I initially had modest dreams of remodeling the home, new flooring, new light fixtures, maybe new trim, but my dad had bigger dreams. The home was built in 1974 and not all of the room spacing made sense. The Master bedroom was huge, but the kitchen was about an 8' hallway. There was a nice sized breakfast room, but it was isolated and cut off from the rest of the home.
Read moreBaking with Harper
Baking Christmas treats is one of the joys of the season and Katelyn and I normally get together to bake for family and friends, but this year has been a little different. My mother fell the day before Thanksgiving and fractured two vertebrae in her neck, so normal life has been filled with caring for my mom and very few of the typical Christmas season festivities. Today I had the chance to bake Christmas cookies with one of our sweet neighbors and her beautiful little girl, Harper and it was truly a delight.
I have to admit that I have tried out several different recipes for decorated sugar cookies and they either taste great and spread too much or they look perfect and don't taste all that great. Today, I tried again...another recipe. They baked up nicely, didn't spread, held their shape and looked great; taste not so great. They were ok, but definitely not good enough that I care to share the recipe, but we had a blast and Harper was happy! We had so much fun that I just had to share the experience and highlight the one appliances in my kitchen that is indispensable, especially when it come to baking.
Spending a few hours baking and decorating cookies with Harper brought some true Christmas joy to my house. She was so sweet and joyful. Harper helped to remind me of the true meaning of the season.
I highly recommend baking some Christmas cookies with family or friends. Get baking!
Our First Christmas Tree
Growing up I loved helping mom decorate the Christmas tree. We selected a real fragrant tree, wrapped every branch from the trunk out, and carefully hung our family ornaments with an angel on top. It wasn't the kid friendly tree where all ornaments were plastic and homemade and tinsel could be thrown everywhere, we had a color scheme and order to the tree. Mom made the house feel like we were living in the pages of Southern Living and I loved it!
I must admit since living on my own, I have avoided decorating for Christmas. Not because I don't love the holiday and all the meaning behind it, but because Christmas decorations can be costly and I was hardly home to enjoy them. Seeing as it's our first married Christmas I wanted to make the house feel extra special, while keeping our budget in mind. Here are a few of my favorite budget finds and a few splurges.
Magnolia Market Jeweled Ornament- This sweet baby belongs in the splurge category, coming in as the most expensive item I purchased for the tree at $14. I love the rustic elegance and the jewels are the perfect shine, not too shiny, not too cheesy, just right.
Metal Scroll with Crystal Drop- These delicate ornaments are in the budget friendly category, purchasing at $1.99 a piece. The crystal is definitely fake, but the gold glitter is not too yellow and the sweet shape won me over.
Magnolia Market Matte Rose Gold- These are in my splurge pile. The rose gold gives a modern update to a traditional ornament and comes in two different styles. Sphere or the Chandelier style shown above. I wish I would have bought more of these while I was at the silos!
Both the gold and pearl ball and the the glittery squiggly thing on the right are budget friendly and came from At Home. The gold and pearl ball was probably my best box find at At Home, they come in a set of 4 and the gold is a little flecked, so it nods to the mercury glass that I really wish I could afford to cover the tree in. The squiggly guy was found in the "sea creatures" category, although I don't see the resemblance from anything I've seen on one of my ocean adventures. It's totally covered in glitter, light weight, and easy to put on any branch.
Magnolia Market Bestow Ornament- These were purchased individually, but I think they were a decent price per ornament. I'll keep them in a neutral price category. I purchased the smalls, and bought a set of 4. If I would have really thought ahead I would have bought 8 and made these my most used ornament. They do offer a larger size, which were beautiful (I seriously debated over then), but the downside of a real tree is that each branch can only hold so much weight and I didn't think I could evenly distribute them in the tree. My favorite ornaments of the year.
Fox Woodland Creature- He's precious! and $2.99, light weight and doesn't scream I filled my tree with animals I've never seen before. I can't lie, I totally bought him for Lance. If I would have let Lance lead, he would have covered the entire tree with fishing lures and animals. Thank God he's too busy to really implement his plan.
Magnolia Market Zinc Chandelier- This cutie is a splurge and I mostly purchased it because I thought it looked like a boat prop or a farming implement. Either way, rustic, hand crafted, and not too stuffy. Love it!
Champagne Glitter Ornament- The most expensive looking ornament I purchased at At Home. Their lightweight, a nice mix between gold and silver and make a great statement at $2.99 a piece. They are definitely budget friendly and a real statement piece.
Please excuse that I have no Christmas tree skirt yet, collecting Christmas decorations is a slow process. I still have no topper and I'd like to add a little extra berry branches to add some texture to it. Until then, just be thankful our entire tree isn't covered in top water lures per Lance's request. (Maybe I'll hide one in the back just for him). Next year I'm hoping to add a nativity set (mine growing up was a Precious Moments) and some mantle garland. My tree is a Frasier Fir that I'm told is from North Carolina, but I wasn't really there to witness the cutting down, but I purchased it from The Arbor Gate in Tomball and I trust them. Good luck and happy decorating!
Love,
Katelyn