A Holiday Haven

Groundhogs Day 2012

2012-02-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

Yes he did! Punxsutawney Phil (arguably the most official of groundhogs) saw his shadow today. So, if traditions ring true we have 6 more weeks of winter to look forward too.

Here are his predictions for the last couple of years:
2012 (this year) - long winter
2011 - early spring
2010 - long winter
2009 - long winter
2008 - long winter
2007 - early spring
(See more predictions here)
Punxsutawney Phil has been predicting the beginning of spring since 1887

16 Valentines Day Ideas

2012-02-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

16 of my favorite Valentines posts from Holiday Haven.

With Valentines just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to gather all of these ideas together to share. If you are a regular follower of this site you will recognize some of these posts from the last couple of years. I have lots of great ideas planned for the next two weeks as well and a Valentines themed blog party this Saturday too which will have lots of great ideas too! (see blog parties tab for details).

Click links under each photo to see full post:

♥ Making your home feel like a Bed 'n Breakfast

♥ Pop-up homemade school Valentines.

♥ Beauty sleep, is so important! Are you sleeping enough?

♥ A beautiful heart cake with step by step instructions.

♥ Valentines beauty: Use what you have, a funny post.

♥Free printable cupcake toppers.

♥ a romantic soft Rose Bookmark Craft

♥Valentines beauty: pamper your hands.

♥ Vacation idea #6 go Wine Tasting, for Valentines!

♥ make an at home spa date.

♥ or - Kidnap your spouse!

♥ Free Printable Valentines Heart Banner

♥a soft pink tablescape.

♥ and my all time favorite Valentines post: Little ways to say I love you poll.

♥ Still need to plan Valentines? Here are some tips and ideas: Planning Valentines.

♥ And for even more ideas you can visit Holiday Haven's Valentines Blog Party from last year.

♥ The party starts this Saturday!

See blog parties tab for details.♥

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Shabby Apple Winner

2012-02-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

The Shabby Apple Dress Give Away winner was comment #1

Congrats Jenny from Modern Modest Beauty!

I will be in touch soon to get your contact info, etc!

Thanks to everyone who played along!!

And a quick little note: Shabby apple lists special promos and discounts on their facebook page, and for a limited time are offering Holiday Haven readers a 10% discount using the coupon code "HolidayHaven10off"

Shabby Apple Dress Giveaway!

2012-01-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

**This giveaway is now closed**

Valentines day beauty!

This is such a nice time of year to focus on getting a little gussied up.

To kick off celebrating Valentines day I have the honor of giving away one of the women's dresses at www.shabbyapple.com!

The lovely women's blue dress above is offered in this give away.

For some 'gussying up' inspiration, in the spirit of planning Valentines, I picked a few more photos of the lovely women's dresses from www.shabbyapple.com to show off.

This black flirty dress with pleated skirt is so fun, this would be great for a Valentines afternoon in the park.

Or if you are in the city and need something a bit spunky this yellow vintage dress is perfect!

Casual and flirty, I love how they accessorized this pretty white dress.

A little more elegant and reserved, maybe a dinner and a show, this teal women's dress in the evening would be enchanting.

An attention grabbing spring green dress would go well on any date!

Stunning red dresses on Valentines just cannot be ignored!

On a sea side adventure, an adorable beach dress would be fun.

And for a formal evening a classic women's dress, so lovely!

To enter:

(Please leave a separate comment for each)

1. Like shabby apple on Facebook: {Shabby Apple on Facebook} and you will also get in on special promotions and exclusive discounts!

2. Visit {shabbyapple.com} have a little look around, come back here and leave a comment describing your favorite dress.

For additional entries:

(just pick the ones you are comfortable with, and if you already do these, just leave a comment saying so.)

*Tweet about this faboulous giveaway, come back and leave a comment with your twitter name.

*Share this give away on your facebook page and/or facebook wall, come back and leave a comment.

*Follow Holiday Haven on facebook {HERE} and leave a comment letting me know you did so.

*Follow Holiday Haven on Twitter {HERE} and leave a comment with your twitter name.

*Follow me on Pinterest {Here} and leave a comment here.

Contest details:

There are no exchanges for the winning dress. Winner will be picked at random and listed on this site. The winner must have a U.S. shipping address. I will need a way to contact you after the give away for the important info, please make sure your email is in your profile or listed in the comments here. Contest ends Midnight Tuesday January 31, 2012! Winner announced on Wednesday Feb. 1st, 2012.

