Free Christmas Printables from JDC

I've shared this amazing blog with you before but I just couldn't resist telling you about what's going on over at Jones Design Company.  Emily, the blog's creator, has been offering some great free Christmas printables and I couldn't wait to share them with you.

Christmas gift tags

Christmas art print

Christmas Party Invitations

Christmas Gift List

Click on the links in each title to find out how to print these fun Christmas pages.  You've got to check out the rest of this great blog.  It's SO inspiring!  I think I have a bit of a soft spot because Emily is from the Pacific Northwest and I always love to see what's happening over in my old neck of the woods!

Happy printing!   

  

...one more thing...you've got to check out Emily's "What I wore" section.

Friday Fabulous - 10 things Holiday edition

10 Things - Holiday edition

1.  chai nog
2.  traveling ALL the way to Canada for Christmas!  I'm so excited I can't stand it!
3.  dreaming of a white Christmas and knowing it might actually happen
4.  being able to break out the long sleeves...every now and then
5.  Christmas movies - White Christmas, Christmas in Connecticut, Christmas with the Kranks
6.  starting family traditions for my very own little family
7.  Christmas crafts - there are FAR too many to do before the season is over!
8.  spending time with family, just being together
9.  mittens & scarves
10.Christmas twinkle lights everywhere

source

Holiday Decorating - Christmas table centerpiece

It's official! The boxes have been brought into the house and ornaments unpacked.  That's when I discovered how dreadfully old and tacky some of my decorations are.  Yikes!  What was I thinking?  I bought most of them when I had my first place right out of college.  I didn't have much money so they did the job.  I was also the only one making the decisions on which ornaments to pick and what look I was going for.  Much has changed since then and now Mr. D has ideas and opinions to add to the mix.  Since we have been together our colour scheme has evolved to include apple green.  I would never have picked that colour myself but I wanted to make sure to honor Mr. D's request so apple green it was.

The time I have for decorating and all of that fun stuff is pretty limited and things just work best during little D's nap time or bedtime.  I started by shopping in my closet picking any container that might hold ornaments or other decorative items.  Here's what I came up with.

Before 

These are the supplies I gathered.  I'm sure I won't use all of them but it's helpful to try different pieces as I go.  The majority of glass containers are the same height so I'll show you a little trick I learned to help add some dimension.

I found little bowls in my cupboard that I turned upside down, covered with white fabric (fabric napkins) and placed the glass containers on top which added dimension to the height.

This year I chose to keep the colour scheme pretty tight so I picked my apple green and silver ornaments.  I tried to add interest by picking different sized ornaments but that was only in the silver coloured ones.  I think I'll work on adding to the apple green collection with some patterned ornaments and also trying to find different sizes.  

I tried to make sure that I did not put containers next to each other that were the same height so the bowls under the napkins came in really handy.  I also tried to make sure I put the green ornaments in spots throughout the arrangement.  That helps the eye to move all around the arrangement without getting stuck in one place.  I also tried to remember to use odd numbers and ended up using three candles, three containers with green ornaments and three containers with silver ornaments.  I would like to add some fake snow to some of the containers but I think I got rid of what I had so I'll need to pick some up.  Until then have some fun shopping in your own closet and decorating your own tables.  

Happy closet shopping!

Friday Fabulous - It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas...

Well, here we are.  At the end of another week.  I continue to marvel at how quickly each week seems to fly right on by.  This post is not really related to decorating my home but it's too fun to resist!  I can't wait for Christmas!  It's my favourite holiday by FAR!  Today marks day 1 of my holiday baking.  I'm not sure if there will be more than day 1 but it's fun to plan.

First up - sugar cookies

the recipe - I'm not gonna lie, it's from a kid's cookbook, super easy and totally yummy

my favourite part - decorating and totally trying something new this year

Here is my favourite sugar cookie recipe (from Company's Coming - kids cooking)

Ingredients

12 tbsp. butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

21/2 cups all-purpose flour
11/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

1.  place the first 4 ingredients into the bowl.  Beat on medium speed until smooth.

2.  add flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat on lowest speed just until moistened.

3.  wrap dough in plastic wrap, place in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.  **this step is critical as this dough is VERY sticky**

4.  turn oven to 350'F, roll dough out on parchment paper and bake for 7-8 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden brown.  Cool cookies completely and decorate.


Here are some of my current inspirations from none other than Martha Stewart

- love the simplicity of this beautiful snowflake

These were some of my first inspirations

so pretty

colour is always fun

I just can't resist... Happy Holidays!  (ok, so it's a little early but this only comes once a year so I'm going to make the most of it!)


ciao!

Phew...2 weeks already?!

I'm back after an impromptu two week break.  Boy, life just keeps marching right along and it's crazy how quickly two weeks went by.  I hadn't intended to put posting on hold for that long but life took over and, well, here we are.  I've been going back and forth in my mind...keep going with fall decor or start on some fun Christmas projects.  Back and forth I tell you!  I actually didn't get my fall boxes out of the garage this year because, well, I'm not sure where they are.  The garage isn't that big but all of the "stored" items are over in a huge pile and not that easy to access.  Luckily, I had my husband put the Christmas boxes on the outside so we are ok there.  PHEW!  Crisis averted!  I think I've moved on to working on Christmas projects actually because I know as the most wonderful season of all approaches I'll be just too busy.  Here are a few things I'm thinking about working on.

