It isn’t Christmas unless I am baking up a storm. I absolutely love every aspect of it; searching which recipes to make, buying the ingredients, and whipping up batch after batch of sugary goodness while Christmas carols blast from the stereo. I even love decorating all the buckets I use to hand out the treats. It just makes me happy. And even more so when I find out friends look forward to their “buckets of sugar” every year! I also take a big tray of goodies up to the school for the teachers, and then make something special for my neighbors. Since these have less far to travel, I can be more adventurous with the presentation.
I bought these graduating star cookie cutters several years ago, with the intention of making these cookie trees, but didn’t get around to it until this year. There was always something else I ended up making instead. They were super fun to make and assemble, and the neighbors raved over them. 
The only thing I would do different is add a little card that said what the different layers were. Oh, and not forgot the entire batch of cookies I had stored in the cookie jar! I knew my trees were supposed to be taller! Oh well, the kids enjoyed eating them instead. 
Usually I make up cards just for the neighbors, different from the ones I send out to family and friends, but this year I decided to use all the leftover cards from past years. They were starting to add up, and this way I didn’t have to feel guilty about “wasting” them. We really do have such great neighbors, and I figure a little good will helps them forgive us for any unintentional slights throughout the year.
I just loved my little cookie tree forest, and am already planning which cookie varieties I will include this year! 🙂