I always love to keep things simple when decorating, and for Christmas that means adding in lots of greenery!  I love the classic red and green so adding in those little pops of red with ribbon and pillows helps to complete the look.  Welcome to my Christmas home!

Front Porch

I went with a real garland and wreath for the front door this year, and little trees planted pots on the front porch.

I added wreaths to all the front windows again this year.

Entryway

Living Room

View before getting our real tree.

We have enjoyed getting a real tree in here the past couple of years and this tree houses all the family ornaments we have collected through the years!

Getting new Christmas pj’s for the family is a fun yearly tradition!

Garage Entryway & Stairwell

I love wrapping the stairs with garland but after trying a real garland before, and it was such a mess, I have used a faux garland the past two years.

The wall chalkboard is a great way to display our Christmas cards.

Dining Room

I love all the trees and greenery I added in here this year!

I also had fun setting a up dining room tablescape this year.

Kitchen

The kitchen brings more greenery.  A simple tree on the island and wreaths on the chairs and above the stove, with lots of pops of red, help to complete the space!

More trees on the kitchen table!

I added a simple garland to the window instead of a wreath and it is a fun change.  It is just so hard to see with the lighting!

And a cocoa bar in the butler’s pantry is always a good choice!

Family Room

I went with a flocked garland, and trees by the mantel this year!

Guest Room and Bath

It’s fun giving the guest room and bath a little Christmas cheer.  These fun sheets I picked up at Target a few years ago!

Loft

I always keep this tree really simple and we enjoy having the train around this tree.

Playroom

I kept the playroom very similar to last year and I think it is such a fun space for the kids!

Master Bedroom and office

This is the first year of really decorating the master bedroom and attached office and I love the cheeriness it brings to the space!

Backyard

We had a little get together with a few neighbors and it was fun bringing some of the Christmas decor outdoors!

I hope you all enjoyed my Christmas home tour!  Let me know if you have any questions about anything!

CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR….A FIREMAN’S WIFE

Front Porch

Fresh trees, wreaths on the windows, birch logs, and buffalo check welcome you to my front porch!

Entryway

Front Living Room

Garage Entryway and Stairwell

Dining Room

Kitchen

Family Room

Powder Room and Guest Room and Bath

Loft

Playroom

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas home tour!!  Let me know if you have any question about anything.  Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

XOXO

JEN

SHOP THIS POST….

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Mini wreaths

buffalo gingham ribbon

red striped ribbon

red tea kettle

tiered tray– Similar, mine was Walmart, Better Homes and Gardens but I can’t find it anymore.

Gingerbread Bakery Sign- Target

Hot Cocoa towel

Joy buffalo check ornament – Target

Fresh wreath in kitchen- Whole Foods

Buffalo Check apron– Target- linked similar

Red buffalo check kitchen towels

Wreath above sink– Target

Red batter bowl

Pillows covers 

Red Ticking stripe pillow covers

Large red buffalo check pillow covers

Bethlehem Stables Sign  – above mantel – Use code AFIREMANSWIFE15 for 15% off your entire order!

In the past I always made our own homemade hot cocoa mix, which I still love and will always be my favorite, but with most of us now having celiac disease in our family we unfortunately had to make a few changes this year.   The Nesquik in my original recipe says it may contain wheat so we are not able to have it anymore.  I first experimented with my original recipe by just changing out the Nesquik to cocoa powder but so far I have not been able to find the perfect ratio to share with you all.  For my cocoa bar I like the convenience of a mix that is kept on the counter so that we can just add hot water verses having to heat the milk, melt the chocolate, and add the sugar.  With me trying to be dairy free though most the time, I may have better luck giving that option a try with coconut or almond milk.  For everyone else though I like a quick and easy mix!

In the mean time, while I am still trying to figure out my own homemade mix, I was able to find a few gluten free cocoa mix substitutes, both a dairy and a dairy-free option.  I forgot to take a picture of the dairy cocoa mix but here is the dairy-free version.  

HOT COCOA BAR FOR YOUR KITCHEN

When setting up my cocoa bar I like to keep it just the basics for everyday.  Cocoa mix, marshmallows, peppermint sticks, and mugs.  A small counter space next to the stove or close by is the perfect spot.  I chose to use my butlers pantry and share it with the coffee station.  I even found the perfect sign for both!

