Twelve Days of Christmas // Day Nine

     Trying to write while watching Netflix is not a good idea, just a fyi. I've noticed a lot lately that Christmas is so different now that we have so much tech, than when I was a little kid and made cookies and snowmen for hours (also there's NO SNOW??! What the heck Canada?!). I really miss doing traditional things with my family though, so I thought that I would make a list of my top five favourite Christmas traditions.

     1. Baking 

     This is one of the only traditional things we have done this year, but we haven't done as much as we usually do and it's not really a family thing anymore, it's usually just me and/or my mom. Baking is so fun though, especially as a kid.

     2. Watch Christmas Specials

     If you haven't watched the cartoon version of Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas, stop what you're doing right now (okay, finish reading this first), and the go watch it. Or Frosty, Rudolf, or the Micheal Buble Christmas Musical thingy. Actually go listen to Michael Buble's Christmas album. He is the king of Christmas.

     3. Go Caroling

     I actually have never done this, but I really want to. I say I will every year and somehow I just never make it out. Maybe this year?

    4. Advent Calendars

    I still get an advent calendar every year although now I am technically an adult. There's nothing like counting down to Christmas like eating chocolate. Also if you want to count down to Christmas bur still feel like an adult, you can get beauty advent calendars. Definitely getting at least one of those next year!

    5. Write A Letter To Santa

    I miss writing letters to Santa, so I was so happy when my sister had her baby. I get to write/help write letters the Santa for the next 8-10 years. Pros of being an aunt #106.


   Okay, go watch your Christmas special of choice now!

Twelve Days of Christmas // Day Eight

     This has been my most intense baking night so far. My oven handle fell off mid-cookies. It was awful. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE OVER HANDLE FALLS OFF? I called my mom. She put it back on for me. I love my mom.

     ANYWAYS. I made eggnog cookies. I did not know that that was even a thing until this morning, but it combines my two favourite things so obviously I had to make these.

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, plus more for topping
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp rum extract
• 1/2 cup eggnog
Frosting
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature (I used 1/4 cup salted and 1/4 cup unsalted butter)
• 3 - 5 Tbsp eggnog
• 1/2 tsp rum extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon for 30 seconds, and then set aside. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg yolks one at a time, blending just until combined after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract, rum extract and egg nog. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Scoop out about a tablespoon of dough and form it into balls, push them down and drop onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 11 - 13 minutes. Allow to rest on baking sheet several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Cool completely then frost with Eggnog Frosting and sprinkle tops lightly with nutmeg.
• For the Eggnog Frosting:
• In the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter until very pale and fluffy. Add 3 Tbsp eggnog and mix in powdered sugar. Add additional eggnog to reach desired consistency, I added all 5 Tbsp to mine. 

Twelve Days of Christmas // Day Seven

     Ayyy day 7. Today I thought I'd show you how I made my adorable little friend. I originally made him for Halloween, but he was too cute not to have around for a few months more.

     So first of all you need two Styrofoam balls, one slightly bigger than the other and two bags of feathers, I did black and white but you could do any colours you want. You also need two googly eyes, a piece of tinsel or ribbon, and a triangular bead for the nose.  First, you hot glue the smaller ball on top of the bigger one, and wait for it to dry. I recommend you use a hot glue gun for this as it melts a little bit of the Styrofoam and makes it rest on the other ball better. Then, you start to glue on the feathers using white glue. Start in the middle, using the first colour and then add the second colour feathers on the rest of the Styrofoam. It is really simple, but it take a lot of time to let everything dry, as you will probably have to do it in shifts.

     After the feathers are dry, you have to glue on the eyes and nose. I also stuck some feathers in the Styrofoam to make little ear tuffs which I thought were very cute. Next, take your tinsel or ribbon and make a scarf. I tied mine, but you could glue it on if you wanted to make it permanent.

     I honestly just think this owl is so cute, the pictures do not do it justice.

Twelve Days of Christmas // Day Six

     I feel like this is the time of year that it is socially acceptable to make/eat as many sweets as you can. I go overboard on baking around Christmas so on top of the fudge (recipe HERE), mince pies (recipe coming soon!), I love to make cookies. Peanut butter cookies, to be exact.

     The recipe we used said that it makes 16 cookies, but we got at least twenty from one batch, and they were a good size. They were absolutely fantastic though, we've already eaten half.

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened.

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 whole egg

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

pinch of salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar for rolling

     To make these chewy cookies, start preheated the oven to 350 'F.  Then cream butter and both sugars with a paddle attachment. Add in creamy peanut butter, a whole egg and vanilla extract.  Mix again then fold in the dry ingredients. Roll the dough into balls around 1 inch around. Then roll them in sugar and put on a silicon baking mat. Push down the cookies with a fork and put in the over for 9-12 minutes.

