From our family to yours, have a very merry Christmas!
(This is our G rated 2013 Christmas card. Only a very select few received the PG-13 edition).
Merry Christmas 2013 from the Drechsels
(This is our G rated 2013 Christmas card. Only a very select few received the PG-13 edition).
Quick and Easy Holiday Entertaining with Walgreens Holiday Guide #HappyAllTheWay
I am a member of the Collective Bias (#cbias) Social Fabric Community. This #shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.
With the holiday season in full swing you're sure to have parties on the brain. The holidays are such a great excuse to have a party because chances are your home is already decked out (and if it's not yet, seriously, what are you waiting for??). We have all the traditional family get togethers, from Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's, to brunch that we love to host at our house Christmas morning (mostly because then we don't have to GO anywhere!), and we always get together with Chris' family for a Christmas gift exchange around the holidays as well. My sister-in-law is a caterer, so the food is always fabulous at her house, which I'm sure takes a lot of effort on her part. But it doesn't have to! I headed to Walgreens (yes, WALGREENS) to see what I could find to throw together for a stress-free party and I was quite surprised by all of Walgreens holiday solutions!
First I picked up some glittery miniature Christmas trees (for 99 cents each!) to decorate the table with. I found some juice and sparkling water to make some non-alcoholic Holiday punch, assorted Good & Delish premium snacks like chocolate covered star cookies, dark chocolate peppermint pretzels, sea salt crackers (to serve with my famous goat cheese spread), and nuts (to place in decorative bowls around the party that guests can snack on).
My nine year old helped me make the punch. We mixed one container of Cranberry Pomegranate juice with one bottle of Sparkling Spring Water. It was super easy, and festive for those of us who want an alcohol free option.
Assorted cookies and pretzels on a simple white platter (I only buy white dishes because then everything coordinates!) looks (and tastes!) delicious!
To make this super delicious (and seriously addicting) spread I mix 1 part goat cheese (room temp so that you can mix it) with 1/4 part softened butter. (Yes, butter). Spread the goat cheese/butter mix on the bottom of a (white) dish and top with sliced sundried tomatoes, julienned basil, toasted pine nuts, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. (OK, now my mouth is watering). Serve with crackers and I guarantee it will disappear.
Seriously, don't stress about hosting a Christmas get together. You don't have to make everything from scratch (I promise your friends will not notice--or care). Buy some crackers and yummy cheese, some cookies and candy, and some beverages. If you display everything on pretty dishes (rather than leaving them in the package) no one will be the wiser. Then put on some holiday music and some fancy shoes and you're good to go!
Check out the Good & Delish spread in Walgreens Happy & Healthy Holiday Guide!
With the holiday season in full swing you're sure to have parties on the brain. The holidays are such a great excuse to have a party because chances are your home is already decked out (and if it's not yet, seriously, what are you waiting for??). We have all the traditional family get togethers, from Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's, to brunch that we love to host at our house Christmas morning (mostly because then we don't have to GO anywhere!), and we always get together with Chris' family for a Christmas gift exchange around the holidays as well. My sister-in-law is a caterer, so the food is always fabulous at her house, which I'm sure takes a lot of effort on her part. But it doesn't have to! I headed to Walgreens (yes, WALGREENS) to see what I could find to throw together for a stress-free party and I was quite surprised by all of Walgreens holiday solutions!
First I picked up some glittery miniature Christmas trees (for 99 cents each!) to decorate the table with. I found some juice and sparkling water to make some non-alcoholic Holiday punch, assorted Good & Delish premium snacks like chocolate covered star cookies, dark chocolate peppermint pretzels, sea salt crackers (to serve with my famous goat cheese spread), and nuts (to place in decorative bowls around the party that guests can snack on).
My nine year old helped me make the punch. We mixed one container of Cranberry Pomegranate juice with one bottle of Sparkling Spring Water. It was super easy, and festive for those of us who want an alcohol free option.
Assorted cookies and pretzels on a simple white platter (I only buy white dishes because then everything coordinates!) looks (and tastes!) delicious!
To make this super delicious (and seriously addicting) spread I mix 1 part goat cheese (room temp so that you can mix it) with 1/4 part softened butter. (Yes, butter). Spread the goat cheese/butter mix on the bottom of a (white) dish and top with sliced sundried tomatoes, julienned basil, toasted pine nuts, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. (OK, now my mouth is watering). Serve with crackers and I guarantee it will disappear.
Seriously, don't stress about hosting a Christmas get together. You don't have to make everything from scratch (I promise your friends will not notice--or care). Buy some crackers and yummy cheese, some cookies and candy, and some beverages. If you display everything on pretty dishes (rather than leaving them in the package) no one will be the wiser. Then put on some holiday music and some fancy shoes and you're good to go!
Check out the Good & Delish spread in Walgreens Happy & Healthy Holiday Guide!
tiny prints christmas cards | giveaway!
This giveaway is closed and the winner is Cindy P!
Christmas cards are one of my favorite parts of the Holiday season. Right up there with turkey on Thanksgiving and black friday shopping, and with white lights and that evergreen smell. This year I had a couple of options that I considered before settling on my final design. My first option cracks me up (I shared it yesterday), but it's PG-13 so not appropriate for everyone, the one I decided on is fun too...(sorry you don't get to see it yet as they haven't been mailed).
I am loving the foil stamped options this year at Tiny Prints. I'm not usually a "gold" person, but this year I just can't get enough of all the white and metallic and glitter (oh my!). This may also explain why I had to buy new white stockings, and a white tinsel tree. (That, and black friday prices).
