We had our annual weSTAMP Christmas Party last night. What a FUN time we had! Here is a picture of all who attended:
Back Row: Ginny, Pam, Lorri, Diana, Terri, Linda, Adriana, Tara, Jessica, Rachele
Front Row: Leah, Nancy, Cheryl

What an AWESOME BUNCH OF GALS!!!!

Besides all the great FOOD and visiting with FRIENDS, we decided to do a Shoebox Swap for the bulk of the evening. In case you aren’t familiar with this type of swap, this is how it works. 5 gals volunteered to create and prepare supplies for each gal in attendance (like a make and take). They put all the supplies needed for their project in a “shoebox” container, hence the name, Shoebox Swap.

Here are the projects that we made.

Tara:
Note the “LOVE” part of this card. There is an acetate sheet behind the punched out hearts. CLEVER!

Ginny:
Ginny actually provided a CHOICE for us! This is the treat box (filled with homemade toffee!) the other one was an altered box from Pier One and has a hot chocolate treat inside.

Pam:

Leah:
The rubber stamp image was “spritzed” with water before stamping to give it a water color look to it. This technique was featured in our Stampin’ Success magazine this month! WHO KNEW?

Lorri:
This is a refrigerator magnet made out of a coaster. I was inspired by Susie B on SCS. I will post her link as soon as I find it! #@#$^$%^#%# I hate that when that happens!!

Here is a picture of the door prize. Rachele made it. It is an advent calendar, which counts down the days before Christmas. Isn’t this beautiful? It is made out of a muffin tin!! The decorated circles that cover the holes are magnetic and that is how they adhere to the metal muffin tin. VERY CUTE! Nancy won this door prize. LUCKY HER!!

Nancy and I provided gifts for all who attended. Here is what each gal received.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Deer Friends
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Bella DP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Scalloped Envelope Die (used with the Big Shot), Scallop Circle, 1 3/8″, 1 1/4″, 1″ Circle Punches, White Gel Pen, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Alpine Ribbon (Handle)

You can find the tutorial on how to make these envelope boxes on one of my favorite bloggers, Dannie Graves. Her blog and tutorial can be found HERE.

The little “treat” that is inside was inspired by a candy treat found at Crate and Barrell. I saw it as an acorn with chocolate inside and immediately thought of the gingerbread gift we were putting together.

All you do is melt that candy chocolate that you find at Michael’s or JoAnn’s. Pour it into the cookie cutter (found the cutter at Michael’s) and make sure there is wax paper underneath it. Then i sprinkled some decorations on the hands and feet before it cooled. It only takes a few minutes before the candy hardens, then just peel it off the wax paper! Voila!

Last but not least, I promised I would post my recipe for the “Pumpkin Mousse” that I served. Here it is gals. It is a great fall/winter treat!

Pumpkin Mousse

1 medium container Cool Whip (Lite)
1/2 can pumpkin (15 oz can)
1/2 bag powdered sugar
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t. cinnamon

Combine Cool Whip and pumpkin with mixer. Add in rest of ingredients. Regrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with thin ginger wafers/cookies. (I found the cookies at Fry’s. They are SUPER thin Ginger Cookies, found in the fancy cracker section, not in the cookie section.)