Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas!

I am off this week enjoying time with family and friends.

Wishing the same for you!

Talk to you next week!!!

The True Meaning.....

So, yes, I spend a lot of time talking here about shopping and sales and in general buying things.  And I have spent several weeks talking about buying gifts and wrapping gifts and giving gifts.  But I hope you all know that while I do truly enjoy all of that...no denial there, the miracle of this season and what we truly celebrate is by no means lost on me and my family.  It is quite a lot to comprehend.  It is so amazing and awesome that it can literally take my breath away.

Of course, we celebrate the birth of Christ at this time.  The birth of our Savior.  The birth of our one and only opportunity for an abundant, forgiven, reconciled and eternal life.  It is more than I can put into words here.  It is more than I get my brain to fully wrap around.  I am so grateful for the blessing that God has afforded us through the birth of His Son here on earth.  It is quite the reminder of God's perfect plan and my need to trust in His timing.  It amazes me that God through the birth of Christ set into motion an irreversible way for me to have salvation.....yet it was not immediate.  Christ would be born and walk this earth for over 30 years before paying the ultimate price to secure my salvation and yours.  It was not immediate because there was work to be done..... but it was perfect.  This reminds me and hopefully reminds you that whatever it is we are praying for, waiting for, hoping for can be accomplished through our faith in Christ.  While God's answer to whatever that is for us may not be immediate it will be PERFECT. Whatever we need God already has it in work for us.  We just have to walk in faith.

I hope you and your family will rest in the peace of our Savior knowing that all is in His hands.

Please enjoy this version of my favorite Christmas song.

And have a blessed Merry Christmas!

You showing up to read here is quite a gift to me and I am very thankful!

Before you go, however, please help me congratulate the winner of our final Christmas giveaway.

Congratulations Taylor Moore!!!

Send me an email and I will get your throw to you as soon as possible.

Merry Christmas, sweet friends!!!!

Favorite Childhood Gift and Giveaway #3

Welcome to Wednesday, Girls!

First up, the winner of Giveaway #2 is
                                        MELODY BOWLING!!!!!
Congratulations!!!! Send me an email and let's coordinate getting  you your prize as soon as possible.

Now today I am thinking about my favorite childhood Christmas gift. I mean it is tough.  I was gifted well.....very well.  But still there is this one gift that stood out to me.  I am pretty sure it was 3rd grade and I got one of these

Yep, it was my very own chalkboard and I was in need of it.  Playing school and teaching my dolls and stuffed animals was my number one activity. They learned so much better when I could finally work out examples on the board.  I remember seeing it under the tree and being so excited about it.  I played with it for hours and for years.  It totally stands out to me as my favorite gift.

So what about you?  What childhood gift do you remember? What was your favorite? Simply shout out in the comments for your chance to win our final giveaway.

Here is what is up for grabs......In honor of my favorite gifts here is one of my favorite things.......the softest, coziest, dreamiest, bestest throw.  It is by Barefoot Dreams and if you are familiar you already know it is the best material ever.  I want you to have this so you can be on your couch and under this magnificent throw.

I seriously considered giving away a chalkboard but thought the throw might go over better 😉.

One entry for each of the following:

1) Share your favorite childhood gift in the comments on this blog post

2) Like the giveaway post on Facebook or Instagram

3) Subscribe to get the blog delivered to your email.

Good luck, everyone, winner will be announced this Friday....yes only open  until midnight Thursday......so make sure you get your entry in soon.

Talk to you on Friday!!!!

Christmas Cards

I know some of you are over the whole taking the family picture and mailing out the Christmas Cards.  But I love this part of the holiday.  One, I love mail.....period.  Both my mom and I lament a little on holidays when the mail doesn't run.  You will not catch us signing up for the no junk mail list....no siree....bring on the catalogs, magazines and whatever else you want to mail us.

So it should not surprise you that I thrive on the whole Christmas Card thing.  I think I have displayed them a zillion ways.  I have run string around my fireplace and hung them there.  I have wrapped my pantry door like a present and clothes pinned them there.  I even bought some special card display garland and used it one year.  I love all the pretty cards and especially get into the ones with a family picture.

So I have always struggled with what to do with them at the end of the season.  My very smart friend Katy ....you remember her, right?  She is an interior designer who a part of the Living the Dream Series.  Plus she also redecorated our guest bedroom.  Well Katy got me on board with the whole keeping the cards year to year like this

All we do is punch a hole in each card and then clip them together with these little clips you can find at any office supply store or simply tie them with a ribbon.  Thanks, Katy, for the great tip.

