I'll never be a Martha.

I've never been that mom who makes a fruit bouquet. Or the mom who makes cute little brownie bites that look like Santa hats. I'm not even the mom who makes homemade cookies. I'm the mom who makes a side trip to Walmart on the way to school to grab a bag of Chips Ahoy! cookies for the class party.

I want to be that Martha Stewart mom. I want everyone to "Ooh" and "Ahh" as I take the lid off the cupcake holder to reveal snowman cupcakes wearing earmuffs. That's why, as I was pouring myself a bowl of Rice Krispies, I decided to release my inner Martha. The picture on the back of the box was of the cutest little Tree Trimmer Treats.

I've made Rice Krispies Treats before. Surely I can make these adorable edible ornaments. How hard could it be? Snap, Crackle, and Pop and even the plain M&M guy seemed to be cheering me on. "You can do it. You can do it. You can do it."

I had no idea how hard it was going to be to find the Christmas M&M's at the SuperCenter or that I would have to make an additional stop at the 7-Eleven to find cherry Twizzler ropes. If that wasn't bad enough, I almost gave up on Step 1: Fold each licorice piece in half and push ends through centers of marshmallows. "No problem," I thought. "I've got this." After all, I took Home Ec. I can read and follow directions.

For future reference, licorice rope ends don't push through the centers of marshmallows. Not without a few marshmallow deaths. But I was determined. I made a slight design change, and, thirty minutes later, I had a small arsenal of marshmallow/licorice nooses.

Since I've made Rice Krispies Treats before, I know that once you add the cereal, you have to work fast. Otherwise, the Treats begin to set up. The key to these ornament Treats is that you must use "buttered hands". Eeww. So I shaped the Rice Krispies into little round ornaments and let them cool. The next step was to decorate with frosting and M&M's.

Obviously, this didn't turn out the way Snap, Crackle, and Pop's did. This is when I was within seconds of calling it quits. I was ready to concede that I am, indeed, not a Martha. I have no business in the kitchen. I can't even get a stupid red M&M to stick to a Rice Krispie ball.

But when I thought of my 20 adorable 2nd graders who will be celebrating Winter Break tomorrow, I knew I couldn't show up empty-handed. Forget the picture on the box. The kids don't know how cute that Treat is. They just want sugar. So, I made another design change and carried on.

My ornaments don't have hangers, but they have marshmallows and frosting, which is all the kids care about anyway.

I'll never be a Martha. I'm okay with that. Super D says I make the best carrot cake ever. I'll just hold on to that.