New Year – New Design Team Blog Hop

Welcome to Crop Chocolates Design Team Blog Hop. New Year and a lot of “NEW” for me. Never been
on a Design Team before and never been a part of a blog hop. This looks like a promising year for meJ.

We were asked to tell you five fun things you did not know about us. Well you would think that would
be a very easy task . . . being that you don’t know me, but alas, suddenly I feel like I am not that much
fun.

1. My favorite vacation spot is Disney World. My favorite breakfast is served in the castle with all of the
other princesses and although it may look a little funny, I love skipping down the brick entrance path to
Disney. I am just a big kid at heart. (They have some really great restaurants in Disney World.)

2. I love trying lots of different foods. I love vegetables, fruits, cheeses and most of all CHOCOLATE!!!!
Chocolate candy, chocolate ice-cream, chocolate cake and of course . . . . Crop Chocolate. By the way,
if you are not a regular visitor at Crop Chocolate you may be interested in knowing the ladies there host
recipe exchanges from time to time and they are so much fun.

3. I love playing board games or card games with family and friends. One of my favorite games is “Dirty
Minds”. You can really learn a lot about your older children playing that game . . . but be careful; you
could leave this game scarred for life.

4. One thing that I find that can boost my creative mojo is a glass of wine or a nice mixed drink. Drink a
little. . . cut a little. . . drink a little. . . glue a little . . . drink a little . . . well you get the picture. But don’t
get the wrong impression . . . it has been a long, long time since I over indulged.

5. I absolutely love horror films and haunted houses and trails. Every year, our family tries to pick out
a spookier haunted experience than the last year. We always have 12 days of nightmares watching
horror flicks before Halloween.

Well I don’t know if those were fun or interesting . . . but now you know me. After reading this you may
think I am 10 years old, but no worries, the gray sprinkled in my hair and the character lines in my face
give my age away (Let’s just say they don’t card me anymore).

Now on to the good stuff. Our DT doubled in size this term. So this is your introduction to everyone and
their many talents. You should have gotten here from Julie’s blog but if you just happened by you
will want to start over at Amber’s blog and follow this order:

Amber  

Jenni 

Kathy 

Jasmine

Mary 

Nina 

Polly

DeeDee

Miwa 

Chris 

Corrie 

Karen

Julie

Becky - ME

Laura 

Michele 

By the time you have reached my blog, I know you have seen some fantastic work and inspiration. To
access additional inspiration visit CropChocolate.com. The DT’s theme this month is “Ice” and there
have been many great projects posted . . . and there are more to come. DT projects are shown on The
Crop and there is more inspiration in the contest area.

Don’t forget to visit Laura and Michelle.

I know you have probably already entered to win some great blog candy along the way.
I will also be giving away some fantastic blog candy so become a follower of my blog, if you
are not already, and leave a comment after you check out my project. I will be announcing the
winner of my blog candy January 20th right here. I can’t tell you what it is . . . but I can promise
it will be sweet.

The project I entered to become a member of the Design Team was a gift basket. I am going to
tell you about the gift basket I created, but because mine was centered on Christmas, I am going
to give you an idea for an all occasion gift basket you can create any time. Just check the end of
this blog.

12 Days of Christmas Gift Basket

Each year our company does a mirage of fund raisers for the benefit of the United Fund. Every
year I make a different gift basket that is auctioned. This year my gift basket doubled as a fund
raiser and an entry for the Design Team.

This was a simple process of making tags for the 12 days of Christmas which read as follows:

ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you a partridge in a pear tree . . . Sorry but I couldn't find the partridge, so I am giving you some pears from the tree the partridge flew from
I covered a can of pears with decorative Christmas paper and placed this label on it.
ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you two turtle doves . . . Unfortunately, I don't have any, will candy turtles and a Dove bar do?
I bought Turtles candy and a Dove candy bar and packaged them with this label.
ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you three french hens . . . The French hens were not available, so, I'm giving some chicken noodle soup, compliments of the three French hens.
I covered a can of chicken noodle soup with decorative Christmas paper and placed this label on the front.
ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you four colly birds. . . Black birds . .  phew, I can't do that to you.  So here is a pencil and paper to keep in touch with friends both old and new.

I purchased an Address book and packaged it with this label.
ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you five golden rings, but will some golden pineapple rings suffice?
I covered a can of pineapple rings with decorative Christmas paper and put the label on the can.
ON THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you  six geese a laying . . .You don't really want messy geese all over the house do you?  How about some of the eggs they left behind?
I used white chocolate candy melts (barely heated them in the microwave) and placed a yellow M&M in the middle, resembling fried eggs.  I then packaged these and use the above label.
ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you seven swans a swimming . . . all of the swans have flown south for the winter, but they left this ugly duckling behind.
I packaged a yellow rubber duck and used the label.
ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you eight maids a milking . . . the maids were all milking, milk foaming like suds.  And then they all vanished just leaving "Milk Duds".
I wrapped a pack of Milk Duds in decorative Christmas paper and used the label on the front.

ON THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you nine ladies dancing . . . here are some canes used by the ladies to help them walk home after they were out dancing all night.
I used nine candy canes tied with a red ribbon and used the above tag.
ON THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you ten Lords-a-leapin' . . .After the Lords get done leapin; this is what they use to massage their sore muscles
I packaged some foot soak and lotion and used the following tag..
ON THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you eleven pipers piping . . . here's a pipe of your own, have fun and don't blow the day.
I used a toy horn with the tag.
ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS your true love gave to you twelve drummers drumming . . . no drummers, we though you could use some quiet time, so here is a special treat we drummed up for you, so relax and enjoy.
I bought a can of Hot Chocolate mix and wrapped it in paper and gold cord to make it look like a drum and placed the tag on the front.

I used some crinkled paper in the bottom of a basket, filled the basket with the above items and tied the basket in a decorative Christmas bow.  Totally ready to give as a gift that will amuse the recipient.

All of the paper was Christmas paper purchased from Crop Chocolate and most of it was from EP Dots and Stripes.

Now for the instructions for a Gift Basket for any time of  the year.  Below is a recipe for Mexican Bean Soup.  Simply purchase the ingredients, decorate the cans and make covers for the packaged items.  Place them in a basket with a pretty recipe card that tells the recipient how to assemble the soup.


Mexican Bean Soup

INGREDIENTS

1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans
1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans
1 can (15 oz.) navy beans
1 can (15 oz.) corn
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz.) Ro-tel or tomatoes with green chilis added
1 packet taco seasoning
1⁄2 packet dry ranch salad dressing
1⁄2 c. water

DIRECTIONS Place all ingredients in
slow cooker; stir together. Note: Do not
drain canned items, include the liquid in
the soup. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Serve with grated cheese, sour cream,
and tortilla chips.