There are lot of things to love about the Christmas season. There is of course the caroling, the family festivities, the seasonal programming. There are, though, two things that really stick out when thinking about Christmas time. The food, is of course one of them, and also the beautiful decorations that trim the season with merriment and bright colors. Now would it not be fantastic if there were a way to bring these two things together into one cohesive Christmas activity? The good news is that you can with a couple of different edible Christmas decorating ideas. Edible ornaments are not just for candy canes. There are other ways to trim your tree with delectable goodies and treats. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is with cookie dough ornaments. You can even use a pre-made cookie dough that is sold in your grocer’s freezer section. Sugar cookies cut into Christmas shapes are a little bit more festive than plain chocolate chip cookies, or you can also press red and green M&Ms into the sugar cookies to add some color. Sugar cookie shapes can be decorated with a hard frosting or a gel frosting that dries hard. The most important thing to remember, however, is to poke a small hole about a half an inch in on each cookie while they are still warm. This will prevent the cookies from crumbling as they would if you waited until they cooled. Once they are cool, you can run a pretty ribbon through each cookie and decorate your tree or give them as gifts to spread the Christmas love. Another fun way to create beautiful edibles is with your centerpiece. To make a beautiful but simple gingerbread house for your Christmas table, you need only a few basic things. First you need a box of graham crackers and a sharp razor or Exacto knife. You will also need a glaze like sugar frosting and candy for decoration (gum drops work great). Cut two pieces of the graham crackers with a triangle point, like the front of a house in a child’s drawing. Since most graham cracker are perforated in half and then in half again, it is best to use on half as the triangle part, then the other pieces will fit perfectly. Affix two other pieces of graham cracker to the house part the long way, so that they come up just to the triangle. Now place two more across the triangle part at a slant like a roof. Use the frosting to hold these seams in place. Once that is dry, decorate as you would like with the candy and the frosting. The more colors you have, the more fun the decorating will be. Because of its simplicity, this is a great activity to do with young children, just make sure the grown ups do the cutting. There are other simple activities to do as well, like decoupage boxes with decorative candy, Jordan almonds, and of course, don’t forget the candy canes. Paul Buckley has published a website packed full of fascinating and useful articles, stories and ideas certain to make this you best holiday season yet. Happy Holidays
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