Christmas cake and birdies, or Two posts in One

An Old Christmas Greeting

Sing Hey! Sing Hey!
For Christmas Day
Twine mistletoe and holly;
For friendship grows
In winter snows
And so let's all be jolly.

It's been a rough couple of weeks dealing with some family illnesses. But a few "jolly" times were squeezed in between which made it not so bad.

One being that my friend Sarah invited me over to her house to teach me how to make...

...an honest-to-goodness English Christmas cake...

...with marzipan



...and more marzipan

...and royal icing

pretty, pretty, wrapped up and waiting to be served with Christmas dinner. Thank you, Sarah!


My second mental health day was spent making these bird ornaments. The how-to came from a Martha Stewart Christmas craft issue from a couple of years ago.

You make a clay from one cup of applesauce, a half cup of cinnamon, and a quarter cup of white glue. Now I experiment with these measurements, giving or taking until I get a soft, pliable mixture that can be rolled out with a rolling pin, not unlike making sugar cookies.

Using cardboard templates that my husband made from the pictures in the magazine, I cut out the bird shapes. Put a hole in the top middle with a toothpick so you can thread a string for hanging.

I have one of those plug-in heat-coil food dehydrators that I use to dry the ornaments in. Or you can simply let them air dry. I learned the hard way that it's best to flip them over now and then while they dry. Otherwise they tend to warp. Flipping them helps them to remain flat.

Lastly, go buck-wild with the glitter, beads, and glue.

The End