Christmas in July Circus Peanuts Reindeer!

 Hmm..what to make on National Milk Chocolate Day when it's also Christmas in July?

Well, how about a reindeer that's been dipped in milk chocolate with chocolate dipped antler pretzels!

I'm a certified circus peanuts NUT!

But I have to say I've never even thought about dipping them in chocolate..'til today!

And I do think these turned out to be quite the Christmas cuties! 

If you wanna make some too, you'll need:

Circus peanuts-chocolate dipped pretzels-candy eyes-m&ms-dipping chocolate-lollipop sticks

 Press lollipop sticks into candy peanuts and cut pretzels in half.

Using a lollipop stick, I made indentions in the top on both sides of the peanuts.

I placed all candy pieces on parchment paper..

 ..dipped the circus peanut in chocolate and placed on the parchment paper.

Attach all candy pieces and let set.

Wishing you all a 

Merry Christmas in July!

'til we sweet again, Karen💗

Chocolate Covered Reindeer Potato Chips!

Christmas Is Almost Here!

It's a magical time of year with the promise of hope, joy, and peace which began on that first Christmas day long ago with the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

My favorite Christmas tradition is having my firstborn grandson read the Christmas Story from the book of Luke. I'm so thankful to God for sending His Son to be the Saviour of the world. Jesus was born to die for our sins so that if we accept His gift of salvation, we can live with Him in heaven forever. 

What an amazing gift!

John 3:16 promises that all we need to do is believe to receive. He is waiting for you with open arms!

Another one of my favorite traditions is enjoying all the delicious holiday foods and treats. So here is a fun and simple one for you that is both salty and sweet! Yum!

To make my sweet little reindeer, I used Ghirardelli dipping chocolate, candy eyes, cherry Jelly Belly jelly beans, ruffled potato chips and these Wilton candy antlers.

Melt chocolate in microwave on 50% power in 30 second bursts stirring each time until candy is melted smooth. Dip chips and place on parchment paper.

Place all candy pieces onto dipped chips and let set till dry. (I snipped the jelly beans into halves for the noses.)

Just look at those adorable eyes! Are you melting?!

All this cuteness is just making me hungry!!

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!

'til we sweet again, Karen💗

Christmas In July Chocolate Gingerbread House Cookies with Rudolph!

 Merry Christmas In July!

It's been a fun month! My daughter, grandmother, granddaughter, sister, and nephew were all born in July! Hallmark has been playing Christmas movies all month. I have been reading the Christmas story of the birth of Christ! My hubby and I have just completed plans for a trip to Disney World in December when everything will be decked out in beautiful Christmas decorations! And I just finished decorating these festive Christmas cookies!

July is nearly through, but not to worry, Christmastime will be here before we know it!🎄

For my cookies, I used Lila Loa's amazing chocolate cookie recipe! They smell of brownies and are so yummy!

Roll out dough and use your favorite house and reindeer cutters. I rolled my dough to 1/4 inch thick, but should have made the reindeer a little thinner. By the time I dipped and added decorations, they got a little too weighty. I had a couple to lose their heads!

Also, don't try-as I did- to bake Rudolph's "sprinkles" noses into the cookies. They will melt. Instead, use mini M&Ms after they bake!

To decorate my cookies I used, jumbo rainbow nonpareils, black sugar pearls, chocolate jimmies, mini M&Ms, Christmas tree sprinkles, chocolate wafers, ready-made vanilla frosting, and yellow and red fondant.

I also used a fondant roller, a flat edged spatula to cut my fondant, a large tip to cut the circle window, and a star and round tip to pipe frosting.

 Let's pipe some snow up on the rooftop!

 Wouldn't it be great if putting Christmas lights on the house were this easy?! 

Cut out round window and door as pictured above.

 Attach candies and decorations using a little melted chocolate.

I rolled out red fondant and cut small strips to use as Rudolph's collar.

