Other Christmas Scenes Around the House

Last week I shared our living room decked out for the holidays. Today I'll share a few other spots that got some holiday touches.  Our theme is slap lights, garland and wreaths on it. Boom. Christmas decorating done.

Let's start outside.  We need a few more lights.  Nate is sad that most of these strands are on their last leg. I'm happy because we can switch to warm lights!  The mixing of cool and warm makes me twitchy.

I bought a big strand of fresh garland and chopped it up and threw it all over the house. Our house smells amazing.  And there are pine needles everywhere. (Thanks goodness for the Roomba!)

Our dining room gets our family memories tree. I love it so much. There are ornaments from Nate and I's childhood, our wedding and now Clark's ornaments. It makes me so happy.  And sappy.

I always try to keep the decor to a minimum during the holidays because our kitchen takes a holiday baking beating and I don't need anything else in my way!  

Here's a large sneak peek of a project we completed this year in our basement.  I told you, nothing is safe from garland. 

Lastly, here's our tree all lit up at night. We're actually going to have to turn the house lights on again in January.

Did you get all of your decorating done? How about shopping? And baking?!?  I'm good to go except for the baking!

Peppermint Oreo Truffles

Merry Christmas Eve!  It's frigid here in Iowa. As in below zero frigid.   After I finish this post I am going to research real estate in Key West.  I think decorating a beach house would be fun.  Ike would love the year round walks.  Now if only we can get Nate on board.

We spent a lovely few days at my parents' house. We did some baking. I love baking. I mentioned earlier that I decided to actually record some of our favorites so I can easily find the recipes next year!

I whipped up these peppermint Oreo truffles.  

As I was photographing them, my dad wanted me to be sure to mention that I didn't make the Oreos or the candy canes.  Always helpful.  So just so we're clear, I didn't make the Oreos. Or candy canes.  But I totally made all of the truffles.  And I ate all of the truffles.

This recipe is adapted from Kraft.

Enjoy!

We hope you all have a fantastic holiday!  We'll be back sometime next week!

Andes Mint Cookies

I have a confession.  I'm on a cookie only diet for the past 3 meals.  (True story.)  It's okay.  They're all from scratch.

I'm sure it's bound to catch up with me.  I am sort of craving a clementine.  Maybe I'll just drink some sangria?

I'm going to share some of my favorite holiday baking recipes over the next few days. Mainly so I don't have to dig through my mess of a recipe box next year.  Blog good. Recipe box bad.

First up are some Andes Mint cookies that are a family favorite of Nate's.  

I always get nervous making family favorites.  I would really hate to screw them up.  I made my first batch of these for a cookie exchange hosted by NewlyWoodwards.  This recipe is perfect for cookie exchanges because it makes a lot (~80) and they package easily.

And they were so easy to make that I didn't screw them up.  Nate even thought they tasted like his mom's.  Excellent.

They are also Santa approved.  Always important.

Now for the recipe.  Right click to print!