Santa Visit + Christmas Card

Can you believe it's CHRISTMAS WEEK?! Eeeeeek. It's hard to believe that this is my baby's 2nd Christmas, and I'm so excited to see how much fun she has this year! She's been loving seeing Santa (or as she calls him, "Big Ho") everywhere we go, but I knew she wasn't going to be about sitting on his lap. Of course, we took her for a quick visit anyway ;) Crying kid Santa pics are my FAVORITES, so I've been anxious to have one of my very own! Haha. Please don't lecture me about being a mean mom? This lasted about half a second!

Jaqs spent the remainder of our time "hiding" behind her hand. CUTEST THING. By the time we left, she was blowing Big Ho kisses! Sweet girl.

The little "Winter Wonderland" we visit has a nativity scene, too. I took J's picture in it last year, so I had to do the same this year. I adore the sweetness of this photo!

Jaqs is loving her time with GG & Pop!

And I'm loving having my little family together for lots of quality time together!

I probably won't be around much over the next week or so, but I want to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I'm so thankful for the friends that I've made in this little blogging community. You have been such a huge support for me (and my family!), and I'm grateful for the relationships shared here. 

I hope your Christmas is magical and that your new year is filled with blessings!

See you in 2014!

{homemade} candy cane body scrub

If you're looking for a last minute teacher, friend, or really, ANYONE gift, you've come to the right place! I've made body scrubs before, and everyone seems to love them! It's such a quick and easy thing to make at home, and you can scent it just about any way you want. Win!

 Ingredients:

2 & 1/2 cups granulated, white sugar

3/4 cup good canola oil

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

2 teaspoons peppermint oil

a few drops of red food coloring

(this amount fills 3 half pint jars--roughly 24 oz.)

I picked up this peppermint oil in the natural foods department of my grocery store, but I believe you can also get this sort of thing at some craft stores. Just make sure it's intended for skin and not diffusers/melting oils or it could be an irritant.

Mix up all the ingredients and put the scrub in a cute mason jar & that's it! 

It doesn't get any easier than that, my friends!

 If you're a peppermint fanatic like me, you'll LOVE this; plus it's also very moisturizing with the addition of coconut oil...perfect for winter skin!

Enjoy!

Christmas Home 2013

I adore how our home feels at Christmastime! The decor is so cozy, and I love having the tree lit up all day, every day! It just makes me happy, and I'm apparently not alone because Jaqs turns on the lights first thing every morning. Makes me smile! Oh, and I mentioned being worried about keeping her out of the tree in a previous post, but she has not messed with it at all. We may have lied a little bit and told her it was HOT (!!!) but hey, whatever it takes, I say. It's still standing, and I haven't lost a single ornament, so it's a win.

Christmas dishes are so fun! Love giving our hutch a little holiday makeover..

These are the Anthropologie Inspired Snow Globes I made last year... 

 The other trick to keeping J away from the tree was giving her her own little tree to decorate with shatterproof ornaments. She occasionally takes them on & off, and I've kept it just how she's done it because I think it's perfect!

 The sweetest little mistletoes! Jaqs had so much fun making this "art" piece. Although, those mistletoes aren't so little...that's an 8x10 frame those tootsies are in. My kid is a big foot. She comes by it honestly though!

The best part! The tree!

 I wanted to change it up a little this year but also keep all the same ornaments, so I did some color blocking, and I'm kinda digging it. I also added the picks to the top for some extra flare.

 We needed new stockings this year, and my mom scored these at Canton a couple months ago. I added chalkboard tags to personalize them for each family member.

 Jaqs plays with her Little People Nativity every day. She loves "baby" and all the animals!

 The perfect paper for our Mickey loving girl...found at Target! I love that it's not terribly cheesy.

 And, of course, J's room needed some goodies, too! I found the gingerbread girl at Hobby Lobby and could not resist it for $15. Looooove it. The foam trees are another project from last year!

 We've started our Christmas book collection because I definitely want to do the 25 books of Christmas in the years to come. Here's to hoping I can score some after the holiday!

I spy a sweet little hand <3

Hope you enjoyed a little "Christmas Tour" of our humble abode! :)