And there is a coupon code for Holiday Haven readers!! Enter "holidayhaven10off" for a limited time to receive 10% off!

A few more photos of the give away dress:

I love how versatile this dress is, pretty enough to go out on the town, casual enough for everyday, wonderful for most work settings too! This dress is called 'the Azure Coast' it has puff sleeves, a shirt collar, wrap styling to the skirt, it is made from 100% cotton and fits true to size. Retail on this dress is $82. Good luck!

**This giveaway is now closed**

And remember they are offering Holiday Haven readers 10% off for a limited time using the coupon code "holidayhaven10off"

Easy Heart Shaped Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

2012-01-24T16:58:00.000-08:00

After seeing an amazing cookie post ( Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies) on Simply Sweet Home and some candy cane/almond bark hearts last year, I decided to try to combine the two ideas using pretzels and it worked!

Two pretzels

with peanut butter sandwiched between

dipped in melted almond bark

and topped with some sugar pearls.

I used mini pretzels and they were just right as tea cookies.

A little salty, a bit sweet,

full of flavor, but still a dainty treat.

And so simple to make!

These are now my favorite treat to make for my family for Valentines.

And as my hubby has gone out and bought more pretzels, (a huge bag too) I am waging that he might just agree.

P.S. I am having a Shabby Apple Dress give-away later this week!! You can see their shop buy clicking the link at the top of my sidebar or by going to Shabbyapple.com

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Free Printable Spring Banner

2012-01-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

A fun free printable banner for spring!

And I created an extra flag to act as spacers if you need a longer banner:

To print: (do not use the printer friendly button below) Click on each banner flag to expand it, click again to make sure it is fully expanded. Then right click print or use 'file' and 'print' options from the top of your page. If using google chrome you may need to right click and open the image in a new window and then click the wrench from the upper right hand corner to print. If you have any trouble you can save the image to your computer and then print from there. Personal use please, and it is always ok to share this on your blog/facebook/etc.

::The Holiday Challenge::
Holiday Haven's home page.

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Applying fabric to walls

2012-01-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

With spring cleaning and decorating just around the corner I wanted to share some u-tube videos from NYDraperyGuy.

Applying fabric to walls- this video is kind of long (14 min) but it is so amazingly detailed! He walks you though just how to apply fabric to all of the walls in a house.

Here is another (shorter) demonstration of how you would apply it to just one wall.

The 'ask the drapery guy' feature has some great tips on hanging curtains on curved windows, what to do if your curtains stick when you open them, and cleaning your drapes.

This vid. is kind of a 'behind the senes', but about half way through is a gorgeous example of finished work with fabric on the walls of a beautifully decorated home.

These are the first few of his videos, hoping that he publishes a lot more! Here is where you can find him on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NyDraperyGuy
(I subscribe to his channel).

(p.s. this is in no way sponsored, and I am in no way affiliated, just sharing these because I think they are cool. If you think they are cool too, please consider sharing this post, easy share buttons below.)

::The Holiday Challenge::
Holiday Haven's home page.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day

2012-01-16T06:49:00.000-08:00

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.

Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.

Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

Martin Luther King Jr.

US black civil rights leader and clergyman (1929 - 1968)

7 Vacation Ideas

2012-01-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

This last week I have been planning Summer! Vacations and small fun with the family. I regularly look at the posts I did this time last couple of years and today I have pulled out and dusted off 7 of the 45 vacation ideas I have shared on Holiday Haven.
(Click links under photos to see the full post)

Whistler - this is probably our families favorite vacation spot! We sublet a condo from friends every couple of years, and we get to go again this year!!

Ice Caves - These are right here in my home state of WA, but I have included a list of where you may find similar natural features in your state too.

Visit a tea room - this is where our family fell in love with the tradition of high tea.

The Empress - one of the best places to have high tea, this post though is about our stay in the hotel itself.

Riding a train- this is a great american past time, and a vacation experience our family will never forget.

Sunny Los Cabos just the place if you are wishing for some summer sunshine!

Craigdrroch castle- a gorgeous castle in B.C. full of beautiful decor.

Visit the ::Vacations:: tab at the top of this page to see 45 vacation ideas and 43 more small family outings.

Mossy Spring Crafts {Tutorial}

2012-01-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

6 Spring crafts made from moss and clay. This last week my Etsy shop (here) has seen a few sales so I have been busy crafting to add more to it. Etsy is SO much fun. These six crafts are all made using air dry clay and moss.

