(Easy) Spiked Cider Holiday Punch Recipe

It’s that spiked cider time of year! By far, one of my favorite fall / winter cocktails is spiked cider. Have you ever tried it?

I’ve been making this spiked apple cider for the last couple of years and it never fails! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved regular (un-spiked) apple cider, but then I tried spiked cider at some holiday party years ago and I just can’t go back. It tastes oh-so-good AND warms you up like nobody’s business.

So I’m sharing the cocktail recipe, in case anyone needs an easy holiday cocktail idea that can be batched, like this one.

Because this time of year, nothing warms your insides up like a strong whiskey drink, except maybe your kid(s) seeing Santa for the first time or Christmas morning when you were a kiddo…or a whole slew of other Christmas moments. BUT I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

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Deck the Halls: The Ultimate Guide to DIY Ornaments

DIY ornaments are one of my favorite things to make each year around the holidays.

The fact that you can completely switch up the look of your tree (or give an amazing homemade ornament gift to friends and family) is basically music to my ears, as cheesy as that might sound.

But let me back up a little bit and explain… Ornaments (both DIY and store-bought) are a source of family tradition for me (and many others I’m sure). When I was growing up, we would decorate the tree as a family every year…eventually I think it just became my mom and I doing the tree decorating, but still I loved it.

We always had crazy weird homemade ornaments to throw on the tree – some got prominent spots in the front, while others quickly made their way to the much-forgotten back of the tree. Haha.

But no matter where they were places, those DIY ornaments we had were an instant memory when they were taken out of the Christmas decoration box every year. So, the placement didn’t matter all that much. It was the memory that seemed significant.

That may feel a little deep for a DIY ornaments guide and I kind of agree with you, BUT it’s true! Those homemade ornaments are just kind of the best! Which is exactly why I wanted to put together the ultimate guide of Christmas DIY ornaments for you!

So, pull up a chair and maybe a pair of scissors, here are my absolute favorite homemade ornaments to make (with links to how to make them) AND a few reason why you should even care about making these holiday creations in the first place.

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The Big List of Advent Calendar Ideas

A huge list of advent calendar ideas! Plus a DIY for making your own advent calendar.

Growing up, we never did an advent calendar. I don’t think I even knew what one was until I was older?

But at some point, not all that long ago, I started seeing them and thought it was a cool idea to have a countdown to Christmas with a little present or holiday prompt each day. And then when I had a child of my own, I was like ‘oh I’m totally doing that’!

So I put together a big list of advent calendar ideas, from activity ideas to gift ideas, even a Christmas book list if you want to go the advent book route instead. AND I have a quick tutorial for how you can recreate the DIIY advent calendar I made for my little on this year.

Click through to see its all.

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Totally Stuffed: 50 Cool Stocking Stuffers Under $25 for Everyone on Your List

Cool stocking stuffers (that are also affordable) are easier to find than you think!

Finding cool stocking stuffers that are also affordable? Nt always easy. But good news, you don’t even have to do the work this year because I’ve rounded up a ton of unique stocking stuffer ideas that are super affordable, for everyone on your list!

There are stocking stuffers for men, stocking stuffers for women, stocking stuffers for kids, stocking stuffers for toddlers, even stocking stuffers for baby. And every single item on this list is under $25!

So whether you’re using these stocking stuffer ideas as actually stocking fillers OR just as an affordable option for presents this year, this list has you covered with 50 budget-friendly gifts (that are also small enough to fit in a stocking just in case).

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Side Swept Chignon Hair Tutorial

Beautiful, side swept chignon hair! Plus a DIY hair accessories that takes it to the next level.

Chignon hair, don’t care! Today’s hair tutorial for a messy side swept chignon is actually a twofer because I’ve also included a quick tutorial for my new favorite statement piece… a copper DIY hair accessory that I am completely into. Hope you will be too.

Here’s the story… I’ve been seeing giant metal circles popping up a lot lately in jewelry and love the minimal look. So, I decided to create a simple hair clip version that works perfectly with any updo.

Bonus! It costs less than $5 to make your own. AND looks great glammed up with a fancy dress (even for a wedding) or dressed down with a more casual outfit. Thumbs up in my book!

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How to Make a (Kids) Bird Costume for Halloween

A kids bird costume that even the most unexperienced crafter can make. Truly! It’s so easy.

When it comes to DIY Halloween costumes, I almost always wait until what seems like the very last minute to make one. Anyone else?

This kids bird costume, however, was a little different. Sure, I was working on it until the very last possible minute (like 10 minutes before he put it on to walk out the door). BUT this time, I started making it much earlier than the day of. I would hand sew a little bit here, glue a little bit there. Just whenever I had a few minutes to spare.

I only mention that to say, that if you want to make a kids Halloween costume and feel like you don’t have time to make it, I’m right there with you. I just realized that if I started earlier and worked on it for little snippets at a time, I might actually get it done. And guess what? I did! And you can too! If you want to. If you’re not into DIYing something, no pressure!

ANYWAY! In total, this homemade costume idea took less than two hours to make. And you could get that time down even further if you go the no sew route. Which I’ll share in the tutorial. Click through to see how I made this DIY bird costume for my toddler.

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Make and Bake: How to Make Check Print Bowls with Oven Bake Clay

Check print clay bowls that you can make in your oven.

I recently made some clay bowls in a neutral check pattern to play around with the check print trend in home decor. And I put together a detailed tutorial for the whole thing, if you wanna check it out. Lol.

Jokes aside, I’ve really been wanting to get back into some smaller DIY projects that I can finish in an afternoon. So I partnered with Sculpey and their line of innovative lightweight Soufflé clay to make these clay bowls for around the house.

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Paper and Stitch

(Easy) Spiked Cider Holiday Punch Recipe

Deck the Halls: The Ultimate Guide to DIY Ornaments

The Big List of Advent Calendar Ideas

Totally Stuffed: 50 Cool Stocking Stuffers Under $25 for Everyone on Your List

Side Swept Chignon Hair Tutorial

How to Make a (Kids) Bird Costume for Halloween

Make and Bake: How to Make Check Print Bowls with Oven Bake Clay

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