Christmas Home Tour Part II

As promised, here are the remaining parts of our home that I spruced-up for the holidays. Today we're touring our second floor which means you'll get a peek at a few rooms not yet seen! You can see the downstairs from earlier this week. 

One of my goals is to have a little holiday something in every room - even the bathrooms! I have a few holiday tea towels, and I've layered them over fluffier versions in the bathroom for a little festive fun there. This is a Jack-and-Jill bathroom, so there's another tea towel opposite of this one which means you can get a glimpse from each door as you enter. Cute cute. 

This is one of our three guest rooms and happens to be the most finished. I added a sweet hand-hooked pillow from World Market to the bed along with a series of bottle brush trees from Homegoods that I had left over from a photoshoot from a few years ago. Even that tiny bit of holiday decor transforms the room! 

Finally, the festivities continue in our master bedroom. I grew up with a tree with colored lights, so I always wanted to have two trees: one with colored lights and one with white lights. This tree in our bedroom has all of the ornaments I've collected from swaps, students, and travels over the years. I especially love the one of our first married Christmas card. 

I also have a few little vignettes set-up. How sweet is this Santa? I saw him at Target and had to have him. The little piece of artwork of the Holy Family by Kendall Kirk Singleton rounds-out the decor. 

Thanks for hopping over to see our holiday home! 

Christmas Home Tour Part I

I just love this time of year, don't y'all? This year is perhaps a little more exciting for me than previous years because it's the first year in our house for the holidays since we renovated. Not only does that mean we're working with different room layouts and color schemes, but we're also working with some new places to set-up our decor. It has been super fun but not without a few challenges. 

In fact, we kicked off the season back in October when we bought our faux tree from Home Depot. During our renovation, we tossed our other trees (yes, I have multiple), so I wanted to be on top of things. I insisted that we grab it before they all sold out. Last week when we went to put it up, we discovered that it was enormous...as in, it took up our entire dining room. I was not only disappointed but concerned because the tree selection goes downhill fast. Thankfully, I was able to find a suitable replacement, for $100 less that I might like 100x better. Win win! 

Of course, I've added a few new items - mostly tree decor like navy striped ribbon & faux magnolias (which are a little trick... ;) - but I've also just enjoyed using what we already have in a new way. In today's post, you'll get a peek at our holiday decor, but you'll also get to see a few of the other rooms in the house that I've almost completed. There's a pinch of Christmas in just about every space, and I hope the tour helps you get a better idea of the house in general. Enjoy!

Confession: my living room/dining room is far from done. We're missing an additional rug under the dining table (eventually going for a layered look!). We definitely need some art above the dining room tables. I have about 8 pillows picked out for our sectional that I haven't had the funds to buy yet. But, I love how FULL the room looks right now. 

I went with a navy, white, red, silver, and gold theme this year. Mostly because that's what I had. Both garlands are from Frontgate, and the one over the mantle is battery operated on a timer, so I never have to turn it off or on. Brilliant. 

My mom and grandmother started a Department 56 Dickens Christmas Village for me when I was in college, and then my MIL generously gifted me a few more pieces a few years ago. I was an English major in college, and A Christmas Carol is one of my all-time favorite stories. This village is a little homage to my love for reading. I hope to keep expanding it over the years starting with pieces directly related to the story. 

Also seen in the living room is my Fontanini nativity set, my wedding gift from my grandmother. I have a special affinity for nativities, and I am hoping to start a collection of those as well. You'll see my second nativity later in the tour. 

The dining room is next. I have big plans for my dining room table, but since I work there every day (long story), I have to keep it functional. The mercury glass trees are from Target many years ago, and I sprinkled in a few votives and some scraps that fell off of our Christmas card garland. 

For our Christmas cards this year, I hung garland around the door to our kitchen. As we get a card, I'm punching it with a hole and tying it to the garland with navy blue satin ribbon. I'll keep the ribbon to reuse next year and get new fresh garland. I'm pretty proud of myself. 

The bar cart gets festive, too...because where else in your home is more worthy than some Christmas spirit than the bar?! The red Santa wine glasses were a gift from an annual Christmas swap from my friends from teaching. We do it every year, and I'm so glad I snagged these a few years ago! I also have a pretty dish from Vietri from my MIL along with some cute cocktail napkins and a felt tree. 

Since this is getting a little long-winded, I'm going to break the tour in half. Come back later to see the upstairs! 

