The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I do love Christmas, and I do believe it's one of the most wonderful times of the year. When I think of Christmas lately, though, it seems like "lots". Lots of food, lots of presents, lots of decorations, traditions, and plans. And every one of those things can be wonderful, but too much "lots" gives way to too much stress and mental clutter. This year, I wanted to change it.

Our to-do list around the holidays always went something like this:

• Visit Santa
• Bake Christmas cookies from scratch {sometimes twice because the first batch would be gone by Christmas Eve when we had to leave out cookies for Santa}
• Watch all of our Christmas movies
• Cut down the perfect tree
• Decorate the perfect tree
• Decorate outside
• Decorate inside
• Put the Christmas village out on perfect display
• Write letters to Santa
• Watch the Holidazzle parade {BRRRR!}
• Attend a holiday brass band concert
• Practice the primo part in the Nutcracker Suite piano music so I could play the duets with my piano playing genius husband
• Find and buy the perfect Christmas outfits for the kids
• Shop for everyone's perfect gift(s)
• Host a Christmas party

I think I've left a few dozen things out, but you get the picture.

When it came time to get out the boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations this year, I found myself for the first time ever thinking, "I don't really care if I put out this Christmas candy dish" and "I don't want these Christmas hand towels out anymore" and "Do we really need to watch every Christmas movie we own?".


Some of my favorite Christmas decor: a sleigh to hold the
holiday cards and letters we receive and our Santa mug for candy canes

I'm the type of person who has all of the Christmas decorations taken down before we go to bed Christmas night. The carpet is vacuumed of pine needles, and the bells and wreaths are stored away by December 26th, so it doesn't really surprise me, I guess, that I've made this leap to the less cluttered side of Christmas. Looking through the boxes of our Christmas decor this year, I denied probably two-thirds of it. The extra wreaths and candy dishes and tea towels and the artificial tree {yes, because putting up a second tree used to be on the to-do list} are all still stored away. And you know what? I love it. The house is not stuffed with all of the extra stuff I thought I needed to display. And do you know what else? Our to-do list was shortened considerably, too.

We still made Christmas cookies from scratch, but I will not make a second batch {even though these ones will be long gone before Santa arrives}.

We still trudged through the snow and found the perfect tree, took it home, and decorated it.

I still put up my favorite Christmas wreaths. Nothing says "Come in from the cold" like a pretty wreath frosted in snow.

We still saw Santa and told him what we want, and we've even watched some of our Christmas movies. But we've left a lot of things off the list right from the start. I'm looking forward to saying no to watching the Holidazzle parade and instead grabbing our hot chocolate to go in the car while we take our time driving around to find the best Christmas lights in town. And I'm not practicing the primo part in the Nutcraker Suite this year, either. Instead, I'm sitting in the glow of our Christmas tree listening to my husband play solo.

We're not attending that brass band concert, but I will go ice skating and laugh as my kids skate circles around me.

And I will crank up the Christmas music and sing along to "Baby It's Cold Outside" while I make dinner and the kids argue over Legos {some things never do change}.

It's less than two weeks until Christmas, and I haven't missed any of our old to-do's at all. Are you finding that less is more merry?

You Can Be a Little Bit Fancy

Go ahead, it's fun. With Thanksgiving only two days away, I'm well aware of those "big deal" things, like the head count, the pies {apple for me, please}, the bird. Then there are the little things, the ones we could easily overlook while we're yelling at our husbands to get the extra chairs out of the garage, but the ones that make the celebration extra fun and a little fancy. 

During the spring semester of my junior year in college, I was awarded the English Department's book scholarship. I had free reign to buy $50 worth of books at Border's; I simply had to turn in my receipt to the English Department secretary to be reimbursed. After 45 minutes of browsing, I had made my selections and showed my husband {my fiance at the time} what I had decided on.

"The Art of Napkin Folding and Etiquette for Everyday? I'm pretty sure the English Department wants you to buy something like Moby Dick," he told me.

"I don't care. It's my scholarship. I'm still reading, aren't I?"

