How to throw a Christmas Party

One of my favorite things about Christmas is throwing our annual Christmas party. I love the planning, decorating, and dressing up...and of course love catching up with all of our good friends each year.

I feel like of every year, this year's party went the smoothest, despite that I am sooo much busier this year than I've every been before!

Here are a few tips that I've learned to make your party throwing a little bit easier:

1. Pick the day: Every other year I've done it on a Friday. A Friday that I've worked a few hours in the morning and had about 3 hours to prepare. Bad. Idea... This year I did it on a Saturday. I woke up around 7:30 and cleaned/cooked throughout the day. While I was busy the whole day I wasn't too busy. I was able to cook at my own pace and didn't feel at all rushed.

2. Pick good foods: This year I put a lot of thought into the food I made. I wanted a good variety but also wanted things that good be prepared ahead of time. In the past I have had to basically wait until about 4:00 to begin because everything I made was hot. This is so stressful. Below was my menu...most things could be prepared ahead of time. Basically I only had two things that I needed to wait to cook.

• Marinated Ham and Swiss Poppy Seed Buns
• Cream Cheese Pin Wheels
• Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies (From a 'Just Add Water' Package) Easier is Better
• Various Specialty Cheeses, served with Crackers and Grapes
• Hummus and Pita Chips
• Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods
• Broccoli and Red Pepper served with Ranch Dressing
• Mojitos

I felt like this provided a great spread with a little bit of everything.

3. Have fun games: We always do a white elephant gift exchange, as well as a cookie game where you try to get a Ginger Snap from their forehead to their mouth without using your hands (The Great American Cookie Race) By having these games every year it gives people something to look forward to and expect :)

Here are a few pictures of the night, we had a blast!

The Spread

Marinated Ham and Swiss Buns

Mojitos (love the straws)

Cream Cheese Pinwheels

Cheese Spread

The Great American Cookie Race

White Elephant Gift Exchange

For my favors, each person received a peanut butter kiss cookie packaged in a red CD case. This saved so much money, was super cute and who doesn't like cookies? I used a hole-punch to put two holes in the top corner and tied it with a lime green bow.

Fun with buttons! (And Fleece Pants)

For those of you who have been following for a while you know I'm in a book club and you also probably know that it's the best book club ever! We just finished reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and it was excellent. Well, last night was our annual Christmas Craft night and my friend Christine came up with the idea to make two adorable button crafts. The first is a wreath made out of buttons (simply string your buttons onto wire) and the second is a Christmas tree. (Buttons threaded onto twine in the shape of a tree) Aren't they adorable! The pictures below are of the finished ornaments hanging proudly on my tree.

Also, I just had to share this picture of Lilly because her outfit is so cute...

I purchased this aqua colored fleece at Joann's on black Friday for only $.70 (it was in the remnant bin which was an additional 75% off) I had enough to make Lilly these cute pants as well as a fleece hat. The pants matched this onesie she already had perfectly!

Don't you like the heart on the leg?

How to Save on Christmas

I thought I'd share a few Christmas saving tips today. At a time when it is so easy to spend spend spend, every little bit can help right?

1. Kohl's Cash: Believe it or not Kohl's cash can be purchased on E-bay! Kohl's cash is basically a gift card that can only be used at Kohl's. Shoppers who receive this 'cash' after making a big purchase at Kohl's will sell it on E-bay for a discount. I bought $30 in Kohl's cash yesterday for only $23, which is 24% off! Next, wait for a good deal, or for something to go on sale and then pounce, you can end up making out really well. (For example, I believe their Keurig's are on sale this week, combine the sales price with the savings you made on the Kohl's cash and then add in an online discount code and you've got yourself a deal!



2. Homemade Gifts: Check out my post on some great homemade gifts that will save you some dough (Click Here)



Looking for an easy, low cost gift? Check out my handmade scarves....only $4.99!

