Homemade Holidays
While my parents are in town and my daughter is on her holiday break, we have enjoyed our time hibernating together in front of the fire, venturing out in the cold after the first snow of the season, cooking, and trying to keep the kids busy. We made apple cider caramels that some how managed to taste exactly like the perfect bite of apple pie a la mode, apple cinnamon biscuits that made the house smell incredible, and thumb print cookies, one of my holiday favorites. I have a serious sweet tooth, and I've passed it on to my children! The kids made wrapping paper and cards with stamps and wintery blue and silver ink (my parents still can't bring themselves to throw them away), decorated gingerbread houses and made pomanders. I hope that the kids will look forward to these traditions every year.
Happy New Year!
Even my 3 year old loved pushing cloves into these clementines
Apple cider caramels
Apple cinnamon biscuits
Homemade cards
Hand stamped wrapping paper
Decorating a gingerbread house - my 6 year old's side
my 3 year old's side
CATEGORIES: Beautiful things
Happy Holidays
I have wonderful childhood memories of the holiday decorations in my home. My dad hung a huge, natural wreath on a Juliet balcony at the front of the house. A spotlight highlighted its beauty and simple white lights adorned two large bushes that flanked the front of our house. Inside, my mom decorated the fireplace mantle and the railing of the front staircase with a natural garland. She displayed several holiday objects that my sisters and I created in school...bottles decoupaged with holiday paper, candlesticks made out of clay, homemade ornaments too fragile to add to the Christmas tree, and bowls of pomanders we made together. Poinsettias, beautiful flower arrangements, and rosemary trees were placed around the house. It was simple and beautiful, and I still think about how magical it felt to me as a child. When I decorate my home for the holidays, I try to channel those memories to create my version for my family.
Sending warm wishes for a wonderful holiday!!
A simple boxwood wreath and mercury glass ornaments in the dining room
My grandmother's crocheted ornaments
Nautical ornaments in honor of the first time my husband met my parents was on a weekend sail on the Chesapeake Bay
Rosemary topiaries
My favorite white hydrangeas and more mercury glass
Mistletoe
The first fire of the season
Pomanders created with my kids
A sack lunch for Santa, and snacks for the reindeer
CATEGORIES: Beautiful things
The Holidays
Since having kids, I have done my best to focus on the traditions and the beauty of the holiday without getting caught up in the stress of gift giving. That said, I do love to find the perfect gift, and I think quality and substance are much more important than quantity. I love finding gifts with special meaning, or something created by other entrepreneurs. Many of the gifts that I'm giving this year will be supporting small businesses. For my daughter, I have a beautifully made, heirloom quality Hope doll dress from bridal designer Coren Moore (all proceeds will be donated to organizations doing research to fight pediatric cancer. More on Coren's beautiful dresses and her cause here), sweet personalized name bracelets, and handmade hair clips and an initial necklace made by creative ladies on etsy, and some fun wrap bracelets purchased from one of my favorite local spots in Chicago for gifts, A Little Bit of This.
I purchased an early Christmas gift for myself after meeting the lovely Heather Clawson from Habitually Chic at Jayson Home and Garden. Her new book, Habitually Chic: Creativity at Work is full of stunning workspaces of inspiring creatives like Jenna Lyons, Bunny Williams and Peter Som. Two other books on my wishlist are Dinner: A Love Story, written by a mom of two in Connecticut, and perfect for family meal inspiration, and Miles Redd's new book The Big Book of Chic for eye candy. Anything from the Erin Gates for Jill Rosenwald collection would make me happy -- for Christmas, or anytime after! I especially love the black/peony trays, lamps and Jilly cups. These Jill Rosenwald monogrammed trays would also make a spectacular gift for someone special. For my mother, a gourmet cook, I bought another bottle of Grove 45 Olive oil - something I discovered while on a recent trip to Napa (see full post here). I will also be giving my family adorable magnetic portrait notepads with a picture of the kids from Pinhole Press and Kiva gift certificates as stocking stuffers. We have been supporting Kiva for years by donating to entrepreneurs around the world, and their gift cards are a great way to spread the word.
Wishing you a stress free holiday season!
CATEGORIES: Beautiful things
