SPONSORED POST: Holiday Comforts

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The most comforting thing about the holidays are the traditions each of our families have.  Many memories are created around these traditions.  Do you have any holiday traditions?  You already know that we do an advent calendar and have a tradition giving gifts in a unique way to our children.  Another one we have is picking out an ornament each year that represents what the year means to us.  For instance, in 2007 when we were about to have Caden, we purchased "It's a Boy!" Ornament.  When we bought our first house, we purchased an ornament of a home with a key.  It's always fun to see what the Christmas tree is filled with and there are tons of stories and memories as we dress the tree.



My most favorite holiday tradition is being cozy in the house and baking. We crank up the Christmas music and the oven and bake, bake, bake.  Caden and I were busy this weekend making mint M&M dipped pretzels.  He chose Chipmunks as the Christmas tunes and helped me make these goodies look good!  Every time I bake goodies around the holidays, it makes me think back to when I was young.  It's been a family tradition to bake a lot of goodies for neighbors. One year, I think we maxed out at 24 varieties of treats.  It was insane!  I think we spent two solid weekends in the kitchen.



There are so many memories I have from being in the kitchen, but mostly, I just remember enjoying time with family in a wonderfully smelling kitchen.  My mom always had a little potpourri dish out that smelled so wonderful.  I have no idea what it's called, but the potpourri sat in water above a lit candle and it smelled so, so good.



Now I look forward to the memories with my own children in passing down and creating our own traditions. Caden loves helping me in the kitchen and we had lots of laughs this weekend.



I think I just noticed why most of the M&Ms in the pretzels are green.  Someone was eating all the red ones.  I wonder who??

What holiday traditions are your favorite?

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Christmas Gift Ideas: 3-4 Year Old

Last week I shared Christmas gift ideas for your favorite 1 year old and told you all about how we gift gifts.  Today, I'm here with my favorite picks for 3-4 year olds using the Want-Need-Wear-Read system.

LEGO ROADS | GO FISH |WII SKI GAME | PLAY FOOD

TINKER TOYS | LACING BEADS | CRAFT TABLE | TEMPURA PAINTS

CONVERSE SHOES | CLOTHING/ITEM LABELS | ARTIST SMOCK | DRESS UP

GOODNIGHT MOON | ABC MAGNATAB | THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR | ABC TRANSPARENT BEADS

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK BOUNCY BALLS | WATER BEADS | FINGER STACHES | BUGS | STOCKING

Have any favorite gifts you'd like to share for the preschoolers in your life?  I would love to hear!

Christmas Gift Ideas: 1 Year Old

For Christmas last year, we tried something new and really, really loved it.  Our goal was to make an effort to keep Christmas simple and the true spirit of Christmas alive.  It's far too easy (for me, anyways) to let it get out of control.  I decided to try my friend, Danyelle's way of giving for Christmas.  It's called Want-Need-Wear-Read and here's the skinny... The parents give the children four items: one want, one need, one wear, one read.  Each child also receives something from St. Nick and goodies in their stocking.  It keeps things light and fun and I've noticed that we plan a lot more on what we give rather than giving 10 toys that seemed fun and will probably be "old" or "boring" shortly after the New Year.  If you want to read more about Danyelle's system, go over to her blog, Dandee.  She also makes cute little tags (pictured above) in her shop. To give you an idea of how it translates, here are a few ideas for a 1 year old in each category.  Here's my list for 3-4 year olds.

