Merry Christmas!

Christmas greenery diy

Good morning!

How are all your preparations going?

I am s l o w this year with the weeks being so condensed.

My sister Liz cut a bunch of greens at the beginning of the month

for me which I had intended of using right away for some holiday decor.

Well....... I just made something with the greens yesterday.

A bit late, but still done.

For me creating things bring me peace and relaxation, very therapeutic.

I ended up making two things, one a centerpiece and the other a round wreath to put on top of this outdoor plant at the entrance of my door.

I ended up setting the centerpiece outside to photograph as the inside of the house felt so dark.

I love finding things around the house to reuse and upcycle,

 I found this cream urn vase in the garage to use.

Just start by cutting your greens to fit your project.

Using a floral disk, make sure and soak it before

you add your greens. 

Add it to a bowl with water and wait about 5 minutes for it to absorb.

Set the disk in your vase and start to add your greens.

I used the disk for both projects and did the exact same thing for both.

The wreath below is how I started and just followed all the way around

til I felt it was full enough.

So festive and fun!

I think I might be closer to being ready now! 

Tea at the George

What a special day we had!

Off to the Fairmont in Seattle we went for holiday tea at the George.

It was their 100 year celebration which made it even extra special.

Quite a few of the gals that came had never been before so it was extra

special for them to take in all the holiday festivities.

This is the gorgeous tree they have in the lobby every year. 

The entire hotel is decorated to the nines.  Just beautiful. 

This is the George, the tea room.  

It has recently been remodeled and updated although the hotel is 100 years old.  The tea room used to be called the "Georgian" and was

rename a couple of years ago to the "George"

The tables settings are so festive yet simple. 

So delicious! 

The servers bring you your choice of tea and these towers

that are loaded with mini sandwiches, scones and desserts.

After tea we headed upstairs to the Teddy Bear room.

The hotel has taken a complete room and decorated it 

with tons of teddy bears.  

All of us heading into the teddy bear suite....

This was such a fun and memorial day that we decided

we will have to plan this again next year! 

Life group Christmas party

This is my life group from church, we have all been together

since 2008!  Our kids were little and we were much younger then!

We had a fun night playing games, making these large paper bag snowflakes.  It looks like we are holding parosols. 

The guys watched the Seahawk game.

The paper snowflakes were easy to make.  You glue together 9 white or brown paper bags.  Make sure you cut away the snowflake design.

We used templates that we found online. 

Elves at work.....

When we got home, I hung mine in my window.

So magical and fun and affordable!

How are your Christmas preparations going?

Starbuck's cranberry bliss bars

Happy monday?

How was your weekend?

Anyone else feeling like this whole holiday season is very condensed with Thanksgiving being so late?

I feel like we are all trying to catch up!

I did get to do some baking this weekend, and if you like Starbuck's cranberry bliss bars, then this cookie is for you! 

These boast a variety of flavor, cranberry, white chocolate

and a cream cheese frosting.  They are bars, so they last

long and cut nicely for packaging. 

Don't they look delish?

Here is the recipe...

Cranberry Bliss Bars {Starbucks Copycat}

PREP TIME10MINUTES MINS

COOK TIME25MINUTES MINS

TOTAL TIME35MINUTES MINS

Cranberry Bliss Bars {Starbucks Copycat} are white chocolate blondies with added dried cranberries and orange zest, topped with a cream cheese frostingIngredients

Blondies

• ▢1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter
• ▢⅔ cup (113 g) white chocolate chips
• ▢1¾ cups (350 g) light brown sugar, packed
• ▢2 large eggs, room temperature
• ▢1 large egg yolk, room temperature
• ▢1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢1 teaspoon orange zest
• ▢2½ cups (312.5 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ▢1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢1 cup (160 g) dried cranberries

Frosting

• ▢1 cup (160 g) white chocolate chips, melted and divided
• ▢8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• ▢¾ cup (94 g) confectioners' sugar
• ▢1 teaspoon orange zest
• ▢½ cup (65 g) dried cranberries, chopped

Instructions

Blondies

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, including up the sides. Set aside.
• In a large microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and the white chocolate chips. Melt in 20-second intervals, stirring in between each time, until the mixture is creamy with no lumps (about 1-2 minutes total). Allow to slightly cool.
• To the melted white chocolate mixture, add brown sugar. Stir to combine.
• Add the eggs and the egg yolk, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
• Stir in the vanilla extract and the orange zest. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and ginger.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until completely combined. Fold in the dried cranberries.
• Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges just begin to turn golden brown.
• Allow to cool completely before topping with frosting.

Frosting

• Add the white chocolate chips to a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 20-second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Set aside.
• In a large bowl using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar together until smooth.
• Gradually pour HALF of the melted white chocolate into the cream cheese mixture, reserving the other half for drizzling on top of the bars. Continue to mix until fully incorporated.
• Add the orange zest and stir to combine.
• Spread the frosting over the cooled blondies.
• Sprinkle the dried cranberries over the frosting. Drizzle the remaining melted white chocolate over the bars. Enjoy!

Christmas toilet paper

Let's have some fun with your toilet paper and some holiday tissue!

Grab some tissue and a roll of toilet paper,

set the roll in the center of the tissue and wrap the roll.

How cute are they all wrapped up on your commode for your guests!

I set mine on top of a wood plate and some greens, but you could

easily just set it on the counter or toilet. 

Here's the plaid one, doesn't matter what the tissue

print is, they turn out cute!

Annual Christmas luncheon

This is a tradition that has spanned well over 20 years now!

It looks smaller this year with a lot of our grown up young

adults not being able to join us, but we still got together!

The traditions continue, lunch, crafts, funny games, ornament exchange and yummy good food!

This was one of the crafts they made using a pillar

candle some fresh greens, ribbon and wood pieces. 

The Moms.... missing Susan sadly......

Ceri and Julie 

Debbie and Julie 

One of our favorite things to do is play games!

We try new ones every year, this year as simple as this one seemed,

it was quite the challenge.   You start with a glass of water 3/4 of the way full, then everyone gets a plastic cup with water and you take turns adding water til it overflows.  Whoever it overflows on is eliminated, you keep going til the last person is standing and the winner!  You will find how crazy it is that even though the water looks like its going to overflow you keep adding and adding! 

So fun!!!