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Dealing with holiday stress, tips to lower anxiety & enjoying the momentsDealing with holiday stress, tips to lower anxiety & enjoying the moments
Plant your tree after the holidaysPlant your tree after the holidays
Mule Barn Boutique brings its unique clothing to Post Oak MallMule Barn Boutique brings its unique clothing to Post Oak Mall
DECEMBER 2012
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WHAT’S INSIDE
page elevenpage elevenTurn small pieces into stationery, cutting
the pictures into di� erent shapes and gluing them mosaic-style onto plain
cardstock.“Turn small pieces into stationery, cutting “Turn small pieces into stationery, cutting
”gluing them mosaic-style onto plain
”gluing them mosaic-style onto plain
cardstock.”cardstock.
page sixpage sixWondering what to do with your live
Christmas tree after the holidays?Just plant it.
Wondering what to do with your live Wondering what to do with your live Christmas tree after the holidays?
Just plant it. Christmas tree after the holidays?
Just plant it.
ON THE WEB
Jenny Downing (979) 731-4660
Internet Sales Director
Kyrstie Cox (979) 731-4665
Internet Marketing Consultant
Shauna Lewis
Editorial
Eric Aguirre
Layout & Design
Reproduction in whole or in part without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Opinions expressed in the publication are those of the authors and
do not necessarily represent those of the management of the publication.
©2012 GATEHOUSE MEDIA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
page nine‘It’s just been a blessing ever since,’ [Nancy]
Gilmore said, ‘� e store’s just taken o� .’‘It’s just been a blessing ever since,’ [Nancy] ‘It’s just been a blessing ever since,’ [Nancy]
Gilmore said, ‘� e store’s just taken o� .’Gilmore said, ‘� e store’s just taken o� .’
/shopbrazos
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THANKSGIVINGSHOPBRAZOS.COM
Line a baking pan with parch-ment. On this sheet, make sev-eral tracings of the top of the cup or glass you’ll use to serve the cocoa or coffee. Cover the tracings with a second sheet of parchment or waxed paper.
Fit a piping bag with a small tip. Melt chocolate or almond bark and stir thoroughly to eliminate lumps that might clog the piping tip. Fill the pip-ing bag. Working freehand, make lacy designs that extend a bit beyond the traced circles. This will let the finished lattices rest on the cup rims. While the chocolate or almond bark is still soft, you can decorate with col-ored sprinkles.
Chill the lattices for several hours or overnight. Keep them refrigerated until just before serving.
Warm up with style
By Margaret MaplesGateHouse News Service
A little nip in the air sets the stage perfectly for hot cocoa and Irish coffee. And with a little forethought, you can cos-tume these deliciously for their cool weather close-ups.
You’ll need clouds of whipped cream, naturally, and can opt for a variety of whiskies and liqueurs. But the most ele-gant touch will be one you create yourself: a lattice of piped chocolate – we used both semisweet and white chocolate. You can also use almond bark. All are available at your supermarket.
You can make these ahead of time and, if you like, deco-rate them with colored sugar. Store them in the fridge until the warm drinks are poured. Now it’s time to rest a lattice on the edge of your cup or footed glass.
Everyone will have an individual lattice style, but remem-ber to pipe the lines a bit heavily, to help the chocolate stand up to the heat of the drink. Although whipped cream will offer some insulation, the lattices will soften and begin to melt. Let them slide into the drink or droop onto the cup’s edge, so your guests will taste a little chocolate or extra sweetness with each sip.
Amaretto coffee (from left) carries a vanilla almond bark lattice and wand. A white chocolate lattice (center) and wand finish hot cocoa. A semisweet chocolate lattice (far right) is a little melty but still supports a whipped cream blossom atop a cup of cinnamon cocoa. PHotoS by MarGaret MaPleS/GHNS
Making a latticeHoliday drinks with added melty sweetness
Pipe white or semisweet chocolate slightly wider than the rim of your cocoa cup so the lattices will sit comfortably on the edge.
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.COMTHANKSGIVING
Oomph for coffee or cake
Brew your favorite cof-fee and fl avor each serv-ing with one or two ta-blespoons of liqueur or whiskey. Kahlua, amaretto, Bailey’s, bourbon or Irish whiskey are good possibili-ties, but there are probably others that you’ll enjoy, too. Top with whipped cream, a sprinkle of ground cinna-mon, powdered sugar, co-coa or ground chocolate, and add a lattice.
