the smell (and taste) of christmas

As Christmas creeps closer we have been enjoying all of the tastes and smells that come with the holiday season. We enjoyed some gingerbread waffles over the weekend. They were delicious and easy to make. The recipe can be found here.

The children have been enjoying visits from our elf, Jack. The other day he left a message made out of m&m's. They loved it!

 

 

My husband and I have been enjoying eggnog martinis! They are very easy to make.

 

 

 

 

Today it's snowing and the children are home from school.  We are baking our gingerbread houses. the house smells divine. I love Christmas!

 

 

 

jack and coke

I was commissioned to make some favors for a guys 40th birthday party.  His favorite cocktail is a jack and coke so I thought it would be fun to attach little nips of jack to glass bottles of coke with some twine.  I also stuck in a paper straw. At the party they were displayed in a vintage coke crate right next to an awesome Guinness glass shaped cake!  

weekend in pictures

 

We had such an amazing and wonderful holiday weekend filled with good food, family and friends! We are truly blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

 

 

We started Thanksgiving morning with some turkey! I made some waffles and apple slices into the shape of a turkey. The kids loved it.

 

We watched the parade and set the table. My mom leant us her beautiful green and gold plates which I wanted to highlight on the table.  I like a clean look so I used the pumpkins I painted gold and some small gold votive candles.  I put the silverware in some gold polka dot paper bags.

 

The kids got dressed up and my daughter even requested to have her hair curled!

 

 

 

We ate delicious food and were thrilled to have family with us to share it.

 

 

 

On Friday we went with some friends to cut down our Christmas tree! It was a beautiful, cold evening and the sun was just about to set.

 

 

 

 

I made some homemade cocoa and brought cups, whipped cream, sprinkles, candy canes and some peppermint schnapps for the grownups.  It really hit the spot!

 

 

On Saturday we took all three kids to see Frozen! It was really fun. We also took them out for dinner which was a fun treat.  On Sunday we put up the tree and decorated it and also had some friends come visit from NY. We made a big pot of Irish stew and lit the fire. It was wonderful.

We also took out and started our Advent calendar. It's hard to believe that December is already here!

I hope that all of you had a lovely weekend with good food, family and friends too!

 

that's a wrap

This was the gift we gave to the children's teachers. The note read "we are nuts about you!" Inside the take out box was a chocolate acorn. I attached a glass acorn ornament to the outside with twine. This is a wonderful time of year to let teachers know how thankful you are for all they do.

 

 

 

I am hosting my family here tomorrow so I'm spending this rainy day finishing the food prep and  last touches for the table.  One included spray painting some pumpkins we had left over from Halloween with gold spray paint. It could not have been easier and I love how they turned out!

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by and for all of your kind comments this past year. I am so thankful for the people I have met through this blog and continue to be inspired by so many that I follow.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

that's a wrap

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Are you trying to check something off your list? I thought I would share the class gift that I have organized for my son's Kindergarten teacher.  My first plan was to purchase an advent calendar and then fill the boxes with Christmas wishes and some gift certificates from all of the students in her class, but the advent calendar arrived damaged and the boxes were tiny and would not hold much of anything. So, plan b was that I decided to make an advent calendar wreath instead! I purchased a fresh green wreath from Lowes for less than $10.  Then I bought some gift certificate boxes that look like tiny presents and attached them to some clothespins with my glue gun. I numbered them and attached them to the wreath. I also sent home tiny white cards and envelopes that the children are writing their Christmas wishes on. I will number them and attach them to the wreath in between all of the boxes. We are going to put some gift cards/other small gifts in the boxes and then give it to her when they start back at school after Thanksgiving vacation.  I even bought a command hook so that she can hang it on her classroom door or on a wall/chalkboard. I think the students will enjoy having her open the envelopes every day and hear the wishes that they have written for her. I tried to make the gift boxes on weekend days or vacation days so that the envelopes and wishes could be read out loud during the day. The parents in my son's class were appreciative that I organized a class gift AND that we can check it off our list before December has even rolled around. Win, win.  I will try to take a photo of the finished product when its done.

caramel cranberry bars

This evening we are going to a party. I decided to make these easy and delicious caramel cranberry bars. Instead of cutting them into bars I used a round shaped cookie cutter and then put them in mini red/white polka dot cupcake liners. I placed them all on a red charger and I think they look quite festive. You can find these chargers at most stores for a few dollars and they come in red, green, gold and silver. I have also been playing around with place settings and will be using gold chargers for our Thanksgiving table!

that's a wrap

Saturday was the last day of the soccer season for my son. There was a little party afterwards and I was asked to bring cupcakes.  I made mini ones for the kids and a normal sized one for the coach. I used a grass tip and homemade green frosting and placed a sugar soccer ball on top. I packaged the cupcake for the coach in a cellophane cupcake bag and tied it with some twine. The kate spade notecard said: "Small card. Big thank you."  I tucked a gift certificate inside for Dunkin' Donuts.  Just a little token of our appreciation for his willingness to volunteer every Saturday morning and for making soccer a wonderful experience for our son.