Needless to say, I didn't receive that award again. But that napkin folding book has brought me plenty of use. When friends come for dinner and my husband spots the napkins transformed into pieces of art, even he can't deny that it was a good buy. So here's a little something fun and fancy to add to your Thanksgiving table this year.

How?

1. Start with a cloth napkin laid flat on the table.
P.S. Iron it first!

2. Fold the bottom of the napkin up to meet the top.

3. Fold the top layer of the napkin down.

4. Fold the top back up to meet the top of the new fold.

5. Carefully flip the napkin over.

6. Fold the right side of the napkin into the center.

7. Fold the left side in to meet the right.

8. Pull back the bottom right side of the napkin and tuck the left snugly inside.

The back of your napkin will look like this:

9. Flip the napkin over and insert silverware.



Easy, and a little bit fancy! The best part? You can set the table and fold the napkins the night before, saving yourself a little extra time for yelling at your husband to get those extra chairs out of the garage tomorrow.

A Corny Project? I Don't Think So.

The gurus at Pottery Barn did it again. They sent their Fall Catalog to my home, sucking me right into their perfectly decorated world. I've thumbed through the pages of each and every one of my Pottery Barn catalogs more times than I can count, admiring furniture, room arrangements, paint colors and accessories every time. One particular page that struck me was one that featured a table set for a Thanksgiving feast {or maybe just Tuesday night's dinner} and showcased a beautiful centerpiece with Indian corn and a candle aglow.



Image Via

 I knew this had to sit on our dining room table. It's on, Pottery Barn.

I wasted no time picking up some Indian Corn at a little Farmer's Market {about a dozen ears} and gathered some raffia ribbon and brown ribbon, a large glass candleholder that sits on our patio table all summer, rubber bands, and tape.

With my supplies at hand and my Pottery Barn catalog nearby for a cheat sheet, I placed a rubber band around the candleholder and started adding in ears of corn.

When the entire candleholder had been surrounded with corn, I placed a second rubber band around it for added security.

Next I cut a piece of brown ribbon to fit around the rubber bands and taped it in place. I tied a few pieces of the raffia ribbon over the brown one and called it complete.



Pretty easy! Who's bringing the turkey?

Having a Spooky Party? Give Yourself a Hand.

Halloween calls for a party, at least we think so in our home. My husband and I host a Murder Mystery every year when the spooky holiday draws near, and this year is no exception.

Serving a large dinner is always part of the tradition {complete with lots and lots of extra goodies}, and sometimes I like to throw a little something extra into the mix, like a frozen hand.

Don't you think your next party needs a frozen hand? And it's such an easy party trick; just remember to prepare at least a day in advance of your get together. Pick yourself up a couple of disposable gloves {powder free!!} and rubber bands {one per glove}. I usually make two frozen hands just in case something bad happens to one. Nothing bad has ever happened to one of my frozen hands, but I like to be prepared, you know?

Just like with any food prep, rinse the inside of the gloves before filling them with water. And remember - powder free! No one wants to drink punch that has acquired a powdery taste as the night goes on. Fill your gloves with water, leaving just enough room at the base to secure with a rubber band.

Pop your gloves into the freezer and forget about them so you can get back to cooking, baking, and cleaning like a banshee.

On the day of your party, just before guests arrive, remove your frozen hands from the freezer, unwind the rubber bands, and cut the gloves free. I run a bit of warm water over the gloves for a few seconds first to help ease the ice away from the gloves. Plop the hands into a bowl of your favorite red punch - pretty easy!

Have fun, have some punch, and give yourself a hand for adding a fun element to your party.

Framed!

I love photographs - love, love, love them. I have photos framed and placed all over the house.

My husband thinks I have an unhealthy obsession with trying to get just the right shot. Can you blame me? I'm trying to capture a moment in time! He'll thank me someday. A home filled with photos tells several stories, reminders of people and places and pets and special events - memories. But over the years I've found that photographs aren't the only items suitable for frames. Special letters, love notes jotted down in hurried moments, cards, and oodles more can all be framed, and they all have that same effect of evoking memories and personalizing our spaces.

