Visiting the annual Christmas market here in Bratislava, Slovakia has become one of the highlights of my year. The colors, the smells, the happy people, the cheerful atmosphere – what a delightful experience it is indeed. It definitely is one of my most favorite traditions.
Today I would like to share a few of my favorite snaps from this year’s market with you.
I have a new crochet idea for you today. It’s Crochet Christmas Trees With Buttons – a cute little decor piece to prepare your home for the upcoming holiday season.
These trees are very simple to make, a perfect project for all crochet lovers who are acquainted with the basics of crochet.
To help you with this project, I have put together a pattern. It’s spread over 21 pages, containing both written instructions and a photo tutorial with 37 detailed step-by-step pictures.
You can find the pattern and more info about it HERE and HERE.
Yesterday I found myself in the mood for some festive baking.
Wanting to do so, I remembered a picture that I accidentally found in the deep deep waters of the internet a couple of weeks ago. It was a picture of cute bear cookies with each little bear holding a treat in its arms. How adorable!
To replicate the cookies I used a very simple sugar cookie dough that does not change the shape that much while baking. As an item for the bears to hug 🙂 I chose almonds and golden jumbo raisins (I have to admit that I liked the latter a little better).
Here’s all that followed…
1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
2. In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth.
3. Beat in vanilla extract and egg.
4. In a separate bowl combine baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be rather stiff. If it becomes too stiff for your mixer, turn out the dough onto a countertop surface. Wet your hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.
5. Divide into workable batches, roll out onto a floured surface into about 1/8 inch
(0.3 cm) thickness.
6. Cut out bear cookie shapes and place them on a cookie sheet that you’ve lined with parchment paper. Insert an almond or a raisin on top of each cookie.
Here’s a selection of the treats I’ve chosen – almonds and golden jumbo raisins.
7. Finally fold the arms into a hugging position (press the arms firmer so they don’t open while baking). You can use a wooden skewer to indent eyes and nose for each bear.
8. Bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth.
Beat in vanilla extract and egg.
In a separate bowl combine baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be rather stiff. If it becomes too stiff for your mixer, turn out the dough onto a countertop surface. Wet your hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.
Divide into workable batches, roll out onto a floured surface into about ⅛ inch (0.3 cm) thickness.
Cut out bear cookie shapes and place them on a cookie sheet that you've lined with parchment paper. Insert an almond or a raisin on top of each cookie.
Fold the arms into a hugging position (press the arms firmer so they don't open while baking). You can use a wooden skewer to indent eyes and nose for each bear.
Bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
I am super happy today because I can present to you my newest pattern – the Mini Crochet Pouches.
I designed this project with mostly Christmas on my mind. I just loved the idea of decorating a Christmas tree with these mini pouches and filling them with little treats. But mostly, I thought they could look super-sweet when used as Advent calendar sacks that hide small surprises to celebrate the days before Christmas. But, all-in-all, I think they can work just great for carrying small gifts for any occasion. Yay!
If you like this idea and would like to create the colorful pouches as well, you can find the pattern and all the necessary info here and here. The pattern, as always, includes many step-by-step pictures to make the project as easy to follow as possible.
I had a blast making this simple project, I hope you will too.
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