Christmas Preparations

It may be a tradition soon. This is the second year that Ashley and I have gotten together to work on Christmas preparations. It is a great excuse for me to spend a weekend with her and we actually do get lots done. Friday, after an eventful trip down, Ashley was ready to relax so we hung out, ate comfort food and rested up for our busy Saturday while I worked on Christmas cards.
I really love to wrap gifts and enjoy pretty packages under the tree. We spent quite a bit of time shopping then wrapping the gifts on Saturday. It was especially fun to put the gifts on the just completed tree skirt. Yes, I finished mine before Ashley arrived. Our 12 month goal was accomplished. We have new tree skirts and now we both have gifts to rest on the skirts.

It wouldn't feel like holiday preparation without time in the kitchen. After a full day of shopping and a fun lunch with Dale we came home to rest and work in the kitchen.
Saturday night we made these peanut butter/chocolate star cookies and sausage won ton stars. We nibbled on both for dinner and the rest are safely frozen for Christmas.

Sunday morning I made caramels and mixed up dough for chocolate mint cookies. The house smells so very caramel. . . yummy! We headed out to a few more stores before Ashley packed her car and headed back home. Now I get to cut and wrap caramels while I watch TV tonight. I just love the caramels. Wrapping each one in saran wrap can be quite tedious
but I think it's worth the effort and frustration. The frustration stems from the fact that the wrap clings to itself very well. Didn't somebody invent a wrap that does not cling to itself? I need to find some of that before next December. It has been a wonderful weekend and I feel quite blessed!