{12 Days of Christmas} Winter Solstice

Only 4 days left until Christmas, which means... today is Winter Solstice, or the first official day of winter. I love when we pass solstice because it means that the days begin to grow longer again. 

More sun = more time for me to play and enjoy the day! 

☼☼☼

I don't know about you, but I am very excited for these holidays and the many plans I have with my family and friends over the next week, and then New Year's is coming! This is one of my favorite times of the year and I absolutely am looking forward to it all! There are so many traditions that my family and I choose to partake in that give this time of the year a certain structure and nostalgia that I just love.

I'm most looking forward to reading The Night Before Christmas and popping open our Christmas crackers on Christmas Eve. 

What are your favorite traditions?

xoxo

p.s. I accidentally skipped one of the days of Christmas yesterday, so I will have lots to post tomorrow!

{12 Days of Christmas} Ornaments

'Staching through the snow; London Calling!

Oh, Christmas Tree...
My tree has been up since before Thanksgiving, but I finally finished putting on the lights and ornaments just this weekend! Every time I think I'm done, I find another box of ornaments! I'm sharing a few of my favorites.
Above is the moustache, which came in a "Gentleman-Theme" box, also containing a pipe and a pocketwatch. Next to it is my London ornament, which was, unfortunately, not purchased in London. Someday it will be replaced with a London ornament that is actually from London!

 This ornament is one of my favorites: it's Paris-theme, glittery, and has kraft paper and twine involved?! All of my favorite things! I made sure this one was front and center. 

This is the newest ornament added to my collection, bought over Thanksgiving on my trip to Yosemite. It was a gift purchased for me at the Ahwahnee Hotel and I love it! 

Owls and good memories. 

What are your favorite ornaments?

xoxo

{12 Days of Christmas} Decorations

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I absolutely love decorating for Christmas. It's one of the best times of the year; the house has all of these trees, lights, shiny ornaments, stockings... There's so much to look at and decorate with! My living room is a light turquoise so I tend to go with a coastal Christmas theme in there, as pictured above. All of the ornaments are ocean-related or teal/blue/green. There's a starfish, jellyfish, whale, pufferfish, and dolphins!

Above that mini-tree, I hang my stockings on the wall (unfortunately, I lack a mantel) and my favorite Christmas sign! The stocking on the left was hand-made by my grandmother and the one on the right is my father's; he was born a week before Christmas and got to go home in a baby-sized stocking! These are two of my most-loved possessions. 

On top of my armoire is my father's toy car, which I paired with ornament-garland, tinsel garland, and two of my grandmother's vintage nutcrackers.

That's it for the living room!

 I'll have to share more of the house in another post soon!

Do you have any specific themes for your decorations?

Tell me in the comments!

xoxo

{Balboa Island} Christmas Boat Parade

 

Happy Christmas Eve!

Last weekend, my family and I went to Balboa Island in Newport Beach in order to watch the 105th annual boat parade. It was a blast, and I am so glad that we were able to make it.

 

We started our day with a long walk around the island our annual "trip" to Starbucks, and browsing the shops on the main road for fun and funny gifts. We had no such luck in the shopping department, but we all enjoyed our coffee and family time.

 

We also walked by many houses and piers (like the two pictured above) and while some houses were not so Christmas-y, they were still gorgeous. Other homes were completely decked out in lights! It was fun to just walk around and enjoy the lights.

 

This boat looked like a Christmas tree with a little vintage pink car following! 

 

I was in Christmas heaven!

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

 

Merry Christmas eve!

xoxo

Christmas Decorations!

I have the whole house decorated for Christmas, and I am absolutely in love. 

I might just keep all of the decorations up until February!

How cute is this Christmas Scottie?

I couldn't decide on one theme, but most of my house is the typical red-and-green - however, my living room is a coastal theme, which I can't wait to share with you! I enjoyed finding all of the things I had forgotten about since last year - every year, there is at least one "new" discovery. But even better was my mom passing on a few of her Christmas items to me - it was nice to have a part of her with me. 

The table runner belonged to my grandmother, and it is yet another Christmas decoration that I hold dear. I am so glad to have a part of our family tradition with me as I embark on a new adventure, in a new place. 

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Pre-K Wednesday: {Christmas}

Play-dough Snow

It's so sparkly and it smells like peppermint!

This year, we have had a variety of play-dough colors and scents, and for Christmas, we decided to make play-dough "Snow." 

Since we live in coastal California, snow just isn't something we come by too often, but this was a very fun (and much more warm!) alternative. We added glitter and some peppermint extract, and it really got the kids talking about Christmas! 

They even made snowmen:

Letter Recognition Tree

We have been working with letter recognition, writing practice, and spelling quite a bit, but the kids have been losing focus. I wanted to find a fun way to get them excited about spelling again, and this worked! I cut a ton (seriously, these kids have so many letters in their names!) of small circles in various colors for their 

"ornaments" and then added a letter to each one. I then cut out a tree for each child, spelling their name on the tree. They then had to match their letter ornaments to a letter on the tree and glue it down. 

We had so much fun!

Christmas Ornaments

We also made little circle glitter ornaments, and the kids love glue and glitter, so this was really fun for them! 

On top of our fun crafts, we've also been reading quite a few Christmas books, listening to Christmas music, and we are even having a mini-party!

xoxo

{Tinsel in a Tangle}

Don't get your tinsel in a tangle!

Christmas is just 15 days away, and I honestly cannot wait. 

I've already done a few of my annual Christmas activities, but a few I must be patient for - like visiting my family, going to the Balboa boat parade, and reading Christmas books on Christmas Eve. 

With all of these lovely events approaching, many people become tense - there is so much to do, and a very small amount of time in which to complete everything. 

Don't stress out too much - this is suppose to be a happy time of the year, to spend with your family and enjoy their company, so be sure to take some time this holiday season in order to appreciate the loved ones in your life. 

Christmas is just 15 days away!

Cherish this holiday,

xoxo