These lacy tops also dress up desserts that start with store-bought cake. To add your own fl air, drizzle choco-late syrup on the plate or be more daring and mix a syrup of sugar water, Kahlua and powdered sug-ar. Follow with cake and whipped cream. Sprinkle cocoa and pow-dered sugar as confetti on the plate.
Finish the dessert with a lattice, and let the holiday celebrations
begin!
Haute CocoaIf you have a favorite hot co-
coa recipe or ready-made mix, feel free to use it. Or try ours, which is rather rich.
n 1/2 c. granulated sugar
n 1/8 c. unsweetened cocoa (such as Hershey’s or Nestle)n 1/8 c. Dutch processed cocoa (such as Droste)n Dash saltn Dash ground cinnamon (optional)n 2 1/3 c. milk, divided
Garnishes: Whipped cream, marshmallows, ground cinnamon, colored sugar sprinkles, cocoa
powder or grated chocolate, powdered sugar, lattices of chocolate or almond bark
In a saucepan, mix sug-ar, regular and Dutch pro-cessed cocoas, salt and cin-namon, if using. Add 1/3 cup milk and mix smooth. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Do not boil. Remove from heat.
Stir in remaining milk and return to heat. Bring to serving temperature, just short of boiling.
To serve: Pour hot cocoa to about 1 1/2 inches be-low the rim of a footed cup. Place whipped cream in a piping bag or a freezer bag
with a corner cut off. Cover the hot cocoa’s surface with whipped cream. Lay a lattice across the top of the cup.
Pipe a blossom of whipped cream on the lattice, if desired. Garnish with ground cinnamon, sugar sprinkles, cocoa powder or grated chocolate.
A semisweet chocolate lattice puts extra zest in a pound cake dessert. Supporting players in this production include Kahlua syrup, whipped cream, and a dusting of co-coa and powdered sugar. MarGaret MaPleS/GHNS
By Emily ArnoSpecial to the eagle
When Christmastime rolls around, kids begin munching on candy canes. See this seasonal ob-session as an opportunity to get your kids in the kitchen by making the following:
n Peppermint bark: Have your kids place candy canes in a plastic bag then crush them with a meat tenderizer (they’ll have a blast do-ing this). While they do the crush-ing, melt 8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave and stir in a few drops of peppermint extract. Pour the melted mixture into a lightly greased pan lined
with wax pa-per. Sprinkle half of can-dy canes on top. Refriger-ate until hard-ened. Repeat the process with 8 ounces of white chocolate — this time pouring on top of the semi-sweet layer. After topping with the remaining crushed canes, refriger-ate for a second time. Once hard-ened, remove from the pan and break into pieces — better yet, let your little destructos handle that one.
n Chocolate dipped peppermint sticks: Have kids dip the sticks of their canes into your favorite melt-ed chocolate. Once coated, let
them sprin-kle on coco-nut or choco-late jimmies if desired. Al-low the sticks to cool on wax paper. Serve alone or as a tasty compan-ion for hot chocolate.
n Peppermintify a classic rec-ipe: Tuck a whole candy cane in a mug of hot cocoa, or add crushed
candy canes to timeless cookie and brownie recipes. Be experimental and try adding a cup or sprinkle to your favorite batter.
Peppermint powerCandy cane recipes the kids can help with
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Wondering what to do with your live Christmas tree after the holidays? Just plant it.
Here’s how.n Choose the right tree. Growing
Earth Tree Care, a website dedicated to improving the environment, recom-mends buying a tree that will thrive in-doors before Christmas and outdoors after Christmas. Most local growers are more than happy to advise you on the best tree for your region.n Acclimate the tree. Chances are,
you house is warmer than outside. Set the tree on your porch or in the garage for a few days after Christmas and al-low it to get used to the colder weath-er. At this point, you should have al-ready removed the decorations.n Select a spot. You should do this
before or when you buy the tree, but if you didn’t, be sure to choose a spot with full sun, good drainage and ade-quate space.n Plant the tree. The hole should
be the same depth as the root ball and at least twice the width. In most cases, you won’t need to add soil en-hancements as long as the area is well drained and the soil adequate.n Place the soil. The soil may be too
cold initially. If that’s the case, do not fill in the hole. Set the soil aside on a tarp or in a basket and let it warm up inside before backfilling the hole. If you plan on using stakes, be sure to place them before the ground gets too hard.n Fill the hole. Once the soil is ad-
equately prepared, use it to backfill. The hole is best filled in layers. Add soil. Pack. Add more soil. Pack. Con-tinue until the entire hole is full.n Apply mulch. Put two to three
inches of mulch over the root ball and surrounding area. There’s no need to add fertilizer until spring.n Water. Be sure to water the tree
regularly, especially during thaws.
