Merry Christmas - Blogmas Day 25

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Merry Christmas and happy holidays. I know many of you will be busy today and I will be too. I am visiting Liam's family and my family today. This Blogmas has been wonderful, because I really enjoyed working on my blog and thinking of developing content that will be engaging and interesting. I always think about what I would like to read about when I am posting these Blogmas posts. I loved posting every day and some days I found it a bit tiring to be honest, but that is the good thing about it, that you have to come up with something and it can be a challenge sometimes. We only grow from challenges in our lives, and some you bring on yourself. I try to post more regularly throughout the year, but life gets busy and I let a week go by without blogging here and there. So I enjoy when I can do Blogmas and be more present here.

What Blogmas does for me, is it really gets me to be more organized in my plans for the posts and motivates me to plan ahead. When I don't have a plan I feel more anxious and when I do have a plan, I feel calm and focused. That goes for a lot of things in life, when we have a goal or idea of what we want to achieve, it is so much easier to get things done because we have a direction. I want to keep on doing Blogmas every year and I hope that you have enjoyed my posts this holiday season.

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I will not be posting for a bit now that Blogmas is done and will be celebrating with family the next while. I will be back to share some posts about my Christmas and the gifts I got as well and how it all went. It feels good that now the shopping, wrapping, and baking are all done and we can just enjoy Christmas finally. I love December and all the build up and excitement, but it does sometimes feel like I am focused on a million things at once. I do look forward to Christmas day surrounded by loved ones and having everything done. I hope that today you feel the same and thank you so much for joining me today or whenever you can get a moment to read this post, I really appreciate you visiting. 

Merry Christmas! x

Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas- Blogmas Day 16

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Welcome to Blogmas day 16! I can't believe it is only 9 days until Christmas now. I did some gift wrapping last weekend and I used mostly wrapping paper and gift bags. I know there are so many fun ideas for wrapping and I wanted to find five ideas for creative wrapping to share today. I will try out one of these ideas to wrap a gift and will share in another post. It is so much fun to be creative with gift wrapping and sometimes I feel like I could step it up a notch. The ideas below would be fun and there would be more cute and interesting gifts under the tree.


1. Wrapping a gift and making a pom pom for the nose to make Rudolph is so cute.

• You'll need: red yarn, a black marker, and brown paper to wrap the gift. 
• Pom pom tutorial: Youtube video link

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2. Another cute idea is this snowman gift wrapping. I love the cute little smile.

• You'll need: white paper, ribbon, cut out the orange triangle for a carrot nose, and black  circles for the eyes and buttons. Draw the mouth with black marker.

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3. This beautiful Christmas tree gift wrapping design would really impress your recipients.

• You'll need: brown wrapping paper, thin red ribbon, thick green ribbon for the tree. Bell is optional.

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4. This Santa's belt gift wrapping would be so festive under the tree.

• You'll need red wrapping paper, black paper and gold square.

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5. These origami gift boxes are great to wrap little items like jewelry, chocolates and more.

You'll need: thick colored paper, ribbon

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Thank you for stopping by today! I hope that one of these ideas for gift wrapping interests you. I really love the cute snowman and reindeer wrapping ideas and think children would really love receiving these as gifts.

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Do you prefer wrapping gifts or putting gifts in gift bags?

Have a good day!

My Weekend - Blogmas Day 15

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I had a good weekend visiting with family and friends. I started the weekend off knitting the headband and posting a Blogmas post. Then I went to get a fresh hair cut and felt so much better afterward. It looks nice just in time for the holidays. I wrapped up some gifts to bring over to my parents place to have them under the tree and ready for Christmas day.

Started some wrapping

I then drove in the snow, rain, slush weather to visit my family. I was a bit worried about the weather, but it was okay driving to visit them and glad I didn't have to cancel my visit. I just took my time and didn't drive too fast. Once I arrived, I had some coffee and fruitcake with my mom and we chatted.

We sat with our two cats Moo and Roo for awhile while we waiting for my dad and sister to come home. Moo came over on the couch to where I was sitting and lay down halfway on my legs and half on the couch. We sat like the photo below for a good 15 minutes. He enjoyed the chin massages and the pets.