Little butterflies are easy to make, make a flat square of air dry clay and pinch the ends and shape the center till you have a butterfly. I added little lines along the body of the butterfly and indents on all four wing tips and then curled some wire for antennas.

10 of these little critters together makes for a pretty spring bowl fillers. And next to a lamp, pretty spring decor.

Next it was on to flowers. I am not too sure I like how these turned out, funny how sometimes what is in your head is not at all what you end up with! But they have a fun whimsical feel, so I am happy enough with them.

Make a flat disk with the clay, cut small lines part of the way in and pinch the ends to make flower petals. I then added a small disk of clay to make the center and finished with a criss cross detail and brownish copper paint.

For Valentines a little love nest :)

I used letter stencils to make these fun nests, on the back I stenciled more letters so it can say home as well. You can see my birds nest craft tutorial here: Birds Nest Craft Tutorial

Mini birds nests (made using the same tutorial as above, but on a smaller scale) hot glued to thick card stock and scrapbooking paper. I used scrapbooking scissors to create the edging and a very tiny hole punch to give it the lacy feel.

And last in my crafty fun, I made up these rustic little Valentines gift tags. I so love rustic and vintage for Valentines! To make these, form the little hearts from clay and hot glue the moss to the tag. Once the hearts are dry, add just a little hot glue and place them on the moss. But, hot glue alone will NOT hold the hearts. So we drizzled 'glue all' (which is like elmers school glue, but a little stronger) all over and around the hearts and that did the trick.

Happy Crafting!

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20 Spring fun facts

2012-01-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

20 Spring fun facts! It is still cold where I am, but I just couldn't resist thinking of spring, so I have compiled 20 fun facts for spring.

1. If you stand at the equator on the first day of spring, you will see the sun pass directly over head. This is only true two times a year; the first day of spring and the first day of Autumn.

2. Popular Spring blooms include tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, iris, daisies, and lilies.

3. Often though the first bloom to be seen is a dandelion :) Dandelions first came from Asia, and now calls the entire world home. I can be used both as a food and a medicine and the seeds provide and important food to many small birds.

4. Common animals and insects associated with sprint are: rabbits, eagles, frogs, hummingbirds, robins, deers, foxes, bears, bees, butterflies, and ladybugs.

5. An area along the California and Oregon border between the Harbor-Brookings bench of Oregon and the Smith River area of California is often called the “Easter Lily Capital of the World” as it produces 95 percent of all bulbs grown in the world for the potted Easter lily market which is more than 11 million bulbs each year.

6. Baby birds learn to sing. Baby birds are born with the ability to sing, but they must learn the specific songs of their species. They are thought to acquire these songs between 10 to 60 days of age and begin to sing them the next spring when they have matured at about 300 days old.

7. Arbor Day celebrated on the last Monday in April; however, each state can select its own date, depending on weather conditions. The first Arbor Day Celebration was held on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska.

8. Spring fever is real! Commonly occurring when a sudden warm spell follows a long cold period. When the temperature rises, there's a dilation or expansion of the blood vessels so that blood can be carried to the body surface where heat can be lost quickly. Some people experience an energetic feeling to this reaction.

9. Spring cleaning often accompanies spring fever. And with the warmer weather windows and doors can be open which allows ventilation for dusting and the fumes of cleaning products. It has been suggested that spring cleaning dates back to the Persian New Year where they practice "Khoneh Tekouni" which means "Shaking the house". Another possibility of the origin can be traced to the ancient Jewish of cleansing the home in anticipation of passover.

10. Emeralds represent spring, rebirth, hope, peace, and tranquility.

11. "June Brides" are not as common as they use to be. Historically June has always been the most popular month for weddings. The word June even comes from Juno the Roman goddess of marriage. However, The American National Center for Health Statistics show that July and August for the last couple of years have each have seen more marriages than June.

12. Flooding becomes more common in spring due to snow melt and spring rains.

13. Hurricane season begins in late spring.

14. Seasonal allergies in the spring are a problem for 30-60 million in the U.S. alone. The culprits are often pollen, including tree pollen, and mold.

15. Fleas! become more active as it gets warmer and at the same time your pet is more interested in going outside. Spring time is a great time to make sure you have a defense plan.