Are you sending cards this year?  They sure are fun to receive and reminisce over.  I've already received a few and mailed mine out.

Gotta go check the mailbox.......Oh but before I go, just a reminder that Giveaway #2 is still open.  Don't forget to enter.

See you back here on Wednesday with the winner for Giveaway #2 and the beginning of Giveaway #3.  It is a good one.  You will not want to miss it!!!

A Favorite Things Party

I love to have friends over to hang out, laugh a ridiculous amount, eat food and why not exchange gifts too.  A couple of years ago we did a scarf exchange.  But last year we did a Favorite Things Party and it was a big hit.  Here is how this year's party came together

First of all, you simply ask each person to bring 3 of their favorite things.  No category.  Just anything they really like.  We had food products, make-up products, bath products, kitchen stuff.....you name it.  Everyone wraps their three items individually.

I made a simple little 4 question sheet for each guest to write some of their favorite things. We each listed our favorite Christmas movie, tradition, food and song. 

We placed them all in a basket.

We then placed each guest's name in another basket 3 times.

We randomly selected a sheet of questions and read the answers.  We all tried to guess whose sheet it was by the answers given.  This is especially helpful if you have people in the group who don't know each other well.  It is a great icebreaker and helps everyone learn a little about the other folks in attendance.  Finally, someone owns up to that being their sheet and they draw 3 names out of the other basket.  To those 3 people they present their favorite items.  And we worked our way through until everyone had presented and received 3 new favorite things

I ended up with 3 very nice new favorite things:

I got a spin spa, some great stress relief bubble bath and some warm slipper socks.

As everyone arrived I had a cute little craft set up for them to complete.  I bought clear plastic ornaments and dropped in some acrylic paint with a couple of drops of water to make them white.  Then we tied a string  on for a hanger, used a sock to make the hat and drew on a face with sharpies.  You know the drill, I found this on Pinterest and have it pinned there on the Christmas Craft Board.  I made a few small modifications.  I used plastic ornaments rather than glass and I painted the entire ornament white.  I could not get the paint to smooth evenly and just do half of it. But I think it still worked out.  I pre-painted all the ornaments so the party guest essentially just had to decorate.  I had little stickers to apply to the back of each ornament so we could remember whose was whose at the end of the night.  If you decide you want to do this craft, I would definitely try to find some ornaments that are already white, that whole painting them took me a solid week.  I worked on them each night for about an hour so finding some ready to go would be a definite plus.

Look at how cute they all turned out.

Next the food.  I know some people ask each party guest to bring something.  Perfectly acceptable and you definitely get a good variety that way.  I prefer to provide the food.  Only because I don't get to host these girls very often and so this is just kind of my little gift to them.
We had a spinach dip with pita chips, a spicy ranch dip with tortillas, roastbeef sliders, smokies wrapped in bacon and several sweets.

We also played a little game.  I took the song My Favorite Things sung by Julie Andrews and made a fill in the blank game.  Those with the most correct answers filled into the blanks won a prize.


Next, I prepared a little bag for each girl.  This way they all had a place to gather all their goodies to take home at the end of the night.

I just made simple little name tag and tied them to each bag.  Here are all the bags lined up at the beginning of the evening waiting to be filled and carried home.

It was such a fun night.  It is difficult to find an evening that everyone is available to come so we were definitely missing a few of our favorite people but a fun night still.

Don't forget the giveaway that is still open.....make sure you enter
Giveaway #2

I hope you have a great weekend, finish your shopping and prepare to rest and enjoy the holiday.

Meet you back here on Monday!

Christmas Traditions

First the winner of last Week's giveaway is - MEG SANDERS!!!!!

Congratulations, Meg, send me an email and and confirm receipt of your prize.

Stick around to the end of this post and enter this week's giveaway.

One of the things that I think makes the holidays special is traditions.  There is something about being able to count on some things happening in this fast paced, ever changing world.  Before every Thanksgiving  and Christmas we have a family meeting to plan the menu for the day.  Do you know what we do at that meeting?  We choose the exact same foods we have every Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Not only is it a tradition to have the same foods.....apparently we have made it a tradition to have a meeting about it.  I know we are a strange tribe.  But we also have some other fun traditions.

I have written before about the 12 days of Christmas.  You can read that blog post here.

Another thing we do is hang our stockings on our bedroom doors.

