Making My Home A Haven is important to me. Sharing homemaking skills. Recipes and food. Bible Studies. This is a treasure chest of goodies. So take a seat. Have a glass of tea and enjoy. You will learn all about who I am.
Flour, water, and salt. That is all you need to make a keepsake ornament to cherish for years to come. These DIY ornaments are easy to make and safe for all members of the family to join in. This Christmas, create a Cinnamon Salt Dough Diffuser Ornament for your tree and fill your home (and your heart) with the enjoyable scent of essential oils.
Salt Dough ornaments are a classic holiday craft that gracefully adorns Christmas trees around the world.
I have fond childhood memories of making homemade salt dough ornaments, both at school and also at home with my family. I still have a few of the ornaments that hung on our family Christmas tree nearly 30 years ago. Now, I have a new collection of homemade ornaments made by my children, which grows larger every year.
As my kids get older, the ornaments get a little bit fancier and a little bit more elaborate, but they still represent their unique personalities. We love making ornaments out of natural air-dry clay, like this Christmas Diffuser Ornament.
“Children hang wreaths on the sanctuary door at Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., during the church’s annual Hanging of the Greens service. Photo by Mike DuBose, United Methodist Communications.”
Christmas is a holiday marketed and built on tradition, expectations, and memories. And, as we tend to find comfort in the predictable, that can make it especially hard to adjust when Christmas changes. Shifting family dynamics, the arrival of new life and passing of others, weather, work, and travel challenges are just some of the […]
From Sarah : The following is from the post. “It turns out Christmas, like life, was never designed to remain the same year in and year out. God’s Word tells us that everything goes through seasons, so it makes sense that we should expect the same for Christmas. To that end, let us breathe in these words from the wisest man who ever lived. It’s amazing what a reminder about the inevitability of change may do to calm our holiday hearts…”
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NIV)”
From Sarah : I have been in a SEASON OF ANGUISH And Hopelessness fora full year now. I remember the exact day I first realized how bad it was. More to come.
Originally posted December 2018 The season is here! What came to your mind as you turned your calendar to December this year? Advent Family Traditions Celebration Shopping Gift-giving Decorating Baking Ideally, it is a season of […]
From Sarah : I just lost a huge paragraph on grieving and the holidays. I thought I had saved it. I am not up to re-writing it now. Will try again later.
We have some wonderful Christmas-y features for you this week. May as well revel in the season while it lasts!
Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here. Love of Home is a lifestyle blog. My philosophy has always been to keep things simple. I share my easy decor ideas, recipes & projects. I’m a wife, mom of three, coffee lover, believer, crafty girl, self-proclaimed foodie and essential oil enthusiast!
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It’s that time of year the holidays!! Now with life always changing we have been working to evolve our old traditions into new traditions. The kids took to Pinterest and searched for Christmas dinners!! One meat kept popping up prime rib, now we have been trying new meats but this is one the kids and I haven’t had. Well, we didn’t want to have our Christmas dinner with a meat we weren’t sure we liked so we had to give it a test run and timed it over the weekend watching football.
Now an important note about my roast was I picked mine up at a local butcher shop. They asked how I was cooking my roast and offered to season it!! The seasoning is what I was most nervous about so to have an expert do it was perfect. I also had the butch tie it up when he said it would help with flavor and cooking, he wasn’t wrong at all!
Smoked Prime Rib Directions:
Season your prime rib roast and if possible let it set in the fridge for a day or more to allow the flavor to soak in.
Now this is where you know your smoker and how to prep it for smoking. I use an electric smoker and prefer to use apple disks for smoking all my meat.
Remove your chip holder, water bin, and racks out of your smoker and cap off your exhaust pipe if necessary
Fire up the smoker by raising the temperature on the dial
Fill the water dish and chip holder
Place in your chips and once they start to smoke put in your water tray. I find I can get a good smoke faster by doing this method.
Once your smoker gets hot enough and a smoke place in your prime rib roast on a rack. I kept my smoker at 150-200
Roast for hours at least over 6 hours. We made the mistake of pulling it out to see if we could grill it faster to finish it off and it went up in flames, learn from our mistake don’t put it on the grill!
Be sure to keep replacing your smoker chips and disks to keep the smoke going.
