Sewing Projects Christmas Gifts

I sewed a lot of Christmas gifts this past year, thanks to my wonderful sewing instructor. She suggested ideas, found patterns, and obviously helped me learn how to make pretty gifts. I want to share a few of the things that I made, not because I want to turn Posh Purpose into a DIY blog, but because these gift ideas are super easy for a beginner. 

pillows for J's mom

pillows for my mom

 I love making pillows! If you buy the piping, making pillows is super easy and fast. Of course, I had to make my own piping to get the exact look I had imagined. I purchased the pillow forms, the fabric for both the body and the piping, and piping cord. I used a thinner cord for the bird pillows and an extra fat cord for my mom's pillows.

 I made three table runners this year. One for each of my sisters-in-law on J's side and one for my sister. Table runners are another easy project, but they do require more fabric. You need a top fabric (shown above) and a lining fabric to go underneath. Some people use the same fabric, but I went with a plain brown for the floral and a subtle green print for the wintery runner. Table runners are one of those home good items that can be a lot cheaper to make than it is to purchase.

I made way too many aprons last year. Sorry for the horrible photo editing above - I have no desire to share my somewhat messy kitchen on the blog today. I did not intend for the picture to end up on the blog, but I just realized I didn't take any other pictures! Anyway, I made two like the one above plus two others. Aprons can be easy or complicated, depending on what look you want. The one above had a lot of circle hems, so take that into consideration. You can probably find a lot of online patterns for aprons, or just wing it if you are so inclined.

Another project I made is this giant laundry bag for my dad's sailboat. I bought the canvas fabrics at Habitat for about $2 and totally made it up from there. Somehow the bag ended up far larger than expected. This is a case of the aforementioned 'winging it.' I put a draw string in the top and reinforced the horizontal seams quite a bit.

Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph the rest of my projects before wrapping and giving them away. Maybe my sister will take a picture of herself in the apron she received (hint, hint). I really enjoyed sewing Christmas gifts and hope to do it again next year, but I may be otherwise occupied with sewing projects for my own home! 

DIY Christmas Gift Ideas

I'm almost done making all the Christmas gifts on my list this year, but I am starting to get worried about not finishing on time. J and I are going on our anniversary trip for 4 days, and then we are leaving the Friday before Christmas to visit family in South Florida up until Christmas Eve. This means I have significantly less time than I realized. I only have thirteen crafting days left! Eeek!

For those of you looking for last minute inspiration, here are a few of the DIY gifts I gave last year, plus a bonus gift idea from Trial and Error Creativity. All three projects involve objects you can easily pick up in Marshalls, Walmart, or Home Depot/Lowes and normal craft supplies.

DIY gold terra cotta pots were super easy and fast. The pots still look perfect after a year on my parents' back porch. That being said, they have also sat empty for the whole year so I can't say what happens if you plant something in them. Mother seems to prefer the pots as is.

This painted spoon project is also very easy, but you will need to prepare for a lot of drying time. My sister Bekah has been using these spoons for a whole year and the paint is still looking great. She even tosses them into the dishwasher!

My sister-in-law monogramed these glasses as part of our wedding gift. Aren't they great?!

Say No to Holiday Fluff!

Ah...the holidays.  Beautiful trees, spending time with loved ones, and going to Christmas church service...and hoping that those extra scoops of holiday food goodness somehow magically disappeared with Santa on his sleigh instead of taking up residence on your backside for the long winter.  Since the season of eating begins tomorrow, I think it's best I revisit last year's article on maintaining your weight through the holiday season.  My least favorite diet tip that aaaaall the magazines like to put out there is still the one about eating your dinner before you go to a party so you don't eat while you're at the party.  Um, news flash...I don't have to be hungry to eat a cookie or drink a pint of egg nog.  It's like jello...there's always room.  Plus, who wants to be the person who deprives themselves of all Christmas treats?  Um, not this Posh Purpose girl.  So!  Here we go!  Most of these tips are about planning and making minor changes to make up for a few extra calories here and there:

Posh Purpose's Kindly Suggestions on How to Still Fit in Your Pants Come January

1. Religious calorie counting on days you don't have parties/events - 1600 calories* and no more (I use an Android app called Fat Secret...horrible name, but decent app).  Weigh in daily to keep yourself honest.

2. Eat something healthy before a party - soup and salad if you have time or yogurt and nuts are both good options.  Although I don't believe in eating before you go to a party in order to not eat at the party is a good idea, I also don't think I want to have my blood sugar drop and find myself face first in a cheese platter either.  Been there, done that.  Also, your tummy and waistline will thank you if you go to a corporate with nothing but dried out chicken and greasy (but tasteless) sides.  Those items just aren't worth the calories, but you would probably devour them if you went on an empty stomach.

3. Eat 3-4 small servings of things you truly want to eat at the party - things that are special for Christmas time or you know are a specialty of the hosts....then don't eat them again at any other parties.  For example, I love egg nog, rum balls, and peppermint bark.  I could have a small cup of egg nog, 2-3 rum balls, and a piece of peppermint bark at a party.  At the next party, I would bypass these items and perhaps choose a scoop of hot crab dip, a small cup of apple cider, and a slice of pie.  Then bypass all of those items at any other parties.  Fill up on veggies and lean protein for the rest of your food selection.  Cold shrimp is a very good choice that you will often find this time of year.  My theory on this tip is that I will get to have all my favorite things without overloading my plate at each and every party.

