Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!  Wishing you all love and happiness this holiday season!

 

{Life} Holiday Wishes

Hello love bugs! Christmas is finally here, so I just wanted to pop in and wish you all the happiest of holidays... So here's to a day of relaxing by the fire, drinking your weight in Egg Nog (or cocktails — no judgement) and spending time with the ones you love best — Happy Holidays!

Photo via Beth Photos

{Christmas Week} Adult S'mores Hot Chocolate

Who's ready for a little adult holiday cocoa? This fun recipe has Christmas written all over it, and so long as you don't go overboard with the Grand Marnier like I did the first time around, you won't soon forget this festive drink.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup cream
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Shot of Grand Marnier
- Graham cracker crumbs (to garnish)
- Marshmallows



In a small pot, bring the cream to a boil. Add chocolate chips, stirring until fully melted. Poor a dash of Grand Marnier into a small bowl and dip your cup in it before coating it with graham cracker crumbs. Poor a shot of Grand Marnier into the cup and top with the hot chocolate, giving the mixture a quick stir. Throw in a few marshmallows and toast to the holiday season! xx

{Homemade Holiday} Rose Bath Salts DIY

For the final installment of Homemade Holiday, I thought it would be fun to pamper loved ones with some rose-scented bath salts, a great add-on or hostess gift that you can whip up in a flash. Add some food colouring and essential oils to spice things up, or keep just it simple (what what) with some fragrant herbs. So if you want to give this DIY a try (rhyme not intended), here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:
   - 1 cup Epsom salts
   - 1/2 cup sea salt
   - Rosebuds (any herb will do)
   - Jar



Mix both types of salt thoroughly in a large bowl. If you want to keep things simple and smelling oh-so good, simply add your rosebuds and call it a day. Otherwise, stir in a few drops of food colouring before adding your essential oils. Store the bath salts in a jar and adorn accordingly — it's as easy as that.


Thanks for following along my Homemade Holiday series, and if you would like to see more DIY projects like these around here, let me know in the comments below! xx

{Home} Holiday Decor + Entertaining With Target

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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

It's funny how as you get older, your attention shifts more and more towards home decor over the holidays. Call it a rite of passage, but I'm constantly finding myself gravitating towards cute decorations and entertaining necessities more than anything else this time of year. From gilded cocktail accessories and pops of plaid, to festive mugs and ornaments, I'm in it deep. So here's a look at some of the goodies I'm lusting over from Target — and believe me, it's a long list! I've already made those adorable fox wine accessories mine, but there's still eight glorious items to go... You know, in case Santa reads my blog or something.

Martini Shaker | Fox Wine Accessories | Plaid Tree Skirt | Stag Head | Serving Tray | Beer Mugs | Bar Cart | Ornaments | Coffee Press

 
This post was sponsored by Target Canada. All opinions shared are my own.

What to Wear: Thanksgiving Day

I can not believe it's Thanksgiving already!  I know it's that time of year for everyone to say "this year flew by!" but for me it really felt like it flew by!  I totally have to plan my Thanksgiving outfits ahead of time as we usually have more than one Thanksgiving feast and lots of pictures.  I want to look cute but comfy too so I thought I'd put together a style guide for me and you! :)

SHOP LOOK 1: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

I love this pajama like look.  A little glammed up pajama wear perhaps?  The pants look super comfy and bring on the drawstring so I can loosen it as I eat more throughout the night!  And a cozy cardigan is always welcome in my book.

SHOP LOOK 2: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Getting a little dressier but still keeping it real comfy.  I'm always a fan of sweater dresses and the over the knee boots not only look great but keep you warm as well.  I've had my eye on those boots for quite some time, I'm debating if I should get them!

SHOP LOOK 3: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

This one is my favorite looks and most likely what I'll be wearing on Thursday.  The sparkle on the collar of the sweater is perfect.  As much as I love wearing necklaces, carrying around a baby with a statement necklace isn't the most ideal situation so I love collars with built in bling.  And the rose gold accents are my favorite!  How darling are those bow pumps?  And they are on sale with an addt'l 25% off!

If you haven't shopped our Thanksgiving sale yet, make sure to check it out and get 30% off the entire site!

{Details} AiF x FASHION Magazine

Dress- Loft 82 | tights- Hue | heels + pearl bracelet- Forever 21 



I was lucky enough to be included in FASHION Magazine's winter issue, sporting my take on holiday-wear with this flirty Loft 82 dress. To be honest, I would gladly take shimmering gold fabrics, patent heels and pretty pearls any day of the week, but during the holiday season they feel all the more alluring... Kind of like crushed velvet and eggnog, but I digress.

A BIG thank you to the magazine for including me (my mom is ecstaaaatic), and be sure to check out the issue in stores now! Page 216 — errr, what? Who said that? xx

Photos by Andrew Tarver

{Homemade Holiday} Animal Ring Holder DIY

The holidays have a remarkable way of sneaking up on me each year, and all those lofty goals of baking, crafting and general merry-making often go unactualized. That's why I thought it would be fun (and mutually beneficial for readers like me!) to launch a homemade holiday series consisting of a DIY gift idea each week to get your yule-tide juices flowing (so to speak). First up? The Animal ring holder.

I love giving loved ones jewelry, but it never dawned on me before that a playful jewelry holder could be just the ticket to up the ante when gifting baubles. So off to the dollar store I went to pick up some plastic animals to make this simple, yet impactful gift idea.

Simply spray paint your animal any colour you wish, and adhere it to a pretty plate (mine came from Home Sense) using powerful glue... It's as easy as that! Top things off with a pretty ring or some sparkly earrings, and your friends are sure to love you all the more this holiday season!
I hope you enjoyed this new DIY series — stay tuned for more fun projects in the weeks to come! xx

Christmas recap in photos!

 I can hardly believe that Christmas is over and 2012 is almost here!  Since I like to think of my blog as a little online journal for myself, I thought I'd share a little bit of the Christmas pictures I took this year.

Our holiday decor.  I kept the wrapping very simple this year with just some kraft paper and fun ribbon.  I made all the bows myself and the ribbons were all purchased from JoAnn Craft store.  The red tree and the plant were found at a boutique flower shop last year.  I love pulling out our holiday decor but some of it was so buried in our storage that I couldn't get to it and had to order a bunch of new decorations!  (Cleaning that storage is top of my new year's goals!)

(i downloaded and printed off the gift tags from Creature Comforts round up of free holiday gift tags! Thank you to The Sweetest Occasion and Ellinee for the cutest gift tags! ) 

My husband was very thoughtful and spotted these roses for me and I loved that it went with our holiday decor. 

I also keep a little space just for my "girly" holiday decorations. :) 

Just some of the goodies that I made.  I had never had homemade chex mix before but decided to make it and YUM!  So addicting.  I put a bowl out and in an instant it was gone.  I made chex mix 3 mornings in a row!  And white chocolate covered pretzels are so delicious!

The cutie tins that I put the treats in.  They were perfect for gift giving!

I just had to include this picture of me and my super adorable nephew in the sweater we got him.  We love H&M kids where we bought him this sweater.  He just looked so darn cute in his little winter sweater and I was wearing a cozy winter sweater too so I had to get a photo with him!  :)