Driscoll's Berry Craft Contest

I am excited to show you my entry into the Driscoll's Berry Craft Contest.  I was contacted by Driscoll's to enter their virtual holiday craft workshop and competition and I had a lot of fun coming up with the design for my entry.

Driscoll's sent me a crafting kit with a $25 gift card to Michael's, $25 in Driscoll's berry coupons, a berry shopping bag, a berry strainer, and some instructions on how to begin my crafting.  I decided to go with an entire theme of a little gnome with his mushroom in a wintry setting.

The strawberry made a perfect mushroom.  I cut the top off turned it upside down on a toothpick and gently pressed sugar pearls into the berry for the dots on the mushroom.  The entire scene is based in a trifle made of strawberries, angel food cake cubes, and whip cream for the snowy effect.  All of this is in a single serving little pint jelly jar meant to be presented right on each individual place setting.  The rim of the jelly jar was moistened and dipped in red sugar crystals.

The strawberry mushroom was the key to the whole scene and it took a little work to come up with the perfect strawberry mushroom.  Some of the failed attempts can be seen here.

The little gnome is made of a spicy gingerbread recipe and then was dusted with sugar glitter to give the effect of ice and winter.  His little red hat is made of red candy melt not icing.

My inspiration for this was vintage German and Dutch postcards depicting gnomes and their mushrooms in a wintery scene.  I had created a secret Pinterest Board: Berry Contest for my inspirations and I have it now where you can look at it.

A big thank you to Driscoll's Berries for giving me the opportunity to enter the contest.

Sherry

I will link this to: 

Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm

On the Menu Monday at Stonegable 

Rooted in Thyme Simple and Sweet Fridays

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Home at Rose Chintz Cottage
Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter 
Christmas Craft Party at Centsational Girl 
Handmade Holidays at Cedar Hill Ranch

Gingerbread Art For Decorating

 One of the nicest little Christmas decorations you could make for tree ornaments,  embellishment to packages, or your home are gingerbread art ornaments.  They are made out of edible ingredients but, they are for decoration only.  This recipe for Gingerbread Art, I clipped out of the St. Louis Post Dispatch years ago and I have made them for several years.  They are a great project for the kids and everyone will appreciate the smell they add to the holidays baking in the oven.  Here are a few other ways I have used them.

They look great on gifts.

They make great ornaments.

They are wonderful added to a wreath, but be sure not to hang it outside, the moisture in the air will make the gingerbread fall apart.

Here I just added the gingerbread to a vignette.

Gingerbread Art

Dough ingredients:

6 3/4 cups of bread flour
1 TB ground cinnamon
2 TSP ground ginger
1/2 TSP salt
1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup margarine

Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside.  On medium heat, combine margarine and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan, melt together with brown sugar.  Add warm liquid to dry ingredients mix well.  If dough is too loose, add flour.  If it's too stiff, add water until the desired consistency is achieved (like play dough).  The dough should be firm and elastic.  Remove dough from the mixer and wrap in plastic, to keep from drying out.  Roll to the desired thickness (about 1/4") on the desired work space.  Place rolled dough on a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator.  This will allow the dough to stiffen and not stretch when cut out.  After cutting the pattern, bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees  for 10-15 minutes or until edges turn light brown.  (About 12 minutes works for me.)  Also, don't forget to put a hole in the top of the ornament.  I use a straw to punch out just the right size hole to hang them by, shown below.

Important:  Let the gingerbread dry out for several days before you begin assembly.


I painted the eyes, hair, mouth, and buttons with bright white shiny dimensional fabric paint.  First, I dust all traces of flour off the cookie and the paint sticks really well.  Storage method would depend on the success of keeping them. 


Another choice for decorating them would be Royal Icing.


Royal Icing:

This will also harden to a bright white color and stay that way.


Ingredients:

 3 TB meringue powder
4 cups powdered sugar
6 TB water


Mix ingredients at low speed for 7-10 minutes.  After mixing, keep the bowl covered with a damp towel to avoid drying out.
I will link to:
Centsational Girl Holiday Home Craft Party 
Christmas Ideas for Children  at Busy as a Bee in Paris

Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Get Your Craft On  at Today's Creative Blog

Go and visit these great blogs.

Gingerbread Art Wreath

Here is one more way you can use the  gingerbread art recipe.  This wreath would work great in a kitchen, just make sure you don't hang it anywhere it might get humidity.  The gingerbread will fall apart if moist.  The orange slices were dried in a food dehydrator, and the cinnamon sticks were tied with raffia.  Copy this idea to add the scents of baking to your Christmas decor.  

Sherry

Gingerbread Art

We spend a lot of time in our homes in winter.  Christmas is the highlight of these dark nights.  I often have the fondest memories of the atmosphere created in the home or a memorable meal.  By decorating and entertaining you can make wonderful memories.  Make some memories with children by creating these gingerbread art ornaments.  They look great on a tree, a present, or a wreath. 

Gingerbread Art

Dough ingredients:

6 3/4 cups of bread flour
1 TB ground cinnamon
2 TSP ground ginger
1/2 TSP salt
1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup margarine

Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside.  On medium heat, combine margarine and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan, melt together with brown sugar.  Add warm liquid to dry ingredients mix well.  If dough is too loose, add flour.  If it's too stiff, add water until the desired consistency is achieved (like play dough).  The dough should be firm and elastic.  Remove dough from the mixer and wrap in plastic, to keep from drying out.  Roll to the desired thickness (about 1/4") on the desired work space.  Place rolled dough on a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator.  This will allow the dough to stiffen and not stretch when cut out.  After cutting the pattern, bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees  for 10-15 minutes or until edges turn light brown.  (About 12 minutes works for me.)  Also, don't forget to put a hole in the top of the ornament.  I use a straw to punch out just the right size hole to hang them by.  
Important:  Let the gingerbread dry out for several days before you begin assembly.


I painted the eyes, hair, mouth, and buttons with bright white shiny dimensional fabric paint.  First, I dust all traces of flour off the cookie and the paint sticks really well.  Storage method would depend on the success of keeping them. 


Another choice for decorating them would be Royal Icing.


Royal Icing:

This will also harden to a bright white color and stay that way.


Ingredients:

 3 TB meringue powder
4 cups powdered sugar
6 TB water


Mix ingredients at low speed for 7-10 minutes.  After mixing, keep the bowl covered with a damp towel to avoid drying out.

The Generosity of Christmas

The generosity of Christmas, is the labor of love to find the perfect gift, make a fantastic meal, and open your home to family and friends.  I am amazed when I visit with loved ones and I see all the trouble they went to to have us over, especially during the holidays.  What a good time is had when you enjoy entertaining and you have people around you to share it with.  Here is one more way to wrap a festive present using the gingerbread art recipe.