Snowman Factory

Hi Knitters!
The snowman factory is closed and all of the workers are exhausted. A friend of mine first made a version of these snowmen many years ago. Here is a step-by-step recap of our snowman excitement.
Ingredients:
stick pretzels
peach rings
chocolate kisses
fruit by the foot
mini chocolate chips
marshmallows
white frosting
white rainbow rounds (melted to cover the marshmallows)
long sucker sticks
wax paper
The white rainbow rounds and the long sucker sticks I had to purchase at a baking/candy making specialty shop called The Vanilla Bean. Everything else I picked up at the grocery store.
Have the kids push three marsmallows onto the sucker sticks, and make sure they are close together. Melt the white rainbow rounds in a shallow dish in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Roll the marshmallows on the sticks in the melted white chocolate until completely covered, let the excess drip off. Place on wax paper. Before hardening quickly place the mini chocolate chips to make eyes and a mouth and buttons. Truly, the kids can do all of this on their own.
Using the frosting as glue, place a peach ring and kiss on the top for a hat. Gently push 2 pretzel sticks in for the arms. Cut the fruit by the foot in 8-inch lengths and then cut in half lengthwise to make the scarf skinnier. Wrap the scarf around the neck and squeeze together to hold in place.
I know the snowman is blurry, but so am I!
Snowman mission accomplished.
best, susie

8 Days

Hi Knitters!

My daughter is keeping a countdown to Christmas on a large chalkboard I have in my kitchen. Every morning she changes the number and announces to me how many days are left. I love her enthusiasm but it is making me panic a bit. I am not ready, yikes! I still have that manuscript haunting my every move. I am making good progress with just a few days to go on that. There are too many countdowns going on right now!

In knitting news, I have started some needle felting. It is pretty fun. I made some dots on this felted bag I had made awhile ago. It is an easy way to add some color and interest to your fabric. You'll be seeing more of this from me in the future. I see a lot of possibilities.

I heard from Robin Armstrong that the Knitting for Noggins charity hat drive has currently collected 24,000 hats! This is incredible. She also said they have collected donations from 22 states. I can't get over the success of this project. It's pretty darn impressive. I thought the original goal of 10,000 hats sounded like high number.

Well, off I go to make the cutest marshmallow snowmen with my girls for their classes at school tomorrow. I will share these little creations with you later. This is a project even little kids can really do with just a little adult help, it's the perfect recipe. The snowmen are a sweet tradition at our house every year. The kids love it and it's good winter fun!

best, susie