Christmas Things: Part 2

 

 

Elves and lights | It snowed on Christmas Eve for a white Christmas on Christmas morning!

Christmas morning yule log on TV vs coal stove in my living room | Presents!

Odie with his new squeaky hedgehog | Lillie investigating her new pop-up tunnel

Christmas Things: Part 1

Truffles. Recipe here.

Putting up our tree.

Sending out our Christmas cards.

Getting ready to meringue!

Instagraming

 

 

Chocolate dipped meringue snow peaks | Chocolate syrup brownies

Gingerbread | Enormous oreo-stuff red velvet crinkle cookies

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

We helped my parents decorate their tree this weekend. They have some of my favorite ornaments from growing up.

Ta da!

And here's how the weekend looked through Instagram.

 

Vegan banana bread | Out for sushi Friday night

Whoville-style tree on our table at the sushi restaurant | Carrots from my garden. Plant earlier & thin better next year
Blankets made at Stash Bust for Charity night | My favorite ornament picture

Tis the Season

Now the Calendar is Just One Page

December is here! Everyone officially has permission to get into the Christmas spirit. I think a lot of people try and hold off until after Thanksgiving. We say "Ugh! Too early!" when Christmas decorations start appearing around Halloween. While I can't disagree, it's hard not to get excited! Well, no more! December is here! Haul out the holly!

Here's how my first weekend in December went!

Morning in Hope.

Cozy snowflake socks.

Walking around Hope for the annual Christmas Market.

Antiquing continued into Sunday.

Some instagraming occurred.

 

 

Advent calendar | Crocheted a new headband

Vintage ornaments | Dave's favorite Indian restaurant in a train car

DIY: Simple Pinecone Garland

Now that December has arrived, I have a simple Christmas decor project to share. Some pretty pinecone garlands, and you likely have two of the three essential supplies on hand already.

For the garland above, I used some hemp string for a natural, rustic feel. For a second garland for my stairs I used red yarn. I have a random assortment of ribbon on hand from past projects and gifts. I just needed to make a trip to the craft store for some pinecones.

Pinecone Garland

Supplies

String or yarn - enough to go across wherever you plan to hang your garland

Ribbon 

Pinecones

Sharp scissors

Instructions

1. Cut a length of string long enough to span across where ever you want to hang your garland.
2. About 8 inches from one end, tie your first pinecone.
   
   
3. Cut a piece of ribbon about about 6 inches in length. To get the forked end, fold the ribbon in half and cut on a diagonal so the edges of the ribbon will become points.
4. Use just one knot to tie the ribbon on to the string about 4 inches or so from the pinecone.
   
   
5. Alternate tying pinecones and ribbons for the length of your string.
   
   
6. Hang your garland in its new home to enjoy for the season.

Christmas Cards

Tonight I'm designing some Christmas cards! If you've ever used Illustrator and can Google "free vector (fill in the blank)," you can too!

Holiday Tradition: Spritz Cookies

This weekend, I went down to my parents house to help out with a few things and decided it was a good time to commence Christmas cooking baking for the season!

With grandma turning 96 this year, it's getting to be a bit much for her (and my mom) to make oodles and oodles of Christmas cookies every year. There are about seven that are regulars at Christmas time and this year I'm making them all while grandma supervises! This weekend we made round one of spritz cookies, and thumbprint cookies. This post will cover spritz cookies, I'm saving thumbprint cookies for another time.

In case you don't already know spritz cookies, you need a cookie press to make them. Here's the cookie press my mom and grandma have. The recipe is super simple.

Spritz Cookies

Yield about 6 dozen

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.
3. Cream the butter.
4. Slowly add sugar and cream mix well until fluffy.
5. Beat in the egg and extract.
6. Slowly add the flour mixture.
7. Separate the dough for coloring.
8. Fill your cookie press and press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.
9. Decorate as desired with sprinkles and colored sugar!
10. Bake 10 - 12 minutes.
11. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.