Santa can you hear me?

Dear Santa,

With Christmas just days away, and me in utter and complete panic mode, I really could use some elves' help. You see, awhile ago I opened my big fat mouth and offered to host Christmas at my house. Oh baby Jesus, WHATWASITHINKING?!?

Now I am just wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying that it will hurry up and go away. I know, bad Christmas spirit.

But if you would be so kind as to send some help, I am sure we can whip my house into holiday shape in no time. Even though you are the master of all things Christmas, I took the liberty of pulling a few ideas out of my hat.









Please, dear Santa, for the love of Mrs. Claus, HELP!

p.s. If it's not too much to ask, could you throw in some snow as well...

No? What about sleet?

Come on Santa, Bring.it.on!

All pics found here.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

This will be our third Christmas as a married couple and I am sad to say that this line from the classic Christmas story has never been fulfilled in our house. Alas, I was determined that this would be the year. It's not that I had never looked for stockings; it's just that I could never find any that suited my taste or my insanely cheap habits.

Tis the season to be merry...and thrifty, I say.

Below you will find my supply list:


I used what I had, except for the glitter and wooden letters which came from Hobby Lobby.

I started by lightly staining the sides of each letter, then modge-podged them, followed by a healthy shot of glitter.



Here they are all ready for their close-up:


Next, I took extra burlap that had been hanging around left over from this project and cut it following the line of an old stocking.



I had grand intentions of gluing them with a glue gun then hand-stitching them, but I got lazy and I also couldn't find my glue sticks.

Soooooooo....

I modge-podged them too.....and it worked!

Here they are all finished and oh-so-pretty.







To be honest, I could have skipped the staining step because you really couldn't see it after it was all together.

Are they perfect? No.

Will it stop Santa from stuffing them full of goodies? Absolutely not!

Thanks for looking and I am adding them to DIY Show Off Holiday Highlights and Kimba's DIY Day. Please check them out!

The Art of Christmas Cookies: 101

I have been on the hunt for the perfect Christmas cookie for well over half my life. Every year, my mom would make Christmas cookies and frost them with that 7 minute frosting. They always looked good, but the taste...well, it left much to be desired. I always felt bad for Santa having to eat those cookies and I vividly remember one year he FORGOT (gasp!) to eat them.

Yeah, that should have told me something.

Anyway this year, I decided to conquer the Christmas cookie world. I found a recipe that looked exactly like the cookies from my favorite local bakery and decided to give it a whirl.

Here is my inspiration:


And here is a brief pictorial of my steps:


As with all cooking in my house, start with a glass of your finest, cheapest wine.



Roll out your dough.


No cookie cutter? No problem. I found that an upside down wine glass worked splendidly.

I tell ya, wine+me = genius!




The recipe says that 8 minutes worked perfectly for their cookies. This was also true for mine. Absolutely perfect to be exact, not too hard or too soft.


Next up, Decorating! However, I would advise to wait until they are completely cool or at least move them off of the hot stove top.


Also, you have to let the bottom layer set, BEFORE applying your piping or else it will end up looking like this:


Be still my beating heart...


I don't know about you, but I think mine are a dead ringer for the original!
In all honesty, these are WAY better the next day and they really are the best cookie that I have ever made.

Try them, you'll like them...I promise!

Sneaks and peaks

Deck the Halls

Our halls have been decked, the tree is trimmed, and stockings are hung.
We're anxiously waiting for St. Nicholas to come!

Are you?

Pics to soon follow...