For New Year's Eve

As far as I can remember, our New Year's Eve plans have been booooooring (yawn!) And this year is no exception.

I'm just not a night owl and we don't live near the kind of friends who are up for partying all night!

The one exception to this was the New Year's Eve of 1999. My whole family took a trip to Egypt that year to visit my best friend (whose family are also missionaries). We rung in the year 2000 on a boat in the Nile river - it was definitely something to remember!!

Are you planning a shindig to celebrate the new year? If so, I found some charming printables you might want to take a look at:

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Happy party planning! I'll be living vicariously through all of you :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

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Hurrah for Christmas Eve!

Hurrah for Christmas Eve!

Another day for shopping

For mom and dad

For bro and sis

For goodies to fill the stockings.

For all year long

We've been too busy

Just pushing the shopping date deadline

For this Blessed day out of our minds.

If we would only slow down,

Stop and remember.

The Gift is Jesus Christ,

And just loving each other

Is the best gift and prize.

D. Alsup

Re-using Your Gift Wrap

Before you go tearing into your gifts this Christmas, think about repurposing all of that lovely gift wrap! Below are some of my favorite ideas:

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You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch!

I love reading The Grinch Who Stole Christmas to my students each year. This year, we did a fun extension activity where we wrote/drew what we would do to make the Grinch grin!

They looked a little bit like this (the fabulous Ms. Williams did this in her classroom too!):

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of mine!

Anyways, there's lots of Grinch-themed inspiration on Etsy... take a peek:

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PS: The lucky winner of the large ad space for Arizona Russums is Jaclyn!

Missionary Kid Monday: Christmas in France

{For more on this series, click here}


When we were all still little kids, my parents decided we were going to do our own thing for Christmas and not celebrate the way the French do. Mainly, my family didn't like the idea of opening gifts on Christmas Eve.

Christmas was always a pretty exciting time. Some years, our grandparents flew out to see us! With suitcases full of goodies to spoil us!! Most years, our supporters back in the States were generous in sending us packages filled with random stuff we missed from America.... like Kool Aid, ranch dressing packets, peanut butter, and Oreos.

In later years there were fewer and fewer packages from the States. And that was okay - we always felt like we had enough presents. My parents support level can wane back and forth and I remember a few years in junior high when my mom fretted that there wasn't enough under the tree.

I think that was when we put an emphasis on making Christmas last for as long as possible. First we opened up our stockings, then we had a hot breakfast, then afterwards we opened the gifts under the tree... one at a time. Nobody started opening a gift until the previous person has finished and we had all oohed and aahed!

This tradition of making the merriment last as long as possible is still going strong in our family.

Do you have any special traditions on Christmas morning?

Are We There Yet?

Today is an exciting day!! Once I survive our all-day Polar Express party at school, I'll be coming home to pack up all of our clothes and Christmas presents.

We're driving to Michigan to see family tomorrow!!

It'll be a 20 to 21 hour drive (with the dog of course) and we'll most likely go straight through. I'm looking forward to this road trip: snacks, chatting, sleeping, and listening to our favorite NPR podcasts (This American Life, and Radio Lab).

I'm looking forward to the snow, a warm and cozy fireplace, spending time with my husband's family, and eating to my heart's content (because calories don't count in December, right?!)

My shop will be on vacation mode until January 3rd. I've scheduled a few blog posts till then, but don't you worry! I'll be back in January with something super secret I've been working on and some fun new designs for my store :)

O Christmas Tree

For my whole life, I've only ever had a real Christmas tree, or an artificial green one. And our ornaments have always been an eclectic mix of sentimental handmade ones and random store bought ones over the years.

Have you ever done a monochromatic Christmas where you try to stick to a color scheme? The idea intrigues me. Here are some people that pulled it off really well:

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Gift Giving Traditions

I inadvertently started a gift giving tradition in 2004. It was the year we were all together in California with my grandma:

See how young we all look? (And it was only seven years ago!)

This was the year I made my grandma a scrapbook calendar. To say she loved it is an understatement. Here is ooohing and aaaahing over it:

I was so pleased she was happy with the gift! But now? Now she would like a scrapbooked calendar for every Christmas! And I can't blame her because they are pretty special. But it is a lot of work... a labor of love for me as I look back on our year and collect all the photos I can.


Do you have any gift giving traditions?

