During the twelve days until Christmas break, the King Street Chronicle will again present staff favorites from the holiday season. This eleventh edition will not include 11 pipers piping, but beloved Christmas songs, memories, recipes, movies, and crafts.
Song:
“Marshmallow World” by Dean Martin.
Memory:
Junior Olivia Gasvoda
“My favorite Christmas memory is when I went to Mexico with my family one year and we were all on the beach on Christmas morning. All of a sudden, around four elves began to skydive down from a helicopter, and the last one was dressed up as Santa Claus. Santa began walking on the beach and waved to everyone. Then he sat in this big chair and all the little kids got to go say hi to him and take a picture with him. The elves and Santa gave out presents that had little-stuffed animals and some Mexican candies. It was such a memorable day because I was with my family. It was such a strange way to have Christmas without any snow, but it was so nice out and the sun was shining. I also enjoyed the different traditions in Mexico, such as a piñata which I thought was a funny twist to Christmas that I never experienced before. Then a few days later on New Year’s Eve we went to a New Year’s Eve party and we saw Schmidt from New Girl, and we got a picture with him.”
Recipe:
Buttery Spritz Cookies
Ingredients:
- One cup of butter, softened
- One and one-quarter cups of confectioners’ sugar
- One-half teaspoon of salt
- One large egg
- One teaspoon of vanilla extract
- One-half teaspoon of almond extract
- Two and a half cups of all-purpose flour
- One cup of confectioners’ sugar
- Two to three tablespoons of water
- Colored sugar and sprinkles
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture.
- Using a cookie press fitted with a disk of your choice, press dough two inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake until set, six to eight minutes (do not brown). Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar and enough water to reach desired consistency. Dip cookies in glaze; decorate as desired. Let stand until set.
Movie:
Christmas with Holly
“Maggie Conway’s had it with big-city living, especially after her husband-to-be leaves her at the altar – literally! She moves to small-town Washington State, opens a toy store dedicated to expanding kids’ imaginations … and meets Mark Nagle, proprietor of the local coffee shop. Mark’s number one priority is his six-year-old niece, Holly, whose mother has passed away, leaving him caregiver-in-chief along with her two other uncles. Holly hasn’t spoken a word since her mother died, and the three men try relentlessly to get her to speak. Is there room in Maggie and Mark’s busy lives for romance? To be (in love) or not to be (in love) — that is the question!” Courtesy of hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com.
Craft:
Felt Poinsettias
Supplies:
- Red, pink, and green felt
- One piece of cardstock paper
- Black ballpoint pen
- Wire
- Scissors
- Hot glue
- Floral tape
- Mini pom poms
Courtesy of thesprucecrafts.com
- Start by creating a template of small and large petals with card stock. Do the same thing for the leaves. Trace multiple petals and leaves onto the felt pieces.
- Using a pair of sharp scissors, cut out all of the shapes. For each petal cut, also going cut a long thin strip of felt to go onto the back.
- For each petal, cut a piece of wire that’s about 12 inches long. Using the hot glue gun, glue the wire to the back of each of the flower petals and cover it with the strip of felt. Repeat until all of the petals and leaves have a strip of wire.
- Once the glue cools, gather a bunch of petals—both small and large—and holding them at their base by their wires, twist until they’re secure. Keep twisting the wires all the way down to the bottom of each wire. This will form the stem.
- Go back to the top where the petals are and move them around so that they form the flower. The wire gives them a lot of flexibility and it makes them look especially pretty and a touch more realistic.
- Place a few dabs of hot glue in the center of the petals. Glue mini yellow pom poms inside to form the middle of the flower. Repeat for each flower.
- Add the leaves, using the same wire method as the petals. Now cover the wire stem using the floral tape. Wrap it around the wire, pulling the tape to expose the adhesive. Repeat until all of the flowers are finished.
-Curated by Daisy Steinthal ’19, Editor-in-Chief
Featured Image by Daisy Steinthal ’19