Some cuddling time with Moo

Moo looking at the door waiting for food

We ordered Thai food for dinner and I loved the garlic shrimp, the shrimp Pad Thai, and the spring roll. We had some red wine and caught up and we had Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman on in the background, it was playing on TV.  I slept over in my old bedroom at my parents house.

The next morning, my mom made us eggs and toast for breakfast. We chatted more and then I went to have lunch with my friends and exchange gifts. We met at her condo and she had put out a nice spread of food for us. We exchanged some gifts, I got them some chocolates, lotions, hair masks, and makeup sponges. My friend got me Ferrero Rocher chocolates and face masks! I love the chocolates and can't wait to try out the masks. I really got into using face masks this past year and find them so relaxing to put on. My other friend got us some fun DIY projects to work on in the new year next time we meet up.

Gifts from a friend

I did some shopping for a few last gifts for Christmas for my family and Liam. I still have a couple of gifts to buy this week, then I will be done finally. I have a secret Santa gift exchange on Wednesday at work and have to buy some gifts up to $20. I still don't know what to get because it is going to be a game where you aren't buying for a specific person and you pass the gifts around according to a story. Then I drove home and Liam and I ordered pizza for dinner. He just got back from some time spent with friends. We are relaxing now and I wish the weekend could go on longer. I am feeling more in holiday mode now, so I feel like I am looking forward to time off soon for Christmas. I have Friday off this week and am looking forward to having that time off to spend time shopping and going to a Christmas Market with Liam.

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What did you do this weekend?

Thank you for visiting!

The Christmas Tag - Blogmas Day 13

Hello Friends,


I hope you are doing well. Today is the Christmas tag! I will be answering 20 Christmas related questions. The questions were found on contentcareer site. I like answering these questions because it gets me thinking about Christmas and reflecting on memories. So here we go!

The Christmas Tag

What’s your favourite holiday movie?

I said in a recent post that my favourite movie is Miracle on 34th Street. The 1994 version. I used to watch this movie almost every year. I haven't in awhile and will watch it sometime this Christmas.

What’s your favourite Christmas colour?

Probably red as the red is on Santa's suit and red is so warm and is on mostly everything Christmas related.

Do you like to stay in your PJs or dress up for Christmas?

On Christmas day, I love to stay in Pyjamas all day. Nowadays I leave my house for Christmas and we go to visit family so I don't stay in pyjamas all day long anymore.

If you could only buy one person a present this year, who would it be?

My parents for being so wonderful and treating them to something special.

Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

I open one gift which are pajamas Christmas Eve and then the rest of them Christmas morning and when I visit family during the day.

Have you ever built a gingerbread house?

I have when I was in elementary school. I remember eating way too much candy while decorating it!

What do you like to do on your Christmas break?

I don't have a Christmas break this year. I only took off Boxing day (my office is still open) and I have Christmas. I have a half day Christmas Eve then a couple of days. I spend time with family and look at my new gifts and be lazy mostly.

Any Christmas wishes?

That the new year is a good one and I accomplish a lot.

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Favourite Christmas smell?

Pine tree smell. We have an artificial tree this year so I miss the pine tree smell that comes with a real tree. I should get an air freshener of that smell.

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Favourite Christmas meal or treat?

Fruitcake.

Which holiday do you celebrate?

Christmas!

What are you doing for the holidays this year?

I am going to visit my Fiance's family next weekend and then Christmas day I am going to my sister's house to have Christmas dinner. We will open gifts before dinner as we usually do.

What’s your favourite holiday drink?

Eggnog.

Candy cane or gingerbread men?

Candy cane.

What’s your favourite holiday/Christmas song?

All I want for Christmas is you - Mariah Carey.

What’s the weirdest gift you’ve ever received

I can't remember a weird gift but I probably did! 

Have you ever made a snowman?

I have made a lot of snowmen when I was a child. I haven't in a long time. It is so fun when you are a child and wearing snow pants and the ball starts getting bigger as you roll it along and then the snowman is taller than you.