The tea kettle is always kept close by on the stove and whipped cream is kept in the fridge, dairy and dairy-free.  If we are hosting a party I may add a few other fun items to the cocoa bar but I feel like this is great for everyday.

I love this red tea kettle that I found!

This year I am using a half gallon clear canister for the cocoa mix with a 2 tablespoon measuring spoon inside for convenience.  The marshmallows and peppermint sticks are kept in clear jars right next to the cocoa mix.  These peppermint stick packs that I found at Target are perfect and were only a dollar a piece!

Affiliate links (Amazon & Etsy) are included for some of the items below for your convenience.  If you click on a link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my disclosure here.

Hot Cocoa Mix

Dairy Free Cocoa Mix

Tea Kettle

Vegan Marshmallows

Peppermint Sticks

Clear half gallon canister

Red measuring spoon

Cocoa and Coffee sign

Cocoa Mug

Red buffalo check towels

I love how festive this makes my kitchen and the fun family tradition that goes with it!

This rag tie garland is a fun inexpensive project that is just adorable for the Christmas season!

We recently added a giant chalkboard to the playroom and I knew I wanted a fun garland to drape across it at Christmas time.  Rag garlands can be so expensive so I decided I would make my own.  All the fabric I used and Jute string was on sale and I purchased it at Hobby Lobby.  I think the only fabric that was not on sale was the buffalo check but I used my 40% coupon.  My garland needed to be approximately 11 feet long to properly drape across the chalkboard.  I know everyone’s garlands will be different sizes, but I will share what I used so you can make adjustments accordingly.  I chose to use more of the red and buffalo check fabric so that those colors would stand out more.

Supplies:

Natural Jute String

scissors

Red fabric- 1 yard- cut in stripes about 11 inches long and approximately 2 inches wide.

Buffalo check fabric- 1 yard-cut the same as above

Green fabric- 1/2 yard- cut the same as above

White print fabric- 1/2 yard- cut the same as above

1 Burlap roll- This came in a roll I think about 6 feet long and it is about 6 inches wide.  I roughly cut it every 12 inches and then each of those 12 inch pieces I cut into about three, 2 inch strips.

*Once I had the length of my fabric cut I just eyeballed it and cut my 2 inch strips to make it go quick.  Since this was just going to be tied up anyway it did not have to be perfect.

Once your fabric is all cut you are ready to start tying.  I made a little knot at the end of each side of my jute string so my fabric knots would not slide off the end.  This won’t even show when your fabric is tied on and then you also have a loop on each end if you ever needed that for hanging it up.  

Then you take your strips of fabric and one at a time tie it in a knot around the jute string starting at one end and working your way over.  I chose to follow a pattern when tying my fabric.  I went red, buffalo check, white, red, buffalo check, green, burlap…. then repeat.

Put on a Christmas movie and tie away!!  I did this in about 3 sittings at about 45 min to an hour at a time, and I think this cost me maybe $15!?!  You definitely can’t purchase an 11 ft rag garland for that!!  

I just love how this turned out to help decorate the playroom for Christmas!

Here it is up close.

XOXO

JEN

DIY RAG TIE GARLAND

such a fun way to decorate for the christmas season!!

I originally wanted to make my own doormat again like I did in the fall but as the season snuck up on me so quickly I ended up finding one on Etsy I loved just as much!  I reused my same buffalo check mat from Hobby Lobby that I used in the fall.  

This sweet little deer I found in the outside Home Depot Christmas tree lot.  I knew he had to come home with me!  I mostly have kept all my decor this season to be lots of greenery, pinecones, and pops of red.  The wreath on my door I re-decorated as it used to have a big bow and lots of other berries and such.  I took it all off and added a few simple pinecones.  Around the door I made a simple garland attaching some left over greenery from my tree, and some greenery from Whole Foods, to some jute rope with floral wire.

These beautiful lanterns I found at Walmart and I thought they were perfect for my pops of red!  The sleigh was from the target dollar spot.  

My planters in the archways got replanted with little Christmas trees.  I added in some sticks, pinecones, and red berries to complete the look! 

All six of the front windows on my house have green wreaths with red bows.  I have seen this look on beautiful white farmhouses but I still wanted to give it a shot!  My bistro chairs got decorated with these red ticking stripe pillow covers I found to Etsy.  

