Challenge #33 - Christmas Traditions & Recipes

Gingerbread Houses

What is Christmas without the smell of gingerbread in the air? 

And where would gingerbread men live if not in gingerbread houses? 

Gingerbread houses come is all sizes and shapes, from tiny toppers on hot chocolate mugs, to a simple stable housing a family of three, to a three foot tall cathedral. When it comes to these holiday houses, the only thing limiting their designs is your imagination.

You can buy pre-cooked gingerbread house kits, where everything, including the candy decorations, is included. I used to buy these kits during the after-Christmas sales when my kids were young. No one in our family actually ate the gingerbread, so it didn't matter if I packed the kits away for the year and we made them 12 months later.

If you want to make your own, there are gingerbread house molds you can use to build your own houses, as well, like the one offered by Nordic Ware and sold at Target stores, or the Pampered Chef retired Stoneware mold sold on EBay and Amazon (I still have mine). I found one last week at Goodwill, a local thrift store chain, for only $4.99!

Then there are freestyle houses, built by creating your own templates and carving out the walls, roof, etc., out of rolled out gingerbread dough. There are literally tons of free templates on Pinterest like this one.

Of course, a house is only as good as the mortar which holds it together. If you're making an edible house, you'll need Royal Icing, a frosting that hardens enough to cement together the walls and roof of a gingerbread house, as well as attach decorations to your heart’s content. Like all frostings, there are many various recipes for Royal Icing, but you really only need two ingredients: powdered sugar and water. The more water, the soupier (and slower drying) the "glue." (Hint: If the house is for decoration only, I advise using hot glue or quick drying glue-faster and easier).

Remember, when it comes to gingerbread houses, size doesn't matter. But if you're going to make tiny houses, make sure you make enough for each guest or family member, like the Mug-side Gingerbread Houses seen here. Not only does this talented baker give you the templates for these cup-sitting houses, but she also shares her gingerbread recipe.  (Photo from Juliette Laura)

Not everyone likes gingerbread, however, so there are other "building materials with which to create your Christmas dream house. I once saw a house built with KitKat sticks (a chocolate cookie/candy bar). Pretzel rods make great logs for a Yuletide log home. Again, if you're not eating your home, the logs will stay up better with hot glue. You can also use the thinner pretzel sticks and "cement' them onto a small cardboard milk or juice carton with peanut butter or royal frosting if your kids want to "eat you out of Christmas house and home"!   (photo from Worth Pinning)

No matter what cookie dough or building materials you use, making these houses are fun for the whole family. Some are for decoration only, some for eating. Some are as elaborate as castles, others as humble as a stable with a bright star above it. Whatever you choose to make, keep the spirit of the holidays with you at all times and have fun!!

photo from Roti n Rice

includes gingerbread recipe
Stable, figures and trees are store bought

Challenge #33 Midway: Optional Theme...Picture Inspiration

Hello and happy Friday folks! It is the 15th of the month, and that means it is time to see what the Merry Maidens have been up to with their fabulous images from Sparkle N Sprinkle, our guest sponsor this month!

Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their page in the Sparkle N Sprinkle store where each of these images can be found.

Seasons Greetings Digital Stamp Set

Holiday Cheer Set

Christmas Ornaments Set

A Winter Cardinal

  

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called The Shape of Things. It is more of a generic set this month but the colours are based on a Christmas palette. Check out the preview...

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of September will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post. Additionally, one random winner will earn the full set of papers.

Have your say in determining which paper will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll below.


DIGI PAPER POLL
Please click "like" to choose the ONE paper that you would like offered up to participants who link up a minimum of two cards during the month of September. Poll will be open until September 30th, 11:59 p.m. EST. Please note that you can get a better idea of what the actual paper looks like by bringing the preview ABOVE up in the lightbox.

Now check out what the Merry Maidens came up with to inspire you. Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards.

Inspiration: Marji was inspired by the pine branches on the Christmas tree along with the bird image in one of the wrapping papers.

Inspiration: Granmargaret was inspired by the baubles on the Christmas tree.

Inspiration: Helen was inspired by the ornaments in the tree.

Inspiration: Suze was inspired by the Christmas tree.

