holiday

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BakeInTheFun #CollectiveBias Every year, my husband groans and makes himself scarce when I drag out my KitchenAid mixer for my weekend of Christmas cookie baking. He knows the kitchen is about to be inundated for…

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PotPiePlease #CollectiveBias I knew my husband was the one the first time I came home with him for Thanksgiving.  It was my first major holiday away from home.  For a taste of home, I had committed…

The Peanuts Holiday movies are one of my favorite holiday traditions.  I remember watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas each October, November and December for as long as I can remember.  And I have loved passing this tradition on to my kids… albeit when…

More than two decades ago, my mom settled the annual holiday battle between two local sets of grandparents by hosting a Holiday Brunch at our house Christmas morning.  To make the morning preparation super easy, she would make an Egg Strata every year.  Egg Strata is a breakfast casserole consisting…

Fancy New Years Crafts for Kids As many of you may have noticed from our photos, Big M pretty much lives in Orange Tutu and Snowflake Crown (she refers to them as though they are people, hence the capitalization!).  As long as we are at home and she is awake,…

I can’t remember the last time I made a gingerbread house… but Big M has become quite Christmas-obsessed this year, and taken especially by gingerbread houses.  Given her propensity to meltdown over a collapsed Lego tower, I knew this could be a treacherous undertaking. So when my mom showed me…

In honor of our first snowfall of the season and the start of Hanukkah next week, we wanted to share this quick and easy holiday craft with you… Popsicle Stick Snowflakes! Shopping List: Jumbo Popsicle (Craft) Sticks Paint (if not colored sticks) Adornments – stickers, sequins, foil snowflakes Glue Ribbon…

For Big M’s second Christmas… the first she would be mobile and capable of tearing down the tree… we were fully prepared.  We bought a play yard system to put around it, and fortunately, never even had to take it out of the box!  She was very content obeying the…

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is drive around and see all the lights everywhere.  As a child, we used to all get in my Grandparents’ suburban with hot chocolate and snacks, and my Grandfather would take us to see the lights. There’s at least…

I grew up with Christmas insanity.  It originated with my Grandfather – he did every holiday BIG.  Big tree, the whistling train set circling the bottom complete with a village, outdoor lights visible from a block away, a weekend baking dozens of cookies, copious amounts of food, and a house…

Who remembers making these simple, DIY ornaments when you were a kid?  When we put up our tree last weekend, I found one I made nearly 30 years ago, and decided I had to make them with Big M this year. DIY Ornaments with Cinnamon Dough It’s a perfect, low maintenance recipe…

My favorite crafts for my munchkins are based on anything I already have in my house.  This homemade Christmas wreath fits that bill. Shopping List: Paper plate Glue Green construction paper Pom poms Ribbon Cost: Free – Less than $5 Prep Time: Less than 5 minutes Clean-Up Time: Less than…

This is a super easy and quick Christmas countdown activity you can do each morning with even very young children at the breakfast table.  We did it last year with Big M when she was only 2… Shopping List: Santa beard print out White pom poms or cotton balls Glue…