How to plant your Christmas tree
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.COMAFTER CHRISTMAS
One way to get kids in the kitch-en and get them cooking is to make it fun. Here are 10 cool tools they’ll love using while learning cooking basics
— no dangerously sharp edges or mov-ing parts, just good old-fashioned hard workers that every cook needs to have on hand.
Kids in the kitchenTools that can help young ones learn the joy of cooking
1. A wooden citrus juicer makes quick work of lemons and limes and drain every last drop of
the juice. Let kids use hand-held juicers to help make fresh beverages, dressings, marinades, pie fi llings or curds.
2. Teach kids the business end of a rolling pin by get-
ting hands-on experience with roll-out cookies, biscuits,
pie crusts or homemade pasta.
3. If you think boys won’t want to learn to cook, put a meat mallet in their
hands and let them whack away at a tough cut like fl ank
steak. A tip: spray the mallet with non-stick cooking spray fi rst and teach kids the im-portance of washing it thor-oughly afterward for food safety purposes.
4. One of the most necessary tools in the kitchen, a whisk whips everything from
pie fi llings and dips to omelets and frittatas — even dry ingredients for baked goods.
5. A garlic press is a must-have for ev-ery kitchen —
let kids use it to smush canned peppers for adobo sauce, ancho-vies for a Caesar salad or garlic.
6. A fl our sift-
er is not on-ly fun for a kid to to use,
it’s handy for sifting dry ingredients where a light texture matters (like a cake) and for evenly coating goodies with a dusting of cocoa, cinnamon or powdered sugar.
7. Let kids use biscuit cutters to help make cookies, scones, tiny tea
sandwiches … and, oh yeah, biscuits.
8. A mortar and pestle is as basic and useful a kitchen tool as they
come, and kids will have so much fun smashing and smushing herbs, nuts, olives, garlic, cocoa beans and more for pestos, pistous, tapenades and aiolis.
9. Egg beaters are old-fashioned, fun and super handy to have around
— sort of like a whisk on steroids. Kids will have a blast beating up fl uffy omelets.
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MULE BARN BOUTIQUE SHOPBRAZOS.COM
The Mule Barn Boutique has a new store in Col-lege Station, in addition
to its Madisonville location – so shoppers can now get the business’s unique items locally, such as custom-made western boots, clothing, blingy flip flops and jewelry. The Mule Barn Boutique opened on Nov. 4 in the Post Oak Mall, at the intersection of Texas 6 and Harvey Road. It also has a store at 115 South Madison in Madisonville. Owner Nancy Gilmore, who bought the business in March, said she is proud of the store’s friendly customer service and unique merchandise. She said she tries to find items that peo-ple can’t find anywhere else. “It’s all got some sass in it,” Gilmore said about the store’s merchandise. “It doesn’t cost
any more to buy anything unique than run-of-the-mill things.” The business originally planned to open a store in College Station just for two months, Gilmore said, but the store has been so popular that it will likely stay longer. The Mule Barn Boutique’s start The business has changed significantly since it first opened in Madisonville about 12 years ago, as the Kawasaki Mule Barn, then owned by Fred and Liz Henson. It served as a Kawasaki Mule and four-wheel-er dealership, but also started adding a mix of other things, such as work coats, boots and fishing lures. The Hensons in 2007 hired Gilmore as store manager over the clothing and fashion part of the business, with Billy Terry managing the motor division.
Find unique Christmas gifts at The Mule Barn Boutique inside Post Oak Mall
By Shauna LewisThe Eagle
Gilmore took over ordering merchandise and treated the store as if it were her own. Eventually, the owners sold the Kawasaki division of the business to Terry, and about
a year later, sold the clothing part to Gilmore. “The Hensons generously insisted I buy it,” Gilmore said.Gilmore said she initially didn’t see how she could buy a store,
A few Mule Barn employees, Lexi Standley, Cherisse Neal and Kathy Ashurst.