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What is your favourite winter fragrance?

I don't have one. Probably would be something peppermint.

What is at the top of your list this Christmas? (or whichever holiday you celebrate!)

I want to receive the Sims University expansion pack and also some Fresh facial products.

What is most important to you about the holidays?

Spending time with my family and friends and celebrating Christmas with them.

How about you answer these questions on your blog? Please let me know in the comments below what your answers to these questions would be.

Thank you for stopping by today! Hope you have a great day and happy Friday!

My Christmas Favourites - Blogmas Day 9

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Welcome to day 9 of Blogmas. I decided to do a fun list of my favourites for Christmas for different categories. It is fun doing this because I have to think about some of them and it is hard to choose sometimes between all the different movies and songs, but there is always a front runner in the groups. I really think all of these things contribute to how much I love and enjoy Christmas. I listen to Christmas music starting in October, yes I am crazy haha and I started watching Hallmark Christmas movies in November they are so cute. I think that all of the things below make the holiday season feel so special and I just love this time of the year.

Here is my list of favourites for Christmas:

Song: All I want for Christmas is you by Mariah Carey
Something about this song always makes me feel so excited for Christmas. It brings back memories of my childhood and gives me a happy feeling.

Movie: Miracle on 34th Street. 
I haven't watched this one in so long but it is still my favourite from my childhood. I used to watch it every year with my sister and we would get excited for Christmas. I will watch it this year for sure.

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Cookie: shortbread cookies
They are soft, buttery and melt in your mouth and taste delicious. I had one while decorating my parent's tree this year to start the holiday season and loved it. I really like shortbread at Christmas, it feel like the cookie of the holidays.

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Cake: Fruitcake
I am one of the people who likes fruitcake haha so think and delicious and not too sweet.

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Favourite tradition: Parade and decorating my parent's tree
Going to the Santa clause parade and decorating my parent's tree in November. We always get together to go to the parade and then spend the day together, have dinner (used to be KFC and this year was pizza) then decorate the tree drinking eggnog and eating treats and listening to Christmas music. It is a fun time to get together and celebrate the start to Christmas celebrations.

Chocolate: After Eight
I still love these chocolates best and they are one of the flavours of Christmas to me. I used to have After Eights at my grandparents house on Christmas Eve and have that special memory and think of those good times when I have one. Anytime I have anything peppermint I think of Christmas.

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What are your favourites from the categories above? 

Thank you for visiting my blog today, it is so nice that you stopped by. I had fun reminiscing and thinking of my answers to these questions. Please join me again for Blogmas day 10 tomorrow!

Have a great day!

Christmas Budget - Blogmas Day 7

Hello Friends,


I hope you are doing well. I don't usually talk money on my blog, but it is a topic I am really interested in. My mom and I always discussed money growing up and she was always watching shows on TV about money like Suze Orman and Til Debt Do us part. For this reason I have an interest in savings and how to spend responsibly.  I also spend time budgeting and really like the Dave Ramsey method of the baby steps. I am currently working on baby step 2. I have student loans and paid some of them off this year and am currently working on more of it but next year's goal is to be in the green. I know most of us have debt and Christmas is a time of the year we want to enjoy and spend all we can on loved ones. This year my family and I decided to discuss how much we'd spend on each other. I started a sinking fund for Christmas at the start of the year in January. For those who aren't familiar with Dave Ramsey's strategy or terminology of sinking funds, you can put money towards events or items in your savings account and these are funds that you pay into over a length of time so that when the event comes along you have the savings to spend on that event or thing you would like to buy. These events or things can be for car repairs,Christmas, or a vacation, and having the money saved will help to prevent you from going into more debt over not having the money saved and having to put it on a credit card. The sinking fund for Christmas was so helpful because I saved a large part of my goal and it has made Christmas less stressful this year of where I will find the money for gifts and avoiding using credit cards. I put a little towards Christmas each month while paying my debt and little by little I was able to save up enough so that Christmas was not too hard on me financially. Christmas should be a time spent with family enjoying the season, not stressing over what we are spending and this can be possible if we plan ahead.

