If there’s ever a year to celebrate ending it’s this one! Goodbye 2020… we won’t miss ya, but your departure certainly calls for a celebration! I always go big when it comes to Christmas so afterwards I’m pretty tired and need things simple, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have a little fun.
This year I decided to create a festive table centerpiece as well as some drink swizzle sticks that everyone can enjoy, and these simple and easy New Years Eve decorations can be thrown together at a moment’s notice. It’s a fun way to add some extra cheer while ringing in the New Year at home. I was able to recycle some of my Christmas items into our centerpiece so hopefully you have some extra stuff hanging around too.
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Metallic shred or tinsel
Beaded necklaces or garland
Party crackers
Ornament balls
Curly ribbon
Wood Skewers (I used 8 inch ones from the craft baking aisle)
Pom poms
A bowl or platter for the centerpiece
Festive glassware
INSTRUTIONS
For the centerpiece start by placing a layer of metallic shred and then add the rest of the decorations. Use any leftover metallic shreds as need to fill in gaps or add height.
For the drink swizzle sticks simply push each pom pom through the pointy end of the wood skewer, and adjust as needed. No glue is necessary.
So fun, so festive, and so easy am I right?
Let the celebration begin! We’ve got this… just a few more days and we all get a fresh start. Happy New Year my friends, 2021 is going to be a much better year for all of us. Stay safe, healthy, and happy.
I want to share with you my favorite gift wrapping hack, how to make a gift bag out of wrapping paper. So you might be thinking, isn’t it easier to just buy a gift bag? Well… maybe… but we’ve all had those moments where we run out of gift bags, or they’re the wrong size, or you just want to save money. Maybe you just want all your presents to match and coordinate – Virgo here!!
Seriously, this trick is life changing and couldn’t be easier. Once you make your first bag you’ll be whipping these out at warp speed. It’s also lots of fun to customize each bag, and you can even add a handle if desired. Below I’ll show you how easy it is to make a gift bag out of wrapping paper, and be sure to read my helpful tips.
SUPPLIES
Wrapping paper
Tape
Scissors
Stapler – optional
Ribbon for decorating – optional
Tulle ribbon to create a handle – optional
INSTRUCTIONS
Measure wrapping paper to the size of the object, as if you were wrapping the present without a box, leaving extra room at the top and cut.
Fold one side in and crease, repeat on the other side, then tape the back shut.
Fold the bottom edge straight up and crease, this will determine the width of the bag.
Unfold the bottom and then fold the side edges inward to resemble a triangle, crease both sides.
Fold each end up like you’re wrapping the end of a boxed present and secure well with tape, then gently open the bag up.
Place the gift in the bag then fold the top of the bag down. Seal the top of the bag with tape or staples.
If you’re not adding a handle simply add a bow and you’re all done.
To add a handle after the bag is sealed use a hole punch to thread tulle through. I used a punch that was slightly larger than normal to make this step easier.
Determine the length you want the handles to be and tie a knot. Adjust the handles so the knot goes to one side and tie in a bow. You can experiment with different ribbons for a handle, I like tulle because it’s lightweight and fluffy.
TIPS
Thick sturdy wrapping paper is best, thin wrapping paper from a dollar store may not work as well.
You can cut a cardboard base for the inside if you want your bag to have more structure.
Pay close attention when using wrapping paper where the pattern goes one direction, as in the picture above, you’ll want the pattern facing up.
Only add a handle to lightweight presents or the bag will tear.
If you have lots of gifts that are similar in size, make several bags at once, keeping them flat for easy storage. When your ready to wrap a gift simply open up the bag and seal it.
I hope this gift wrapping hack helps you! I’m officially signing off to enjoy this week of Christmas with my family. Wishing you the Merriest Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I love a good folded napkin, yes, I am a proud napkin nerd. Nothing makes a table special like a well folded napkin, and today I want to share with you how easy it is to fold a napkin into a Christmas tree. To make these Christmas tree shaped napkins you’ll need a square napkin, my favorite napkins are from World Market, they wash well, come in lots of colors, and are very affordable. I chose green but other colors and patterns would work great too.
