Merry Christmas everyone! Praying this day is full of joy in celebration of our Savior's birth.
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| Photo cred |
Last Minute Christmas Table Decor
So we've been to the grocery store almost everyday and Target several times, but somehow we overlooked the table decor. Ugh! We usually try and craft something for place cards but didn't think of it until today. Luckily, we had a couple things to throw together and I think they turned out pretty cute. We plan on placing them on top of the napkins.
Supplies:
twine or ribbon (red would be super cute)
candy canes
garland or snip a few pieces off your tree
printable tags or gift tags
scissors
hole punch
Directions:
First, I printed these cute little tags from this blog. I used one for a gift in a mason jar and then decided to print more for the table decor. I hole punched each so I could string the twine through it. Then, I snipped a few pieces of greenery off a bouquet that my mom got this past weekend. We have a fake tree so I didn't want to start cutting pieces off of it lol. I placed the greenery and candy cane on top of the twine and tied the printable tag to it. Voila.... simple and cute Christmas table decor :)
Supplies:
twine or ribbon (red would be super cute)
candy canes
garland or snip a few pieces off your tree
printable tags or gift tags
scissors
hole punch
Directions:
First, I printed these cute little tags from this blog. I used one for a gift in a mason jar and then decided to print more for the table decor. I hole punched each so I could string the twine through it. Then, I snipped a few pieces of greenery off a bouquet that my mom got this past weekend. We have a fake tree so I didn't want to start cutting pieces off of it lol. I placed the greenery and candy cane on top of the twine and tied the printable tag to it. Voila.... simple and cute Christmas table decor :)
Merry Christmas everyone!
Christmas Party Treats
Last night my mom, sister, and I hosted a scarf exchange party at my parents house. We try to do a small get together for the ladies each year and we thought we would change it up by exchanging scarves. We put together a few appetizers and little treats for everyone to munch on throughout the night. I thought I would share a couple of my favorites today.
Christmas Crunch
One of my favorite treats was the Christmas Crunch. I've made this a couple times and it's always a hit. I thought I would share the recipe today. You can find the recipe I used here.
Ingredients:
1 cup of popcorn kernels
1 or 2 bags of vanilla candy melts (we used a 16 oz. bag)
2 cups of broken pretzel pieces
1 (12 oz.) bag of green and red M&Ms
green and red sprinkles
wax paper
Directions:
1. Pop the popcorn kernels according to the directions on the package. Remove any unpopped kernels.
2. Toss the popcorn, pretzel pieces, and M&Ms into a large bowl. Mix together.
3. Drizzle half of the melted chips on top of the popcorn and gently mix with a rubber spatula.
4. Mix in the rest of the chips and spread evenly onto wax paper.
5. Sprinkle the green and red sprinkles on top of the popcorn before the vanilla candy melts harden.
6. Allow to cool and harden, then break apart.
7. Store in an air tight container.
Cranberry Brie Bites
We also made cranberry brie bites and they were super easy and delicious... my favorite combination :) You can find the original recipe here.
Ingredients:
1 package of puff pastry, thawed
1/2 lb. brie
1 cup of cranberry sauce
Directions:
1. Set the puff pastry out to thaw.
2. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Spread out the puff pastry and cut into 3x3 squares.
4. Spray the muffin tins with pam. Place the puff pastry squares in the muffin tins.
5. Cut the brie into a 3/4 inch cubes and place in the middle of the puff pastry.
6. Top the cheese with about 2 tsp. of cranberry sauce.
7. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Christmas Crunch
One of my favorite treats was the Christmas Crunch. I've made this a couple times and it's always a hit. I thought I would share the recipe today. You can find the recipe I used here.
Ingredients:
1 cup of popcorn kernels
1 or 2 bags of vanilla candy melts (we used a 16 oz. bag)
2 cups of broken pretzel pieces
1 (12 oz.) bag of green and red M&Ms
green and red sprinkles
wax paper
Directions:
1. Pop the popcorn kernels according to the directions on the package. Remove any unpopped kernels.
2. Toss the popcorn, pretzel pieces, and M&Ms into a large bowl. Mix together.
3. Drizzle half of the melted chips on top of the popcorn and gently mix with a rubber spatula.
4. Mix in the rest of the chips and spread evenly onto wax paper.
5. Sprinkle the green and red sprinkles on top of the popcorn before the vanilla candy melts harden.
6. Allow to cool and harden, then break apart.
7. Store in an air tight container.
Cranberry Brie Bites
We also made cranberry brie bites and they were super easy and delicious... my favorite combination :) You can find the original recipe here.