Here are a few night shots of my home.  

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas front porch tour! 

Affiliate links are included for some of the items below for your convenience. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Shop this look….

–doormat

–buffalo check mat – similar and the same one I have in my kitchen

–large red lantern

–small red lantern

–red ticking stripe pillow covers

–window wreaths

Recently I saw these cute little rosemary wreaths on Instagram and I knew I wanted to create them for my dining room table!  These were so simple and inexpensive to make, yet they can still make a big statement and make my dining room table beautiful!  

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You just need a few supplies to make these rosemary wreaths and they go together pretty quickly.  I used rosemary I still had growing in my garden, but if not you could grab some from the grocery store.  Then I used some green floral wire and ribbon.  

SUPPLIES-

-Rosemary

–Floral wire

–Ribbon– I used my favorite gingham ribbon for this Christmas season!

-scissors

DIRECTIONS-

Using 2-3 sprigs of rosemary attach them together with floral wire.  I tried to have them measure out to about 12-13 inches before they were bent around to form a wreath.  Then bend it around in the shape of a wreath and attach the ends together with floral wire.

When your wreath is all secured together with wire, tie on your favorite ribbon to make a bow.  

These can also make cute place card holders on your table if you wish.  I just printed out names on white cardstock, in the font Zapfino, and cut a “v” on one end to fancy it up!  

And there you have a simple holiday table decoration!  Then the best part is getting it all set up!

Just in case you did not get the recipe and cookie cutter from Chick-fil-a I will share it with you so you can still have the fun of making these at home.  And of course any cookie cutter will work just fine!  

So here is what you need to start! 

In a mixing bowl add 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, and 1/2 cup cinnamon.  

Mix it all together. 

Gradually add in 3/4 cup lukewarm water and combine it all together with your hands and form it into a ball of dough.  Then on a lightly floured surface roll out your dough until it is about a 1/4 inch thick.  

Then let the kids have at it to make their stars!  

Use a straw to poke a hole in the top of each star.  

Transfer the starts to wax paper and let air dry for approximately 3-4 days.  Flip daily! 

We re-rolled the dough twice and that gave us about 15 stars. We still had some dough left over and the kids have been enjoying using it as play-doh.  I put it in a plastic bag zip lock bag between uses and it has still stayed fresh.  It makes a nice safe non toxic play-doh and it smells really good too!  

When the ornaments were all dry I added some of my favorite red gingham ribbon in the 1/4 inch size to half of them, and the other half I used some of my red bakers twine.  

Here is a few on the little tree in my bedroom!

Affiliate links are included for some of the items below for your convenience. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Shop this look….

Red gingham 1/4 inch ribbon 

Red and white bakers twine

I hope you enjoy this fun craft!

So who out there loves hot cocoa!?!?  We are definitely a fan of our homemade hot cocoa around here!  If so, then how about these Hot Cocoa Cookie Cups?!?!  A few weeks ago my girls hosted a party with some friends from their God’s Girls group and they chose Hot Cocoa making as the theme.  Yes please!  This was such a fun party to set up for and a great way to kick off the Christmas season.  Each girl got to put together their own cocoa mix to take home and make a couple of hot cocoa crafts.  In keeping with the hot cocoa theme I had the idea to make these Hot Cocoa Cookie Cups to have as dessert.  Because hot cocoa isn’t already enough of a dessert…. right!!    I thought they would be the perfect addition to have out at the party!

I have made cookie cups before but they have always been filled with white or colored icing and with a more decorative swirl in the middle.  This time I used brown frosting, flattened on the top, topped with marshmallows!  I thought they turned out super cute for the party!

When making cookie cups I have always used Pillsburry refrigerated sugar cookie dough.  It is the perfect amount for cutting the dough evenly into 24 parts to fill a mini muffin tin.  

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Open your dough and cut it in half the long way.  Hold it back up together and then make 12 equal marks across your dough.  I always make little marks with my knife first to make sure my spacing is even. 

Then take your knife and slice your dough where you made the marks. 

Now you will have 24 equal parts of dough.  

Spray your mini muffin pan generously with cooking spray.  Don’t skip this step as the cookies will stick to the pan and you will loose the bottom of your cookie cups.  

