Holiday Festivities

This past weekend was filled with baking cookies, holiday parties, and Christmas shopping.  Here are a couple of quick pictures from this past weekends festivities.

 

Photo Challenge - December

I started a little late this month, but better late than never.  Someone got their hands on a Photo Challenge List for the month of December.  A couple of us have decided to take on this challenge and post our photos on Instagram.  Here is what my challenge has looked like so far...

{Day 14 - Books}

{Day 15 - Green... Red Bull Can Ornaments, post to follow soon}

{Day 16 - Vintage}

{Day 17 - White}

{Day 18 - Water}

Holiday Cocktails

Tis the Season to Eat, Drink, and be Merry.  Whether you are throwinga Holiday party yourself or attending one here are some fun festive drinks options for this time of year.  My favorite is a peppermint martini!

{Peppermint Martini}

{Eggnog Martini}

{Cranberry Cocktails}

{Winter Solstice}

{Milk Shots - to go with the cookie bar}

Sweet Treats - Christmas Edition

Christmas is the time of year when you can turn baking into something that you can give as gifts to friends, family and co-workers.  Here area a couple of fun ideas that can make giving more personal then going to the mall and waiting it long lines. 

{Holiday Brownies}

{Reindeer Cookies}

 

{Gingerbread Granola}

{Peppermint Marshmellows}

{North Pole Cupcakes}

Friday Favorites - Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

Here is my wishlist for Christmas...

{Lace Tom's}

{Cup with a Cookie Pocket}

{White Lace Dress}

{Glass Toaster)

{Grey Dress}

DIY - Instagram Magnets

I am pretty sure at this point everyone has heard of Instagram, this is such a great application to play with and update daily.  This website StickyGram turns your fun photos into fun magnets that you can give family and friends as a gift.  Not only is it a great idea but also very affordable and an easy way to make gift giving a fun way to personalize it. 

DIY - Ornaments

Making your own ornaments and give them as gifts is a fun and personal way to make gift giving easier on the pockets.  My mother started a tradition with us since out very first Christmas... she would give us a new ornament every year since the year we were born.  She said that this is for when we grow up and move out we will have our own set of ornaments for our tree.  Cute right?  Well with this tradition she has created for our family, I intend to do the same thing with my children (when the time comes but not really in a rush).  I have however done this for friends and family and they loved getting a personalized ornament that they could hang on their tree for years to come.  Here are some fun DIY ornament ideas.

DIY Gifts - Bath Fizzies

I came across this idea while looking for creative DIY ideas for gifts for the holiday season.  Here is a step by step process on how to make your own Bath Fizzies. 

Tools and Material .

1. 1/2 cup citirc acid
2. 1 cup baking soda
3. 3/4 cup cornstarch
4. 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
5. 6 drops food coloring
6. 10-15drops essential oil(s)
7. 2 ouce travel size spray bottle, plastic pipette, sillicone ice cube tray, and storage jars

Follow the rest of the directions here. 

Holiday Season Gift Giving

This week and into next week I am going to be doing some post on fun ways to give gifts and some DIY projects to make giving a gift more personal. 

Who doesn't appreciate a fun book that they can display on their coffee table.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

{Steve Jobs, Biography}

{Make your own photo books at Shutterfly.com} 

{Vogue, The Covers}

{Emily Post's Etiquette}

{I Love Bacon}

LA Find - Salute

This past week we found this fun deal on TravelZoo. We all bought these coupons for Salute and planned to go down to Santa Monica on Sunday.   This was a great deal, $35 for two people for brunch and bottomless mimosa's.  After we enjoyed our breakfast we went for a cold walk down the Santa Monica Pier.   It was a great weekend and here are some fun pictures from my weekend.

{Mimosas}

{Breakfast Pizza}

{Santa Monica Beach}

{Santa Monica Pier}

{Sunset}

{Ferris Wheel}

Friday Favorites - Tis the Season for Gingerbread Everything

This week is the beginning of the holiday season, the malls have been decorated for weeks, the red sale signs are all up around the malls, and Christmas is in the air.  One of the main ingredients besides mint I tend to associate the holiday's with is gingerbread recipes.  Here are my favorite Gingerbread recipes that I cannot seem to get enough of.

{Gingerbread Crepes - I would do a cream cheese filling instead since I do not care for egg nog}

{Gingerbread Mini Donuts}

{Gingerbread Cookies}

{Gingerbread Cupcake}

{Gingerbread Pancakes}

{Gingerbread Waffles}