A traditional Christmas craft that is the epitome of recycling is making decorative gifts and crafty items using last year's Christmas cards.
YoyoMax shows how to do some beautiful bookmarks. I am definitely going to take some of my glut of old cards and fold some of these. (Video is below the following image)
These are particularly handy if you are giving books away as gifts-- putting a beautiful bookmark into the book makes the gift just that extra little bit special. You can even use these lovely bookmarks as fancy gift tags! YoyoMax also has other Christmas card crafts that she tells about at the end of the video.
Everybody's fave: Gluten-Free Crispy Rice Treats!
To be a truly gluten-free treat at this time it is necessary to purchase 'brown rice treats' because, for some reason, the white crispy rice products must all contain malt, which is made from gluten-containing barley! Perhaps this will change at some point (check the labels) but not in 2019,
And... if you are buying vegan marshmallows (these recipes are purposely vegan, with the exception of honey), you will be paying a steep price. And, sadly, those yummy vegan marshmallows also contain the controversial ingredient Irish moss, or red seaweed, carrageenan, that has been implicated in causing cancer. I am so happy to announce that you can make a decent crispy rice treat using 1/4 teaspoon of agar, a flavourless sea vegetable that has a spotless reputation. They come out just fine!
So, here is the recipe for your Gluten-Free Vegan Crispty Rice Treats:
INGREDIENTS:
*1/2 cup nut butter (I used cashew butter)
*1/2 cup brown rice syrup
*3 T. coconut sugar or maple syrup, etc. (unrefined sweetener) - optional
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/4 teaspoon agar powder (not flakes!)
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
4 cups brown rice crisp cereal
(this recipe is a modified version of the one at One Green Planet by Dreena Burton)
METHOD:
*Put a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of a 8"x8" pan
*Combine all ingredients, except the rice crisp cereal, over medium heat in a large pan.
*Stir nut butter and other ingredients well to have them all come together smoothly.
*Turn the temperature lower if the mixture begins to bubble before the agar is dissolved
*When it is all combined (doesn't take very long), remove the pot and stir in the rice crisps. Stir them in well until completely covered with nut butter-syrup-agar mix.
*Evenly press rice crisp mixture into pan
*Press a few Christmas sprinkles (you can get gluten-free ones) into squares if desired
*Refrigerate for about a half hour or so, until totally cooled, and cut into squares.
And... if you are buying vegan marshmallows (these recipes are purposely vegan, with the exception of honey), you will be paying a steep price. And, sadly, those yummy vegan marshmallows also contain the controversial ingredient Irish moss, or red seaweed, carrageenan, that has been implicated in causing cancer. I am so happy to announce that you can make a decent crispy rice treat using 1/4 teaspoon of agar, a flavourless sea vegetable that has a spotless reputation. They come out just fine!
So, here is the recipe for your Gluten-Free Vegan Crispty Rice Treats:
INGREDIENTS:
*1/2 cup nut butter (I used cashew butter)
*1/2 cup brown rice syrup
*3 T. coconut sugar or maple syrup, etc. (unrefined sweetener) - optional
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/4 teaspoon agar powder (not flakes!)
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
4 cups brown rice crisp cereal
(this recipe is a modified version of the one at One Green Planet by Dreena Burton)
METHOD:
*Put a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of a 8"x8" pan
*Combine all ingredients, except the rice crisp cereal, over medium heat in a large pan.
*Stir nut butter and other ingredients well to have them all come together smoothly.
*Turn the temperature lower if the mixture begins to bubble before the agar is dissolved
*When it is all combined (doesn't take very long), remove the pot and stir in the rice crisps. Stir them in well until completely covered with nut butter-syrup-agar mix.
*Evenly press rice crisp mixture into pan
*Press a few Christmas sprinkles (you can get gluten-free ones) into squares if desired
*Refrigerate for about a half hour or so, until totally cooled, and cut into squares.
All crafts and cookie recipes are found listed HERE
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