It's Christmas Time!

Lately I have been in the Christmas mood. I just want to drink hot chocolate in front of the fire, watch Christmas movies, and decorate. My last post promised a picture of the old window we are going to use as a decoration for our wedding. I got the Christmas burlap ribbon last night, so I started decorating right away. Here is the window we bought:

Nothing too special about it now, but we will be adding ribbon and lots of pictures to it later. Here it is after I added some holiday cheer to it:

I love how simple it is. I almost added more ribbon down the sides, but decided less is more with this piece. The burlap ribbon is from Ballard Designs. It comes in other colors and you can order it here. The ribbon has wire in it, so it bends nicely and holds its shape. The boxwood wreath is from Target. I have been eyeing it for a while, and once I saw it was reduced for Black Friday, I didn't think twice before putting it in my shopping cart. Target tends to have that effect on me. :)

Dan and I just bought our first Christmas tree. :) Have I mentioned how much I love Christmas? Or Christmas trees? Or Christmas lights? At Christmas, it will be one year since Dan proposed in front Christmas lights. :) We found a great 7 1/2' prelit tree at Home Depot. We had looked there a few weeks ago, but were really glad we waited because the prices were drastically reduced when we went back. Right now, I am enjoying it looking natural, but I will be decorating it soon! If you are in need of a tree, I recommend looking at Home Depot, but do it soon. They were almost sold out by Cyber Monday.

Happy Holidays!

Halloween Party Success

This post is way late. Better late than never, right? The party went well. I ended up with a lot of extra food and drinks. I was excited to have an excuse to bake, so I made a lot. I was planning on making more. I had a whole Pinterest album of recipes ready to go! (Good thing I ran out of time before making enough food to feed an army). Here are a few pictures of some the goodies.

Veggie Plate:

Witch Oreos:
 

  

Inspired by this Oreo ad:

 

Spider Cupcakes:

 

It was my mom's idea to add the chocolate sprinkles to make them look hairy. :)

My favorite- hot chocolate rice krispie treat mice:

 

 

 

To make these, just add a cup of hot chocolate mix to the rice krispie mixture before stirring. You can add more to darken the color and intensify the chocolate taste, but don't do more than two cups max.

 

And a little bit of decor:

 

 

This chubby guy makes me smile.

 

The winner of our pumpkin carving contest:

 

 

 

Party At My House!

This year, I am hosting a Halloween party at my house. This is normally done by my good friends, Leslie & David, but this year, they are expecting their first child right before Halloween. Since they will be busy with life changing times, I was volunteered to take on the annual hosting. Yes, you read that right. I was volunteered by a friend. This friend also informed me that this will be a costume party.

Let me begin with noting that I am not a huge fan of Halloween. I hate all gory, scary, death-related things. I don't even watch scary movies. If I do, which I haven't in many years, they really get to me and I can't sleep for about a month. I can't even look at the gory things in the Halloween aisles of Wal-Mart. They gross me out. Having said that, I'm sure you can probably guess what my Halloween party will be like.

Here are a few ideas I have so far...

MarthaStewart.com

pinterest

Pinterest

bhg.com via Pinterest

 bhg.com via Pinterest

 via Pinterest

via Pinterest

hgtv.com

via Pinterest

 

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

Pretty mild, right?

I plan on baking Halloween and fall themed things. There will also be punch, probably served in a cauldron with dry ice.

I have been brainstorming for a costume, but nothing is coming to mind that I like. I have no idea what I'm going to wear. Have any suggestions? I would love help!

While I can't thing of a single costume for me, it's not so hard for my dog. Of course, she will wear a costume too. What do you think?

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

Ch-ch-ch-chia!

Etsy

Etsy

That Chia Pet Costume makes me laugh every time!