Being Jolly (by Golly!)

This is my entry for the holiday blogfest. You can see the master list of participants (and it's a big one) here.

First, some pictures of my decorations. I went fairly minimalist this year, since I didn't know how the kittens would react. Turns out it was a good thing. 

Also, I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. Hopefully Santa is bringing me a new digital camera (that isn't 7 years old): 

The Wreaths

This wreath hangs on the storage closet in our hallway. It's my little homage to the naturalist in me.  

This wreath was originally intended to go outside, but I decided I liked looking at it too much, so it's inside the front door. I made both these wreaths with stuff from Hobby Lobby. 

The Living Room

This was the first decor I hung, just a simple garland & ribbon across that weird short wall thing between the kitchen and living room areas. 

This is the faux mantle piece, sitting on top of our entertainment center. Currently the cats' favorite thing to chew on...(please note my SHE-RA dvds!)

This is a totally precious decoration I found at Pier One and filled with scented potpourri. Love it! 

And finally, my three amigos. They're on top of the TV. 

The tree is pretty minimalist this year. Pinecones, bronzed snowflakes, and gold shatterproof balls, all to keep the kittens from making it any worse than it already is. Same reason that the gifts are wrapped, but not ribboned. They won't be ribboned until they're safely at my in-laws' house Christmas Eve and I find myself with 30 gifts to ribbon...

The Food!

My favorite holiday drink is a tie between egg nog and mulled wine. 

However, my favorite holiday foodstuff was easy. This is something my mom has been making for as long as I can remember, and I've made it a few times myself. It's a bit of a pain to make, but totally worth it when you're shoving these things down your gullet hand-over-fist:

Martha Washington Candies

Here's the recipe:

2 (1-pound) boxes powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups flaked coconut
2 cups finely chopped pecans
**optional: 1 12-oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips for dipping**

Combine powdered sugar, butter, sweetened condensed milk, coconut and pecans together, mixing well. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a waxed paper lined baking sheet. Chill (I usually freeze.)

If you want to dip these in chocolate, prepare the chocolate with a double-boiler and coat each ball, then chill (freeze) again. Personally, I find the chocolate a bit overwhelming, but it's good to just drizzle or maybe dip half.


Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Can't wait to read all the other entries.

Happy holidays!