Celebrating Advent

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is counting down to the big day. When I was young, we would get the cheap chocolate advent calendars... like this one:

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I would look forward to eating that tiny square of chocolate all day and then look longingly at the rest. When I was a freshman in college, away from the rules of my parents, I bought SIX chocolate advent calendars all for myself. I was such a goodie-two-shoes, it felt like such an act of rebellion to eat SIX squares of chocolate instead of just one!

Nowadays, there are so many beautiful ways to countdown to Christmas. Here are some of my favorites:

 Vintage Style Advent Calendar from Vintage Modern Mix

Printed Pouches from Terrain

Pottery Advent Calendar from A Bit Off Center

Advent Calendar Elf from Garnet Hill

Someday when we have kids, I'm totally getting that elf!! In the meantime, I'll stick with my cheapo chocolate advent calendar - it brings back such nostalgia for me!

How do you celebrate Advent?

Holiday How-To: Bring your Childhood Back

How to bring back that childhood excitement on Christmas morning:

 

1. Have kids. If you don't have kids yet, try the following:

2. Wake up at four in the morning to sneak a peek at the Christmas tree

3. Shake a few gifts and guess what they are.

4. Leave cookies and milk out for Santa. For reals!

5. Wear a Santa hat.

6. Countdown to the big day with a CHOCOLATE advent calendar.

7. Forget about calories for just one day.

8. Wear your PJ's all day long.

9. Get out and actually PLAY in the snow!

10. Watch your favorite holiday movie - from a blanket fort in the living room and with plenty of hot chocolate!

Turkey Trot Down Memory Lane

My family was in town for Thanksgiving last week - it was the first time we were all together in THREE years!

Here we are around the turkey:

Eating out at our favorite Indian fusion restaurant:

And just hanging out:

There was also lots of shopping and general silliness! I miss them all already! Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving as well!!

Advent Calendars

Are you like me? Do you procrastinate? "Oh, December first is a million miles away; I can think about advent calendars later!"

Well guess what?! It's right around the corner! Below, I've featured some printable advent calendars for all of the other procrastinators out there:

Printable Advent Calendar Treat Cones from Anders Ruff

DIY Advent Calendar from A Million Ideas

 Advent Calendar Garland Kit from Two Sisters Originals



Mod Trees Advent Calendar from Julie Marie

Now we can all enjoy some last minute Advent beauty!!

How to observe Thanksgiving

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count yoru joys instead of your woes;

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth.

-Author unknown

To die for

That's what this recipe is: TO DIE FOR! Once you taste this pumpkin cheesecake, you'll never want to go  back to plain ol' pumpkin pie.

picture borrowed from All Recipes

You can find the recipe here. I highly recommend the following changes, though:

1. 1 tsp of vanilla instead of just 1/2
2. generous pinch of the spices
3. an extra 2Tbs sugar
4. take 1 cup and 1/3 cup of the cheesecake mix for the bottom layer instead of just 1 cup

Oh, and a homemade graham cracker crust is really easy and tastes much better than store-bought (although I'll never judge you, either way!

On the road again

Hand embroidered state pillow from Uncommon Goods

Today we'll be making the loooooong drive up to Michigan. It'll take about 22 hours and my crazy husband likes to drive straight through. I can hardly complain though, since he does about 98% of the driving. And I'll be totally excited to see my husband's side of the family once we get there!

I just hope that I don't bite into a Skittle and lose a crown like I did the last time we made this drive. I don't want to look like a hillbilly again!

What are your Thanksgiving plans?

Halloween is for the sweet tooth

I'm not gonna lie to you. Halloween, to me, has always been about the candy. Forget the costumes, the spooky decor, the staying up late, and the scary movies. Just GIVE ME THE CANDY!

When my family moved to France when I was seven years old, it was all just a big adventure.... until I found out that they don't celebrate Halloween over there. What? You mean I can't go door to door and take candy from my neighbors? WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY IS THIS?! (But for the record, other than on Oct. 31st, I really didn't mind living in France).

When we were still living in California, before France, my parents would tell me to pick five pieces of candy from all the loot I had just gathered. Then, the "Pumpkin Fairy" would come and trade all that candy for a TOY!

And since I was only five years old at the time, I totally fell for it.

What a sneaky way for mom and dad to keep all of that candy to themselves. BRILLIANT!

Below, an Etsy tribute to the sweetest American tradition around....

Candy Corn Cauldron Soy Candle from Autumn Meadow

Peanut Butter Cup Crayons from Lil Doodlers

2 GB Flash Drive Candy Dispenser from DHH Design

Candy, Backwards Print from Copper Inc

Gummy Bear Soaps from Frosted Crossbones