DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

    These tips come from  bakeat350.blogspot.com  . I hope they help you this holiday season.  These certainly can help. {Christmas Cottages} Making cookies at Christmas used to overwhelm me a bit.  There are so many people I want to make cookies for....and so little time.  I still don't get them made for everyone on my list (the church choir has been on my list now for 2 years and still has not seen one cookie), BUT I've learned how to de-stress the whole process and just have fun with it.  Maybe the choir will get their cookies this year, after all.  {Dotty Winter Trees} First...take a look at your supplies.  You're going to need: meringue powder food coloring cookie cutters ingredients  icing bags & squeeze bottles couplers & tips parchment paper individual treat bags ribbon boxes for packaging boxes for shipping shipping supplies Order.Them.Now. {ornaments} Try  Amazon ,  Sweet Baking Supply ,  King Arthur Fl

   Ash Wednesday  is the first day of Lent. In the Christian calendar, it finds place as a holy occassion on which priests make ash marks on the foreheads of devout Christians to symbolize their repentance for wrongdoings, their mortality and their commitment to Jesus and the Almighty. Origins and History of Ash Wednesday    Ash Wednesday marks the onset of the Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and abstinence. It is also known as the 'Day of Ashes'. So called because on that day at  church  the faithful have their foreheads marked with ashes in the shape of a cross.     The name  'Day of Ashes'  comes from "Dies Cinerum" in the Roman Missal and is found in the earliest existing copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary. The concept originated by the Roman Catholics somewhere in the 6th century. Though the exact origin of the day is not clear, the custom of marking the head with ashes on this Day is said to have originated during the papacy of Gregory

     The Kaapse Klopse  is a minstrel festival that takes place annually on January 2nd, in Cape Town, South Africa. Up to 13,000 minstrels, many in blackface, take to the streets garbed in bright colors, either carrying colorful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The minstrels are grouped in  klopse  ("clubs" in Cape Dutch, but more accurately translated as troupes in English). Participants are typically from Afrikaans-speaking working class  "colored"  families who have preserved the custom since the mid 19th century.     Although it is called the  Coon Carnival  by Capetonians, local authorities have renamed the festival the  Cape Town Minstrel Carnival  as foreign tourist find the term  "coon"  derogatory. History     One story goes that the carnival was inspired by a group of African-American minstrels who docked in Cape Town in the late 1800's and entertained the sailors with their spontaneous musical perf

How to make Glass Tile Magnets Crafty fun and free tutorial. How to make Glass Tile Magnets! This craft is a great afternoon project to do with children or friends.  You will need a bit of space and the tiles will need to stay put while drying, so I suggest setting up somewhere that can be left alone for awhile... otherwise your dining room table will not be used for dinner!  :-) Supplies needed: This supply list is based on 1 inch glass tiles, however you are only limited by your imagination! These glass tiles come in various sizes and shapes like squares, ovals, circles, scrabble tiles, rectangles, etc. Links to all supplies used are at the end of this tutorial. 1 inch artwork, printed on cardstock.  I chose to have all my images printed at Kinko's for the better quality than I could print at home.  New photographs could also be used. Square paper punch or a steady hand, X-acto knife and self-healing mat Weldbond glue E6000 glue