Ingredients:
1 package of puff pastry, thawed
1/2 lb. brie
1 cup of cranberry sauce
Directions:
1. Set the puff pastry out to thaw.
2. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Spread out the puff pastry and cut into 3x3 squares.
4. Spray the muffin tins with pam. Place the puff pastry squares in the muffin tins.
5. Cut the brie into a 3/4 inch cubes and place in the middle of the puff pastry.
6. Top the cheese with about 2 tsp. of cranberry sauce.
7. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Spread Some Christmas Cheer with Random Acts of Kindness
Christmas is such a special time of year but not just because of the presents and parties. It's a time to give to others and bless someone in an unexpected way. A few years ago my family started doing random acts of kindness in the month of December and I love this tradition. Not only does it feel great to do something nice for someone but we may be impacting people in more ways than we can imagine.
In November, in my Veteran's Day post, I shared a story about a random person paying for our dinner because the guys were all wearing their uniforms. This person wasn't publicly acknowledged for doing this very generous deed but we will never forget it.
This time of year can be extra stressful for people who are struggling financially or who have lost a loved one. I try to think about this when doing our random acts of kindness. Can you imagine the impact we could make if were a little more thoughtful in this way?? This is a list of some of the things that we will be doing for the rest of the month. I encourage you to share this list and add some ideas of your own :) Merry Christmas!!
Today I am linking up with Jessica, Amy, and Alisha for the Bits of Cheer holiday linkup. I'm also linking up with Katie, Pinky, and Sara for their Countdown to Christmas. Check out their blogs for more holiday goodness!
Weekend Recap
It's so amazing to be writing this knowing that my weekend is continuing because I have the next two weeks off! Woohoo! Sorry to brag but I am so excited :)
This weekend was super fun and full of family time. It started on Friday night when we arrived in Vegas around 7:00 p.m. My family throws a Christmas party on the last day of school before break so we always try to hurry and make it in time. Mark packed up the truck alone since I had to work in the morning. Thanks hubby!! :) The party was super fun and it was great to see old family friends.
On Saturday, we had a big breakfast and then I headed to get my hair cut and colored. I was in SERIOUS need of a trim so I'm so glad that Robin had time to squeeze me in. I love how it turned out :)
Then my mom and I headed out to finish some Christmas shopping. We went to Kohls, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Ulta. We got a couple good deals but also struck out in some other areas. Bummer. We then headed to the store to round up some ingredients for fondue. We decided on chicken, beef, and mushrooms for the broth part of the fondue and then got bread and apples for the cheese fondue. It turned out delicious!!
On Sunday, my mom made us another big breakfast... one of the many perks of being home :) We also watched the sermon from our home church on my computer while we ate. Afterwards, my mom and I headed back to the mall area to finish up our shopping. We went to Old Navy (they are having a HUGE sale right now), Nordstrom Rock, Golf Galaxy, JcPennys, Macys, and Dicks. We had better luck today and I think I am done besides one gift. AHH so exciting! We rewarded ourselves with a margarita and chips and salsa :) YUM! The drinks were a little bigger than we expected lol.
Later on we went to dinner with Chase, Mark's dad, Uncle Dave, and Grandma Nancy. This was a special treat because Uncle Dave lives in San Diego (so we rarely see him when we are in Vegas) and Grandma Nancy lives in Louisiana. It was nice to spend time together :) We finished the night by attempting to put together a puzzle. We worked on it for a few hours but barely made a dent lol.
I hope you all had a great weekend! I'm looking forward to another few days of fun family time. Happy Monday everyone!
This weekend was super fun and full of family time. It started on Friday night when we arrived in Vegas around 7:00 p.m. My family throws a Christmas party on the last day of school before break so we always try to hurry and make it in time. Mark packed up the truck alone since I had to work in the morning. Thanks hubby!! :) The party was super fun and it was great to see old family friends.
On Saturday, we had a big breakfast and then I headed to get my hair cut and colored. I was in SERIOUS need of a trim so I'm so glad that Robin had time to squeeze me in. I love how it turned out :)
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| It looks WAY more blond here than in person |
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| Mom prepping food |
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| The boys looking at their new toys |
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| Our setup |
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| the GIANT margarita |
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| Beautiful tree at the mall |
Later on we went to dinner with Chase, Mark's dad, Uncle Dave, and Grandma Nancy. This was a special treat because Uncle Dave lives in San Diego (so we rarely see him when we are in Vegas) and Grandma Nancy lives in Louisiana. It was nice to spend time together :) We finished the night by attempting to put together a puzzle. We worked on it for a few hours but barely made a dent lol.
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| Random light show |
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| Picture while taking a picture lol |
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| Bradford fam |
I hope you all had a great weekend! I'm looking forward to another few days of fun family time. Happy Monday everyone!