FROG PULL TOY | DUPLOS | BATH TUB APPLIQUES | CAR

SNACK CATCHER | PLANTOY PUNCH & DROP | GEOMETRIC SORTING BOARD | DISHES

SWEATER | CORDUROYS | FRESHLY PICKED MOCS | PAJAMAS

123s BY CHARLIE HARPER | ABC BY MATTHEW PORTER | CHEERIOS BOOK | ALPHABET NESTING BLOCKS

BUBBLES | STRAW SIPPY CUP | MINI TRUCKS | MARACA| STOCKING

How to you do gifts at your home?  Do you have a certain method that keeps you in check? |TOP IMAGE VIA DANDEE|

DIY Magnetic Advent Calendar

Before Thanksgiving, Caden was asking me when Santa would be here.  I kept telling him, "After Thanksgiving."  Now that it's after Thanksgiving, he's asking me no less than bazillion times a day.  I'm hoping this little advent calendar will come in handy with our count down until Christmas.  I've sure had fun thinking of different ideas to put in each day.



To make the Advent Calendar, I downloaded the printable numbers from Twig & Thistle and modified the look to use what I had.  (I used a 1.5" circle punch for the numbers, taped them to a post-it note craft paper scalloped circle, stuck them on top of the favor tin and added a magnet to the back.)



Here are a few of the activities we have on our list.

• Visit Santa & His Reindeer


• Christmas Party at Church


• Visit the Live Nativity


• Watch a Holiday Movie (i.e. Polar Express, Elf or A Charlie Brown's Christmas)


• Make Paper Snowflakes


• Make Ornaments With Hand or Footprints


• Make Homemade Christmas Glitter playdough


• Make Homemade Snowglobes


• Make Sugar Cookies


• Drink Hot Cocoa with Whipped Cream & Sprinkles


• Take a Picture in our Santa Hats


• Paint a Picture using only Red & Green


• Have an Indoor Picnic


• Draw a Picture for Santa


• Drive Around and Look at Lights


• Unwrap a Book to Read


• Have a Glow-in-the-Dark Bubble Bath


• Christmas Party at Preschool


• Donate Items to Food Bank

I tried to mix a little fun, spiritual, relaxing and giving.  I sure hope it works out!  Just between you and me, I'm waiting to fill each day to see what we can fit in.  I don't want life to be too hectic over the holidays so I'm taking it day by day.  I also have a little candy on hand for those days that we need to keep simple.  Shhhh, promise me you won't tell.

Do you do an Advent Calendar at your home?  What ideas do you include?

Modern Christmas Trees

I love how a Christmas tree can really be any style you want it to be.  Here are some modern, fun, unconventional trees I love.

Modern Plywood Tree.

Blown Glass Tree found in Venice, Italy.

Flat pack eco-friendly Christmas tree from Buro North.

Christmas tree decals from Mooo.

What's your favorite?

Customized Gifts

Still trying to decide on gifts for this holiday season?  I love gifts that are customized!  Way better than a gift card.  (Though on occasion I have given gift cards!)  Here are a few gifts that would be great!

Customized gift tags from Print Our Party.

Monogrammed Coasters from Whimsy Creations by Ann.

Custom Address Stamp from Sweet Paperie.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is taking a minute to enjoy the holidays! It looks like there's a good chance we will be snowed in this Christmas. {High winds & up to a foot of snow with a good sheet of ice already down from yesterday}.

I am so thankful for my family and great friends. Thanks to you for being a part of that group and supporting me throughout the year.

Here are a couple different pictures of Caden going to go see Santa. {I couldn't decide which one I like better}. As you can see, he enjoyed every minute of sitting on Santa's lap, but especially the candy cane. He held on to that candy cane for dear life all the way home!

I hope you have a safe and Merry Christmas!

xoxoxo

Hello Friday!

Hello dear Fresh Nest readers. It's Friday! Yay! And Christmas is near. Yay! I wanted to share a couple cute and inspiring links that I've seen around the blogosphere this week. I hope you enjoy!



Fluffy White Christmas from yes, please.  I not only want to eat everything on the table, I want to eat all the decorations too.  Check out more pictures here.



Not Martha's tiny gingerbread houses for your coffee mugs.  Aren't they darling.  Imagine putting a pair of these together with some hot cocoa.  Perfect neighbor gifts.



