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

As much as I LOVED Thanksgiving and a day with family, I am thrilled to begin decorating, shopping, baking, and doing all things Christmas!   I am most excited to have Christmas music on all the time.  My husband can't stand it, but myself and the kids LOVE it....unfortunate for him...haha

So I have been looking at all things Christmas the past few weeks and have soooo much to share including crafts, recipes, decorating ideas, entertaining ideas, gift ideas, stocking stuffers, homemade goodies, teacher gifts...you name it!   I wanted to start today with some ideas for Christmas cards and/or Christmas pictures.

I'm starting there because a great deal of the "deals" out there for discounts on cards end this weekend.  So to me, it's worth acting early and getting them done.  Also, I usually start receiving cards by the this weekend from friends.   That gets me anxious to get my own done and out so I want to try to avoid that this year.

Here's a few of the deals:

Snapfish-

Save 50% on all holiday cards with coupon code FRIDAYCARDS through 11/27 and free shipping on orders of $25+ using coupon code FSNOV25 through 11/30

Shutterfly-
Save 40% on all holiday cards and free shipping on order of $30+ with coupon code SHIP30 through 11/30

TinyPrints-
Free shipping on every order using coupon code bfhol25 through 11/26 and 20% orders of $75+

Vistaprint-
Free shipping on orders of $44.99+ through 11/28



For me, this is always an interesting thing because my children HATE to get pictures taken.  I managed to bribe, I mean convince, them to do it early this year to avoid the stress of trying endlessly to get pictures and for whatever reason...it worked.  They were somewhat agreeable and I am very happy with the pictures.

The other challenging part for me is 'What to Wear'.  Since I only include the children in our picture it makes the decision a bit easier, but I still want to coordinate them but not match.   So I did some looking for clothing options and found some really great ideas.  Some of these are not specific to holiday wear, but I love to mix it up and don't feel the need to use red, green and black every year for clothing.

Here are some I loved...

For big girls....I love the layering look.   Here are a few dresses that are oh so cute that would look great with a pair of legging and tall boots!

These are 2 of my favorites from Zara.  What I love about Zara is that they have the style of a J.Crew without the expensive price tag.  Both of these dresses are $39.90 and can definitely be worn again.

They both have the classic plaids that you see this time of year and the sweet little dress peeking out underneath.  You could do these two dresses if you have 2 girls or this would totally work with a boys' outfit with jeans, a white or plaid polo, and a navy or olive green sweater.  LOVE!  Or with the adorable plaid tie from The Childrens' Place...only $5.96.  Could it be any cuter?










If you're not into plaid....I also adore these sweet dresses from Zara.   And again, only $39.90.

 

You'd think I'm being paid by Zara for how many times I've recommended them, but if you go visit their website, you'll see why.  Their prices are great and the quality is equally as great.  In fact, my daughter's sweater from this year's picture is from there, but you'll have to wait to see it!

And how about with this cute boy shirt with dark cords....wish my daughter would wear a dress.  And...I have ideas for that issue too if you share it.

From The Children's Place...

Like I said previously...I'm not a traditional red and green girl when it comes to pictures.  We actually chose to do grey this year and a hint of red.  

If you have a daughter who is like mine and doesn't do the dress thing....try leggings or jeans and a great sweater.  Here's some great ones....holiday and non-holiday colors.   

 from Old Navy

Or this one on sale at Gap....

  I  love this with black leggings and cute boots or ballet flats.  You could compliment another child in denim, black, red, plaid...so many cute options.

And if you like traditional....here are some I LOVED!   

Cream and gold....

From Gap for big girls...  love shift dresses!

Or this from H&M...  

Or traditional red and/or green...

For boys, I love these sweaters from H&M...they come in big and small sizes too.  I'm digging the elbow detail.

Or this shirt from The Children's Place for only $17.95...

And for girls...how about this beauty from Zara... 

and my favorite of all...wish I had a little girl for this.  

From H&M...

Remember, whatever you choose to go with, you want them to look nice, but it's more important that they are happy in the picture so you truly capture them.  If they are uncomfortable and unhappy in their clothing...they will be miserable in pictures! Or, at least that's what happens here.

And here are a few pictures that I just love.  I personally like close ups of my children because we send them to many people who don't see us every year and they really just want to see how they've grown.  This year we were lucky enough to be outside because of the warm weather we've been having in the Northeast.

from 'JoopJoop'

from 'Simple as That'

from Tiny Prints

I'm looking forward to sharing TONS of fun ideas for this special time of year!  We are busy putting up our tree and decorating around our house.  We are doing soooo many crafts and making gifts for everyone in our life.  

