DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

In  Brazil , Christmas is one of the most important festive days, or "dia de festas". It is celebrated on 25th December. Having a multicultural population, the festivities in the country are influenced by ethnic ways. As a former Portuguese colony, they have retained some of the Christmas customs of their former masters. Notable among these is creating a nativity scene or "Presepio".  The word  "Presepio" comes from "presepium" meaning the bed of straw in which Jesus first slept after birth in Bethlehem. This custom is common in places of north eastern Brazil like Bahia, Sergipe, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba, Maranhao, Ceara, Pernambuco, Piaui and Alagoas. A Franciscan friar named  Gaspar  De Santo Agostinho is believed to have first introduced the tradition in the city of Olinda (in the state of Pernambuco) in the 17th century. The practice of setting up presepios continue to this day. Every December, presépios are created during Christ

   This recipe for these wonderful cookies, was found at  www.whatmegansmaking.com  . I hope you enjoy making a batch of these for the holidays. Lofthouse Style Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies I knew I had to have a great recipe to kick off the  12 Days of Christmas Treats 2011 , so I’m starting with one of my absolute favorites! You know those soft Lofthouse sugar cookies that pop up in grocery stores around all the holidays? The kind with colored icing and sprinkles? I’ve been looking for a homemade version for awhile now and I’m happy to tell you I finally found it!  I used to (and still do!) love the Lofthouse cookies. I remember having them as snacks at our tennis matches in college and how I always grabbed a cookie after I was done playing, even if we were headed straight to dinner.  These sugar cookies are so close to the grocery store staples that I almost couldn’t believe it. From the soft and fluffy cookie to the thick and creamy icing…these cookies are

Bottle It Up We have gone little craft-crazy this holiday season. The first thing we created? Silver bottles for the entry way. This project was really easy, but it did take a moment of trial and error. What You Need : Epsom Salt (We used Dr. Teal's Cooling Peppermint -- our bottles smell amazing!) Glitter Silver spray paint Newspaper Yep, that's all. Side Note:  Glitter is more expensive that I remember it being when I was 9.  This could be because I don't actually know how much it was when I was 9. Put your newspaper down. Now, we mixed the glitter and the Epsom salt on the newspaper like so: We sprayed the bottles completely silver and then rolled the bottom of the bottles in the glitter and salt mixture. This is what happened: I don't know if you can tell (or maybe that's the wrong picture), but we didn't think things through. Our patio is concrete (or "concreek" according to B). Rolling a spray pa