The Art of Stuffing a Stocking

Years ago, my husband and I decided to only exchange stocking stuffers at Christmas. I really enjoy this because it requires a little extra thought and creativity. Not only does the gift need to be sentimental and/or useful, but it must be small too...a little extra challenge!

Here are some of my favorite stocking stuffers...

For the baby in your life, the Doidy Cup is an amazing product that eases the transition from bottle to cup without major spills!

For the organizer in your life, Magnutz are super small magnets with UNBELIEVABLE strength.

For the love of your life, the "I'm nuts about you!" key ring says it all. The packaging is simply adorable, and the key ring itself is the perfect size-small enough to be unobtrusive, but big enough to remind your honey how lucky he or she is!

For the cook in your life, a silicon basting brush is a MUST-have!

For the men in your life, try these easy to match dress socks. Once he tries them, he will never go back to traditional gold-toes. Not only are they thin and soft, but they make matching socks fun and SIMPLE!

For the child in your life, include these adorable mini lunch notes.  Nothing is better than finding a fun-loving note in your lunch from someone you love...a guaranteed smile every day of the week!

Please share some of your favorites too! With a little help from each other, we can all have ROCKIN' full stockings this year.

Brrrr! It's cold out there...

{via Restoration Hardware}

I don't know about you, but all I want to do on these brisk November days is curl up on the couch with a cozy blanket and a cup of tea. This blanket from Restoration Hardware is one of my absolute favorites. It is ridiculously soft and snuggly, and surprisingly reasonable in price. It makes the perfect winter birthday, Christmas, or housewarming gift. The best part is that you can personalize the blanket with all sorts of complementary gifts depending on the recipient.

For the tea lover, spice it up with specialty teas like those by Tea Forte.

For the bookworm, inscribe a special book to go with the blanket.

For the chocolate lover, include a bunch of Trader Joe specialty chocolate candies.

For the child-at-heart, wrap up one of the plush teddy bears from RH Baby & Child.

Happy Snuggling!!!

Give the Gift of Togetherness

{via Pottery Barn Kids}

Last year, my husband's aunt gave us the most wonderful housewarming gift...an advent calendar! But it wasn't just any old advent calendar, it is in the shape of a home, made out of wood, and has a little drawer for each day of advent. It came with a bunch of trinkets and candies to put in each drawer, BUT his aunt asked that I throw those away and to do as her family does, which is to fill each drawer with a little piece of paper that encourages the family to do something together. I was so honored that his aunt decided to share this family tradition with us and look forward to taking our advent calendar out this year and starting the tradition in our home. I know my daughter is going to LOVE it!

I am in the midst of putting together all the family activities for our calendar now. Please share any that you might think of. Here's what I've got so far...

• Pull out the Christmas cds and sing some Christmas songs together
  
• Bake Christmas cookies
  
• Set up our nativity
  
• Read a Christmas story together
  
• Watch Frosty the Snowman together
  
• Cut down a tree
  
• Decorate the tree
  
• Make a special ornament for our tree
• Cut paper snowflakes to hang on the windows
• Go ice-skating or sledding together
  

Any more suggestions???

Nothing's Better than Barefoot

I simply LOVE Barefoot Contessa. I discovered her years ago when my husband's aunt gave me one of her cookbooks for Christmas. It didn't take me long to realize that literally EVERY recipe in her cookbooks is a sure guarantee. Needless to say, I now own almost all of Barefoot's cookbooks (with the exception of Barefoot In Paris) including her newest addition, how easy is that?

Because I enjoy her books and recipes so much, I often like to incorporate her books into my gifts. They work for any occasion if the recipient enjoying entertaining, cooking, and/or baking. To top it off, Barefoot is currently on tour, so you could even add a little extra spunk to your gift with an autographed copy!

One of my favorite Barefoot Contessa's gifts is...

PIZZA PARTY: Parties Cookbook (see page 43) and a pizza stone wrapped in clear cello with lots of colorful ribbon, a tag that says "Pizza Party, p. 43," and an ice cream scoop hanging down from the ribbons.

Any other gift ideas from fellow Barefoot fans???