pinterest inspired christmas cookies!

i didn't make nearly as many cookies or as much of a variety this year, mostly because the four of us have been sick for at least 2 weeks, & well... i am also completely untrustworthy to be left in a house alone with a plate of cookies.

but it just didn't seem quite right not to make any at all, & when i saw a christmas variation on the classic hershey-kisses-stuck-in-a-peanut-butter-ball, i really wanted to try them!

i looked for the candy cane hershey kisses everywhere, finally found them at cvs of all places, & now they are a new favorite. these ended up being the perfect cookie for K to help with- she unwrapped the kisses, rolled the dough balls in the sprinkles, & then put the kisses in the cookies when they were fresh out of the oven. i didn't take a picture until there were only these last little stragglers left, so they're not the prettiest. but they tasted great!
inspired by these

the roll-out kind i did after the kiddos had gone to bed. here are my secret weapons when it comes to cookie making: betty crocker cookie pouches [cheap, super easy, & ridiculously delicious. handmade without all the measuring!] & my new cookie/cupcake decorating set that has these great icing squeezers:
they make it insanely easy to use icing tips to make fancy icing! easy, fun & mess free. seriously, has me written all over it.

then i also made little stars stacked into trees:
inspired by these

and some lovely white on white snowflakes
inspired by these.

hubs & i were both craving egg nog in a mad crazy way, so we picked some up on the way home from last-minute christmas shopping & i set up a little cookies'n'eggnog tray for us to munch on while we wrapped presents by the tree. new tradition, i think.