Sweet Treats for the Holidays!

It’s that time of year…here come the classroom holiday parties!! Our school has a pretty cookie cutter party itinerary; Craft, Activity, Game and Snack (when you only have 45 minutes, you gotta be pretty quick).

Well, I’ve come across something fantastic. In fact, it came to me in the form of a book in my mailbox. I want to share with you my new go-to edible party activity playbook, Sweet Treats for the Holidays.   Author Norene Cox (a fellow Seattleite!!) just published this amazing book, just in time for the fall and winter holidays.

Norene’s treats are super creative and so great for kids. I was fascinated while reading her book intro where she shares her history and background into her little creations. Come to find out she was a room mom for years for her children at a school that didn’t allow homemade foods in the classroom. Determined to make classroom parties and holidays special, she decided to get creative with store bought foods and candies. I am in awe of the ideas and products she has used to create darling little sweets for the holidays.

This book is PERFECT for moms with little kiddies who love to “help” bake, or even those who aren’t moms, let’s be honest, I’d sit and make some of this stuff all by myself because it’s so adorable!

My favorite treat in her book are these miniature Thanksgiving tables made from graham crackers and wafer cookies. I strongly believe everything is cuter in mini form, and these totally prove my point! My kids went crazy for them.

Since they seemed fairly easy to put together, I decided I’d make this my daughter’s Harvest Party “craft” (I’m a room mom too, ha). Our classroom is nut free, so we substituted the almond slices for caramels formed into turkey legs. (I emailed Norene to ask if she had any alternative ideas and she came up with the caramels..genius!!)

What do you think?? I was pretty impressed by Ally’s 3rd grade class! The kids loved it and it was such a great change from, you guessed it, sugar cookie decorating.

Norene has shared her recipe and instructions for these tiny turkey tables for all of you who want to make these too!

Teeny Tiny Turkey Tables

Feast your eyes on the cutest Thanksgiving treat ever. A graham cracker table topped with a dinky dinner. So cute that kids will giggle, women will squeal. You know you want to make these.

Makes 4 tables

16 white Necco wafer candies
1 (16-oz.) can of white frosting
32 almond slices
80 green jimmies sprinkles
1 (.75-oz) tube of yellow decorating gel
4 graham crackers
4 pumpkin candies
Autumn leaves sprinkles
8 wafer cookies

1. Attach 2 almond slices and 5 green jimmies to a white Necco wafer using a toothpick dipped in frosting.
2. Place a small dollop of frosting on the Necco wafer to resemble mashed potatoes.
3. Carefully squeeze a little yellow gel icing in the middle of the mashed potato frosting.
4. Secure the 4 Necco plates to the graham cracker with frosting.
5. Frost underneath the pumpkin candy and place in the middle of the graham cracker.
6. Spread a thin layer of frosting around the pumpkin and press the autumn leaves sprinkles in the frosting.
7. Frost one long edge on 2 of the wafer cookies. Attach the frosted side of the wafer cookie to the underside of the graham cracker on each end.

*Tip: If making this treat in advance, do NOT attach the table legs until right before serving or the table will sag and buckle in the middle. Trust me, I had itty bitty broken tables overnight.

Pick up your own copy of Norene’s book Sweet Treats for the Holidays on Amazon or Barnes & Noble!