Jenny is a SAHM to three kids, as well as soccer coach, and Girl Scout leader. She is a lifetime Weight Watchers member, running enthusiast, and loves to work out! She and her kids have discovered a new passion for cooking.
Ornament Exchange– Each Christmas morning, since I was born, I have unwrapped an ornament. This ornament was a representation of my year or something special to me. I have a giant engagement ring for the year I got engaged, a teacher santa for the year I became a teacher… etc. I find myself telling my kids the meaning behind each one as we decorate the tree, and they laugh and smile with me. Then I let them tell me about each of their ornaments we have bought them since they were born. It makes me tear up every year. I love scouring the stores and internet for the perfect ornament for them each year, and I love our hodge podge tree full of memories.
Book Countdown– This one has become pretty popular over the past few years, but I still love it! Each night before Christmas my kids unwrap a holiday book and we read it before bed. Some are new, most our favorites from years past. They remember them and look forward to finding and reading their favorites each year. There is nothing better than snuggling up for a story around the twinkling lights of the tree.
Christmas Tree Slumber Party– Before Christmas each year we have a Christmas tree slumber party. We put on our Christmas pjs, we read stories, eat treats, watch movies, and we all snuggle together under the twinkling lights of the tree for a slumber party. I don’t know who looks forward to it more, me or the kids.
FacebookWe smoked ours to an internal temperature of 130, so be sure to look what temperature you want for how rare you want your meat.
Are you trying to plan your holiday meal, but don’t know where to start? Holiday meals are a BIG DEAL! Make sure your guests get happy and full by using these tips.
Tips for Planning Your Holiday Meal
Get in prep mode
If you’re going to make an awesome holiday meal, get in prep mode now! Get excited, make a list, and start executing your plan for making an awesome holiday meal for your family. The better attitude you have, the better your meal is going to turn out!
Clear your schedule
When you are the host for the holiday meal, you need a few days to prep. I love to prep a few days before hand to relieve the stress. It’s no fun being stressed out whenever you are planning a holiday meal. Also, practice a few stress relieving techniques to help you stay stress free.
Get creative with your meal
The best thing you can do is make stuff you want at your table. Don’t worry about what everyone is making. What are some meals you enjoy having at your table each year? Make those dishes and enjoy them.
Something that my family loves having around are table is a Glazed Roast Turkey with all the trimmings. There is not anything that can rip away this tradition from our holiday meal. Making a Canadian Turkey a part of your holiday meal is easier than ever. I always have leftovers and I can make awesome left over meals. Turkey is an excellent choice for the holidays that are quickly approaching.
What are some tips you have for making your holiday meal awesome? Please share your tips! You know I’m always up for a good meal.
Sadie’s Seasonings
Hi there! I’m Sarah, the gal behind Sadie Seasongoods, my blog dedicated to a love of crafting and creating, cooking and cocktails, and treasure hunting road trips! I hope you’ll find my chronicles to be playfully fun, and maybe a wee bit informative or inspiring. Please visit my various social media outlets (“Connect”) below and if you enjoy what you see, please consider subscribing to the blog, as well.
As a December 26th baby, I feel a special connection to Christmas- even if a birthday at this time of year is pretty underwhelming. Coupled with my love of repurposing and upcycling, it should come as no surprise to anyone that combining the two- Repurpose/Christmas- is something I look forward to each year. And while I haven’t done that many of them, repurposed ornaments are an exceptional favorite. I’ve made DIY snowball ornaments from thrifted glass balls…pretty painted “icicles” from vintage spindles…wreaths from mason jar lids…and this year’s favorite, tea strainer / chandelier crystal ornaments.
But there are SO MANY amazing ideas out there…so if you’re looking for some festive DIY inspiration, then start scrolling down…Read more
Two, maybe three years ago, I made a series of waterless snowglobes. A trendy retailer had advertised their version for an uppity price, prompting me to try and recreate them myself.
And let me tell you, an obsession was born! I, of course, came armed with vintage supplies- old jars, vintage bottle brush trees, and couple of mid-century figurines. The results? 100% charming.
I casually posted a photo of my waterless snowglobes on the Sadie Seasongoods Facebook Page, and folks loved them! So I knew I needed to make another one (darn!!) from scratch for a new blog post. This post contains affiliate links for your crafting convenience.