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.COMMULE BARN BOUTIQUESHOP
BRAZOS.COM
but after about a year, worked out all the details. “It’s just been a blessing ever since,” Gilmore said. “The store’s just taken off.” It’s not the first time Gilmore has owned a boutique. In the 1980s and 1990s, she owned Nancy’s Unique Bou-tique, opening a store first in Madisonville and then a store in the Post Oak Mall.
Back in the retail business, Gilmore said she has hired a team of Mule Barn Boutique employees who truly care about people and making customers happy, including getting the right fit for their boots. Employees include her daughter, Lindsey Hendricks, who serves as manager and her mother, Wanda Johnson. “Everyone works as a team
and pitches in and works wher-ever they are needed,” she said.
Creating a unique boutique Gilmore said after she was hired as manager in 2007, she started finding a more exciting range of merchandise to add to the store. She noticed that most stores offered the same selec-tions of boots, which she didn’t like.
“I really wanted something to make us special,” she said. So she looked into getting some special boots, and found what she was looking for with boots made by three boot compa-nies in Mercedes: Anderson Bean Boot Company, Rios of Mercedes and Olathe Boot Company. Mule Barn Boutique started creating designs used by the three boot compa-nies to make cus-tom boots for the store to sell.
“We started designing ones that
no one else had,” Gilmore said. “So we carved out a little niche with boots.” The business creates boots for groups such as the Texas Hereford Association and Texas Rangers, and has also had them made for weddings and barbecue cook-off teams, she said. Boots made for wed-ding parties often include the names of the groom and bride, followed by the word “estab-lished” and the wedding date. Gilmore said she used to not wear boots because they were uncomfortable, but boots have changed in the past 10 to 15 years. They’re more comfort-able, and they’re not just for cowboys, said Gilmore, who has been wearing boots the past few years. “They fit and feel like a ten-nis shoe,” she said. “They’re made not only to look nice, but to feel nice, too.” Besides boots made by the three Mercedes companies, the store also carries several popular brands, such as Ariat, Corral, Justin, Tony Lama and Lucchese. The Mule Barn Boutique also carries Gypsy Soul jewelry and flip flops, other brands of jewelry, men’s and women’s clothing, hats and decorations such as crosses.
Upcoming event In April, the Mule Barn Boutique will hold a trunk show at its Madisonville loca-tion, and possibly in its College Station store, too, Gilmore said. The show lasts about four days, during which customers can design their own boots, picking out everything from the toe to the heel – including stitch pat-terns and leathers. In a large room will be trunks brimming over with several thousands of samples of leathers, including hippo, elephant, zebra, bison, ostrich, shark and capybara.
For more information on the Mule Barn Boutique and the trunk show, call the Madison-ville store at 936-348-2869 or the College Station store at 979-694-6505, or visit them online atwww.mulebarnonline.com.
Owner Nancy Gilmore poses at The Mule Barn Boutique in the Post Oak Mall in College Station. The store opened on Nov. 4.
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DININGSHOPBRAZOS.COM
By Randall StokesSpecial to the eagle
Here are five easy tips to spruce up your holiday table with creative napkin shapes:
n Cloth napkin sizes. Square-shaped napkins provide a bet-ter medium for napkin-folding
designs. Luncheon napkins typi-cally are smaller than dinner nap-kins. Look for cloth luncheon napkins measuring 18-inches-by-18-inches or 20-inches-by-20-inches and cloth dinner napkins measuring 22-inches-by-22-inch-es or 24-inches-by-24-inches.
n Material. Opt for sturdy linens such as a double-damask weave. According to NapkinFoldingGuide.com, damask weaving threads one type of fabric (such as silk) with another (such as flax) to create a “heavier fabric that is especially re-sponsive to making fancy folds.” A
cotton or poly-cotton blend is also fold-friendly, especially for less in-tricate folds such as a basic cone, silverware pouch or scarf.
n Preparation. Before folding each napkin, it needs to be laun-dered, starched and ironed. Starch-ing is a key component to prepar-ing the cloth napkin. The starch in the fabric makes it easier to create and hold the folds, allowing the napkin to keep its form when it is placed at the table setting. Refer to the tag on the napkin for launder-ing instructions.
n Creative touches. The basic silverware pouch fold allows you to slip the silverware into the nap-kin. You also can add a pepper-mint stick or sprig of holly for a Christmas dinner. The arrow fold shape looks similar to a paper air-plane and is a great way to show-case napkins in rich seasonal col-ors. Likewise, the standing fan fold allows you to show off the print of the cloth.
n Choosing your folds. Holiday table settings should be special. Consider five styles of napkin folds for your holiday table:
Cone fold Basic silverware pouch Arrow fold1. Lay the nap-kin flat and fold in half with the open end facing away from you.2. Fold the left half over the right half.3. Turn the nap-kin so it resembles a diamond shape with the open end away from you.4. Fold the top lay-er of the open end toward you.5. Flip the napkin over.6. Fold the left side over about two-thirds and then do the same with the right.7. Tuck the corners into the left side to create the final cone shape.8. The folded nap-kin should have a slight pouch. Slip a candy cane or small silk flower inside before set-ting the napkin atop the dinner plate.
