Pictures of December

My December turned out to be a very busy one! It was full of work, fun activities, and time spent with family and friends. Here are a few glimpses of my December...

Decorating!

I love decorating for Christmas! I went with a vintage theme again. 

I found this "Merry Christmas" chalkboard picture at Marshalls this year.

Can you tell I love A Christmas Carol? ;)

 Knitting!

I started out by making a little hat for my new niece who will arrive in January. Then I got on a roll making a hat for a white elephant gift exchange, a hat for a friend, a hat to finish up a skein, and a scarf for another friend. 

my niece's little hat

working on Casey's hat

Celebrating the birthday boy!

My oldest nephew Gavin turned thirteen this month. I took him out for ice cream and enjoyed talking with my nephew who is growing up way too fast for this aunt!

Warm weather! 

I'm a warm weather girl so the warmer weather made me happy!

I loved being able to wear just my uniform shirt with
no jacket to work.

Yup! You read that right! My car thermometer read 76 outside.

I also took advantage of the sunny days we had, and used my new prescription sunglasses I got from firmoo.com.

Coffee Outing!

Every year around Christmastime, my mom and sister go to Barnes and Noble for a couple of hours. We sip coffee from the Starbucks cafe they have in the store and look at magazines. 

Chick-fil-A Christmas party!

our wonderful operators

some ugly sweaters :)

And speaking of Chick-fil-A, a few co-workers and I had some fun with Christmas hats after we closed and took some selfies.

Me, Casey, and Carissa put on elf hats and gave John a santa hat to put on.
We captioned the photo "santa and his elves". :)

 Pretty Christmas music!

Oh the joy of having a sister who plays the piano all the time! Bekah played countless Christmas carols and songs throughout the month. 

How was your December?

Holiday Chocolate Barks Tray {Recipes Included}

As you may know, if you've read my blog for a couple of years, I always enjoy making chocolate barks. I've made peppermint bark every Christmas for probably eight or nine years. Over the years, I've experimented with different flavors. The most popular ones are orange and coffee (and of course, the peppermint is always a holiday favorite). 

The barks are a go-to treat for holiday parties. (As well as parties throughout the year. Because chocolate is good year-round!) I usually will just put a couple kinds on a plate or one in a bowl. This year, I decided to take all three kinds to a work Christmas party. I needed a way to present all of them in a pretty way. 

I'm really happy with what I came up with and it was so easy and cute. I went with a "chalkboard" tray display. I had a wooden tray that I converted to a "chalkboard" with two pieces of black cardstock. It fit it perfectly. Then taking a white pen, I wrote each kind of bark with arrows pointing to the right bowl. I got inspiration for the lettering and arrows on pinterest.  

It was a hit and I got several compliments on the tray as well as the bark. 

If you'd like to try making one or three of the barks for your holiday, I've included the recipes below in one easy location.

Ingredients:
1 12-oz bag chocolate chips
1 12-oz bag white chocolate chips
1 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
3-4 drops green food coloring

Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper; set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, heat chocolate chips until melted, stirring every 15-20 seconds. Pour onto cookie sheet and spread out until it fills the pan. In a different microwave safe bowl, combine white chocolate chips, oil, and extract. Heat until melted, stirring every 15-20 seconds. Pour white chocolate over chocolate layer, and spread out. Once spread, take a knife and swirl the two layers together. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Break into pieces and store in a container in the refrigerator.

* * *

Ingredients:
2 12-oz bags of chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons coffee extract
1 tablespoon coarsely ground coffee, plus more for sprinkling on the top

Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper; set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, oil, and extract. Heat until melted, stirring every 15-20 seconds. Once melted, mix in the coffee grounds. Pour onto cookie sheet and spread out until it fills the pan. Top with more ground coffee. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Break into pieces and store in a container in the refrigerator.

* * *

Ingredients:
2 12-oz bags of chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract
zest of 1 large orange

Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper; set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, oil, and extract. Heat until melted, stirring every 15-20 seconds. Once melted, mix in orange zest. Pour onto cookie sheet and spread out until it fills the pan. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Break into pieces and store in a container in the refrigerator.

I'm always looking for more flavors for my barks. Any ideas for me?