christmas morning brunch

Does anyone else feel like Christmas seems to come and go more quickly with each year that passes?

Like, much more quickly?

I felt like I was so prepared - shopping done, gifts wrapped, menus planned - but still, as the day would get closer, things would come up. I'd remember a gift I still needed to wrap that I couldn't remember where I hid for the life of me, Ryan would remember a secret Santa gift he'd need, or a potluck item he'd have to bring to work.

We really made an effort this year to be intentional about what we were going to commit to, and what we would spend time doing over the holidays. We had a busier start to the month, but the actual week of Christmas was slower and more relaxing. It was lovely.

It also helped us not get so caught up in the activities of Christmas, and spend more time focusing on the true meaning of the season - the birth of our Saviour.

On Christmas morning, we host my family for brunch. I love hosting it, but one of the main reasons we do it, is so that we don't have to go anywhere on Christmas morning. It just works out perfectly for us. We have lots of time as a family to open gifts, and then as everyone is busy trying out their new toys, I put an apron on, and get breakfast started.

I also love setting the table and love that we have a space large enough for us to all sit down together.

I really lucked out this year with grocery store flowers. Usually I would order flowers from our flower truck, but I wasn't able to, and was left hoping the grocery store in town had something that would work. Dark Red Hypercum and a dozen White Roses worked perfectly, especially when I added some bits of evergreen.

I also used some of my red transferware.

And while we all fit around the dining room table, the kids have their own special table.

But they still expect it to be special!

Something I did differently this year was add a large wreath to the stone wall. I love the greens against the stone, and it didn't get any easier than hanging a wreath.

This was our Christmas buffet.

- Sausages and Bacon

- Potato and Onion Frittata

- Breakfast Tarts with Bacon, Scallions and Cheddar or Goat's Cheese

- French Toast Bake

- Fresh Fruit

- Ina's Easy Sticky Buns (which I made bit size)

- Olliebolen (which are like Dutch donuts, and were still warming in the oven)

Here the boys are, playing at my grandparents' farm on Christmas Eve. As a girl, I came every Christmas Eve, and we ate and visited with our cousins way past bed time. Now, we're all married with children of our own and we don't do this any more, but the invitation to come is always there. We decided last minute to go and visit, and I'm so glad we did. My aunt, who lives there with my Papa, had the entire house (literally every possible surface) decorated for Christmas. She had set the table with my Nana's antique Christmas china and special Cornflower glasses. She had trays of treats and homemade Eggnog and so much food it was crazy. I just loved seeing the boys doing what I loved doing when I was their age - Christmas Eve, celebrating with family, beyond excited for the next morning.

Us opening gifts on Christmas morning - Jude is just getting old enough that he is starting to understand the excitement!

All the cousins!

Opa and Nonna, and their six crazy grandsons.

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours was.

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours.

living room mantel

I was struggling this year with what to do on our mantel in the living room. Some years I drape Cedar roping over it. Others, I tuck greens among the glass cloches. Truth be told, I kind of felt like just leaving it untouched this year. I mean the tree is pretty enough!

But it really is a beautiful mantel, and it deserves to be dressed up for the holidays.

Of course, by the time I went to purchase Cedar roping, it was all sold out. So I grabbed the largest bundle of Scotch Pine I could find for all of $14.99, and made my own. I have this really full burlap garland that is about 6 inches wide, so I used that instead of rope, and wired my greens to it. I had to keep it a little short as our youngest would pull on it if it dangled within his reach.

 

I then wove it between the bits on the mantel, tucked a few pine cones in it here and there, and done!

 

The Scotch Pine boughs are very sturdy and hold their own in the garland, which I like.

It also smells heavenly... which I like even more.

 

christmas in the kitchen

We awoke this morning to a winter wonderland!

And all the snow makes the whole house bright. So I made the most of the light and thought I'd show you the very minimal Christmas decor in the kitchen. It really is just tucking a bit of greens here and there. No snowmen tea towels or special Christmas dishes...

I like using Juniper for the shelves as it has pretty blue berries.

And I love that I can see just a glimpse of the tree from the kitchen.

But one of my favourite things about our home is my white dishes against the stone walls. It's such a pretty contrast.

I even made the most of a quiet snowy day and snuggled with this little one for a bit this afternoon.

oh christmas tree

It's the 8th of December, and I've had our Christmas tree for nearly two weeks, and I'm finally getting around to showing you what it looks like.

It's perfect.

However, I'm going to be honest. Right now I have two boys home from school, snuggled by the fireplace - one sleeping, the other reading (the littlest napping upstairs) - and I would much rather curl up with them and enjoy a quiet afternoon than go into lengthy detail of my tree.

Instead, I'll share lots of photos and keep my comments to a few.

This year, we visited the farm of a family friend (neighbors of my grandparents), who has been reforesting some of his land. However, he's running into overcrowding and in order to keep the trees growing healthy, he needs to thin them out to give them room. We decided they would make the perfect old fashioned Christmas trees. So into the woods we went.

 

While I add a new decoration or two, I've settled into a collection of ornaments that I love, so the look hasn't changed much. I didn't put as many on this year as the tree was quite a bit more sparse.

I added a new tree skirt, something I've been looking to buy for a while. This one is from Oliver and Rust and it's burlap with a cream lace fringe. (The pillows on the couch are also made by her.)

My ornaments are almost entirely mercury glass, most of which are from Pottery Barn or Homesense.

And while we have another tree in our family room, filled with the boys' handmade ornaments, a few special ones do get put on the living room tree. Like this snowflake Hudson made, or the thumbprint heart Willen made (note how they've decorated them - or not decorated them - to suit my taste!).

 

It really is my favourite tree. The only thing it's missing is the real tree scent. For some reason it doesn't smell as strong as a real tree from a tree farm, but there are plenty of other greens in the house to make up for it.

Next up is the fireplace!

gingerbread recipe

I spent more time today than I care to admit making Gingerbread. That being said, they're the prettiest Gingerbread I've ever made, so I thought I would share them here.

The recipe I used for the Gingerbread was for Gingerbread Snowflakes by Martha Stewart Living, and I used Jenny Steffens' Royal Icing recipe for the decorating.

*note - I added an extra 1/4 cup of icing sugar to the Royal Icing recipe, just so it was firm enough to hold a nice line, but soft enough to pipe easily.

They were a little time consuming, but actually fairly easy. Just don't skimp out on the chilling!

Happy baking.

Ps. Follow along on Instagram if you aren't already!

@growersdaughter