It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

I am a traditionalist when it comes to the holidays.  In my ideal world, all pumpkins, turkeys and scarecrows would disappear before I saw a Christmas tree or snowman.  However, I am trying to adjust to this era of Black Friday shopping, Thanksgiving and Christmas blending and the reality that by the time we celebrate the "twelfth day of Christmas", Valentines will be everywhere.  Cards are written, many gifts are wrapped, and I will decorate the house this week.  I've got the Christmas music playing as I begin to bake the  holiday cookies.

A friend asked for some snowmen and snowflakes attached to an enveloped of instant hot cocoa.  I added some curly ribbon and a little jingle bell to the package.

Although I usually decorate cookies with a smooth surface, I am trying to add some dimension as I did in the mini snowmen.  Alas, I continue to be plagued by the dreaded craters in my frosting.  In this case, they were easily hidden with some sanding sugar that actually enhanced their appearance.  Too bad, this little trick will not work every time the nasty craters appear in my designs.