Vegetable Christmas Tree

This Christmas tree was so fun to make and it turned out excellent! I always have the hardest time trying to figure out what to get my grandma for Christmas. Last year, I made a fruit Christmas tree so this year I decided to make a vegetable one. What else am I supposed to get my awesome 89 year old grandma??

So, to start, I got a 12 inch foam cone and I  hot glued it to a square piece of wood. I did this because the fruit and cheese are heavy and if it doesn't have a stable bottom it will topple over. Then, my sister cut out small square pieces of felt and glued them to the base of the cone so that it looked somewhat like a tree skirt and it covered up the ugly piece of wood. Then, the last thing you need to do is to wrap tin foil around the foam. Last year when I made the fruit tree I didn't do this but I think its a good idea so that the vegetables aren't coming in contact with the foam.

Supplies:
Cheese- use whatever type you'd like
broccoli
cauliflower
cherry tomatoes
Christmas cookie cutters
12'' foam cone, or smaller if you'd like to make a smaller one
wooden block
hot glue gun
felt- optional
candy (to look like gifts under the tree)
toothpicks

Then, you can put the fruit on with toothpicks however you would like. We were planning on doing all broccoli and cauliflower as the main part of the tree and then using the cherry tomatoes and cheese as the ornaments but we realized we didn't have enough, so this is what we came up with.

Now, just something  to think about, with the cheese star on top, and the block of wood on the bottom our tree was about 17 inches high. Luckily my mom had a shelf that was adjustable so we could fit it in the fridge overnight. We then put a plastic bag over the tree and tied it so that the cheese and vegetables wouldn't dry up.

On the bottom of the paper plate, we put candy bells to make it look like ornaments and to hold down the pieces of felt hiding our block of wood. 

Now, I officially out of ideas on what to get my grandma for Christmas. Maybe I'll find another edible Christmas tree idea. 

Edible flower arrangement

We were having a work celebration for hitting budget this past Friday and I was trying to figure out somehing to bring for my boss and his wife. They just had a baby a few weeks ago and so I was thinking of a "congratulations on the baby, thank you for having me in your home" sort of gift. So I figured I would make this edible arrangement that my mom sent me a link to last week. I made a Christmas tree edible arrangement in December and this was so easy compared to that. I thought this one was a lot more fun to make too. When I gave it to my boss he didn't even know I made it. He thought I bought it. Then, one of my co-workers asked if I had made it and when I said yes. My boss looked at me shocked, "You did?" That sure made me feel good. Yes, as a matter of fact I did make that professional looking edible arrangement. :)

Here is the link to the tutorial Edible crafts

Ingredients:

pot holder- I got mine at Michael's

head of lettue

Flower shaped metal cookie cutter

Kale

pineapple

cantaloupe

strawberries

grapes

wooden skewers

gum drops or drops

Directions:

To start, cut the lettuce to fit the container. Then place kale over the lettuce to hide it.

Cut the pineapple into discs about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Cut out the pineapple flowers from the discs.

Place the wooden skewer into the lettuce. Then place a gum drop on the skewer first to keep the pineapple from falling down. Then place the pineapple on, and lastly the cantaloupe. Make melon balls from a melon ball kitchen tool. Then use strawberries and grapes to decorate the rest of the bouquet.

Christmas Success

Christmas was a success. My family loved the strawberry jam. Everyone kept asking if I really made it. Yes, I really made it and you can too. Just some sugar, crushed up strawberries, and pectin.

For my grandmother I had this idea to make an edible arrangement Christmas tree. But because I was coming from out of town I wasn't sure how that was going to work. I went to Michaels for some of the stuff. I got a small styrofoam cone and small Christmas cookie cutters. They came in a pack of 6 but I only used the gingerbread man, Christmas tree, and candy cane cut outs. Then I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got the big star cookie cutter. I cut out the pineapple with the small cookie cutters, and then put them on ice and hoped that they lasted 3 more days until Christmas. Then the night before Christmas I cut out the star from the cantaloupe and put the whole arrangement together. I used toothpicks to put the pieces of fruit into the cone. When I cut out the star on top, I left the outside of the cantaloupe on. The only fruit I used was blackberries, cantaloupe and pineapple. I had intentions of using strawberries as well but they went bad. I think this turned out quite well for my first edible arrangement though and my grandma almost ate the whole thing in one sitting. She loves fresh fruit. I put a plastic bag around the arrangement and stuck it in the fridge overnight and then took it out and put it in a gift bag in the morning. Here is the final outcome.