Anyway these are some of my favorites:
Can you guess which one of these I chose? All were contenders but I finally settled on one. I received my order this weekend and the quality is great (as usual). I am quite pleased with the signature matte finish (which is included at no additional charge), and I skipped the rounded corners this year. The paper is a nice heavy weight and I'm really looking forward to mailing them out! After I address them...ugh, that takes forever...maybe I should have gone for the option Tiny Prints has that will address and mail them for me?
In honor of it being that time of year, and to motivate you to get your booty in gear if you haven't already...Tiny Prints is offering one of my readers 30 free cards. I'm going to make this giveaway super quick so the winner can get their cards ASAP. Leave a comment on this post to enter, and I'll choose a winner on Friday.
If you need some more inspiration here are some of our cards from Christmases past:
I received my Christmas cards courtesy of Tiny Prints in exchange for my honest review. And Tiny Prints is supplying the prize for the giveaway. All opinions are (obviously) my own.
Christmas cards are one of my favorite parts of the Holiday season. Right up there with turkey on Thanksgiving and black friday shopping, and with white lights and that evergreen smell. This year I had a couple of options that I considered before settling on my final design. My first option cracks me up (I shared it yesterday), but it's PG-13 so not appropriate for everyone, the one I decided on is fun too...(sorry you don't get to see it yet as they haven't been mailed).
I am loving the foil stamped options this year at Tiny Prints. I'm not usually a "gold" person, but this year I just can't get enough of all the white and metallic and glitter (oh my!). This may also explain why I had to buy new white stockings, and a white tinsel tree. (That, and black friday prices).
Anyway these are some of my favorites:
Golden Holiday
Joyful Glow
Scintillating Snowfall
Wonder Overlay
Can you guess which one of these I chose? All were contenders but I finally settled on one. I received my order this weekend and the quality is great (as usual). I am quite pleased with the signature matte finish (which is included at no additional charge), and I skipped the rounded corners this year. The paper is a nice heavy weight and I'm really looking forward to mailing them out! After I address them...ugh, that takes forever...maybe I should have gone for the option Tiny Prints has that will address and mail them for me?
In honor of it being that time of year, and to motivate you to get your booty in gear if you haven't already...Tiny Prints is offering one of my readers 30 free cards. I'm going to make this giveaway super quick so the winner can get their cards ASAP. Leave a comment on this post to enter, and I'll choose a winner on Friday.
If you need some more inspiration here are some of our cards from Christmases past:
I received my Christmas cards courtesy of Tiny Prints in exchange for my honest review. And Tiny Prints is supplying the prize for the giveaway. All opinions are (obviously) my own.
not our real christmas card
Because I wouldn't feel right sending it to my Grama.
But it's on my phone, so I can look at it if I'm having a bad day.
Because seriously, that right there is funny.
She's Crafty | DIY book page christmas ornaments
I got an itch to be Christmas crafty so I started scouring pinterest to find something even I could do, that would also fit with my style. I finally found these:
Beautiful, right? Unfortunately the pin went to spam. In another language. So...
We (my crafter in crime and I) gathered our supplies (between the two of us we already had everything we needed aside from the dollar store plastic ornaments):
plastic ornaments
mod podge
a book you can rip up (wedefaced used an old bible from Goodwill)
spray glitter
small foam brushes
The first step is to cut your book pages into smallish strips.
Then attach them with lots of mod podge. Brush on a layer of mod podge under each strip, and over each strip as well. We kept the strips going in all different directions. This is not the time to be OCD. (Who am I kidding, it's ALWAYS the time to be OCD).
When you've covered the entire ornament make sure you add a final coat of mod podge to make sure it's nice and secure.
At this point I decided I didn't like the gold tops, so I spray painted them with my favorite oil rubbed bronze spray paint. (What CAN'T you spray with this stuff?)
Then spray with glitter spray (I suggest doing this outside, unless you WANT glitter all over your house).
I actually think mine need more glitter. Might have to take them out for another coat.
What do you think? I think they turned out ok, but I like the inspiration ornaments better. Mine look kind of...not sparkly enough? Maybe they need a cute bow tied on top?
Not exactly a pinterest fail, but a pinterest "meh".
Beautiful, right? Unfortunately the pin went to spam. In another language. So...
We (my crafter in crime and I) gathered our supplies (between the two of us we already had everything we needed aside from the dollar store plastic ornaments):
plastic ornaments
mod podge
a book you can rip up (we
spray glitter
small foam brushes
The first step is to cut your book pages into smallish strips.
Then attach them with lots of mod podge. Brush on a layer of mod podge under each strip, and over each strip as well. We kept the strips going in all different directions. This is not the time to be OCD. (Who am I kidding, it's ALWAYS the time to be OCD).
When you've covered the entire ornament make sure you add a final coat of mod podge to make sure it's nice and secure.
At this point I decided I didn't like the gold tops, so I spray painted them with my favorite oil rubbed bronze spray paint. (What CAN'T you spray with this stuff?)
Then spray with glitter spray (I suggest doing this outside, unless you WANT glitter all over your house).
I actually think mine need more glitter. Might have to take them out for another coat.
What do you think? I think they turned out ok, but I like the inspiration ornaments better. Mine look kind of...not sparkly enough? Maybe they need a cute bow tied on top?
Not exactly a pinterest fail, but a pinterest "meh".
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