christmas cookie

Last Sunday I hosted our annual cookie party. This four year tradition was started by my mom when we moved back to California. It's a great way to amass tons of delicious holiday cookies, perfect for  gifting or eating. This year we had a smaller-than-usual turnout, but that didn't stop the ladies from bringing their finest! I made two types of cookies, from my go-to holiday cookie recipe site. I made Cranberry Noels and Iced Thumbprint Cookies.

My mom and I assembled some simple appetizers and fun champagne drinks for the mid afternoon party.

Everyone brought beautiful cookies to share. We had a great variety; peppermint cookies, cherry and macadamia nut, mini pecan pies, carmel apple, and snicker-doodles to name a few! 

As a fun parting gift, I wrapped up these cute little cookie turners.

pinecone tree

I showed you our entry table, complete with snow globes, trees, and plenty of faux snow! After putting out my ribbon tree from last year, I felt it looked a little lonely - like it could use a buddy... so I decided to make another tree this year. Instead of going the same blingy route as last year, I decided that a rustic tree would complete Mr. White and Gold perfectly. I envisioned something with sticks or wood of some sort. Then my clever hubby suggest pinecones. We bought a cheap bag of pinecones and the cardboard cone at Michaels. Then I set to work pulling apart the pinecones (not so easy...). After a few scrapes and pokes from the prickly pinecones, I had a bowl full of pieces to use for the tree. I started at the bottom and worked my way up to the top of the cone, going around the circle. Then I went back and filled in wherever I saw cardboard peeking through. This little craft only took about an hour, and would have been even quicker, had those pinecones been more agreeable. I love the rustic new addition to the tree family.

a tale of anthro, martha, and lots of glitter

Let me tell you the story of how we made our Christmas snow globes. My inspiration first came from Anthropologie.com where I spied these snow globes in their holiday section. I had every intention of making similar globes for our home. After a visit to the store, I was a little disappointed to find that their snow globes did not contain water- just faux snow at the bottom of the jar. I decided to modify their version to include water. And that's where Martha came in. I read her tutorial for homemade snow globes and assembled the necessary supplies. 

I purchased little bottle brush trees from Michaels, cheap jars in a variety of sizes from World Market and Michaels.  I also got a few small ornaments to throw into the globes. Luckily (being a Kindergarten teacher) I happened to have gigantic jars of glitter, just laying around.  The other items we needed were: glycerin, distilled water,  and clear drying epoxy.

You can read Martha Stewart's directions in more detail here, but this is how we did it. 

First, we used a clear drying epoxy to glue down the tree and various odds and ends to the lid of the jars. The size of each jar's opening dictated how much we could fit on each lid. 

Next, I filled each jar with an inch or so white and silver glitter. 

Then, we poured in distilled water and several drops of glycerin (purchased at Walgreens). 

Finally, Nick used the epoxy to secure the lid to the jar- making sure these guys wouldn't leak when turned over. 

Some things we learned through trial and error:

1. The small ornaments and pinecones made the globes super cloudy over time.

2. The more glycerin, the more "floaty" your snow. 

3. The trees that weren't flocked turned the water blueish green.

Overall, we're really happy with the results and even though some of our snow globes didn't turn out- we have 4 pretty ones displayed in our house this season. 

I shared at Censational Girl! 

sweetness

It's been awhile since I wrote anything about my little ones from school. Yesterday was a bit of a trying day and I had one student who couldn't quite get it together during math stations. He had gotten upset when recess ended and his tears continued into the classroom and well into math time. This student rarely cries so many of my other students were distracted and perplexed with the crier. J, one of my little Kindergarteners, raises his hand and said, "Mrs. Reisfelt, I need a napkin." He got up from the table, got a tissue and came over to my crier and gently wiped his tears with the tissue. Then he whispered, "It's okay... you don't have to cry anymore. You can open your eyes now."

christmasy welcome

If you were to walk into our front door, you'd be greeted by a very Christmasy console table.  I love to do Christmas crafts and this table is where the majority of my craftiness went to this season. In fact, almost everything on the table is homemade (and what's not was purchased from West Elm- can you tell I spend a lot of time there?!).  I brought back my ribbon tree from last year, and added a smaller rustic one to the mix. Mr. Owl hung around for another season. 

Nick and I also spent a couple hours making snow globes last weekend, after being inspired by this Anthropologie version. I'll explain how our craftiness in greater detail later in the week. We finished off the look by added some battery operated twinkling lights and a few mountains of fake snow! 

I just love decorating for the holidays! 

christmas table

Christmas is my favorite time of year and Nick and I have been busy pulling out our Christmas decorations and preparing our home for the joyful season. Last year, our "theme" was Rustic Glam, where we incorporated rustic outdoorsy elements with pretty whites, sparkles, silvers, and golds. This year, we have a lot of the same decor and a few new elements as well. One of my favorite decor items from last year was the rustic box the Nick and Bob built for me. The box made its reappearance this year with more white candles, silver balls, and some Christmas tree clippings. I bought a pretty gold runner from West Elm to finish off the look. Other than this centerpiece, we leave our Christmas table pretty empty so that it's ready to go in the event of a party, dinner party, holiday get-together, or simply a weeknight dinner for Nick and me. During dinner, Nick sweetly lets me sit facing the doors so that I get a view of the garland, twinkling lights, and all the Christmas lights outside. 

finally, an ottoman

We finished our ottoman last weekend! Although the end results are different that I had imagined, we both are happy with the product. The process took longer than expected, mostly because the material we ordered took a while to ship. Once it did, we got right to work. We decided to go with only two fabrics, rather than the original four. Two made more sense, given the shape of the ottoman.(The two we used are both from tonic living.) Plus a little investigating told us that the thing was very well made and would be difficult to disassemble. As in, the legs don't come off at all.

Just a reminder, here's the before-beauty shot:

The first thing Nick dad was rip out the staples that were holding the cording to the ottoman on the bottom. Then, we used our favorite fabric of the bunch to cover the entire ottoman. We chose the most neutral of the fabrics (surprise, surprise!) because it was the one we both liked the best. We stapled the fabric in place, and I attempted to do some fancy folding around the corners.

Luckily, my parents lent us some upholstery tools and one in particular came in handy. It helped us to shove the fabric into the little crevice between the ottoman and the legs.

The next step was to add our own trim to the ottoman. My mom kindly sewed the piping for us in another fabric of our choice. We stapled the piping around the bottom of the ottoman, so that it laid flat around the bottom, covering any wayward staples. 

Because Nick wanted a completely finished look on the bottom, we stapled some extra burlap around the bottom, to cover any messiness. 

Although the process was a little time intensive (it took 2 Christmas movies for us to finish it) we are so happy with the result. The ottoman is a good size and a fun change from our previous giant wood coffee table. It also makes the room seem bigger and more open. The big coffee table didn't leave us forever; it's currently residing in my parents home.  Next project- to change up the couch pillows! 

Shared at Thrifty Decor Chick.