4. Cut back on your everyday treats -  ex. if you are putting half and half in your coffee, switch to 2% for the next month.

5. Eat seafood at corporate events - My nutritionist once said that if you have to go into an event blind or without any ability to customize your food, go for fish.  Even if the fish is deep fried or sauteed in butter, the calorie count for fish starting out is lower than any of the other proteins.

6. Stick to wine or hard cider - Lots of taste, less calories than a mixed drink, classier than a shot, and no fat.

7. Plan out where you can eat when you are running errands or Christmas shopping now - For me, I know the meal combinations I can have at Chick-Fil-A (grilled chicken nuggets and small fry or spicy chicken sandwich - no bun - and small fry) and Panera Bread (bacon turkey bravo half sandwich and half salad or bowl of soup) which are readily accessible.  Other options for a sit down meal, are Olive Garden (soup, salad, and bread sticks) and Seasons 52 (no item on the menu is over 475 calories).  I would suggest looking at your local area where you plan on doing the most shopping and coming up with a game plan.  My nutritionist told me successful dieters have plans and people tend to gain weight the most when they are rushed for time and don't have a plan set in place.  That's how you wind up pulling through the Taco Bell line and ordering a burrito and two tacos with extra nacho sauce.  This goes the same for traveling!  Have a plan of where you can stop on the road or in the airport.  Bring snacks with you so you aren't tempted!

8. Add on 15 mins to your work out time or another workout a week.  This one can be super hard!  If you can't add it to your work out or you have no extra days for a workout, try to go for a walk at lunch during your work days.  Also, try and have a nice walk (so relaxing!) or jog (if you feel so inclined, I rarely do) on the major holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.  It will help you digest post-meal and it's a nice way to either spend time with family or get away from them (depending on your situation).  I'm going to try to hit up zumba tomorrow morning right after the turkey goes in the oven!  I'd also like to add in a post-church zumba class or a spin class on Sundays.

9. Take none and leave all - If you are having a party or hosting Christmas dinner, stock up on to-go containers.  If it's not healthy, it must go.  If you are attending a party, refuse to take anything.  You can "accidentally" leave it behind.  Whoopsies.

10. Plan a non-meal event for your girlfriend get togethers -  I suggest coffee.  You can get a small drink (latte with cinnamon on top - caffeine & protein!) and if you can't stay away from the bakery case, split something with your friends. You'll save money and calories.  More active options would be to go bowling or ice skating. 

11. Eat what you want on the main days - Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day.  Chances are you probably won't be eating more than one big meal each of those days.  Even if you are eating 2,500 calories, you are doing it all at once and not three times that day.  You should also be able to rebound from 1-3 days of poor eating spread out over several weeks....it's the week long time frame of Thanksgiving and in between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day that I've noticed really make an impact.  I also don't see the point in eating low-cal versions of traditional foods - pumpkin pie with splenda is just not the same and cranberries flavored with agave sounds nasty.  If you must exercise some sort of self control or you are attending multiple meals in one day - fill up on whatever main protein there is (ham, turkey, etc.) and the healthiest side (usually green beans).  You can have one small scoop each of all your favorite things and only eat the best offerings at each meal if you are going to multiple places (i.e. if your Aunt Gertrude's sweet potatoes are better than your granny's...don't tell, but don't eat either).

12. Get back to your regular groove as soon as possible and don't beat yourself up - You may still gain 1-3 lbs between now and the New Year...but that's much less to beat myself up about and far fewer pounds to work off compared to the 20 billion people who join the gym and take all the parking spots/machines post-holiday 15 lb. binge.  I'll just go back to my regular schedule - I hope without having to buy new pants.

If you've got any other tips, let me know!  I'm always open to suggestions.

* I'm not a licensed professional, so you should consult your doctor before starting any nutrition plan or exercise program.

Posh Purpose Review: The Cottage Shop in Nags Head, NC

When we went to Nags Head last year, I came across a super cute shop called The Cottage Shop that sells home decor, Christmas decorations, entertaining essentials, and small gifts.  I bought our yearly ornament from The Cottage Shop last year and I decided to go back to look for another this past weekend.  I also got a bunch of great Christmas decorating ideas for my first Christmas tree that I was able to put together using cheaper sources such as Michael's.  The store is creatively decorated with at least six Christmas trees, but doesn't feel too crowded or overdone.  The sales ladies are all wonderfully helpful and sweet.  Here's a couple of the displays that I thought were especially creative...like this inverted white Christmas tree designed to look like underwater sea life:

I also really like the more natural look to this red and burlap woodland tree.  I love the frilly bow at the top.  The faux poinsettias are really pretty pops of color!  Using faux florals on my tree is one of the ideas I got from this store last year.

These beautiful hanging ornaments would look great in the windows, hanging from the banisters or mantels, or even from certain chandeliers.

Unfortunately, I couldn't limit myself to just one ornament this year!  All the ornaments are so pretty and well-made, that I wound up buying four, but luckily they were only $11.99-$13.99 each aaaaaand the super sweet sales lady gave me a discount.

I'm super excited to put these on my tree in a few weeks!  If you are in the Outer Banks, I highly recommend that you stop by The Cottage Shop at one of their three locations for some decorating inspiration and gift ideas. There will be another sale on Black Friday if you are lucky enough to be spending Thanksgiving at the beach!