Enjoy!

Poshed Up

It's almost Turkey Day!

Only a few more days until Thanksgiving and if you are hosting this year I'm sure your to-do list is LONG and getting longer by the day.   I hosted my own pre-Thanksgiving with family Sunday minus the turkey because I didn't want to duplicate what everyone would be eating on Thursday.

I recently became gluten-free which is a whole other topic that I could dedicate an entire post to, but I'm not, so it made planning a bit trickier.   We had this...

It was REALLY good and in fact, I had it for dinner again last night.  

 It is a pesto stuffed chicken from Kalyn's Kitchen.   It was easy and very good.  The cooking time was right on too  ( a pet peeve of mine when I try a recipe and have to adjust everything to cook it correctly!)

And we had mashed potatoes, balsamic-glazed carrots ( a fav around here) and Ghiradelli Gluten-Free Brownies for dessert from allrecipes.com.  They were probably the biggest hit of the night.   My husband actually finished them off for breakfast...lol

Anyway, I wanted to keep my tablescape somewhat simple as it was a one-night event and I am getting ready to start my Christmas decorating.  I also wanted to try to incorporate my pumpkins and gourds that survived since Halloween because I just love the colors!

So here is what it looked like...

 

I used all of what I had and kept it super simple.  I didn't even use "fancy" napkins because I didn't feel like ironing on Sunday!   We used apples as our place cards and used all of our pumpkins and gourds as our centerpiece plus a few fake items too.   When the candles were lit, it really looked very pretty despite how basic it was.   The runner was a last minute addition with some fabric I had on hand.   But...you could use cheap burlap from the fabric store...it looks beautiful as a table runner.

Here were a few of my inspiration pictures....I obviously didn't go all out this year...but that's what inspiration is all about!

I love the pumpkins, etc. in the center of this table from AndersRuff.com.   I don't love the large centerpiece because I imagine it would be hard to see across the table of pass food, but it looks pretty.  I like my table to be very functional as well as pretty so no one has to get up.     I also think candles and candlelight make every meal more beautiful!

and...also the pumpkins on this buffet from decorica.com.  

They add so much color to an otherwise dull table.

On both tables, they have used burlap for their runner.  So pretty and inexpensive too!

I also used this idea from marthastewart.com that I love.  It is so easy it's ridiculous and perfect for this time of year!

I used apples instead of pears for the color variations and...because I need them for a recipe for book club tonight so they served double duty...lol!

This was an informal get together for us here, but if yours is a bit fancier with fancier china, etc., you can still incorporate "live" items into your centerpiece to help keep the harvest theme.

We also had our "thankful" tree on our kitchen island as decoration.  We did it as a family on Saturday night and as always, the kids didn't disappoint with the humor. 

Some highlights...

My soon-to-be 10 year is once again thankful for soccer, this year her teacher, and for doctors???   Not sure about the last one, but we'll take it.

My 5 year old son was thankful for dessert again this year, his stuffed monkey and...the Thanksgiving turkey.

What a fun thing to do!

Speaking of kids....I forgot to take a picture of my kids' table, but here are a few ideas and things that I used. I used a cute paper store-bought table cloth that had a harvest theme on it to cover the table and some pretty ribbon to tie it back around the table legs so it wouldn't bother the kids at their feet.

Then I used construction paper in orange as place mats and put these adorable and free printables from paperglitter.com on top.  These kept the kids very busy while they were waiting for their food to be ready!

I also used their napkin holders which the kids loved.   Notice the burlap on their table too....such a functional fabric!

We made this cute turkey out of a pine cone from 'Shindig Parties to Go' to hold the crayons on the table too!

They have tons of other cute printables on this site that you can grab 

for your own kids' table!

I also loved these ideas from 'Lisa Storms' and 'Be Different Act Normal' to hold crayons, but didn't have time this year.  I think next year I'll go for the pilgrim theme on their table.  

Lastly, I wanted to share some great ideas for kids' food and desserts.   Some kids don't like the traditional Thanksgiving meal (unlike my son who is thankful for it...lol) and I have a few cute ideas to still keep it "festive".  Also, some fun dessert ideas for Thanksgiving night or for a last-minute school party!   I know at my house the kids are not interested in traditional pumpkin pie or other desserts unless they include chocolate, but these would be sooo fun!

Here are some fun ideas for either dinner on Thanksgiving or maybe tomorrow's school lunch.

From 'Meet The Dubiens'...  she is the queen of fun lunch ideas!

Or these fun turkey sandwiches from 'Family Fun'....

And for dessert, arguably the most important part of the meal...

