Merry Christmas from the Moores!

Some may think the five of us just get together, someone shoots a couple pictures and boom-we've got the perfect Christmas card photo....uh, not so much.  We have alot of takes!

We got together with our good friends the Harden's for our Christmas Card pictures this year. 

(Actually we take each other's family pictures every time we're together!)

Give this girl the camera and you better believe she'll take pictures of herself (this is only one of many!)

 And then she takes a stab at some portraits (not bad!)

 And gets a little artsy!

This photo shoot is serious business. Standing on a chair to get the right angle!

The proof is in the picture!

We went through a lot of this.

And a little of this.

And hopefully end up with some of this!

My kids are getting pretty good at this (they look quite angelic!)

And this one's get quite a lot of attention on Facebook. 

It's nice to actually be in a couple pictures instead of behind the lens.

I love that they love to laugh with each other 

(although I probably had to prompt them with a word like poop!)

Well its not perfect but we sure do have fun getting there!

And we get to spend more time with these five!

Merry Christmas!

Grinch Party

I planned a special night at home just for our family and threw a Grinch Party! 

For table decorations I made these Grinch faces.

These were so fun and cute to make. The instructions can be found here.

My inspiration was something I saw on Pinterest. Grinch Pills 

(cause your bound to have someone kinda "Grinchy" in your house this time of year!)

 Head over here for the DIY and the FREE Grinch Printable.

 I set the table with a candy cane stripe runner (used this last year for Candy Cane Lane). Along with some blow-up Christmas trees my sister gave my kiddo's many moons ago. I'm taking them with us to Florida for Christmas, thought we could have some fun with them in the pool!

 Pulled out the chalk board bottle (go here for the DIY). 

They acted as my place card and napkin holder.

I had planned to serve Roast Beef because apparently that's what the Grinch likes to eat... 

but I ran out of time and we ordered pizza.

 Of course we served Grinch Punch (lime sherbert in Sprite) with green sprinkles around the rim 

(I dipped the edge of the glass into water and then dipped it into the green sprinkles)

 And I asked everyone to wear something green.

 Little did I know that these two had matching t-shirts 

(bought them last year after Christmas from Target last year!)

Earlier in the day I had made the dough for these pinwheel cookies. 

I baked them while we were eating dinner.

 I found the recipe here.

While we ate warm cookies and popcorn we watched 

The Grinch (which is on-sale this week at Target!)

And I made up my own Grinch Trivia for the kids to work on while they watched the movie. 

You can download it here.

Thanks for stopping by! I love to hear about your fun and festive Christmas parties!

Southern Style Magnolia Wreath with Wood Monogram

Nothing says Southern Style more than magnolias and a monogram!

 I created this wreath for my new friend Julie. And we both loved the way it turned out!

I started out with a 12" Wood Wall Monogram. 

Get yours at Sercie (along with some other amazing monogram gifts!)

After lightly sanding the wood monogram with some steel wool, 

I painted the whole thing with this gold craft paint. 

 I grabbed some magnolia branches from a tree in Julie's yard.

 I love the smooth vibrant leaves! They were so easy to work with.

While I was collecting leaves I walked all over these pinecones 

(I just looked that up and much to my surprise, it's called the Magnolia Flower Pinecone!)

I grabbed bunches and bunches of these berries.

I don't know what these are called, but I love red; the pop of color is just what I needed!

  Okay, I have to figure out what these berries are called... before you even ask!

 I think they are Pyracantha – also called Firethorn, a member of the Rosaceae (rose) family.

Back to the wreath! I made this simple cardboard wreath form. 

I knew I wouldn't find anything like it at my favorite stores. 

Besides, I've got a lot of extra boxes lying around!

 Now I forgot to take a picture of the 5 sticks of hot glue 

I went through in adhering all the leaves to the front and the back of the wreath. 

Layers and layers of Magnolia leaves!

 A couple sprigs of the "Pyracantha" berries and the Magnolia Pinecones.

 I attached the monogram with some wire (hiding under part of the Magnolia leaf) 

and hung the whole thing up with bright red Christmas ribbon!

It wasn't quite what I envisioned, but I love it! http://www.sercie.com

Homemade Hot Chocolate Bar

Come inside and out of the cold...

and enjoy my Hot Chocolate Bar!

Grab a mug (I found these at Wal-mart, aren't they adorable?!)Add your hot cocoa mix...
Fill your mug with some yummy marshmallows.We have a variety to choose from!Add a peppermint stick or some caramels.

To make your own creamy hot cocoa mix you'll need powdered hot chocolate mix, 

powdered creamer and powdered sugar and 1/4 measuring cup (for scooping out your mix into mugs). 

Add equal parts of each of the three ingredients (I think I was able to get 5 cups of each into my jar). Mix it all up and then add 1/4 cup measuring scoop.

 When adding the powered mix to a mug make sure you use a heaping 1/4 cup!

Before I had taken all my pictures for the post my son says to me 

"Mom is that Hot Chocolate Bar just for looks or can we actually have some hot chocolate?" 

Too cute! He knows me well!

Enjoy the warmth of the season!

Thanks for stopping by!