Cookie Party How-To's

Cookies are the perfect reason to throw a party during the holidays. 

My friends and I usually get together and do a cookie baking party.
(You can read about the last couple here and here.)

I wrote up how we do this for Celebrations.com -- check it out!

You can also do a cookie decorating party.  (Sometimes this is included in our cookie party too!) 

I wrote about how to do this for Tablespoon -- check it out!) 

And of course, the most popular way to do a cookie party this season is a cookie exchange.  (My mom and her friends have been doing one since before I was born!)  A few of my fav bloggers had some great inspiration for throwing a lovely cookie exchange.  (See here and here). 

How do you celebrate cookies this time of year?

DIY Idea: Holiday Wreath & an Introduction

Introducing: Mia Danielle

Born on Thanksgiving day...we are so thankful!

What a crazy whirlwind these last couple weeks have been.

I won't leave you completely hanging while I'm in baby land though...

Here's a fun idea for a DIY wreath! This one is super easy -- even a brand new mom can do it!

Check out all the details here.

DIY Ideas: Cranberry Holiday Decor!

Have you started decorating your house for Christmas yet?  I like to do it the weekend following Thanksgiving...I don't encroach on turkey day, but I get the maximum amount of time out of those decorations. 

Whatever your personal schedule is, I have a few ideas for you to try this year...all involving cranberries!

Check 'em out here! And let me know if you try any. 

Christmas Tree Party

I am not one of those people who believes in starting Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving.  One holiday at a time is typically my motto. 

However, I do want to share an idea for a holiday party with you that is best if thrown the first weekend or two in December.  I'm not advocating starting your decorating or Christmas-music-listening until after Thursday! But, its never too early to start planning your next party. 

I wrote up all the details of how to throw a Christmas Tree Hunting Party over at Celebrations.com.  I threw this party a couple years ago, and it was a blast! Check it out!

Just a little tree inspiration from my house a couple years ago...

(This little guy is soon going to be sharing the spotlight with a baby sister!) 

And now I promise: no more mentions of Christmas from me until at least next Friday!

Quick and Easy Holiday Recipes

I've compiled what I consider the ultimate list of quick & easy holiday eats. 

Its a good one to keep on hand with all the parties this season brings! 

You'll want to bookmark this one! 

Click here. 

And then feel free to share!

Are there any you would add to the list?

Real Party: Ornament Exchange

My annual ornament exchange with some of my girlfriends was today.  Janelle hosted the ladies, and though I was in another state, I never like to a miss party! :) I attended via Skype - my first time using it.  They sat "me" in the laptop at the table with them, and I didn't have to miss out on anything! Fabulous!

I can't wait to see my cute cupcake ornament in person!

Merry Christmas!

Our 2010 Christmas Card

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend with family & friends! 

My Christmas Table(s)

 For Christmas Eve Dinner we will have a full house. So much so that I will have 2 tables. 

My table settings are nothing fancy, but I am definitely in the spirit now that things are set for dinner! 

I am really in love with the brown glass candle sticks I found at the Good Will when I went to get this frame.  I see other bloggers find great stuff there, and I never seem to. Finally I have some great candle sticks! 

 It was fun to use my place cards from TomKat Studio that I purchased last year. And I love the tablecloth I have from Crate & Barrel. 

It looks amazing with my new copper chargers and some of our china. 

My other table  is a little folding table -- a little squishier, but that's ok.

I took a cue from Jackie Fo and went with cranberries for my centerpieces on this one (which I froze after the pancake breakfast, just as she suggests). 

Wishing you all the happiest of Holidays!

DIY Idea: Homemade Apple Butter Gifts

I like to make something to give as presents every year.  Homemade gifts are very appreciated and (bonus!) it saves a little money during this expensive season.  

I told you how my friend Lindsay recently moved into a new home.  The new house has an awesome apple tree in the backyard, so she and I raided the tree and used some of the apples to make apple butter. 

This turned out to be quite an undertaking.  We used this recipe.  The apple butter turned out to be quite yummy, but what a mess it made! We were literally scrubbing sticky apple butter off the walls! 

I've seen many other recipes out there and would recommend trying one that used a slow cooker instead of the stove top like the recipe we used. 

We did eventually finish and manage to get the kitchen (walls, floor, counters) clean. 

We doubled the recipe, which filled 24 4oz jars with a little left over. 

I made some cute little labels to put on the top of my jars. 

For gifts, I packaged them with two kinds of muffin mix and a cute spreader.  They looked pretty darn cute wrapped with cellophane and tied with a bow! 

Lindsay baked some bread to go with hers and tied them with burlap & twine.  Adorable. 

Click here to see the pesto I made last year. 

Real Party: Pancake Breakfast

My friend Jeani once spent time volunteering at a school in Uganda, through a program called i.HUG. 

