And some fun candy canes:
For months I've been baking butter cookies, perfecting the recipe until I've found the right balance of ingredients and cooking times. Here's an example of one of my newest cutters, a poinsettia!:
My favorite shape of the year is this elfish candy cane. It's a bit larger than what I usually do but it is such a fun shape and I found this interesting decorating pattern in the Williams Sonoma catalog. 
This holiday season many of my gifts are going to be homemade foodstuffs. (Who can resist?) I started with these flavored vinegars. Mom and I visited a cranberry bog in October where I picked up three pounds of fresh New England cranberries for $6.00! My freezer is filled with them so they are going to be featured in many of the goodies I'll be baking this week. I love this vinegar drizzled on salads. It's so tasty that I rarely need any oil (but I do make a ginger oil that goes perfectly with it. More on that later)