Luckily, I had plenty of leftover supplies: Jar, bottle brush tree, scrap Styrofoam (I often save smaller pieces from appliance packaging), a Styrofoam cutter, hot glue gun, and faux snow. Oh and a pen.
I also grabbed some extra accouterments- miniature presents from my childhood dollhouse and some little golden pine cones (I’ve used this kind before, as well).
This is such an easy project that you may become addicted. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
So, the first step: Trace your jar lid on the Styrofoam .
The holidays wouldn’t be complete without eggnog, right? It’s kind of a staple of the season! Today, we’re sharing a delicious eggnog virgin drink that is just perfect for the kids (and non-drinking adults!) at your holiday parties! Did you know that, according to one theory about the origins of the drink, once upon a time, only aristocrats used to drink eggnog because the ingredients were so expensive? Thankfully, today it’s a different story. Eggs are relatively cheap (they went up in price for a while, but seem to be going back down now in my area!) and most of us have the majority of the other ingredients in our pantry or fridge. Check out this easy eggnog virgin drink recipe, then print out the recipe card for later!
ALL BECAUSE SHE SAVED
Hello and welcome! I’m Keri Lyn and I have been blogging for the past 8 years. If I have learned one thing it is this: great things are meant to be shared and that (ok, two things!) we can all learn quite a lot from each other. Surround yourself with the right people, uplifters work best.Things you should know: I am fiercely brand loyal and I get excited about sharing things that I love. You won’t find me sharing things that I don’t love, because what’s the point? Time is precious. Spend it on the things and people that you love. Simple.I will choose quality over quantity any day of the week. I believe that less is more BUT paying less doesn’t always mean more.Life is best when you hand pick the people and places and things that you spend it with.Most importantly: it’s about SO much more than money. It’s about time. Precious time. … KEEP READING >>
Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe (*Great Gift Idea!)
When the weather starts to turn cooler, I know that it’s time to start digging out my drink mix recipes. We love this Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe because it is so warming on a chilly day. I also love that I can make it in large batches (easily) with very few ingredients. It also presents itself quite lovely, especially if you can find unique containers or pretty jars to store it in, so it makes for a wonderful gift as well!
Mexican Hot Chocolate Mix
Ingredients:
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
½ teaspoon ground Cinnamon
¼ cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 1/3 cups Powdered Milk
In a medium bowl, mix all dry ingredients together until well blended. Pour into a jar or another air tight container until ready to use. To use, add one heaping tablespoonful to one mug or warm or hot water. Add in marshmallows, chocolate syrup, or more cinnamon or a cinnamon stick for an additional treat. Enjoy:
This mix also makes a great gift. Place in a pretty jar and you have a lovely and delicious gift to share!
I want to back track a bit and give you a closer look at some of my Christmas decorations. I guess you could call this a post home tour, tour.
I prepped the parlor / mama cave and dining rooms for my Christmas home tour…but things might have become a blur because I did not have the time or space to give you a closer look at the decorations I used. I zoomed through.
Santa has lots of packages…so the smaller sleigh will be helpful. 🙂
In the beginning…I found these gorgeous aluminum mixed metal sleighs…and decided that they would be just the thing to add to my collection.
These sleighs spoke to me this year! I have become very selective about buying anything new…because I have enough as it is.
My original though was to make tiny Christmas presents to fill the sleighs…but time was pushing me to be ready for the home tour, and I saw a box of silver jingle bells, so bingo!…I decided to fill the sleighs with jingle bell filler.
The History of Christmas Trees. The evergreen fir tree has traditionally been used to celebrate winter festivals (pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pagans used branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come.
The first Christmas Trees came to Britain sometime in the 1830s. They became very popular in 1841, when Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s German husband) had a Christmas Tree set up in Windsor Castle. In 1848, drawing of “The Queen’s Christmas tree at Windsor Castle” was published in the Illustrated London News.
The History of Christmas Trees
The evergreen fir tree has traditionally been used to celebrate winter festivals (pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pagans used branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come. The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia. Christians use it as a sign of everlasting life with God.
Nobody is really sure when Fir trees were first used as Christmas trees. It probably began about 1000 years ago in Northern Europe. Many early Christmas Trees seem to have been hung upside down from the ceiling using chains (hung from chandeliers/lighting hooks).
