I know you’re probably in the middle of a dozen things right now like buying presents, going to Christmas parties, making cookies, decorating, and there’s traffic and grumpy people and lots of stress.
For a moment in your day, I want to take you away from all that and give you five fun and/or interesting things I’ve found around the web that will hopefully make your day a little better.
Why do department store Christmas trees always look so beautiful? What’s the secret to the gorgeous Christmas trees in department stores, and is there a way you can have one like that in your home? The answer is Yes. I get tons of compliments on my tree, and I’m going to invite you into my house to show you step by step exactly what I do to get that magical Christmas look (It’s not as hard as you’d think).
I have really great childhood memories of the holiday’s thanks to my mother. She really owned this holiday in particular and started cooking the turkey the night before and the pies a day before everything else. I can still remember the smells of the house.
When I first got married, my husband and I would split our time between our families. When we moved up here to Massachusetts we didn’t have a family to visit and we don’t have any children, so our large Thanksgivings with lots of people was gone. Now, this might sound really lonely, but it allowed me to create Thanksgiving traditions that are special to my husband and I. So if you find that your Thanksgiving table is a little emptier than usual, let me give you some really fun suggestions.
Being thankful and having gratitude for what you have in your life has a MAJOR positive impact. It can cure depression, make you overall happier, healthier and wealthier as it can boost your career and it can even help you live longer! So you can see why a holiday around giving thanks can be such a great thing to celebrate.
Thanksgiving is also a wonderful time to give to others as others have given to us. No matter how little or much you have in your life, people have positively touched you in ways that have helped you and volunteering is a great way to recognize that and give back. In this post, I would like to share with you what I personally have learned from volunteering, why I’ve incorporated it as part of my Thanksgiving traditions, and how you can start this lovely tradition in your own home.
One thing I love during the holidays, or really any time is candied nuts. You can usually find them in these clear plastic bags and they’re EXPENSIVE! I’m talking $5 for a little bag! So as always, when I find I really enjoy something expensive, I set out to see if I could possibly make these myself at home. Then I wouldn’t have to spend so much money, AND I could have them whenever the mood struck!
Thankfully I was able to find a wonderful recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Pecans featured on the food blog Joy, Food, Sunshine and I decided to put it to the test. The results were not only easy, but better than I expected, and can I just say that my home smelled DELICIOUS too! An added plus is that they are FREEZER FRIENDLY!!!! YASSS!!! This means that as you try to keep healthy during the holidays, you can still sprinkle these over your cranberry and blue cheese salad to give it a little extra holiday sweetness! Running at 119 calories per serving these are also not a bad mid-afternoon snack option, way better than the leftover office donuts in the lunchroom (just sayn’).
I read an article once saying that your sense of smell is the strongest maker of memories and if you think about it, that’s probably why the food you ate as a kid has a nice comforting effect when you smell it now as an adult. It doesn’t go away once you reach adulthood though, so if you’re looking to make some new memories this year, you’ll want to check out this Pot-pourri recipe I tried that will guarantee to get your whole house smelling like fall.
HALLOWEEN IS TOMORROW!!! I’m sure by now you’ve got your costume all picked out and have in mind what you’re going to be doing whether that’s going to a party, trick-or-treating with your kids, or hiding out at home handing out candy and watching something scary ( my personal favorite choice). No matter what you’re up to, an easy way to celebrate this fun holiday is to do your nails.
I don’t have children to impress, so I prefer a more elegant nail that celebrates the season. I personally do that by using colors that are a bit more toned down, and designs that are a bit more sophisticated. This look is something that can be worn to the office, as well as to any event you have going on tomorrow and it’s fairly simple for anyone to recreate!
If we were sitting around a campfire, I’d tell you the story of Stingy Jack, a man who tricked the devil and thus couldn’t be allowed into Hell when he died and was too bad for Heaven. Because of that, he was forced to roam the earth for all eternity with only glowing coal to light his way…He became known as Jack of the Lantern….which leads me to the topic of this post! Jack-O-Lanterns!!!! To decorate a pumpkin is a long-standing Halloween tradition and with the magic of social media, there are tons of fantastic ideas floating around to get you inspired. The following are my top favorites!
Haunted Paintings are a fixture in any haunted home. You know the ones, lightning flashes and the beautiful bride painting turns into an evil hag or the painting of some creepy victorian man whose eyes follow you around the room. But did you know that there are actual haunted paintings?
When I’m not writing, I’m painting. In fact, I’ve actually just finished a give-away contest for a print of one of my paintings “The Master of Halloween Ceremonies”, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I really enjoy reading about Haunted Paintings. For this post, I’m going to introduce you to my favorite top 5 horrifying haunted paintings!
When October hits there is no denying it. There’s a chill in the air, everything is pumpkin spice, the leaves are changing colors and everyone is gearing up for HALLOWEEN!!! So for this post, I wanted to showcase some things I love to have and do during this amazing season. If you’re needing a jumpstart to get into the Autumn spirit, I hope these inspire you as they have me.