Start by folding the napkin into a square, and rotate the napkin so the ends are facing you.
Begin folding each napkin layer up, leaving a small border and keeping the points of the napkin lined up.
Continue folding until all the layers are folded up. Tip: Any time I fold napkins I always keep an iron nearby and press every few steps to keep things nice and uniform. This is totally optional though.
Carefully flip the napkin over and fold the right end across to the left side of the napkin, creating a point at the bottom.
Repeat by bringing the left end of the napkin towards the right so both edges create a nice point. Take the top triangle end of the napkin and tuck it in under a layer.
Turn the napkin over and tuck each corner either up or down, depending on the look you like best. Repeat all the way down.
Once finished I like to give the napkin a quick press with the iron, again optional.
These festive Christmas trees are sure to impress your guests! You can even add a star at the top of the tree to write your guests’ names out of paper or salt dough. Be sure to check out my other Christmas blog posts, and next I’ll be sharing my favorite present wrapping hack with you, it’s life changing!
It’s the Christmas season and we love nothing more than to celebrate the festivities with a perfect cup of hot cocoa! Nothing says holiday cheer like a readily available cup of delicious cocoa, am I right? l’m always looking for fun ways to celebrate the season with my family, and this year we’ve decided to add a hot cocoa bar to our seasonal fun, but not just any hot cocoa bar, a naughty and nice one!
There are many ways you can serve cocoa at your own bar. I love keeping a thermos of ready-made cocoa on weekends and during Christmas festivities. If that doesn’t work you can keep hot water in a thermos or air-pot along with cocoa mix on the side.
The real treat is with the naughty and nice additions! With just a few yummy treats you can turn your ordinary cocoa extra chocolatey, or add caramel, butterscotch, peppermint, or have a spiked naughty treat. There is something for everyone at this naughty and nice cocoa bar, and let’s not forget the perfect cup of cocoa might need a few treats like cookies for dipping too.
I used a variety of mason jars I had on hand to hold all our cocoa treats and just spoon them into cups as needed. Then at the end of the night I put the lids back on the treats and they’re ready for a new day.
Below I’ll share with you my favorite cocoa mixers to create your own naughty and nice cocoa bar, but really the sky’s the limit when adding delicious treats.
A thermos, air-pot or slow cooker to keep the cocoa nice and hot
Cups or mugs
Napkins
Place cards or labels
Small jars or containers of your choice
Spoons for stirring in naughty and nice treats
Paper shreds and ribbon to decorate with (optional)
Naughty
Kahlua
Bailey’s Irish Cream
Maker’s Mark Whiskey
Jamesons Whiskey
Smirnoff Peppermint Vodka
Smirnoff Caramel Vodka
Smirnoff Whipped Cream Vodka
Nice
Candy Canes
Marshmallows
Chocolate Chips
Butterscotch Chips
Carmel Bits
Toffee Bits
Snacks
Pirouette Cookies
Gingerbread Cookies
Candy
Creating your own hot cocoa bar is just so fun! Who can resist all the yummy flavors and treats? It’s the perfect way to boost your hot cocoa game for parties, gatherings, or just yourself. Our family has officially voted for a naughty and nice cocoa bar every year.
It’s the perfect way to celebrate the season, and remember you can be all naughty, all nice, or a little bit of both!
It’s December and you know what that means… it’s time for the Christmas 2020 home tour! Obviously this has been a hard year for everyone, not a single person has been exempt from the stress of 2020, which is why it’s so important to cherish and celebrate what we do have. We all find comfort in different ways, I find mine in creating a well dressed home, and this year my home has been more comforting than I could ever imagine.
