Merry Christmas Eve! {Reindeer Pancakes}

We made these super fun, easy pancakes for the kiddos for our traditonal Christmas family pancake breakfast this year. They were quite popular AND delicious :)

Christmas Decor 2012

I apologize for the lack of posts, we have been sick, sick around here. I wanted to document my Christmas decorations this year and hope you enjoy it too!

I love our 9 1/2 ft slim pre-lit tree. And yes: keepin' it real - there are no decorations on the bottom 2 feet after my toddler destroyed 6 ornaments on the first day, everything went up.

In the kitchen...

my faux but real looking poinsettas centerpiece I bought at the grocery store as a present to myself this year:)

 In the windowsill (do you see all that snow? It hasn't stopped today!)

 On top of the china hutch:

 My vintage santa goodwill find

This is the advent calendar my mom made that I grew up with. I absolutely love it and think it is perfect. To me, every other advent calendar pales in comparison!

Our "mantle" PB shelf with stockings hung with care. I made these stockings two years ago. I wanted to blog about them but never got around to it. I  based them on the Pottery Barn Kids stockings. The top is like the classic ones they have every year and the bottom was inspired by these wool vintage-tyoe ones they had in the catalogue that year although I don't see them this year. 

I got the snowflake stocking holders at the Dollar Tree at least 5 years ago. I love them and they are thick and heavy, they were before they started selling them super thin and cheap(er). I'm sad I didn't buy just one more :)

These pretty pillow covers I bought on clearance from Dear Lillie. They work perfectly with my existing pillows and I love the colors. This, and the poinsettas, are the only things I bought this year.

Here is the entry table and chalboard, I just messed around with drawing on it but it'll work for now. I love how this little vignette came together.

On top of the piano: our nativities. The Little People one is usually under the tree so the kids can play with it but daddy got tired of stepping on them strewn across the floor every night so it is taking a little break next to the other one for now :)

And here is the "Akward Ledge" that is really hard to photograph so I did it in a group of three. We really love how it turned out and looks even awesomer in person :) (is awesomer a word?)

And of course, every house needs a Christmas village and train, right? I love this one that lights up and the little train goes around the track. It doesn't take up much space and since we can't have a nice train around the tree (see ornament situation above), this will work just fine.

How did you decorate this year? Do you love your decorations? Happy decorating!

Holiday Inspiration 2012

Greetings, dear readers! I hope you are enjoying the kick-off of this wonderful holiday season. This is the most extensive post I have done in quite some time, and I really hope you enjoy it and can reap a few (or more!) great ideas from it. Granted, none of the ideas are mine, but I have put together an awesome collection of holiday ideas organized right here in one post.
A lot of these ideas are on my pinterest boards, and some are ones that I searched for specifically. All of them have a source underneath their image so you can go right to it and find out more details. I made sure to go the extra mile to include all the correct sources, there are a few that I couldn't find and so they are linked back to my pin.
One last thing: for some reason there is a huge gap in the post between food and kids. When I am editing the draft it is fine but when it's published it goes crazy- sorry about that. So just keep scrolling down until you see the rest of the post. Thanks.
Here we go..... Enjoy!

GIFT IDEAS

Treat filled and decorated cupcake containers

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Handmade reusable gift bags and tags

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Chalkboard tags

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Perfect recycled containers for little gifts

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Gift for grandmas

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Cute inexpensive wood craft ornament

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Cookbook wrapped up in a lovely new dish towel

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PRINTABLES

Love the chalkboard look and my favorite Christmas song!

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Lovely rustic woodland gift tags- maybe more of a masculine look for the men in your life?

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Everyone needs to remember to say "thank you" after all the receiving is done:

source Easy gift tag cut outs on any paper you wish

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Lovely December month printable (She has one for each month, check it out!)

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HOME EXTERIOR

I think we've all drooled over this Pottery Barn pic:

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This was actually for the door vinyl but I just love the garland:

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LOVE the wreaths on every window. Very East coast/Colonial to me.