Inspiration: Diane Louise was inspired by the Christmas tree.

So if you haven't entered already, what are you waiting for? It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for September. Whether you choose to link up two Anything Goes themed cards simply to earn your free paper this month, or you choose to also follow the optional theme to have a chance at the sponsor's prize, it is completely up to you! 

Here is a refresher of the details for this challenge...

Please remember that this is a CARDS ONLY link up. While we've had some lovely tag entries in the past, we've sadly had to disqualify them.

Challenge #33

Optional Theme:  

Picture Inspiration

 

Courtesy of Pexels/Pixabay

This month we've decided to do a holiday inspired picture inspiration challenge. The great thing about pictures is that one person can be moved by one aspect and another individual may see something totally different. So, whether you are inspired by the colours, the shapes, or the objects themselves within this particular picture, it doesn't matter. Maybe you'll be inspired by the Christmas tree or maybe you'll go with a gift box. Perhaps you'll be influenced by one of the ornaments such as the musical instrument, the rocking horse, the angel, the bear, the baubles or even the star on the top of the tree. Perchance you'll be influenced by one of the many designs in the wrapping paper such as the stripes, the snowflakes, the diagonals, the snowmen, the Santas, the birds, the deer or the holly. Finally, maybe you'll simply be moved by the colours, the sparkle, the lights or the ribbons. This month it is all in the eye of the beholder.

 In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that your Christmas card is inspired somehow by the above picture. The inspiration can be showcased in your image or your papers but they must be used prominently. IMPORTANT: If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.. You will also need to let us know what inspiration you took from the picture. You can simply write a sentence at the bottom of your post next to the link up for this challenge if it would be easier.

Remember, you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month, have a chance to win a special mini kit of digi papers and have your name thrown into the year end draw for some extra digital goodies. You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $15 gift certificate to the Sparkle N Sprinkle store.

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab.  As this is a different kind of link up where we have both an anything goes Christmas option and an optional theme to follow, be sure to read all the details and rules you need to know in order to participate, by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

You can find the Challenge Details Summary along with the link up for 
Challenge #33 by clicking HERE.

 Don't Forget, if everything goes according to plan...

• If I can pull it off, I'll try and get another winner announcement done. 
• Pat will hopefully be here on the 23rd with a special post for you all.
• Our new challenge will start on October 1st.
• Other special posts may be published throughout the month. Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Challenge #29 Winner Announcement

Hello to all our Christmas crafting friends! I'm popping in to announce the winners and our top three Stocking Stuffers from Challenge #29. Goodness I'm rather behind, and getting more so by the minute! I do appreciate your patience.

We had 47 entries in our May challenge which was way up from the previous month. Yippee! We'll have to see if it continues. Please remember to add FT after your name if you have followed the theme. There were several entries this month that qualified as cute but had no initials added. It would be a shame for those actually following the theme to lose out on the chance for the prize simply for forgetting to add the initials.

Anyway, it is time to get on with the finding out who our winners are for the month of May.

Are you one of those lucky peeps?! Let's find out!

OLGA FINK

Olga, you are the winner of the same three digis used by team members, provided by from Mari Digis, our guest sponsor for May (chosen by miniwebtool.com based on all eligible entries). If you'd like to check out the preview of the images you've won, click HERE to head to the challenge start post and scroll down a bit.

Olga, please send an email to the_12_moc_linkup {at} outlook {dot} com (or click HERE to bring the address up in your email program), with the subject, "12MoC Challenge #29 WINNER" to make arrangements to receive your prize. Please note that it may take me several days to get back to you. Thank you for your patience. In the interim, please grab a copy of the winner badge below for your blog.

Next, it is time to get on with showcasing the top three. With so many wonderful entries to choose from, it is always such a difficult task for the design team. We did however settle on three awesome creations. So, without further ado, here are our Stocking Stuffers for Challenge #29:

MARLENE

MARGREET

RAINEY

Congrats to our top three Stocking Stuffers! Marlene, Margreet and Rainey, please grab a copy of the badge below for your blog.

Everyone who links up two cards each month is eligible to receive a free digital paper. All those who linked up two cards during the month of April have previously been mailed their paper. If you thought that you had linked two, but did not receive a free paper, please contact us and let us know and we'll look into it for you.

