Merry Christmas lovelies! Whether you’re hopping around, splitting time between families, or cozied up in one spot, here’s hoping your day is full of happiness, love and really good food.
xoxo,
Meghan
P.S. Festive photo of Romy Schneider and Alain Delon found here.
Here’s a typical story from my life: Earlier this month I celebrated my 30th birthday party with a cookie swap at my favorite bar. The party was starting in half-an-hour, and, of course, I hadn’t had time to bake a single cookie. I knew it would be OK for me to skip the swap, but I still wanted to contribute a little something sweet. Into my brain, like a saving grace, popped this recipe…a holiday favorite of my Grandma Mary. The simple ingredients and unfussy proportions make it an easy one to recall by heart, and before I knew it, I was on my way out the door, tin of cookies in hand, with a minute or two to spare.
Before I share her recipe, please know one thing: No one’s going to “ooh” and “ahh” over how these bars look. They’re not showy, they’re simple. But whatever they lack in looks, they make up for (ten-fold) in taste. I figured I’d share the recipe with you this week, in case you too find yourself in a pinch and need to whip up something for a holiday party or potluck at the last minute.
Grandma Mary’s Praline Bars
Ingredients
♥ 24 graham crackers (roughly two packs from an average-size box)
♥ 1/2 c. brown sugar
♥ 1/2 c. butter
♥ 1/2 t. vanilla
♥ 1 c. chopped pecans (or walnuts)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Arrange graham crackers on a foil-lined jelly roll pan.
3. Heat brown sugar and butter to boiling in a saucepan. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly; remove from heat and quickly stir in the vanilla.
3. Working fast, spread the caramelized sugar on top of the crackers, as evenly as possible.
4. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
5. Bake for 10 or so minutes, or until the caramel starts to bubble. Watch ‘em carefully because they can scorch from just a minute or two of over-baking.
6. Let them cool and then break into squares or pieces.
This recipe doubles wonderfully, which you might as well do because they take literally 15 minutes start-to-finish and you will want to gobble them all up as soon as they are cool.
xoxo,
Meghan
Disagree all you want, but for me, Christmas mail is the best mail. Lately after work, I’ve found myself going straight to the mailbox too see what’s arrived that day. A pretty card, a letter from family far away, cute baby photos from friends…every night it’s a little dose of happy. Speaking of happy mail, I scanned in a collection of Christmas cards from my mom and had to share them with you. Each is a treasure in its own way, from the staged sing-a-long to the oh-fer-cute garlands.
Are y’all enjoying the onslaught of holiday mail too? Better yet, did you send a holiday card this year? If so, here’s hoping it too is treasured.
xoxo,
Meghan
Starting today, all blue-tagged holiday items at Arc’s Value Village stores are 50% off. This special sale runs all the way through December 22, and includes ornaments, cookie tins, serving ware, linens, candles, trees, wreaths, lights, clothing (anyone have an ugly sweater party coming up?) and more. You can read my original review of the Merry Thriftmas boutiques at Value Village here and find the store nearest you here.
xoxo,
Meghan
Photo source: Vintage Penny Lane
I’m not gonna lie to you guys: I start shopping for Christmas stuff this weekend. I would feel weird about my overabundance of yuletide spirit, but I don’t. Because this weekend I discovered a group of people that are equally (if not MORE) excited about Christmas than me. I happened upon this jolly group at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, aka the opening day of the “Merry Thriftmas” shop at ARC’s Value Village store in Richfield. The entire middle section of the store that had been sectioned off and stocked full of Christmas merchandise, and when I stepped in the door, literally every single aisle was jam-packed with shoppers, many of them pushing overflowing carts! (My kind of people!) Sadly, I wasn’t much in the mood to power through such thick crowds, but I did manage to scope out the set-up so I could report back to y’all here. My findings can be summarized pretty easily though: the “Merry Thriftmas” shop has everything Christmas you could ever wish for.
Snow globes. Check!
Wrapping materials. Check!
Lawn ornaments. Check!
Sweet old ladies checking out the fake evergreen situation. Check!
Overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle, I quit taking pictures soon after arriving, but here’s a quick overview of what they have: Cookie tins. Christmas cards and party invitations. Holiday records. Festive serving ware. Ornaments for the tree. Twinkle lights. Cookie cutters, molds and presses. Holiday sheet music. Wreath boxes. Glitzy earrings. Bedazzled sweaters. Welcome signs. Table linens. Accent pillows. Tom and Jerry sets. Wreaths. Garlands. Trees. Christmas craft books. Christmas cookbooks. Candles. Pine cone potpourri. Wall hangings. Ribbons. Bows. Wrapping paper. Knick-knacks. Angels. Snowflakes. Reindeers. And Santas. Lots and lots and lots and lots of Santas. If it’s Christmas-related in any way, they probably have it (and it’s likely to be really affordable too).
