I'm so excited to share this fun holiday project today.

Liberty Lifestyle was kind enough to ask me to put together a holiday guest post for Liberty Craft Blog.  You can follow the tutorial here and make your very own poinsettia tea cozy.

I made mine with the Mackintosh print from the Stile line.  Mackintosh has such a rich mix of colors.  They somehow manage to be nostalgic and modern at the same time.  I think the flowers looks extra festive made in this print.

And of course, Christmas tea wouldn't be complete without cookies.  So I'm also sharing my gingersnap recipe.  It came from a dear friend of my mom's and it has always been a family favorite.

marie's gingersnaps

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar (plus 1/2 cup for rolling dough)

1 egg

1/4 cup sorghum (similar to molasses, but I prefer the sorghum)

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.  Add egg, mix well. Add sorghum.  Slowly add dry ingredients.  Chill dough for at least 4 hours but it's even better if you let it chill overnight.  Chilling the dough helps the flavors to blend and also keeps the cookies from spreading too much when they are baking.

Once chilled, roll dough into 1 inch balls, roll each ball in granular sugar.  Place on parchment lined cookies sheet 2" apart.  Bake 375 degrees for 12 minutes.  They should crack on the tops.  Makes around 2 dozen.  This recipe can be doubled.

enjoy

Every year my bunco group does one of those gift exchanges where you draw numbers and take turns opening packages.  It's the kind of thing that starts out civil but ends with stealing and fits of laughter.

I made this pillow for the swap.

It's made with a khaki cotton that has a linen look that's on a 12 inch pillow form.  The poinsettia petals are cut out of ivory felt and stitched down with linen floss.  I used buttonhole twist thread to stitch the jingle bells.

Today I'm doing my best to finish up some presents and getting started on this years teacher gifts - hope the oven is ready.