Twelve Days of Christmas // Day Five

This year I wanted do something creative and make my own Christmas ornaments. I bought a bag of about twenty white Christmas balls (thrift store, $8) and decided to wing it for the first one (which I don't have a picture of, sorry!). Needless to say it did not look very good, but it gave me the idea to make Dr. Seuss inspired ornaments. 

So first up I did the Grinch heart which I just started by painting it completely green. This took a while because I had to wait for it to dry and then go over it again to get the spots that I missed. Then I painted a lopsided heart (I'd google the image first so you know what you're doing!) and then I painted a heart shaped line around it and some lines to indicate that it was growing. Not pictured is the back which says "And in Whoville they say, the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day". I wrote it in pencil first and then went over it in a thin black pen after. 

Next up I painted a ball red and then just started painting white circles on it. This one is not finished yet because I do plan on going over the edges again with red paint just to tidy it up, but the ball does look very cute. 

I think the next one is my absolute favourite, they are the Thing 1 & Thing 2 ornaments. I started these by tracing a circle in black marker, then painting the inside of it white and the outside red. When it had dried I went over the line again with black paint and touched up both sides. 

Next I drew the outline of the letters and then filled them in with black marker. You could use paint, but I thought that it would be a bit harder to do. The letters do not have to look perfect, I honestly didn't mean to make them smaller from left to right, but I think they look really good. 

I have to say that I honestly have no artistic talent whatsoever and the fact that these aren't completely awful makes me so proud. They were really inexpensive to make, the paint was only $1.25 each and the paint brushes were $2. I think all in all I spent under $20, but it did take a LOT of time. I'm still not done, to be honest with you, but I thought I'd share these few. Hope you're enjoying your holidays so far!

Twelve Days of Christmas // Day Four

     I went shopping today! I've done so much shopping this month, and I probably need to stop now because my tree is literally overflowing with presents. But I did get some really great stocking stuffers from Shoppers Drugmart and they were all under $15.

    

     So first up: Delectable Hand Cream Collection. There are four absolutely adorable hand creams made with shea butter, coconut oil, and aloe vera. They literally smell so fantastic, The scents are lemon, strawberry, vanilla, and coconut. These were only $7.99 so I'm really tempted to go buy some for myself. 

 

     These two are for my sister, who told me exactly what she wanted. They are from the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure collection, shades Fool's Gold (576) and Crush On Blue (371). I believe they were $6.99 each. Also sorry for the crap photo!

     Full disclosure, the next products are all most likely going to myself.  These lipsticks are all from Maybelline in the shades (from left to right) coral burst (740), Siren in Scarlet (690), and Blushing Beige (915). I haven't tried any of them yet but I am very excited for Christmas morning! Coral burst and Siren in Scarlet were $9.50 and Blushing beige was $8.95.

     My sister used to have these, and when we had an apartment together I think I stole all of them. They smell SO wonderful, I've actually been meaning to buy these for awhile but I couldn't find them until today. They are Calgon "Take me Away" fragrance sampler set body mists, in the scents spring cherry blossom, morning glory, Hawaiian ginger (my favourite!) and Tahitian Orchid. I believe this box was $7.99.

     I had never seen these fragrances before but I am honestly so excited. It's the sweet confections set from Calgon and it has the scents cotton candy, marsh mallow, vanilla swirl and red velvet. I'm such a sucker for sweets so I will probably open this first thing Christmas morning. This was also $7.99

     These smell phenomenal. They are J.R Watkins naturals hand & body lotion and sugar & shea body scrub exfoliant. They are both in the scent pomegranate and acai and I honestly LOVE it. Favourite smell ever. The body scrub says that it is 100% natural and the body and hand lotion says it is 99%. They were both $7.99 I believe. 

     All in all I think these are wonderful products and will be great stocking stuffers... if you can wait that long. 

*all opinions are my own and I purchased all of these products myself.* 

Twelve Days Of Christmas // Day Three

    Every year, my mom and I get requests to make fudge. From everyone. Friends, family, our doctor, old teachers... this fudge is loved by many. We're just about to start baking for the holidays, so I thought I would share recipe with you!

1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur *
2 1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted

     Grease an 8-inch square pan and line with parchment paper so that it hangs over the sides. Stir evaporated milk, brown sugar, white sugar, butter and salt in a sauce pot (heavy bottomed is better). Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often, and cook until 238 °F**. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and Irish Cream* and scrape into a bowl or mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer/electric beaters on low add in the icing sugar in three additions, mixing well after each. Scrape the fudge into the pan and let cool completely before slicing! 

    

*Optional, we usually leave it out, but it is very good with it in. 