3. Ebay: Ebay has a lot more to offer...did you know you can buy gift cards on there? If you have someone on your list that you were planning on getting a $25 starbucks gift card for you can usually snag it on Ebay for about $22...not a huge savings but $3 is $3! (You can also typically find Starbucks gift cards at Costco or Sams for a deal as well..such as a four pack of $25 gift cards for only $80)




4. Consignment Shopping: Lilly is in need of some clothes this Christmas. I went to my favorite children's consignment shop yesterday and found her some adorable stuff, some with the tags still on! Specifically, I found these adorable Gymboree shoes for $6, tags still on them...new $22!

How to have a craft night!

I had a craft night a few days ago and it was so much fun!! Here's the craft we made:

It was a wreath made out of slips of scrap book paper and I love how it turned out. I purchased a coordinating scrapbooking book with 24 different types of paper (48 total pieces of paper). I cut all the paper into slips that were 5 inches long by 1 inch wide. (Yes, that means I cut 1152 pieces of paper)

I charged $10 per person and each person received a Ziploc bag full of all the paper they would need, a piece of ribbon and a plane 12 inch Styrofoam ring. I had four hot glue guns available as well as four staplers so that four people could sit around the table at a time and do the craft.

You fold each piece of paper so that it makes a loop and then you staple or hot glue the end so that it stays. Then you begin gluing your loops onto the wreath. I tried to coordinate my colors so that I didn't have a lot of one color in any area, but for the most part there's really no rhyme or reason and you can't really mess it up.

I found that each person needed about 72 pieces of paper to complete their wreath.

Here are a few more pictures of some of the completed wreaths:

The package of 48 pieces of paper was enough for 13 people to do the craft. Besides buying the paper and Styrofoam wreaths you just need staples, staplers, hot glue guns and hot glue sticks.

For the people who had already finished the craft, or who were waiting to make it, I had Elf on for them too watch and finger food to eat.

Below are the recipes I used and they were all delicious!

A Homemade Christmas: Seven DIY Christmas Gift Ideas

When they're done right, aren't homemade gifts the best? Not only do they save money but you can personalize your gift in such a way that the person receiving it feels loved and special. Today I've compiled seven DIY gift ideas that I've seen floating around the blogging world. I hope you're able to use one or two (or all of them) this Christmas Season.

1. Tile Coasters: 

This project looks so easy and I can't wait to try it! In the past I've found these square tiles at our Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for about $.10 each! What an easy, low cost Christmas Gift Idea!

2. Key Chains:

 What an adorable idea! And great for Stocking Stuffer's don't you think?!

3. Fleece Scarf:

 This is the tutorial I used to make my fleece scarves. Also, this Friday (black Friday) fleece is on sale at Joann's for $2.99 a yard! That means you can make these scarves for $1.00 each!! (You can make three scarves for every 1 yard of fabric)

 4. Monogrammed Mug:

Not only is this a cute and inexpensive project, it's also something you can do with your kids!








5.  Homemade Sugar Scrub:

What a great idea for the women in your lives (such as teachers, coaches etc) I found these 4 oz jars on Amazon for$.75 each if you're looking for a deal.





6. Sewing Kit

 

Know someone who loves to sew? Isn't this DIY sewing kit adorable?!This kit was inspired by an Anthopologie product that was for sale for $48!!!












7. Button Necklace

 Do you have some fabric scraps left over? Take a look at this button necklace tutorial. You can use up those scraps of fabric and have a wonderful gift to give all at the same time! If you're looking for a button kit Amazon has them here.

Our Christmas Tree

Well, it only took four days but our Christmas Tree made it out of the box and is up, with the lights on and the ornaments. I remember this process being a LOT easier without a one year old :)

Here are a few pictures of the end result

I have about 5 of these large brown flowers. I got them from Walmart for $1 each and they just clip on to the edge of the branches. I love the big impact they have.

