Junk Family spent the Thanksgiving Holiday in Leavenworth, Washington. Instead of hitting the traditional malls on Black Friday we shopped the wonderful quaint shops of the Bavarian Village called Leavenworth. Santa eluded us all day but we finally found him cruising around in style in the Kris Kringl shop. This is a twist on his ol' faithful sleigh, but when you don't have any snow you must improvise! A vintage black Mercedes will do just fine.

Now, we just gotta locate us one of these. Santa needs one for under our holiday tree. One in pristine shape or somewhat tattered, we don't mind.

Wait a minute....maybe we should just ask Santa himself for such a unique gift?

Santa baby, a '54 convertible too,

light blue.

I'll wait up for you, dear, santa baby...
So hurry down the chimney tonight.