The 11 individuals who linked up a minimum of two cards each during the month of MAY, qualifying them to receive the digital paper from that month, will receive the Hedgehog paper which received the majority of the votes! I have included the watermark of it, below...

 

To all of you who linked up during May, thanks ever so much! We are so happy to have all of you with us and hope that you'll continue to link up your holiday cards as you work on your stash for 2017!!!

Papers will be sent to the email address that qualifying participants used when they added their cards to the Link Up as soon as I can manage.

As always, we are going to have a random draw from all the entries and give out a set of six digital papers to one lucky individual. The papers are all made so why not have an extra prize! Here is the watermark for the full set...

The winner of the Cute Christmas Mini Kit is 

CAROL S.

(chosen by random.org)

 
Carol, please send an email to the_12_moc_linkup {at} outlook {dot} com (or click HERE to bring the address up in your email program), with the subject, "12MoC Challenge #29 PAPER KIT WINNER" to make arrangements to receive your prize.

Well folks, that is it for today. While you are here, please be sure to check out the details for our current challenge going on now (if you haven't already), with the Optional Theme this month of "Picture Inspiration". You can find out all the details along with the link up, by clicking HERE.

Other special posts may be published throughout the month; so, be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

Until next time,

Challenge #33: Optional Theme...Picture Inspiration

Hello crafters! Welcome to The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up. It is the first day of September and that means it is time for our next challenge to get under way! The end of the summer is upon us and that means there are only four months left to add to the Christmas and other December Holidays Card Pile so let us continue with that quest!

I realize that I still don't have the winner post ready and I'm sorry.  It is started, I just need to finish tabulating the top picks and do some finishing touches. I am trying to get to it as quickly as possible.

Right now, it is time to get down to the business of our latest challenge. Here is what you need to know...

The Basics

While you can find out ALL the information you need to know in order to participate in the challenge by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page (or by clicking HERE), here is a refresher of the basics.

• Anyone can link up as many Christmas and/or December holiday themed cards (including Happy New Year's cards) throughout the month with an ANYTHING GOES theme.
• Every person who has linked up a MINIMUM of two (2) cards will be eligible to receive a specially designed Christmas themed digital paper.
• Each month there will be an OPTIONAL theme to follow. Anyone who submits a card adhering to the monthly theme, will have the chance to win a prize from that month's guest sponsor.
• ALL entries adhering to our basic rules also have the opportunity to win a mini pack of digi papers each month as well.
• Every holiday card you submit to the link up, earns you one chance to win a special digital Christmas kit that will be offered up after the year is complete.

Now that the basics are out of the way, how about we get on with the details of Challenge #33.

Challenge #33

Optional Theme:  

Picture Inspiration

 

Courtesy of Pexels/Pixabay

This month we've decided to do a holiday inspired picture inspiration challenge. The great thing about pictures is that one person can be moved by one aspect and another individual may see something totally different. So, whether you are inspired by the colours, the shapes, or the objects themselves within this particular picture, it doesn't matter. Maybe you'll be inspired by the Christmas tree or maybe you'll go with a gift box. Perhaps you'll be influenced by one of the ornaments such as the musical instrument, the rocking horse, the angel, the bear, the baubles or even the star on the top of the tree. Perchance you'll be influenced by one of the many designs in the wrapping paper such as the stripes, the snowflakes, the diagonals, the snowmen, the Santas, the birds, the deer or the holly. Finally, maybe you'll simply be moved by the colours, the sparkle, the lights or the ribbons. This month it is all in the eye of the beholder.

 In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that your Christmas card is inspired somehow by the above picture. The inspiration can be showcased in your image or your papers but they must be used prominently. IMPORTANT: If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.. You will also need to let us know what inspiration you took from the picture. You can simply write a sentence at the bottom of your post next to the link up for this challenge if it would be easier.

Remember, you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month, have a chance to win a special mini kit of digi papers and have your name thrown into the year end draw for some extra digital goodies. You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $15 gift certificate to the Sparkle N Sprinkle store.

