GretchRuns Christmas : Part 2

On the second week of Christmas, GretchRuns shared with me....
ONE festive song
TWO cute shadowboxes
and THREE shapes of gingerbread


 I'm so excited to be back for round two of my Christmas series!  This week I'm sharing one of my recent favorite Christmas songs, a holiday pin that I tried to replicate, and a traditional cookie that's delicious and simple to make.  I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you back next week for more ideas!

If you missed last week's post, click here

Song :

Last week I shared an upbeat song, so this week is a slower, more somber selection.  Pentatonix has some of the most amazing Christmas albums, and this song is my favorite.  It's so beautiful and the harmonies give me chills!  


Craft : Festive Shadowbox

I had so much fun replicating a shadowbox that I saw on Pinterest.  The original one had mini ornaments, but I thought it would also look cute with jingle bells.  I love how customizable this craft is, and it looks so cute when it's done!


My Version :
Supplies
Shadow Box frame
Paint
Scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, etc.
Glue or Tape
Letter Stickers (usually in scrapbook section of craft store)
Mini jingle bells

Instructions
Remove the glass, and paint the frame of your shadowbox.  This is completely optional, but I wanted a white frame, so I painted it before I started!


Measure your paper to fit in the frame.  I traced around the back of the box, and then glued it in place at the back of the box.

Stick letters on glass.  I wrote "Jingle Bells", but you can change this to any festive saying!  You can also change this up to go with the items you place in the box.

Fill box with jingle bells, and slide glass back in.  You're all done!



Cookie : Gingerbread Men

I absolutely love gingerbread cookies!  Every year I have to make them, and this recipe is really simple and delicious.  I like to make my cookies pretty thick so that they stay soft, but you can make them to your liking!

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour (plus more for rolling)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1 tablespoon vinegar

Instructions
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.  Set aside

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl, beat shortening for 30 seconds.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add egg, molasses, and vinegar, beat well.

Slowly add dry ingredients, and mix until dough forms.  Cover, and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Once dough is cold, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Divide dough in half, and roll onto a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to about 1/8th inch.  Cut out shapes, and placed on an ungreased baking sheet.


Bake cookies for 5 to 6 minutes, and let cool.

Once cookies are cool, you can decorate.  I prefer plain gingerbread cookies, but they look so much better when you decorate!    


Linking up with Anne, Amanda and Kels
as well as Jess and  Ivanna for Try It Thursday

Comments

  1. Margaret @ youngandrungryDecember 10, 2015 at 4:56 AM

    I love Gretchruns Christmas! (I call it Gretchmas) The shaddow box you made turned out great! When I have a house to my own I imagine that I'll get much more into decorating and I love crafts. I haven't made proper gingerbread men in so long I love how you're getting into the spirit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 11, 2015 at 5:09 AM

      That name is so much more clever than what I came up with!! Love it :)

      Delete
  2. AnaDecember 10, 2015 at 5:56 AM

    Oh my god! I am a totally geek! I saw the one cookie cutter of an ornament and thought it was a Yoda cookie cutter! can we say Star Wars overload?

    Very cute shadow box!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 11, 2015 at 5:25 AM

      That's so funny Ana! I guess all the advertising they're doing is working :)

      Delete
  3. LesleyDecember 10, 2015 at 6:18 AM

    My friends are I were listening to Pentontix last week. It was the first time I listening to that album.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Elle SeesDecember 10, 2015 at 6:46 AM

    i like the bells!! makes it fun when it moves about. super cute. on my list of things of make one of these days!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 11, 2015 at 5:28 AM

      Thanks! It's like a musical instrument and decoration in one :)

      Delete
  5. UnknownDecember 10, 2015 at 7:02 AM

    I love gingerman cookies too! I always enjoyed the Pepperidge farm gingermen cookies, remind me of my childhood :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jessie MDecember 10, 2015 at 7:18 AM

    Love the shadowbox & it seems like it would be super easy to re-customize with mini eggs & other paper for Easter or other things for different holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownDecember 10, 2015 at 7:53 AM

    Ooooooh! Sign me up for arts and crafts with Gretch! I haven't even made Christmas cookies yet this year. It's a crime.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 11, 2015 at 5:30 AM

      Haha you're funny Suzy! Never too late to start baking :)

