food, crochet, merriment
Snowmen seem to be all the thing these days, so when I saw this pattern, I desperately wanted to make it for my sweet Jillian–who loves snowmen! It took a bit of tweaking to get everything they way I wanted it–but in the end he’s just what we wanted. Check out his cute little stick arms and mittens! And what can we say about that carrot nose?
Ohhhh, my, but he turned out cute!
I found this sweet little snowman pattern just a few days before our family Christmas party.
It whipped up so quickly that I made another one.
And then…and then…and then and then and then… AHHHH!!
They were just so dang cute that I couldn’t stop!!
Before I knew which way was up–I had a pile of sweet, sturdy little snowmen! Turns out I had one for each of my kids and my sister and my sweet friend.
In the words of our favorite boy wizard, “It was like MAGIC!!”
If you’re feeling the crochet snowman bug too–you’ll find the pattern here.
You’re very welcome.
Ohhhh my goodness! How many times have we made these crazy little houses?!
However, we haven’t actually done one quite like this. Notice the double chimneys. There’s your first hint.
See if you can figure it out.
I worked on this side of the house with my little brick planter and flowers and sweet rock pathway…
and only the stuff I particularly love– on the roof.
Ok, on half the roof.
There was someone else making a whole different building, with a totally different vibe, on the other side of this house.
Think of it like the ultimate Christmas duplex–if you will.
Mrs. Claus on one side and Mr. Grinch on the other. Haha.
It was very him–if you get my drift.
Hazel said that her house looked so good that she wanted to eat it. No one could think of a reason for her not to do it…
…so she did.
I hope we do this every year…
forever.
No, noooo. I’m not reposting my sweet little crocheted Nativity set. And noooo you aren’t seeing double. My daughter Lyndi wanted her very own version so naturally, I made another set!!
This time, Mary’s hair is more blonde and Joseph has a goatee and no mustache. He’s a more modern fellow. Haha.
But since Mary and Joseph’s wardrobe that night is a history mystery–I have complete freedom to use my artistic license. Last time it was pink and brown but THIS time, since Lyndi realllllly loves blue, then blue it is.
So there.
Of course, baby Jesus is the same…because, you know– some things should probably stay the same, “yesterday, today and forever,” if you get my meaning. Not tempting fate here.
And so it is.
Ok, guys–are these the cutest little turkey drumsticks that you’ve ever, EVER seen?! You KNOW they are!
And no lie, they taste so good, you’ll be lucky if somebody doesn’t eat them all in one sitting. Ahem.
First, you’ll need three simple things:
1 bag of Braided Pretzel Sticks
1 bag Kraft Caramels
Dipping chocolate– we used 2 large Symphony bars
Here’s how you make them. 
Snap one end off the pretzels or they will be too long and look funny. You can see that we didn’t break too much off. Just enough to make them the right size.
Next you’ll want to warm up the caramels. You can do this a few different ways. You can soften them up with a few seconds in the microwave–if you have one. We don’t, so we put them in a Ziploc bag and set them in a bowl of hot water. It worked just fine.
We’re not trying to melt the caramels–just make them soft enough to mold, kind of like clay.
Next, wrap the caramel around the broken end of the pretzel. Mold and shape it like a turkey leg–a blob at one end, tapering down towards the middle of the pretzel.
You’ll have a sweet little plate of naked drumsticks when you’re finished. While they sit there in all their skinned, raw, vulnerable glory you’ll need to melt the chocolate. We just put it in a small pan and warmed it on the stove on low.
Once it’s completely melted, dip the little things in the chocolate and let them rest on wax paper. You might want to be smarter than I was and put the wax paper on a pan first. That way you can pop them in the fridge to help them set faster.
I don’t know about you, but I simple LOVE giving someone a surprise that makes them say, “OH, MY GOSH!! How adorable!”
Then they laugh–
which is, of course my all time favorite reaction.
Luckily, I made a million of these.
Guess I’m just a needy little soul.
Ha.
PS- This recipe was first spotted on Taste of Home Recipes. I only did one minor tweak–using one caramel instead of two and breaking the pretzels.