 Tinfoil
Ornaments
It’s always fun to hang a few new homemade items on the
Christmas tree each year. Tinfoil ornaments are easy and
inexpensive to make, and they’ll add a festive touch to the
holiday greenery.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Heavy card stock or lightweight cardboard
Sharp scissors
Craft glue
Lightweight kitchen foil
Small paintbrush
Acrylic paint (I used a water-based, metallic, craft
paint.)
Small sponge roller
Pencil or pen, if needed to sketch the designs
Ribbon, if desired (I used wire-edged ribbon.)
Felt or colored paper for backing, if desired
 First,
cut traditional, hand-blown ornament shapes from the cardboard,
choosing sizes that suit your tastes and your tree. For my
project, I cut up pieces of an old box. I made the balls
four inches in diameter and the diamonds and drops five inches
in length from top to bottom. Don’t make the ornament
shapes too small because the glue will be too thick for fine
details.
Once you’ve cut a variety of shapes from the cardboard,
sketch your designs on one side of the pieces.
Combinations of swirls, lines, and dots work well. Try to
avoid too many intersecting points because the glue tends to
spread into unattractive blobs.
Now you’re ready to draw with the glue. Squeeze out
a steady, thick stream of glue over the patterns you’ve sketched
and set your artwork aside, glue side up, to dry overnight.
Cut squares of lightweight kitchen foil slightly larger
than your ornaments. Place an ornament, glue side down, on
the dull side of one piece of foil and trim the foil, leaving at
least half an inch extending around the edges of the cardboard.
Fold the foil around the edges to the unglued side of the
ornament.
Turn the ornament face up and press your fingers firmly
along the edges of your glue patterns. Take care not to
press too hard and puncture the foil around the dots.
Continue to run your fingers along your patterns, pressing the
foil until your glue artwork stands out in clear, sharp relief
against the flat areas of the cardboard.
Next, brush a water-based paint color evenly over the
entire foiled ornament surface, including the glue patterns.
Once the surface is completely covered, soak the sponge roller
with water and squeeze out the excess moisture until the sponge
is damp, not wet. Run the roller lightly over the surface
of the ornament, several times, in several directions, until
most of the paint has been removed from the raised glue
patterns, revealing the shiny foil beneath.
You may have to dampen the sponge a second time to
achieve the effect you want. You also may choose to touch
up some of the flat areas with more paint if you decide too much
has been removed. However, a slightly speckled or
distressed appearance can be attractive.
When the paint has dried, you may finish your ornaments
by attaching any number of backings: felt, colored paper, or
another ornament. Punch a hole at the top, and thread it
with either ribbon or ornament twine with which to hang your
artwork from your tree.
Terry
McLaughlin always enjoys adding touches of Christmas glitter
to her home. The second book in her BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG
SKY series for Harlequin Superromance,
THE RANCHER NEEDS A WIFE, will be a February 2007
release.
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Holiday Punches
Mulled Apple Cider
Contributed by
Lee McKenzie
1 gallon apple cider (or apple
juice)
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon
peel
1/4 cup sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons whole cloves
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Combine all the ingredients in
a large (5-quart) slow cooker and simmer on low for about five
hours. This recipe makes about 40 half-cup servings. For a
smaller crowd, I make half the recipe. Don’t have a slow cooker?
This can just as easily be made in a large pot on the stove, but
reduce the simmering time to one to two hours. Either way, your
holiday guests will be greeted at the door by the scent of
apples and spices!
Lee’s Holiday Punch
Contributed by
Lee McKenzie
2 cups cranberry juice
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup orange juice
1 4-ounce jar Maraschino
cherries, including the juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups ginger ale
Chill all the ingredients.
Just before guests arrive, pour everything into a large punch
bowl.
Floating orange slices make a
nice garnish, or an ice ring (made in a jelly mold or a bundt
pan) is always festive, especially if you add fresh cranberries.
Sangria
Contributed by
Kiki Clark
My favorite punch is Sangria,
whatever the occasion, and because of the color, I think it
works for Christmas. The basic ingredients are any combination
of the following: red wine, orange juice and/or Triple sec, and
sweetener. I like to make it strong (with frozen orange-juice
concentrate) and then add seltzer for fizz. Yum!