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CLOTHES

This just looks comfy and perfect.

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I actually own this dress. It makes me happy :)

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These Kate Spade gold cap shoes are pretty much ah-maze-ing. Life of the party.

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I have a weakness for great plaid bags in the winter.

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I need a very warm something like this. Even though it is Men's, I still love it best.

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HOME DECOR

Waiting for this pillow cover set to come in the mail. Perfect for my existing couch pillows.

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Such a fun idea! Would be fun in any color or for birthdays too.

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Simple, no cost idea for hanging Christmas cards.

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Love this, except I would add some red :) I am a fun-loving red and green girl when it comes to my Christmas decorating!

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Lovin' all things chalkboard.

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Perfect vase filler, and yummy too! Love the antique jars and lids. Anyone know where I can find these lids????

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Seen lots of these but the star shape is unique.

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Just fun.

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Candy cane placecard holders. Practical AND delicious treat for guests!

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Maybe I'll hang a big tin star this year?

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Need to whip up one of these no-sew tree skirts.

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Love my red and green trees with cranberry garland and tons of different ornaments from childhood.

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Don't know why I am taken with these vintage Santa mugs:

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FOOD

Every time I see this picture I just want to dig in.

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I love how you can easily drizzle the frosting on instead of going to all the work of hand piping and icing.

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Always a favorite and so easy to make festive. You could even do a chocolate fondue and let people decorate their own.

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Just cute. Kids would go nuts decorating these.

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A healthy holiday treat!

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KIDS

What a great way to use up all those pesky little perler beads :)

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I am so doing this (or should I say making my kids go along with this:)

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Always looking for different ways to pin the "whatever" on the "whatever" at my kids parties.

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Easy art. Can't wait to see what my kiddos come up with for each little "quilt block."

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Easy! That's the way I like it.

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How cute is this and I know the kids would LOVE it:

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And last but not least, am I the only one who does this to my kids on Christmas morning? My parents did it to me, and we were not allowed to cross until they gave us the "ok." Talk about torture!

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That about wraps it up! There are so many great ideas out there but these are the ones I can realistically see myself doing and that are truly inspiring me. What about you? Thanks for stopping by!

DIY Chalkboard

I have been wanting to make a chalkboard that I can easily update with the seasons/holidays. (I took down that huge ridiculous one on the odd ledge). This one was really easy to make and it turned out perfect. I used an old 23" picture frame with it's "artwork" still intact that I had bought last spring at a thrift store for $3 that I didn't end up using for what I originally bought it for.

Here is the frame and insert BEFORE: 

And here is the entry table space I wanted to put it BEFORE:

I used Rustoleum's Chalkboard Paint and a small roller set and just painted it right onto the poster. This worked because the poster was already adhered to a cardboard backing, otherwise it would have been too thin. In that case I would have had to cut wood to fit the frame or bought a frame with a wood backing that I could paint. The paint went on great, just make sure you stir it really, really well first. It will look like it has a blue tint but don't worry.

For the frame I just used a standard white flat spray paint. It was indoor/outdoor Premium Decor paint in white and I actually really liked it - it went on really well and even and the nozzle was nice and wide so my finger didnt get sore (!)

The chalkboard paint said it should dry for 3 days so I let it sit in the garage for 3 days just to be safe! Then I got my chalk and seasoned the chalkboard before writing on it. This means I turned the chalk on its' side and rubbed it on the entire chalkboard then wiped it off. It is important to do this with any chalkboard so that this initial seasoning will fill any holes/ porous spots so that when you write on it the first time it doesn't stay like a ghost print in the background forever.

Here is the frame and chalkboard AFTER with my holiday message:

And the space AFTER:

I love it, it's perfect! What do you think? Now I have this can of chalkboard paint and I'm thinking up all kinds of cute, fun things I can do with it........... :)  Have any ideas? Have a great week!