It seems fitting to end our 12 Days of Christmas (and Other Holidays) with a little gingerbread. Nothing quite says holiday season like the smell of gingerbread and the look of these delightful houses. My sister-in-law, Lisa, convinced me to let my stepdaughter, Dana, make one with her older cousin four years ago. It’s become an annual tradition ever since. And with each year, Lisa and I get a little more creative. Sure, the kids do the decorating but the base of operations begins with us moms.

We thought it would look great (and smell good) if we could find a way to stick a small light into the back of the house. Naturally, this meant cutting out a window — then several windows, and this year skylights in the roofs. Our first year with windows, we melted Imperial hearts to give them a red sheen that lit up thanks to the inserted light. This year, we got more creative, making our own poured sugar and adding food color for a stained glass effect. Having got the knack of that, we also poured blue sugar to create a river over which Dana add a Tootsie Roll bridge. Creativity has no limits.

Which is one of the reasons why I love the newspaper’s annual Gingerbread House Contest. (See the winners and runners-up online. Pictured is the third-place house, created by a teenager from Foster City) In addition to creative adults, we had quite a few imaginative kid entries this year, too. What I really love about looking at all the pictures is picking up clever ideas for next year. To learn more and find recipes for your creations, continue reading…

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Looking for some newfangled carols to sing? The Times and Trib ran our third annual Twisted Carols contest, asking readers to submit their own lyrics to some classic holiday songs. The best of the bunch go online and in print on Thursday morning, but here’s a sneak peek, courtesy of the Acalanes High School choir:

Growing up, my family always finished off the trees in the same way. We had a blond-haired angel (which seemed odd in a family of brown-haired folks) on the main tree and a lit star on the smaller window tree. It’s likely my parents would still be using the same tree toppers today if my mom hadn’t downsized the main tree and scratched the window tree four years ago.

In my own house, I decided we should try to be different. That’s how we ended up with a teddy bear wearing a green Christmas dress topping our tree. My stepdaughter, Dana, and I wanted an “original.” And truth be told, with so many other holiday decorating items, we couldn’t find a spot for the Christmas bear. Our Do-It-Yourself project was pretty simple. Using thick cardboard, we made a cone, stuck it up around the bears legs and then used safety pins (through the underside of the cone) to attach the bear to the cone. She’s been atop our tree the past three years.

But to avoid getting stuck in a rut, we’ve vowed to retire the Christmas bear next year and make a new tree topper. Fortunately, we’ve found some great online resources for other DIY tree toppers. Here are just a few that sound interesting:

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Somehow, every year we end up with at least two or three boxes of miniature candy canes. They seem to mutate like single socks. I didn’t even buy any this season, and we still ended up with 3 1/2 boxes. With so much excess, my stepdaughter and I had only one choice: get cooking.

We have three candy-canes-included recipes that have become favorites. Each one is simple enough that the kids can help. My stepdaughter, Dana, loves to pound the candy canes with a meat mallet. So, instead of crushed candy canes, often we end up with candy cane powder.

The easiest recipe is one we came up with ourselves. Buy a package of Keebler Grasshopper chocolate covered mint cookies (or bust the Girl Scout Thin Mints out of the freezer). Line them up on plates or cookie sheets. Melt two bars of white baking chocolate in the microwave (about 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes). Put a dollop of melted white chocolate in the center of the cookie. Sprinkle with crushed candy cane. Place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes or until set. Store them in an airtight container. (For other recipes, read on:)

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For three years, I’ve had the opportunity to “peek” inside the decorated homes of three readers. I love our annual Holiday Homes Tour in the Home & Garden section because I always walk away wondering, “Could I do that, too?” (No worries, Husband, I won’t go too far overboard.) Last year, I admired how one Moraga resident draped lit garland with cooking-themed ornaments over her kitchen window. At an after-Christmas sale, I found this cute candy-themed string of garland, and this season, I started decking out my own kitchen window.

