December 17th, 2009 — 2:51pm
and
Congratulations! Thank you all for entering; be sure to enter my other 2 giveaways: one for a Storia Home Handmade Christmas Banner and one for a Lilyja Lace Silver Ring. Most of all, have A Very Merry Heart Prints Christmas!:)

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December 17th, 2009 — 1:00am
We made handprint Christmas trees with thumbprint ornaments,
and then we made handprint snowmen on ornaments; I ended up doing the detail work on the snowmen, but that little chubby handprint is just precious.

At first, I wasn’t so sure how our projects were turning out; we had lots of smears, and I had to keep washrags handy to wipe off the ornaments and try again….plus Jacob couldn’t quite get the hang of handprints at first. I was beginning to wonder how these ladies can make it look so easy.:) Crafting with kids is just not that easy for me….oh, it’s fun, but halfway through a big project, I sometimes end up wanting to say words Mommies should just not say….LOL (just keepin’ it real here). But, we ended up having a lot of fun, once we got through the initial practice sessions, and the boys ended up with some really cute, sentimental gifts for the grandparents. I also used the tag idea to make it even more special. We were supposed to use clear ornaments, and I wish that we could have, but we were trying to use what we had, plus the ornaments we had gotten at the dollar store. All in all, though, they still turned out ok.

Some day, those little handprints are going to be big handprints….I just can’t imagine that day, and I don’t really like to think about it. That’s why these memories are just too precious not to write down.
Merry Christmas! Get craftin’!:)
Join in with ‘Tis the Season Thursday with The Fifth Street Palace.

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December 15th, 2009 — 7:45am
Christmas is well on its way now, with only 10 days left….I wish these 10 days could just drag by slowly because I love this season. This past weekend, we came home from church, and I just decided to make some candy. These two recipes I’m sharing are quick, easy recipes that only took me about an hour to make, and that’s with doubling one of them. So, enjoy, and link up your favorite Christmas candy recipes below!:)
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Crackers- I’ve made these, since I was a teenager. Yum!
2-3 packs of Ritz-like crackers
Peanut butter
Chocolate Almond Bark
Shortening
Take your crackers, and make sandwiches out of 2 crackers and peanut butter. Fill up 1-2 cookie sheets with these, however many you want to make. Then melt your almond bark in a saucepan, adding just a tablespoon or so of shortening (we use butter shortening); the shortening just helps to stretch your chocolate and make it slightly thinner. Make sure to stir your almond bark, so that it doesn’t scorch. Once it’s melted, dip your peanut butter cracker sandwiches in the chocolate. Then chill in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes or so. Enjoy!
FYI: I used one package of almond bark for both of these recipes, and I still had some left over….
Buckeyes
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbsp. margarine, softened
1 lb. chocolate confectionary coating (like almond bark)
Mix first three ingredients well, and shape into balls. Place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Chill for 30 minutes or until firm. Dip balls in chocolate coating, and chill for another 15-30 minutes. Yield: 2 dozen.
Now, it’s your turn to link up your family’s favorite Christmas candy recipes, using Mr. Linky. Be sure to link back to Real Heart Prints on your own blog. Most of all, have A Very Merry Heart Prints Christmas!

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December 14th, 2009 — 7:00am
Every year at this time, we hopefully get the opportunity to spend more time with our families, enjoying the spirit of the Christmas season. Christmas really is about giving. Remembering the true spirit and meaning of this holiday is just so important. Jesus gave up his throne in Heaven to come to earth and be born as a baby boy, growing up to be a man Who would one day give His own life for many….to me, that just blazes out the spirit of giving that is so important at not only this time of year, but throughout the year.  Listen to the words of this song, Emmanuel by Tommy Walker Music….(we sang this song in our choir concerts this weekend; this is not us singing….but just listen to the words.)
So, in the spirit of giving, here are some ideas for alternate gift ideas, gifts that might just make a difference in someone else’s life, a life-changing difference. You could be a blessing to someone this Christmas.
To read more about alternate gift ideas, visit Mel’s post over on MamaBuzz.

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