I miss the Cookie Tree…sort of…

 

When the kids were younger, we would always make salt dough ornaments each Christmas and hang those on the Christmas Tree in the Kitchen.  

This is one from 2002.  We'd always do their hands and my plan was to save them each year.  Sounds really cool, but after a few years we got a literal interpretation of “how the cookie crumbles.”

Last year the kids had ZERO interest in making the cookie ornaments; a bittersweet moment for me.  I tried to focus on how we did do this for so many years and how much fun we had each time. Also, I didn’t fool myself into remembering only sugarplums and gumdrops…I remembered the mess and the fights, too! Plus, it’s just not really the same anymore; they certainly don’t need my help at all for this project.  Still, I am going to see if they have any interest while on Winter Break, but I’m not holding my breath.  

Now, with no cookie ornaments, the Kitchen tree is filled with the collection of Hallmark houses and shops my mom got for me year after year, until SHE got tired of that tradition.

 

The ornaments are fantastic; like dollhouses, they are finished inside and out, with so much detail.

.

 

And, I got the Hearth Room mantle decorated. It looks very nice at night with the candles all lit, too.

Now, with Harper’s help, we have 66 cookies to make for a cookie exchange for tomorrow.

Okay, I should say, with MY help, Harper's making 66 cookies--I am so not a baker.

Thanks, girlfriend!