Book Advent & Little Owl's Snow

This is the third year we’ve celebrated "book advent." It's essentially an advent for holiday literature, beginning December 1st and running through Christmas Eve. Each night, we gather under the twinkling glow of the Christmas tree and unwrap a favorite wintry/holiday book. Our collection is a mish mash of books from my childhood, new titles purchased for my children each year, and library books. It's the perfect opportunity to pull out our favorite, beloved holiday books and read them anew.

If you're interested in starting this tradition in your own home, below is a list of some of the books that we've included in our book advent this holiday season.  Since we are a family who celebrates Christmas, our list includes several books with biblical undertones, but there are also a few non-religious, wintry themed books as well. When adopting this tradition, you could easily tailor your book list to suit your families beliefs or traditions. Here are some suggestions for those celebrating Hanukkah, Latino winter celebrations, and African American Christmas traditions and Kwanzaa.

+ Little Robin's Christmas by Jan Fearnley

+ The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

+ Mr. Willowby's Christmas by Robert Barry

+ The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

+ Finding Christmas by Leslie Evans

Star Bright by Alison McGhee

+ This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten

+ The Twelve Days of Christmas by Britta Teckentrup

+ The Christmas Fox by Anika McGrory

+ Red & Lulu by Matt Tavares

+ A Wish To Be A Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

+ Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner

+ The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving by Jan & Mike Berenstain

+ The Mitten by Jan Brett

+ Humphrey's First Christmas by Carol Heyer

+ This is Christmas by Tom Booth

+ The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear

+ Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht

+ The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen

+ Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

+ The Christmas Eve Tree by Emily Sutton

+ The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell

The Great Spruce by John Duvall

+ Twas the Night Before Christmas retold by Jan Brett

. 

+ Little Owl's Snow by Divya Srinsivasan

And for more in depth reviews of the books listed above, hop on over to Lovely Little Reads, my children's channels including instagram and facebook.

This year, we added a few new titles, including The Christmas Fox, This is the Stable, and Little Owl's Snow.  The last title is especially lovely and will delight young readers, for whom the first appearance of snow provokes curiosity and utter joy.  

Little Owl observant, silently watching at the animals scurry about, preparing for the cold front, his friends abandoning him for the warmth and security of their burrows one by one. When the last leaf falls, a quiet forest is met by the falling of the first silent flakes, much to Little Owl's delight. Quickly, a few crystals glinting in the sky become a white blankets covering the ground. At one point he comments "how strange and wonderful it all was!" Such wise words to encapsulate the mystery and awe of a first snow.

And for more in depth reviews and links to the books listed above, hop on over to my blog, Lovely Little Reads or my instagram channel, @lovely.little.reads.

How about you?  Any book advent favorites this season?

The Best Holiday Cards

With Halloween in the rear view mirror, you know what time it is??!?!  No...not Christmas music quite yet.  But...holiday cards!  The ritual of sending and receiving holiday cards is such a nostalgic and beloved tradition.  With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it's never too early to start checking things off the holiday to-do list!

This year, we're going with Minted for holiday cards. I've always admired Minted's classic style, clean lines, and beautiful paper. My personal favorites are the holiday cards with few colors with a fanciful cursive or statuesque font bearing a holiday phrase to celebrate the season.  After perusing many eligible designs, I have it narrowed down to these favorites....I hope you'll help me choose!

Making Spirits Bright

It's A Wonderful Life

Simple Overlay

So...friends, what's your pick for me?  One, two, or three?  This is just the tip of the iceberg, my friends.   Minted makes it easy, with clickable features to narrow down the plethora of cards available.  Foil-pressed, letterpress, postcard, booklette, or completely custom, each style is categorized accordingly for easy accessibility.  If you prefer to shop by your personal style, scroll down to styles which include 'simple and minimalist,' or 'modern and edgy,' among others...the world is your oyster!

Don't delay in ordering yours!  Visit Minted through November 5th, use promo the code JOY18 for 15% off holiday cards and promo code FS100 for free shipping over $100.  (Offers may be combined).

