The Elf of the Shelf is Watching You

I am big fan of our little Elf on the Shelf!  Whenever I look at him and his swoopy hair, all I see is cute little Kurt from Glee!

Now we have a tv commercial to add to the paranoia with a catchy little jingle that kind of reminds me of a song from one of the Halloween movies! 




Jingle arrived here on Thanksgiving evening and has been working WONDERS!  He really likes his little spot though b/c he keeps forgetting to move each night.  We are 2 for 5 which according to my calculations is a 40% success rate.  We can only hope this will improve but I would say we're off to a terrible start!  xo, Brie

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all my fellow Americans - enjoy your day and join me in  focusing on things you are thankful for.  I have a bad habit of focusing on the little things NOT going right, and for today, the focus is all about what IS right and there is quite a lot to be thankful for!  Wishing you all a wonderful holiday! xo, Brie

Have a Holly Jolly

Been struck with insomnia which hasn't happened to me in a long while! I hate when this happens but at least I have plenty to do around here so I might as well make it work to my advantage by cleaning this place up for our company who is arriving today and with a quick post :)

Mr. KB usually puts up the outdoor lights but this year for some reason every weekend was so jam packed he never got around to it. The weather here in NJ has been bipolar so just last week when it reached almost 70 degrees outside (we now have about 8 inches of snow) I jumped at the opportunity to put up the lights. I was a bit of a disaster and I hope none of the neighbors were watching me! Tangled lights everywhere, me on a 12 ft wobbly ladder, dirty words a flyin - not a pretty sight.

The final results were not too shabby! I am quite pleased with my handy work!

I have never put lights on this bell before but had some extras laying around and I love it!



I love me a good spotlight on a wreath



The icicles were my nemesis that day - I love how they came out though


I usually put some greens in my window boxes for the holidays and then move them into the garage after Christmas to save on the wear and tear. They looked so boring at first and then I found some of those real looking plastic ball ornaments at walmart and went crazy with the glue gun! I love how they turned out!

All in all a success! I don't know what's going on around this neighborhood but nobody seems "into it" this year! The street is dark and gloomy and I don't like it one bit!

Presents are wrapped and tagged, house is almost all decorated, company arrives today so I am not sure how much blogging I'll get to in this week. You never know! In case this is it, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and/or Happy Hanukkah! xoxoxoxo Brie

Under the Weather

Feels like I may be paying this season for putting off lots of things on my to do list. Snowstorms and a nasty case of the flu have put all plannings and preparations on hold. I am feeling a little better today and am in need of a real POWER DAY! Sadly no serious blogging on the list :( Hopefully tomorrow. Stay well :) xo, Brie

Christmas Store

The elementary school my kids go to has the greatest tradition each year. The first Wednesday of every December the gym is transformed into a North Pole shopping mall for the kids.

There is a full committee for this Christmas store who work all year long recruiting crafters for a handmade section and scouring the area for inexpensive finds to meet all the needs of the little shoppers. Pricing is incredibly reasonable ranging from .25 to 6.00 and all money made from this event goes into the restocking for next year's event.

The kids make their list and budget and have an allotted time to shop. My favorite part of the whole day is that the little ones get paired up with the older ones to help them along. It is really cute! The 8th graders do all of the wrapping and tagging so the kids come home with bundles of wrapped gifts to put under the tree with all the things they have selected themselves.

The selections are often hilarious! Kevin picks out a dazzling tie for my dad every year that tend to look something like this!

Monka is a great sport and wears it to Christmas dinner. The kids are really proud of themselves and this event makes them so excited about the "giving" part of Christmas. It's a great tradition! xo, Brie

Christmas 2008

Christmas cards have been mailed and received for the most part, so I can safely reveal my beloved card for 2008. I really love the way it came out and am most pleased with the absense of my annual holiday freak out to get a perfect group shot for the card. Hurray for tiny prints!!





Been running around NJ like a lunatic with shopping, decorating needs, entertaining needs, and Christmas concerts.... have been taking pics and will be sharing soon :) Steer clear of the impatient woman in the minivan (that'd be me) Big snow storm heading here tomorrow - yippee! xo, Brie

Blogversay, Contest, and a PSA

First off - It's my one year blog anniversary. I can't believe it's been a year... I've had a lot of fun doing this and of course meeting lots of creative, sweet, and funny people through this so I have really been enjoying myself!

