Wordless Wednesday 11-30: A "new" old tradition

2 on Tuesday: Christmas Fun then & now

{which turned into 22 on tuesday...LOL}Christmas Fun

1. egg nog or hot chocolate? hot chocolate w/whipped cream
2. does santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa never wrapped when I was a kid, but for our boys Santa does wrap. The boys always loved taking turns opening a present.
3. colored lights on tree/house or white? We used clear lights for years, but we've added red lights with the clear lights the past few years. It looks very Christmas-y!
4. do you hang mistletoe? nope.....but I've always wanted to.
5. when do you put your decorations up? Growing up, we always put the tree up on Mom's birthday Dec 12th. Now, our tradition has been to decorate the first week in December....I actually do all of the decorating!
6. what is your favorite holiday dish? Just one dish???? I love hot crab dip, and any dip really....onion dip, shrimp dip.....
7. favorite holiday memory as a child? I have so many, but putting up the tree each year will always be a favorite. Dad would get everything out of the attic, Mom would bake her yummy mac & cheese, and we'd turn on Christmas music {8 track tape...LOL...no Pandora Radio...} and we'd spend the evening putting up the tree. Remember the color coded branches? Well, Dad is color blind, and sometimes the tree would begin to look a bit disfigured due mixing up the colors/branches!! It always ended up though being the most beautiful tree ever! I loved pulling all the ornaments out of the box and remembering where we had gotten them or who had given them to us {I still do this every year as I unpack our collection of ornaments}.
8. when and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I must have been the most naive child ever! I didn't find out until the FIFTH GRADE. My dear cousin Carla spilled the beans a few days before Christmas...funny how you never forget that day!!!
9. do you open a gift on Christmas eve? As a kid, my sister and I always got to open a gift on Christmas Eve morning, and the rest of our gifts after dinner on Christmas Eve and then we got our stuff from Santa the next morning. I kept that tradition going with our boys. They always wanted my opinion on which gift to open {since I pretty much knew what they were getting}so they had something fun to play with all day.

10. how do you decorate your Christmas tree? Red/clear lights, and the ornaments are a collection of ornaments that we have gotten over the years. I try to buy/make at least one new ornament each year.

11. snow! love it or dread it? love a soft, falling snow on Christmas, sledding a time or two, then no more snow please! 
12. can you ice skate? seriously??? LOL...I did as a child/teen, but haven't put on a pair of skates in YEARS!

13. do you remember your favorite gift? I remember my favorite gift each year being the shoebox my Mom-Mom Annie would pack full of little gifts like a necklace, lip gloss, socks, a picture frame, candy,etc. She would also give me a gift, like pj's or a sweater, but the box of goodies was always my most favorite gift! Confession {and I just confessed this to Mom a few years ago} I would sometimes always carefully unwrap my presents, peek inside, and re-wrap them. I never unwrapped the shoebox gift from Mom-Mom though, I wanted that to be a big surprise!
14. what's the most important thing about the holidays for you? First and foremost, celebrating the Reason for the Season. Also, spending time with my family and giving to others.
15. what is your favorite holiday dessert? I {love} Stollen Bread!!
16. what is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to the Candlelight Service at church with my family on Christmas Eve.
17. what tops your tree? Normally, a big bow, but this year we are getting a real tree and I want to put a star on top.
18. which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I know this sounds cliche, but I would much rather give than receive. I love buying gifts for others and also donating to charities, buying toys for Toys for Tots, and filling the shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.
19. candy canes: yuck or yum? YUM!!!
20. favorite Christmas show? National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
21. saddest Christmas song? Christmas Shoes
22. what is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night is my absolute favorite!!

DIY Project: Christmas Wreath

It all started with some glass ball ornaments from the Dollar Tree....

A "fake" evergreen wreath {yes, I do believe I've become a "fake" wreath/tree snob!}

and this is what I came up with!

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I planned on adding this monogram that I sprayed silver...I still might....

since I had originally thought to copy this wreath idea from Pinterest.

This wreath was what I really wanted to do...love this!

instead, I copied this idea...but I added some ribbon to mine.
What do you think....to monogram or not to monogram???

Top Ten & Pin It Tuesday....11/29

Here are 10 of my top "sweet treat" pins from last week......

Stir your hot chocolate with these chocolate peppermint marshmallows.

I made these a few years ago...great gift idea!

Pretzel/Rolo/Pecan...easy peasy!

I'll be making some of these!!

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

Divine!

Reese's Cheesecake Brownies

 frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity

I just {heart} jar gifts!!!

I've never, ever made a gingerbread house before...I must remedy this!! :O)

5Q Friday...a little late 11/27

1. Is there a special dish you prepare that you are famous for? Not really famous..LOL..but for Thanksgiving I usually make Sweet Potato Fluff and Pretzel Salad.

2. Are you (did you) go Black Friday shopping? I did. Mom, my sister Julie, & I went away for our annual mom/daughter getaway on Friday. We shopped all day!!! My best deals were: a red Liz Claiborne purse from JCPenney {originally $60 got it for $23}which I'll post pictures of later and I bought a Food Network Griddle/Grill from Kohl's for Logan for Christmas{originally $80, on sale for $70 minus 15% discount=$63 then I got $15 Kohl's cash back}.

3. What are your strangest holiday traditions? I really can't think of anything strange.....but I'm sure there are some! :O)
4. Pecan or pumpkin pie? I always make Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving dinner, but I really {love} pecan pie more than I do pumpkin.

5. When will you put up your Christmas tree? We are getting a live tree this year for the very first time and I am so excited!!! We plan to pick it out on Thursday-12/01....I'll be sure to post pictures!

Destination Disney The Letter "V"

This week's letter is "V".....

View Master Reel from TSMM

Pinocchio's Village Haus

Is this a Vine or a lady? You're right, it's both, it's DeVine!!!

Vinylmations

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Wordless Wednesday 11-23 shopping anyone???

Top Ten & Pin It Tuesday....11/22

These are a few of my favorite things......on Pinterest this week!

love the chevron/floral patterns together!

can't wait to put together some of these "mini" albums

what a cute birthday reminder idea

would love these jammies for Christmas morning!

monograms...yes!

stealing this idea!

love this room...notice the round mirror

a DIY project...

perfect shopping outfit!!! don't ya love the purse??

using old shutters to hold holiday cards....my next project!

Monogram Monday: Clear Ornaments

Last year I made the cutest monogrammed ornaments that I saw on another blog similar to these

and gave them to several members of my family, friends, and coworkers. Since discovering Pinterest, I've seen tons of ideas using these clear glass ornaments. FIY, you can buy them at Hobby Lobby or Michael's for less than $2 {on sale} for a box of 4.

While browsing for an idea for this year, I saw that Pottery Barn has their version

Did you know that they are charging $7 for these? I mean, they have no ribbon, nothing inside, no pizazz...nothing. I can hardly see paying $7 for these, when I can make something like these and at a fraction of the cost.....

I'll be sure to post pictures of the ornaments I make this year...............stay tuned!