Christmas Fun: A Gingerbread Playdate

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Sometimes I think I am kind of crazy with the things I take on, but then it all works out and I remember, once again, that crazy is okay.



Like when I made sixteen gingerbread (okay, graham-cracker) cottages and had fourteen children over to decorate them...at first I thought I'd lost my mind.  But then we had such fun that I can hardly wait to do it again next year!

To pull this off, I pre-assembled the cottages the day before our playdate (click HERE for a tutorial), and filled every table in my house with all those yummy fixin's for decorating an hour or so before our guests arrived.  You could also ask each guest to bring a bag of candy.

When the children were ready for decorating, I came around with white and green icing to put in those clear plastic cups, and it worked great.  There was hardly any mess to clean up at all (or maybe I just didn't see much of it...thanks Mommies!)

We also wore our cute chef's hats (find similar ones HERE), and the kids were so cute in them!

Then there's Little Boo, who didn't wear his hat and also wanted nothing but white icing on his cottage.  That one marches to the beat of his own drummer, I tell ya.

At the end of the playdate our guests got to go home with their hats and their creations, and fun was had by all.  And moms, sorry about that sugar high.

Update!  Find Part Tu-Torial (detailed instructions on how to make the cottages) here:

Love,

My Christmas Home

Hey y'all!  Merry Christmas!  Just popping in to share a few pics from around the house...and let's start with the mantel, shall we?

Our "family" Christmas tree (i.e. the colorful one) is right here next to the fireplace, and this year I added a bunch of red ribbon.  I love how the red pops against my blue drapes.

Our ancient tree-topper is a cross, which broke this year.  My son insisted it still go up, so it is kind of leaning and propped up by all that ribbon, but at least it's up there!

I am so in love with red and aqua this year that I spent hours and hours making my Silhouette advent calender in those colors:

(Please disregard the fact that I took this picture after certain days had been poked, prodded, and untied.  Bad blogger!)

And opposite the fireplace, a white and turquoise vignette featuring my sweet peacock as well as this printable from Jones Design Company.

On the coffee table I collected my mercury glass and threw some random garland on there in a big jumble, easy peasy.

Elsewhere, I go more gold, including in the dining room and for my Second Annual Mommy Tree, which also features pheasant feathers and pinecones in a rustic contrast with all that glitz:

And there you have it!  I love everything about Christmas, and the decorations are just the smallest part of it, but aren't they fun?  If I can get my act together, I will show you some more fun soon.  Some fun which all started like this:

And now you know how I've been spending my time:)