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The Plan:

• $100 to my mom, sister, Fiance,brother in law, and dad each.
• $50 total to others
• $100 for decor, Christmas events etc.

Total budget: $650


How it is going: 
It is so hard to stick to the $100 each budget at Christmas! I started off buying things here and there and realized how quickly it would creep up to over $100 per person. I did not plan ahead enough for how much decor and other items such as wrapping and events would cost. I think because we always want to make the holiday special for others and keep seeing things we think they'd like so we keep on buying.

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Going forward:
My goal for the rest of the time up until Christmas is to look over the people I have gone over budget for and not spend more on them and to buy more for others I still need to spend on. I have gone over for my mom and Fiance, but still under for the rest of my family. I will work on keeping to my budget with maybe 100$ over at max for Christmas. It is my favourite time of the year, so I admit I go overboard with decor and presents and really enjoy buying new things and treating my family and friends to nice gifts.
Also something that I have thought of is donating a small amount to a charity soon and start that as a tradition so any money that I can save I can donate to those in need. I want to start a sinking fund for this next year, so each Christmas I can help others and it is the best time of the year to do this. I will be sharing a post next week about ways to give back at this time of the year. 

Here's a link to Dave Ramsey's Christmas budget and how to start one for next year or to plan out spending for this year:

How to set up your Christmas Budget

Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope that you can get some tips from this post. I switched the plan around a bit today was going to be a Christmas DIY, but I still need to pick up a few things for that so I will be sharing that post another time. I think budgeting and deciding where to spend my money more responsibly made a big difference this year already, even though my spending is a bit higher than planned. It keeps me from spending money on things people didn't even really want or ask for and focus on getting them the things they really want. This is better for all of us in the end.

Have a great day!

Finished Knitted Candy Cane Scarf & My Christmas Wishlist - Blogmas Day 4

Hello Friends,


I hope you are doing well. I finished knitting the candy cane scarf this week. The pattern is found on Ravelry by Kristen Retigg. I enjoyed this pattern because it was simple, repetitive, and I could relax and knit it while watching TV. It is also a fun festive scarf for this time of the year. You can find the pattern on Ravelry here. I used size 9 US 5.50 mm straight needles and Red Heart Supersaver yarn in red and white to complete the project.

I am still reading Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin and learning a lot about habits.  Next up is The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I am really looking forward to reading this book. I love watching The Handmaid's Tale it is such an amazing show, so I am also interested in reading  Margaret Atwood's version of how the story would unfold.

My Christmas Wishlist

I wrote a short list of some of the things I would like this year. I had a couple of books and a few other things but I think there is always more to want and ask for when we start thinking of a list and looking online. Of course Christmas is about giving and I really enjoy giving others gifts at this time of the year. I love to see their reactions to gifts I am excited to give them it is so much fun. So below are 8 gifts I would like to receive for Christmas this year.

1. Happy Planner classic size. All year I love to sit down on a Sunday and plan for the week ahead. It helps me to plan and be more organized to achieve my goals and I love using the stickers and washi tape to design fun layouts. I really like this planner that says "its your year to shine" in the vertical layout.

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2.  Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson. I see this book at Indigo and I think it would be an interesting read.

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3. Necklace from Gigimey with the lotus flower engraving.
I bought one of these beautiful necklaces but in silver color for my mom years ago and she loves it. I would love one as well. Gigimey is a jewelry store on Etsy and they sell many necklaces and bracelets and also do engravings and customization. I  really like their delicate and simple necklaces.

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4. Fresh Enchanted Essentials Gift Set. 
I have heard good things about this brand of skin care products and there is a lovely set at Sephora I would love the receive.

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5. Sims University expansion pack.
I love playing sims 4 and the University expansion pack came out last month. It is such a fun game and I really enjoyed the University expansion pack from Sims 2 so I think this one would be fun too.

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6. 750 Knitting stitches: The Ultimate Knit Stitch Bible by Erika Pavilion books. I love learning new stitches and had done a new stitch each week on my blog for awhile it was fun to learn new stitches there are so many but I didn't know there were 750 + stitches to learn. This book would be fun to use to learn a new stitch or two each week next year.