Duck

1201 Duck Road

Kitty Hawk, NC 27949

252-261-8121

Nags Head

5000 South Croatan Highway

Nags Head, NC 27959

252-441-2522

Corolla

Timbuck II Shopping Village

790 North Ocean Trail

Unit G

Corolla, NC 27927

252-453-3525

Hand Painted Wooden Spoons

I totally got the idea to paint wooden spoons from Pinterest. However, per my usual craft behavior, I failed to read tutorials in any great detail before beginning the project. I will have to get back to you on how the paint holds up to normal use, but for now we will settle for how I painted my spoons.

Edit 1/15/2014: According to my sister-in-law, her paint (spiral aqua) has held up to both hand-washing and a run through the dishwasher. Yay!

Side note: I actually painted six spoons total. As you will notice, I only have two pictured. This is because I didn't remember to take pictures of the four that I did for my sister Rebekah. She lives about 45 seconds down the road from me, but I can never remember to pull the spoons out while I am at her house. 

This project was very easy, but you need a lot of time for layering the paint and then waiting for the paint to dry. I used Martha Stewart craft paint and was very pleased with the colors and shimmery quality of the paint. However, I did test out the cheap off brand at Michaels first. I am sure that paint performs well in certain circumstances, but this project is not one of them. It was way too chalky and went on very clumpy. I bought the spoons at TJ Maxx - 6 for $6.

I selected a bronze shade for the base coat that actually turned into about 5 base coats. The paint color was too close to the spoon color for one coat to be sufficient. I just painted the top portion of the handle bronze and figured I would do the designs in other colors on top. I freehanded a straight line where the paint stopped. It was quite easy to get a straight line using my foam brush.

Once I got the bronze coat solidly applied and dried, I started on the designs. The purple spoon was very simple. I first tried taping off the bands to paint them purple, but I didn't have the right tape/the spoon was not as smooth as it could have been, so the paint seeped underneath the tape. Since that was frustrating, I just freehanded the bands. I ended the thickest purple band below where the bronze paint had ended so that it was obvious where the bronze paint was and where the unpainted spoon section was.

The aqua ribbon spoon was a bit more complicated. I knew I couldn't freehand the wrap around ribbon and keep the thickness and angle consistent, so I attempted the tape again. First, I taped off the bottom of the spiral. I wrapped it so that the spiral ended at the edge of the front of the spoon (top right corner in the picture below). Getting that result was a bit tricky; I had to rewrap my tape a few times to get the angle right. Then, I taped the top part of the spiral. I made sure to keep the same amount of space between the old tape and the new tape throughout the entire spoon so that my design would be consistently sized.

You can see in the two pictures that the bare spots later got painted blue. I slapped quite a few coats of the aqua paint onto the spoon and then pulled off the tape. Of course, paint had still seeped but since I had made extra effort to push the tape down, the seepage was not as bad. I was able to clean it up a bit more freehand. I decided against an aqua band at the bottom, so I freehanded a straight line of aqua where necessary and left the bronze as is.

Enjoy this post? Read the whole list of Briana's $5 Christmas gifts and check out our DIY monogrammed jewelry dish!

$15 Christmas Gift for Daddy

My father is impossible when it comes to figuring out what to give him. Typically, my family resorts to buying licorice or liquor but that gets boring for us (not so much for him). This year, I got lucky. I found an awesome gift that combines two of his favorite things and it only cost me $15!

I would like to introduce you to my dad's new wine rack! He loves his sail boat and he loves drinking red wine. I considered staining or painting the wood, but in the end just went for a bit of cleaning. As you can see in the picture below, the wood was a bit banged and scratched up.

I researched various ways to clean up wood. Martha suggested using olive oil and white vinegar for unsealed wood. Since I already own both ingredients, I decided to try it out before purchasing a more specific cleaner. That's right, I used homemade salad dressing to clean my dad's $15 Christmas gift. I combined 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of olive oil and shook it up. I used a plain dishcloth to rub the mixture onto the wood and was very pleased with the results. The vinegar gently removes dirt and build up while the olive oil conditions the wood. The after image was taken after the wine rack had totally dried. A lot of the scratches are less obvious, as you can see on the front. The deeper gouges (seen towards the back on the inside of the rack) were not altered much with my salad dressing mixture. I decided I was ok with it because sailing is a weathering and imperfect activity, so the wine rack fit in with the theme. Daddy was very excited to receive his gift and totally didn't mind the rustic appearance of it!

Enjoy this post? We have a lot more gift ideas and I'm always blogging about thrift store finds!

DIY Coffee Body Scrub

As I have mentioned before, we gave $5 Christmas gifts to our siblings this past year. One of my favorite gifts was the homemade coffee body scrub that I put together. I wanted to make the gift a bit more special than just good smelling sludge, so I DIYed the jars as well. Overall, the project less than $12 for three jars of scrub.

I looked around the internet for recipes but couldn't pick just one. I decided to just use them as inspiration and also to go with only three ingredients: coconut oil, coffee grounds, and brown sugar. I bought the brown sugar at Aldi, the coconut oil at Marshalls, and the coffee was a gift from J's brother and sister-in-law. They brought it back from their Italian honeymoon, but unfortunately we forgot about the second bag. We didn't rediscover the bag until it had gone stale - so sad! But it served as my inspiration for this gift. I couldn't bear the thought of throwing away beautiful Italian coffee that still smelled soooo yummy.

