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Peppermint Bark is incredibly easy to make, but it is also incredibly easy to mess up. I made several batches this year for Christmas gifts, and I hate to admit that I did kill the chocolate a couple times. But I think I finally perfected the recipe and next year’s bark-making will go more smoothly.

Most bark recipes are similar. Here is what I do:

Peppermint Bark
1 lb semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 1/2 bags of Ghirardelli chocolate)
1 lb white chocolate chips (1 1/2 bags of Ghirardelli chocolate)
Peppermint oil (NOT peppermint extract. Find it at health food stores)
12-ish candy canes (crushed)

Line 11×17 baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Melt semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler, stirring constantly. Be careful not to let any water get into the chocolate. [I use a metal bowl on top of a pot of water on LOW heat. Chocolate likes to be warm, not hot. If it gets too hot you will get a thick doughy lump of chocolate that will not melt. Trust me.]

Mix in a few drop of peppermint oil once chocolate is fully melted.

Spread in a thin layer on the baking sheet. Wipe off any water on the bottom of the metal bowl before pouring the chocolate.

Chill in refrigerator for a couple minutes. [If you let the layer get too cold and harden completely, the 2 chocolate layers will separate and will not 'melt' together when you are done.]

Melt white chocolate in a double boiler, stirring constantly. Be careful not to let any water get into the chocolate.

Mix in peppermint oil. [I add about 8 drops. I like it pepperminty.]

Quickly spread it on your chocolate layer.

Sprinkle with crushed candy canes, gently pressing them into the chocolate.

Chill in refrigerator for about an hour.

Break bark apart into chunks and store in the refrigerator. It keeps for about 3 weeks.

Put the peppermint bark shards in a pretty tin with a label. Voila!

I am thankful for a great 2009 and I’m looking forward to an even better 2010! Merry Christmas from the Metro Baby family!

This year I went with the new Trifold style for our Christmas cards. It is REALLY difficult to get good photos of two kids at the same time. It only took 5 separate photo shoots to get the pictures for our card. But I’m very pleased with how they came out:

My daughter decided she wanted a Where the Wild Things Are party for her 5th birthday party. I was VERY excited about this theme, to say the least. I will admit I probably went a little overboard, but I had so much fun planning this party and making the decorations. I did a mix of both the classic Wild Things style, and the new movie version.

Invitations
[all info has been changed]

I now have this ‘Wild Things’ invitation for sale on the website. You can order it here.

Magnets/Table Decorations
These were very easy to make. I bought glass beads sold for flower arrangements. They are flat on one side, rounded on the other. Then I printed out many tiny pictures of both my daughter in her crown, and Wild Things characters from the book. I traced around each glass bead, cut out the shape, and glued the paper to the bead. Some also had magnets attached to the back. Those went home with the kids in their favor bags.

Download the .pdf of the marble pictures here. The picture size is approximately .77 inches square.

Max and Monster centerpieces/Crafts
I saw these great painted cardboard Max and Monster figures on this blog. These served as both decorations and crafts for the kids. I painted most of each figure, and the kids used markers and colored pencils to draw Max’s face and the Monster’s shirt.

Cupcakes
I made 3 different kinds of cupcakes, all decorated with fondant. This was my first time using fondant, and I used a Marshmallow fondant recipe found online. The grass and fur were done with a grass frosting tip. My husband was ready to make an emergency run to the grocery store to buy cupcakes if things went awry, but to my surprise everything worked out! I am glad we did a trial run of the cupcakes a couple weeks before the party, because if we had not, he would have made that run to the store.

Cupcake display
I planned on making a cupcake stand as well, but ran out of time. I ended up using a hat box and a gift-wrapped formula can. Worked just fine.

The Birthday Girl with her cupcakes.

I just wanted to share this awesome holiday card I did yesterday. This is the best pet picture I have ever seen. Yes, we do pet holiday cards too!

The photo was taken by CJ Isaac Photography in Atlanta.