Other early Christmas Trees, across many parts of northern Europe, were cherry or hawthorn plants (or a branch of the plant) that were put into pots and brought inside so they would hopefully flower at Christmas time. If you couldn’t afford a real plant, people made pyramids of woods and they were decorated to look like a tree with paper, apples and candles. Sometimes they were carried around from house to house, rather than being displayed in a home.
It’s possible that the wooden pyramid trees were meant to be like Paradise Trees. These were used in medieval German Mystery or Miracle Plays that were acted out in front of Churches on Christmas Eve. In early church calendars of saints, 24th December was Adam and Eve’s day. The Paradise Tree represented the Garden of Eden. It was often paraded around the town before the play started, as a way of advertising the play. The plays told Bible stories to people who could not read.
The first documented use of a tree at Christmas and New Year celebrations is argued between the cities of Tallinn in Estonia and Riga in Latvia! Both claim that they had the first trees; Tallinn in 1441 and Riga in 1510. Both trees were put up by the ‘Brotherhood of Blackheads’ which was an association of local unmarried merchants, ship owners, and foreigners in Livonia (what is now Estonia and Latvia).
Little is known about either tree apart from that they were put in the town square, were dance around by the Brotherhood of Blackheads and were then set on fire. This is like the custom of the Yule Log. The word used for the ‘tree’ could also mean a mast or pole, tree might have been like a ‘Paradise Tree’ or a tree-shaped wooden candelabra rather than a ‘real’ tree.
In the town square of Riga, the capital of Latvia, there is a plaque which is engraved with “The First New Year’s Tree in Riga in 1510”, in eight languages. You can find out more about the Riga Tree from this website: www.firstchristmastree.com
A picture from Germany in 1521 which shows a tree being paraded through the streets with a man riding a horse behind it. The man is dressed a bishop, possibly representing St. Nicholas.
In 1584, the historian Balthasar Russow wrote about a tradition, in Riga, of a decorated fir tree in the market square where the young men “went with a flock of maidens and women, first sang and danced there and then set the tree aflame”. There’s a record of a small tree in Breman, Germany from 1570. It is described as a tree decorated with “apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers”. It was displayed in a ‘guild-house’ (the meeting place for a society of business men in the city).
The first first person to bring a Christmas Tree into a house, in the way we know it today, may have been the 16th century German preacher Martin Luther. A story is told that, one night before Christmas, he was walking through the forest and looked up to see the stars shining through the tree branches. It was so beautiful, that he went home and told his children that it reminded him of Jesus, who left the stars of heaven to come to earth at Christmas. Some people say this is the same tree as the ‘Riga’ tree, but it isn’t! The Riga tree originally took place a few decades earlier. Northern Germany and Latvia are neighbors.
Another story says that St. Boniface of Crediton (a village in Devon, UK) left England and traveled to Germany to preach to the pagan German tribes and convert them to Christianity. He is said to have come across a group of pagans about to sacrifice a young boy while worshipping an oak tree. In anger, and to stop the sacrifice, St. Boniface is said to have cut down the oak tree and, to his amazement, a young fir tree sprang up from the roots of the oak tree. St. Boniface took this as a sign of the Christian faith and his followers decorated the tree with candles so that St. Boniface could preach to the pagans at night.
There is another legend, from Germany, about how the Christmas Tree came into being, it goes:
Once on a cold Christmas Eve night, a forester and his family were in their cottage gathered round the fire to keep warm. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. When the forester opened the door, he found a poor little boy standing on the door step, lost and alone. The forester welcomed him into his house and the family fed and washed him and put him to bed in the youngest sons own bed (he had to share with his brother that night!). The next morning, Christmas Morning, the family were woken up by a choir of angels, and the poor little boy had turned into Jesus, the Christ Child. The Christ Child went into the front garden of the cottage and broke a branch off a Fir tree and gave it to the family as a present to say thank you for looking after him. So ever since them, people have remembered that night by bringing a Christmas Tree into their homes!
In Germany, the first Christmas Trees were decorated with edible things, such as gingerbread and gold covered apples. Then glass makers made special small ornaments similar to some of the decorations used today. In 1605 an unknown German wrote: “At Christmas they set up fir trees in the parlours of Strasbourg and hang thereon roses cut out of many-colored paper, apples, wafers, gold foil, sweets, etc.”
