Ornament Cake Balls

Christmas, along with being a time of joy and giving is also a time when we try and out do one another (whether we like to admit it or not) in the sweets we bake and the crafts we make. And combining the two with the seasonal touch will make for a perfect gift, centerpiece or even a tree decoration. This very special treat is an adaptation of super popular cake balls. We will be using the same principles only we will tweak the shapes a little!

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While this project is not completely suitable for children to make they can definitely help out quite a bit as long as there is an adult around to help out and supervise. Cake balls are very, very versatile so you will have a lot of options to choose from as far as flavors go!

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What you will need to create your treats:
- One package of cake mix along with the ingredients to make it (any flavor, or you can make it from scratch).
- One can of frosting, again any flavor you wish.
- A bag of white chocolate chips.
- Edible coloring pens.
- Food coloring.
- Decorating gel, as many tubes as you want in any colors.
- A pack of lolly-pop sticks.
- Wax paper.
- An assortment of sprinkles.

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How to make the treats:
- Bake the cake according to the instructions on the cake mix box.
- Once the cake has baked, let it cool off enough so you can handle it. Take a big plastic bowl and crumble your cake into it, then add the icing. Mix it all in good until you get a smushy weird mass.
- You should let the cake and icing mix chill for at least two hours before shaping the balls.
- Once your mixture has chilled shape the small bite size balls. A melon scoop helps if you want perfect shapes but is not necessary. You should freeze the balls at least six hours before dipping them, just make sure that they aren't frozen solid!
Alright now comes the decor part. You will want to work in small batches and quick.
What we will be creating is Christmas Ornaments.
- In a small bowl melt enough white chocolate chips for your batch of Christmas Ornament cake balls, add a couple of drops of your preferred food coloring until you get a color you are happy with. You might want to figure out your color scheme beforehand, this will be the base color of the ornaments.
- Using a toothpick or a fork dip the cake balls into the chocolate and then lay them down on wax paper covered plate. Repeat until all of them are finished.
- Let the balls sit so the chocolate can solidify. After the chocolate has set you can use the edible markers, the decorating gel, fondant and sprinkles to draw designs and decorate the ornaments.

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Another thing you can do is melt the white chocolate chips once again and color them, then using a narrow tip squeeze bottle you can decorate the ornaments by drawing on them. If you wish you can also stick lolly-pop sticks into the cake balls.

Homemade holiday food gifts

Homemade holiday food gifts are not only great because, well everyone loves food, but also because food is so versatile. These gifts can be made to fit any holiday, with tons of colors, and all sorts of different themes. A holiday themed homemade food gift is fail-proof; everyone will just adore it!

One of the most important parts of food-based gift giving, next to a great tasting treat, is the personalization. Imagine the difference in getting a plain plate of cookies, or receiving a nicely packaged (don't worry it is not expensive, nor difficult) box or gift baggy of your favorite cookies, with maybe a note or a card attached, in the least. Quite a difference, is it not?!

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There are many ways to package your home made food gifts. If, for instance, you are giving away things which are in jars maybe, such as home made jams or jellies, you could do a variety of gift baskets. If you are making home made candies, then the gift baggies are a nice choice to be considered. If you are giving a larger amount of candies, especially if there is a variety of flavours and types, then you could do gift baggies in the gift baskets. In case you are making cookies, cakes, fudges, or any other desserts similar to those, you could use some of the lovely and adorable paper boxes that you see in crafts stores. Either way you desire to wrap it the effect will be a lot greater than your plain packaging, and it is also budget friendly (very important in today's economy!).

Another way for you to personalize your homemade food gifts is to make sure you know what the person likes. You do not want to give a chocolate-lover the vanilla fudge! On top of that, keep the gift recipient in mind when decorating, especially if it is cookies that you are making. Icing is very versatile. You can write the person's name, greetings, an occasion related message, or draw something that relates to them.

When you get your gift baggies, baskets, or boxes from the arts and crafts store, make sure to grab a greeting card (finished or blank ones), or some blank tags. The tags are a wonderful way to show your artistic side and create a uniquely presented gift for your cherished ones. If you have time, and feel up to it, please don't shy away from making a hand made greeting card, or writing a cute note to the recipient.

You do not, by any means, have to make great elaborate creations, or be a chef or a baker such as the ones you see on the television these days. After all it is the thought that counts. Well... that and it still would be nice if it tasted yummy on top of that thought!