Merry Christmas from Brackettville!

Above: My sister in law Suezanne gave out the most awesome LED and glitter bellied snowmen over the Thanksgiving holiday. They're small, about three inches tall, but SO cool! She's got a great eye for the neatest gifts. I was shooting it in a dark room--too dark for the camera I think. I need to try it again with just a little more light so the camera can focus. I'm eager to see what happens if she shoots them--she's a fantastic photog.

I've actually been too busy baking cookies, playing with tea bag folding, and wrapping the very few gifts we purchased this year to take many Christmas photos. And, obviously, I didn't shoot any of these very well. But I felt like I HAD to do a Christmas post. So here's the tiniest peek at Christmas in Brackettville, Texas.

Above photos, my second attempt at cookie cutter icing. The cookies are fine (really fine, actually), but finding an icing that will set and be hard enough to allow the cookies to be stacked? Tricky! Fingers are crossed on this batch. Same problem with the chocolate on the cookies below. Getting and keeping it hard enough to stack cookies is frustrating.

Below: A "tea bag" bow." It's squares of wrapping paper, actually.

Tea Bag Folding makes for unique bows on presents or ornaments for the tree. I have a long way to go before I'm good at it! And it takes forever for me to make even one. I get really confused about the folds and knowing which way to fold the squares so the pattern comes out right. Below: A tea bag ornament made from 24 manzanilla (chamomile) tea bag wrappers.