Roll each of your sections of dough into a ball and place in your muffin pan.  

Then just lightly push them down.  They don’t need much as I think they will form into cups anyway!

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.  When removing the cookies carefully take a knife and slide it around the edges to loosen the cookies and then carefully lift them up.  

When the cookies are cool make the frosting.  Here is what you need.

Cream your butter with the whisk attachment on your mixer.  Add in the powdered sugar and cocoa and combine on low.  Turn off the mixer and add the vanilla and heavy cream.  Turn the mixer on low until the sugar and cocoa are mixed in and then turn up the speed to whip it all together.  I didn’t want the frosting to be too thick so I used about 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream.  Probably a little more cream than you would use if you were making this same recipe to frost a cake.  You don’t want it to be too runny either so start with about 1 1/4 cups and add more if needed.  You will end up with more frosting than you need, I just used my normal chocolate frosting recipe, so you will have more to smother on some graham crackers!!  Just sayin!  

Then I took a piping bag, you can use the corner cut off of a plastic zip lock bag too, to pipe the frosting into each cookie cup.  I just cut a little off the end of the bag.  I did not want to use a tool as I wanted as little lines as possible. 

Fill the bag with chocolate frosting and then pipe into your cookie cups.  

It was still not as smooth as I wanted so I took a small spatula to carefully level it out as best as I could.  

When all your cookie cups are filled with frosting add three mini marshmallows to each cup.  

A super simple way to add some more cute to your next cocoa or holiday party!  They were a huge hit and the girls loved them!

Here is a few more pictures from the hot cocoa making set up.  

Our Polar Bear Marshmallows!  

These were a fun little cocoa party craft and aren’t they just about the cutest thing to happen to your cocoa!  

Here is your printable recipe!

Hot Cocoa Cookie Cups

 

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These are perfect for a hot cocoa or holiday party!

Author: A Fireman's Wife

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 1 roll refrigerated Pillsbury sugar cookie dough
• 1 bag mini marshmallows
• Frosting
• 3½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 stick butter (room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1¼ - 1½ cups heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Open your dough and cut it in half the long way. Hold it back up together and then make 12 equal marks across your dough. I always make little marks with my knife first to make sure the spacing is even.
3. Then take your knife and slice your dough where you made the marks. Now you have 24 equal parts of dough.
4. Spray your mini muffin pan generously with cooking spray. Don't skip this step as the cookies will stick to the pan and you will loose the bottom of your cookie cups.
5. Roll each of your sections of dough into a ball and place in your muffin pan. Then just lightly push them down.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. When removing the cookies carefully take a knife and slide it around the edges to loosen the cookies and then carefully lift them up.
7. While your cookies are cooling make the frosting.
8. Cream your butter with the whisk attachment on your mixer. Add in the powdered sugar and cocoa and combine on low. Turn off the mixer and add the vanilla and heavy cream. Turn the mixer on low until the sugar and cocoa are mixed in and then turn up the speed to whip it all together. Start with about 1¼ cups of heavy cream and add more if needed. You want it to be not as thick as normal frosting.
9. Then using a piping bag, with the corner cut off, pipe the frosting into each cookie cup.
10. Take a small spatula to carefully level out the frosting as best as your can. You want it to look like a smooth even level of hot cocoa.
11. Add 3 marshmallows on top of the frosting to each cookie cup.

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Okay so I want to start by saying I am so sorry I missed the link-up last Friday!!  It was my son’s birthday on Friday and I was up late the night before getting ready…and not blogging.  Then the next day was full of fun and busyness!  #lifehappens

So I totally have a weakness for these Candy Cane Kisses that come out every year.  Anyone else??  If you haven’t tried my popcorn you totally need to check that out too!  These are a super simple cookie for holiday time, as I don’t use homemade dough for these, but you totally can, and they look super festive too!  

So here is what you need! 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Start by crushing your candy canes.  I just put them in a plastic bag and then use the flat side of the meat tenderizer and crush away!

Add the crushed candy canes to your dough and kind of knead it around until it is all mixed together.  