** Use a candy thermometer to gauge!

Twelve Days of Christmas // Day Two

        ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TR-- I'm not going to type sing to you, I'm sorry. But hey look at me actually sticking to this whole 12 days of blogging thing. Go me. Go you for reading it. I'm totally failing at ideas right now and I didn't have a whole lot of time today to write, so I'm just going to do a quick list of best ways to spend the night in during the holidays. Because it's cold, and usually snowy and slippery and ain't nobody have time for that.

     1. Decorating!

     If you haven't put up the tree/decorated every square inch of your house yet, this is your time. I started decorating at the beginning of the month but every night I end up adding more decorations to the tree or tweaking the lights outside.

     2. Baking

     Christmas is probably the best (most acceptable) time to make cookies, cake, fudge, and all the other sweets you can think of and eat every single one of them. Do it. New Years is coming and you can make it your resolution to lose all the Christmas weight. You may regret it while working out, but right now, it feels so good. *eats whole bag of marshmallows while writing this post*

     3. Watching Christmas Movies/Vlogmas
   
     Literally all of my spare time is devoted to watching all the Christmas movies I can, and in between I usually squeeze in some Vlogmas videos. My favourites are the lovely Zoella and beautiful Tanya Burr.

     4. Game Night

     With all your family around, it is the best time to have family game night. We have SO many board games at my house and they are rarely used anytime other than the holidays. Our favourites are Monopoly, Scrabble (which I'm finally getting good at) and Trivial Pursuit.

     5. Pamper Yourself!

     Everyone needs a good night to themselves to relax and let go the stress that accumulates over the holidays. Do some yoga, then take a long, hot, bubble bath and go to sleep early. Your body will thank you.

 

Twelve Days of Christmas // Day One

   

      I AM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS. So excited that I have to use the caps lock. So excited that I have to start doing twelve days of Christmas posts or I might explode from Christmas cheer. So excited that I might have to drink 10 gallons of egg nog. Oh my goodness, I love egg nog.      

      Anyway, since early-mid November I've been watching Christmas movies. Maybe November is too early for Christmas movies, but I swore this year I would watch EVERY CHRISTMAS MOVIE EVER. Then I realized that it was an impossible task and just tried to watch as many as possible. I'm currently at number 55... or 54... who knows anymore. So, I thought I'd count down my top 10 favourite Christmas movies.

     1. Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas

     I'm sorry to all the Jim Carrey lovers out there, but I'm totally talking about the original cartoon. This movie has always been and will forever be number 1 on my list. It is my go to feel good Christmas movie. It's adorable, funny and doesn't make me cry. Which is wonderful. Because I cry at basically everything.

     2. Jack Frost

     For some strange reason I only started watching this movie last year, but it is definitely in my top three. I recently read a bunch of reviews on this movie and they were all pretty terrible and I honestly have no idea why. I LOVE this movie. Also I cry every single time I watch it. Whatever.

 

     3. The Holiday
     
     Honestly, this movie is wonderful and it makes me want to move to England and marry Jude Law. I mean I want to move to England and marry Jude Law anyways, but this movie really brings it out in me. The Holiday is such a great romcom though and if you've never seen it, you are missing out.

     4. Holidaze 

     Okay, technically, this isn't a Christmas movie so much as a Thanksgiving movie, but it's on at the same time of year and Jennie Garth is the cutest. Also Cameron Mathison ain't too bad either. I really just love movies that have the alternate realities that the protagonist has to learn to live with/love.

     5. The Muppet Christmas Carol

     Who the heck doesn't love the Muppets? And the Christmas Carol? Add them together and it's just the best thing ever.

     6. The Nightmare Before Christmas

     I think everyone that knows me, knows that I absolutely love Tim Burton. So obviously The Nightmare Before Christmas had to be on this list. It's the perfect mix between Halloween and Christmas, AKA my two favourite holidays.

     7. Elf
   
     Okay, so I have to admit, I'm not the biggest Will Ferrell fan. And by not the biggest fan I mean there are very few Will Ferrell movies I actually like. For a few years, Elf was not one of those movies, but this year I actually really enjoyed it. I'm not sure what changed, but I think it's a pretty good Christmas movie.

     8. Arthur Christmas

     I actually just watched this for the first time yesterday, and I wish that it was around when I had started doubting Santa Claus. It's so cool, and almost logical and totally would have had me believing for a few years more. Also it's just super cute and may have made me cry. Oops. 

      9. Home Alone

      If this isn't on your top ten list, you're crazy. Home Alone is one of the only Christmas movies that breaks from the traditional girl and boy don't like each other, then fall in love and kiss in the magical snow fall. Kevin McCallister is the most badass 8 year old and I think everyone at some point wanted to be him.

     10. The Santa Claus 

     Technically I include all three of these movies because you have to watch them marathon style or it's just not the same, I think these should actually be higher in the list because I absolutely adore them so much, but since I'm counting all of them as one I figured I'd leave it for the end.

     That was so much harder than I expected it to be. What are some of your favourites? Let me know in the comments!