You've Got Mail!

In this computer driven society, emails, Facebook, Skype, and IM have almost replaced regular old United States mail.  I love this time of the year when I open up the mailbox and see Christmas cards instead of just junk mail and bills.  The monkeys like it too.

The other day, while drinking some hot cocoa with the air conditioner cranked down in our house (because that, my friends, is about the only way to get winter in Florida) I had a thought.  What if we could have fun mail all year long?

So, I went to the store and found:

A tiny little mailbox.

Some gorgeous flower stickers.

Then I fussed over the mailbox and decorated it all up.

And finally, it was all pretty and ready to provide many smiles and hours of joy. 

This will be our family mailbox, where we can leave each other little love notes and such.  Wouldn't these make great gifts for Christmas or even Valentine's Day?

Hugs, 

Melissa

Florida Christmas Cookies

Truth be told, I really do not like baking Christmas cookies.  The mixing, the icing, the baking, the hot kitchen, the cleaning, my sudden weight gain...

Really, the only thing fun about it is the finished product (and maybe the tiny bit of cookie dough that I consume...per minute).

But my kids love the whole baking thing, so I do it for them.  Ah, the things we do for love.  

I wanted to do something very different with our Christmas cookies this year. Something fun.  We always receive the loveliest Greek cookies from our Greek neighbors and the most spectacular Italian cookies from our Italian neighbors. So, being the swamp-loving, Florida Cracker that I am, I decided to make Florida Christmas cookies.  

I rounded up all the ingredients and then bribed my oldest daughter and her girlfriend to mix up the dough.  

I should have bribed them to clean up too.  Just kidding, they did a fabulous job with the mixing and the cleaning. 

Next came the cutting.  We used PlayDoh cutters in the shapes of a fish, a dolphin, a lobster, a starfish, a sea horse, and my favorite - an alligator.  

Then we frosted them in bright, fun Florida colors.

It was like an art class was going on in our kitchen.

 Florida lobster

Florida monkey

More Florida monkeys

And finally, after the icing dried, we boxed the cookies up and sent them out to our friends and neighbors. 

Aren't they cute? I love them all, but the gators are my favorite.  Perfectly Florida. 

Hugs, 

Melissa

And the Winner Is...

After careful consideration of how best to randomly select the winner of the Yankee Candle basket, we finally concluded that it would be prudent to let our youngest monkey boy decide.

So, we put out 5 numbers (number candles are the monkey boy's latest obsession) numbered 1-5 since we had five fantastic stories from five awesome ladies.  Based on the order in which they were received, I assigned the first story a number 1, the second a number 2, and so on.

And the winner is...

Number 4, Monique C.!!!!  You have been randomly selected by a monkey boy to win this:

I will bring it to you on Sunday ;-).  

Hugs, 

Melissa

If...Then - A Christmas Giveaway!

If you want your house to smell like fresh baked sugar cookies, but you don't want your kitchen to look like this:

Then, enter This and That's Christmas candle giveaway.

Hurry though, the giveaway ends at 9 AM EST tomorrow morning (12-15-11).

What are you waiting for?

Hugs,

Melissa

Magnolia Wreath - A Two Second Tutorial

I love Magnolia trees.  They are a true Southern delight.

We have a Magnolia tree in our yard.  It is always giving to us. Its large ivory blossoms are stunning in the spring and summer.  I cut them and put them in vases around the house. They are so fragrant!

The leaves of the Magnolia have long been utilized to make Christmas wreaths and garland.  I have always wanted to purchase one for my front door, but they seem to be quite costly.

So this year, I had an epiphany, and decided to make a Magnolia wreath.  Here is how I did it:

I had my big strapping son cut some bottom branches off of our Magnolia tree:

I used an 18 inch wreath form.

I hot glued the leaves onto the wreath.  The trick was to work in small sections and I used a heavy mug to hold the leaves in place until they had a chance to adhere to the wreath.

Here is the outer layer all dried and ready.

For the inner circle, I tilted the leaves slightly and worked in small sections gluing and pressing.

It took me about 30 minutes to complete one wreath.  Not to shabby for a beginner. 

And here is the finished product all dressed up with a red ribbon.  Isn't is pretty?

I used the extra branches to make a garland for the top of the hutch.  

Hugs,

Melissa

Miniature Garden!

On my quest to produce some fun and thoughtful gifts for Christmas this year, I came up with these little beauties:

Lemon Grass Scented Candles

And since I made quite a few of them, I have been experimenting with how to present them as gifts.  I liked the idea of arranging the candles on a modest glass tray with a little beach sand.  Then, to make it really special, I added a small conch shell and an air plant.  Ta da!!! It's a mini-garden!

Air plants are very interesting and make really great gifts.  Especially for someone like me who kills every plant I touch.  Black thumb!  I will be posting more about air plants this week. Stay tuned.

I think that this little garden would look darling on a patio, beside a big bathtub, or even as a stunning centerpiece on a dining room table.

And once the candles are used up, you could place tea lights in the shells or turn them over and enjoy their beauty.

Wouldn't this make a really fun gift?  Speaking of gifts, don't forget the awesome giveaway going on right now!  Yankee Candles anyone?

Hugs,

Melissa

Share and Share Alike - A Christmas Giveaway!- CLOSED

IT'S BEEN FUN, BUT THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY...

So, I have never done a giveaway on this here little ol' blog, but today I am just feeling all Christmasy and I want to spread the joy!  I promise it is not the pain killers speaking :-).

Here's the deal-e-o.  We have a super festive, really cute gift basket full of yummy smelling candles from Yankee Candle to gift to someone.

Isn't it sweet?  The candles smell just like sugar cookies.  Mmmmm!

What I would love for you to do is to leave a comment in the comment section of this post.  Tell me what your favorite Christmas memory is.  It is that simple.

Please submit your comment by 9 AM EST Thursday, December 15.  A winner will be randomly selected and announced on the blog by Friday, December 16.  Please remember to include your email address so that I can contact you and send out your gift (hopefully to arrive by Christmas).

***Winners from outside of the U.S. may not receive this gift by Christmas. ***

This is not a paid advertisement or sponsored in any way by Yankee Candle.  It's just that I really like you and want your house to smell like sugar cookies :-)

Hugs,

Melissa