The “Merry Thriftmas” shops are part of every Value Village location now through December 23rd, and I’m told, will be restocked with new merchandise continually. So go already (if you love Christmas) and get your shop on. ‘Tis (almost) the season, right?
xoxo,
Meghan
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What a busy week. Am I the only one feeling incredibly relieved today is Friday? I thought I’d celebrate by sharing the Christmas mix I made for last Saturday’s Mighty Swell giveaway. It starts off shaky, but like they say, all’s well that ends well, and this ends with Canned Heat, so yeah. I’d say it ends well enough. Me hope you likey.
xo,
Meghan
This Christmas, my mom gifted me one of her biggest thrift-store scores of 2010: A 57-piece set of blemish-free Blue Ridge china.
The pattern is Quaker Apple, which was produced in 1953 as part of a promotional deal Blue Ridge had with Quaker Oats. That year, housewives reaching into their box of oats were surprised with a full-sized china teacup featuring a hand-painted deep red apple and and trimmed in green. Encouraged by the ad on the back of the container saying “start your set now and save!,” homemakers built a collection of hand-painted ceramics $1.95 at a time. A spoon rest, oatmeal bowl and bread plate today, a set of plates or a handful of soup bowls a few months down the line. Bit by bit, piece by piece.
A few years after this, Blue Ridge stopped producing china. The market had dwindled, drawn away by the lure of indestructible plastic dinnerware. Most larger pieces made after the ’30s have the Blue Ridge stamp. Some are numbered, most are not. Very limited collections of hand-signed pieces were also produced.
If you were wondering what 57 pieces of china looks like, this will give you some idea.
10 dinner plates, 10 saucers, eight small plates, seven fruit/dessert bowls, seven soup bowls, seven teacups, three various-sized platters, an oatmeal bowl, a sugar pot, a creamer, a spoon rest and a large salad bowl. Sweet, right? At first, I was a bit off-put by the “is that a teacher present?” vibe the apple was giving off. But once I started looking at the different pieces and noticed the one-of-a-kind-ness each one had, I fell a little bit in love. I think I’m going to use them everyday, since I’m definitely more of an “every day is an occasion” type of person.
I feel very lucky to have received such a surprising, sweet gift this year. (Thanks, Marmee!) I hope you all had very merry Christmas weekends, too. Did any of you get your socks knocked off by a gift, big or small, thrifted or not?
xo,
Meghan
Hello there!
True story: I started making this garland in September. September people! My original plan was to make a bunch and use them to decorate Mighty Swell’s first storefront. And then I was going to make a bunch and sell them at our event in December. Oh silly me.
Anyway, just a mere three months after starting, I really did finish one off this week and here she is. I think it’s a cute, cozy way to add a little pretty to anyplace that could use it. And, to be honest, pom poms just make me happy. I hung this first one up from my $5.99 photo line in my bedroom.
I can’t crochet to save my life (believe me, I have tried and FAILED!), so instead of crocheting a line to link the poms together, I just tied the yarn that loops the pom together attempting to make the spaces in between as even as possible. Tying them together went super fast. Untangling them after they accidentally got mussed up did not. Lesson learned.
I bought the yarn at thrifts and then found a couple big, one-pound skeins on sale at Michael’s. (The pom pom maker I used was a gift from Rae, and it is also thrifted.) You can find detailed how-tos on making various pompom garlands here, here and here. And my favorite instructions for making poms themselves is here, courtesy of HonestlyWTF. (God, I could spend ages on that site!)
Well, happy Christmas eve eve to you all! Tonight I’m celebrating with my man. We’ve got plans for a fancy homemade steak dinner complete with mashed potatoes, green beans and a Paula Deen cheesecake for dessert (recipe here). He splurged on some delicious cuts at our favorite meat market and I can’t wait to get cookin’. Yay date night!
xo,
Meghan
{Photo of pin-up beauty Anita Ekberg found here.}
I’m soooo excited about the post I did for Beauty Bets this week. It’s a round-up of affordable stocking stuffers—every item costs $6 or less! I was super picky about what I included, and whittled it down to nine products that I really, truly love. Including…my favorite hair product that came out in 2010, a classic red nail polish every gal should own, the eco-friendly makeup bag I tote around with me everywhere and a glittery eyeliner that should cost way more than it does ($5.29). And a whole bunch of other sweet gifties.
In other words, I think you’ll dig it.
Another bonus, everything I picked is for sale at Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc., so if you’ve procrastinated like me, you can easily find any of the products I mentioned right up until the holiday. Anyway, stop on over and check it out if you like.
xo,
Meghan
I swear to God, if I see another one of those syrupy “Every Kiss Begins With Kay” ads, I’m going to throw a slipper at the TV! Why don’t they make ads like they used to? You know, with the sexism right out and in your face.
{All ads are from this awesome set found on Flickr, with the exception of the Dormeyer ad, which was found here.}
xo,
Meghan