When the candy canes are all mixed in add your peppermint oil and knead it around a little more.  1-2 drops oil is plenty depending on how minty you like your cookies.  (*Note-Not all essential oils are created equal.  Meaning don’t use any essential oil topically or internally that is not 100% pure therapeutic grade.  Even an oil from your local store that says organic only has to be 10% organic to have that label slapped on there.  The rest could be added fillers and not the pure oil.  Also who knows if they used pesticides on the plants so you don’t what to ingest those or use them topically.  I personally only use Young Living oils because they have the Seed to Seal guarantee so you know exactly what you are getting…just the pure oil.  They also have an entire vitality line that is all safe for consumption.)

The next step is to flour your surface and roll out your dough to about 1/4 inch thick.  

Then grab your favorite round cookie cutter shapes and cut away!  Snowflakes, stars, circles etc.  

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.  Meanwhile open up all your glorious candy cane kisses!

This is a great job for the kids to help with!  

When the cookies are done let them cool a few minutes but while they are still warm transfer the cookies to another “cool” cookie sheet.  Then immediately add your kisses to the warm cookies.  I found that if I did not move my cookies to a cool cookie sheet before adding the kisses my kisses would totally melt because my stoneware stays so hot for so long.  

You can let your cookies finish cooling here or transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

So what are your favorite holiday treats to make??

Here is your printable recipe!

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

 

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Author: A Fireman's Wife

Ingredients

• 2-3 candy canes crushed
• 1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough (or you can make your own)
• 1 (10oz) bag Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
• 1-2 drops Peppermint Essential Oil (make sure it is 100% pure therapeutic grade)
• flour for rolling the dough
• Round, snowflake, or star cookie cutters

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Start by crushing your candy canes. I just put them in a plastic bag and then use the flat side of the meat tenderizer and crush away!
3. Add the crushed candy canes to your dough and knead it around until it is all mixed together.
4. Add 1-2 drops Peppermint essential oil and knead it around a little more.
5. Next flour your surface and roll out your dough to about ¼ inch thick.
6. Cut out all your shapes and place on the cookie sheet.
7. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile open up all your candy cane kisses. (Great job for kids!)
9. When the cookies are done let them cool a few minutes but while they are still warm transfer the cookies to another "cool" cookie sheet. Then immediately add your kisses, one to each, to the warm cookies. (I found that if I did not move my cookies to a cool cookie sheet before adding the kisses my kisses would totally melt because my stoneware stays hot for so long.)
10. You can let your cookies finish cooling on the "cool" cookie sheet or transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

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So first I popped up some popcorn in a pot on the stove.  Then I lightly salted it and let it cool.  Next assemble the rest of your ingredients which mostly consists of these yummy things pictured below.

I recruited a helper or two to open my candy cane kisses.

Put the opened kisses in a microwave safe bowl.  Add about a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the opened kisses and stir it around.

Put the kisses in the microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power.  Stir and then continue microwaving them for 30 second intervals at 50% power until melted.  Make sure you stir it up between each 30 second interval.  Keep going until it looks like this.

Next add your popcorn to a large bowl, pour on the melted kisses and  stir it all up.

Lay the popcorn out on some wax paper and put in the refrigerator for 30 min so the chocolate can re-set up.  After 30 minutes take it out and put it in a serving bowl and try not to stand there and eat the whole thing!

This will be great to have out on Christmas day or any parties you have coming up in the next few days!

Candy Cane Kiss Popcorn

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour

 

Author: A Fireman's Wife

Recipe type: Holiday Snack

Cuisine: Popcorn

Ingredients

• 8 cups popped popcorn
• Salt to taste
• 10 ounce bag Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
• 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Pop your popcorn on the stove top in a large pot.
2. Measure out about 8 cups of popcorn, put it in a large bowl and lightly salt it.
3. Unwrap all your Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses and put them in a microwave safe bowl.
4. Add vegetable oil to your kisses and stir it around.
5. Microwave your kisses for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir and then continue microwaving them for 30 seconds at 50% power until they are all melted. (Mine took 2 minutes total but I know all microwaves are different.) Make sure you stir every 30 seconds.
6. When the kisses are all melted pour the melted kisses on the popcorn.
7. Stir it all up and then lay the popcorn out on wax paper.
8. Put it all in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so that the chocolate can re-set up.
9. After 30 minutes take it out and put the popcorn a serving bowl.

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