Thank you oldalgebra, Luvs, luckygal,& gardner1908 for your compliments on my newly expanded candy tree forest - LOL! I have them staged now & almost all the hang down ornaments tied with ribbon from the chandelier. They are like those little villages but they are candy trees - a collection of them. luckygal, they are made with styrofoam bases. YOu can buy them at Wal-Mart or craftstore. The candy icing is a mixture of confectioner sugar & powdered egg white with water. Gardener.......I will post you the link to Rhoda's Southern Hospitality Blog where she give complete instructions to these. They are easy & fun to make! I had a blast doing them. Have fun with it! Bonnie Here is a link that might be useful: Rhoda's instructions on making candy Christmas trees

Thanks everybody. I use a lot of candy cane/peppermint decor in my kitchen so this was a lot of fun to put together. I couldn't believe I found those plates and at that price. I guess it all depends on who prices things that day because sometimes the price is HIGHER than the original store price sticker still on the item!! Whats up with that??? It was a challenge to figure out how to cut the white swirls to make them even with the red that I left uncovered to create the candy effect! The round red tablecloth was $2.12 and the white sheet I cut up was $1.41 so it was a pretty inexpensive tablecloth to make. I think the fact that I take my time and move things around helps me uncover some of my fab TS finds. Often the pieces are under something else or like the ball candles, in different places. I search and find the mates, and then put things together. The red/white cone trees were only on the very top overshelf at Hob. Lob. If I hadn't looked up, I'd never have seen them as there weren't any down where shoppers could actually reach them. Anyway, it does make me smile to look at this table. TTFN, Candy

Glenda ,Can you post Reindeer droppings? We have lots of real deer around here so that would be fun to make! lol Here is some I make & love: Chunky Peanut Brittle 1 t. plus 1 ½ c. butter (no substitutes), divided 2 c. peanut butter chips, divided 1 ¾ c. sugar 3 T. light corn syrup 3 T. water 1 ½ c. salted peanuts, coarsely chopped ½ c. semisweet chocolate chips Butter the bottom and sides of a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with 1 ½ t. butter. Sprinkle with 1 c. peanut butter chips; set aside. In a heavy saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup, water and remaining butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until butter is melted. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 300 degrees (hard crack stage). Remove from heat; stir in peanuts. Quickly pour onto prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter chips. With a knife, gently swirl softened chips over top of brittle. Cool before breaking into pieces. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 2 ½ lb. ~~Fudge Krispies~~~~~These are sooo good~~~ Taste like a Nestle Crunch ! 1pkg (2c.) milk chocolate chips( not semi -sweet ) 1/2c. marg. 1/2c.light corn syrup 2 tsp.vanilla extract 1c.sifted confectioners sugar (powered sugar) 4c.Rice Krispies cereal Combine choc.,marg & corn syrup in med. saucepan . Stir over low heat until melted & smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and sugar. Add cereal Mixing lightly until well coated. Spread evenly in 13x9x2 inch pan. Chill until firm. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares. Store in refr. 48 squares. ~*~Toffee Cookies~*~ 1 sleeve saltine crackers 1 cup brown sugar, packed 2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips 1 c.Butter 1c. finely chopped nuts Preheat oven to 400*. Cover a small cookie sheet with sides with foil; spray with Pam. Melt butter & brown sugar in a med. saucepan and cook approximately 3 minutes, stirring often. Place all crackers on foil. Pour sugar mixture on crackers and spread evenly. Bake 5 minutes. Mixture should boil but not burn. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly on top. Set a bread board over pan and let set 3 min.Remove bread board .Spread choc.chips with spatula as frosting a cake. Sprinkle Nuts on top ,press slightly.Place in refrg. About 1 hour.Break into pieces.Store in refrg. **People can't Believe that this is crackers! I have also tried Butterscotch chips & peanuts.Semi-sweet chocolate & peppermint candies crushed.(that one is really good!) This is a must in my house to make :-) ~~~MOUND BARS ~~~ This taste like that famous candy bar.ItÂs so good & easy! 2 c. crushed graham crackers 1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. butter, melted Mix together and bake in 9x13 inch pan in 350 degree oven for 7-8 minutes. Mix 2 cups coconut with 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Spread on top of baked crust. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Melt 1 (12 oz.) package chocolate chips . Spread on top.Cool then cut into bars. ~~Twix Bars~~ this is very good! almost better than the real thing. 35 unwrapped kraft caramels 1/4 cup water 1 box Lorna Doone shortbread cookies (40) 2 bags milk-chocolate chips 12oz ea. 1. combine caramels with water in small pan, melt over low heat. 2. place the cookies side by side on ungreased cookie sheet. 3. spoon a dab of caramel onto each cookie, then place all the cookies in the refrigerator until the caramel firms up. 4. in the meantime, melt chocolate chips in double boiler or microwave heating 1 min on high, stir, then 1 more min. 5. remove the cookies from frig. resting each cookie on a fork, dip into chocolate. tap the fork on side to knock away excess chocolate. place on wax paper and cool at room temp. this will take several hours but the bars will set the best this way. putting in the refrigerator for 30 min will speed up the process. ~~KIT KAT BARS~~ (very rich,cut into small pieces) Ritz crackers (I used 3 sleeves) 1 1/2 c. graham crackers, crushed 3/4 c. brown sugar, packed 1 c. white sugar 3/4 c. butter (must be real) 1/3 c. milk 1 c. butterscotch chips 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips 3/4 c. peanut butter Put graham crackers, brown sugar, white sugar, butter and milk into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Spray a 9x13? pan with butter flavored cooking spray. Put a layer of crackers (I used one sleeve) in bottom of pan and pout 1/2 of the mixture over it. Put another layer of crackers and pour the remaining mixture. Add one last row of cracker. In microwave melt butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and peanut butter together I stirred every 1 (one) minute til nice and smooth. When melted, spread evenly over the top. After it has cooled a bit, score the bars. Then let cool completely. I put in the refrigerator. After set up, cut into bars and store in an airtight container. I store in the refrigerator. Hope this helps! ____________________________________________________

Brad, please don't be miffed at her, she may be doing the best she can. When someone's health is out of their control, and they are in a facility where they would rather not be, the change - even little changes in routine - can be hard. Can I guess that she has very certain ways she does things at home? All is very different for her there, just be patient, and loving. I don't pretend to know her current condition either so forgive me if I overstep...but when both my FIL and my brother's FIL were having heart issues, the lower oxygen levels by a heart not functioning up to par caused some temper, and some confusion too. Less oxygen in the blood almost looked a little like dementia, thoughts weren't clear. Better hydrated, and with some supplemental oxygen provided, thoughts/actions cleared again. Just be kind to her, and firm when you need to be, but still kind. This is a hard time for all of you having to deal with her being ill, hope tomorrow goes better. ;0)