I dipped the tips of reindeer feet in chocolate to resemble hooves.

 I then dipped the reindeer antler tips in melted chocolate and sprinkled on some jimmies.  I let set to harden and added black pearl eyes, the collar and "jingle bell" sprinkles!

Fly, Rudy!!

 And lastly, after attaching Rudy to the rooftop with melted chocolate, I propped a couple of spoons under his head until chocolate hardened just to keep him level headed! 🤣

Don't forget to be nice! Wanna make sure we make Santa's Nice List!

Thanks for dropping by!
'til we sweet again, Karen😊

Red Kissed Nosed Reindeer Treats

"It's🎜that time of year when the world falls in🎝love..with reindeer!

Since I've only had two Kit Kat crafts this year (with these Christmas trees 🎄 being one of them), I thought it would very Christmassy of me to post another!

These reindeer treats are so easy to make and even easier to eat!

Let's make some! 

 I thought I would use Hershey Kisses and Cherry Sours for my reindeer noses.
But the Kisses were perfect, so no cherry noses!

To make the pretzel antlers, I cut them in half, dipped them in chocolate, and then gently pressed them into a plate full of chocolate sprinkles.
I let them rest there in all those yummy sprinkles until the chocolate hardened.

Make sure to make extra for sampling. Santa's helpers are extra hungry this time of year!

Aren't these antlers just the cutest!?

These reindeer are super simple to make. But first, just use a sharp knife to "break off a piece of that Kit Kat bar."

Melt some chocolate wafers to attach all the candy pieces. I did snip off the end of the paper strip from the Kisses. 

Before attaching the candy at the corners with the chocolate "glue", I turned the longer pieces on their sides. I left the miniature bars right side up.

Let chocolate harden.

Now just attach remaining pieces and let set.

"Hey, Clarice, did you hear that?
Somebody thinks we're cute!!"

"So these are antlers, not ears, Rudi!!"

Three reindeer reporting for duty!

Merry Christmas To All!

Ho Ho Ho, Karen!💖

Epic-Mega-Giant Reese's Rudolph and His Mini-me!

It's Rudolph and his mini-me! Well, almost his mini-me!

They may not have the same antlers, but that's because I'm out of those tiny candy canes. And, he kinda only made it to the party because I wanted to show how huge this giant Reese's is!

Half a pound huge! 4 inches across and 1 inch thick huge!

It's still hard to tell in the photo just how big this thing really is, and I had to guard it because when my hunky hubby saw it, he really wanted to swipe it!

He will get a nice surprise tonight to find out it's his after-dinner dessert!

I have a big pot of chili simmering on the stove while the snow is falling today in Fayetteville, and it is beautiful! The snow, not the chili!😜

To create the giant Rudolph, you will need:

One Mega-Giant-Epic Reese's Cup

Regular size candy canes

A large set of eyes-I used the ones from this Wilton's kit

Red Peanut M&Ms

Ready-made frosting

This Reese's cup looks like a pie!

Use a long, sharp, heavy knife to cut/trim the ends off unwrapped candy canes.

I used one of those paper straws to make the opening for the candy antlers.

It was the perfect size.

Just give it some good pressure and twist until straw pushes through the chocolate cup.

If you need to improvise with something else and your opening becomes too big, just dip the ends of the candy canes in a little melted chocolate before inserting into Reese's cup. This will stabilize antlers when chocolate sets. 

Make sure the holes line up evenly or your antlers will be lopsided. I mean, who wants loopy, lopsided antlers?   

Use the icing to attach candy eyes and nose.

Now look at this yumminess!!
You know you need one!

To make the mini-me, I used:

Mini peanut butter cup

Tiny candy eyes

Red Hots candies for the nose

Candy antlers from the same Wilton kit above

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer will be on CBS tomorrow night (Dec. 9th) @ 8pm!

Will you be watching? I will!

Merry Christmas, Karen 😊