Christmas

The Big Holiday Blunder You Can Easily Avoid Right Now

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Holiday baking season is upon us! Find out here what to stock up on (and where to do it) to set yourself up for success.

25 Simple Ways To Tackle The Messiest Chore Of The Holidays

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I have a fairly intimidating pile of boxes piling up in my office from all my online Christmas shopping and now I am consumed with the thought of wrapping everything. Of course my dream would be to have a gift wrapping room in my house….or even just the corner of a room would be better … Read more

10 Steps To Prep Your Kitchen For The Holidays

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So it’s NOVEMBER already! I can’t believe how fast this month has snuck up on me! It occurred to me yesterday that since we have been spending so much time on remodel projects over the last few months, I haven’t done a THING to prep my kitchen for the holidays! Luckily it’s not too late! I … Read more

Give the Gift of Beautiful Art with Minted

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If the idea of giving a practical gift doesn’t excite you, I’ve got another gift-giving idea for you today that might! How about gifting some beautiful fine art or even custom art? I recently started working with Minted.com to decorate my new studio with some fantastic art. The majority of the art for the studio was delivered yesterday and … Read more

Favorite Holiday Recipes from My Readers!

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A while back, I hosted a contest in search of the best Crockpot recipes! I asked you, my readers, and got 5 delicious recipes – the crockpot cheesecake is amazing! You can find all the recipes here.  With all the holiday parties and events planned over the next couple of weeks, I decided to ask for your … Read more

Graham Cracker Holiday Houses

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I love the look of gingerbread houses, but every time I’ve tried to make one, I end up getting so frustrated! The frosting is never sticky enough, the walls are too heavy, and the whole thing comes tumbling down! This year, I found a super simple method for making adorable, mini “gingerbread” houses out of graham … Read more

Last Minute Stocking Stuffer & Neighbor Gift Ideas With FREE Printables!

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The last few days our front door has been getting a workout as friends and neighbors drop by with gifts and goodies! Sunday night our next door neighbors actually brought over a freshly-baked homemade apple pie! That’s when I really started to get nervous! I had yet to come up with something to share with … Read more

Create Your Own “Countdown To Christmas” Advent Calendar

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Even though it’s a few days into December, there’s still plenty of time to put together a fun and meaningful advent calendar for your family to enjoy! We’re not talking about the paper ones from the grocery store with the questionable chocolates inside…we’re talking about 3 1/2 weeks of fun holiday activities and service projects that your family … Read more

Simple Handmade Gifts Round-Up!

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Each holiday season I try to do at least one Simple Handmade Gift ideas post to help provide some inspiration for your gift-giving. So far there are ELEVEN posts in all with another one on the way! I thought I would make a post (a “one stop shop,” if you will) for all my Simple Handmade Gift posts … Read more

Norwegian Pancakes – A Christmas Morning Tradition

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Happy Monday everyone! Can you believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve? I really can’t! It’s all coming up so fast….but I’m excited!  I love the time we spend as a family laughing, talking, relaxing, playing, and especially EATING! 🙂 I love all the traditions we have surrounding holiday meals. Ever since I married my Norwegian … Read more

25 Days Of Service Jar! Make The Holidays More Meaningful!

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Year after year the holiday season sneaks up on me and quickly becomes this stress-filled blur. Decorating, present-buying, wrapping, parties, cooking, entertaining….the list goes on and on. Then, before I know it, the holidays are over and I’m just tired. This year started out the same as all the others until I spotted this idea for … Read more

My Holiday Entertaining Superhero . . . My Mom!

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This post is the result of a series of unexpected yet serendipitous events. Saturday night my family and I decided to watch the movie “Man of Steel” on DVD……..two days later I was invited to be part of Samsung’s “Women of Steel” contest honoring the heroines in our lives…….which came right as I’d been thinking … Read more

Simple Handmade Gifts – Part Seven

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Yikes!!  It’s December 4th!  We are entering the home stretch people! I thought I would squeeze in one more Handmade Gift Ideas post before it’s too late!  I was inspired by the gift bags I have been putting together for our first annual One Good Thing By Jillee company Christmas Party. 🙂  I thought it … Read more

Simple Handmade Gifts – Part Six

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I want to know who is responsible for time going so fast!!  I just looked at the calendar and realized Thanksgiving is two weeks from today!  How the heck did that happen? I realize Thanksgiving is earlier than usual this year….but still!  I cannot believe how fast this year has (almost) gone by!  yikes. Well, … Read more

Simple Handmade Gifts – Part Five

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At the beginning of last December I started looking around the web for Christmas gift ideas that were SIMPLE, HANDMADE, INEXPENSIVE, and ADORABLE! 🙂 Is that really too much to ask?? I don’t think so! As a matter of fact I KNOW it’s not asking too much because I ended up doing 4 different “Simple … Read more

How To Have A Pinterest Inspired Christmas!

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Well, it’s countdown time…as my boys said tonight when they went to bed…only “two more sleeps” til it’s Christmas! That made me smile. A reminder of days gone by when they were little and would say that…but instead of “til it’s Christmas”….it would, of course, be til “Santa comes!”  They’re still excited for ‘Santa’ to … Read more

Christmas Advent Calendar Inspiration Board

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I know it’s still a wee bit early to be posting about Christmas stuff….but….if you are thinking about making an Advent Calendar to count down the days until Christmas (and you definitely will WANT to after you see some of these ideas!), then you’re going to need some time to tackle the project before December … Read more