At first, a figure of the Baby Jesus was put on the top of the tree. Over time it changed to an angel/fairy that told the shepherds about Jesus, or a star like the Wise Men saw.
The first Christmas Trees came to Britain sometime in the 1830s. They became very popular in 1841, when Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s German husband) had a Christmas Tree set up in Windsor Castle. In 1848, drawing of “The Queen’s Christmas tree at Windsor Castle” was published in the Illustrated London News. The drawing was republished in Godey’s Lady’s Book, Philadelphia in December 1850 (but they removed the Queen’s crown and Prince Albert’s moustache to make it look ‘American’!).
The publication of the drawing helped Christmas Trees become popular in the UK and USA.
In Victorian times, the tree would have been decorated with candles to represent stars. In many parts of Europe, candles are still used to decorate Christmas trees.
Tinsel and The Legend of the Christmas Spider
Tinsel was also created in Germany, were it was originally made from thin strips of beaten silver. But when plastic/man made tinsel was invented, it became very popular as it was much cheaper than real silver and also lighter to go on the tree!
There are also folk stories about how tinsel was created – by The Christmas Spider!
These tales seem to have started in Eastern Germany or Ukraine but are also told in parts of Finland and Scandinavia. The stories are now also popular in other countries such as the USA; although I live in the UK and most people in my country have never heard of the story/legend!
All the versions of the story involve a poor family who can’t afford to decorate a Tree for Christmas (in some versions the tree grew from a pine cone in their house, in others the family have bought a tree into the house). When the children go to sleep on Christmas Eve a spider covers the tree in cobwebs. Then on Christmas morning the cobwebs are magically turned into silver and gold strands which decorate the tree!
Some versions of the story say that it’s the light of the sun which changed the cobwebs into silver and gold but other versions say it’s St Nicholas / Santa Claus / Father Christmas / das Christkind which made the magic happen.
In parts of Germany, Poland, and Ukraine it’s meant to be good luck to find a spider or a spider’s web on your Christmas Tree. Spider’s web Christmas Tree decorations are also popular in Ukraine. They’re called ‘pavuchky’ (which means ‘little spider’) and the decorations are normally made of paper and silver wire. You might even put an artificial spider’s web on your tree!
Christmas Tree Lights
Because of the danger of fire, in 1895 Ralph Morris, an American telephonist, invented the first electric Christmas lights, similar to the ones we use today.
In 1885 a hospital in Chicago burned down because of candles on a Christmas Tree! And in 1908 insurance companies in the USA tried to get a law made that would ban candles from being used on Christmas Trees because of the many fires they had caused! So we have to say a big thank you to Ralph Morris for making Christmas safer!
The most lights lit at the same time on a Christmas tree is 194,672 and was done by Kiwanis Malmedy / Haute Fagnes Belgium in Malmedy, Belgium, on 10 December 2010!
Many towns and villages have their own Christmas Trees. One of the most famous is the tree in Trafalgar Square in London, England, which is given to the UK by Norway every year as a ‘thank you’ present for the help the UK gave Norway in World War II. The White House in the USA has had a big tree on the front lawn since the 1920s.
The record for the most Christmas trees chopped down in two minutes is 27 and belongs to Erin Lavoie from the USA. She set the record on 19th December 2008 on the set of Guinness World Records: Die GroBten Weltrekorde in Germany.
Artificial Christmas Trees really started becoming popular in the early 20th century. In the Edwardian period Christmas Trees made from colored ostrich feathers were popular at ‘fashionable’ parties. Around 1900 there was even a short fashion for white trees – so if you thought colored trees are a new invention they’re not! Over the years artificial tress have been made from feathers, papier mâché, metal, glass, and many different types of plastic (I’ve got a couple of inflatable trees!).
The tallest artificial Christmas tree was 52m (170.6ft) high and was covered in green PVC leaves!. It was called the ‘Peace Tree’ and was designed by Grupo Sonae Distribuição Brasil and was displayed in Moinhos de Vento Park, Porto Alegre, Brazil from 1st December 2001 until 6th January 2002.
In many countries, different trees are used as Christmas trees. In New Zealand a tree called the ‘Pohutakawa’ that has red flowers is sometimes used and in India, Banana or Mango trees are sometimes decorated.
