baked goods: butterscotch pudding gingerbread men

i recently acquired my grandmother's cookie cutter collection.

oh my, she had a lot!

the little goods and i had so much fun looking through them all.

there were quite a few gingerbread men and holiday cookie cutters so we were inspired to bake some cut-outs.

i pinned these a while back and thought they seemed easy.

they were!

here is what you need:

you can find the recipe here.

i didn't know this but apparently gingerbread men are usually made with molasses,

{via}

which can be a real sticky mess. (so they say...)

the recipe above uses butterscotch pudding mix instead.

i used instant and it worked just fine.

the cookies tasted great!

i hope you are enjoying some delicious baked goods this holiday season!

want some more holiday baked goods inspiration? check these out!

xoxo,

elisabeth

christmas gift goods: top ten

ok, there are actually 11. 

top ten just sounds so much better, doesn't it?

1. fao teddy. our youngest requested a giant teddy bear from santa. this large, classic 28" cuddly bear is going to be perfect!

2. robe. well, sometimes you just need one. and santa really liked the price and polka dots on this one.

3. nerf. every christmas has to involve gifts that shoot things.

4. minetonka boots. real leather and what little girl doesn't love fringe? (shop around for the best price on these)

5. caboodle. did you have one? i did. i wish i had saved it. santa found some at target in the cosmetics department.

6. flashlight.  santa thinks our children are outgrowing their old flashlights that oink and moo. time for the real deal. shadow puppets anyone?

7. flip flop socks. we love little miss matched goods!

8. bodyboard. this one is on the official santa list!

9.  dress. so in love with this holiday party dress from target. it is so puffy and twirly...just how my little goods like it!

10. judy moody.  santa loves giving books.

11. hot wheels. santa brings a few, every. single. year. you can never have enough!

don't you wish you could be a kid again on christmas morning? it really is the best.

today is the day a lot of online retailers offer free shipping. also, don't forget to search for coupon codes and take advantage of sites like ebates. (ebates is paying me over $25 directly to my paypal account, just from the holiday shopping i did online!)

xoxo,

elisabeth

christmas goods: front door decor diy

have you seen this pin yet?

 {look at that fun hat with the bird on it!}

or this one?

 {i love these fresh pine wreaths and the snazzy mittens}

or this one?

 {this one really pops with the use of white snowy wreaths}

cute, right?

here is my version:

i would estimate that mr. snoman here cost me about $12.00. i bought everything at my (not so) local craft store. (my friend rachel told me the other day that her craft store is less than a mile from her house. ummmm...jealous much?)

ok, here goes: 

gather three wreaths in graduating sizes.

grab pipe cleaners from your kid's craft stash:

cut a few green ones in half:

lay the wreaths out upside-down, like this:

and tie them together with the pipe cleaners like this:

find a couple of sticks in your backyard (or "help" your neighbor "clean" up their yard), and stick them through the wreaths...(the sticks not your neighbor)

...and then secure with pipe cleaners.

accessorize your man however you choose!

i ended up stuffing a couple grocery bags in the hat to help it keep it's shape. to hold the hat on to the wreath i just used my regular old office stapler and stapled it to the wreath stems in three or four different spots.

don't forget to fluff fluff fluff!

i think it could be a fun tradition to dress him up differently each year, take pictures and see how he evolves throughout the years.

at night i have a big spotlight that shines on our front door so our snowman is center stage all night long!

do you have a special wreath or decoration that you put on your front door?

to read about how i hang my window wreaths go here.

xoxo,

elisabeth

christmas goods: how i hang my window wreaths

for as long as i can remember we have been hanging wreaths on our windows for christmas.

the style of our house really screams, "wreaths on the windows!"

i'm not sure how other people get their wreaths to stay up there on the windows. suction cups? nails? command strip hooks?

this is my no ladder, no tools, no gadgets method.

the first thing i do is fluff the wreaths. 

nobody likes a smashed up mashed down window wreath.

after fluffing, i separate the branches and make a spot for the ribbon to nestle into.

then i buy some pretty red outdoor ribbon like this:

measure how long i need the ribbon to be (depends on the size of your windows and where you want the wreaths to hit.)

and tie the ribbon around the wreath.

i make a loose knot like this:

to hang the wreaths like this i have to remove our window screens. (we never leave them in anyway. we can't really open the windows here much due to allergies, weather, construction dust, etc. plus it's so much nicer to look out a window that doesn't have a screen. try it. you'll like it.)

hopefully you have windows that tilt open like this:

so that you can open the window, and do this:

then i close and lock (always remember to lock!) the windows like this:

the knot keeps the wreath from sliding down or falling out completely. also, a loose knot will allow you to adjust the length of the ribbon. i use the window panes as a guide so that all my wreaths are hung at the same height.

and there you have it! i hung these yesterday and it took me just a few minutes per wreath. no ladders involved!

i just love how the wreaths are actually "hanging" from something instead of just stuck on. but i will take a wreath on a window pretty much any way!

 

i think it would be really pretty to hang the wreaths all the way at the tops of the windows. if the tops of your windows tilt in for cleaning you could do this. 

i put candles in the windows too, so i hang my wreaths high enough to allow the candles to be seen from the outside.

isn't holiday decorating fun? i wish i could leave these wreaths up all year!

xoxo,

elisabeth

ps. this year i bought a couple of extra wreaths and candles and put them on the sides of our house as well as the front. i am SOOO glad i did this! it really completes the look. i just love it when people decorate the whole house and not just the front. it's so pretty.  most craft stores have great deals going on right now. i think my extra wreaths were only $2.99 each!

thanksgiving goods

i used my grandmother's china dishes for thanksgiving last week.

this is the first time i have used the china and i must say, it really made me happy. i am so glad i made the effort to pull it down off the high-up cabinet shelf, unpack it from it's "fancy china" zipper bags, and set the table with it.

i really didn't go to great lengths to decorate this table. it was easy and thrown together the-day-of. my mother-in-law was making a last minute run to the grocery store -on thanksgiving day- and i said, "hey, while you are there see if they have any thanksgivingy flowers." she came home with butter and mums and on the table they both went! (i love a fall mum, don't you?)

isn't my grandmother's china pattern pretty? i think it's perfectly thanksgivingy. ;)

xoxo,

elisabeth