My whole family has been sick this weekend. Isla had a tummy bug and I’ve got a terrible upper respiratory infection at the moment. I thought Evan had been spared but he has caught Isla’s tummy bug. That is why I haven’t posted in a few days. Saturday afternoon we made some cookies and I wanted to share the recipe with you.
I have always loved baking with my Grandma. It doesn’t happen very often because she lives in Illinois and we only see her every couple of years. We always exchange recipes and try them out. My grandma makes all kinds of cookies for Christmas. When we visit her house she has tubs and tubs full of every kind of cookie you could want. It’s amazing.
I’ve always liked her sugar cookies the best. I made them this weekend with Isla and then my nephews came over to decorate them. We had so much fun using different icing and sprinkles. Isla wasn’t that into it this year but I think she will enjoy it later on.
Here is the recipe that I used:
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I also hope you’re excited to get some new ideas for Christmas books to read to your child because I’ve put together a short list of books to read with your children during December!
This year has really flown by. Fall is always such a busy time for us because we have Isla’s birthday and our anniversary in October. I’ve been so busy running around and decorating for the Holidays (Home tour coming soon), that I have really had to make slowing down and focusing on what’s around me during this season a priority. It’s so easy to get swept up in social media and screen time during the colder months but I’ve really been making an effort to make memories with Isla.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Whoa. I just had 3 days of not even touching a computer. I’ve got to be honest with you, it was so nice taking a few days off and spending time with family. I had a few more Christmas posts planned but we had Evan’s family here for a few days and we had a pretty full schedule.
There is so much that goes into every blog post and they typically take about 3-4 hours to edit, keyword, SEO, proofread, add photos, make a pin for Pinterest, add those pins to a scheduler and a lot of other stuff too.
I’ve been blogging for almost a month. We launched on the 26th of November. I had been writing a lot longer than that but we decided to share with the world on that day. I’ve learned a lot in the last month of blogging and I thought I’d share some of that with you.
Holiday Home Tour – 2018
CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!!! I’m pumped. As much as I wish I did, I currently don’t have every room in the house decorated. It’s hard enough keeping my current decorations in place with a toddler who insists on trying to re-decorate. She just doesn’t understand my vision, guys.
The areas that I have decorated are the porch, the dining room where the Tree is (It’s the only room that has a big bay window and I love seeing the tree when I pull up to our house), our kitchen (very minimal decorating in here. It’s mostly the island top where the baby can’t reach. We also have our entryway decorated and of course the fireplace! That is about it though.
I’m sure when Isla is older we will go all out but at the same time I really enjoy only have to pack a couple of tubs at the end of the holiday season. We have made a conscious effort this last year to have less stuff. We donated a ton of Christmas decorations at the beginning of the season and it felt really good to only hold onto the pieces that we really love.
I’m so excited to show you 3 different ideas for your dining table at Christmas time! I hope you enjoy these ideas as much as I enjoyed putting them together! These are all Christmas Tablescape looks you could recreate with things you probably already have at home!
All three looks have a book page table runner that I felt added some dimension to the table. It was so simple to make. I just used pages from an old book and scattered them down the center of the table. The three tablescapes all include fresh greenery that was found at Trader Joe’s. Make sure your greenery isn’t dried out. It’s important to never leave a candle burning, especially around dried out pine.
Let’s dive in!
Does everyone already have their porch decorated for Christmas?
If not, I’ve got a few simple ideas for you. My decorations are super easy to recreate and look very festive. I didn’t buy a Christmas door mat yet so if you already have one of those you’re a step ahead of me, but I wanted to go ahead and do this post in case anyone was needing some inspiration.
I always see a ton of posts on Instagram of porches that are decked out with a ton of stuff but I prefer just a few items for a seasonal look. After all, my porch isn’t that big. I also have noticed a ton of posts where every single decoration is neutral or flocked. Our tree in our house is pretty neutral so I wanted some color on the porch. I love all the red. So Christmas-y. Now, I just need some carolers to stop by and sing about figgy pudding.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliated links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Is anyone else super excited about being Santa this year? I am so looking forward to seeing Isla open presents and starting Christmas traditions with her. I’m also really pumped that so many of you have read my posts. It means so much. You have no idea. December is only a day away and I think I’m going to try and do blog-mas this year and publish a post for every day of December. I really want to document our lives while Isla Rose is little and Christmas is such a special time, so expect lots of new content if you are subscribed!
I’m writing today to let you know about a fun project I’ve been working on! I don’t get to build very often because our daughter goes to bed at 6:30 and power tools are loud but I was able to steal away for a little bit and throw this vintage looking sled together! I started building furniture in 2012 and almost everything in my house was built by myself and Evan. Carpentry can be very relaxing and my goal is to help those of you that might be intimidated by using power tools or saws. I hope you give it a try!
Isla just had her first birthday in October and let me tell you, our house is jam-packed at the moment because she got a rocking horse, a cozy coupe car, and a bunch of smaller toys. What I’m planning on doing in the weeks leading up to Christmas is a little toy clear out with the intention to donate some of her stuff that she doesn’t use anymore or has outgrown. We are doing a few smaller gifts for Isla and some stocking-stuffers this year. She has so much stuff that i’m kind of dreading go through it all.
She will be 14 months old by the time Christmas rolls around so it will be much more fun than last year. She kind of knows what is going on this year. Well, she knows that she likes to open presents. I can’t wait to be Santa, you guys. I might even dress up but I will most definitely eat the peanut butter cookies that I make for him.
These are the items I have purchased for her for this year: I’ve also posted the links to each to make it even more helpful. I’m not including shoes or clothes in this list because I feel like that should be a separate post. This list is for toys only.
Update: I did a post on what books I got Isla for Christmas and you can find that list here.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
1-My First Stacking Cups:
My girl loves to stack things. Need I say more? These are such a simple and great gift. They are compact when stacked and travel well in the diaper bag or my purse.
2-Endangered Species by Sud Bath Crayons:
Isla loves to play in the bath and the only thing I’m worried about with these is her trying to eat them but I never leave her in the bath so it shouldn’t be a problem. I plan to use these to write letters and shapes and let her draw some in the bathtub. These are made of soap so don’t just leave them in the water – they will eventually dissolve. The manufacturer of these crayons donates a portion of the profits to wildlife conservation as well.
Does anyone else find inspiration in the target dollar spot? I know I can’t be the only one. We live next to the target with the absolute best dollar spot. It’s always stocked up with seasonal goodies and usually a line of Starbucks armed mamas are trying to squeeze in and find some treasure.
On one such treasure hunt last week I found favor with the dollar spot and came home with 2 packages of these snowballs. They were $3 each and came with 10 snowballs in each bag.
I got to thinking about all that cute pom-pom garland I’ve seen all over Instagram on everyone’s tree and started reading tutorials on DIY pom poms. Who has time for that? Not this mama. So I bought these snowballs in hopes of making some faux pom pom garland.
Here is how I did it:
