brown paper packages tied up with string

...these are a few of my favorite things...

I have a few staples that I tend to give for gifts. And I thought it would be fun to share my old faithful's in case you have someone on your list for whom these gift ideas might be perfect.

1. My all-time-favorite-gift-to-give is The Jesus Storybook Bible. I don't care if you are six or ninety-six, this is the Bible for you. The subtitle of this Bible is, "Every story whispers his name" and as you read each Old Testament story, the last paragraph points to Jesus. And as you read each New Testament story, the last paragraph points back to the prophesy fulfilled, the promise made true. It has solid theology, beautiful pictures and inspired writing. 2. When I was little I played for hours on end with my whiteboard and whiteboard markers. I gave this gift to my niece, Josie, a few years ago for her birthday and now each year I just get her new markers at Target. Because there is nothing like juicy whiteboard markers.

3. I became a believer in the power of aromatherapy when I found Mrs. Meyer's

Clean Day Dish Soap (Gardenia Scent). Honest to goodness, doing the dishes became more enjoyable. And that is saying a lot. I gave this as a gift to my sistah's for their birthday and we all look back at that season with our Gardenia dish soap as the happiest of dish washing. Unfortunately the Gardenia scent is hard to find in stores, so you have to order it online...which is a deterrent for me. But at $3.99 I may just order a bunch in bulk for future gifts. You may find it odd to give dish soap, but just wait until you smell it.

4. Another favorite children's book, for all ages. You Are Special by Max Lucado is my favorite book of all time, all about small wooden people who spend their every day giving each other stars or dots depending on what they can do, what they look like, how they articulate themselves. But one little wooden person has no stars or dots on her. She says they don't stick to her, because she visits the woodcarver every day. It's a beautiful analogy for us and how we let others judge us, but how God made us free of other people's judging. Again, ages 6 to 96, this is a great book.

5. Nothing can beat mod podge and sponge brushes. Every age can mod podge and the projects of creativity that can come from this stuff are endless. I recently saw kitchen cupboards that were covered in ripped scrapbook paper via modpodge. They were stunning and perfect for the creative workspace I saw them in. (You can get mod podge and sponge brushes at Michael's or any craft supply store.)

6. I've always been a huge fan of punch balloons. No matter what amazing present you pair a punch ballo0n with, the punch balloon always gets the attention and played with first. Cheap, delightful and easy to find in the party supply aisle.

7. I am throwing the Ron Popeil Food Dehydrator on my list, not because I have ever given one away. Nor because I have even ever received one. But it is on my list because I asked for a Ron Popeil Food Dehydrator for seven years in a row of my life for christmas and for my birthday. I had the infomercial memorized and was sure my life would be complete if only I could make my own banana chips, beef jerky and fruit roll ups. I still think it would make a lovely gift, and therefore made this top ten list.

8. Table Topic cards. I love these things and the conversations they spark. There are all sorts of topics from travel to girls night to family to date night. Rory and I have the travel cards in our jeep and whip them out when road trips get long.

9. Along the lines of modpodge, I think giving art supplies to kids or crafty types is another super thoughtful and imaginative gift.

10. My mother-in-law has kept a 10 year journal for as long as Rory can remember. There are only four lines for each day, and just the noteworthy things get written down. The first year it is like any other journal, but because all ten years of the same date are on the same page, this journal gets better and better each year. Simply by opening to November 23, I can see what we were up to last year at this time, and the year before that etc... It's a very simple memory keeping technique and makes for some great story sharing. My bff, Heidi, uses hers as her kids' baby books, writing down notable moments or funny things they say. Perfect and simple.

Anyone have any favorite gifts to give to add to the list? Leave me a comment! I'm in need of more ideas since my family and friends have been saturated in the gifts listed above!

The Forest Room

My cousin Jeremiah is married to Sarah, the lovely author of The Forest Room blog. I have yet to meet her, which seems crazy-strange, because I seriously feel like I know her quite well. All because of her blog. My grandma Bredberg was just out to Kentucky to visit the family out there and she posted some stunning pictures of their time together. (The picture above was taken from her blog) I just thought I'd point you in that direction, because all of her pictures and stories and lovely. And if you scroll down past the post about our grandma, you'll see a post she recently wrote about making her own cheeses. I had actually never even considered making your own cheese, but now I'm intrigued.

Again, I haven't ever met Sarah, but based on her blog, I think she is the most peaceful mother of four I have yet to meet (or have not met...) She writes about her joys and challenges in home schooling and includes magnificent photography of the learning happening in their home. When I read her blog and wish I could be in her house each day as they learn because her lessons always combine the subject at hand with some grand exploration through food, art, costumes and writing. She is one creative and imaginative teacher, and to me, there is nothing greater than to see another person's creativity and imagination embodied in their daily work. Enjoy this blog!

