[ peanut butter kisses ]

ONE OF my guy's all-time favourite holiday cookies are Peanut Butter Kisses. This recipe has been around a long time ~ I first made them back in the early 90's (!) and they've always remained a go-to holiday cookie. With only 4 ingredients and no flour, they're super easy and make a cute gift too…

peanut butter kisses

what you need:

1 18oz (500g) jar peanut butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 bag Hershey's Kisses

how to:

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Mix together peanut butter, sugar and eggs with hand mixer until well combined. Using a large rounded tablespoon and floured hands or a cookie scoop, drop cookie balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet approximately 1 1/2" apart. Bake 12-14 minutes until tops appear dry and a little crackled.

Remove from oven and press a Hershey's Kiss into each one. Let cool slightly then transfer to rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Makes approximately 32 cookies.

Yum!

lisa

[ happy weekend! ]

WELL, Christmas is quickly creeping up on us and this is it, the last full weekend of shopping before the big day. Wouldn't it be nice to wake up on Christmas morning to this?

Hmm...what might Mr. Snowman have in that Tiffany bag? Have a great weekend everyone!

lisa

[via itsnotalwaysrainbowsandbutterflies]

[ turning everyday into holiday ]

ONE OF MY favourite ways to decorate for Christmas is to give the everyday a festive feel. And this home does just that.

By simply combining fresh chartreuse patterned bedding with a couple of raspberry pillows, and hanging up a simple boxwood wreath, a holiday feeling is implied without a Santa in sight. Remove the wreath after the holidays and in a flash, the holidays are over.

Gifts wrapped in simple chartreuse paper with the addition of red toile bands, feel festive even though there's nothing distinctively Christmas about them.

And this tablescape feels festive, even though no holiday-motif patterns are used. Again a simple boxwood wreath and Christmas tree add the holiday feel, but come January, ditch the tree and the wreath and this tablescape would work any time of year.

How do you decorate for the holidays? Simple festive touches to the everyday or all-out Santa theme?

lisa

[style at home]

[ Paris Christmas market ]

ONE OF THE magical things about visiting Paris at this time of year is the Christmas Market that stretches all along the Champs Elysées...

Both sides of the street are lined with white wooden stalls filled with gifts, mulled wine, food and sweets galore...

After passing numerous crepe stands, I finally broke down and had to get one...

And then on to more stalls...

As the day got darker, we decided to make our way back to our hotel. Paris is so pretty at night...

One more of these and I was ready to bid farewell to lovely Paris...

I think no matter what time of year you visit Paris, you'll never be disappointed. Thanks for following along!

lisa

[ hey cutie ]

JUST A BIT of holiday cuteness with donuts! Perfect with hot chocolate after a fun afternoon.

lisa

[via creativeholidaygiftideas]

[ removing sap from pinecones ]

IT'S THAT time of year when pinecones take centre stage in holiday decorating. Buying pinecones can be expensive but if you're lucky enough to live somewhere where you can gather them on a walk near the woods, you can easily prepare them for crafting. I had some that I brought back from Canada since finding them in Dubai isn't an easy thing.

But first: remove the sap…

There are a couple of ways you can remove the sticky sap from pinecones: washing them or baking them. I decided to bake them since I figured it would be quicker and much less messy. It worked like a charm.

Line a baking sheet with foil and lay out the pinecones…

Bake in a 200F oven for about 30 minutes or so. Check on them every so often to make sure they're doing ok. Turn them if you like. The sap will drip off onto the foil as the pinecones dry and open up. Your whole house will smell like pine trees while they bake…

Remove from oven and lift them from the foil. Notice how they've opened up and the melted sap has created a lovely hard shine on the tips…

Now they're ready for your decor either au natural or you can add paint or glitter…

Are you decorating with pinecones this Christmas? 

lisa

[first pic: via marloes oosterhuis; remaining: mine]

[ how to get what you want for christmas ]

JUST FOLLOW these simple steps:

lisa

[via convoy-tumblr]

[ my simple snow white wreath ]

YOU MAY have seen this style of wreath before but I thought I'd share my version I whipped up yesterday. So super easy and the supply list is short: a wire hanger and fabric! {a lifesaver since finding crafting supplies isn't easy in Dubai}.

You can use any fabric you have on hand or whatever you find on sale. {I used an extra curtain panel I had picked up on clearance at Pottery Barn. It ended up being about 2 yards of 54" wide fabric}. I washed my fabric to soften it and did not iron it {wrinkles help make it look cuter}.

Measure out 4" wide increments and tear into strips.

Untwist your hanger and form into a circle shape.

Then start poking the hanger through the strips of fabric, folding like an accordion as you go {I spaced my pokes about 2" apart}.

When you've poked it all through, use some pliers to form a loop at one end of the hanger.

Push all the fabric towards the loop and feed the other end of the hanger through the loop.

Snip the hanger and form a loop so that the ends interlock. I positioned the loops on the side of the wreath and adjusted the fabric to hide them.

Use a scrap of the same fabric to create a loop for hanging by tying it to the hanger between the folds.

Give the fabric folds a bit of a twist to create fullness and make them look more random.

And voila!

You can stop here if you like, or add a ribbon, or decorate it anyway that you'd like.

I chose to hang an ornament in the center for Christmas...

I simply pinned the jute string to the back of the wreath for easy removal later.

I love the simplicity of it and think it looks pretty against a pale wall or the dark wood of our entrance door. And once Christmas is over, off comes the ornament and I'll hang it in my bedroom.

Happy wreathing!

lisa