16. Animals wake from hibernation and are seen more frequently. Animals that hibernate include: ground squirrels, hedgehogs, bears, bats, and even a bird; the Common Poorwill

17. Birds fly back northward to settle and have their families. Approximately 1800 of the world's 10,000 bird species are long-distance migrants.

18. Butterflies begin to gather nectar from the first flowers of the season. See how to create a butterfly garden here: Butterfly Gardening

19. Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon. Which is close to the first Sunday after first full moon after Spring begins. And so the date Easter is celebrated can range from March 22 through April 25th.

20. Spring ends and summer starts around the 20/21st of June.

(sources: national hurricane center, national weather center, animal planet, everyday health, ehow, wikipedia where sources noted, the american national health statistics, starlingtalk.com.)

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January 6th is Three Kings Day

2012-01-06T07:04:00.000-08:00

Today is the first Day of Epiphany which comes just after the 12 days of Christmas and is also known as Three Kings Day. This is the day when the visit of the Wisemen is traditionally celebrated with a feast.
You can see a wonderful write up about Three Kings Day at: LisaLovesHolidays.
And more about The 12 Days of Christmas in a post I did HERE.

The Three Kings Day Feast is usually a simple meal with meat such as pork, ham, chicken or meat stew as the main course and a cooked vegetable for the side. The heart of the meal is a Kings cake usually made from egg bread in a crown shape and has a hidden bean or almond in the cake to symbolize the baby Jesus. In addition to the cake, pastries are sometimes served. Great Kings Cake recipes from around the world can be found at: BeliefNet.com

More about: The Christian Year
Holiday Haven's home page.

Snowy fun! Fun ideas for Winter

2012-01-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

Before we get into all the fun of Valentines Day I wanted to share a few fun snowy posts from the last couple of years. Do you decorate with snowmen after Christmas? I often begin to think of spring just after Christmas, but it is still 'officially' winter until almost the end of March. The area where I live was projected to have an unusually cold winter. We have, however, somehow managed to have an unusually warm winter. lol. It has not even snowed here this year which is so very weird! Still there are snowmen in my home right now, I know what season it is, even if the weather outside doesn't!!

For fun today, looking though my past posts I have put together a fun snowy/seasonal collection:

(Click links UNDER the photos to view)

A Snowman photo tour, some people are so creative!

20 Winter fun facts !

Is the Christmas tree still up in your home? Recycling Christmas Trees

Snowflake Cheese ball recipe and printable template

A snowy tablescape

A Fun Free Printable Snowman Banner

How are your resolutions going? Are you like me? After about 3 days I forget I have even made resolutions!

Do you need to Revise Your New Years Goals?

And here are some great sites to help you keep resolutions!

Januarys Shopping Bag

And in my shopping bag posts, which you can also see by clicking the shopping bag tab at the top of this page, I compile seasonal ideas; produce that is in season, sales to look for, and fun seasonal ideas.

Hope your new year is going well!

The Holiday Challenge for the New Year

2012-01-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Some exciting changes for all of you who like to follow along on the Holiday Challenge. For 2012 I have put it in Google calendar format! So if you have a google account you can click the little +1 button on the lower corner of the calendar to follow along. And(or) you can click ::The Challenge:: tab at the top of this page anytime to view the calendar.

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Ring in the New Year - The meaning behind the saying

2011-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder why we 'ring out the old' and 'ring in the new'?

It was a custom in England, and many places around the world, to ring Church bells at midnight on New Years as a way of "ring out" the old year. Celebrating its passing, in the same way as they would ring the bells for a person that had died. And to "ring in" the new year joyfully.

In 1850 Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote the poem "Ring Out, Wild Bells" about this tradition. A poem with such depth, hope, renewal and challenge it is no wonder it has made a mark on history. It is from the bells and this poem that we derive the saying "Ringing in the new year".

"Ring Out, Wild Bells"

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light;

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

For those that here we see no more,

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

It is believed the bells of Waltham Abbey, (pictured above) are the bells in this poem.

Happy New Year!

You can print this poem by clicking the printer friendly button below.

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New Years Mantel Decor

2011-12-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

Simple Quick New Years Decor! On a little low bookshelf in my home I gathered together some of our clocks to create a New Years vignette with old world charm.

I set the clocks on their sides, and then placed some heavy books in front of them to keep the clocks from toppling over.

Added a little bell from our Christmas tree to the mix.

If we were going to be home for New Years Eve I would leave the clocks set to their real time as it would be fun to watch them all tick tock down to midnight.

