Happy Holidays!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy 2016! 
Thank you so much for following along and checking in every once in while. It's much appreciated and I hope that you enjoy what you've seen. 
Most likely signing off for 2015...
See you next year!

12 Days of Christmas :: Her Gift Guide for Him

I don't know about you, but I really hate trying to figure out what my husband will like or need... And over the years I've figured out what might work and what won't...


Here are a few picks that I'm sure would work for all the men in my life... brothers and father included.


1.  Shaving Set -- Ones like these are available at Macy's and are from The Art of Shaving.  Really nice sets for the guys!


2.  Ray Bans -- You can find these all over the place and they are a super nice gift that will last forever!


3.  Socks -- Get him some nice dress socks like these that will look good under his trousers! 


4.  Leather Duffel -- Grab a nice one at Fossil or Macy's and it's sure to please!  Plus it will last a lifetime! 


5.  Chuck Taylors -- What guy doesn't want these?  My husband asked for a pair this year so we got him some that are not your ordinary Chucks, similar to these...


6.  Golf Polo -- This is the exact one (shown) I got my brother the other day at Macy's.  It's a great shirt and you can always find a deal at Macy's.  If not, try TJ Maxx or your local golf store.  Linked is a similar one, but Macy's had more options in their stores.


7.  The Martian -- Most guys need a good book to read and I heard this one is a quick one at that!  I want to read it too, but I figured it's a good pick for the guy in your life!


And there you have it...
All these items should be available at a store close to you! 
Down to 2 days to shop so get your shop on tonight!

12 Days of Christmas :: Last Minute Kiddos Gift Guide

I thought it would be mince to feature things that you can still get if you are trying to figure out a few last minute things... Since we are only at 2 more shopping days...


These are some favorites in our house that should all be readily available at Target, Meijer, etc... Things you should have locally!
1.  Shopkins -- The latest craze for little ones... My Ells loves these and the element of surprise gives them a one up on other gifts! 
Where to find?  Meijer, Walmart, Target, Everywhere...
2. Kinetic Sand -- While I personally think these are gross out in stores, if it's your own it's different!  This sand is super cool with the way it takes shape to just about anything!
Where to find?  Michaels, Brookstone
3.  Books -- Holiday ones of course!  I love that we pull out these holiday versions before the big day and read them along the way...
Where to find?  Barnes & Noble
4. Inside Out -- A perfect thing to add to under the tree...
Where to find?  Just about everywhere (I think)
5.  iPad Mini & iTunes Gift Card -- I know kids these days have too much screen time, but we love our iPad mini as it makes many trips with us and it's always something new if you add new apps regularly.
Where to find?  Apple, Meijer, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc...
6.  Junior Legos -- These are mid size legos.. not too big, not too small.  And while you'll probably still have to help them create these fun scenes, you'll definitely have a great time together!
7.  Color Wonder -- This is my favorite type of coloring for the littles.  It's mess free and it helps them see that coloring inside the lines can be fun.  While I don't like to take the "color in the lines" too seriously, this is a fun and magical way to teach them.
8.  Elf on the Shelf & Elf Pets -- We recently added Reindeer Polly to our lives this past weekend and you already know Big Christmas.  These are fun ways to add holiday cheer.  And the best thing about the Elf Pets is that they get their magic from cuddling them -- My Ells hasn't let hers go since we got her on Saturday.
Where to find?  Target, Von Maur (where we got ours)





Happy Shopping! 

12 Days of Christmas :: Craft Workshops

Craft nights are the best.  They are like a release if you ask me!  I swear... I could craft for hours on end and not even realize how much time has passed...

I decided this would be a fun thing to do with Maeve and our new found friends through that business so we hosted our own craft night at the Maeve Warehouse.  Unfortunately my phone had died that weekend -- and by died I mean cracked to misery -- so I had my sister take the photos.  And then her phone died and she wasn't able to transfer the photos - I'm still crying -- so these are the few we had from my mom's phone.

Lesson learned ::  Next time bring Camera for sure...

This gorgeous champagne tinsel tree was a festive sight in our space...

We got a little messy, but it was good fun! 
And They all turned out so unique and cute! 

A pretty easy little craft that was a nice way to get together, relax and just have a little bit of sparkly fun!

And while I had been planning one for Maeve, a new friend of mine that I've met through many of the entrepreneur events I've been attending lately for Maeve invited me to a craft workshop that was pretty close to my house... so of course I responded yes! 

We headed over to Kindred, an adorable little salon (as I found out once I got there)...

We headed back to a little room and I headed in there fairly early due to the fact that I noticed it was quite small...

I was greeted by Jackie and this adorable box of supplies...

We began to get our craft on and making messes...

I'm pretty pleased with how the final product turned out...
It was a triangle wreath and pretty easy to do so you might see it later on as a Maeve Craft night...



What have you been crafting over the holidays?!

12 Days of Christmas :: Santa!

We finally went to see the big guy the other day...

We started at one mall to get some stuff done like a little golfing...

And Reindeer buying...
{not sure what's happening in this photo - the poses are a new thing}

And then headed over to the Santa I hope lives forever...

We of course got their right as he left to go feed his reindeer... so we waited...

And waited...

But it was worth it... She's seen him the last 2 years...

The first year she was sick and we didn't get to go see Santa... We waited too long and then missed our chance.

But at least this year we got a minor smile and not too much of a side eye... which has been the norm thus far.

Then we shopped a little more and headed to a Christmas party... But not before some more posing and planting stickers all over our face! 


Happy Christmas!

12 Days of Christmas :: Big Christmas (Our Elf)

Yes yes yes... always late I am!  Seriously I just can't seem to get my crap together!  I'll be wrapping up these 12 days of Christmas in the next 4 days... Hoping a couple a day due to my lack of blogging skills!


But neither can Big Christmas...
One morning their were tears because he hadn't moved...
Darn Elf...


Next year I might take up that cast on his leg idea...
Did you see it?!  Genius!

via

Although, last year I had fun moving him around and being creative, but this year I just can't seem to come up with anything really good!  Here are my faves from this season...




Only a few more moves to go!


What does your elf do? 

12 Days of Christmas :: The Perfect Tree

We've started a tradition to go out and cut our own tree.  This is our 2nd year doing it and it really is fun... especially when it's like 65 at the beginning of December... It almost makes it worse because you have more time to pick out THE perfect tree.

We headed to a farm not too far from home because we don't have a great car to bring it back on so the closer the better -- less chance of falling off.  And my little brother was in town and he'd never done it before so it had to happen.  Plus, he equals more man power to carry the tree in the house!
So we got there, plopped ourselves in the tractor...

Driven by Santa...

And were out in the beautiful field of trees under the sun trying to find our tree...

And we did...


But then we decided we didn't like it...

{see her little evil grin}



So we tried again...

Winner...


And then... When we got it home...

Realized we probably should have gone with the smaller one...



Ooops!  Happy Holidays!