wrapping

My favorite holiday pastime: wrapping presents. This year I spent a total of $5 on wrapping. Brown craft paper from the dollar store (that can be recycled) and a pack of brown bags (also can be recycled) from Michael's with a 40% of coupon.

We took craft paint and dressed them up a bit using some holiday colors. The stamp was a gift from a friend ... and it looks so good on brown paper. Also, using a white gel pen makes all the difference... it looks so nice that you don't even need a tag.

Don't forget the washi tape! Which makes anything! look! pretty!

Happy wrapping ...

Ps. IKEA had some great bags this year. We grabbed a pack for some of the bigger gifts. 

a veg thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time this year. Luckily for us, our family was willing to go meatless! We tried a Field Roast and it turned out pretty good. The other dishes we made were Barefoot Contessa mac & cheese, eggplant rollatini, stuffed mushrooms, brie and artichoke stuffing, corn bake, string beans with shallots, twice baked potatoes, and beet and goat cheese salad (which I totally forgot about!). Mom brought the (amazing) sweet potatoes.

For horderves ... butternut squash crostini, brie with puff pastry and raspberries, fried artichokes, and caramelized onion and spinach dip. We had so much fun doing it.

We ended up setting up a buffet in the kitchen instead of passing everything around on the table. Also realized we are the worst holiday people ... Josh and I equally hate holiday color combinations -- orange/red/brown, red/green, even easter with the pastels. It was a challenge to make everything look festive without using the typical colors. One of my favorite things I found was this triangle candle holder from target. The green candle holder was a cheapy from anthropology awhile ago. And you can't have a holiday table without a terrarium, right?!