IS•LY and her beautiful Christmas Candy Box.  All you have to do is download it and print away.  Wonderful, huh?



And the giving won't stop there!  Don't forget to enter the It's Complicated Giveaway.  It's not complicated, we promise!  There are 3 winners and you have until Monday to enter.  The winner will be announced on Tuesday.  Also, remember, we are running a special on our redesigns through the first of the year.  A perfect gift for you, or someone you love this holiday season!

Enjoy your weekend and we'll see you Monday!

Christmas recap

I can't begin to tell you how behing I am on blogging. But this is one blog I can't let fall through the cracks as it's filled with a lot of Caden's firsts.

We went to Ephraim for Caden's 1st Christmas to go and visit Casey's family. It was a very short trip, but lots of fun. And everyone was there which made it that much more enjoyable {and entertaining}.

Here's a picture recap of the trip. {One thing I have noticed is that we never take pictures of ourselves anymore...}

Caden's first plane ride--Christmas Eve. We had a layover in Denver and were delayed for 3 hours on the way out.

Caden's 1st 4-wheeler ride. It was a little cold, but he loved it!

Caden loved his uncle Christian and his fancy electronic toys. He was always willing to "help"

Christmas day. He loved all the paper more than actually opening the gifts, but he does love his new Tonka truck that he received from Grandma & Grandpa. It keeps him really busy around the house these days!

Caden {& dad} love the tall ceilings at Grandma & Grandpa's house. As always, he keeps an eye on me to make sure all is okay.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! Happy 2009!!!

Christmas time

It's sure starting to feel a lot like Christmas around here. The Christmas tree is up and stockings are hung. We battled Caden in the fight for Christmas pictures, but I'm pretty sure we won. {You will have to let us know if we're right} We have yet to buy some gifts and our yearly ornament. No worries though, we have lots of time. This is the time where I like to wind down and enjoy the holidays- the friends and family that surround us and all of the great blessings we have.

{Don't forget to enter my giveaway here... you have until midnight tonight}

Birdie Lovin'

Hello everyone. I've been busy. I know, I know- who hasn't? I created this guy a little while back, but have finally found the time to find him a home in the shop. Meet Whimsy Bird.

And since I'm feeling a little spirit of Christmas today, I'm giving a set of these babies away. That's right- either check something off your list or give them to yourself. One personalized set of 10 cards in any offered colors will be given to the winner. Tell your friends... everyone is welcome to enter!

To enter leave a comment on this post. This giveaway expires next Monday (12/8) at midnight. A random winner will be chosen and announced on Tuesday.

Simplifying Gifts

Picture from Dandee

This time of year, life seems to get very hectic. There are always lots of parties and events going on and lots of shopping and baking too. As you know, my motto is "Simplify". I admit, I have to consciously think about my motto most of the time as nothing gets me more excited than a fun party or a night out on the town. Or buying the perfect gift or baking the perfect cookie. However, I realize that the most important part of these seasons is spending time with those I love and creating memories and traditions.

So here is Dandee to the rescue. She has a wonderful idea for simplifying the holidays and the gift giving process. She follows the Want, Need, Wear, Read when buying gifts for her children (she's expecting #5). She buys something they want, something they need, something they wear and something they can read. Isn't that a great idea? I have a feeling that this system is going to save me a lot of time in the years to come.

Christmas Cheer

(Sung to the tune of Happy Birthday)

Merry Christmas to me.

Merry Christmas to me.

Merry Christmas to meeee-eee.

Merry Christmas to me.

(Sung to the tune of Merry Christmas)

Oh, bring us a new iMac

Oh, bring us a new iMac

Oh, bring us a new iMac

And a cup of good cheer

Not that Christmas is about gifts or anything like that. But, this has to be the happiest Christmas of all.

(And really, does giving yourself something really count as a gift?)

iThink this Christmas cheer should carry me through all of 2008. As Casey's says, "Once you go Mac, you'll never go back."



So true.



And on that note, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!