Quick & Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Drops

I haven't had a lot of time for Christmas baking these days, but my little one and I managed to find some time yesterday to whip up a batch of these 'cookies'. The recipe may sound weird, but don't judge them until you've tried them! My sister-in-law brought them to Christmas Eve dinner last year and they were scrumptious! These little treats are super quick, don't require a lot of ingredients and best of all, do not require any baking!


You will need:
1 Box of Plain Ritz Crackers (not the cheese kind)
1 bag of Chocolate chips (we used milk chocolate, but you can use semi-sweet, or if you are really feeling adventurous, dip once side in semi-sweet chocolate and the other side white chocolate)
1 jar of Peanut Butter



First spread a generous amount of peanut butter on one of the crackers, then top with another cracker, making a sandwich.When you have made all of your cracker sandwiches you are ready to melt the chocolate. I melted mine in a double boiler, you could also melt it in the microwave (careful not to burn it).Now, dip the crackers in the melted chocolate, covering both sides. Remove the sandwiches from the chocolate and let them cool on a parchment lined baking rack. Put them in the refrigerator to allow the chocolate to harden. Once the chocolate has hardened, the are ready to serve! Enjoy!

*Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

DIY Christmas Tags

Ever wonder what to do with your old Christmas cards?

I always save my cards from the previous year. We pull them out as Christmas card season rolls around, re-read them, make our list of who we need to send our cards to and then recycle them.

Last week we got out the cards, we've read through them, made the list and were ready to put them in the recycling. It seemed such a shame to just dump them into the recycling bin, but what would I do with them? The covers of the cards are for the most part untouched and must be good for something, then it hit me, gift tags!

My craft punch was sitting out so I got cutting. Presto chango, the old cards are new again! They are super easy to make and they save having to buy new tags for our gifts this year. Best of all the old cards gets one more use before hitting the recycling bin.

This is the style of punch I have, but many other shapes would do the job just as well.

Line up the punch and get cutting

These little cuties will do the job quite nicely!

Just punch a hole in the top of the card, add a ribbon and attach to your gifts!

Snowman Soup & Reindeer Food

We will be attending our first craft sale this year. We'll be at the 'Shopping Party Fundraiser' supporting CEFA Junior Kindergarten on December 4th in Langley B.C.

I have been feverishly making clips, lots of clips, we need variety, we need choices!

My mom has been sewing up a storming, making tunics, onesies, aprons and boo-boo buddies.

My little ones have watched us plan and create and now they have decided that they want in on the action too.

Both girls (8 years & 4 years) have asked that they could make to sell at our table. I didn't want to deny them the fun of participating, but what could they make? It needed to be something that would be easy enough for them to make on their own and might be something that had the potential to sell (painted rocks need not apply). I needed to come up with a project for the both of them, what to do!? Then it hit me, Snowman Soup and Magic Reindeer food. Off to the store I went to get them their supplies and they got started.


I think they turned out quite well, fingers crossed some of them sell!

MAGIC REINDEER FOOD

Ingredients:

• Oatmeal
• Glitter (we used green, red and silver)
• Holiday confetti (we used Christmas trees)
• Small ziploc bags
• Tags
• Ribbon or raffia

Put the oatmeal, glitter and holiday confetti in a bowl, mix well. Scoop into small ziploc bags and attach the tag to the bag with the following poem.

Sprinkle on the lawn at night

The moon will make it sparkle bright

Santa's reindeer fly and roam

This will guide them to your home!

SNOWMAN SOUP

Ingredients:

• One individual package of instant hot chocolate mix
• Three Hershey Kisses (we used mint)
• 10-15 mini marshmallows
• One candy cane
• Clear pastic bag
• Tag
• Ribbon or raffia

Put the hot chocolate, kisses, marshmallows and candy cane in the clear bag. Attach the tag to the bag with a ribbon or raffia with the following poem.

When the weather outside is frightful,

Snowman soup can be delightful.

May it warm your spirit and your soul.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

When you feel a chill or are saying "brrrr."

Use the candy cane stick to stir.

Add hot water, and sip it slow.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Coco & Bird - Amazing Things for Kids

We are fortunate to have recently partnered up with a great company called Coco & Bird.

Coco & Bird represents several Canadian companies and sells their products through what Amber refers to as a 'Playdate Soiree'. What is a 'Playdate Soiree' you wonder? They are personal shopping experiences where you can view the collections of the products she sells while the kids play. Host a party and earn free clothes.

All the products Coco & Bird sells are smart, safe and support a creative and playful lifestyle.

She is proud to represent these great Canadian companies;
Peekaboo Beans www.peekaboobeans.com
Red Fish Clothing www.redfishkidsclothing.com
Haute Tot Hats www.hautetots.com
ZigZags & Zebras www.zigzagsandzebras.etsy.com

Coco & Bird just had their first Playdate Soiree representing ZigZags & Zebras where we provided coordinating hair accessories for the fall Peekaboo Beans collection.
Check out our Facebook page to see the the full Coco & Bird collection we shipped them.

Giveaway on our Facebook Fan Page!

It's time for a GIVEAWAY!

We are trying to grow our Facebook fan page following and need your help!

Suggest your friends and family "like" ZigZags & Zebras on Facebook to be entered to win a great prize pack!

What’s in it for you? Once you have "liked" us on facebook, have your friends tell us (direct message or write on our wall) who referred them to our fan page and you will also be entered into the draw! The more followers you send our way, the better your odds are at winning a prize pack!

Contest ends 11:59 pm Sept 5th.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ZigZags-Zebras/236389722651

ZigZags & Zebras hit the beach

One of our customers sent us this picture of her daughter on the beach in Tofino, B.C.

She's wearing one of our most favorite clips and paired it with an adorable Peek-A-Boo Beans summer dresses. How cute is she?!

Zaybia

We've just opened another shop, this time on Zaybia.

Zaybia.com is an online marketplace for small businesss owners and aspiring entrepreneurs across Canada to create an online presence in order to sell their handmade goods.

Pop by and have a look!
http://zigzagsandzebras.zaybia.com/