Sugar and Spice.

I have been baking today. I love baking. I was baking cookies. I LOVE cookies. I was baking sugar and spice cookies filled with good things like molasses, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Our house smells divine.

My sistah, Lisa, throws a cookie swap every year. It is larger than life. Last year, I realized that the date she had picked for the cookie swap we were supposed to be at Disney World. And honest-to-goodness, I changed our flight. We did Disney in a half day, because I didn't want to miss the cookie swap. When I realized this conflict, there were tears followed by a very confused husband, "so what you're trying to say is that you would rather go to Lisa's cookie thing, more than Disney World?!!" "yes, Rory, (sniff sniff) I am saying exactly that..."

My first year at the cookie swap I brought peanut butter buckeyes, sort of cheating because they are a no bake, and being that everyone must bring TWELVE DOZEN cookies, I ended up feeling badly that I didn't actually bake like everyone else. However, when year two rolled around, I again took the easy way out and made my mom's apricot-coconut balls. Another no bake. I love these babies, but they're hit or miss, depending on if others like apricot, coconut and dark chocolate. (if you like those three things though, you'll flip over these things...)

Last year I made oatmeal cranberry cookies and this year, I made these sugar-ginger deals. They smell and taste fantastic. And the best part? The dough isn't actually that delicious, so this is like the first time in my life that I made cookies and don't have a tummy ache from eating so much dough. It seriously is a perk! But the cookies, once they are baked, are my absolute favorite. A classic, Christmas cookie.

So here's the recipe. The cookie swap isn't until next Monday, so the cookies are safe in freezer bags for a week until I get them out to package them up beautifully for an event that tops Disney World. And I LOVE Disney World.

Sugar and Spice Cookies
3/4 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses
(beat above together)
Dry Ingredients (mix together and add to butter mixture)
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp cloves
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat over to 350. Form into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place two inces apart on baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes for a chewy cookie. Makes four dozen. Enjoy!

Christmas Craft Night

We had a fantastic turn out for our first Christmas Craft Night on Friday night. The hope of this evening was for women to come and make classy gifts to give to teachers, babysitters or coworkers. We had 30 ladies come, and had a really great time. I had the room set up with six different stations and the ladies moved around the room as they pleased. We had great food, great childcare and Bing Crosby singing us into the season.

Our craft stations included: Christmas Cocoa cones, Fabric covered magnets and tacks, Scrabble Tile Necklaces, Gift Tags and pretty gift wrapping, and Bath bomb cupcakes. Click on any of those titles for the link to the tutorials, where I found all of these fabulous ideas!

I hired a few camp counselors and co-worker's kids to be our babysitters for the evening. They were awesome. When I went to check on them I found the crew having a snack in their fort. Love that.

The evening was not without a few glitches, however. I was in charge of welcoming ladies, helping with the bath bombs and helping with the cupcake frosting. And honestly, I probably should have delegated the frosting or bath bombs. One batch of frosting was so thin it ran off the cupcakes entirely. Another batch of frosting misfired, when all of their ingredients were added together at the same time. Turns out, this is how you make marzipan! The putty was incredible and we actually played with it for a while because it was just that cool. At that point, I realized I needed to hang out at the frosting table and made sure everything was put in exactly as the directions specified. And then it turned out great every time.

We had a Healthy Breakfast Potluck at our last staff meeting. This actually was sort of a tricky challenge...bacon and waffles and egg bake don't really fit in at a "healthy" breakfast. So I thought for a while and remembered this recipe I had written down somewhere while we were on our road trip last year. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

My review: they didn't turn out anything like the actual Starbucks granola bars that I love. But they turned into their own special granola bars and I will make them again and again. I think part of the difference between the kind they sell and the kind I made was that I used smart balance peanut butter (trying to make them extra healthy for our Healthy Breakfast) and it changed the flavor a bit, but they were FABULOUS and Rory loved them and so did the Carol Joy Holling staff. Enjoy!

Makes 48 servings (for real!)
Chewy, nutty good to go bars.

Ingredients
2/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup walnuts
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup almonds
2/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup flax seed
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:
Combine dry goods.
Melt butter, corn syrup and sugar over medium heat till near boiling.
Combine everything including peanut butter.
Set oven 350. Spray pan. Spread in pan.
Bake for 30 minutes (mine were done after 15-20 minutes) or till outside begins to brown.