Talking about Sparkle N Sprinkle, it is time to refresh ourselves with the details of this returning sponsor…

Sparkle N Sprinkle is a small company with a big heart owned and operated by Margaret Myers. SNS specializes in hand-mixed embossing powders and glitters. Our quality, deeply etched rubber stamps are closely cropped on Cling Mount Cushion ready for your acrylic block. Produced in our local Shoppe in Ruskin, Florida, the stamps are already indexed on a laminated color storage sheet for your convenience. SNS sells a variety of other paper crafting tools and products, including a new line of digital stamps and many other exclusive products.

Here is the hyper link for the website: https://sparklensprinkle.net/

"Please come visit us at........ We'd love to have you stop by."

SNS Website: https://sparklensprinkle.net/

Challenge Blog (now on Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/groups/SparkleNSprinkleChallenge/?ref=br_rs

SNS Blog: https://sparklensprinkle.net/blogs/news

SNS Store: https://sparklensprinkle.net/

Check out the incredible images that the team worked with this month for the start of the challenge. Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their page in the Sparkle N Sprinkle store where each of these images can be found.

Brighten the Holiday Penguins

70's Peace Sign

Diamond Medallion

You'll get to see more great images used during our midway so be sure to come back again at that time!

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called The Shape of Things. It is more of a generic set this month but the colours are based on a Christmas palette. Check out the preview...

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of September will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post. Additionally, one random winner will earn the full set of papers.

Have your say in determining which paper will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll below.


DIGI PAPER POLL
Please click "like" to choose the ONE paper that you would like offered up to participants who link up a minimum of two cards during the month of September. Poll will be open until September 30th, 11:59 p.m. EST. Please note that you can get a better idea of what the actual paper looks like by bringing the preview ABOVE up in the lightbox.

Now check out what the Sleigh Belles and also Pat came up with to inspire you. Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards...

Inspiration: One of Donna's favourite things about Christmas is the lights. In her opinion, the more colourful the better. So, the lights on the tree were what she used for inspiration!

Inspiration: Susan used the Christmas tree as her inspiration,
along with some of the shapes in the wrapping papers.

Inspiration: Pat used the teal and red colours from the photo as inspiration for
her Christmas card along with the gift packages' striped wrapping paper.

So what are you waiting for? It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for September! Whether you choose to link up two Anything Goes themed cards simply to earn your free paper this month, link up one or more cards for your chance to win the mini kit of digi papers shown above, OR you choose to also follow the optional theme to have a chance at the sponsor's prize, it is completely up to you!

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, in the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

We have a packed month as usual; so, Pat and I and the rest of the gang hope to see you back with us soon!

• We hope to publish the names of the winners and top picks from Challenge #29 ASAP. 
• Then, be sure to join us again on September 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens!
• Other special posts may be published throughout the month. Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

CHALLENGE DETAILS SUMMARY
Each month we'll include a summary of details for the particular challenge taking place. If you are new, please be sure to familiarize yourself with all the details and rules in the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page.  Please note that dates and times listed below are for this particular challenge only:

• Cards for this challenge will be accepted from 6:00 p.m. (18:00 hrs), September 1st until 11:59 p.m. (23:59 hrs), September 30th, 2017.  All times listed are in EDT (Eastern Daylight Savings Time).
  
• If you wish to receive the free digi paper being offered up for this month, you need to link up a minimum of two (2) Christmas or holiday themed cards. 
• This is NOT a progressive challenge. You can jump in at any time.
• Only a maximum of three (3) entries will qualify for the draw for this month's prize of a $15 gift certificate to the Sparkle N Sprinkle store. You must add 'FT' after you name so we know which cards to add to the random draw for the sponsor's prize. ADDITIONALLY, this month you also need to let us know how you were inspired by the picture.
• No backlinking.
• Make sure when entering your project that you mention The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up in your post with a link back to this blog.
• Please remember to link directly to your blog post where we can see your creation, and not just the generic link to your blog.

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link Up Below:
If you have any problems linking up, please be sure to leave a comment.

The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up Challenge #33
Please link up your Anything Goes Christmas and/or December holiday themed CARDS with the optional theme of Picture Inspiration, below. Be sure to add FT after your name if you followed the theme.  Please see above for all the rules and details.