RECIPE: Marshmallow Melted Snowman Cookie

For this time of the year, when the snow is just starting to melt and the idea of Spring is in the air, these Melted Snowman Cookies are PERFECT! So many have had a total blast decorating these cuties. They love the ability to be creative.  Click here for full recipes and tutorial.

Comments:

• For the nose I bought the candy orange circus peanuts. It was easy to mold it between your two fingers to make a “carrot” nose. Mini chocolate chips and m&m’s make fun buttons. For a fun twist we used the twizler rope candy that you pull apart and made some scarves. I wish we could post our own pictures. Happy Holidays to all.
• We had a few super melty marshmallows, so we added “top hats” made of mini oreo cookies on Havilland chocolate covered mint wafers, to cover up the overly melty portion.

Source: Truly Custom Cakery | Click here for the full article

Medium Size Outdoor Nativity Set

This is actually the standard/typical size of most other nativity sets being sold over the internet. I had always thought it was a little too small for an outdoor nativity, but last year I decided that I wanted to at least provide people with a choice. So, for the first time I offered my nativity in this size and it was a huge success. If your yard is small or you want to display a nativity on your deck, patio or even indoors, I think it is a great choice.

Beautifully detailed medium outdoor nativity silhouette,
made from the highest quality marine grade solid PVC available.
Designed and manufactured in the USA.
47″ wide x 42″ tall (to top of star) x 11.25″ deep.

For a discounted price and NO additional shipping cost, select additional items below to ship with your nativity.
(“Merry Christmas” and “Noel” are both too large to fit into the the Medium nativity box. If you would like to add them to your shopping cart, please go to Additional Characters and I will ship them separately.)
Donkey ($22)
Angel ($40)
Shepherd Set ($48)
“Peace on Earth” ($18)
“Joy” ($30)

• Shipped in a custom designed 37″ x 22″ x 4″ box that can be used for storage between the seasons. 
  
• Made from 10mm & 13mm marine grade, PVC material. This should last long enough to become an heirloom. 
  
• Can be assembled in just a few minutes or less
• No fasteners or screws of any kind are required. Joints slide together and are secured in place by 4 tie-down points and stakes hammered into your soil. Ropes & stakes are provided (but if your soil is particularly sandy or wet, you may need to get larger stakes).

For more information please visit the Medium Size Outdoor Nativity Set webpage.

Christmas Greetings and Customs in Iceland

Greeting: Gledileg Jol (Merry Christmas)
Custom: Icelandic children will decorate their homes with Christmas pockets and little stairs for the elves which they believe visit their homes from December 12 through December 24. The elves leave gifts in their shoes.

Large Outdoor Nativity Set

This is my original size. It is quite a bit larger than other nativity sets being sold on the internet but it’s my favorite size. It is big enough to really be seen and make that statement, without being too bulky or difficult to handle and store. I believe that “bang for the buck”, this is the best deal. I’ve made and sold almost 1000 nativities this size over the past four years, so I’ve got the process pretty streamlined now. I’m very proud to say that if you compare prices, you will find that this nativity set is less than half of what equally sized nativities are sold for even though the quality of this one is far superior.

Beautifully detailed large outdoor nativity silhouette,
made from the highest quality marine grade solid PVC available.
Designed and manufactured in the USA.
66.75″ wide x 60″ tall (to top of star) x 16″ deep.

For a discounted price and NO additional shipping cost, select any two of the items below to ship with your nativity.
(You can go to Additional Characters and add more items to your shopping cart, but I can’t fit more in the nativity box, so they will ship separately.)
Donkey ($45)
“Merry Christmas” ($18)
“Peace on Earth” ($18)
“Noel” ($30)
“Joy” ($30)

• Shipped in a custom designed 52″ x 36″ x 3″ box that can be used for storage between the seasons. 
  
• Made from 10mm & 16mm marine grade, PVC material. This should last long enough to become an heirloom. 
  