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7.  DAVIDs TEA
I love recieving tea for Christmas and love DAVIDs TEA it is so good and once and awhile I treat myself to getting some but mostly receive them as gifts. What is better than heating up some tea for the afternoon and enjoying a cup while reading or knitting?

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8. Cross stitch set from Indigo. These look so fun to learn a new hobby and learn something new. I like how Indigo has so many interesting gifts for Christmas.

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Thank you for visiting my blog for Blogmas day 5! what are some gifts on your wish list this holiday season?

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On and As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

New Ornaments This Year - Blogmas day 3

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Buying new ornaments each year is something I really enjoy to do and I like getting ornaments on trips I take during the year to hang up on the tree and think back to the wonderful memories and experiences I had that year. We just attended the Santa Clause parade in November and I bought a few ornaments at Ten Thousand Villages afterwards. It is a fun tradition to go there after the parade and buy a few Christmas decorations. I also love how the money goes back to the people who make the items in different countries. If you are interested in looking at their ornaments, click here to visit the Ten Thousand Villages store.

 In the fall I went to Springridge Farm with my family and my mom bought me a couple of adorable wooden ornaments with a polar bear and a penguin as a gift.

This year I took a trip to Myrtle beach with my Fiancé Liam and his family and I bought a sand dollar ornament with Myrtle Beach on the front. We were in one of those stores that has everything with Myrtle beach on it, shirts, hats, stuffed animals etc. Of course I went right to the ornaments.

Last year Liam and I were gifted a few ornaments for our engagement. My parents got us the one with the two hearts with our names, the one on wood from my sister, and the ball ornament is from Liam's cousin and his girlfriend. They are all so sweet and are all hanging on our tree this year. It was such a special time getting engaged near Christmas last year and we are looking forward to getting married in May 2020!

I also was gifted a knitting ornament from Liam's Dad and stepmom last year who know I love to knit. It is so fun and I love how it looks hanging on the tree. I found it on Amazon if you would also like to get one.  Link to knitting ornament.

All of these wonderful ornaments help us to feel the Christmas spirit and as we hang them they bring back good memories of the year passed and also spread some holiday cheer. Do you buy new ornaments every year? Do you have a favourite ornament?

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Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope that you have a wonderful day! See you again tomorrow for Blogmas day 4! Please post your Blogmas posts and holiday related posts in the link up party above!

Decorating for Christmas - Blogmas Day 2

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have decorated my apartment for Christmas and it is not completely decorated yet, but I want to share with you how it looks so far.  I still want to set up the Christmas village my parents gave me and need some fake snow to put down under the village first to make it a wintry village for Christmas. I have put up and decorated our Christmas tree and it has been so wonderful having it up to celebrate Christmas early. Lately every morning I come into the living room and turn on the Christmas tree lights before I start having my morning coffee and breakfast and doing my morning routine. It feels so heart warming walking in the room and seeing the tree all lit up. At night almost right after I come home, I turn on the lights of the tree to enjoy them in the evening.

I have been enjoying the decorations in my living room as well that I set out around the room.I have some new decor this year. The Santa clause and 'Twas the night before Christmas...' sign are from Michael's and I really love them on the windowsill behind the couch in the living room.

I have these two decorations on our windowsill in the front of the living room and they are the ones I bring out every year.

The shelf in the living room has quite a few decor items on top of it. I love the little Santa Clause decorations and the vase of floral pieces. I love the Christmas tree I got from the Springridge farm store last year. I also set up my vase with the holiday arrangements of the joy sign and the other festive candy cane and cranberry floral pieces. I also like the DIY mason jar tree decor I made last year infront of the photos.

I have a bit more to put up and may share some more photos as I go along. How early do you start decorating for Christmas?

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Thank you for visiting my blog today for day two of Blogmas. I am enjoying Blogmas a lot already and have visited some other blogs participating in Blogmas. It is such a fun time to visit new blogs and see how others are celebrating.

Have a great day!