Operation Cookie Time

One of my favorite holiday traditions is our annual holiday cookie party.  Usually that just involves making lots of cookies but when I was folding all my fabrics I found this fabulous Christmas cookie fabric I bought years ago to make a tablecloth and decided this was the year.

The stumbling block in all this and the real reason this fabric has been sitting so long is that my dining room table is a massive 60" x 92" so with the drop my tablecloth needs to measure at least 80" x 112".  Trying to accurately cut those long lengths and get the border print straight was going to be a major pain on my small table.  So what do you do when you embark on a project so huge it doesn't fit in your studio?  Head to your LQS of course:-)   Luckily the gang at Quilter's Way was happy to have me crash in their space for a few hours.  Their ginormous cutting tables are AWESOME!!!

And how amazing is that mitered seam?  I used this fabulous tutorial, Adding Borders the Jinny Beyer Way.  She makes it so easy!!!

I may have gone a bit overboard making cookies this year...

but now I have the perfect backdrop for all my holiday baking:-)

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

Quilting it up with this week's W.i.P. Wednesday:-)

Cookie Time!

This week instead of quilting I've been baking cookies... lots and lots of cookies!  When my daughter was little we started having a holiday cookie decorating party where I would bake cookies and all her friends would come decorate them.  Nine years later it's an annual tradition and this year we welcomed over 100 of our friends to come decorate with us. 

Everyone always asks how many cookies I make.  I don't count but here's all the dough we made this year: 7 batches of sugar cookies, 6 batches of assorted gingerbread/spice cookies, a batch of chai cookies that didn't turn out at all, and these yummy brownie roll-out cookies from smitten kitchen.  I like to experiment with different flavors so there's an assortment of vanilla, citrus, and cardamon sugar cookies and ginger/spice cookies of varying intensities. 

Everyone also asks how I get my cookies so perfect... practice (and I have an ugly cookie bin for the rejects!)  Also, lots of flour!  I know that may result in a tough cookie but I need something kids can decorate and pile with frosting so a nice crumble isn't my highest priority.

It takes me all week but my elves also help.

When it's time to decorate we use cans of spray frosting and I have a huge collection of colored sugar and decorating sprinkles. 

To help contain the mess I have the kids decorate their cookies on a 9" paper plate.  Once the frosting is dry you can slide the plate into a gallon ziplock bag to transport their cookies home.

Hope your holiday is totally sweet!