 Apparently Santa fills stockings to the brim when he passes through and I could never find a stocking holder strong enough to hold up all the goodies.  So I tie each person's stocking to their bedroom door.  Plus do you know what else this does?  It gives the kids something to wake up and open immediately.  That was always the rule at our house.  If you wake up early, enjoy your stocking in the comfort of your own room.  We will meet under the tree at a respectable hour.....like 7:00 and no earlier.  No 5:00 a.m. tree openings at our house.  My kids grew up with this and so they think it is normal.  That is the key, train up from the beginning and they don't know any better.

Everyone also gets a new pair of Christmas pj's to wear Christmas eve and morning.
This stack is currently in my laundry room, waiting to be washed so they can be handed out Christmas Eve....

I am always interested too in how Santa wraps at some houses and not at others.  Santa does not wrap at our house.  I think the tree looks extra special Christmas morning with a few goodies just sitting out in the open.  Thank you, Santa, for respecting my personal preferences sheet I sent to the North Pole and not wrapping our gifts.

Christmas Eve the kids always bake cookies and leave them out for Santa. We also take time out to attend a Christmas Eve Church service.  There are so many in our city and I always call around and get the times for the various churches.  Then, as you might recognize a trend here, we go to the same one we always go to.  But one of these years I am going to mix it up and choose a different service.  Ok, not really but I like to tell myself this is a possibility.

Then we finish the night with a reading of the birth of Jesus from the book of Luke.

What are your favorite traditions?  Please share.....I always like to incorporate more into our holiday celebration.

This week's giveaway is in honor of our Christmas PJ tradition.  The winner will receive a pair of holiday leggings, long sleeve tee and comfy socks.

There are two ways to enter:

1) leave a comment on this blog post about one of your favorite Christmas traditions
2) subscribe to get the blog delivered to you by email

You'll get one entry for doing each of these things.  So if you leave a comment and subscribe your name will go in the hat twice.  This giveaway will close on Tuesday, December 19th at midnight CST.

Talk to you on Friday!!!!

A Family Yearbook

I love an old family album or a box of pictures to look through.  There is just something about capturing that moment in time forever in a snapshot.  But if you are like me, you don't print as many pictures as you used to.  I have quite a stash on my phone and even on the computer but not that many from recent years printed for us to flip through.

So I started making a family yearbook each year.  There are several websites out there for this service.  I have always been a Shutterfly girl and so I just stick with them.  I upload pictures several times a year  and I try to periodically go in and add the pictures to a photo book.  Then when Shutterfly runs one of their 40-50% off sales, I print my book.

Here's a look at the ones I have so far.  Interestingly enough every book seems to have its own personality.  There is always some prevailing theme that gives each year its unique features.

What makes this better than a traditional photo album is that I write a little something about each picture.  This will surely come in handy 30 years from now when other generations are looking through these books and saying.....now who is this.....and was this the year that......and who was older.......you know all those questions that naturally arise while glancing at a bunch of old, unmarked photos.

Now let me encourage you, start with this year.  I think we don't do things like this because we think....well I would need to go back and do ten years of these......shake that thought off.  Just start with this year and try to keep it up going forward.  So what you don't have the last 20 years documented........your family will treasure the ones you do have for years to come.

Remember the 1st giveaway is still live so don't forget to enter.

Giveaway 1

Also, a new giveaway will launch on Wednesday's blog so please come back for that one.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Some Favorite Finds

So much cute stuff out right now practically begging me to buy it.......well ok, ok, maybe I will buy a few of these.  Here some of the things that have caught my eye recently.

J. Jill Sohia A-line Pullover

This cute little top comes in 8 different color options.  It is a great tunic length but has a little room on the backside.......and honestly, could that ever be wrong? I think not.  Plus use code 30DEC17 and get 30% off.

I picked up this little y-necklace at Chicos

Dora Reversible

It has the crystals on one side and solid brushed gold on the others.  I think I will wear it a lot to amp up some simpler pullover tops and sweaters.

This next sweater checks all the boxes

BP Cable Knit Cardigan

Cable knit- yes please, Tunic length - yes please, Pockets - yes please.....all in one sweater......yes please and thank you very much.

And how do you feel about these

Pony Tail Beanies

Black Friday was my first exposure to these.  There was a girl shopping that had on one and it was really cute.  Since then I have seen them at several boutiques.  This one is from Amazon and not a bad price at all.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway from Wednesday.