The green star in the picture above is from Cracker Barrell. If you go after the holiday season (like on the 27th of December) all their Christmas stuff is about 75% off and they have the cutest stuff. I bought a few of these stars and they ended up being only about $.50 each.

My mom bought two boxes of these round painted balls at a flea market one time while on vacation. She paid $5 for all of them and there are about 25. I think they're beautiful. We also have our Lenox annual ornaments displayed. I think it adds a touch of elegance to our normally 'country' theme.

  

And here is the finished product. Not too cluttered which is how I like it :)

Christmas Chandelier

Remember the chandelier picture I found on Pinterest?

Yesterday I set out to duplicate it. It was more difficult to do than I thought but I think that's because I was doing it alone. It would have been much easier with another set of hands....and without two little babies running around me while I precariously perched on a chair...

Also, each chandelier is different so you'll need to work with what you've got.

The first thing i did was tie a blank wreath to the chandelier with ribbon. It hung just below the lights.

Then I added a strand of garland-starting at the top near the ceiling and winding it around the chain and then meeting up with the wreath.

Finally, I added ribbon and some Christmas balls. I also decorated it with all of our white house Christmas ornaments. I felt like it was a great place to showcase those ornaments-they're so beautiful!

What do you guys think? It looks better in real life and the picture doesn't do it justice...I'll try to get some better pictures tomorrow.

Baby's First Christmas Tree

It was gorgeous and 75 degrees here yesterday, but that didn't stop me from breaking out the Christmas decorations. I usually don't put my Christmas stuff up so early but I'm having a Christmas craft night next Tuesday and want everything to be set up for that.

I have a four foot tree that I usually set in our living room, in the bay window. (Our large tree goes in our family room with the fire place) This year though we have a special little 14 month old who I thought might enjoy it more in her room. One of my favorite things about Christmas as a kid was the small tree I had in my room. I remember loving the way the lights bounced off the walls in the dark while I was falling asleep. I hope Lilly has that memory as well when she grows up.

Below are a few pictures of her room with the tree all set up! White lights, red ribbon and miniature balls with an angel on top. I figured as she grows she can add an ornament of her own each year.

Christmas Decor...

I know, I know. It's still only early November. BUT, I've already started thinking about how I'm going to decorate the house for Christmas. I want to do something different this year but I'm not quite sure what. After browsing Pinterest I found some cute ideas that I could use as starting points:


Love this idea, what a neat way to dress up the chandelier in my dining room!



One of the hardest things for me to decorate is my front porch...I love this idea!



I think this will definitely be happening at our Christmas Party!



This was entitled "Christmas Decorating for those with a Grand Home Entrance" Um, what? Who's house looks like that? More like "Christmas Decorating for the President...of America" ...Gorgeous though...

So has anyone else thought about how your going to decorate for Christmas?

And of course, don't forget about the scarves I'm selling for Christmas. Only $4.99! Check them out here.

Belated Halloween Party Photos

We had a Halloween Party this year and I'm behind in posting the photos from it. Better late than never though right? It was a costume party and it was so fun to see everyone dressed up...some really clever costumes showed up!  I, of course, didn't get pictures of all of them :( I'm horrible when it comes to picture taking...so these are a few...

I was red riding hood, seen below but missing my picnic basket...

Our friends Jesse and Craig were pirates :)

Andrea and Ryan...or should I stay Angela and Dwight...spot on right?!

Chris and Suzie were Mary Poppins and Bert

Here's a better picture of Bert

Ben was our token lumberjack

Hannah made a great princess Leia

Brendan = intense Batman costume 

And John went as Superman

Amy was a 'Pink Lady' from Greace (the movie not the country)

And Tim and Christine came as Finn and Jake (which is a cartoon on Cartoon Network)

Everyone had fun and it was neat to let loose and dress up. What were you for Halloween?

Oh! And don't forget about the scarves I have for sale...$.50 goes to Operation Christmas Child when you purchase one! Click here for more info