Gingerbread Houses ~ Decorating Fun!

We had so much fun with my mom and Pepo visiting this past weekend. One of the holiday projects we did during their visit was decorating gingerbread houses. The girls had a ball with this holiday activity and I thought I would share some photos of their experience.

First we had to gather up all the candy.......lots and lots of candy.

These red ruby dishes are very special to me. My Grandma Ethel collected a large set of this dishes in all shapes and sizes for me. They are so beautiful and I always pull them out around the holidays. I really should use them more often because they really make me smile when we use them. The little dishes were prefect for all the different types of candy.

I did not make the actual gingerbread for the houses. Maybe someday, but for now, I felt lucky enough to find the time to gather up all the supplies and complete this project. I bought a kit for our houses that had this handy tray to help the house stand up. The houses are held together with a delicious white icing. I mean, what's the fun of a gingerbread house if you can't eat it, right? I know you can purchase these kits at many different big box stores.

Of course, you and I both know that the most fun part of decorating a gingerbread house is sampling all the candy. Miss Matilda certainly was in charge of quality control, but she did manage to get some candy onto her house.

Savannah was very focused on her house decorating and she had some help from Pepo and Grandma Jane.

Here is Matilda's completed gingerbread house.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how this little miss was going to do decorating her house. She has been giving us a run for our money lately, but to my pleasant surprise she was really into the task at hand.

Here is another 'quality control' photo. There were lots of those.

Savannah had to put her final finishing touches on her gingerbread house to make it look just right. And it did. Both of their houses were absolutely beautiful! We really had so much fun with this activity that I definitely think we will do this again next year!

So, do you decorate gingerbread houses with your children or grandchildren?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

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We've Been Busy at The Cottage Home ~ Christmas Trees and Santa

This last month seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye.  We've been so busy trying to fit in all our Christmas festivities as I'm sure you have as well.  This is a non-sewing, non-crafting, non-cooking related post, but I thought you might like to know what we've been up to.

Matilda and The Cottage Papa

The day after Thanksgiving we headed to our favorite local tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree.  My husband and I both grew up with fresh Christmas trees and to tell you the truth, there is nothing like the smell of a 'real' Christmas tree.  We've been going to this farm since before we had kids and after seven years, I guess we can call it a tradition.

Savannah and (soon-to-be) Uncle Bryan

My sister-in-law and (soon to be) brother-in-law came with us this year on the great tree hunt.  We like this farm because it is very down to earth.  There aren't a whole lot of bells and whistles (some farms around us have rides, attractions, horse drawn carriages), but you get the great feeling of the country life. This tree farm has been struggling the last few years because of a draught several years back.  So even though the pickings are a little slim, we like to support them during this tough time.

Savannah Rose

Savannah didn't care much for the sound the saw made when cutting down the tree, so she hung back a little bit and took it all in from a far.

Aunt Abby and The Cottage Papa

That's our tree in the picture above or also known as the Christmas 'bush'.  Once we got it inside our house we realized just how round it really is, but it suites us ~ it's got character.

Aunt Abby and Savannah

The day after Thanksgiving they had some pioneer living demonstrations and Savannah got to hand-dip a candle with some help from her Aunt Abby.

Matilda Jane

One of the favorite parts of our annual tree hunting adventure is getting nice and cozy with a cup of hot chocolate in the little warming house.  That hot chocolate hits the spot after the cold, hard work of finding our perfect tree.

After we came home and set up our tree, we decorated it.  This little guy (pictured above) was just a sweet, sweet angel throughout all our Christmas activity.  We listened to Christmas music, decorated the tree and I made my favorite homemade chex mix (which is a MUST when decorating the tree).

And what a difference a year makes!  The week after we got our tree, we took the kids to visit Santa.  Last year Savannah would not even get close to the man.  This year she ran right up to him, got on his lap and told him exactly what she wanted for Christmas ~ "I want a green dinosaur, a boy baby doll, and a red bouncy ball with a handle".  I love a girl who knows what she wants!  Matilda was fine with the man in the red suit, but she didn't say much.  After we left, Savannah said "Wow, he is definitely nice!"

This past weekend my mom, Grandma Jane, and her husband Allen (aka 'Pepo") came to celebrate an early Christmas.  We had a wonderful time, though our visits are always too short.  What I wouldn't give to live closer to my mama........maybe someday......one can dream, right?  Mom made us the most beautiful Christmas quilt that matches the kids Christmas outfits.  I need to take some good pictures of it, but I can't wait to show you!

This week I'm going to be busy baking with the kids and finishing up my last handmade Christmas gifts.  The current project in the works are 'baby doll kits' I'm making to go with the girl's 'American Girl Bitty Baby Boy' dolls that they are getting.  Savannah and Matilda both really wanted boy babies because of their little brother, so I'm having fun using all of this boy printed fabric to make the accessories for their dolls.

I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season.  

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

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Happy {Belated} St. Patrick's Day

Happy {belated} St. Patrick's Day to you all!  We had a great day yesterday enjoying our Irish heritage.  It finally thawed out enough here in Chicago for us to be able to go outside and explore the yard.

We went hunting for sticks and rocks around our yard and boy were there a lot!  We have tons of trees around us, so once the snow melts, there are plenty of great sticks to be found.

This was Miss Matilda's main look the entire time we were outside.  She was in amazement of so many things - especially the wind-chime that we have hanging from a tree.  It is so amazing to see the world through your children's eyes - it really made me appreciate all that we have and the area in which we live.

We went to look for our favorite ducks (we live right next to a very large river), but I don't think it is quite warm enough for them to make their appearance yet.  They were probably staying on shore for the most part, but I bet in a couple weeks we will see them.  There's a really cute male and female duck that walk around our neighborhood every year - they seem so in love - it is very sweet to see.

My mom made these sweet St. Patrick's day dresses for the girls.  I love how they turned out with all the ruffled ribbon and grosgrain ribbon trim - too cute!

My husband made two loaves of his family recipe for Irish Soda bread.  It is delicious every single year!

Brett (The Cottage Papa) typically doesn't get home from work until later, but for St. Patrick's day he made a special effort to be home early so we could have a family dinner.  I was in charge of the corned beef, cabbage and potatoes and they turned out mighty good, if I do say so myself.  I make my corned beef in the crock-pot.  I just stick it in there with the seasonings - no water or anything and about 6-8 hours later, cooked on low it is ready.  I have this thought every year on St. Patrick's day - Why we don't eat corned beef more often? - it is so yummy.

So, that's our St. Patrick's Day recap.  It was a truly great one.  Did the girls really like their dinner?  Not really.  Did they even eat the soda bread?  No, they preferred the butter on top.  But it's the tradition of it all that I hope we are instilling in our children.  Someday they'll like it.......someday.  

It's another sunny day here in Chicago and I can just feel spring approaching.  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and TGIF!

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