I used approximately a 1:1:1 ratio for all the ingredients, however this is totally up to personal preference. I used the whole bag of coffee and coconut oil, but slightly less brown sugar. I prefer my scrubs to be pretty thick but not too rough and scratchy (hence more grounds than sugar). I hope my sisters-in-law and brother's girlfriend have the same preferences as me!

Now for the jars. I used empty jelly jars that I have been saving for this specific purpose, so those cost me nothing. Once the jelly had been eaten, I washed the jars in hot soapy water to get rid of any sticky stuff from the labels. Once they were dry, I took the lids outside to spray paint with my gold spray paint (I can't believe how many projects one can of spray paint will cover). I decided to make two of the jars a bit fancier by repurposing thrift store knobs as lid decor.

The knobs were a bit rough when I first found them at Habitat for Humanity, but I saw potential and the 25 cent price tag for each was too good to pass up. I had J cut off the hardware part of the knobs so they would sit flush on the lids. He used a dremel to do the cutting. Then, I rubbed down the knobs with nail polish remover to clean and degloss - an awesome tip from my family's paint store expert. He says that before you paint anything plastic, rub it down with the remover and the paint will stick so much better. Once that step was done, I just sprayed them down with a few coats of gold spray paint to match the lids. J glued the newly beautiful knobs onto the painted lids with super glue. Very easy - especially when your husband joins in on the fun.

However I did make a mistake. I forgot to add labels to the jars before mailing them up to J's family. Oops! Good thing I remembered before Christmas day. I was able to tell my mother-in-law what the gifts were so she could identify when the girls opened them up. Thanks, nona!


Enjoy this post? You can read more about our DIY projects. Two of our favorites are the beaded monogrammed gloves and the monogrammed jewelry dish, both projects cost less than $10!

DIY Monogrammed Jewelry Dish

On Friday, I shared how I monogrammed thrift store gloves. I was on such a monogramming kick that I decided to personalize something for another niece, Myah (age 14). I bought her some adorable vintage jewelry at the same store where I found the gloves, but I needed something to add to the gift bag. I just couldn't think of anything that made me happy until I rediscovered a ceramic decorative basket thing. My aunt had given it to me when she was passing along a ton of beautiful furniture, but the style didn't really work for me. The basket had been hiding out behind some picture frames on my bookshelf, totally forgotten.

This project was super easy. I already had the gold spray paint on hand and I used a 50% off coupon to buy the blue Martha Stewart extra fine glitter from Michaels. I also brought along an extra coupon and J to get the mod podge 50% off as well.

First, I spray painted my ceramic dish using lots of light coats and allowing for drying time. Because I am forgetful, this spray painting step took a few days. I also ended up covered in spray paint because the crevices were impossible to get on the basket without me holding the dish in one hand while spraying with the other.

Once the spray painting was done, it was time to create my stencil. I used the same method as I did for the glove stencil. I found a font that I liked for the letter, which happened to be M this time around, and then traced it onto tissue paper that I held on my laptop screen. For this letter, I used the google font Parisienne. It is scripty and pretty, but not too fancy. You have to keep in mind the cutting and tracing when choosing your stencil font. I positioned and taped the stencil onto the dish, and then traced around the edges. Keep in mind that when working with glitter, you do not have to be perfect.

Then the fun began! I love love love working with glitter. I wanted to keep the glitter pretty low to the surface since Myah will be using this dish to hold jewelry, so I used a thin layer of of mod podge. Because the layers were thin, I had to work in small sections. Very small.

Once that section dried, I dumped the excess glitter onto a piece of paper to reuse. I repeated this process until I had most of the M glittered. As you can see in the picture below, I had gaps between my glittered bits for the first go around. This is because I did not want to disturb the already laid down glitter with my paint brush. Once it was all dry, I was able to go back and fill in my gaps along with any spots that were a bit too thin on glitter (like the curly bit on the left side of the M). I also used this time to straighten out any crooked bits. You can paint mod podge over the dried glitter and just dump more glitter on top. Isn't it great to have a project that isn't based on perfection?

I am super thrilled with the end result. And more importantly, Myah loved it as well! I did not use any sealers to protect the glitter because they tend to make the glitter less glittery. I figure her tastes will change before the dish gets too scratched up. She is only 14 years old, after all. And the jewelry in the picture is what I found in the thrift store. The bracelet and dangly earrings coordinate and I couldn't pass up a $1 pair of earrings with M's on them!

Enjoy this post? Check out our other DIY projects or read about my very first attempt at beading monogrammed gloves!

DIY Monogramming Gloves

J's mom took me to a large second hand store while we were in Ohio to search for Christmas gifts. I found a pair of long evening gloves that were made in West Berlin, so they are older than I am. The gloves are in great condition and inspired me for my niece Gabriella's Christmas gift. I knew they needed to be embellished in order to make them special, so I decided to attempt beading for the first time. This project cost me $7 because my mother-in-law had all the beading materials on hand and sweetly shared with me.

