Monthly Archives: November 2014

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Julie

Before you gather around your Thanksgiving table tomorrow, I just want to take a minute to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so grateful that you grace me with your presence here on this blog.

I am so grateful for your continued support, your wonderful and kind comments, and the encouragement you give me each and every day.

I am humbled and amazed that you find even a little bit of what I do inspiring and encouraging. Thank you so much!

Enjoy your families and your friends, the delicious food, and the football games.

Happy, happy Thanksgiving to you!

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Snowball Cookies: Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Julie

Christmas and baking go hand in hand. I have so many memories of spending the holidays with family and seeing plates full of special treats baked just for the Christmas season.

Many of those recipes are like cherished friends. Over the years I made many of my tried and true favorites but I have also added new ones that come along. That’s the case with the recipe I’m sharing today — Snowball Cookies.

I found it on a package of Nestle’s Holiday Morsels several years ago. Back then, the morsels were shaped like little Santa faces and my daughter who was in pre-K at the time begged me to buy them. I looked at the recipe on the package and thought it looked like something we would like, so I bought the morsels and we tried the recipe. It was a hit!

I don’t make these every year, but when I do my kids really love to help make them, and of course, eat them! They’re buttery and simple and, because they’re a drop cookie, they’re so easy to make with kids of any age.

As a side note, you don’t need to buy Nestle Holiday Shapes and Morsels to bake and enjoy these cookies.

Holiday Snowball Cookies

2014-11-24 20:12:17

A buttery drop cookie with white chocolate morsels.

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Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cup. Holiday shapes & morsels (you can substitute white chocolate chips)
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
Powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Beat butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour, stir in morsels and nuts. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place on un-greased baking sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. Store in airtight containers.

Notes

We do not use nuts in our cookies and we prefer using white chocolate chips instead of the Holiday Shapes and morsel blend. The Holiday morsels have a few semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed in and my kids prefer the cookies without the dark chocolate pieces.

Adapted from Nestle Holiday Morsels package

Lilacs and Longhorns http://www.lilacsandlonghorns.com/

If you’re like me and enjoy baking during the holiday season, then you’re going to love this Virtual Cookie Exchange I’m taking part in today:

I hope you’ll stop by each blog this week to see all the wonderful recipes being shared. Also, check back on Friday to link up your favorite holiday cookie recipes. I can’t wait to see what everyone is baking!

Please visit the following blogs to see what they brought to the

2014 Christmas Cookie Exchange

What Meegan Makes Sweet Pea

Prodigal Pieces Simply Fresh Vintage

Lemons and Laughs Shabby Art Boutique

Lilacs and Longhorns Cupcakes and Crinoline

Captivating Corner Postcards From The Ridge

Our Southern Home Dandelion Patina

Great Contradictions Mrs Hines Class

Thanks for stopping by today. Happy Baking!

Sharing at:

Inspire Me Tuesday

Twirl and Take a Blow

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POSTED IN: baking, Christmas cookies, holiday cookies

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Thanksgiving Tablescape Ideas and Cookies

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Julie

This is usually a busy week for me. Both the kids and my husband are off of school and work and we are busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and the holiday season. (Of course, we’re trying to squeeze some fun in, too!)

Since we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house again this year we are getting our house in order. One of the nice things about blogging is that my Thanksgiving table is already set! It’s so nice to have that done before the big day so all I have to think about before guests arrive is cooking the turkey and baking the pies.

Today, I thought I would show you some of my past tablescapes in hopes that it might give you a little inspiration for creating a pretty and welcoming table of your own.

Even if you don’t live in the U.S. and are not celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I hope you might find some ideas for setting a table any time of the year.

I set this table last year. It’s more elaborate than I usually get but I was going for a Pottery Barn-inspired look.

I think the key to achieving their style is to have lots of layers, varying heights and a lot of texture.

I made my own no-sew cloth napkins for that table. They were so easy and very inexpensive.

The table below I set up this fall for a special fall meal. I tried something new by tying my silverware together with a little twine and placing them on top of my soup bowls.

The table below is set for this year’s Thankful at Home tour. This is how our table is set for Thanksgiving this year.

I love the layering of the plaid blanket, woven place mats, chargers and plates. My daughter is particularly excited about the “I’m Thankful for…” printables I made. You can download it here.

