When the snow starts to flurry outside there is nothing I crave more than warm cookies right out of the oven. The winter here in Denver has been a bit on the slow side, so the need to heat up the house with baking hasn’t been as top of mind as in the past.
Now that the weather’s starting to dip – we did have a below zero day last week – and the snow has stayed on the ground for more than a few hours at a time, the holiday baking craving has officially begun.
If your December calendar looks anything like mine, the want for fresh baked goods and the time to actually bake might not be in alignment. Between holiday parties, family gatherings and volunteer commitments it feels like everyday is already jam packed. The last thing I need to add to my plate is a kitchen covered in flour and a dozen bowls to wash.
Easy Christmas Snacks from Hickory Farms
Thank you for hopping over from Flourish & Knot and welcome to my Rocky Mountain Bliss! I’m so excited to be participating in the Simply Seasonal Holiday home tour and can’t wait to share some of my Christmas decorations with you.
Having worked retail for many years it took me a long time to get on board with decorating for the holidays. My number one rule is no holiday decorations are allowed out before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is its own holiday and it gets to have a very special three weeks in between Christmas and Halloween.
After that, gathering up the decorations boxes for an afternoon of holiday decor can be fun. We started with the outside of the house the Saturday after Thanksgiving and were lucky enough to have an amazing neighbor who rented a cherry picker come lend us a hand with the top tier of lights. This sped up getting the outside lights by a TON.
We haven’t yet found the perfect artificial tree so we followed the instructions we received from the tree lot to wait until after December 1st to put up a live tree.
I love the smell of pine and there is nothing better then coming home to the house all woodsy and warm. As I was growing up, my mom picked out ornaments for my sisters and I to have when we each built homes of our own. My collection is a combination of Coco Cola pieces and Hallmark.
When we first moved in I knew I wanted to make the front living room welcoming and inviting. I picked up our entry table from Target last year and I love decorating it for the holidays. Eventually I want to completely fill it with decorations and am working on building it out each year.
My favorite holiday decoration on the table is the boxwood topiary (which I liked enough last year to keep it out after the holidays). I used gold and silver ornaments to tie in the lantern with a festive look.
Our downstairs living room uses teal and black as the main colors. We’d already ordered the stockings before we moved in so it works well that they were already black!
Having the TV above the mantel creates a bit decorating challenge, but I think some garland and side decorations gives the stockings the holiday love it needs to complete the look. I love how much fun you can have with apothecary jars so I added some teal and silver ornaments to bring some color to the rest of the built in display.
Thank you so much for stopping in to check out my decorating tips this holiday season! I’ll be working on some craft projects over the next week, so come back to visit for more inspiration later this month. Be sure to hop on over the next Simply Seasonal tour home at Pocketful of Posies to hear how she readies her home for the holidays. I’ve added a link to everyone else participating {and the day they post} so you can be sure to check out all the amazing blogs in this series.
Monday, December 5
Tuesday, December 6
Wednesday, December 7
Organize & Decorate Everything
Thursday, December 8
Friday, December 9
Finding Your Joy in The Journey
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When the office is busy, pot luck lunches make it fun to get away from your desk and spend some time with co-workers instead of slamming a grocery store salad at in front of the computer. I used to work at an office where everyone would bring in pumpkin themed food right before Thanksgiving. It was fun to see how everyone took the prompt (pumpkin) and would try to make a semi meal that wasn’t entirely dessert.
Planning a Christmas potluck is a fun way to bring holiday cheer into the office and I’ve put together a list of Christmas Potluck ideas for work that can help you get started. Continue Reading…
With a full schedule of events and parties, the holiday season is the perfect time for dressing up and going out on the town. Getting ready for a night out can be time consuming and making sure that your look holds up throughout the evening can ensure you enjoy the entire evening.
I have naturally wavy hair, which oddly makes it harder to keep a curl for more than an hour at a time but when I tried the Beachwaver Curling Iron I was impressed at how much longer the style stayed for. So far I’ve curled my hair before going to bed and sleeping on the style overnight and STILL had curls the next day.
The 1 1/4 inch barrel is perfect for longer hair and the rotating ceramic iron helps me to curl my hair in less time.
What Makes the Beachwaver Different
Most standard curling irons have a clip and you need to manually wrap your hair around the barrel. The Beachwaver is a rotating curling iron, so you clip your fair to the bottom and the barrel spins to tightly bring the hair into the curl.
The rotating barrel makes it easy to curl all your hair without having a mirror behind you and angling the way your hair wraps will change how the style looks.
Curling long hair is not easy, and often more work then it’s worth. The Beachwaver Curling Iron changes that, making curly hair something we can all enjoy!
With New Year’s Eve on the horizon, there is no better time to glam up for a celebration.
Shop at Target
In honor of cyber shopping week Target has an great deals all across their site! You can snag a great price on the Beachwaver and finish up all your other shopping all at the same time.
Disclaimer: I received a Beachwaver to review for this post. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this post. This post contains affiliate links.
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