To pick a font for my G, I went to Google's list of fonts. I ended up choosing Alex Brush because it was scripty without being cursive, meaning it stood a chance of being identifiable as a G rather than a loopy jumble. G's are hard, y'all. Alex Brush also has a bit of a vintage look to it, which is perfect for these long gloves.

Once I chose my font, I made my stencil. I enlarged the G until it looked about right on my computer screen for the size of the gloves. Then, I held tissue paper over the computer screen and traced the outline of my G (my little sister Natalia taught me that trick). Don't press too hard!

Just to make sure that the beads I chose would work with the G, I laid them out over the stencil. As you will see very shortly, I am definitely not an expert beader; my stitched beads did not turn out nearly as organized as they are in the picture below.

Once I was satisfied with the size and shape of my G, I pinned the tissue paper stencil to the first glove. From the time I stitched the first bead to when I knotted the last bead off, about 3 hours had passed. Good thing I love my niece. My mother-in-law gave me the tip of knotting off every three beads or so before continuing on so that in the event a stitch breaks while the gloves are being worn, only a few beads will be lost.

I took a few days break in between the two gloves, but fortunately my G's were similar in shape. The top of the G ended up much flatter than I had intended, but I am quite fond of my first beading attempt. Below is the finished first glove. My approach to crafting is fearlessness; you can always undo a stitch or slap on another coat of paint, but you will never know until you try!

Interested in more low budget gift ideas? Check out the $5 Christmas gifts I gave to my siblings in 2013!

$5 Sibling Christmas Gifts

I have a huge shopping list when it comes to Christmas. In my side of the family alone, I have two parents, seven siblings and spouses, and eight children. That's a lot of gifts before you even consider J's parents, sister, brother, and sister-in-law. Normally, the older siblings in my family don't give each other gifts because it gets expensive quickly, but that is not much fun. This year, my sister Kimberlee had the idea of exchanging $5 gifts. Each couple would give a gift to all the other siblings and spouses, so we would be limiting the gift exchange to $30 for all of us. Her suggestion was to either make the gifts or buy them second hand. J and I had so much fun coming up with ideas that we decided to extend the circle of $5 gifts to his three siblings. I have to say that the gifts were all well received and it definitely made for an interesting time opening everything up on Christmas. Here is what we gave:

We gave Kimberlee various thrift store linens. The two on the left and the one farthest to the right are vintage handkerchiefs and remaining is a bread basket cloth

My sister Bekah is very practical, so I hand painted four wooden spoons for her. I picked up a package of 6 for $6 at TJ Maxx. The picture above are actually the spoons that I painted for Maria and Abby, my sisters-in-law on J's side. I forgot to take a picture of Bekah's, but will grab one for y'all sometime this week.

I put together a list of songs for my brother-in-law Rick with the help of my little sister Natalia. J put them on to a CD for me, which I titled "Our Childhood while Riding in the Car with Rick." Rick's music tastes in the 90's really shaped what Natalia and I love.

J found two leather holsters from a military surplus store in Ohio. We gave one to both James and Adam (brother-in-law and brother). I wasn't sure if they owned the correct guns for the holsters, but they both really liked their gifts.

My brother's girlfriend Margo was a bit tricky. She is extremely neat and her house does not have a lot of clutter lying about. However, she is great about putting together meals for our whole family so I found a rectangular wicker basket at Salvation Army for $1. The basket was good quality, but not the prettiest in color so I spray painted it gold. It is the perfect size for holding silverware or napkins when she has guests. I also gave her homemade coffee sugar scrub.

Along with the painted wooden spoons, we gave Abby and Maria homemade coffee sugar scrub as well. The jars above are the ones I mailed up to Ohio. Unfortunately, I totally forgot to label the jars in any way beyond names of recipients so I had to call J's mother on Christmas Eve and tell her what was in the jars. That way, she could tell the girls what they had just opened rather than them being very very confused about the brown sludge that I apparently thought constituted as a Christmas gift.

And finally, J's brother Isaac received some awesome vintage Star Wars books from our local used book store and a coordinating pez dispenser.

Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing how I accomplished a lot of these gifts. I learned that having such a limited budget meant that I had to get really creative and also think seriously about what kinds of gifts all my siblings would enjoy. It was a lot of fun!


Enjoy this post? We also have a DIY monogrammed jewelry dish and DIY monogrammed beaded gloves!

Merry Christmas!

Melinda and I just want to wish all our wonderful readers a Merry Christmas. We hope y'all are enjoying your favorite traditions and staying warm! Tomorrow, we will take a break from posting to spend time with our families, but we will resume the regular blog schedule on Monday. Get excited - we will be revealing DIY Christmas gifts now that they have been opened! Even better, Melinda will give us a run down of how well her winter weight strategies worked.

Christmas Eve!

I hope everyone is got all their shopping done yesterday and is able to enjoy their time with families today! I've been enjoying some egg nog and catching up with my North Carolina girl friends (which I really needed time to do!).   I'm writing this post in the car on our way to lunch with Mr. 3's parents.  We have a few stops (no major shopping left!) to make after lunch and then it's on to church service with my parents.  We have an unusual tradition that's developed over the years and we will head over to town for a Mexican dinner post-Christmas service (salsa and guac = festive colors and super super yummy in my tummy).

If you are also headed to church tonight, be sure to check out our what to wear article.  We've also got a few recipes to try if you need some ideas for Christmas brunch.  If you are doing some last minute shopping, here's our guide on stocking stuffers which also make great last minute gifts.  Stay safe and enjoy your time with your families!  Merry Christmas!