Have a great weekend and I will talk to you on Monday!!!

November Book Review and a Giveaway!!!

This time of year I like to read some sweet holiday stories with extremely predictable endings.  I need a respite from suspense and drama.  Just give me some good old tidings and cheer.  So if you like Hallmark movies these first 4 are for you #notyoustayce



Holly and Ivy by Fern Michaels is just one of those kind of books.  It's a sweet little story centered around the holidays and has a happy ending.  For some reason these books need a bit of tragedy so things can be overcome.  If you like to read these type of books during this season this is a good one.



Christmas Bliss by Mary Kay Andrews throws in the holidays plus a wedding so you know it has all the crucial elements...boy.....girl....family drama....what ifs.  It is a great read for this time of year especially.



Next up is Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber.  Now this one is also cute.  The plot is fairly predictable from the very beginning but I was still rooting and cheering for the couple through the whole book.  Super quick read.



OK, I like a good Richard Paul Evans book and The Noel Diary did not disappoint.  I just wanted to gather the main character up in my arms and let him cry it out.  This one has a lot of baggage and we all know it can get exhausting dragging all of that around.  Another succeess .  Hope you enjoy it.

And then I read one non-holiday themed book.....or so i thought.





After the Lie by Kerry Fisher really makes you evaluate how your family deals with things.  Are you from a family where certain things are just forbidden to be talked about? Or a family that hits things straight on and nothing is off limits? Or a family that not only are things not talked about but they are also never forgottten......so the guilt wears on and on.

Now don't forget to sign up for the giveaway below.  Today is a great tote bag and my favorite book from 2017.........A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

Winner will be announced on Dec 12th. 

Good Luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One winner will be randomly chosen.  The winner will be notified by email.  Winner must accept prize within 48 hours or another winner will be selected. 

Few Looks at Christmas Decor

In January I will miss all the lights and all the Christmas decor.  But right now I am loving it.  I kind of wish that it was socially acceptable to have this stuff up all year long.  It is just festive.  I probably do my decorations 80% the same every year.  I use all the same things but I try to find different ways to include them....but some things do not change

Like this tree

I had to have a 9ft slim tree in this room.  This is my "Names of God" tree.  I bought the garland several years ago on Etsy.  It is a white linen material with the names of God on it....Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords, Might God, Counselor.  The Etsy store I used is no longer there but if you go to Etsy and search on Name of God Garland, you can find some.

The other ornaments are ones that I have picked up over the years here and there.  I use a lot of birch, pine cones, white and glass ornaments on this tree.

Here is an up close look

Next to the tree is a new addition this year.

It is a large glass jug lantern from Target to which I just added some twigs and greenery from Michaels.

The other side of the fire place has a natural crate filled with three little trees and string lights, some Luminara lanterns and some birch branches.

On the mantel

These little bottle brush trees came from the Target One spot this year.  They had some with color but I chose the all white ones.

Here is another thing that never changes

My mom bought me this Lenox Nativity years ago.  It is one of my most treasured possessions.  It always takes its place on the dining room buffet.  This year I used vases of natural sticks lit up with string lights on either side.

The Dining Room table always changes.  Here is how it looks this year

  My mom got a new table and so she was getting rid of this tablecloth and napkins.  I jumped on the opportunity to use it.  You will remember my newly flocked tree.  If you missed the post on how easy that was to pull off, you can read it here.  On top of the china cabinet are some deer I found a couple of years ago at Home Depot.  They go anywhere and everywhere.  But I like them here this year.  What's new is the lamb ear garland.  It is from Chip and Joanna's collection at Target.

Another old stand by is this sleigh I bought a few years ago at Costco

I use it to capture gifts that I need to deliver to someone else's house.  It just makes it easier to not have to root around under the main tree to find them.  This also finds a new resting place almost every year.

Now here is an area that is absolutely different every year.  

It is the stair landing and it has some decorative boxes (Hobby Lobby or Michaels) some lanterns (last year Kohls) a couple of pillows, a pallet tree, a throw we picked up at a craft show and another deer.

There are two of these little gray washed crates  I got these this year at Ross.  Both were well under $10 and they will find use even after Christmas.  This small one is holding a couple of kissing bears and some glittered pine cones.

I put another deer on the larger one.

And finished off the pallet tree with some green string lights.

Last for today are the holiday pillows.  We have talked before about my pillow problem.  I love all of these

The two on the left are from Pottery Barn.  The large red with snowflake is from Homegoods.