• Can be assembled in just a few minutes or less.
• No fasteners or screws of any kind are required. Joints slide together and are secured in place by 4 tie-down points and stakes hammered into your soil. Ropes & stakes are provided (but if your soil is particularly sandy or wet, you may need to get larger stakes).
• Please note that I am limited on how many “Additional Characters” I can fit in the Large sized box. I can fit the angel, or the standing shepherd or any two of the Christmas Messages and donkey. Since it is more common for people who only wish to buy one extra character, to buy the donkey, I have offered the donkey at a discount here (rather than the angel or the standing shepherd). Long story short… please order what you want. If you order it on this page, my website will give you a discount. If you add it to your order on the Additional Characters page, I will squeeze what I can into your nativity box then ship the rest separately and refund you anything that my website overcharged you.

For more information please visit the Large Outdoor Nativity Set webpage.

Christmas Greetings and Customs in France

Greeting: Joyeux Noel (Joyous Christmas)
Custom: How about thirteen desserts on Christmas Eve? In southern France, they serve a dessert to honor Jesus and the twelve apostles. One of these desserts is the Yule log which is a cake to represent the actual yule log which many people burn in their homes from Christmas Day until New Years Day for good luck.

About Us

The story behind this nativity scene…

A few years ago, my sister emailed me snapshots she’d taken of an outdoor nativity set. “Can you make me one?” She told me she had been trying for years to find a nativity set that was not too commercial and/or tacky and she was so excited to have finally found something she loved. Well I had been struggling with what to get her for Christmas so I went to work, trying to figure out how to make the thing, based on the pictures she’d sent.

All my life, I’d thought that my sister was more “artistically opinionated” than me, but honestly, I didn’t think the thing was that nice. Being the perfectionist that I am, I decided to improve the design. That was the fun part. Making it was not.

Imagine taking a 50+ lb., 4’x8′ sheet of plywood, laying out and cutting intricate patterns, filling all those gaps at the edges that are so prominent in plywood, sanding each piece, then priming and painting them all, front, back and sides. It took a long time. In fact, I didn’t get it done in time for her to put out that year. But, she used it the next Christmas.

Then I got the phone call. Several of her friends and neighbors wanted me to make them one too. “And by the way” she says, “the winter was real tough on mine so it needs to be re-primed and painted”. I wasn’t sure what to do. People seemed to think it was wonderful. I agreed, but it was way too much work to make again. And if I were to make more, I’d at least need to find a material better than plywood to use so it would last longer than 1 or 2 seasons.

I talked to numerous experts about alternative materials and found the perfect stuff. It should easily last… well… forever. And it’s naturally white, all the way through, so there is no need to paint it. (However, if you want to, it does take paint very well.) It’s got a real nice matte finish that looks and feels just like professionally painted wood. In fact, I get a couple emails per year from people who are upset that I sent them a wood nativity when they’d ordered a plastic one.

Anyway, that is how this all started. I’m going on my fifth year now and I just love it. It is a lot of work but I’m very proud of this nativity and the joy that it has brought to so many people.

For more information visit our About Us webpage.

Christmas Greetings and Customs in Canada

Greeting: Merry Christmas or Joyeux Noel (Quebec)
Custom: In Eastern Canada they receive barley toys and chicken bones in their stockings. A barley toy is a red or yellow hard candy on a stick. A chicken bone is a cinnamon stick. (Yum!)

Source: Hubpages

9 Tips for Planning in Advance for Holiday Expenses

Many people go into large amounts of debt around the holiday season. It is possible to not go into debt during the holiday season. Here are nine tips for planning in advance holiday expenses.

1. Figure out how much money that you need each year for the entire year that include all holidays. Once you figure out how much that you would like to spend each year including Christmas holiday too. Make sure to figure out a reasonable and affordable amount that you feel comfortable with spending each year.

2. Save money each month. This is the most important thing to do. You need to figure out how much money that you need to save each month in order to have enough money to spend throughout the year for the holidays. If you decide to have small or large amounts each month then you will already have the money available. You won’t have to go into debt during the holiday season since the money will already be saved. It will help reduce stress since the credit cards won’t be maxed out due to holiday expenses.