Eggnog Latte Party

I hosted an eggnog latte party last friday for my sisters and mom. The theme was eggnog lattes, which is really just nespresso and eggnog. I decided to keep it simple as far as preparations went, but I also used my fine china to make it special. The night before, I did all my baking (chose recipes that could sit overnight) and set out the dishes. The only tasks I had for the day of the party was putting out the napkins and setting out the food. My little sister Natalia helped make the lattes once everyone arrived. Keeping the party simple definitely made it more fun for me, and it was a perfect party for five people.

I had just unpacked the china in time for the party. Fortunately, there were only five of us so I did not need my table leaves (they are still being painted). I borrowed the beautiful cloth napkins from my sister Kimberlee; mine are not in great shape. I stopped ironing them back in February and they have lots of mustard and tomato sauce stains. Note to self: don't buy white napkins again. 

I baked two desserts to accompany our eggnog lattes. I chose the recipes based on which festive ingredients were already in my kitchen. The top dessert is a pumpkin spice bundt cake which I had to slice to fit on my china platter. I don't currently own a cake plate, but my solution totally fits in with my holiday theme of using what I already own. The cake was absolutely delicious. I altered the recipe slightly by replacing allspice with powdered ginger (because I already owned it) and added a lot more cinnamon. The other dessert is a lemon tart. My family is really big on lemon, and this recipe did not disappoint. Winter is citrus season in Florida and my local farm just picked some of their lemons. These are not your ordinary grocery store lemons, however. They are the size of oranges and I got almost 1/2 of a cup of juice from one. And because I like to brag about how awesome it is to live in Florida, I will share the price: 25 cents per lemon. As you may have noticed, the top of my tart is not perfect. I could not find my crust shield so I improvised with tin foil. When I was pulling the tart out of the oven, part of the tin foil dipped into the tart and broke through the surface. Oops. Also the tart is sitting on a cheese platter. Use what you have! 

My centerpiece is actually at one end of the table. It was perfect because everyone had access to both desserts and we didn't have to lean around the globes to chat. The mercury glass globes have christmas lights inside and glow beautifully. The set was a wedding gift from two of J's aunts. The candlesticks were a Christmas gift from J last year. I just love them! 

As you can see, I have not made any visible progress on my thrift store chairs. I have, however, purchased the fabric and paint along with designing a stencil for what I will paint on the seats. Now I just need to choose my plum paint and start working. I will definitely get to them in 2014. 

Don't mind the messy bookshelf. We use it to store all kinds of things since we don't have much closet space in the apartment. J keeps organizing it, and I keep putting things back in the wrong spot. I do the same with the pantry. Good thing he loves me!

Melinda hosted a Christmas brunch for 21 people! We plan on continuing the theme of "how to host" so if you have any party ideas, let us know!

Prepping for Christmas 2014!

Y'all don't kill me now, but a good way to get started on saving money for Christmas 2014, is to start saving today!  One of the expenses that everyone has, but most people forget to add into their Christmas budgets is the cost of decorations and gift wrap.  You can easily cut your costs for next year with a bit of careful planning over the next 2-3 weeks.

First up, decor!  I have had my eye on a few decorations, but just couldn't swing them with the cost of buying all the ornaments for our first Christmas tree.  Shop the after Christmas sales at your favorite places, where stores like Target have traditionally marked their goods down by 50% beginning the day after Christmas.  If the thought of getting out in the crowds on December 26th terrifies you, go later in the day.  Chances are there will be a decent selection and the early bird, marathon shoppers are usually tired and head home around dinner time.  However, the steepest discounts usually begin in mid-January.  Typically, I start looking at Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma during that time frame, because I can find things 50-75% off.  If you are looking to upgrade your current tree skirt or stockings, this is a great time to buy and save some money for next year.  I know I really want a few mercury glass trees to set out as a centerpiece for next year.

Next up, gift wrap!  Paper companies make a ton of money during the holiday season and I find it ridiculous to pay their high price tags.  That said, I absolutely love high-end gift wrap and I refuse to buy cheap paper, ribbon, and gift tags (stick on bows are different - a stick on bow is a stick on bow no matter how you price it, so go cheap on those).  Don't judge!...everyone has their own "thang"...and mine happens to be paper snobbery.  However, I should mention, that to me, high-end paper means thick and rich looking (i.e. foil, metallics, beautiful prints), but not necessarily any ol' roll that comes from an expensive store (ahem, Papyrus).  The weeks after Christmas are the best time to buy my high-end paper (although, Home Goods has lots of high quality rolls for the $4-5 mark if you should need to purchase it in season).  I also tend to gravitate towards wired or satin ribbon as I think they make the best bows.

For sources, check out Target and Walmart (they often have paper labeled as "premium" and its original price is usually 50-100% higher), but also department stores like Belk and Dillards and unconventional places like the drug store (people rarely think to look at drug stores, but they usually carry Hallmark's beautiful papers and gift wrap!).  Discount stores like TJ Maxx, Marshall's, and Home Goods are usually stripped out of holiday items in general and I rarely see them offer additional discounts or after Christmas sales.