But, this year we will be with celebrating with my husbands parents so I set and left them all at midnight.

This little clock is one of my newest finds, I love it's vintage-ness.

Collecting pretty clocks is a habit I picked up from my father who's house if full of them.

Happy New Year!!

Free Printable New Years Stationary

2011-12-28T11:42:00.000-08:00

Four New Years stationary free printables. Made in a couple of styles, these free printables are wonderful for sending 'news letters' to family and friends by mail or even e-mail.

To print (do not use the printer friendly button) Click on the printable you would like to use. Click again to make sure it is fully expanded and then click file and print from your browsers menu. (If using google chrome, click on the wrench and then select print from there). You can also right click save these to your desktop and print as you would any photo or document. (If using a mac, drag the photos to your desktop to save). Personal use. And sharing these on blogs with a link back to aholidayhaven.com is always ok.

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New Years Place Cards - two free printables

2011-12-26T15:46:00.000-08:00

Two fun free printable place cards for New Years.

To print: (do not use the printer friendly button below). Click on the place card you would like to print. Click again to make sure it is fully expanded, then select file and print from your browsers window (if using google chrome, you may need to click on the wrench). You can also right click on these to save them to your computer and then print from there. Personal use. And it is always ok to share these on your blog w/a link back to this post.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Know someone hosting a New Years dinner? Easy share buttons below.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

Macy's store in downtown Seattle, WA

Merry Christmas

from my family to yours!

May you have a wonderful

Christmas with many smiles this year!

Each year I am blessed by all of the people who come to this site and find it resourceful. It is such a blessing creating and sharing all of the fun in my life with you.

Thank you for all of your kind comments,
and for joining in the Christmas party fun!

Merry Christmas!

The 12 days of Christmas:

Tonight, Christmas night, begins the first of the Twelve days of Christmas, with the 26th being the first full day. Many in America believe the 12 days are the days leading up to Christmas. They are however, traditionally the twelve days between the birth of Jesus and when the Wise Men came to visit, or when Jesus was baptized. The twelve days end with the Feast of Epiphany on January 6th and in many places a cake called the Three Kings Cake is baked.
In my household we use this time as a time of reflection and prayer which ties in nicely with beginning
a new year.

Tracking Santa!

2011-12-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

It is Christmas Eve do you know where Santa is?

For the last several years NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) has partnered with Google in mapping Santa's flight around the world on NoradSanta.org
Here is their fun video:

And they have an app too for your phone too! More about it here: Google Maps for mobile.

Two other fun Santa sites:
http://www.santaclaus.net/SantaTracker.asp - this tracks Norad's Santa as well and has a lot of Santa fun.
http://www.santa-t.com/northpole_weather.html - this site has a tracker too and is just SO adorable.

Happy Santa Hunting!

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Free Printable Christmas Songs

2011-12-23T00:06:00.000-08:00

I have been collecting Christmas songs on Pinterest! It is our family's tradition to sing one of these each day from Thanksgiving to Christmas so I was delighted to discover a few on pinterest and have started putting together a board of them which you can see here: http://pinterest.com/holidayhaven/christmas-songs/. For those not familiar with pinterest, when you get to the board you can click on each of the songs to see the original source and print from there.

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Beautiful Gift Wrapping

2011-12-21T22:43:00.000-08:00

Wrapping gifts beautifully is so much fun! And easy to do with pretty wrapping paper, ribbon, and a bit of hot glue.

These are actual gifts under my tree this year, I leave wrapping to the last because it is one of my favorite parts of the holiday, though I am glad to be done wrapping everything now. And even though these decorations are not too time consuming, wrapping gifts always takes so much longer than I expect.

I make these ribbon roses every year with the left over crinkled ribbon.

This year I was adding mini birds nests. I make these for my etsy shop too and keep a few for fun projects like these.

This is just an old broken garland that I hot glued around a gift.

White and silver.

Merry Christmas! I hope you are having a lovely time finishing up everything.
Last year I posted a tutorial here: Ribbon Rose Tutorial
I also made the gift tags, they are a free printable you can find here: Printable Gift Tags

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Secret Gifts are Magical

2011-12-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Its night, I'm dressed in black, Sneaking around, heart pounding, and giggling. What am I doing? This was my room mate and I at age 19 in our first apartment building hanging small gift boxes with a couple of wrapped candy canes in them on all of my neighbors door knobs.