1. Lay the napkin face-down in front of you.2. Fold the napkin in half with the open end toward you.3. Fold the napkin into quarters.4. Turn the napkin so the open corner is facing away and to the left.5. Fold the top-most layer of nap-kin in half diago-nally and press it down.6. Turn the napkin over so that the open corner is now facing away and to the right.7. Fold the right side back about 1/3 of the way and press it down.8. Fold the left side back also about 1/3 of the way and press.9. Flip it over, straighten it up and insert your silverware.
1. Lay the napkin face down in front of you.2. Fold the napkin in half with the open end toward you.3. Fold the far-right corner to the cen-ter of the side that is closest to you. The edge of this fold should run down the center of the napkin.4. Repeat the last step with the other side, folding the far-left corner in to rest along side the previ-ous fold.5. Fold the right-flap out diagonally so that its outer edge runs even with the far edge of the napkin.6. Repeat the previ-ous step on the other side, folding the left-flap out diagonally to meet the far edge of the napkin.7. Slide the left and the right sides to-gether, allowing the napkin to bend at the farthest point. This will cause the flat, center part to bow.
How to fold fancy napkins
A touch of class
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.COMART
By Stephanie VozzaSpecial to the eagle
With three boys younger than 7, Heather Mann may be short on time, but one thing she isn’t lacking is kids’ artwork.
“Since my older two boys are in school, they each bring home two or three pieces of art per day,” says Mann, 35, of Salem, Ore. “In addition, we make art and crafts at home, so we are looking at a lot of children’s art.”
Mann has plenty of ideas for using her kids’ avalanche of creative proj-ects. Her favorite is a custom gallery hanger she made by personalizing an old wooden pants hanger.
“It’s easy enough for anyone to do, but chic enough to fit in with any de-cor, and you can switch artwork out whenever you want,” she says.
Here are more ways to display or share your child’s masterpieces.
• Fasten a corkboard border around your child’s bedroom, the kitchen or the mudroom walls and attach your child’s art to it.
• Use clothespins to attach artwork to ribbon or picture wire strung above kitchen windows.
• Enroll grandparents and other loved ones into your own “Art of the Month Club,” and share a new piece each month.
• Use large paintings as one-of-a-kind gift wrap or book covers. Turn small pieces into stationery, cutting the pictures into different shapes and gluing them mosaic-style onto plain cardstock.
• Scan artwork into your computer and create a public gallery for relatives to view.
Home is where the art is
From old-school displays such as this to public galleries on the Internet, there are many ways of displaying your child’s artwork. GHNS illuStratioNS
How to display your child’s masterpieces
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STRESS FREE HOLIDAYSSHOPBRAZOS.COM
Snarled traffic, crush-ing crowds, long ca-shier lines, sold-out toys, tangled strings of broken lights, children screaming,
houses not ready for guests, feud-ing families -- ’tis the season.
So what can we do about all the stress of the holidays? Psychologist Ronald Nathan shares tips from his self-help CD “Relieving Your Holiday Stress and Achieving Your New Year’s Resolutions.”
Planning is the first step Recall your worst moments dur-
ing past holidays and realistically plan what you want to do and how
you will get it done. If anything, underestimate how much you can do and then plan to do the things that truly bring you joy.
For example, you might decide to write fewer cards this year, or write a couple of cards each day until the holiday. This way you can avoid doing them at the last min-ute and losing sleep, just when you will need your rest the most. In general, permit yourself to post-pone whatever can wait until after the holidays.
Decrease financial and social
stressAvoid making comparisons and
focus on what you feel is impor-tant. How much is enough when it comes to gifts? Research suggests
that children request only three or four of the 11 or 12 gifts they re-ceive during the holidays. This ex-cess raises their expectations and commercializes the holidays.
