My GAWD, did these go over well or what?  Everyone thought I was a genius.  Rave reviews and a vow that I'do ALL the creative work for our organization in the future despite the fact that I told them this wasn't my idea!

Photos below.

Cheese Trees

• 3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 Tbsp. pesto
• 1 Tbsp. grated onion
• 1/4 tsp. ground dry mustard
• 1 tsp. green pepper sauce (can use tobasco if you're into pain)

Have ready at serving time:

• 1/4 c finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 c finely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 c pin nuts
• 2 Tbsp. chopped red bell peper
• Assorted crackers

Place cheese mixtures on cookie sheet. Shape each half into cone shape to look like a Christmas tree. Roll the pesto cheese tree in parsley and the onion/mustard/pepper tree in cilantro. Press pine nuts into trees in a string for garland and press red peppers into tree for ornaments. Top each tree with a star shape cut from lemon rind if desired. Serve with crackers.

Cream Cheese Penguins

• 18 jumbo ripe black olives
• 1 package cream cheese (8 oz size)
• 1 carrot at least 6" long and 1" in diameter, cut into slices.
• 18 small ripe black olives
• 18 frilled toothpicks

Cut small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet.

Press cutout notch piece into center of small olive to form beak. Either poke a hole into the olive first or cut a tiny slit. (I made each beak into a tiny sliver before putting it in the olive... the original size of the cutout piece was too big to stuff into the hole.

Using a frilled toothpick, stack small olive (head), stuffed jumbo olive (body) and carrot slice (feet), adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese breast and notch in carrot slice line up. (Penguin will stand better if olives are stacked with larger holes facing downward.)
For a really frigid "north pole" look, arrange penguins on mounds of crushed ice.

Bon appétit!