3. You can save even more money if you decide to make homemade gifts. It will help reduce the overall amount of money spent during the holiday. Homemade gifts take more time to make instead of buying a gift at the store, but it is cheaper long term. You should decide if it is worth your time to make a homemade gift or if you would rather buy a already made gift at the store.

4. You can purchase holiday gifts throughout the year instead of around the time of the holiday. It is usually cheaper to purchase gifts throughout the year when the prices aren’t marked up large amounts. One thing to remember is that around the holiday seasons stores tend to love to raise the prices on holiday gifts since people are willing to pay the higher price due to not shopping earlier.

5. Look around on the Internet for some excellent deals on gifts throughout the year especially during the slow season. Many companies online, such as http://www.barnesandnoble.com and http://www.amazon.com have free shipping available if you purchase over a certain amount of items. This is a great way to purchase items since you have a large variety of stores to choose from on the Internet and some places that offer free shipping is wonderful since it doesn’t cost a cent more to receive them.

6. You can get a part time during the summer to help you save even more for the entire year for holiday expenses. This will work out pretty good since you won’t have to save money each month if you are able to earn enough money during the summer time. This may be something that is fun to do to earn some extra money during the summer.

7. Another idea is that you can return items to stores. You can get a store credit or sometimes even cash back. If possible you can save the store credit or cash back to use towards holiday gifts throughout the year. It is another way to save even more additional money.

8. You can use reward points or cash back deals from credit cards. If you have enough reward points or cash back deals from credit cards or any other cards then you could also use those for holiday expenses throughout the year. This is another additional great idea. If your credit card lets you get airfare miles then you could possibly even fly for free to visit with family members during the holidays.

9. Another method of saving money to prepare for the holiday expenses is to use a charge card at department stores. Different department stores offer an additional ten to twenty or more savings when you decide to use their department store charge card. If you have a department store charge card then you will often receive coupons in the mail for an additional certain amount of money discount when you spent a certain amount. This enables you to save even more money for holiday expenses and gifts.

Source: Yahoo!

POEM: This Little Babe?

His hands are that of mercy
His toes are full of strength
His life a new beginning
That has eternal length
His skin is pure and perfect
And eyes are full of grace
What kind of king is born
In such a common place?

Our Father who art in heaven
Our Father from above
Truly is this your son
You sent for us to love?

This little babe in swaddling clothes
Lying in a manger
His innocence and purity…
He’ll keep us all from danger?
Is it true if we believe in Him
He’ll lead us not astray?
And you’ll have mercy in your heart
When it comes the judgment day?

Oh, Alleluiah, praise and glory
As I follow I will sing
Thank you Lord Almighty for this
Blessed little King!

Source: Denise J Feil

The Extra Electric Train: A Christmas Memory

Though money didn’t flow as freely as the rain that winter, my parents worked with joyful anticipation to give my brother and me a Christmas present we would never forget. They scrimped for months and then spent more than they could probably afford for a Marx electric train.

Then the day before Christmas, a cousin stationed at a nearby military base pulled into the driveway. Opening the trunk of his car he lifted out a large heavy box. My brother and I could hardly wait to see what it was. On Christmas morning we opened it first. Eagerly we unwrapped an expensive new electric train set. Wow! You had to pull us down off the ceiling. A Lionel train, too! Then we opened the presents from our parents–another electric train. Ho hum. And not nearly as extravagant as the one from our cousin. Guess whose we played with most?

Mom and Dad were hurt. The outlay for an unmarried Air Force lieutenant was nothing compared to the sacrifice my parents had made. But all we saw was the glamour of an expensive train. We counted our parents’ gift as merely a nice accessory.

Our heavenly Father spends many a disappointing Christmas. Amidst the glittering ornaments and flashing Christmas lights, the hurry and hustle of shopping and wrapping and family get-togethers, parties and presents, trees and turkeys–who really cares about His gift? What gets more attention from us: our Father’s gift of life in Jesus Christ or the quickly-wrapped department store gifts from our cousins?

Thank you, Father, for Jesus. Thank you for the abundant life that we, His disciples, can enjoy now. Thank you for sending us a most expensive gift–your own life. Thank you!

Source: Dr. Ralph F. Wilson