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Jeani and one of the school kids from her time in Uganda. 

Click here to see some other pictures of the school. 

i.HUG is an amazing program that works to run a school, train teachers, raise scholarships to send children to the school, increase access to medical care in the areas they serve, and form income-generating projects to sustain the program. 

Every year Jeani does some kind of fundraiser for this program and school that she loves so much.   This year she decided to do a pancake breakfast.  

I was thrilled that she asked my friend Lindsay and I to help with styling the event! 

The first thing I did was call up my friend Will. He was responsible for the gorgeous tablescapes at this wedding.  I asked him to borrow the hurricanes. Remember these? 

Instead of the earthy black rocks from the wedding, I used festive cranberries. 

Cute, right? 

Lindsay made a few burlap squares with red ribbon edging to go under them. 

The next thing I did was make a menu and a little Christmas tree i.HUG graphic for the buffet table.  

Jeani's collage of pictures from her time with i.HUG. (sorry for the blurry pic!)

Silverware and napkins on the beverage station.  

I cannot take any credit for the food, but I can tell you it was delicious! 

Seriously, I am never making pancakes out of a box again after I tasted Jeani's homemade pancakes! 

Here's the pancake crew: Lindsay, me, Jeani, Deb, & Molly 

(I also have to give a shout-out to Tom and Monica who were a master pancake flipper & fruit displayer that morning!)

What a fun way to raise some money for an awesome cause! 

I'll update later with our total raised.  


This is a awesome, trustworthy program where money donated goes a long way to make a difference in the lives of children.  If you are still planning to do some charitable giving this year, please consider i.HUG. 

I am Loving: Non-Traditional Holiday Colors

Lots of my favorite blogs have gotten creative with color when it comes to holiday parties and decorating this year. And I love it! 

Here's a few highlights: 

My bloggy BFF Jackie Fo styled the most adorable pink and green cookie exchange.  Check it out here.  Lots of fun details in one of my favorite color combinations!

TomKat Studio and Save the Date for Cupcakes collaborated on this adorable party inspiration in bright pink and aqua.  Too cute!  (And bonus: the printables are for sale here!)

 

Love red, black, and white for a modern look, like this table by Jesi Haack Weddings, spotted at Hostess with the Mostess.  

Did you see the fun gift wrapping party that Birthday Girl shared? I thought the subtle color scheme of blue, green, rose and silver was lovely and sophisticated. 

If you are new around here, you may have missed my Colors of Christmas series that I did last year featuring some of my favorite alternative color combos for the holidays. 

Click to check out the fun inspirations boards: 

Aqua & Green

Purple & Silver

Gold & Silver

Pink & Gold

DIY Idea: Frame Christmas Card Holder

I have struggled the last few years with how to display my Christmas cards.  I LOVE getting Christmas cards in the mail, and really wanted to love how they were displayed in my home, but I was never happy with the things I tried each year. 

And then, on Wednesday I saw this post over at one of my favorite blogs: Celebrations at Home.  I knew immediately I had my solution. 

I rushed straight to the Goodwill to find a frame. I decided to do a fabric background, and fell in love with this green burlap.  And just like Chris said, it took me 10 minutes to put together! (That is my kind of craft project!) 

Totally in love with the frame I found: antiqued looking gold with red flecks. Perfect for Christmas decor!

Now I need to stop procrastinating and go finish my own Christmas cards!

Real Party: Cookies & Champagne

Sunday was our annual baking extravaganza, which I  call "Cookies & Champagne".   

We had lots of fun, ate too much sugar, and baked up a storm!

 Molly's homemade almond roca

 My peanut butter blossoms

Drea's monster cookies, Katie's cowgirl cookies, and Deb's chocolate caramel cups. 

That is just a small portion of what we ended up with! 

 I made an easy little lunch for the all the bakers: Martha Stewart's black bean chili (which stayed nice and warm in my Crockpot) and corn bread. 

(You might recognize the pinecone tree from my friend Lindsay's Housewarming party dessert table.)

 And of course, some champagne. 

Party favors: adorable mini colanders (in bright and green) with a cookie cutter, and a mini champagne bottle.  

I found the colanders here.  They were a.dor.able. Even more so in person. 

See my post about last year's party here. 

The biggest improvement that I made over last year was grabbing a bunch of plastic tablecloths at the dollar store.  We used them as tablecloths and on the floor and it made clean up so much easier.  Of course there were a few spills, and I was glad I had them. 

I am Loving: Confetti System

I am completely in love.  These are the most beautiful party decor items I've come across in a long time. Sure, you could make something along these lines yourself, but I'd argue that the the artistry of Confetti Systems would be difficult to recreate. 

Pinatas

Garlands

Amazing for a shimmery holiday party (or wedding!), no?

Do yourself a favor and click here to see some of this gorgeousness in action.