Fast forward a few years I am now at work on the 15th floor of a sky scraper in Seattle. Which is filled as far as the eye can see with cubicles. My pockets are full of small ornaments and I am walking around placing one in each person's inbox while their back is turned.

Forward again to now. We have an 'elf' that brings us small unexpected gifts. Sometimes he leaves them at the childrens places at the table, sometimes he leaves coffee and a breakfast treat in my husbands car. Sometimes he leaves a Christmas movie where the children will find it.

OK I know you have guessed already the elf is me. My family isn't fooled either.

There is just some thrill in blessing others and watching them try to figure out who and why. It is like someone trying to figure out a magic trick. And like all great magicians I never admit my tricks, it is just too much fun! Try leaving a gift basket on a neighbors door step, or giving a secret gift to someone you don't get along with very well (it does something wonderful for you), or try giving anonymously to a charity, or an unmarked gift under the tree. Who can you surprise? Trust me you will be the one who receives the true gift.

Holiday Haven's Home Page

Peppermint Chocolate Gingerbread Men {Christmas Cookie Recipe}

2011-12-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

Full of flavor, these designer looking cookies are actually quite simple to make!

Gingerbread cookies are a tradition in my household. A tradition that began when my husband and I were so very young, just starting out in life. I was a new mom still in my 20's. We lived in a little apartment and I had just quit work to stay at home full time with my kiddos.

At that time my husband worked on commission and had a very bad month. We knew his check was never the same from month to month, and was usually not forgiving at Christmas, so we were prepared.

But, that first December was even more difficult that we expected. And we knew there would be no money for gifts outside of our little family. Being one who liked to bake, I always had an ample supply of flour, brown sugar, and such on hand. So I rifled through my cabinets and found that I had enough to make several dozen gingerbread men!

My oldest son, who was all of 2, and I set about making gingerbread men. We had the best time. He giggled as he saw them take shape. He waited as for them to come out of the oven and cool. He ate ALL of the broken ones. We made faces, smiles, frowns, and crooked little mouths.

We had so much fun! It became a tradition. And after 11 years of tweaking, the recipe below is the recipe we now make each year at Christmas. And that little 2 year old, who is now nearly 14, still smiles as he cuts out gingerbread men!

These cookies are really simple, there are no special tools required. The snowflake was an added touch this year, I bought a shaker full of them, but we usually make these without snowflakes. Once you have made your gingerbread men you just dip them in Chocolate that has been heated with a little vegetable oil and then when they are completely cool use a tablespoon to drizzle a mix of powdered sugar water and peppermint extract. Peppermint extract is found right next to the vanilla extract in most stores.

And the recipe above is printable!
To print: click on the recipe, click again to make sure it if fully expanded. Select 'file' and 'print' from your browsers window. (If you are using google chrome you may need to right click and open the recipe in a new window, click again to expand it, and then select the wrench from the top of the page to find the print button). If you have any trouble try saving the recipe to your desktop by right clicking on it and saving it and then printing from there.

Added this to the holiday parties going on here:

Holiday Haven's New Years Party!

2011-12-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to

Holiday Haven's

New Years Party for the New Year of 2012!!!

New Years comes up so fast after Christmas, and we tend to forget how special this holiday until it is already here, so this year I decided a party was in order. I know everyone is still focused on Christmas... but, this party will be open all the way to New years, and it is my hope that it will be a resource for those who are scrambling for ideas quickly after Christmas. SO, in order to make this easy on everyone, you are welcome to link up ANY New Years themed posts you have published old or new!! Multiple posts are OK too. A link back to aHolidayHaven.com within the post is appreciated, but if you are in a hurry the party button posted in the side bar will do just fine. You can find the code for the button above. And it is a hop, so you can take the whole party to your site too (get the code here).

Now for a look at some of my New Years ideas (click links under photos to see full posts):

New Years Eve Traditions - Around the World

Full Moon Festival - My New Years Eve Tradition

New Years Punch

New Years Table Setting - The Family Game Table

New Years Free Printable Banner

Great Sites to help you keep your New Years resolutions

Now it is your turn! What do you do for New Years? Crafts, recipes, decor, tablescapes, printables, what ever you've blogged about within the theme of this holiday are welcomed. Multiple posts and posts from previous Years are OK! The party button can be found in the sidebar and at the top of this post. (Your links will show up in my side bar too!)

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