What’s fun about this year’s trio of homes in the Holiday Home Tour is how some of the decorating ideas are simple enough to be done with the kids (see all the pictures and the article in our Home & Garden section). One of my personal favorites is the reindeer tree (pictured). All it took Marilou Belo of Danville was an antler headband, round red ornament for a nose and a bow for the neck. Simple yet fun. Read on to see some of the other great ideas.

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The Washington Post recently tapped Heather Chittum from Hook Restaurant in DC to craft a few sugary fantasies. The results - a Santa’s sleigh filled with ethereal Wedding Cookies, and an icy blue and white snowflake wreath made entirely out of sugar cookies - ran in the Times and Trib this week too - and we couldn’t resist sharing the links and some how-tos! So here’s how to make Heather Chittum’s Snowflake Sugar Cookie Wreath (pictured at left):

1. You’ll need about 30 baked snowflake cookies, preferably of 3 or 4 different sizes (see Heather Chittum’s Sugar Cookie recipe or use your own favorite). For the base, use a thin (½-inch) Foamcore ring that is 10 to 12 inches in diameter; the width of the ring (the surface for attaching the cookies) should be about 2 inches.
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If my stepdaughter, Dana, had her way, we would singlehandedly keep every PG&E worker employed for at least a year. That’s because she would love to turn our house into the equivalent of a Las Vegas casino during the holiday season. The icicle lights trimming our house, two lit spiral trees and lit garland around the door hardly rank us among the best and brightest for holiday lights. We’re rather boring in her estimation, and I haven’t improved our lot by taking her every year to see how everyone else lights up their neighborhood.

Fortunately, gas prices have gone down so we won’t have to forfeit our annual car trip around the Bay Area in search of the best lit displays. Bonus points to our online team for putting together the 2008 holiday lights map, so we have a head start in our quest. (And by the way, if you go all out with the lights, feel free to add your house to the map.) The map is how we found out about Casa del Pomba House of the Dove (top picture). The house on Hillcrest Avenue in Livermore is so popular, it has its own Web site.

But even your everyday homes really know how to get into the holiday spirit. Just check out this Walnut Creek house on Flowerwood Place (Dana and I have a fondness for snowmen). If you go touring for lights, bring along a thermos of hot chocolate, your favorite CD of Christmas music and your camera.

How cute are these?? Chocolate sugar cookies drizzled with white chocolate and crushed peppermint candies — another winner from those baking whizzes over at BHG.com, who’ve been knocking our socks off this year with their cute baking and craft ideas (and their generosity in sharing the how-tos with us.)

We just keep thinking how cute these would look tucked into a cookie platter. Perfect for a cookie exchange. If you’ve been thinking about hosting a cookie swap, this is definitely the time to do it. Although frankly, anytime is a good time for cookies… OK, read on for the Candy Cane Cookie recipe.
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Holiday gift-making doesn’t get much easier than these snuggly, fleecy accessories. It will take you more time to drive to the fabric store and pick out adorable fabric, than to whip up these softly fringed scarves or tasseled toppers. Read on for instructions for the scarf and hat, then follow this link for more ideas.

Fleece scarf
For each scarf, cut a piece of fleece from selvage to selvage, and 10-12 inches wide. Trim off the salvages and cut a fringe of 1/2″ wide by 3 or 4″ long strips into the ends. Yes, it’s just that easy. (Cost $1-$3 each. Time: 20 minutes.)
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It’s the first day of our holiday countdown and we’re wondering … thinking of doing a little caroling this holiday season? Then you’ll need some snacks: a little hot cocoa, some cookies that look like you, perhaps? The nice folks over at BHG.com, the Better Homes & Gardens site, are sharing their Sugar Cookie Carolers with us. How cute are those?? We’ll get to the recipe in a moment, but we wanted to mention their other great idea first. After you’ve done the neighborhood singing rounds, sung “Frosty” and gotten frosty yourselves, you might want to do a post-caroling supper too. Follow the link to their ideas for hearty soups, gumbo, cassoulet and other warming fare. OK, on to the cookies…
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