The following is one of my favorite tablescapes. It’s simple, uses non-traditional fall colors and it’s easy to set up in a few minutes.

If you have been around here for awhile, you know I have a thing for the color blue!

You’ll notice I use a lot of the same things over and over again. Let’s face it. Most of us are not wealthy, nor do we have a lot of storage space to keep several sets of china and dinnerware. For me, the key is to start with something simple like white plates so you can mix and match other patterned dishes or odds and ends that you find or already have.

I love mixing and matching!

When it comes to making a center piece, think LOW. You want to be able to see your guests, so keep things below eye level as much as possible. A tall candle stick or two isn’t a big deal, but a tall floral arrangement might need to be set aside during the meal.

To me, it doesn’t matter whether you use cloth or paper napkins, the most important part of the table is the guests that surround it.

Here’s to wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful meal and day with friends and family!

Before I go, I have a special announcement…

I am joining several of my blog friends this week to bring you some of our favorite holiday cookie recipes.

The tour begins today and continues through Wednesday. Then, come back Friday to link up your own favorite recipes!

I’ll be back tomorrow to share my cookie recipe with you. Until then, have fun browsing through today’s blogger line-up:

Cookie Exchange

Monday 24^th November

What Meegan Makes

Sweet Pea

Prodigal Pieces

Simply Fresh Vintage

Lemons and Laughs

Tuesday 25^th November

Shabby Art Boutique

Lilacs and Longhorns

Cupcakes and Crinoline

Captivating Corner

Wednesday 26^th November

Postcards From The Ridge

Our Southern Home

Dandelion Patina

Great Contradictions

Mrs Hines Class

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POSTED IN: fall decor, Tablescapes, Thanksgiving

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Burlap Advent Calendar {Shutter Door Upcycle}

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Julie

I know all of these Christmas posts are little too soon for many of you, and normally I would agree. However, I have learned in the past two years of blogging that I need to get a jump on things or the holidays get crazier than they need to be. So, I’ve succumbed to decorating a little early and I’ve discovered that I actually kind of like it. It makes the day after Thanksgiving a true day of rest for me (since I usually host Thanksgiving at my house) and it’s so nice to just relax and settle in to the holiday season.

I do have to confess, however, that my home does suffer from a little holiday confusion. Because I host Thanksgiving I keep the front door and dining room decorated for fall and the rest of the house is Christmas! (My guests don’t seem to mind.)

I will still be sharing a couple of Thanksgiving related posts next week but first, I want to share this project that needed to get done before December 1st. My DIY Burlap Advent Calender.

I have wanted to make an Advent calender for my kids for a long time. When they were little, we printed out a Santa face and the kids glued one cotton ball per day to fill in Santa’s beard. It was fun, easy and perfect for small children.

They outgrew that a long time ago and ever since I have been trying to think of a way to make an easy Advent calendar they can enjoy even as they get older. This year, I finally figured it out.

I started with some little burlap bags from the dollar bin (2 for a $1 at Michael’s last year — you can also find similar ones here), some clothes pins I already had, and an old closet door that I got from my sweet mother-in-law who found several at an estate sale awhile back.

I was trying to figure out how I was going to use the bags and what to affix them to…then it dawned on me — the old louvered closet door!

The louvers are perfect for using clothes pins to adhere the little bags. No sewing or large tools involved – yay! Plus, it’s not permanent.

I embellished the bags with some ribbon (I used hot glue) and little wooden circles I bought at the craft store. The discs were unpainted but I spray painted them silver and then antiqued them with Annie Sloan’s dark wax. I drew the numbers on with Sharpie marker. Now they look like kind of like galvanized metal.

I absolutely love that it fits perfectly in my entry on this small wall.

The top rows are still a little high for my youngest so I put a little red stool in front so she can get to the bags up top.

By the way, you don’t have to have a louvered door to make an advent calendar like this. A bulletin board, a piece of scrap wood…just about anything could work. You could use wood glue to permanently affix the clothes pins to a board or you could pin ribbon horizontally across a frame and clip the bags to the ribbon. There are so many possibilities when using little pre-made bags!

I have already tucked some candies and notes inside to each bag for the kids to find each day. Most of the notes include a suggested activity for that day. For example, “Watch the Polar Express” or “Make hot chocolate tonight.”

Here are some other ideas for notes: