12 Days of Christmas: Holiday Cheer in the Home

'Tis the season for holiday decorating! Whether its a Ryan Gosling mural/portrait (life size) in a Santa hat or a homemade nativity set your cat made your out of pasta and pine cones, ITS ALL SO WONDERFUL! Holly and berries strung over mantles, sparkly Christmas trees with bright stars on top, Christmas bowls set out with your favorite candy, and a wreath from the local Christmas tree stand hung right on your door.. me oh my, I'm practically an arctic puffin ("Not now, arctic puffin!") but I just love decorating for Christmas. Here's what I've been able to muster up for my home sweet apartment on a dime's budget.

Wreath made from old book pages and three pom-pom holly berries! After a viewing of 'Something Borrowed' and halfway through 'Elf",covered in hot glue strings, help from a BFF, (and a Poinsettia cocktail), the wreath was finally finished! (And so worth it)! The perfect addiction to my living room along side my pom-pom garland so when I'm watching 'Love Actually' for the 1000th time I can remind myself that at least I have crafts.

Sparkles and pine cones and trees and deer, yes that's what I like to have accompany me whilst I eat my homemade spaghetti o's (when I'm being civilized and not eating them on the couch and watching Real Housewives on Bravo)!

Last year I did a snowflake making tutorial because the folding of the paper IS THE CRUCIAL PART!! And everyone deserves to make at least one paper snowflake in their life that isn't a rectangle with holes cut out of it! And with the leftover pages from the book wreath that I had, I just HAD to make a bazillion snowflakes for my little apartment so when its 50 degrees here in Tennessee, I can pretend its a giant snow storm (you just need a glass of wine and to squint your eyes a bit and shake your head and it looks exactly the same)!

Cranberry and popcorn garland!

Easily brings cheer to any place in the home instantly. Also a quick snack for my cat if one night I accidentally go visit Santa at the mall instead of coming home after work. It's like a break-in-case-of-an-emergency/great holiday decor snack for Wensley.

Can you bottle up Christmas stockings, peppermint hot chocolate, mistletoe kisses, buttoned up jackets and mittens, cookie baking and present wrapping?? Well no, not yet (the elves and I are still working on that) but this candle is as close as you can get! Served with candy cane kisses (YES THIS IS A REAL THING AND YES THEY WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!) it basically creates the perfect cheery atmosphere. (Sufjan Steven's 'Come on let's boogey to the elf dance' playing in the background is optional but highly suggested!)

Even Sir Wensley has gotten into the Christmas spirit even if he didn't know it because he was too busy being paralyzed with fear with all his ho-ho-holiday cheer! He's all like 'OMG Mom is singing 'Where are you Christmas' as loud as she can again!" But its whatever, I know he believes in Santa Claus because I found his letter to him behind the couch! (He's asking for Meg Ryan and a bottle of whiskey, by the way.)

Hope your day is filled with holiday cheer!

christmas eve baking.

christmas eve is spent baking all day, eating ourselves into a sugar coma {dough for breakfast, lunch and dinner anyone!?}, a quick trip out to church for the candlelight christmas eve service {where my sisters always play with the wax and i shamelessly partake in the fun too... woah wait whats my age again!?}, a dinner of chinese deliciousness, and a combo of too much sugar and wine that makes me and my too-many-cookies sister go on a grinch quoting rampage. {some people might have been something elegant in their past life but i was definitely jim carrey's relative in a past life.}

chocolate crinkle master.

making oreo balls.
a tradition i forced upon our family because they are just so good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS BROWNIE!
griffith girlz style.
aka homemade.
aka unreadable.
aka Jesus still loves us despite the brownie diaster.
rolling out the dough like a pro-ugh.
putting me to shame.
what can i say, girls got skills.
sneaking in bites of the dough!
TYPICAL.

SUGGGAHHH COOKIES!
the trees and the candycanes are always our favorites to decorate. you gots to grab those fast before they go!
looking adorable as ever.
decorating christmas cookies.

CHRISTMAS COOKIES!
allll donnnnne!!!

signed sealed delivered. bringing you your christmas cheer way past the expiration date! {I CAN'T BE STOPPED! JUST TRY AND MAKE ME EBENEZER!}

12 Days of Christmas: 3rd Annual COOKIE PARTY!

every year i have a little cookie swap party extravaganza where everyone brings a platter of cookies, sccchwaps with everyone else, and then leaves with a platter of different cookies! {of course not before we have a major tasting session. my goal is for everyone to walk out of there five pounds heavier with holiday cheer!} i spent the whole day baking with my friend... pb kiss cookies, puppy chow, oatmeal scotchies, cupcakes.. you name it, we baked it! and after we spent the whole day eating raw dough {which i always promise myself i won't and always end up doing anyway} we had a healthy dinner of cookies galore!

PEANUT BUTTER KISS COOKIES!

1 c. sugar
1 c. butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
2 (10 oz. pkg.) Hershey Kisses
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1/4 c. milk
3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda

Mix all ingredients above except kisses. Shape in medium size balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, place 1 kiss on each blossom.

whats that crazy eyed girl doing on this blog...
oh wait, thats me!
TOO. MUCH. SUGAR!!!
{also my OHMYGAWWWSH-ITs-CHRISTMAS FACE looks more like a come-here-little-child-i've-got-candy face.}MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES!

OREO BALLS!
NUTELLA COOKIES!
ESPRESSO COOKIES!!

and after we ate ourselves into a sugar coma we went to the midnight premiere of black swan.. because nothing like a pyschological thriller to put you in the holiday spirit!

CUPCAKES, and COOKIES, and SWEET TREATS... OH MY!

hope your holiday eats were wonderfully sweet and shared with delightful friends!

12 Days of Christmas: Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas time!

officially, christmas is over. {WHY GOD WHY!?!?!?!?!?} unofficially, i'm going to hold onto to it as long as i can. {where are you christmas why can't i find youuu?!} so get ready for some jam packed christmas posts to come! {that's what she said.. NO TIME! its almost another holiday!}

christmas lights in franklin.

cookie baking and sweet treats making.

franklin's version of the rockefeller center's christmas tree.

ANTLERS, YO!

"alright, you're a reindeer. here's your motivation. you're a freak with a red nose and nobody likes you. then one day santa picks you and you save christmas!"

dickens of a christmas!

in the middle of a snow storm!

holly jolly holidayzzz.

CANDY CANE KISSES!

you could say i am just a little bit obsessed.

just a little bit.

oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree.

pretty tess next to the pretty tree.

usually i am very picky about which christmas tree we get.. the bigger, the better {i mean i am american..am i right or am i right?!} but i didn't go to pick it out this year. but tess did me proud. ITS GINORMOUS!

it's a wonderful life at the belcourt with wonderful friends.

"What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary."

hope everyone's christmas was MERRY and BRIGHT!!

*all pictures are from a disposable camerea. i can't get enough of them! apparently its the 90s again! quick someone grab jelly sandals and my tamagotchi pet!

12 Days of Christmas: Presents Nice, Big Surprise!

"Thhh-hats what itss alllwaayss been about. Gifts, gifts... gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts. You wanna know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me. In your garbage. You see what I'm saying? In your garbage. I could hang myself with all the bad Christmas neckties I found at the dump. And the avarice... The avarice never ends! I want golf clubs. I want diamonds. I want a pony so I can ride it twice, get bored and sell it to make glue." - the the the THE GRINCH!

okay so yes, i've been watching The Grinch on repeat for dayzz now. i've been caught. in between eating bags of candy cane kisses and drinking two packeted hot chocolates. and no, the real meaning of christmas isn't gifts. but that doesn't mean my christmas wishlist isn't as unrealistic as real housewives of beverly hills, taylor, thinking she's fooling anyone with those lips.

my kinda not-so grown up christmas list! {i mean i have a computer on here... just because i want it so i can play snake don't mean a thing!}

a Macbook Pro.

because no wishlist is complete without that one unattainable item.

i'm a mac??

i'm a mac!!!

a girl can dream.

Nice and Charming tunic from Modcloth

right now this dress is the epitome of my style.

the bow!

the stripes!

i need it in my wardrobe! paired with black cigarette jeans and my new shiny gap flats... oh man.

Chelsea ring.

okay, lets get the obvious out of the way. its called the chelsea ring. it. was. made. for. me. dare i say that dara ettinger should of called it the chelsea griff ring?! yeah sure i'll say it! but besides that, its the rock of rocks that would put the ring that jay-z put on beyonce {because he liked it} to shame.

Jeffrey Campbell Tall Riding Boot

WHY MUST JEFFREY CAMPBELL SHOES BE SO EXPENSIVE YET SO BEAUTIFULLY WONDFERFUL!!?!?!?

i can pretend to be anne of green gables with these shoes and i'll giddy up on my silver ford focus.

My Lost Glasses tights

paper airplanes and glasses? check.

now i just need my pink sparkly cowgirl boots, butterfly clips, and my stutter and i'll be just like my 8 year old self on my way to speech class!

a Belcourt membership pass!
that way i can save $2 on every movie i see there! and since i'm there every week we are talking about $104 a year!

{thats 28 trips to sweet cece's.. HOLLA!}

romance classics weekend? i'm there.

double feature? grab the butter popcorn and milk dudz fool!

midnight movie? PASS THE COFFEE YO!

a bop it?

yes, a bop it.

have you played one recently? after my senior citizen of a self got over the new go go gadget design, i stood in the game aisle of target and played... and it wasn't till my friend came back with a whole shopping cart filled that i realized i had been playing for an hour.

72 HIGH SCORE SON!

i'm not asking for the world.

although i would settle for the moon if george bailey lassoed it for me.

what are you a-wishin' for this christmas!?

12 Days of Christmas: Come on let's boogey to the elf dance!

oh christmas music, oh christmas music.

when i'm not listening to mix 92.9 {our continuous christmas music station here in nashville. that conveniently plays DELLLIILAHHHH as well. who doesn't love a little delilah* driving home from work on a cold winter's night} you bet your frosted bottom dollar i'm listening to one of my favorite christmas albums.

A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU FROM PHIL SPECTOR

my love for 60s music and my love for christmas come crashing together like santa's sleigh collides with central park when there isn't enough children believing! enjoyed while sipping on some egg nog and wearing your comfiest of sweaters while twisting and shouting it and dancing the night away to sleigh ride by the ronettes!

SUFJAN STEVENS presents songs for Christmas!

wearing your favorite chunky scarf and cuddled up with your luvv-ah all warm&toasty. listening to sufjan. tis christmas cheer perfection. and when Come on! Let's boogey to the elf dance comes on.. you might just move from the couch to the dance floor.

CHRISTMAS WITH THE BEACH BOYS!

put on your holiday best, you know that shimmer sparkle dress you bust out but once a year.. paired with your faux fur coat {impulse buy.. but oh so worth it} break out the reddest of red lipsticks and celebrate the season with the beach boys and friends and holiday cheer that would put the whos down in whoville to shame. what can i say? their version of merry christmas, baby?! candy-caned, mistletoed CHRISTMAS PERFECTION!

and my three favorite christmas songs not on these albums:

wonderful christmas time- paul mccartney

what christmas means to me- mandisa

christmas time is here- vince guaraldi trio

honorable mention goes out to amy grant. i was raised on her christmas album and i can still hear "tennessee christmas" playing as i ripped open my christmas gift to find out that i did indeed get the shiny blue discman that was on my christmas list! {a*teens cd not included}

HAPPY HOLIDAY SINGING TO YOU!

*if you listen to delilah too, watch out for a kooky gal calling in... i mean i only call every night!!

12 Days of Christmas: Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

remember as a kid when you sat down to make paper snowflakes.. you'd cut and cut and then finally after what seemed like hours of careful cutting, making tiny triangles and diligently zig zagging your scissors, you'd get ready to open it up to see your masterpiece {and i swear sometimes i could hear the chariots of fire theme song playing} it was like a mini christmas morning, quickly ruined when you see that you've created a giant square with holes cut out every which way! and as i cursed the high heavens, my sister would weep on the floor holding her sad square piece of paper.. WHAT WERE WE DOING WRONG!? well its been a journey to get here.. here being profesh paper snowflake making skillz that is.. but i finally can make a snowflake!

all you need is paper and scissors! i love how magazines and newspaper turn out. and if you have an old christmas themed magazine its even better!

the key is all in how you fold it!

take your paper and fold it diagonal to make a square. then cut off the excess paper. you should have a triangle! then fold it again to make a mini triangle. then hold in half and overlap the paper. cut off the excess paper.

now the fun begins. go on with yo bad self and get to cutting!

VIOLA!

i even made pink and green snowflakes for the bakery i work at!

and mini teeny tiny ones for the register and tip jar {anything to draw people's attention to the tip jar... am i right?!}

buddy the elf ain't got nothing on me!

alright who am i kidding.. i stay awake at night dreaming of having the decorating skills he's got. in another life i was an elf!

hope your day is filled to the brim with holiday cheer!