Christmas Cookie Jars

If you are looking for a quick last minute gift this one is great! I found this idea a while ago and wanted to give it a go for Christmas gifts this year for some of our family and friends . I know there are lots of Chirstmas Cookie recipes out there, but after testing this one numerous times I have found it works best for me :) (I had hoped to have this post up earlier but as we all know some times things just don't go to plan.)

Just a few gifts ready to go under the tree!!

So the idea with Christmas Cookies in a jar is that you put all the dry ingredients in a jar, prettie it up and all your recipient has to do is add the wet ingredients, mix and bake! Easy!

This is my recipe for the Christmas Cookies:
(They are listed in the order they should be put in the jar)

* 3/4 cup  Plain Flour
* 1/2 cup Self Raising Flour
* 1 cup Oats
* 3/4 cup Christmas M&M's
* 3/4 cup choc chips
* 1/3 cup brown sugar
* 1/3 cup caster sugar.

I got my jars from Kmart and at $2 a jar they are a good buy, especially if you plan on making a few. The other up side of using a glass jar is that is can be re-used for storing some of the cookies if your recpient wants to have a few out on show...if they last that long! ;)

Make sure you really pack each layer in as you go, or else not all the ingredients will fit. 

I attached a lable to the back as well with the instuctions on how to put it all together.

Back of jar with baking instuctions.

As pictured, all that needs to be done from here is to mix the dry ingredients with:

* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 tsb milk
* 1 tsb vanilla

Roll them into balls, place on a baking tray and pop into a pre-heated oven at 180°C. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

You can prettie up the jars how ever you like. I used some material I picked up from Spotlight, ribbon and twine (from Whimsy Farm Twine) and the lables I made.

If you'd like a copy of the lables so you can make your own jars, feel free to send me an email (leegirlpretties@hotmail.com) or leave a comment with your email address under this post and I'll email it to you completely FREE!! :)

I hope you all enjoy this idea and recipe, and even if you don't do the jar idea, making up some cookies and wrapping them in some cellophane with ribbon would be a great little gift idea too!! 

I hope you all have a wonderful and magical Christmas and stay safe during the festive season!

Stay Prettie

Jodie-lee xx

Alfie Snowflake

For the month of December we have a little house guest visiting from the North Pole. Her name is Alfie Snowflake.

I chose to steer away from the traditional Elf On A Shelf, instead making my own from a Gingermelon pattern (you can purchase the pattern here). I wanted a bit of freedom with what our Elf would look like, so she has blonde hair like my daughter and next year I intend to add another Elf to our tradition that will represent our unborn baby (so if its a boy we'll have a little boy elf and if its another girl we'll have another girl friend for Alfie)

The response to Alfie's arrival has been just great! Kirby was amazed when she saw her for the first time and every morning is the same 'Where is Alfie Snowflake this morning?...Lets look for her!'

Some of what Alfie is found doing relates back to our Advent Activitiy Calendar, this makes it easier for me, especially on the days when I have to work or have worked the night before. (read about our Advent Activity Calendar here)

So here is what our little Elf has been up to so far.

Alfie Snowflake's arrival...with Elf hat and all ;)

Hangin out in the navitiy set.

Alfie was found in the Christmas tree, with a little
note saying that she had a gift for Kirby.

Chilling out in a bowl of Christmas M&M's; Having a rest in
Santa's secret Letter Box (we wrote our santa letter that day); Playing in
the craft box (christmas craft day); and hanging out with Barbie watching
Christmas video's on YouTube.

Alfie relaxing in daddy's baseball glove with a little present so Kirby can talk
to Santa; Alfie came along to our Santa photos and jumped in too; Hanging out in the Advent Calendar with a little chocolate; and reading some new Christmas stories with Big Bunny.

Making snow angels in cotton balls by her special door tothe North Pole; Doing
some colouring in a new Christmas colouring book; and hanging around off some tinsel with candy canes...as you do ;)

Alfie has been a great new little addition to our family and will definately be coming back next year. I'm planning on making a little photo book up once Christmas is over, so that we can look back on the adventures that Alfie has had at our home.

Keep your eyes open for more Elf goodness as Alfie Snowflake's adventures continues!

Stay Prettie

Jodie-Lee

Our Christmas Advent Calendar

Every December as a child I loved the count down to the big day...especially the chocolate advent calendars we used. Last year was the first Christmas that Kirby kind of understood what was going on, and instead of doing chocolates every day I made our first Activity Advent calendar so that we could have a little Christmas cheer every day! 

It was such a success, and Kirby loved opening a new bag each day to see what activity or little gift she would be getting. So it has become a definate on the Christmas Traditions list for us.

As we moved house earlier in the year, I knew that the space I had would be limited, so I went against using the same set up as last year and did a little something different....it definatly took longer to make, but I'm so happy with the out come that it was worth while :D

*please excuse the quality of the photos, I took them on my phone* ;)

Our Activity Advent Calendar

The calendar is made up of 25 mini stockings that I machine and hand sewed and each one contains either an activity or little gift. Last year I used the activity cards and planner from the A Little Delightful blog (they are available as a free printable, just follow this link and you'll find them).

This year I decided to make my own activity cards as I could personalise them for Kirby. They include activities such as reading Christmas stories, having a movie night, doing some Christmas craft and baking and also popping a gift under the wishing tree. As you can see some of the gifts correspond with the activities and Kirby will have to find these hidden around the house!

I still used the free planner as it saved me some time from making my own, but it also doubles as our Elf planner too...Elf planner...yep, keep reading to find out more ;)

Some of the little gifts that will be used this year, our planner
(so I can keep track of what we are doing and when), and activity cards.

The display features a few other things, including the 'Santa Claus is coming to town ' print I designed for this years Christmas range. It is also the home of our 'Santa's (secret) Letter Box' which will be used for sending letters to Santa and also recieving them!

The little display under the advent calendar.

But I can not forget the most important feature... a special little doorway which our cheeky little house guest for the month will use to get to and from the North Pole!

Please meet Alfie Snowflake. She is our little Christmas Elf that will be popping up here and there and taking part in some of our Christmas activities and keeping an eye on Kirby and letting Santa know if she's being 'naughty or nice' ;) (if you have Instagram you can see what she's been up to by looking for #alfiesnowflake)

I decided to make our own elf rather than buy one of the traditional 'Elf on the Shelf', as it gave me the opportunity to create something special for our family, allowed for me to personalise her a little bit, and it also means that I can make a matching one for our new little baby next year, and they can get up to mischief together!

I will be doing a post about Alfie's arrival and first week in our home very soon so keep an eye out, but she is already very popular!!

What are some Christmas traditions you and your family have?

Stay Prettie

Jodie-Lee ox