Next up, the ornament contest. I am pulling the winner tonight before bed and will announce in the am. If you haven't entered and you like them, please do! Your odds of winning are quite excellent ;)

Lastly, will you just look at this? I got talked into buying this 30 dollar wreath from the boy scouts at church. We have a new storm glass door over our real front door which apparently doubles as a wreath oven. Learn from my mistake and hang the wreath IN FRONT of the glass, not behind it or you'll end up with this toasted delight. The only upside was Christmasy pine smell all through the house that day as it roasted and I had no idea where it was coming from! That was 30 dollars well spent ;) xo, Brie

Operation Ornament a Success!

The party was soooo much fun last night! Our hostess pulled off another fab party which was really no surprise - lots of great people, beautifully decorated home, yummy food, etc! It was an all ladies event and as an extra bonus there was beer! I like wine, but wine doesn't like me that much and 9 times out of 10 gives me the worst headache. The beer was a fabulous German beer hoegaarden (pronounced who-garden, but I think I prefer to call it ho - garden) and I am so happy to be headache free this morning!

I took extra care to wrap my gift pretty (chosen 6th out 40, thank you very much - so happy to not be in the lonesome loser crew this year!)

People did not sneer at the homemade purses thankfully and they even got swapped a few times so I was happy and relieved about that!

I totally scored on mine! Check this beauty out....

it has all the qualities I am looking for in a Christmas ornament - glass, round, bow, and GLITTER! Isn't she pretty?

I'll leave you with this question - is it polite to "steal" an ornament from the hostess of the party at the Yankee swap? My gut is no - but it was done several times last night. I honestly had never given a whole lot of thought to this until a few years ago when at another party someone stole the gift from the hostess - the lady sitting next to me whispered ( kind of loudly) in my ear that, that guest "Was not raised right"

TGIF :) xo, Brie

Ornament Exchange and a little Holiday Giveaway

Tonight I am going to a Christmas ornament exchange party hosted by my friend. She does a beyond fab job of decorating and hosting and it is always a lot of fun! Everyone pulls a number and then it's Yankee swap style on the ornament you get (you can either pick a new unwrapped one or steal from someone). One year I wrapped mine up in one of those cellophane bags and it was the last one chosen... I learned from that night on, wrap it pretty or you're the lonesome loser on the table :D

I usually make the ornaments and package them up in a group of three. About an hour before the party, I start having some serious regrets about going this route b/c it really puts you "out there" as in "what if everyone thinks this is a stinker ornament". In the past it has worked well, people seem to like them but part of me wants to make a mad dash to Pier One this second and buy an anonymous ornament that nobody knows it's from me :)

It's always a lot of fun and I'll share the ornament I win tomorrow!

So here is where the giveaway comes into play. Leave me a comment and you are eligible for a set of four preppy purse ornaments made by me :) Winner will be randomly selected on Monday 12/15 - my one year blog anniversary! xo, Brie

Here is one of mine at work on the tree

Going Green

with the blog background for the holidays :) you like? This is as exciting of a change as you'll see b/c I stink at this stuff ;) xo, Brie

Handmade Advent

I love peeking into other families' traditions and styles especially during Holiday time! Jules so kindly gave us a glimpse into her home with her advent wreath, advent calendar, and two adorable boys yesterday!



Here is our advent wreath made with love from our preschooler Ms. C! Isn't it so cute? Completely handmade and made from some recycled materials (candles are old toilet paper tubes) and the base is a paper plate! The yellow construction paper flame is fitted into the candles and you can pull them up when it's time to "light" the candle.



I'm not going to lie to you - I have 5 of these from preschool past, I always save them but they never look so great when I pull them out of the box the following Advent season. This year, it is imperative that I pack this up with UTMOST care b/c this is my last year with a preschooler - I could cry!



Be sure to come back tomorrow for a Keeks and Brie holiday giveaway I am planning (that reminds me I to charge up my camera!) :) xo, Brie

The fun continues...

