Christmas Came Early!

About a week ago I won this Awesome Apothecary Jar from a Giveaway at Small Holdings Farm.

So Imagine my Surprise when I got a knock on my door Yesterday from the UPS man holding a large box. YIPPEEE ! I was soo excited I tore through the box so fast. I Love it!!

Small Holdings Farm is a Barn Store located in Aquebogue, NY. You can also shop Online.

It is owned by Sherron Francis and Walter King

They build custom made farm tables. They also sell One of a kind items...... which I picked out a few of my favorites pictured above. (assorted Hand poured scented soy candles, wooden signs, Vintage Wire Baskets with Handles, Plus a wide variety of Garden Items).

They also sell painted Furniture. I'm in Love with both of these pieces. But you have to be able to Pick-up.


And Lucky for you, They are having another Giveaway!!!
They've hand poured soy candles into these vintage, green glass pharmaceutical jars from the 1930's.
So Head over to enter now http://smallholdings.blogspot.com/2010/12/one-last-holiday-give-way.html
You have until January 3rd. at Midnight.
I Love them, But I think I better let someone else have a chance. I don't want to be greedy now.

So Anyway, here is my new Jar. I have placed it in my Kitchen.

I've been thinking about all the different things I could use it for.

Right now it is holding my chocolate Popcorn.

It's delicious. I just popped a bag of plain popcorn. Melted a box of white chocolate, poured over the top then stirred in coconut, Craisins and bits of candy cane.

Thanks Again Small Holdings Farm!

X-mas Gift Idea #13 Candy Cane Bark

I was in need of some last minute neighbor gifts. Then I came across this recipe and idea for Candy Cane Bark at Wicker and Stitch.

It was soo easy to make. All you need is some white chocolate and Candy Canes.
I came up with the idea of putting the bark into little stacks of coffee filters, mainly because I didn't have any little plates. But I think it worked out cute.

I then wrapped them up in cellophane, tied it up with a cute ribbon and this tag here. It is a free template from Eat Drink Chic. I found it on the lettered cottage's facebook page. Just download it and print it off.

I Love Coffee Filters!

If you don't drink coffee, What they are are pretty, ruffly, round, papers. They come in brown or white. Stack a couple of them on top of each other and twist in center and you have a cute little flower. These can be placed on your gift this Christmas or you can glue a bunch of them onto a wreath, I'm sure you've all see these, They are Beautiful. I probably should have added a picture of one but I'm sure you can google it.

a Winters nap

I love waking up to freshly fallen snow, Winters naps and

flannel sheets.

I've held on to these 2 pages from a country living magazine from years ago. My copies were ripped and had writing all over them so I was excited to find these images on the web. I framed them, and hung them over the bed.

I just wanted to add a little cozy wintery feeling to the bedroom. So I put on my snowflake flannel sheets, and hung a garland and of course a little mistletoe (shh)

A Nutcracker Collection

When my husband Jake was growing up he had a tradition with his mom where every year they would pick out a new nutcracker. They would try to find one that represents that year. It's been Jake's favorite part of Christmas decorating ever since.
We've taken a portion of that collection, and have started a new collection with our family. The little angel nutcracker was the one picked out when I became part of the family. So she's my favorite.

In years past I have lined them up on my mantel. This year I've set them up on the shelves in the kitchen.

The rocking horse nutcracker was for the year Jaxon was born.

Most of them were hand crafted in Germany. There is a fun store in Salt Lake called the Clock Shop. They have a large selection of Nutcrackers. When we were down there for Thanksgiving, Jake and I went in and picked out this little guy.

He is called a gnome, I think he's cute, short and pudgy.

Oh Christmas Tree

I think everybody has their own idea of what Christmas should look like. It probably has something to do with what it looked like for you growing up. For me its Red and Green with pine cones and holly berries.
We placed the tree in front of the window this year. Which looks really pretty from the outside.

Liam (my 5 year old) thinks we really really need to have a star at the top of the tree and this poinsettia just isn't cutting it. So I'm on the lookout for a really cute star.

I'm just loving these white berry clusters that I found at the dollar store, they make the tree almost look like it has snow on it. Plus the White just really pops out.

The Peace and Joy letters are from Pottery Barn years ago.

And you remember my Glass Ornaments I did here.

I also got a couple of these jingle bells at the dollar store.

And here are just a few other favorites. The ribbon balls are also from Pottery Barn 2 years ago.

My Tree at night. For some reason I just don't think pictures do Christmas trees justice. They are always more beautiful in person.

I now have a red tree skirt under the tree, and I'm also thinking of adding some branches sticking out. We'll see.

My Christmas Mantel

This year I've decided to go for a Cheery, Wintery Christmas mantel. I brought in some Branches from my Pine tree, added some Winter photos, a White Feathered Wreath, Raindeer and fake Snow.

I added a little burlap strip to two large soup cans, to hold my pine branches.

This is the one time of year that I love having a Red Couch. I know it may seem weird that I placed it in front of the fireplace, but I'm really enjoying the change of view.

Who wants Hot Cocoa and Candy Canes?

A little peek at my tree. I'll be posting more photos of it soon.

Today I will be linking up here.

Christmas Card Boxes

What do you do with all of your Christmas Cards after the holiday is over?

Instead of throwing them out, Why not recycle them into great little gift boxes.

I will show you step by step instructions on how to make these cute and easy re-purposed Christmas card Boxes. They are fun to make for adults and children alike.
First choose a card. It can be any size as long as it is A Rectangle. You want one with the picture in the center of card.

Step 1: Carefully tear the card apart on the Center Seam.

Step 2: Cut 1/4 inch off the back half of card, Longways. This is very Important because this will be the bottom of your box; if you do not cut it this way, then it will not fit inside the lid later.
(Don't worry if there is writing on the card, this can easily be covered with tissue paper. Also cards usually have a message in the center which becomes a cute little surprise inside of your box)
Step 3: Next find the center of the card by lining a ruler from corner to corner. Make a small pencil mark in the center, repeat on other side until you have an X. This will be your center point. This can be erased later on.
Step 4: Fold Long side over to center of X. Using your finger or bone folder, make a crease.

Repeat on other side, then unfold.

Step 5: Now fold over the short sides to center of X and crease.

Step 6: Make small cuts on the creases of all 4 short sides, Stopping where creases on the long sides meet.
(Thank goodness for my picture above or you would have no clue what I'm talking about, Right?)

Step 7: Fold in the 4 flaps on the long sides, then fold over the 2 flaps on the short sides. Tape or glue them into place.

You now have the lid of your box.

Step 8: Repeat Steps 4-7 on the second half of the card. This will be the bottom half of your box

Place the bottom of the box into the lid and it should look something like this.

These boxes are the perfect size for jewelry, hair clips, gift cards, money or even chocolates.
They can also be used for Christmas tree decorations or stocking stuffers.


Another Idea for re-purposing those Christmas cards is to turn them into tags to either hang from your tree or as a gift to a friend.

Just cut out the picture on a card, glue it to a piece of white card stock, punch holes at the top, then feed a ribbon through. On this one I also added glitter and trimmed it with scalloped scissors.

Have fun & Recycle at the same time!