      Delete
  8. Amanda @ Exploring Life & ThingsDecember 10, 2015 at 8:04 AM

    I am obsessed with that shadow box. It turned out so cute! I love all your Christmas decoration ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownDecember 10, 2015 at 8:23 AM

    You are so crafty. And not in a sly way, in a Martha Stewart can suck it way. Love it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 11, 2015 at 5:36 AM

      OMG Susie..You are too much! lol thank you friend :)

      Delete
  10. Amanda @ .running with spoons.December 10, 2015 at 8:29 AM

    Soooooo this is literally the first time I'm hearing about shadow boxes, but I'm in love! Seriously thinking about making a bunch of those and decorating my home all year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 11, 2015 at 5:37 AM

      You need to get on that! They're so cute and easy :)

      Delete
  11. Laura NorrisDecember 10, 2015 at 11:18 AM

    Oooh, I love gingerbread cookies! They're my favorite this time of year!

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownDecember 10, 2015 at 3:35 PM

    I've been listening to the Pentatonix Christmas album non-stop after you talked about it a few weeks ago! Thanks for the suggestion :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jess @hellotofitDecember 11, 2015 at 7:00 AM

    What a cute shadow box!! You so crafty :P
    My sister is coming this weekend, so I'm waiting to put up the tree. It will only be up for a couple of weeks, but oh well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gretchen BraunDecember 11, 2015 at 8:56 AM

      Better late than never! And it'll be fun with your sister :)

      Delete
  14. UnknownDecember 11, 2015 at 9:18 AM

    Your jingle bell box is adorable! I make gingerbread men every year too--one of my favorite cookies!

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnneDecember 17, 2015 at 6:37 PM

    Oh I like your shadow box even better! It's so fun. And the sparkle stickers are awesome. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Relationship Rules I Broke (and WEDDING PHOTOS!)

Image
Happy Thursday everyone! Today I have a different type of post to share today.  I don't talk about relationships or my dating life much on the blog, but I'm switching it up today!  I got married last Friday, and I thought it would be fun to share some relationship rules that I broke while Dan and I dated. I'll also be sharing some wedding pictures!  We got married at the Butterfly Falls at the Hidden Valley Inn in Belize (more on the Inn in upcoming posts!), and the pictures turned out absolutely amazing.  Since we had a "just the two of us" ceremony, there's not much to talk about the actual wedding.  In lieu of a full post on that, I'll be sharing some background information on our relationship, along with wedding photos and some #ThrowbackThursday pictures.  I hope you enjoy (and I promise- back to running stuff next week!) Guys are immature, so date someone older I've always read in magazines (which, by the way, have the worst datin...
Read more

Review- Group Power

Image
Happy Weekend everyone!  Today, I'll be doing a review of another group exercise I do at my gym called Group Power !  Let's get right into it. First off, the description in our program guide is "This 60-minute barbell program strengthens all your major muscles in an inspiring, motivating group environment with simple, athletic movements such as squats, lunges, presses and curls." I don't exactly look like this when I'm curling..but you get the idea! Let me tell you, this is one intense workout!  For the entire 60 minutes, we're constantly moving and lifting and by the end I'm a pool of sweat!  We work out all the major muscle groups - Legs, Chest, Triceps, Biceps, Glutes, Shoulders, and Core with light to moderate weights.  We also use a step to do exercises like chest presses and split squats. For each song, we focus on one muscle group, and do a variety of exercises with lots of repetitions, set to the beat of the music.  The tempo of the ...
Read more

Top Five Friday #46

Image
Happy Friday everyone!  Today I have a beefed up Top Five post for you all.  I feel like I've been skimping on these posts lately, so I made sure that this one is packed full of all my favorite products, some recent outfits, new songs, and TV Shows. I've got it all today, and I hope this makes up for the past few weeks!  As I mentioned yesterday, Dan and I finally got our offer accepted on a house, so the past few weeks have been really hectic.  Now that all of our applications and inspections are done, it should (hopefully) be smooth sailing from here!  Wish us luck, and now let's get to the favorites! Empty Products In the past, I've dedicated entire blog posts to reviews on empty products (you can see them here ).  I know that some of you don't like beauty-focused posts, so instead of completely nixing these reviews, I wanted to incorporate them into my favorites! I'm going through lots of products now that I'm on a spending freeze, so I thought...
Read more