One of my favorite framed items is my mom's recipe for chili. Before my wedding, I asked her to handwrite several of her recipes for me. Her recipe for chili is a favorite of my husband's and mine, and I placed it in a double frame alongside a picture of her and myself on a day that we were doing some shopping for my wedding.

I keep the frame on a counter in the kitchen. It's both functional and personal; it's something I'll cherish for the rest of my life.

We have a space downstairs that outfits a bar and a second family room/game room/media area, and we've devoted the wall space and decor to photos and momentos from vacations. One of my favorites includes a frame with some memories from a trip to San Juan. My husband and I were there for an evening, a stop on a cruise, and we had dinner at a restaurant called Barrachina. Barrachina's claim to fame is that it's the birthplace of the Pina Colada. Obviously we had to indulge in that! I picked up a business card from Barrachina along with one from a cigar shop we stopped at that same evening and put them, along with a photograph, into a frame to remember the trip.



Cigars and Pina Coladas
Old San Juan
Jan. 2008

In that same room, along with vacation photos {and business cards!}, we've included maps from some of the places we've visited. This is a tradition that started on our honeymoon in Jamaica. A framed map of the country is displayed in the middle of some of our most favorite honeymoon photos.

We bought a map of the Virgin Islands and framed it among pictures from that trip, as well.

One of the most special things I've framed isn't a picture or a map or a card. It's a small pin of a Lily of the Valley.

The Lily of the Valley is the birth flower for the month of May. My father's birthday was in May, and the Lily of the Valley happened to be his favorite flower. He passed away several years ago, and whenever I spot the special flower, I think of him. This one sits on my dresser where I see it everyday.

Letters or quick notes from loved ones also make the list of frame worthy items. They're personal glimpses into special relationships; framing them is a great way to fill your home with memories.

Just make sure whatever note you're framing is something you're comfortable with your grandmother reading when she comes to visit! {It's probably best to keep anything hot and heavy tucked away in a box labeled "Bills and Boring Documents"!}

Of course, you can always get crafty and frame something you made, like the "W" in our master bedroom.

What an easy way to add personality to a space!

I'm kind of on a roll with framing anything other than photographs; I'm even thinking of framing my daughter's school lunch menu. Why not? I look at it Monday through Friday! I think it deserves a frame. What have you framed today?

Good Clean Fun

Being a lover of homes and decor and texture and details, naturally I love the little things. I'm a believer that adding a wow factor to your space doesn't have to cost a lot of money or be the first thing people see when they walk in the door. Rather, a home's character is hidden in the details, the bits and pieces scattered about. So what's my point? I really love this monogrammed set of soap from Pottery Barn.

As in I really, really love it. I love how fancy it looks just sitting there in that bowl. I love that it's personalized with the owners' initials. I love how it seems so spa-like and pretty. I kept it on my list of things to buy sometime, you know, whenever I have an extra $49 sitting around for six bars of soap {on sale right now for $39!}. A few years ago, in an attempt to satiate my desire for the Pottery Barn soap, I bought bars of plain old Ivory soap and convinced my wonderful husband to help me shave them down so they were at least smooth and nice and looked a little better sitting in a bowl. I placed them in one of the bowls from a Goodwill Hunting trip, but they looked a little sad.

That soap needed help. I still loved the Pottery Barn soap, but I couldn't bring myself to hit "Submit." I wasn't about to carve our initials into the Ivory, either, so I had to come up with a different solution. Besides decorating and organizing, I also love to design cards and invitations. I decided to play around and make my own monogram to wrap around the soap.

Good enough for me! Watch out Pottery Barn; I was motivated now. I used my handy paper cutter to cut some strips from a paper bag I'd saved from the grocery store.

And taped the paper at the back of the soap.

Next I printed my monograms and cut them out.

After using my hot glue gun to center the monogram onto the front of the paper strip, my soap was set.

Back in the bowl it went, and I now had my own spa-inducing set of soap.

Love is in the details! How great would these soaps be for baby or wedding shower favors? For a few bucks, these soaps pack quite a punch. Take that Pottery Barn. {But thank you very much for the inspiration!!}