Crock-Pot Christmas Potpourri

 

I love the smells of Christmas and my favorite way is simmering this easy to make potpourri in a small crock-pot.

You can simmer this on your stovetop if you like, but I'm always afraid I'll forget to turn it off so I started simmering it in a crock-pot. Works great and smells amazing.

 

I don't necessarily go by a recipe, I just add what I have on hand. Most of these ingredients are optional.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups of water or fill your crock-pot about 3/4 full. I don't measure.
slices of an orange and the peeling
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
4 cinnamon sticks
1 Tbsp cloves
1 tsp vanilla
1 tea bag. I use this only if I have something fruity like orange or a berry tea that I'm trying to use up.  Constant Comment would be good too.

Put everything in your crock-pot and let it simmer all day.
Add water as needed.

Linking to: Chicken Chick

DIY Winter Scene Jars

These winter scene jars are super simple to make and cost almost nothing. They are so easy you almost don't need a tutorial but I'll tell you anyway.

I used these hurricane vases that I had on hand, but you can use any glass jar, especially mason jars.

 

First we are going to create some frost. You can use artificial snow spray if you like but this is how I do mine. Rinse the inside of your jar and sprinkle regular table salt on the inside of the jar while it's still wet. Let it dry and you have frosted jars.

Oh.....please try not to leave a fingerprint on the inside of the jar like I did below!

 If that happens just wet the spot a little and sprinkle more salt.

 

Next pour in your snow. You can use fake snow, Epsom salt or even white sugar. Whatever you have on hand. I like to use Epsom Salt because my trees sit more firmly in it. You could even add some glitter to your snow for extra sparkle.

 

Now I rummaged through my Christmas decorations to see what I could put it my jars. It can be as simple as a few bottlebrush trees.

 

In this one I cut a piece of grapevine garland to fit in the jar, added some moss and a bird.

 

And in the third one a snowman ornament, pinecones and some fake berries. There are so many possibilities.

Once I started it was hard to stop. I have a few more ideas rolling around in my head for another day.

 

These were so easy I hope it inspires you to give them a try.

 

 Thanks for stopping by.

 

Linking to: Moonlight and Mason Jars; Craftberry Bush; Fluster Buster 

Merry Christmas from our house to yours......

Welcome to our Holiday Home

I enjoy seeing how other people decorate at Christmas and have been visiting a lot of other house tours on-line. Here is a little peek into mine.

It's been a busy and eventful year so I decided simpilicity was the way to go and decorate with what I had on hand and my goal was to spend $0.00. 

Lets start outside on the front porch........

 I've been looking for an old sled and was thrilled my mom had keep this one from my childhood. She was happy to get it out of her basement and I am even happier to give it a new home. The ice-skates were from my teen-age years. Oh the memories these two items bring back.

Stars always remind me of one of my favorite Christmas songs 'Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem'.

Now come on inside.

I love my little birdhouse pencil tree. I just added some burlap ribbon to give it a different look from other years.

These vases and candles were left over from the wedding. I've been wanting to do an all white mantle but didn't have enough white to work with so this was the best I could come up with.

I do love the old window frame though.

Same tree as last year with the addition of hydrangeas I had left over from the wedding.

Playing around with bokeh. My first so don't judge too harshly please:)

Christmas Tree Bokeh

I love chalkboards. My niece made this one for me.

The only thing I bought was burlap and these little birds. The burlap doesn't really count as money spent because I'll use it all year.

The birds were intended for the tree but they never made it there. I might have spent 5 or 6 dollars on them so I came close to my goal. Oh, and the epsom salt for my jars so I probably spent 10.00. Still happy with that!

I dug out some old kitchen tools and used them in my decor.

Thank You for taking time to visit our home and I want to wish

everyone a Blessed Christmas!

Linking to Jennifer Rizzo

Inspiring Christmas Tablescapes

My sister invited me to her church's Christmas Inspiration where ladies of the church get out all their pretty  dishes and create holiday tablescapes. Each table is uniquely decorated by different women with their own dishes and ideas.
Other ladies cooked and baked up some of their favorite holiday recipes and had samples for everyone to taste. YUM!!
 What a wonderful event to start off the Christmas Season!

One of three tables my sister decorated.

A Thanksgiving tablescape.

Everything on this table came from the dollar store with the exception of the silverware.

Some ornaments, greenery and pinecones on a charger plate. So easy even I could do that.

 I think.

 LOVE this fireplace mantle. I saw a Noel similar to this on pinterest I'd like to make. Neat idea using a wreath for the O.

It's so much fun to see what each table will be. A lot of thought and detail go into each one.

You can use about any color scheme and make it look Christmasy. It's not just red, green and white anymore. 

 I love the warmth of chocolate browns!

Love the beach feel in this beautiful tablescape. My sister is the Martha Stewart of the family!

I'm doing something similar to this on my dining table this year.

 Name tag holders. They are little cubes of styrofoam covered with snow. So cute!

Isn't this the coolest thing. Peppermint candy melted to make a serving tray! Who knew?

Ice balls and greenery in a bird bath. Just fill a balloon with water and freeze.

If you have old books laying around you can repurpose them into bows, flowers, ornaments or wreaths. You can use sheet music, old maps and magazines etc. These are the craze right now.

 I wish I would have had time to take pictures of all the tips and DIY projects they had on display. I liked this tip on storing ornaments........

and this cute stocking stuffer!!

I hope you found some ideas you can use during the holiday season!

Be Blessed!

Linking to Clever Chicks Blog Hop