This super fun wreath was part of Starbuck's holiday 2008 display and I fell in LOVE with it then.  I think I'd like to try to recreate it but with a little twist to make it work for my home.  I'm not sure if I'll get to it this year but it is definitely on the list of things to do!

These Potterybarn stockings are darling and I really love the velvet fabric.  

These Potterybarn knitted stockings are so adorable too!  How to decide?!

This Potterybarn Kids advent calendar is one of the sweetest I've seen and would be so fun for little dude to use to count down the days.  

It looks like I've got my work cut out for me!  Maybe I should have started back in July!  We'll see how much I can get done and perhaps some will have to wait for next year.

...one more thing... Are you working on anything for Christmas yet or am I the only one jumping the gun? 

Sweet Delight - Chai Tea Recipe

I thought I'd share with you a little something that has been making my Christmas season merry and bright. I affectionately call it chai nog and it has quickly become my favourite drink of the season.  Back in November, many of my friends were excited about the return of pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks.  I'm not really into coffee that much so couldn't really relate until...my sister-in-law told me to try my regular chai tea with egg nog in it.  WOW!  It was de-lightful!  I'm not sure about you but Starbucks is reserved for "special treats" so I came up with my own recipe for chai nog that I think you'll love.

Chai Nog

1 part milk
1 part egg nog
*you can do 2/3 milk and 1/3 egg nog if you want a more subtle flavor
1 chai tea bag (Bigelow Vanilla Chai is my fave)

Heat the milk and egg nog in a pot on the stove or in your mug in the microwave until hot.  Add the chai tea bag and let steep a good 3-4 minutes.  Add sugar to taste.  Enjoy!


...one more thing - have a wonder-filled weekend!

*photo courtesy of teadome.com

10 things...

10 things I LOVE about Christmas:

1. Eggnog chai tea from Starbucks
2. Having a reason to get together with family and friends to eat
3. Cozy fireplace evenings
4. Down blankets
5. 24hr. Christmas carols on the radio
6. Lingering chats over the breakfast table, lunch table and dinner table all in the same day
7. sugar cookies
8. Generosity
9. Christmas cards with family photos from dear ones near and far
10.this is little man's first Christmas and his festive pj's are SO cute!

What do you love about Christmas?

Closet Shopping - Christmas Decorating

Shopping.  Who doesn't love it?  The anticipation, great sales, finding that perfect item.  I do have some friends who prefer to spend as little time shopping as humanly possible but that's NOT me.  I really enjoy the hunt most of all I think.  Finding that perfect item is a great accomplishment and then to find it on sale or to get a great deal makes the experience over the top.  Looking at the before picture of my living room gave me an idea.  Christmas is fast approaching so any extra funds are going to Christmas gifts and food for various celebrations so I don't have any green stuff to put towards sprucing up my buffet.  But, that's OK because I quickly heard my sister's voice ringing in my ear saying "I love to shop but I love LOVE to shop in my own closet more!"  That gave me an idea.  I am going to go shopping in my closets and see what I can come up with to add a little sparkle and Christmas cheer to that corner of the house.

Things I'm looking for:  glass containers of various heights and sizes, unused ornaments, fake snow, little white lights, lamps and anything else that strikes my fancy (I think I've got a feather boa wreath hanging around somewhere).  

One more thing ... there's no right or wrong way to put things together.  All that matters is that it's pleasing to your eye!  Here's something I came across that inspired me to try a little closet shopping of my own.


currently watching - The Holiday

Before - gathering supplies



After: I couldn't find my fake snow.  I think there is a box of Christmas decorations MIA so I'll have to look and see what I can find.  Also, I think my display needs a little filler but this is all I have so it'll have to work for this year.  I'm going to keep my eyes open for some great looking greenery after Christmas and see if I can get a great deal.  All in all, I love love the effect the decorations have in bringing some sparkle to that little corner.

 

Let's Get Started

Not a creature was stirring...

It's 7:25am and I'm the only one up in the house. Little dude is sleeping soundly and big dude is catching some zzz's as well. Hmmm...where does my mind go when all is quiet and I can actually hear my own thoughts? This morning it went to my home. I'd love for my mind to linger there, peacefully enjoying my surroundings but not this morning. It quickly moved on to all of the clutter. UGG! That battle is an ongoing one and I just can not seem to get the upper hand. Well, I've decided today that I'm not going to let the clutter win any more. I am so excited to get started but I'm a little overwhelmed as to where to start (it ALL needs attention, and by all I mean ALL). I guess I'll just start with what I can see from where I sit on my comfy couch. There are Christmas boxes lined up, decorations that have yet to find a place, laundry in baskets and baby things all over. It's amazing how much stuff we can accumulate - phew. I am filled with anticipation for the day when I can sit on my comfy couch and look around at an organized and pleasing-to-look-at space. I can just see it now...ahhh...so peaceful. Let the games begin!