Hello Friends!
Well, here we are! Only 9 days away from Christmas! I hope this e-mail finds you all doing well!
Welcome to all my new subscribers, I'm so glad you're here! Please feel free to share my website with friends and family - or anyone you know that you think may love this sort of content! You can also follow along on Instagram as I post special content there as well. I appreciate your support SO much since I am very new to all of this!
Winter Break
I decided to let my kids begin their "Winter break" from homeschool today - which honestly is a welcome break for myself - as it's been a lot with juggling the baby, all the Christmas prep and extra holiday events we've had going on! I also wanted to get in a few days of intentional crafting with my older kids - and soaking up the season together; not merely rushing from one thing to the next.
I actually surprised my older kids this morning announcing it was their break by writing it as an announcement on a blackboard on our breakfast table with some new Christmas pajamas I had laid out for them both! I told them to put on their new jammies and be ready to do Christmas-y things for the day! We had an unexpected light dusting of snow this morning which helped make it extra special!
Candle-Making
First we made candles with this super-easy, natural beeswax candle-making kit! We did this last year, and loved it. It's so easy to do! We're hosting Christmas Day and decided it would be nice to make some candles for our tables. My middle was also excited to make some teeny tiny candles for her doll!
Christmas Baking & A Cookie Decorating Party
Later on, we rolled and cut out sugar cookies for a Cookie Decorating party we are hosting later on this week for some of my kids friends. We used our favorite Ultimate Fool-Proof Sugar Cookie Recipe. I also bought this really cute Ugly Christmas Sweater cookie cutter so that we can have an "ugly Christmas Sweater" cookie contest! Each kid will get do decorate a cookie sweater, and the ugliest (or maybe the cutest?! ...Haven't decided yet!) one wins a tiny prize!
December's Read-Aloud:
We've been loving The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder! This is our first time reading it, and there's something so cozy about reading it together in front of the fire at night! I'm so glad I was able to find a whole collection of these books at a local garage sale last year.
Paper Stars Craft
We used this tutorial from the Peaceful Press for making these awesome craft stars from lunch bags! You heard me... LUNCH BAGS!!! I still cannot get over how gorgeous these turned out and how SIMPLE they are to make! I'm telling you that you need to make this craft with your kids this month!
DIY Ornaments
I shared these in my last newsletter, but I'm sharing them one more time! The other week my kids and I made these vintage-style ornaments out of terracotta clay. We absolutely LOVED how they came out and sold a bunch at our homeschool vendor fair. We are planning on making tons more this week for gifting, and even to use as gift tags for presents! I'll be trying out a few new styles as well.
My Top 10 Nutrition Tips
It would be hard for me to have a blog about hosting, design and decor without sharing a bit about something else I am extremely passionate about – and that is health. Without health and plenty of energy, there wouldn’t be much hosting! I thought it might be helpful to share some of my favorite advice and products that our family uses on a daily/weekly/monthly basis to help keep our immune systems running in tip-top shape! This ensures that we don’t get sick often and we can have tons of energy, feeling and looking our best! I am a certified nutritional health coach and graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
Still Christmas Shopping?
Last, but not least- if you're still looking for some great gift ideas, look no further than my extensive 2024 Meaningful Gift Guide that I've carefully curated! These are some of our favorite things from over the years here at Fern, plus a few new and exciting things I found that I'll be gifting this year!
Other Top Holiday Posts You Might Like:
Joy-Filled Family Christmas Traditions
Homemade Granola (Great for gifting!)
Beautiful D-I-Y Nature Keepsake Ornaments
D-I-Y Snowlobes
Popular Posts on the Blog:
A Narnia Party to Remember
Hoping you stay warm, cozy, and soaking up the beauty of the season all around you! Enjoy the beautiful poem I discovered this year by JRR Tolkien below, and the photo I took of my Trader Joe's bouquet I am in love with! It's a flower I had never seen before called Protea!
Stay warm,
-Elizabeth
NOEL by J.R.R. TOLKIEN
Grim was the world and grey last night:
The moon and stars were fled,
The hall was dark without song or light,
The fires were fallen dead.
The wind in the trees was like to the sea,
And over the mountains’ teeth
It whistled bitter-cold and free,
As a sword leapt from its sheath.
The lord of snows upreared his head;
His mantle long and pale
Upon the bitter blast was spread
And hung o’er hill and dale.
The world was blind,
the boughs were bent,
All ways and paths were wild:
Then the veil of cloud apart was rent,
And here was born a Child.
The ancient dome of heaven sheer
Was pricked with distant light;
A star came shining white and clear
Alone above the night.
In the dale of dark in that hour of birth
One voice on a sudden sang:
Then all the bells in Heaven and Earth
Together at midnight rang.
Mary sang in this world below:
They heard her song arise
O’er mist and over mountain snow
To the walls of Paradise,
And the tongue of many bells was stirred
in Heaven’s towers to ring
When the voice of mortal maid was heard,
That was mother of Heaven’s King.
Glad is the world and fair this night
With stars about its head,
And the hall is filled with laughter and light,
And fires are burning red.
The bells of Paradise now ring
With bells of Christendom,
And Gloria, Gloria we will sing
That God on earth is come.