Here's some great Rice Krispie turkeys from 'Be Different Act Normal' and kelloggs.com.

I also love these turkey cookies from everydayfoodstorage.net.  I love the little face!

And how about these beauties....from 'Our Best Bites'.  They are no joke people!   I bet they are so fun to eat too!

Here's a few more creative ideas....

Indian Corn cookies from 'Dollhouse Bake Shoppe'.

And 2 of my favorites...I must have a pilgrim thing on my mind this year...

From 'Taste of Home'...

Or these ADORABLE tee-pee cupcakes from 'Maddycakes Muse'...

I hope regardless of how pretty your food looks or tastes or how elegant your table appears...I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with people that matter in your life!

Poshed Up

It's full swing Thanksgiving around here.....

We have officially started full on planning for Thanksgiving around here.   Although, I have to admit, because I've been working on Christmas stockings and tree skirts for the business and taking advantage of the amazing Christmas deals out in stores....it is hard for me to not already mentally be on Christmas.  I actually asked my sister-in-law this weekend if it was too early to put my tree up.   Verdict...it can't go up until Black Friday.  So....I might as well focus on adding some decorations and crafts for Thanksgiving!

As I mentioned in my last post, we are working on our thankful tree as our centerpiece...

Ours from last year.....our new one should be done very soon!

And...we are finishing up our Indian corn project as well... and I know my children will come home from school with some great homemade projects as in years past.   

I have found a few other really cute ideas/crafts to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with your children. Whether you're crafty or not, these are great ways to help your children learn the true meaning of Thanksgiving and are super easy to do!

Here are a few really great ideas from Parents.com that allow your children to express what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.   Their answers can be so funny!

And since I know some of you will tell me you're not crafty or don't have time to try to be....I have one idea for every level from not-so crafty to super-crafty!

This idea is ridiculously easy, but so cute!   You just take a jar or bowl or any container and lay out markers and paper and each day you and each member of your family can write one thing they are thankful for on that day.   The day before Thanksgiving, you simply clip the ideas or your favs to a string and hang as garland!  Very cute idea!

Or how about this sweet activity for kids of all ages...

You could do one for each child or one for the family as shown here.  Such a great keepsake not only for the things they'll say, but also for their sweet little hands!

And the last great idea that I loved from Parents.com...

This one would definitely take more work, but still not too difficult.  You can use store-bought door hangers (all craft stores carry these in their kid crafting area) and use paint and the eraser on a pencil to create the dots.  Then tie a ribbon and attach sticky notes.  They can hang it on their door and write something each day!  Great reminder to be grateful for what we have!!!

The other really cute idea from 'First Grader at Last' that I am definitely doing for my own is this Thanksgiving poem...

This was done in a school setting, but I think it's a great idea to have little hands busy while the cooking is going on and a great reminder of why we celebrate Thanksgiving!

On the other side of Thanksgiving is everything TuRkEy!

Here are some fun crafts that relate to the turkey himself....

 Here is my all-time favorite from my daughter's class (kindergarten I think) that I have kept because I just think it's so creative!   

He's sitting proudly on our mantle!

I found some other really great ideas that you might want to plan for your kids to work on this upcoming week.   I like to get all the supplies set up when they are not around and then when I'm ready to let them loose to work on it, I can work on something next to them.  I'm planning on having them work on one of these this week so I can menu plan for my early Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday!

What I love about all of these turkey projects is there keepsakeability  (I just made up this word, but it works).   When you use their handprint, it makes it so great to re-visit year to year so that you and they can see how they've grown.

This 1st one is so easy....from 'Meet the Dubiens'.  It's just handprints and some simple cut out shapes.  You could even use simple circle for eyes or let the kids draw them if you don't have googly eyes laying around like some of us freaky types....present party included...lol

The next one is equally as cute and just as simple from 'Busy Bee Kids Crafts.com'.   This one is traced handprints cut from construction paper and glue.  Not too difficult, right.  These could be really cute on the table or on the kids' table.   Or...how about using them as a napkin holder and putting your napkin through the center...super cute, right?

And this last one I just love.  It is so darn sweet and so easy.  It's a great family keepsake!  It's from one of my all-time favs of blogs 'Eighteen25'.

I would add the year to it somewhere and then maybe update every few years.  I just love it!

Just a few ideas to keep your little ones in the spirit and busy!   Happy crafting and planning for the big Turkey Day next week.   I can't wait to share pictures of my table and the kids' table for my early Thanksgiving this weekend.

I'll be sharing tons of great table ideas early next week as well as some great recipes and sweet treats I've saved for this special once a year eating-fest!

Poshed Up