If you can’t get the toy of the year, consider options such as hav-ing Santa place an IOU gift certif-icate under the tree, assuming you are maintaining the magic of St. Nick.
Is the gift beyond your budget? This can be an opportunity to help your child understand the differ-ence between a need and a want. If complaints arise about other chil-dren’s good fortune, you can ex-plain that Santa’s stock is deplet-ed or that some people are able to pay for extra elves. If your child has prayed for the gift, it may be your chance to talk about how an
unanswered prayer is usually not a denial, but just a delay. It may al-so be a good time to emphasize the virtues of patience and hope in the face of disappointment.
For an older child, ways of earn-ing and saving for the wanted item during the new year can be dis-cussed. When you learn of unmet desires, you may want to develop a wish file that your child can fill. This can help your child feel more actively involved, and you can use it to look for gifts that might be on sale before a birthday. Still another way of reducing the financial and decision stress of buying the right gifts for everyone is to ask fami-ly members to pick one name out of a hat and focus their efforts on the unique interests of that one recipient.
A spirited way of avoiding big
Harried holidays?
Give yourself the gift of a stress-free season
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Located inside Post OakMall
Boots,Britches,Bobbles & Bling.
(979) 694-6505mulebarnonline.com
Ask us about ourcustom-made boots!
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SHOPBRAZOS
.COMSTRESS FREE HOLIDAYS
bills is to plan inexpensive activi-ties like caroling, reading holiday stories, or volunteering at shel-ters and hospitals. These can be a cost-containing way to find the joy in giving and experience what has been called “the helper’s high.” Researchers have found this to be much like the runner’s high — a wonderfully relaxing sense of well being. Another inexpensive group activity is to pass out blank cards and ask everyone to write down anonymously what they are most thankful for, then read them out loud.
When you arrive at a store, you can help ease the stress by think-ing: “There is no perfect gift; I’m going to have fun picking out some-thing they’ll probably enjoy getting and if they don’t like it, they can al-ways return it,” instead of think-ing that you have to find the per-fect gift.
Exercise
A hike around the mall can also do wonders for you because exer-cise is one of nature’s best tranquil-izers and mood -lifters. If you take the attitude that walking through the mall and to your car is good ex-ercise and you are properly dressed
for the weather, you can stop fran-tically searching for the closest parking space and lower your over-all level of frustration.
Don’t overdo it
If you are feeling overwhelmed with too much to do in too little time, it helps to create a list of on-ly the most important things to do. Avoid saying, “There’s too much to do, I’ll never get it done.” In-stead, say rather, “I’ll make list of the most important things and get started.”
If you feel overwhelmed, stop and do something for yourself that calms you. Read a book or take a bath.
Don’t get stuck doing everything yourself while suffering in silence and stockpiling anger. Avoid try-ing to do everything for everyone. Instead, speak up and get everyone pitching in to help out. If you del-egate, teach and follow-up with an eye toward what each member can do best, they’ll enjoy the pride of feeling useful, and be willing and able to contribute for many years to come.
To help you to keep many of these suggestions in mind, I’d like to share with you two rules for
holiday stress.Rule 1: Don’t sweat the small
stuff.Rule 2: It’s all small stuff. If you
can’t fight and you can’t flee, then relax and flow.
Make peaceWhen families get together, they
need to be realistic and expect some conflict, some friction along with the warmth. The forced to-getherness of the holidays can eas-ily lead to arguments.
What can you do about it? If you want peace, you must respond peacefully. It’s a time for yielding rather than standing your ground.
Party pointers
When planning a party, remem-ber it is not the host’s responsibil-ity for everyone to have fun. The goal is to provide a setting that would encourage guests to have a good time and make it more likely that they will. Hosts can’t actually make anyone have fun.
Don’t try to give the perfect party -- give a friendly one. Your feelings are contagious, so relax and enjoy your company. Your guests would rather have a relaxed hostess than
an extra cheese ball. If you like hosting holiday parties but always feel overwhelmed, have each guest bring something. This way, you can enjoy the company without having to do all the work.
If you are hosting a dinner with more than six guests and you have invited more than one Scrooge, you might consider carefully sepa-rating them with place cards. Dis-tance is a great buffer to conflict. If possible, seat the children with the grown-ups. This usually brings out the best behavior and gives chil-dren a chance to become better-ac-quainted with their relatives.
