Cutest Christmas Cookies Ever

Earlier this evening a neighbor brought us this beautiful plate of Christmas cookies. She and her mother have been baking and decorating these works of art for three days. Although I've made many Christmas sweets and treats in the past, I think these are the cutest cookies I have ever seen!

They made over 33 different kinds... and according to my husband they are absolutely amazing!  I have been eating Paleo for about 7 weeks now (which includes no sugar and no grains) so needless to say I can not taste even one bite of these sweet treats.  But, I can admit that I am tempted!!!  I will not eat them (will power, will power, will power... I say as I'm trying to convince myself) but they seriously look and smell so yummy.  I think tonight I will be dreaming about eating these.

My favorite cookie is the reindeer (Rudolph).  I love the M&M red nose, mini chocolate chip eyes and the pretzel antlers.  It is so adorable that I don't want my hubby to eat it.

It is such a blessing to have wonderful and thoughtful neighbors...

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!


Blessings,

Diana

Finally - Our Christmas Tree 2013

I am completely late on the sharing of this years Christmas Tree!  Although I shared it as we were decorating it on my Instagram, I have been super busy and was also sick for a week, so I am finally sharing it.

Although it does have several new ornaments on our tree this year, it is similar to last years tree.  The Merry Christmas burlap garland was a DIY project (one of my most popular) that I shared via blog tutorial on last year.

I do have a few more Christmas decorations to share, hopefully I will get to them soon!  

Blessings,

Diana

Five Minute Christmas Wreath

I wanted the smell of a fresh pine tree in our home for Christmas but I didn't want the fires hazard of a real tree.  Real trees don't last long in California so we have a fake Christmas tree.

In order to get that Christmas tree smell... I purchased this fresh wreath for $7.  The red bow on it was completely crushed and dirty.  So I used burlap ribbon to make a pretty bow and wrapped some ribbon around the wreath.  I used a piece of twine to tie/hang it from a mirror.  Then I hung five small gold glass ball ornaments from it for a touch of sparkle and shine.

This was a simple way to incorporate fresh pine into our Christmas decor and it looks and smells wonderful.

Simple Mason Jar Christmas Decor

I love Mason Jars... so when I found this giant decorative one gallon Mason Jar I was so excited.   I first saw it a couple of months ago and I knew that the first thing I wanted to fill it with was ornaments for Christmas!  It's no secret that aqua is my favorite color so filling it with a variety of aqua, light blue and silver glass ball ornaments was the obvious chioce for me.

I started with the giant empty jar and filled it one by one with a variety of blue and aqua glass ball ornaments in different sizes that I've collected over the years. This year I added some beautiful vintage looking Mercury Glass Ornaments to my collection.  I love how they mixed with the shiny balls.  This would be a fun and simple decoration to put together with the kids.  It only takes about five minutes and it looks beautiful!

Happy decorating!

Diana