Every year I find so much joy in decorating our home for Christmas. I very much enjoy surprising my family by adding new decorations and switching things around, so our Christmas home is a little bit different every year. I think it adds a bit of spontaneous fun.
During this month we we snuggle by the fire watching Christmas movies, baking cookies and treats while listening to Christmas music. We will laugh, we will cry for our loved ones no longer with us, we will open presents, and we will give thanks to our Savior who is born. It all happens here inside our home and I love sharing it with you.
Last Christmas this room was an huge, unfinished mess. It gives me so much joy that the media room is finished and gets to join our 2020 Christmas tour. You can read about our media room before and after HERE. Our next winter project is to remodel the loft space, so look forward to that joining the 2021 tour.
Brian and I joke that we have the hardest living room to photograph ever, but it’s honestly true! It’s a bright room full of backlit windows and sun glares, we usually wake up at 6 am just to get a few photos before the light gets crazy. Those big windows and gorgeous views come with a price. This year we upgraded to a 10 foot tree and we really love it.
Every Christmas home needs festive garland and this ornament garland was incredibly simple and fun to make. You can find the tutorial HERE.
I recently created this Christmas present centerpiece made out of wrapped up boxed food. It’s the perfect low waste decoration, and after Christmas unwrap the food and keep it, or even better donate it. You can view the tutorial HERE.
December is here and I couldn’t be happier! The Christmas home tour should be up by the end of the week, but today I want to share with you one of my favorite ways to decorate using little wrapped boxes! This Christmas present centerpiece is the perfect way to decorate a table top, coffee table, or any other surface that needs some holiday cheer.
I’m no stranger when it comes to wrapping up little boxes, I find that it makes really cute affordable holiday decor, but this year I decided to take it a step further and turn it into a centerpiece. Not only is this centerpiece festive, it’s also extremely practical and budget friendly. Why, you say? Because we’re wrapping up food boxes! We all eat food so why not first turn it into a Christmas centerpiece?
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Lots and lots of food boxes!
3-4 rolls of coordinating wrapping paper
Tape & ribbon
Various bows & curly ribbon
What are the best food boxes to wrap?
Walmart and Dollar Tree are great places to find affordable box food in a variety of sizes. I usually go around finding boxes I like, stacking them together to see if the sizes work. Some of my favorite food boxes to wrap are Pop Tarts, large food boxes such as hamburger helper or scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese boxes, large and small candy boxes, Jiffy cornbread, little boxes of raisins, and jello and pudding boxes.
I want to make this centerpiece, but what if I want to eat the food first?
No worries! I generally prefer to keep the food in the boxes because it’s easier and I like my boxes to have some weight. However many times I’ve gently opened the boxes removed the food and taped or hot glued the boxes back shut. You can always take a photo of the cooking instructions with your phone for later. If you do remove the food before wrapping you can toss the boxes after Christmas if you like.
INSTRUCTIONS
Start by wrapping all the food boxes in various wrapping paper. Crank up some music, sip some tea, or have a glass of wine… this is the most time consuming part.
I used regular tape for the gift wrapping but if you want to a cleaner look for the ends you can use double sided tape, and I’ve even used hot glue before to secure the edges.
Create a base using the largest size boxes, then continue stacking the boxes in a random pattern. Once I finished this step I realized I could use a few more boxes so I went off to the pantry for more cornbread and pudding boxes to wrap.
Once you’re finished with the layout it’s time to start adding bows. Old bows work great for this so be sure to save them for next year.
Naturally no matter how well you arrange the boxes you’ll end up with a few gaps, so I like to fill them in with curly ribbon.
Once the Christmas season is over simply unwrap the food and stock it back in your pantry for a later day. Better yet put a smile on someones face and donate the unopened unwrapped food boxes to a food bank for a family in need!
If you took the food out before you wrapped them you can toss them or keep the boxes for next year. I hope you enjoy creating your own Christmas present centerpiece, if you do be sure to tag me on Instagram or leave me a photo in my Pinterest pin.
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