I do realize I have an "elf yourself" problem.... THIS should have been the Christmas card! xo, Brie

Happy Holidays Dance

This really never gets old for me - throw in some yearbook yourself fun and you've got yourself a HIT! xo, Brie

edit: what the.... the embed won't work. boo hoo - this 70's child could not resist the disco version :)

edit: finally got it to post above! Now how can I get a job as the dancing elves? Those are seriously all my signature moves!

Tiny Prints to the Rescue - with time sensitive code

an old favorite from Christmas 2006

This offers expires TONIGHT (12/2) so if you are unorganized (like myself) and haven't coordinated a group pic of the kids just yet for the holiday greetings.... don't fret! I got lots of beautiful cards from a company called Tiny Prints last year and received my first card today from a friend (which threw me into a complete panic) which also happened to be Tiny Prints and was way cute!

Cards are ordered and I love them! Use code JOLLY15 and get 15% off your order over 100 dollars. Code ENDS at 11:59 TONIGHT so get crackin....


A few points why I really enjoyed this working with this company

• tons of choices - I mean TONS and one is cuter than the next. I am sucker for the square shaped card but did resist the temptation b/c postal charges extra postage - one of life's great mysteries to me b/c it makes no sense!


• they had the perfect card for me with 4 separate panels for each of the kids' pictures! No fretting over who blinked in one, who wasn't looking, who has red eyes, who was crying b/c mommy was yelling to SMILE AND SIT STILL etc etc etc ;) Just pick a pleasing photo of each child and drop and drag into the handy template


• they also allowed me to adjust the pictures with zoom and left/right shifting in each picture and even let me change my color photo to black and white - I'm soooooo artsy!

They should be here between 12/12 and 12/16 - right on schedule!!! I have the whole address book on excel so I can print up my stickers, stamp and send!

One thing checked off my list.... only 546 to go :) xo, Brie

http://www.tinyprints.com/

Stocking Stuffer

Kay went to a birthday party last weekend in the city and one of these was in her goody bag.... awesome doesn't even begin to describe how good this is. I am getting some for Mr. KB for his stocking b/c he is so hard to buy for! You can get some Here or if you are feeling ambitious, try to make your own with this recipe! xo, Brie

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Give thanks, eat lots, have fun! xo, Brie

If this weren't 250 dollars

I would have no choice than to host the holidays in this! xo, Brie

Only at Target!

http://www.target.com/Adults-Snowman-Suit/dp/B0010OFIF2/sr=1-24/qid=1227569818/ref=sr_1_24/178-9615404-2752659?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k:christmas%20suit&page=1

Christmas, don't go!

As much as I detest lugging out all the Christmas decorations, I really get attached to the way house looks decorated. I hate to say goodbye to them and really hate packing them away ;) so up they will stay for at least another week! Isn't that over sized ornament so cute? My mother in law gave me that a few years ago, it's green nylon stretched over a cool wire form. I attached a red polka dot grosgrain and hung right over my kitchen sink. I love it!!!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!! Ours was great, it was nice and relaxing. The meal turned out great thanks to the pre-planning! The roast always take longer to cook than I ever remember... will definitely invest in a meat thermometer so I do not have to keep reheating slices of tenderloin to desired doneness. 45 minutes in a 500 degree oven with a 20 minute tinfoil rest ought to do it just right (I went 35 minutes and it was definitely too rare for me!)

Ok, so the house is in such disarray.... I need to pull up the boot straps and start organizing room by room. With the help of fly lady and my trusty timer (more on that later) I do believe we'll get somewhere! To be continued...........................

Keely you're going to love this!

I just can't get enough of the Office Max fun! Sorry Keely, but yours is the only head I saved from the elf bit! My favorite dance move by far is the little squirrel moves with the limp wrists - good times!
http://www.scroogeyourself.com/?id=1671750956

Striving for Fair and Balanced :)

So... I am wrapping away last night for the kids (I have 4) and one pile is looking a little slim - I hate when that happens. I try to plan these things out! I do not want anyone to think they have been bad this year! Truth be told, they are really very, very good (most of the time!!!). So off I go to shop a bit more and balance out these piles! Wish me luck, ugh! xo Brie