This post is in collaboration with Minted.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Christmas Gift Guide

I love seeing the various gift guide's across my favorite blogs, so I decided to make my own - a collection of my current favorite things for this holiday season - and oh, my sweet 

husband, if by chance you're free, feel free to take notes...

athleta stronger hoodie

brim papery wall calendar

Small Victories cookbook

cozy winter jammies (currently on sale!)

What's catching your eye this holiday season?

Tis the Season to Get Mail!

Tis the season for holiday cards!  Where collecting the daily mail is such a treat.  Bills schmills, I look forward to receiving and opening the cards of friends and family every year!  I remember as a kid, my mom used to store our pile of cards in a little basket in a hutch in our kitchen.  After school, my sister would pour over them; taking in the festive stamps, the shiny paper, and the candid smiles.  

This year is a unique year for us, in that I wanted to combine birth announcement and holiday card, since our sweet boy joined us on October 23rd, it was close enough that I could've send separate birth announcements, but instead decided to wrap up our shared joy of the season and our babe into one joyful card.

So...I hopped on over to my go-to, Tiny Prints, and got to work narrowing down my favorite winter birth announcement designs {here, here, and here} until I finally found the one! 

This year there are all kinds of options to expedite the process, including their address assistant to address all of our envelopes.  And the option of picking a matching return address wrapper.  Sweet!

If you're looking at the calendar and noticing time is a-ticking - I can't recommend Tiny Prints enough!  So many lovely choices to fit your mood this season.  Don't wait, the current promotion is 40% off site-wide plus free shipping with the code BESTSALE40FS (ends Thursday!).

image1/tinyprints 

Christmas Decor

This year, now that we are settled in our new, cozy home, Christmas decorating is so much more meaningful and exciting!  Last year, we had just moved into a condo as a way station between selling our previous house and moving into a new home.  In the midst of unpacking, organizing, and caring for a 3-month old, I was reluctant to buy hang decorations for fear of putting unwanted holes in the walls, but now, my decorating enthusiasm is palpable!  Here are some of my favorite decorations for 2014.

luxe faux fur stockings

map of the North Pole postcards by Rifle Paper Co.

charming polar bear plates

festive felt garland

snowy bike doormat

vintage skis

print from how the grinch stole christmas

What Christmas decor are you eyeing this season?

Holiday Cards Are Here!

Tis the season for...holiday cards!  I don't know about you, but I'm taking full advantage of the Cyber Monday deals and steals over at Tiny Prints - 40% off holiday cards, using the code CYBER40 through 12/2. And, if you are up late tonight, add the code FLASH1202 and you'll save an extra 10% on your order. Sweet! I am thankful that in an age when everything is becoming digital, people still find the time to craft and mail out holiday cards.  It makes me happy.  Here are some of my favorites…

 ~ merry trails ~

 ~ winter motif ~

~ seasonal luster ~

~ joyful radiance

 ~ clear merriment ~

 

~ chalked merriment ~

For our friends and family - I guess you'll just have to wait and see which one we selected for our 2014 holiday cards when the mail arrives!

images/tinyprints

cards c/o tinyprints

Tis the Season for Christmas Cards!

Holiday card season is upon us, and oh how I do love a good Christmas card!  My parents always sent Christmas cards out by the dozens, which in turn meant we received a bounty of them ourselves.  I fondly emember stalking the mailbox with my sisters, pouring over the new cards, the shining smiles, the gold embossed into the paper, arranging our new cards and adding them to our artful display in our kitchen.

For many years, my mom handmade all of our Christmas cards, which I appreciate now more than ever as an adult, being able to now fully recognize the amount of time and effort she invested into this favorite tradition.  Nowadays, the templates available online are light years ahead of the options available when we were kids.  Again, I'm turning to good ol' dependable Tiny Prints for our first holiday card as a family of three this year, whose printed cards always turn out polished and classy (also because they frequently offer sweet discount codes!).

Some of my favorites include...

 {Christmas caroling}

{Bold and bright}

 {Simple and sweet}

{Arrows and snowflakes}

Are you a Christmas/holiday card giver?

