Holiday Rice Krispies Trees {Giveaway}

When Melanie invited me to participate in this Rice Krispies challenge I got very excited and I immediately started to brainstorm what would I create?? The challenge was to create a Holiday Show-Stopper. Just the name sounds pretty ambitious!

I haven’t made Rice Krispies treats before this, so I was nervous just of the fact that I didn’t know how to make them! But I soon found out that they are so easy to make. That helped. The basic recipe lends itself for many variations and additions, that’s why these challenges are here; with creativity and Rice Krispies there are a million options!!

I think I took it as a design project (I’m a graphic designer), I got really excited with all my ideas and kept thinking of more but there was a point that I had to stop and decide. Once I decided, I wrote my list of supplies and went shopping. It’s been a long time since I do anything this crafty, so I was so happy to go and start it. Then, during the assembly, my favorite part was deciding which icing color each set of balls gets and which sprinkles. Also, matching the colors to each tree, arranging the decorations plus taking the pictures, I think I loved every step! This is something that took me out of my usual computer design work and made me use my creativity in a different way, I love it! Click on the Rice Krispies badge and it will take you to a page were there is a link to all the other posts with the challenge, it’s really fun to see them all!

In my mind there are so many variations of this, you can make 1 tree only, you can paint the trees and balls in other colors (Even if they aren’t Christmas colors, it will look Holiday because of the cones and arrangement plus kids would love some rainbow color sprinkles, for example!), you can make other shapes as ornaments (candy canes, bells, stars, etc), you can add sparkle to make it shiny, add flowers and so on… I could keep going and going here!

I did get my 4 year old, Adrian, to help me with it and we had lots of fun. He helped me get the mix together, make the balls, paint the trees and when he ate them he said: it’s like a lollipop!! But I have to confess there were many moments that I wanted the project all to myself and the designer instinct kicked in more than the mami instinct; I had to balance it!

Without further ado, here is the recipe so you can make this Show-Stopper too if you wish:

Holiday Rice Krispies Trees

Ingredients for the ball ornaments:

• 9 tbsp of butter
• 3 regular bags (10 oz) of marshmallows
• 18 cups of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies (About 2 boxes)
• Bag of 100 Lollipop sticks (cut in 3 pieces each)

Directions for the ornaments:

1. In a saucepan melt the 3 tbsp of butter over low heat.
2. Once its melted add 1 bag of marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
3. Remove from heat and add 6 cups of Rice Krispies, stir until its all mixed. Let it cool for a couple of minutes.
4. Butter a baking sheet and butter your hands, start making the balls and place them on the tray. Try to make them no bigger than 3/4″ and the smallest you can will be probably about 1/2″. The different sizes will work well on the the different cone sizes.
5. Attach a stick to each ball.
6. Repeat step 1 to 5 for 2 times more. So in total you will make 3 ornament batches. The mix has to be molded warm so that’s why you have to work in separate batches.

Ingredients for the decorations:

• 2 tubes of white decorating incing (4.25 oz each)
• 1 tube of red decorating incing (4.25 oz)
• 1 tube of green decorating incing (4.25 oz)
• Assorted Sprinkles and icing to decorate
• 3 Styrofoam cones in different sizes (The biggest one is about 13″ tall)

Directions for assembly and decorations:

1. With a brush, paint the cones with the icing (If it is too thick add a hint of water) in 3 different colors, one white, one red and one green. Let it dry.
2. Meanwhile place each icing color on a little container (Again, if it’s too thick add 1 or 2 tsp of water) and dip the balls 3/4 of the way in the icing.
3. Top each ball with your favorite holiday sprinkle combination. Let them dry. You can use a Styrofoam base to stick them to dry and maybe place them in the fridge or let them dry overnight.
4. After they are all very dry, stick them to each tree in an imaginary ribbon of balls from top to bottom until you fill all the tree. You will need about 55 balls for each tree!
5. Have fun arranging the trees in a circular base with real or imitation pine!

Thanks so much Melanie and ModernMami readers for having me here and now there is a great giveaway for you readers!

Reader Giveaway

One of you will win a $100 Visa Gift card!

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below letting me know if you have made other Rice Krispies treats recipes and which one is your favorite.

The rules of this giveaway only allow 1 entry per person, so just by leaving a comment answering the question above you’ll be entered.

All entries must be in by Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.) Winner will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Abbreviated Rules: No Purchase Necessary. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry. Subject to complete Official Rules. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: TheMotherhood.com

Disclosure: As a Rice Krispies Brand Ambassador for TheMotherhood.com, I was compensated for participating in this challenge.

Tagged as: christmas, cooking, holidays, Recipes, rice krispies, rice krispies treats