Christmas Comfort Food: Garlic Cheese & Sweet Tea

Growing up, my dad had this rule: we didn't travel for Christmas. Everyone, every year, was welcome at our house which often meant we had a tiny house filled to the brim with people - mostly, my immediate family of five and my grandparents, my Nana & PopPop. They would either come a few days before Christmas or Christmas day and bring loads of gifts and a cooler full of annual Christmas treats. 

Nana always made a few things: chocolate candy with marshmallows (which I never loved...shhhhh...don't tell anyone), homemade spicy snack mix, and my favorite: garlic cheese. We would immediately dig into the cheese with any crackers we happened to have on hand and of course, pour a tall glass of sweet tea on the side. Eventually, Christmas became synonymous with garlic cheese. 

My Nana passed away earlier this year, and this will be our first Christmas officially sans garlic cheese. So, I set out to try the recipe for myself. I had worked it up in my head as though it was going to be this crazy involved recipe that I'd never be able to accomplish. Well, it turns out that it's not complicated at all. I'm not sure I've mastered her flavor profiles - you know how grandmother's are "just a pinch of this or that" without any exact measuring. Ironically, I cook the same way, so I can't complain too much.  

This garlic cheese is perfect to have on hand in your fridge, especially in the coming days and weeks leading up to Christmas. I like to keep snacks like this on hand for any unexpected guests. I also make sure to have a variety of beverages on hand, too. One of the best beverages I've discovered is Southern Breeze's Cold Brew Tea. 

They're perfect because in just under 5 minutes, you can have freshly brewed sweet tea without the hassle of boiling any water. You simply steep a single serve, zero calorie (!!!) tea bag in cold water and let it sit for a few minutes. While you're waiting for the tea, you can assemble a festive platter of the garlic cheese and a bowl everything crackers for a quick visit with friends or family who pop-by. 

I wanted to share the recipe for garlic cheese with you today. It really is so simple, and I hope you give it a try! Happy holidays and happy snacking!

Garlic Cheese Log

makes 2 logs

You will need:

- 1 lb sharp cheddar

- 1 block of cream cheese, softened

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced 

- 2 tsp red pepper

- black pepper to taste

- paprika 

To prepare:

1. Set-out cream cheese to soften. 

2. Shred block of sharp cheddar using a food processor and cheese grater attachment. If you don't have a food processor, you can grate by hand. 

3. Once cheese is grated, remove cheese and set aside. Swap your attachments in your food processor back to the regular blade. 

4. Add half of the cheese back to food processor. Add half of the block of cream cheese and pulse. 

5. Repeat step 4, leaving original mixture in processor. 

6. Add garlic, red pepper, and pepper.  Pulse one final time. 

7. Remove cheese mixture and shape into 2 equal sized logs. 

8. Pour paprika on a plate (or other flat surface) and roll logs in paprika until covered completely. 

9. Wrap cheese in parchment or saran-wrap and refrigerate. 

Note: Get creative with your roll - you can roll in pecans or even curry powder!

Enjoy! 

This post is sponsored by Southern Breeze Sweet Tea. All opinions are my own.

Holiday Favorites 2017: Holiday Baubles

I am so excited to have several holiday gatherings coming up over the next few weeks. Whether I'm imbibing in a cocktail with friends or sipping champagne with my husband's coworkers, there are definitely some fun opportunities to get spruced-up. 

All of the major stores always have the most fun holiday baubles. I rarely allow myself to indulge in them, but I can't help but notice how cute they all are...and how affordable, too! Below I've rounded up a few of my favorite holiday jewels. The majority of these shops have sales going on now, so if you see something you like, scoot over to their site to see if there's a code to make them even cheaper! Sparkle and shine your way through the holiday season. 

Holiday Favorites 2017: Holiday Pajamas

Instead of presenting typical gift guides this year, I thought I'd bring a little something different for you guys: holiday favorites. I always have such a great time seeing all of the fun stuff that the different shops release especially for the holidays, but I rarely buy any of them! So this year, I thought it would be fun to showcase those items...and maybe it will inspire all of us to add one or two to our carts. 

Up first: holiday pajamas! I love that all of the shops bring out special holiday pajamas for this time of year. We do new pjs on Christmas Eve as our one early present, so here's a little inspo for anyone else who has that tradition (or is looking to start it!).