Tell Me Something Good (Easy Homemade Gift for Anyone!)

I came across this linky from the wonderful Rowdy in First Grade and knew that I needed to join in!  We all could use a little "Tell Me Something Good" after the terrible tragedy in Connecticut that is weighing heavily on everyone's hearts.  I found this weekend to be very difficult imagining what those families are going through.  It was also difficult to even think about it and pray for their loss around my own children who pick up on my mood.  Like any parent, I want to shield them from pain as much as I can.  This linky is "Tell Me Something Good, Christmas Edition:

Something Good at Home:  One activity I accomplished this weekend was making my annual peppermint bark.  I'm sure many of you have made this, but if you haven't, it is SO easy and just about everyone LOVES it!  With just 6 trays of bark, I made bags for 30 people.  I first got the idea when a student gave me homemade peppermint bark as a gift and I sat down and ate the whole bag (I have quite the sweet tooth!).

To begin, I start with some chocolate wafers like these 2 lb. bags (about $5 each):

I make six trays consisting of one tray of dark chocolate, one tray of milk chocolate, two trays of dark/white layered, and two trays of white/milk layered.  These bags are 2 lbs. of chocolate and I use 2 lbs. per cookie sheet (one pound white and one pound of dark/milk for the layered bark).  

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler:

Add 1 to 2 cups crushed peppermint to the melted chocolate.  I just started buying the peppermint crushed in bulk but my husband and I used to buy candy canes, unwrap them, and grind them in years past (what was I thinking!?!).  This is SO easy!

I spread the chocolate in a cookie sheet lined with foil.  Be sure to wipe the water off the bottom of the double boiler before pouring in the pan.  Water mixing with your chocolate = potential disaster.

When layering the milk/dark with white, spread the first layer and then melt the white chocolate.  Be sure to spread the white chocolate quickly or it will start to melt the first layer and mix together.

Next, sprinkle extra peppermint on the top layer right after spreading.

I place the pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then break into triangles.  The chocolate peels right off the foil.  Here is the dark chocolate bark:

Here is the white chocolate/dark chocolate layered bark:

I bought these cute bags from the Martha Stewart line this year.

Here it is all packaged up:)

Something good at school:  We received our second round of pen pal letters from Indianapolis!  It was perfect timing because this will be a fun activity in the days leading up to Christmas break.  I will be posting about the travel brochures they mailed us and what we plan to send them in January.  We also received a huge box of Scholastic books today.  I was so blessed to have used a lot of bonus points saved from last year and $3 online order coupons to get new books for our library.  I told the students that I would introduce new books into the library each day this week as a little countdown to Christmas.  They loved this and were already trying to guess what might be the new books tomorrow:)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and continues to just "Do What You Do Best."  Merry Christmas!