Getting organized for a Pintastic Christmas

Here in Alberta, Thanksgiving is over and the first snowfall of the year is resting on pine boughs all around town making it feel a lot like Christmas.  My teenage daughter was humming Christmas carols and asked if we could make some Christmas cookies.  I thought it was a great idea and I knew just the recipe I was anxious to try.  SnickerSnaps or GingerDoodles.  I vote SnickerSnaps, I just love the way it sounds, fun and silly!

I only followed the instructions for mixing them together and baking.  I used the snickerdoodle recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book  , (which isn't really new because I got it 16 years ago) and I have my own Gingersnap recipe that I love and have adjusted to my liking.
       I found it kind of hard to mash the two together without the sugar coating disappearing, it takes a gentle touch and a little patience and time.  They turned out alright, but I wasn't crazy about the flavour combination.  They look kind of interesting, but they didn't make the list for this years Christmas baking.

The other thing I got started on was using a Christmas Organizer.  I was a little behind because this one starts in the beginning of October.  I thought it would still work out, so I just highlighted the things that I wanted to do, grabbed an empty notebook and got to work.  I love it, I can't believe I have never done this before, what a concept to think about everything you want to include in a family tradition Christmas and budget and plan for it!  It took less than 10 minutes to print and cut out the organizer using a papertrimmer and corner rounder punch.

I got to work and made my gift and card lists, looked for ideas on Pinterest on what homemade goodies, crafts and gifts I would like to put together this year, froze some cookie dough with baking instructions on the bag so I wouldn't have to look it up later and made some cards.  You better go get started, it feels great to be thinking about Christmas again.