Welcome!

Welcome to my Christmas Holiday blog! I have shared some holiday vacation spots, crafts, decorating ideas, and my favorite holiday movies, music, and recipes. Enjoy!

Holiday Vacation Spots

LAKE TAHOE
“Welcome to beautiful Lake Tahoe, where California and Nevada meet.” Although California and Nevada are typically known for hot weather year round, during winter Lake Tahoe is a winter wonderland. If you visit Tahoe, make sure to go skiing on Heavenly Mountain.


MIDTOWN MANHATTAN
Not exactly a vacation getaway, but during the holiday season, midtown Manhattan is just wonderful! The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, the Radio City Christmas show, walking through city sidewalks paved with snow…it’s just an awesome experience!


HERSHEY PARK, PA
“Christmas in Hersheeeeey, the sweetest place on Earth, Hersheeeey…”. If you’re looking to enjoy a more Christmas-y holiday season, make sure to go to the Hershey Park Christmas Candylane. See Santa and his reindeer, enjoy the Music Box Christmas show, and much more!

Holiday Decorating

Tips to Turn the Inside of Your Home into a Dazzling White Christmas:

Everyone loves a white Christmas, but the sparkle and beauty doesn’t have to be confined to the outdoors and we don’t have to wait for Mother Nature.

Decorating your home using a white theme can be dazzling and sophisticated.

Warm up the winter look with touches of red, but touches of gold also adds just the right amount of warmth to a winter wonderland.

Let’s start with the Christmas tree.

• Spray the tree with snow. The amount depends upon your own personal taste. You can give it a light dusting or make it look like a heavy snowfall.
• Use clear lights. Use a combination of standard steady glowing lights along with twinkling lights.
• Adorn the tree with clear, white and silver ornaments, snowflakes and glass ornament icicles.

  There are many beautiful Christmas ornaments available that have an elegant frosty look including fruit, berries, birdhouses and even flowers.

  You can use white glittery fern sprays and anything that captures the beauty and sparkle of fresh winter snow.

• Use garlands or curls of white or sliver ribbon nestled in the tree. A very pale aqua blue ribbon can also be used to emulate the subtle blues of a snowy landscape.
• Drape the tree with clear beads.
• Use sprays of red berries throughout the tree to add excitement to the winter theme. There’s nothing more beautiful than red berries peeking through the glistening snow.
• As a finishing touch, place white doves, red cardinals and any other little birds and perhaps bird nests among the branches.

Holiday Crafts

Santa's Beard Card

Difficulty: Easy
What you'll need:

• Red cardstock
• Skin-colored cardstock
• Large white artificial flower
• 2 black brads
• 3-D white pearl fabric paint
• Red blush or pink chalk
• Double-sided padded tape
• Pencil
• White glitter
• Paper scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Pattern

How to make it:

Step 1:

1. Trace and cut Santa face and nose pattern on skin-colored cardstock. For Santa's face, use a folded piece of cardstock, matching it up to the "fold line" indicated on the template.
2. Trace and cut the pieces of Santa's hat pattern on red color cardstock.

Step 2: Santa’s Flower Beard

1. Pull off stem of large flower and cut off any green petals.
2. Cut off two petals and trim petals for eye brows.
3. Fold large flower and hot glue folded flower on bottom half of card.
4. Place double-sided padded tape on the back of Santa’s nose.
5. Place nose in the center of card above Santa’s beard.
6. Place black brads for eyes above nose.
7. Glue eye brows above eyes.
8. Apply blush on cheeks of Santa.

Step 3: Santa’s Hat

1. Glue hat to the top of Santa's head.
2. Place double-sided padded tape on base of hat.
3. Place hat brim on top of tape.
4. Fold over tip of hat and hot glue tip on the right side of hat.
5. Place double-sided padded tape on the back of the pompom cut-out.
6. Place double-side tapes pompom onto the card so that it overlaps the hat brim and touches the tip of the hat.
7. Pipe curls on brim, pompom, and along edges of hat using 3-D fabric paint.
8. Sprinkle white glitter on top of piped curls. Let dry.
   

Tips:

• Substitute white large flower for white faux fur fabric.

Holiday Movies

My Classics:

It's a Wonderful Life (1946):
An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.

White Christmas (1954):
A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.



Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964):
A misfit reindeer and his friends look for a place that will accept them.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965):
Repelled by the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown tries to find the true meaning of Christmas.

Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966):
A grumpy hermit hatches a plan to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.


A Christmas Story (1983):
Ralphie has to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder BB gun really is the perfect gift for the 1940's.

Scrooged (1988):
A cynically selfish TV executive gets haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.

Elf (2003):
After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity.

Holiday Music

A Charlie Brown Christmas: Original Soundtrack

1. O Tannenbaum
2. What Child is This?
3. My Little Drum
4. Linus and Lucy
5. Christmas Time is Here (Instrumental)
6. Christmas Time is Here (Vocal)
7. Skating
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
9. Christmas is Coming
10. Fur Elise
11. Christmas Song
12. Greensleves

Now That's What I Call Christmas!

1. The Christmas Song- Nat King Cole
2. White Christmas- Bing Crosby
3. Blue Christmas- Elvis Presley
4. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- Frank Sinatra
5. Winter Wonderland- Tony Bennett
6. Sleigh Ride- Ella Fitzgerald
7. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!- Dean Martin
8. (There's No Place Like) Home For the Holidays- Perry Como
9. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year- Johnny Mathis
10. A Holly Jolly Christmas- Burl Ives
11. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- Gene Autry
12. Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer- Elmo and Patsy
AND MORE!

Holiday Recipies

Oreo Balls

Ingredients:

8 ounces softened cream cheese or whipped cream cheese
18 ounces softened cream cheese or whipped cream cheese
2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy. Add the crushed Oreos and beat on high until well mixed. Chill for at least 2 hours in the freezer. Then roll Oreo cookie mix into one inch Oreo Balls (using a small ice cream scoop is helpful to make unified balls).

Next, melt the chocolate chips with a double boiler or in the microwave. Dip the oreo balls completely into the melted chocolate using tongs or a toothpick. Put on wax paper. After the oreo balls harden, keep them in the refrigerator and enjoy!

Holly Clusters

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
1 (10.5 ounce) package large marshmallows
6 cups cornflakes cereal
1 teaspoon green food coloring
cinnamon red hot candies

Directions

Melt margarine in a large pan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir constantly until marshmallows melt and mixture is syrupy. Remove from heat. Stir in food coloring. Add corn flakes and stir until well coated.
Drop mixture into clumps onto cookie sheet. Dot with 3 cinnamon candies