If a guest is truly disruptive, ask the person to help you in the kitch-en. Then ask the person a good question, such as, “Humor me -- what’s really going on?” Once the problem is aired, understanding can be communicated and solu-tions sought. Remember, the pain a person causes others is usually in direct proportion to their own pain. Our tolerance and compas-sion can make a big difference.
Many times, we get too serious about our holidays. Aren’t some of our most memorable moments the least-expected situation comedies of our lives? Laughing at ourselves helps managing stress.
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CRAFTSSHOPBRAZOS.COM
By Teresa BlackburnSpecial to the eagle
Turn cereal and pasta boxes in-to stars (or other shapes) and string them on wire with magnolia leaves and tiny gourds for the winter hol-idays. Spray-paint them any color you like and hang.
Here’s what you’ll need: n Decorative wire or ribbon.
(Amount depends on how long you plan to make your garland.)
n For stars: Cereal boxes, crack-er boxes or any other boxes you set aside for recycling.
n Sturdy leaves (like magnolia leaves), miniature pumpkins and gourds with stems; unshelled wal-nuts; twigs; dried fruit slices; dried mini ears of corn.
n Hole punch, thin sliver wire and
wire cutters, craft knife with a sharp blade, scissors, pencil, silver spray paint, silver glitter, white craft glue and brush for applying.
n Rubber gloves and mask.
1. Cut boxes so they will lay flat. On unprinted side using a pen-cil, freehand draw a simple,
child-like star on the larger “front” and “back” panels of each box. This would be a great job for your chil-dren! Vary star sizes for interest.
2. Use craft knife or scissors to cut out each star from box panel. Make a hole with the
hole punch in one of the tips of each star for hanging.
3. Lay all cut-out stars on flat surface that is safe to spray-paint on. I always do my spray
painting outside on a day with no wind on an old tarp. Wear gloves
and a mask for safety. Spray each side of all stars with silver coating well to cover up any printing. Make sure to spray edges well. When dry, set aside.
4. Lay all other gathered garland materials out on spraying sur-face and spray all with silver
spray paint. Let dry.
5. Attach lengths of wire to each star, looping through punched hole and securing by wrapping
wire several times through the hole.
6. Wire other items as well so they can later be attached to garland. For nuts I wrapped
the wire around the middle several times and twisted the wire to secure. Leaves and mini pumpkins were wired around the stems. Be sure to leave enough wire to hang them from garland.
7. Everything is now painted and wired. It is time to glitter. Working on a flat surface cov-
ered with newspaper, apply white craft glue with brush to each sprayed item, sprinkle with glitter and let dry. Repeat process until all sides are glittered and dry. This is also a great job for the kids.
8. To create my garland I hung heavier moss-covered wire across an open doorway in my
home securing with pushpins, but you can use tape as well -- whatev-er works for your walls. Attach each glittered recycled item evenly and decoratively to create your own Hol-iday Glitter Garland.
Another box recycling idea for the holidays: Spray boxes with silver, gold, red or green paint and use for packaging gifts. — Teresa Blackburn is Relish’s prop and food stylist.
Glittering garland
Use old cereal boxes for a fun holiday craft
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FOODSully’s Sports Bar & Grill1037 Texas Ave.College StationTuesdays & Thursdays, 3 pm - 12 am69¢ wings & tenders
Los Molcajetes Mexican Food725 E. Villa Maria Rd., Ste. 100
Mondays, 4 - 9 pmTwo enchiladas any style with rice
and beans for $5.99
Good Time Charley’s201 S. Main
BryanMondays, 3 - 9 pm
$4 half order quesadillas
DRINKSHarvey Washbangers1802 Texas Ave. S.College StationWeekdays, 3 - 6 pmHappy hour
Carney’s Pub & Grill3410 S. College Ave.
BryanWednesdays, All Day
$1.50 wells
Koppe Bridge Bar & GrillBoth College Station
locationsWednesdays, All Day
$1.75 pints
Casa Rodriguez300 N. Bryan Ave.BryanTuesdays, 5 - 9 pmKids eat free from kids menu withpurchase of adult meal
C&J BarbequeAll three Bryan and College Station
locationsWednesdays, 5 - 9 pm
1 kids meal from kids menu,with purchase of adult meal of
$6.99 or more
Ninfa’s Mexican Restaurant1007 Earl Rudder Frwy.
College StationTuesdays, All Day
Kids 12 and under eat free withpurchase of adult entrée
KIDS EAT FREE
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Merry Christmas
from our family
to yours
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