Christmas Book #1

For our sweet girl's first Christmas book, I selected Jan Brett's The Night Before Christmas, following the original text by Clement Moore.  Thanks to all who weighed in their favorite Christmas books on my previous post.  I decided this classic was a perfect way to kick off the tradition in our home, plus I've always loved the intricate detail in Jan Brett's illustrations.  Thus we can begin the tradition of reading this book to her on Christmas Eves to come; cozied up and jammie clad, sipping cups of cocoa, and enjoy the magic of Christmas through her eyes.

image/barnesandnoble

Christmas Wish Lists

In an effort to save money, my husband and I are opting out of gift-giving this holiday season, and asking our families to do the same.  In the long run, we'd rather have our dream house than a new necklace, jacket, pair of shoes...etc. However, a girl can't help but make an online wish list and lust over a few items this holiday season, just for fun, of course...  

I'm currently loving:

+ this duvet cover

+ this tote

+ this sweater and this sweater

+ this closet organizing contraption

+ this platter and this platter

+ these boots

+ this necklace

+ this headband

+ this candle

+ these earrings

+ this jacket

Isn't Christmas list making fun?  What's on your wish list this year?

Next up... Christmas wish list for baby...

image/bloom

Fair Isle

One of my favorite things about winter is cozy sweaters.  And of the cozy sweaters, I definitely LOVE fair isle sweaters.  Something about them, the thickness, the scratchy soft wool just screams Christmas for me!  This seasons it seems that fair isle is everywhere, which I love!  Here's a few fun fair isle finds from around the web.

+ fair isle cozy knit throw

+ fair isle poncho for baby

+ snowed in fair isle PJ's

+ fair isle yoke sweater

+ fair isle sweater dress

+ contrast stripe fair isle scarf

+ fair isle earflap hat

+ cozy fair isle leggings

+ flannel fair isle sheets

+ fair isle baby tights

Any good fair isle finds you've found?

image/crazygirlyarnshop

Elf the Musical

Last night I went and saw Elf the Musical with two of my college girlfriends.  All three of us are HUGE fans of the movie, and were quoting all of Will Ferrell's hilarious one liners non stop throughout happy hour up until the moment the curtain opened.

Now, we all know Will Ferrell's character Buddy makes Elf the movie.  His child-like awe, enthusiasm, and ridiculous behavior is the best part.  So... we weren't sure how that would translate to theater, with a different character playing the lead, Buddy the Elf.  Plus, the addition of song and dance numbers, something that isn't really present in the movie.

The verdict: the play was hilarious!!!  The play followed the same storyline as the movie, with entertaining and jazzy song and dance numbers peppered throughout.  There was a particularly funny Santa number with a slough of drunk Santas marooning at a bar - amazing!  And Buddy the stage version - hilarious!  So funny!  My friends and I were laughing out loud, and talking about the play all the way home (always a good sign in my opinion).

It's only playing in Seattle or NYC, if you live close by, I highly recommend it!

Light It Up

It's a Christmas-lights-putting-up-kind-of-Saturday!  I realize we're starting a wee bit late, but better late than never, right?  One of my favorite holiday memories as kids was driving through a handful of different neighborhoods oohing and awing at the glowing Christmas lights brightening up the night.  

In the spirit of the holiday season, I attended my husband's holiday party last night, and I'm also partaking in my college girlfriends' 8th annual ornament exchange.  Hard to believe we've been out of college for EIGHT years now, but I'm happy the tradition has lived on as we've grown up.  

Now for a few holiday links from around the web.  Have a merry weekend!

* * *

+ Now bring us some figgy pudding!  Centerpieces for Christmas dinner.

+ Ho Ho Ho on your walls

+ Christmas trees from plastic spoons, WHAT?   

+ A magical night at the North Pole (complete with reindeer buffet)

+ Merry "Kissmas" and a "Chappy" New Year

+ Snacks for Santa - peppermint brownie pops

+ Cutest Christmas morning slippers ever!

* * *

image/bbb

Seasonal Scents

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Lights are already springing up in neighborhoods, red cups are grazing coffee shop countertops, and that holiday warmth is in the air.  

