Year: 2011

Cookie Exchange Party

Preparation:
Good Location with an oven
Plenty of table-top space for cookie making and cooling
A light lunch and beverages (MILK!) (dessert will be a couple of sample cookies)
Invite a group of 10 or so friends.
Ask them to bring their favorite cookie dough, or ingredients to make their favorite cookies, and a large container or tray to take home the cookies.
Have extra supplies on hand; plastic wrap, cookie sheets, cooling racks, baking needs, etc…

Party Time: When the guests arrive, everyone helps preparing dough onto trays. Make sure someone is in charge of the timer! As each type of cookie is baked and cooled, divide them up to each person’s tray, so that everyone gets a variety to take home for the holidays. Also make sure to have an extra tray for ‘Samples’!!

Extra: We always have a craft prepared to make too – something like an ornament, trinket, or holiday decoration.

Magnetic Catch All

Materials

  • 1 jumbo-size muffin pan
  • Self-adhesive magnetic sheeting (sold at craft stores)
  • 6 (16-ounce) plastic cups
 

Instructions
  1. Simply cut out circles of self-adhesive magnetic sheeting and stick them to the bottoms of the plastic cups. This will make them tip-resistant once you set them in the pan.
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Sanitary Slippers

Money is a little tight this year, but I still wanted to exchange gifts, so I came up with this idea for homemade Christmas slippers

They are:
* Soft and Hygienic
* Non-slip grip strips on the soles
* Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh
* No more bending over to mop up spills
* Disposable and biodegradable
* Environmentally safe

Use 4 sanitary napkins, decorative trinket and a little ingenuity to put these together. via

Candy Flavored Vodka

There’s no better gift to bring to a holiday party than alcohol. This is just a fact. But alcohol you made yourself? You’ll be the toast of the town! Luckily vodka-infused drinks are super easy to make, provided that you have a little while to let it soak (so basically, it’s not a last-minute party idea). You want to make candy libations? We’ll show you how, and try it ourselves, with results posted next week!

Step One:The ingredients
1)Giant Halloween-sized bag of colorful candy (it looks better in the final product) like Skittles, cotton candy, Jolly Ranchers, candy canes, or red hots. Not gummy candy, which will absorb all the alcohol (that’s an entirely different kind of treat!)
2) 1.75 liter bottle of vodka (mid-range is best, doesn’t have to be Grey Goose, but don’t buy the Russian $5 off-brand that makes you go blind)
3) A funnel
4) coffee filters/paper towels
5) A large glass container

Step 2: The Prep
Put candy into dishes, celebrated by color or type. Pour in vodka to top of container: the candy will soak up all the alcohol, so you’re going to have to be careful on the ratios here. Cover the container (not with plastic), and let it sit for a week.

Step 3: Wait several days
The time ratio here is a little bit confusing: Generally for fruit you have to wait a week, but candy is more water-soluble. We’d say 3-4 days is a good amount of time to let the flavor soak in. You don’t need the candy to totally dissolve, just color/add flavor to the alcohol.

Step 4: Strain and Serve
You a coffee filter to pour the alcohol into another jar and catch the candies still floating in there (no one wants to choke on a half-dissolved Jolly Ranchers). The use a funnel to transfer into decorative bottles. VIA