A Slice of Smith Life

Enchanted CHRISTmas Gardens and LEGO Displays

At the beginning of December, my family and some friends went to a local garden where they had a self-guided night tour and the gardens were decorated with CHRISTmas lights. It was a beautiful, crisp winter night and the scenery got us into the Advent and CHRISTmas spirit. Here are some sights that we saw:

Can you guess what this tree has on it?

Did you guess glass bottles? I loved this unique tree the best!

Butterfly Garden Tree

This was a beautiful double waterfall design

Cupcake #1 was the only one who wanted to visit with Santa

The reason for this holy season

There was also a large room filled with thousands and thousands of LEGOs! This was definitely a highlight of the evening.

There was a huge hotel

There was a church

There was a parade walking through the streets and village

There was a CHRISTmas tree lot

There was a ski slope

There were STAR WARS figures around a CHRISTmas tree

There were boys and girls in LEGO heaven!

And there was so much more to look at! We visited this room twice to see all the LEGO designs and details!

And if you want to check out other creative LEGO creations, be sure to visit Catholic Icing where Lacy states "Don't Lego of your Catholic Kids".

I give Joy to the World when I spend memorable and fun moments with family and friends!

Silverware Stockings

Last year a friend of mine gave me the idea to make this cute stocking to hold silverware. She got the idea here at Family Fun. So since this easy, but somewhat time-consuming craft does NOT require sewing, (I can sew buttons and scout patches, and that's it!) I was busy last year buying red felt and patterned fabric and lots of fabric glue.
I made 3 sets of 12 stockings. I made one set for myself, my mom, and a dear friend. I was busy cutting and gluing, but it was well worth the effort because we all love our silverware stockings! This year my family is hosting a luncheon at our house on CHRISTmas Day for family and friends, so these stockings will look great on the tables.

I am linking this CHRISTmas craft post up to Kylie's "World Wide Classroom" CHRISTmas Fun Party Week Three. If you want to get more CHRISTmas crafts/ideas and link up your ideas to spread good cheer and fun, visit World Wide Classroom!

This post is also linked up to Catholic Icing's Christmas Link-Up

I give Joy to the World when I make special gifts for family and friends to enjoy each year!

"Bua Bark" and Sweet Pretzel Treats for CHRISTmas Gifts!

"Bua Bark"

I'm sure you've seen either chocolate or peppermint bark in stores. I know Costco sells some great peppermint bark this time of year! Would you like to know how to make bark with...saltine crackers? Yes, crackers! Oh so yummy!
Many years ago my Aunt gave me a recipe for chocolate bark that I have been making each CHRISTmas season for family and friends. I have named the bark "Bua Bark" since "Bua" is my maiden name and my Aunt's. It's an unusual and awesome last name and "Bua Bark" is one awesome and easy treat to make and eat! I have also made "Bua Bark" for Pro-Life bake sales at my church and it always sells fast and it's enjoyed by all. So I would like to share with you this family favorite recipe in hopes that you will try it and enjoy it!

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line edged cookie sheet with aluminum foil

Step 2: Take 1 stick of butter and rub it over all the foil.

Step 3: Line buttered foil with saltine crackers (salty side up), breaking crackers apart to fit along the edges. I use about 1 to 1 1/2 reams of crackers, I think.

Step 4: Take the one stick of butter that you rubbed on foil and another stick of butter and add it with 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan.

Step 5: Melt the butter and sugar together until it becomes thick. You don't need to boil the mixture, just cook it long enough for it to all melt and become a thick consistency.

Step 6: Pour melted butter/sugar mixture all over crackers and spread evenly.

Step 7: Put cookie sheet in preheated oven for 5 minutes so the butter/sugar on top of crackers gets hot and bubbly.

It will look like this when it comes out of the oven after 5 minutes:

Step 8: Immediately sprinkle a 11.5 or 12 oz. bag of milk chocolate chips over the hot crackers/butter/sugar.

It will not seem that you have enough chocolate chips to spread around, but keep spreading with a spatula and eventually all the chips will melt and cover over all the crackers. Here is a photo of whole and melted chips in the middle of the process:

And here is the melted chocolate spread over all the crackers.

Step 9: When the chocolate is evenly melted and spread, put the entire cookie sheet in the freezer to harden the chocolate. It will look like this when it comes out of the freezer after a few hours:

Step 10: Next you will break the bark apart and peel away the foil from the back of the crackers like this. Be sure to not leave any foil on the bark especially on the edges. (One year my sister-in-law ate a small piece of foil that was left on the bark which I overlooked. I felt so bad!)

My family loves this easy and yummy recipe and I always get people asking how I make it when I serve this dessert or give it as gifts. I can make 3 to 4 plates of bark for friends and family with one tray of bark, depending on how big I break the bark apart and how much I put on a plate.

Pretzel Treats

Another family favorite sweet treat that I like to give to family and friends along with the plate of bark are Pretzel Treats. For these, you just need a bag of Mini Pretzel Twists, a big bag of Hershey Kisses, and a bag of red/green Holiday M&Ms. (These pretzel treats are a year round treat though since I can make them using any colored M&Ms, including Valentine and pastel (Easter) M&Ms!) The hardest thing about this recipe is unwrapping so many kisses (that's what children and a husband are for) and trying not to pop M&Ms in my mouth while making them.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an edged cookie sheet with as many mini pretzels as you can fit:

Step 2: Place one unwrapped Hershey Kiss on each pretzel

Step 3: Place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven for 2 minutes. You just want the kisses to become soft enough to push a M&M in the middle of each kiss. If you put them in longer than 2 minutes the chocolate won't melt, rather the chocolate will crumble to pieces. I've learned the hard way on this and had to throw a whole tray of kisses away because I left them in too long :( The kisses will have a shiny look to them after you take them out after 2 minutes. Here is what they will look like:

Step 4: Immediately start pressing one red/green M&M into the center of each kiss that is on top of each pretzel. My children enjoy doing this, although it is tough to keep them from eating M&Ms during the process!

Step 5: I then place the whole tray in the fridge until the chocolate hardens. Fridge works best vs. freezer because I have tried both ways and the chocolate pops off too easily after being in the freezer. (I've learned the hard way on this too because one year I had lots of pretzels with no chocolate kisses/M&Ms attached!)

Here is a plate with "Bua Bark" and Pretzel Treats. These chocolates are so easy and fun to make and I can make several plates from one tray of bark and pretzels.

We love saving the fronts of all the beautiful CHRISTmas cards we get from years past and these cards are great name tags for the plates of chocolate. I just write a message on the back like this:

In the photo below, I also made white chocolate angel lollipops to decorate the top of the plate and taped them under the card. Now, I'm off to make more "Bua Bark" and Pretzel Treats....Enjoy!

I am linking this sweet post up to Kylie's "World Wide Classroom" CHRISTmas Fun Party Week Three. If you want to get more CHRISTmas crafts/ideas and link up your ideas to spread good cheer and fun, visit World Wide Classroom!

I give Joy to the World when I share with others what brings my family joy...giving and eating sweet CHRISTmas treats!