Our Christmas

We made spinach and eggs  and a fruit smoothie for breakfast…

We got snow and stayed inside!


We made fresh orange juice mimosas…

My stepmom sent me a gorgeous leopard purse!

We cuddled by the fire (with no heat otherwise, brrr!) and I worked on a blanket…

We made pizza with what we had in the fridge…

I took a few snow snapshots….then we cozied up and watched some movies…What a lovely, lazy Christmas.  Thanks for looking! I love looking back after the holidays on how we spent our time because now we have to wait another year to look forward to it again:)

After-Dinner-Dessert martini

This martini tastes just like cheesecake with a hint of mint, coffee flavor and vanilla.  Don’t worry though, it’s not too minty, just right really.  I’m not a huge fan of sweet martinis but this one, done right, is dessert-like but not too heavy.

Here’s what you need:

1 part Vanilla or whipped cream flavored vodka// 1 part Coffee liqueur// 1/2 part mint shcnapps //1/2 part cream/creamer // *optional: garnish with crushed candy cane rim or a whole candy cane dipped (I like the whole candy cane in the martini so it wasn’t overwhelmingly minty. plus, it’s kinda fun to lick the martini off the candy cane)

1. Shake all ingredients on ice and pour into your glass

2. Enjoy with friends/lovers/family as a D-lish treat!

I would say this is a Christmas martini but I could drink this one all year round;) Cheers! Jess

Make a chalkboard Christmas calendar

Hi ya’ll! I took a tiny weekend break from blogging and now I feel a bit refreshed after all the excitement of finding and hauling home from the thrift store my new dining room chairs as well as a herman miller table for a steal!  It took us three trips back and forth but it was worth it!  I’ll post some pics soon once I get them painted and re-upholstered (by me of course!).  Also over the weekend I came up with my new favorite martini recipe and will be posting that later in the week and I started painting a wall in the living room as well as our awful gold dining room chandelier a tomato soup red! I love it! I’m pretty sure my thrift store chairs will be painted the same orange-red so I’ll be consulting Pinterest asap.

I decided to do a chalkboard calendar this year because I needed something for the wall and my little lighted-leaf wasn’t working for me, see:

I made this chalkboard from an old garage sale painting I found last year and used it at our wedding.  I keep it hanging up and write little messages on it from time to time; it’s a fun piece of interchangable art you might say.

What I did: I wrote in chalk the countdown to Christmas day on the 25th then I hung a string across each line and simply taped it to the back.  I used tiny clothespins to hang ornaments, pom poms, flower poms, and pretty little bits of lace and tulle to match my white and gold color theme.

 Then it was ready to hang up and I’m surprised at how pretty it looks on the gray walls. Do you make or do any advent calendars in your home?

Cheers, Jess

Make a snow globe

When I was a kid I really wanted to collect snow globes. I was mesmerized by the ones sold at the Disney store with all the princesses and the Lion king characters.  My first snow globe was a pair of doves that my dad gave me and it’s the only one I still remember and loved.  This project brought me back a little to that kid in me (as do so many memorable moments in life, right?).

I used mostly things I had around the house: Mason/salsa jars, a couple Christmassy figurines I had, hot glue gun, Mod podge, paint brush. Things I bought were glitter and 2 small Xmas trees from the craft store.

1. First I hot glued my figurines onto the lids of the jars.  2. I added more gobs of glue around the base of the figurines on the lid and on the trees to look like snow- then sprinkled glitter on top for  a fresh snow-fall look.  3. I painted the inside bottom of the jars with mod podge then sprinkled glitter inside and let dry.  4.  Screwed the lids on the jars carefully. You could paint your lids a holiday color like gold or white or red too:)  Hint*  I chose not to add water to my snow globes because I have animals who like to knock things over and felt it could lead to a disaster.  If you want to add water to yours make sure to soak or bleach any fake trees prior because it can turn your water green, yuk!  5. Aren’t they just precious little snow globes? I’m super happy how they turned out:)