The biggest way to save money, is not to spend it.  If you have already invested in high quality gift wrap for this season - reuse it.  My mother will often give me back my ribbon, so I'm able to fold it nicely and store it in a ziplock bag for next year.  If your paper is in good condition, re-roll it around an empty tube  (My mother has been doing this for years...I have one favorite roll that's pink with angels on it.  My mother used it when I was little for all my gifts and reused and reused, so that it became "MY present paper".  Now there is barely any left, but I still sometimes get a small present wrapped in my angel paper which is a very great family tradition.).  In my case, I also reuse the good quality gift boxes, so a  lot of this paper will already be pre-cut for next year!  Department stores usually have the best boxes, so if you just bought a cheap multi-pack, feel free to pitch those and keep the others (Nordstrom, Sephora, and Anthropolgie carry the best ones!).  The cheap ones rarely keep their shape and the glue that holds them together gets very weak, especially if you store them in your hot summer attic.  If you have nice gift bags that are still in good condition, remove the gift tag label and fold the bag nicely.  Buy tie-on gift tags so you can reuse the bags next year!  The only thing I pitch in its entirety is tissue paper.  If it's been used in a high quality shirt box and can easily be compacted down with the box, then that's probably ok.  However, if you've used it to stuff bags or it's gotten too wrinkly in the shirt box, PITCH IT.

Storage items are also on sale post-Christmas, so if you bought a new wreath, look for a wreath box to protect it!  Or get a plastic box meant for storing wrapping paper.  These things are rarely part of the promotional sales that are offered during the Christmas season, which means they are almost always full price until after Christmas, so it's a good time to stock up! You can also use one of your reused gift boxes to store any stick-on bows you buy to keep them organized and prevent them from getting squashed.

Lastly, I would highly recommend that you buy your Christmas cards for next year now.  At 50-75% off, you can definitely buy the most beautiful foiled lined envelopes, letterpressed or engraved cards to send out to your loved ones and business contacts next year.

This year, I will need to grab gift tags, gift bags, tissue paper, and Christmas cards.  I'm also interested in getting a few more pre-made decorative boxes because they are super sturdy, which came in handy when I shipped my wonderful aunties their gifts to Florida and Arizona.  If I see a beautiful roll or three of ribbon I will probably pick up those too (they came in handy for decorating my magnolia wreath!).  Don't buy more than you need or can store, but make sure to take advantage of the discounts so you can avoid paying full price next year!

Any good shops I missed to check out their markdowns post Christmas?  Let us know!

How to Host: A Christmas Brunch!

Briana and I are starting another series called "How to Host" and we will be sharing our favorite party tips, recipes, and decor elements.  I'm starting off with a post on my Christmas brunch that Mr. 3 and I hosted for our friends last weekend.  We've had cocktail parties in the past at Christmas time, but (1) they are a lot of work during a really busy season, and (2) they often wind up being super expensive when you get all the booze thrown in.  I've hosted cookie swaps before, but I always wind up left with too many calories and a general state of feeling pre-diabetic.  I've also thrown afternoon dessert parties and those have wound up being ladies only (all the men wind up bailing in favor of manly things like football, beer, and video gaming).

This year, I came up with the idea to host a Christmas brunch on a Sunday morning.  We set the time for 11 AM and invited about 30 people. I figured that more people would be able to attend, because D.C. folk generally don't have too much to do on Sunday mornings.  I also thought that people would enjoy brunch to (1) soak up the booze from all the corporate parties the night before, (2) brunch = real meal, (3) people would be able to have their entire afternoon and evening to themselves, and (4) it's a different idea for a party.  Despite all these positives, I had really only expected 10-12 people to RSVP, but we wound up having 21 guests.  Whoopsies - clearly Mr. 3 and I are more popular than we thought.  Luckily, brunch is a very forgiving meal to serve the masses (Although, I did have last minute panic the day before that we would run out of food and bought some frozen appetizers I could throw in the oven.).  Here is a breakdown of how the party got put together:

The Decor

We did not have a lot of Christmas decorations to begin with, so I knew I was going to spend a little bit of money on making the brunch and our apartment Christmas-y.  To make things fun and festive, I used Christmas themed paper plates (appetizer and dinner sized), napkins, and cups from Target.  I also found a cheap Ralph Lauren tablecloth at Home Goods for $17 to cover our dining table which we used for our buffet and I bought one pretty candy dish from Home Goods for $13 to hold Lindt Truffles (which I will be keeping out through Valentine's Day).

Festive Napkins & Peek at My $17 Tablecloth

For decorations, we had our Christmas tree (our very first full sized!), 4 small poinsettias, and I reused some decorations from our wedding including a magnolia wreath we hung on the church doors (which I dressed up with a fluffy bow that I made using a roll of gift wrap ribbon I got on sale last year) and mercury glass hurricanes (which we originally used as vases at our reception).

Bow Topper

I put Christmas-themed paper buffet napkins in the guest bathroom that I found last year at Home Goods for $1.99. I also reused some gold and white paper coasters from a previous party to set around the living room and I didn't buy any new servingware for the party.

If you don't count the amount we spent on our Christmas tree (which we would have put up anyways and the ornaments will be reused for many, many years), we spent about $65 on decorations and paper products.

