Cookie Exchange Party!

We love invitations to Cookie Exchange parties!  Bake a triple batch of your favorite cookie, get together with friends and divide cookies into platters of assorted Christmas cookies, then share with friends and family!  For a fun presentation at your next cookie party, decorate a tabletop tree with the cookies!  Our Ornament Cookie Recipe: Easy Sugar Cookies from Southern Living cookbook, cut a hole in the middle of each cookie before baking and fill with crushed Lifesavers candy.  Use toothpick to poke a hole in the top of each cookie before baking, then after cooling, use an ornament hook to affix to tree.  This tree includes 48 ornament cookies.

Tabletop tree decorated with Stained Glass Ornament Cookies

Stained Glass Ornament Cookies

Personalized Christmas Wreaths and Tabletop Trees

We love Christmas decorating!

Decorating for Christmas is one of the joys of the season - set the tone with a fire crackling in the fireplace and the sounds of Christmas music filling the air.  Oh what fun to remember Christmases past unpacking ornaments and photos.  We love to display meaningful items as the centerpieces, then fill in with floral picks and stems, and lots of ribbon and glitter for finishing touches.

Personalized Wreaths for all Seasons

A beautiful floral arrangement personalized with the first letter of your last name is a fashionable way to greet guests at your door.   We start with either a wreath or foam block, add greenery and floral stems in the colors of the season, and a large bow.  To personalize the arrangement, you will need:  a  wooden letter, a page of scrapbook paper and coordinating paint, Mod Podge and a paintbrush, and floral wire.  Paint both sides of the letter with any color found in the scrapbook paper pattern (don't forget the edges)  and let dry.  Trace the letter onto the back of the scrapbook paper, then cut out the pattern.  Affix the paper to the front side of the wooden letter using Mod Podge and a paint brush.   Allow time to dry, then tie the letter to the floral arrangement with floral wire.  (We used a Dremel tool to make a small hole in the top of the letter and tied the wire through that to secure.)  Do ahead tip:  Purchase several wooden letters and holiday/seasonal scrapbook papers, and make all of the personalized letters at the same time.  When you're ready for the new season, change out the seasonal floral stems and bow, and add your personalized letter! Warm greetings!

Thanksgiving Tree

Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays - a day to enjoy food and fellowship celebrating relationships with family and friends.  We don't believe in rushing through the holiday of giving thanks, so typically Christmas decorating starts the day after Thanksgiving.   We're starting a new tradition this year with the Thanksgiving Tree.   We set up an evergreen tree and decorated it with a fall theme - floral stems in fall colors of rust, yellow, orange and bronze, pumpkin picks, burlap and raffia ribbon, acorn ornaments and cattails, pinecones and turkey feathers.  On Thanksgiving Day, each relative will add a bronze colored ornament to the tree personalized with the things for which they are thankful.   With the Thanksgiving holiday falling on the last Thursday in November this year, there are only 27 days till Christmas.  As a timesaver, after Thanksgiving, we will simply remove the fall ornaments and add the Christmas ones.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Pumpkin Spice Muffins -- thank you to our friend, Jeanne, for sharing this wonderful recipe from Weight Watchers.  These muffins are deliciously moist, easy to make with three simple ingredients, and only 2 Weight Watcher's points each.  We baked ours in mini muffin pans, and topped with powdered sugar.  

Ingredients:  1 box spice cake mix (18 oz) + 1 can pumpkin (15 oz) + 1 cup water.

Mix all ingredients with electric mixer, then spoon into greased muffin pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, for regular size muffins, or 12-14 minutes for mini muffins.  Makes 24 muffins or 48 mini muffins.  

Decorating with Nature's Fall Colors!

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year to decorate!  Beginning with the transition from summer to fall in September, nature's color palette is rich with warm tones in gold, yellow, green and red, that last until late November.  These colors complement fall leaves, flowers, pumpkins & gourds. Bring fall colors inside on your fireplace mantel, tabletops, and kitchen and bath countertops.  Add silk flowers in fall colors to existing floral arrangements, create a fall garland with fresh or silk flowers, berries, leaves and ribbon.  Replace candles with those in fall colors and scents -- we bought them last year at the end of the season on clearance, along with ribbon and garland, and stored with fall decorations to pull out this year!  Plan for next year by shopping the clearance aisles in the next few weeks to stock up!  After Halloween, repurpose your jack-o-lantern pumpkins by turning them around to display the plain back of the pumpkin - a decoration that will carry you through the Thanksgiving holiday!

Welcome to our Blog!

Thank you for visiting Creative Living with Pennie and Page.  We look forward to sharing our ideas for home decorating, interior design and redesign, and entertaining, and hope to inspire you to be creative in your life!