Sabrina Sandoval: December 2013

Gingerbread Houses with the Cousins

On Christmas Eve day we did something fun this year. We made Gingerbread houses with some of our favorite people! I found this amazing tutorial and recipe HERE. It was a ton of fun to have everyone together and be creative.

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12 Days of Christmas {Day 8}: My favorite posts from our Link-Up so far!

I've had so much fun reading through all of the Christmas posts from our Link-Up. Here are a few of my favorite:

1. Because Men are so hard to shop for. There are so many GOOD ideas at Two Chicks and a Blog.

2. Because our stockings are So miss-matched and I would love to make my own, these really grabbed my eye from Play. Party. Pin.

3. Because Jesus truly is the reason for all we have to celebrate, Proverbs & Pacifiers made total sense to me!

4. Because I have gobs of pine cones and think this is such a CUTE way to use them Scrapality.com grabbed my attention!

5. And Because I love ALL things that have to do with Cookies, The Jenny Evolution Cookie Exchange. So many amazing looking recipes.

Thank you all for linking up to share your Christmas cheer! We've been counting down the days here at our house :)

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12 Days of Christmas {Day 7}: Brownies in a Jar

Last year our MOPS group made something very similar to this around Christmas time. This recipe is SO yummy and easy to make. It's completely replaced me buying brownies from a package now.

I made these cute labels off of Avery.com, (there are lots of different templates you can choose from) and added the directions:

Instructions for Baking:

Place contents of jar in a medium mixing bowl. Stir dry ingredients together. Add: 2 slightly beaten eggs, 1/2 Cup vegetable oil, 1 tsp. Vanilla. Mix together by hand.

Place in a prepared 9x9 pan and bake at 350* for 20 -25 min.

What you'll need to add to the inside of the jar is this:

1Cup Sugar, 1/2 Cup Flour, 1/3 Cup cocoa, 1/4 tsp Salt, 1/4 tsp Baking Powder. I layered mine in to make it a bit more eye catching. I also spray painted the rings for the jars black and cut out some holiday fabric for around the edges.

These make the cutest little handmade gift!

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!!! It's a balmy 2*F here in NE!

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas LINK UP! There's Still Time to Join in on the Fun!

My sister at Jessie Jo At Home and I originally wanted to start this series to share some of our own Christmas posts, but then we decided that we want to see everyone else's amazing Christmas ideas as well!

About the link up:

-you can share anything Christmas-y!

(recipes, diy's, crafts, songs, traditions, pictures, decorations, stories, etc!)

-there is no limit to the number of posts you can share!

-we ask that if you do link up, please add the link up button to your blog's sidebar or in your post

Grab button for 12 Days of Christmas Link Up

-share the link up on any social media platform you feel comfortable with to spread the word!

-remember to check back often as there will be more posts being added everyday to the link up! :)

Follow your hosts so you don't miss out on any updates!

Jessie Jo At Home //BLOG//FACEBOOK//TWITTER//PINTEREST//BLOGLOVIN

4 My Kiddos //BLOG//FACEBOOK/TWITTER//PINTEREST//BLOGLOVIN

EEEEK! SO EXCITED!

To help each other out, let's pin anything that sparks your interest to Pinterest!
As an added bonus you can link up your Pinterest home page or your Christmas/holiday boards on Pinterest in the second linky tool!

((The first link tool is for the URL of your blog post!))
((The second link tool is for your Pinterst account!))

Merry Christmas!

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12 Days of Christmas {Day 5 & 6}: Chocolate Covered Pretzels and Potato Chips!

We like to bake and make Christmas goodies at our house this time of year. It just feels like Christmas to have to oven on and cookies available at all times!

The girls are always wanting to help do something too. Here are two of my go to super easy goodies that the girls can do pretty much on their own.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels are SO easy! All you need is some almond bark, pretzels and sprinkles. I melt my chocolate in the microwave at 1 minute increments stirring between each minute.

We then throw some pretzels in, stir around to ensure they are covered.

Then lay them on waxed paper to cool. Before they are completely cooled we add sprinkles.

I was first introduced to Chocolate covered Potato Chips a few years ago and I LOVE them!

Just three ingredients are needed:

1. Potato Chips (I like the wavy ones best)

2. Vanilla Almond Bark

3. Chocolate Almond Bark

If you have never had these you are missing something great!!!!!

Again melt the chocolate, dip one end of the chip in vanilla bark and wait for it to cool before dipping the other end in the chocolate bark. These do not have to look perfect and make a great job for little hands.

We keep them on hand through the holidays...

And they make for a great gift for neighbors!

With Love, my little kitchen helpers and I!

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12 Days of Christmas {Day 4}: Oooo That Smell

Our Christmas tree has gone through the ringer so far and we're only a week into December.

It's a fake tree, purely for the simplicity of setting it up and not worrying about watering it or fire hazards etc. The kids have all helped decorate it, and re-decorate. When we first set it up it was in an entirely different spot. But then I heard a CRASH!!!!!!!!! And it had toppled over, breaking a few bulbs along the way. So it's since been moved to the corner of the living room, but our little 1 year old is super hands on!

I love our tree topper! We bought it for our first Christmas, we wanted something that represented our family seeing as how I grew up with an angel and Chris a star.

I'm missing that we didn't get out the fragile ornaments this year (probably a good thing!), but love all of the "kid safe" ones that get moved around everyday.

We all know the smell of a fresh Christmas Tree, seeing as how we don't have one I filled my planters on our porch with fresh cut branches. I added a little pazaz with my gold painted antler I found.

Be sure to link up with Jessie Jo At Home and I in our 12 Days of Christmas link-up. We want to see all things Christmas!

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12 Days of Christmas {Day 3}: Pick-Up Express Tradition

Last year we started a new tradition we called the Pick-Up Express. It was super fun!

You can see last years full post HERE. This is a picture of our girls last year, I can't believe how much they have grown in a year.

Here's what we did:

1. Printed off these super cute "tickets". You can create your own by clicking HERE

It takes just a few minutes and you can put multiple photos in or just one.

2.Make it super exciting by having popcorn or special snacks. Turn the Christmas music on in the car, van, pick-up or form of transportation. Drive around as a family and look at all of the pretty Christmas lights. Our kids had so much fun and still have their tickets from last year.

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12 Days of Christmas {Day 2}: Decorating for Christmas

I love decorating for Christmas and want to pass that joy on to our kids. I remember as a kid what a big deal my mom made out of getting the house ready for Christmas and the visitors that might stop by.

Don't forget to join Jessie Jo At Home and I with our 12 Days of Christmas Link-Up! Join us HERE.

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12 Days of Christmas {Day 1}: Christmas Printables

There really is no better time of the year than Christmas! The excitement, cookies, family and celebrating Jesus' Birth! Here are 6 magical printables to help you as your decorating your home for Christmas.

Click on each image and you should be directed to the site where you can download and print. I just love how each of these we're created and have them throughout our home.