Holiday Cookies

Every year my family gets together before Christmas to exchange cookies and ornaments. Some people come with their same favorite cookies each year and others mix it up. I try to be creative each year and considering that I am a better cook than I am a baker, I have had my share of cookie flops. Each year I try to come up with something different, fun, and delicious. This year, I tried to search for cookie recipes that looked delicious but that might be easy enough for my baking skill level. The party is on Sunday so I have a week to decide but let me know if any of these sound especially delicious to you that you think I should try this year. Or if you have another awesome cookie recipe, send it my way!

As far as the ornament exchange goes, that is a whole other story. I seem to flop in the department as well but it's the thought that counts right!?

Click on each picture to go to the recipe/blog link.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Moon Pies

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baby Sugar Cookies

Salted Carmel Cookies

Decorative Christmas Cookies

Half Way to Heaven Peanut Butter Cookies 

Peppermint Kisses

Chocolate Spritz Cookies 

Snickerdoodle Cookies

'Tis The Season....For Minted

Many of you know that I worked at Minted last December (in addition to my full-time job) as a design associate doing design and layout of their immensely popular holiday greeting cards. Minted challenges their community of designers each year to come up with fresh, modern, and creative designs for each new season. It might seem a bit early to start thinking about the holidays and holiday greeting cards but in order to gear up for their busiest time of year, they just finished the 2010 Holiday Challenge. The stakes are high and the prizes are even higher so of course I had to submit something! This was the first time I submitted designs in an official challenge and there are many prizes up for grabs, including submission from a "Best New Entrant" so maybe I have a chance!

Right now all the 1370 designs are in a first round voting period. They will be narrowed down to a second round after that for more voting and then the awards will be announced. If a design is selected, then the designer gets a 5% commission on all net sales, which is huge when you consider the amount of orders they went through last year and I can imagine they will only be more popular this year.

Check out some of the designs I have submitted, and vote for them if you like them along with other beautiful cards you like. There are some really, really beautiful and creative cards in the running so the competition is stiff but I enjoy the exposure to such talented designers that inspire me to keep improving my design skills. Feel free to share this with friends or anyone else who would be interested in voting. Thanks for your help and support!

Happy Valentines Day!

I like to think of Valentines Day as a day to celebrate love and a time of the year to let your friends and family know that you are thinking of them!

There are so many adorable paper crafts, tokens of love, cards, and sweet treats exchanged during this time of year. Here are a few of my favorites.

X O Necklace


Letterpress Cards


Sweetheart Pops


Red Ruffle Scarf


Valentine's Day Cupcakes by Sara Jensen Hart


Heart Tote Bag

Wishing you all a lovely Valentines Day!