Holiday (or Anytime) Punch
This is my kids’ favorite
punch for any special occasion.
1-2 (1/2-gallon) cartons of
orange, lime, or raspberry sherbet
Several bottles of Canada Dry
Ginger Ale (number depends on the number of guests)
This is totally simple. Just
scoop 1/2 carton of sherbet into a punch bowl, add ginger ale
until almost full, and stir to melt the sherbet into the ginger
ale a bit. Add more sherbet and ginger ale as needed.
Sparkling Holiday Party
Punch
This can be made with or
without alcohol.
2 large bottles cranberry
juice or cran-raspberry juice
1 large bottle apricot juice
1 liter good quality ginger
ale
1 or 2 lemons
1 or 2 oranges
1 lime
1 to 2 cups Southern Comfort
1/2 to 1 cup Grand Marnier
1 bag filtered ice
Before you start, remember:
sample the mixture as you add each ingredient so you may adjust
the additional ingredients to your taste. Some people will like
it sweeter (more ginger ale) or more sour (more lemon, less
ginger ale, plain cranberry juice rather than cran-raspberry
which is sweeter). Alcohol also should be adjusted to taste. The
punch may be made without the alcohol, and it will still have a
light, sparkly flavor.
In large punch bowl, stir
together cranberry and apricot juices. Halve and lightly squeeze
lemons, orange and lime into the mixture (do not squeeze out all
the juice), then slice the fruits and float slices on top of
punch. Add ginger ale, Southern Comfort and/or Grand Marnier
just before the guests come, along with enough ice to cool it
down.
Keep extra ice and ice
tongs/large spoon in a decorative bowl or ice dish by the punch
bowl. It is often best to have the punch bowl on a separate
table from other refreshments, and to cover the table in a cloth
that is either disposable or launders easily (spills are part of
the fun!). Be sure to have at least three times the number of
cups as you will have guests, and place napkins on the same
table. Serve with a plastic punch ladle to avoid the disaster of
someone chipping a glass ladle and getting glass in the punch.
And above all—enjoy!
Holiday Lime-Light Punch
Contributed by
Bridget Stuart
1 liter good quality
lemon-lime soda (NOT diet)
1 quart club soda
6 to 8 large limes
1 (6-ounce) can lemonade
concentrate, room temperature
3+ cups good quality gin
(Bombay Sapphire is always nice.)
1 bag filtered ice
Squeeze the juice of five to
seven limes into the punch bowl; thinly slice the last lime and
set aside. Stir in lemonade concentrate. Just before
guests arrive, pour in lemon-lime soda, club soda, and lastly
the gin (tequila may be substituted), tasting after each
addition to check for appropriate sweetness. Add ice; float lime
slices on top.
Holiday Hint: if you make a ring of white holiday lights and set
the base of the punch bowl in the middle, it makes a brilliant
presentation!
Decadent Cherry Cup
Contributed by
Bridget Stuart
4 vanilla almond Republic of
Tea teabags
4 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon almond extract
2 quarts red or black cherry
(or cran-cherry) juice
1 liter good quality club soda
or sparkling mineral water
2+ cups brandy or cherry
brandy
1 bag filtered ice
Boil the 4 cups water, and
steep tea bags for five minutes; chill tea in refrigerator.
Just before guests arrive, mix chilled tea, almond extract,
cherry juice, sparkling water and brandy. Taste after each
addition, and adjust flavors accordingly. Sugar may be
added, 1/4 cup at a time, if a sweeter punch is desired.
Cool with ice. May also be made without alcohol. A
rich red holiday knockout!
Mimosas
Contributed by
Jenna Ness
For Christmas punch, I like
mimosas—half orange juice, half champagne. Easy to make,
elegant, and light.
For metric conversions of the measurements above, consult any of
the following sites:
http://southernfood.about.com/library/info/blconv.htm
http://www.thatsmyhome.com/recipes/conversion.htm
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions.htm
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