The Food

In planning the party, I looked for recipes that could be prepared the night before or had very little prep in the morning.  I also decided that instead of making double or triple batches of the same items, the best way to feed the crowd would be to make one dish each of bunches of different foods.  For drinks, I served orange juice and coffee from my Nespresso machine.  I also had a self-serve champagne station for people who wanted to doctor up their OJ and turn it into a mimosa.  Here's how I fed a total of 23 people:

Crab and Mushroom Strata (1 pan - super popular dish)
Raspberry Baked French Toast (1 pan)
Slow Cooker Shrimp and Grits (2 batches - biggest hit of the party)
Citrus Fruit Salad (1 batch - surprise hit with everyone!)
Powdered Donuts (1 bag = 20 donuts)
Whole Foods 365 Gingersnaps (1 box)
Safeway Cream Puffs (1 box)
Pimento Cheese Dip (1 container) & Water Crackers (1 box)
Trader Joe's Chambert & Cranberry Fillo Rolls (2 boxes - 16 pieces total - really popular with everyone!)
Trader Joe's Party Pups (2 boxes - 28 pieces total - really popular with everyone!)
Simply Orange Juice (2 large jugs)
Trader Joe's Sparkling Wine (6 bottles)
Trader Joe's Chocolate Biscotti (1 container)
Lindt Peppermint Truffles (1 small bags - 24 pieces)
Rolled Wafers (2 kinds - hazelnut and dark chocolate)
Other items: salt, pepper, half and half, maple syrup, and sugar

I made the crab and mushroom strata, the french toast, and the citrus fruit salad (minus the dressing) the night before.  I assembled the slow cooker shrimp and grits at about 7 AM when I woke up.  Mr. 3 and I worked on the fruit salad dressing and cooking the shrimp before our guests arrived.  Everything else was mostly assembly/unwrapping day of.

Sounds simple, right?  It probably would have been if we hadn't also needed to finish decorating our new apartment (i.e. hanging things on our bare walls and unpacking the last few boxes) as well as decorating for Christmas and cleaning up the Christmas wrapping paper explosion that happened in our living room.  It all came together about 25 mins. after the party started at 11, but luckily most people didn't start showing up until 11:30...so only about 4 people know the real truth....and by real truth, I mean me in my party clothes with a bathrobe on top (my apron is in a space saver bag in my cedar chest with a bunch of other linens) and frantically putting tags on my party favors (homemade bourbon fudge sauce and skillet toffee).

The Set Up

I made a two separate bar/drink areas  - one for coffee in the kitchen below the cabinet with all the coffee cups and next to the sink so that I could easily refill the water tank on the Nespresso and the other area was set up for OJ and champagne across the room from buffet table. I served the appetizers (party pups, fillo rolls, and pimento cheese) on our coffee table in the living room.  I kept our favors by the door to make sure to hand them out to guests as they left.

Since it was cold that day we were able to set the champagne on the patio so we didn't have a whole bunch of containers lying about and I stacked my tiered cake stand with baked goods to save on table space.

Tips & Tricks to Take Away

1. By making the drinks self-serve, I eliminated the need to hover over everyone (after the initial Nespresso demonstration).

2. By assembling the majority of the main dishes the night before, I didn't have tons of dirty pans lying about waiting to be washed, which kept my cleaning to a minimum before people arrived.  Also, once I was done baking everything and I put it out for people, I was done!  I certainly got to socialize quite a bit at this party rather than hanging out in the kitchen all morning.

3. Mix up your homemade and store bought products - no one expects for everything to be 100% homemade, but nobody wants to attend a party platter party either.

4. Use what you have for decor and servingware.  If you find gaps, hit up Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Marshall's, Target, or World Market.  They have the best prices and the most diversified selections.

5. Use paper products. You would need 3 dishwashers and piles of china to keep up with hosting 20 something people.  Paper products will also help your event feel more Christmas-y.

6. Spread out your food.  People tend to congregate where the food is, so by putting the food in different areas you can ensure more mingling!

7. Diversify your food.  I was afraid we wouldn't have enough food, but I was also concerned we would have too many leftovers if things weren't popular.  We didn't run out of anything (whew...my Southern hostess heart started beating again) and we didn't have too many leftovers.  I think there was about 1/4 of a pan of each of the homemade items, half of each of the dessert items, and none of the appetizers were left (People were picking at the leftovers right before they left  and one guest said she couldn't bear to leave them behind they were so good...so I count that as not running out.).  Plus, if one dish doesn't turn out so good, your guests will probably quickly forget because there were so many other wonderful dishes.

8. If you are setting up chairs for people to sit in, try to place them where people can set their food and drinks down easily (put a stack of reuseable paper coasters down nearby).  Also, try to make sure that no seat is off by itself or awkwardly placed.

Practicing my "Relaxed Glamour" look in front of  my reused wedding wreath and mimosa station
Top & Flats - Banana Republic and Leggings - J.Crew

Once the party was over (everyone left around 2:30 PM), I put a few things in the fridge and started the dishwasher...then we took a nap and enjoyed the rest of our afternoon.  Which was a big plus over staying up until 3 AM like we probably would have for a cocktail party.  All of our guests had a great time and people are still telling me thanks for the invite.  I even got a handwritten note in the mail today!  If you are still looking to host a party this year, think about hosting a brunch on New Year's Day or maybe even the weekend after (it would be a great chance for you to invite people who were too busy during November and December to get together).

Anyone else had any luck with hosting a brunch?  Share any good tips you might have!