One of my favorite things the approaching Christmas season is the familiar holiday scents.  Evergreen, gingerbread, peppermint, orange + cloves, all of the wonderful, cozy, homey scents that by aroma alone signify Christmas.  This time of year, I always indulge in the ever-fragrant Bath & Body Works candles.  This year, I am loving White Barn No. 2 Chestnut and Clove.  Quite a long name, for a holiday scent I realize, but even so, this candle is worth a burn.

Wishing you a sweet smelling season!  What are your favorite holiday scents?

image/babw

Shopping Day

Christmas shopping today!

Braving the crowds and overpacked parking lots to finish up my shopping.

Wish me luck!

via pinterest

Holiday Entertainment

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is playing board games. I LOVE board games, and playing together has become a holiday tradition in our family.

Our reliable favorites include: Scrabble, Cranium, Catchphrase, and my ultimate #1 favorite - Scattergories! LOVE that game! My sisters and I play this often and always try and outdo each other with double-letter answers, a la "French Fries," and "Farrah Fawcett."

My husband comes from a family that didn't grow up playing board games on holidays religiously, and I'm determined to somehow insert my traditions into our his family's Christmas in Michigan this year. Any suggestions how I do this? I'm a tad afraid I'm going to come off as the overly-competitive-board-game-playing-daughter-in-law... Thoughts?

image/fiftypercenthipster

Christmas Presents

I feel like every family has at least one member who is tough to buy for. Usually I have an idea or two for my sisters, a handful for my husband, but my parents are super hard to buy for!

When we were little, indulging in the arts and crafts tradition, my mom used to tell us, "just make me something," but I feel like I've crafted and decoupaged enough gifts that at 28-years old that rule has long since expired.

Who is tough to buy for in your family? And what did you end up purchasing for that person this year?

image/bloom

Holiday Beverages

I've just come upon the most amazing recipes for mulled apple cider and rich and creamy hot chocolate, I can't wait to make these recipes and transform my kitchen into a Christmas cafe!

Nothing says *Christmas* to me more than a holiday beverage. Once the red cups pop up at Starbucks and the gingerbread dots the bakery windows, you know Santa is near.

I've never been much of an eggnog fan, and while I can entertain the idea of a hot toddy, it's not my fave. My favorite holiday beverage has to be a soy peppermint latte, with a side of gingerbread cookies.

Mmm... I might just rush out as I type to score myself a piping hot one.

What's your favorite holiday beverage?

image/bloom

Favorite Christmas Movies

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the nostalgia it inspires. Christmas time always encourages me to seek out things of comfort. I mean take hot cocoa or mulled cider, do you honestly drink these things nearly as often as you do during the Christmas season?

One of my favorite Christmas indulgences is re-watching all of my favorite Christmas movies. This year, I added Little Women to my personal DVD collection. I had forgotten how much I loved this movie until I netflixed it a few months ago.

Some other Christmas favorites include...

* Love Actually

* The Family Man

*Elf

*It's A Wonderful Life

*Serendipity

* The Santa Clause

* Home Alone

What are your favorite Christmas movies?

image via prasantsblogworld

Christmas Traditions

This year is a Christmas of firsts. My first Christmas being married, and my first Christmas away from my family. My husband's entire family lives in Michigan, and since we celebrated locally last year, we're headed to the Midwest for the holidays this year. In my 28 years, this will be my first Christmas ever away from home.

Not going to lie, I'm a little sad to not be a part of my usual Christmas morning celebrations with my family. I thrive on tradition; the way we open our stockings, the bacon-egg casserole we eat every Christmas morning, the way we rotate who opens presents in front of the cracking fire. While I'm excited to share in my husband's tradition, I can't help but feel a bit nostalgic for my own. My wish is that one day, when we have our own kids and our Christmases move to our home, we'll form our own slough or traditions that become "ours," instead of "his" and "hers."

So I ask: Do you share your Christmases with your partner/spouse's family? How do you find a balance to share and continue holiday traditions?

image/lilbee