Here is the link for the car with tree, the three snowmen may be sold out because I could not find its link.

On this sofa the two outer ones are from Pottery Barn.  The one in the center is from Homegoods.

Here is the link for the Baby it's cold outside pillow.  Here is a link for a similar plaid one.  I couldn't find my exact one.

The thing to note on the Pottery Barn pillows is they are pillow covers.  This makes them easy to store.  Just measure some pillows you already own and find a cover to work with it.  At the end of the season you can store your covers in a drawer or your linen closet.  Much simpler.

I know you have beautiful things adorning your homes too.  Thanks for taking the time to look at a few of things we are using.  Enjoy your decorating!

Now make sure you are back on Wednesday.  Every Wednesday from now until Christmas I will have a giveaway!!!! So meet me back here on Wednesday and maybe you will be the lucky winner of Giveaway number 1.

Have a great week!

A Snowman and Ornament Garland

Happy December!  I know.....I have been crafting a lot of things lately.  Sorry  (#notreally) I just can't help it.  It is this time of year.

Over Thanksgiving weekend we made the cutest little snowman.  Of course,  I found him on Pinterest.

Here are the supplies

1- white athletic sock ( I found these at the Dollar Tree)

1 - fuzzy sock (also bought at the Dollar Tree)

1 2lb bag of rice

1 roll of ribbon

some pom poms for the nose

a black sharpie

a pink sharpie

2 rubberbands

3 buttons

All you do is fill your sock with the rice. Then close the opening with a rubberband.  Add another rubberband to make the head.

Cut your fuzzy sock right at the heel.

Now you just dress him up.

First use the black sharpie to draw his nose and mouth.

Uses the pink sharpie to give him cheeks.

Hot glue a ribbon around his neck for a scarf.

Hot glue three buttons up his tummy.

Glue the orange pom pom on for his nose.

You slide the fuzzy sock over his little head to make him a cap.

Here's how they turned out.

Super easy and fun.  It was a great craft for us all to sit around the kitchen table and put together.  There is nothing complicated.  He goes together super easy.  With all that rice in him, he turns out to be very substantial.  

Try this with your family or friends over the holiday.  This craft is pinned on Pinterest if you want step by step instructions.

Then I decided to make an ornament garland.  I bought several boxes of these shatterproof ornaments when they went on sale after Christmas last year.  All you need is the ornaments and ribbon.

I used a black ribbon I already had.  I took some tape and made the end narrow like a shoe lace so it would easily thread through the ornament.

 Now just so you know.  This took a full Hallmark movie, a.k.a. two whole hours to complete.  I didn't stick to a strict pattern.  I just tried to mix it up as I moved along.

Here is how the final garland turned out.

And an up close look.....

 I really like how it turned out.

I hope you have a great weekend.  If you craft something let me know.  I am always interested in making something fun.

See you back here on Monday!!!

  

Wreath Class - 1818 Farms

I have talked before about how much I love 1818 Farms.  If you are not familiar, read about them here.  The owner Natasha is super nice, very creative and so encouraging.  I love taking her classes.  This year we managed to snag a seat in the Wreath Making Class.  This is one of the really popular ones.  This class got me on the 1818 Farms email list.  I waited and waited for the announcement to come out and the class registration to begin.  This class usually sells out and this year was no exception.  However, I am sharing it with you so you can start watching for the announcement for next year's class yourself.  The class was held out in Mooresville on the farm.  Natasha had everything set up for us.

There were live wreaths, pine cones, fruit and all matters of flowers and herbs that they grow on the farm

So I started with this wreath and added three pine cones that Natasha showed us how to properly wire to our wreath.

I then chose to add the buds from the magnolia tree

And then I filled in with some dried Cocks comb, Celosia and Cinnamon Basil seed heads.

Ha! Sweet Natasha told me all those names.  I was calling them very scientific things like the fuzzy purple one and the dangling one and the good smelling one (that basil smelled so good)!

I then glued in some magnolia leaves and fresh cranberries.

Here is my finished wreath

And here is our little group with our wreaths.  

You can see we all chose different materials but all the wreaths turned out beautifully.  It was a wonderful evening.  There was Christmas music and such beautiful supplies to work with.  Not to mention what a fun time with friends creating something beautiful.

1818 Farms also offers some wonderful products.  They are currently offering 20% off through December 1st.  Check out their offerings here.

Love this place and all they offer.  Check them out.  You'll be glad you did!