Thursday, December 03, 2015

These are a few of my favourite things…

Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens… Cue Julie Andrews dancing around and singing about her favourite things to the Von Trapp kids.  Yes, this was the song that ran through my head for weeks as I thought about and put together my gift for our girls’ Favourite Christmas Things exchange!

I took part in a similar gift exchange blog swap a few years ago, and I loved the idea.  You exchange names, and then buy/make/create a gift filled with your favourite Christmassy things to share with someone else.  In the past, my group of friends and I always did a decoration/ornament exchange, but I suggested this idea this year to change things up a bit.  I’m not sure everyone was a fan of the idea, though, so I don’t know if we’ll do it again, but I sure did have fun thinking about all my favourite things about Christmas and putting my gift together!

I drew Stacy’s name, and instantly started thinking about my favourite Christmas things and traditions that I thought she might like too.  Here is what I gave her:

A Chocolate Advent Calendar featuring Frosty the Snowman

advent calendar

I’m still a kid at heart, so yes, I do still buy myself a chocolate Advent calendar every year!  I put it on the list right away.   When I saw this one featuring Frosty the Snowman, I was able to kill two birds with one stone – Frosty is my favourite Christmas TV special, so I was able to honour that “favourite” as well.

A CD mix of my favourite Christmas songs

I know Stacy is a fan of burnt CD mixes, so this was an easy one.  I love listening to Christmas music. I usually start in November and listen to nothing else.  I made a playlist from my fave Christmas songs on iTunes, and burnt her a CD.  I knew she wouldn’t be a big fan of the Elvis and Bieber songs, but hey… I had to include ALL my favourites! ;)

Christmas Socks

snowflake socks

I admit, my Christmas sock collection has gotten a little out of control.  I’ve added so many pairs over the years that I could probably have a different pair for every day of the month of December.  But I still yearn for a new pair every year!  I got her a red pair with white snowflakes – I thought they were cool because they’d work for the whole winter too!

Christmas chocolate

lindor chocolates

toblerone

My mouth waters thinking of all my favourite Christmas chocolates.  It’s hard to pick just one!  My absolute fave is Lindor, so I got her a little package of Lindor Truffles, but then I saw a mini Toblerone and had to get that too – yum!!!

A Christmas movie

four christmases

One of my biggest panics this time of year is worrying that I won’t have time to watch all the Christmas movies and shows that I want to before Christmas.  I have so many.  I love them all.  A few years ago, I was gifted 2 copies of Four Christmases starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn.  I finally had someone to pass the 2nd copy on to!  And it is one of my faves for sure!

A Holiday Romance book

christmas book

I always enjoy reading a Christmassy book in the weeks leading up to the big day.  There’s just something about those holiday romances… I had a few on my book shelf, so I included one that I had already read by Debbie Macomber.  I know Stace likes to relax and read in the tub at night, so I had a feeling she might like this.

Homemade Christmas baking

santa_whiskers_164

shortbread

My favourite Christmas cookies are Santa’s Whiskers (refrigerator shortbread) and Christmas shortbread.  I whipped up a few batches of cookies and put some in a tin for Stace and her family.

A Gingerbread Man decorating kit

gingerbread men kit

It’s not Christmas without making a Gingerbread house!  I buy a kit every year and make one for myself.  I knew this was something Stacy could have fun doing with her kids, so I got her the Gingerbread Man – I figured the Maddy and Tanner would have fun decorating their own cookies.

A giant Soup mug

snowman soup mug

One of my favourite wintery things to do is hunker down in the house and make soup.  Nothing I love better than sitting down to watch a movie with a giant mug of soup to warm me up on a cold winter’s day!  I found these big Snowman soup mugs that came with lids that I thought were super cute.  I also threw in a few packages of hot chocolate in case she wanted to use the mug for hot chocolate instead – I know that’s Stacy’s fave hot drink, and one of mine too!

Recipes

As one final little touch, I wrote out recipes for my favourite Christmas cookies and my favourite Hamburger soup and added them in too. :)

*EDIT* I FORGOT THE SCENTSY!!

scentsy 2

Scentsy is one of my favourite things, and I know it is Stacy’s too!  I have a snowflake warmer that I love, and enjoy putting Christmas scents in it at this time of year.  Stacy’s sister-in-law is a Scentsy rep and she had a bunch of new holiday scents with her at the Onslow Christmas Craft Sale a few weeks ago.  I really loved the Sugared Cherry and bought one for Stacy, hoping and praying she didn’t already have it! haha!

I had fun watching her open her gift, and also enjoyed seeing what the other girls received, the different interpretations, and the reasons behind why they included their items! 

Girls Xmas 15.3

What are a few of YOUR favourite Christmas things??

2 comments:

Stacy said...

I am loving the Christmas CD actually, even Beiber!

Thanks a lot, loved my bag of goodies!

You forgot the Scentsy...haha!

Nicole said...

That's so awesome you guys do that. I wish I had a group of friends like this/that....